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Being engaged to a literal God was hard, but watching your phone die mid-song while living on Asgard was even harder. The black, lifeless screen stared back at you almost tauntingly as you pulled out your headphones and let them fall, too pissed to care. All you wanted was to unwind with a few songs—especially after the long lecture from Odin about being human with the luxury of living here like a pet—and yet the world was crashing down around you yet again.
It fucking sucked sometimes.
Before you could leave your hiding spot, you were found. Deep down you knew hiding in the far corner of the kitchens wasn’t the brightest of ideas. It was so easy to slip by everyone, though, and you liked the small little corner next to the back door nobody really used. Except Thor, apparently. He barged in covered in sweat and panting like a dog, but the moment he saw you, his excitement turned into confusion.
“Hello, sister,” he greeted, closing the door behind him. “I did not expect to find you here. Or anyone, for that matter.”
“I’m just chilling.”
“You are cold?”
Ah. The slang—Thor’s biggest Midgardian enemy. You smiled and pushed yourself to your feet, taking Thor’s hand when he offered it. “It means I’m just… hanging about. Relaxing. Not exactly doing anything but nothing’s wrong.”
“I see,” he said, quickly nodding once he finally understood. “You look rather upset, though. Has something happened?” When you shrugged it off, Thor only gave you a playful elbow. “Come now! You can tell me, I’ll do whatever I must to make it right.”
You highly doubted he could do anything, but you raised your phone anyway and showed him the lifeless screen. “I was listening to music and my phone died. I don’t miss much about home but I do miss my music.”
Studiously, he took the phone, looking it over in a way that left you anxious. Thor was a big softie but he definitely was… well, Thor. You tried not to wince as he held it and carefully touched his pinky to the screen.
The screen lit up almost instantly.
“Thor!” you gasped, peeking over his arm to watch it come to life. “Oh my god, what did you do?”
“Darcy forgot her charger once,” he said proudly, handing the phone back to you. “I suppose you can call that a party trick.”
The phone blinked and then your wallpaper appeared. In the upper corner you saw the battery life was at ninety-nine percent. Excited could barely begin to describe you—you threw your arms around him and hugged him tightly. “You’re the best! I can’t believe I have the coolest brother-in-law. Seriously, Thor, thank you!”
He laughed and embraced you back with only one arm, but you could feel the way his laughter rumbled in his chest. “You’re welcome, sister. Next time the phone dies, pay me a visit.”
And that’s just what you did. The next time you were left with the black screen of nothingness, you sought Thor out and found yourself wandering into what felt like a battlefield. Thor graciously swung his hammer and taunted his friends, which would have been weird, but you knew better. It probably would have been weird to find him not sparring with his close friends. While he had matured a lot, it was so easy for him to indulge in his childish side. No matter how harsh the world seemed or how horrible the weight of being a prince was, still, he found ways to continue being happy through it all.
With a grin, you cupped your hands around your mouth to shout his name, and suddenly found yourself staring down his hammer.
Meijer? No, that wasn’t it. It began with an M, you knew that for sure. Dammit, Meijer was a grocery chain. Right?
The name didn’t matter. Not when it was flying towards you at an unsettling speed.
“Thor! Lady Y/N—“
“Look out!”
“Call Mjölnir back—“
Mjölnir. That was it.
You dropped to the ground so quickly that you couldn’t breathe for a moment. It was like every last bit of air was knocked from your lungs and you couldn’t do anything but wait for your brain to catch up.
“Loki will surely have our heads,” you heard someone groan.
Hands wrapped around your arms and lifted you back up to your feet, and that’s when you saw Thor staring back at you, trying to give you a smile, but he was clearly still worried. “Sister! I wish you had given me notice so I could have escorted you out myself.”
“I don’t need any special treatment,” you tried to reason, though admittedly you were still a bit shaken from the close call. Everyone else still seemed hesitant, too, not exactly sure what to believe.
“Of course not,” he agreed. “But I do value my life, Lady Y/N, and allowing you to be injured would only bring forth my demise.”
You wanted to roll your eyes but then again, Loki was rather protective, and you knew he’d cause chaos if you returned to him with so much as a paper cut. “I’d never allow it,” you said instead, “you’re such a good big brother.”
Thor grinned and turned for a moment, as if trying to hide how happy that made him. “Did you seek to flatter me or was there another reason for your visit?”
You held up your phone. It had been long dead, and it wasn’t like you could answer emails or call anyone given the lack of signal, but that didn’t matter. You had deleted anything that wasn’t meaningful to make room for all of your favorite songs. The only remnants of Midgard that you kept with you sat within playlists and full albums because nothing else was worthwhile, not when Loki was here.
“I need my phone charged so I can listen to music,” you said sheepishly.
“Oh! This again.” Thor eagerly rubbed his hands together before extending his pinky and slowly, carefully, tapping the back of your phone. Lo and behold, the screen flashed, and the battery life was suddenly at ninety-nine percent.
“Perfect!”
“Just like last time,” he agreed, quite proud of himself.
It became a routine. You’d get about two days out of your phone’s battery life as long as you kept the screen brightness low and didn’t constantly change the songs. If you took pictures or did anything else, that just meant more visits to Thor, not that he would complain. Between wedding planning and Odin’s lectures, you found yourself listening to music almost constantly. You started hiding in the library when you could, and only left when Loki came to find you.
After a long day of waiting for Loki, after many meetings with Thor, you found yourself yet again in the library. Your dress constantly swayed as you shifted your weight. From one foot to another, bouncing nervously, you stood among the tall shelves for what felt like hours, days, pretending to look for something to read. Understanding any of it, however, was impossible, but you continued to nod along, as carefully as you could, to the beat of your music and pretend like everything was okay.
A large, cold hand wrapped around your arm so suddenly that you couldn’t breathe.
It was Loki who pulled you around so quickly. You scrambled to pull the earbuds out when you saw the hurt and confusion flash across his face, all with no time to calm your nerves from his sudden touch.
“You’re seeing my brother in private,” he said. It was not a question, you’d noticed, but he waited as if it were.
“I did visit your brother, yes,” you said confusedly. “Is everything alright?”
“I should ask you the same. Why are others speculating you’ve come to your senses and chosen the correct brother?”
Your stomach dropped. Rumors were bound to be everywhere given your, well, situation, but you didn’t think they would arise just from talking with Thor.
Loki, avoiding your gaze, gave a bitter chuckle and continued. “Most people find it laughable except for Odin. He’s seething and I guarantee he’ll send for Thor just to chew him out.”
But you didn’t care about Odin. You grabbed Loki's hand and stared up at him sadly. “I’m sorry.”
“I trust you,” he responded, though he still wouldn’t look at you. “I do, my love, I trust you completely. I just need reassurance. Because after Thor is scolded, I am sure I’ll be next, and—“
“I love you and only you,” you told him without hesitation. “I only asked Thor to charge my phone so I could listen to music. Odin keeps pulling me aside and it’s a lot to handle, but the phone battery only lasts so long.”
Finally, Loki met your gaze. “What do you mean?”
“Well the phone is constantly running so the battery gradually—“
“Not the phone. Is my father bothering you?”
“Oh!” You shrugged and leaned further into him, smiling now that he finally looked back at you. “Just a lot of passive aggressive talks about how I’m going to be a princess now and I can’t embarrass him further.” Which, yeah, sure, but you didn’t care about the whole princess thing. You were happy to stand back if it meant you could stay with Loki.
He paused. “I asked him not to burden you with such things.”
“I really don’t mind,” you lied easily, though it did not go unnoticed. “I don’t want to screw anything up. I’m sure life is more than pretty dresses and a handsome husband on Asgard.”
He smiled, finally, which you counted as a win. “Flattering me?”
“Maybe. Is it working?”
“Almost.” Loki kissed the tip of your nose before pressing another kiss to your forehead, where he lingered, sighing into your hairline and wrapping an arm around you. “I wish you’d have told me sooner about his pestering. I’ll ask him again to leave you be.”
Things should’ve gone back to normal. They did for the most part—you joined Loki for breakfast in the mornings and missed him throughout the day when he was away, but Thor was not his normal self.
It showed in his eyes and the way he seemingly deflated every time he saw you or Loki. You tried to avoid him when possible—maybe he was uncomfortable with all of the rumors going around and you hated the thought of it. Thor was an amazing guy and future brother-in-law. The big goofball didn’t deserve to walk on eggshells like this.
You finally passed him in the hall and he asked how you were. Days had passed and his soft voice, normally so loud and strong, was barely making it through to you. “I’m doing well,” you told him, voice just as soft. “I’m sorry for the rumors. I didn’t realize—“
“It’s not your fault,” he blurted out rather quickly. “I… I only wish I had spoken to my brother before others had.” He tried to give you a smile but it didn’t touch his eyes.
“He knows the truth,” you murmured. “I’ll try to limit how much I need my phone.”
But bad days didn’t care about rumors. Bad days didn’t care that you were meant to be a princess, and they especially didn’t care if you were in love. Well, that was mostly Odin, but it was so easy to let his words burrow deep under your skin and ignite from the inside. You felt ashamed to say Odin’s words had you reaching for your phone and making your way towards the gardens.
A whore. He had actually gotten mad enough to call you a whore, right to your face, and you couldn’t do anything but stand there and take it. You had tried your hardest to be polite and kind, something you thought would be welcome, but he still only saw you as a Midgardian whore taking up all of his son’s time.
The gardens were lovely, and you tried your hardest to ground yourself in the moment as you settled against the base of a tree. It was the tree Loki often brought you to sit under, like it was reserved for just the two of you.
But you could still feel the dull ache in your chest. The song wasn’t working, either. It wasn’t loud enough, but you didn’t have enough battery, and—
Your phone died without warning, and it took everything in you not to cry. Not today, you wanted to plead to the universe, please not today. But it wouldn’t turn back on. You didn’t want to bother Thor and give Odin more reason to hate you, but you couldn’t exactly sit under the tree and cry your eyes out.
Except that was exactly what you were doing. You frantically wiped at your eyes and tried your hardest not to make a sound, but your pathetic little sniffles still escaped. You felt stupid for crying over a phone and being called a whore, but the constant nitpicking was growing to be too much.
“There’s my darling! I thought I—what’s the matter?”
You looked up to see Loki‘s concerned face staring back. He knelt down beside you and cupped your face, this thumb swiping away tears as he held you close. “What happened?” he asked softly. “You were fine this morning, were you not?”
“I’m fine,” you lied, trying to pull away from him. You failed. “I just—I don’t know. It’s stupid.”
“It isn’t stupid, where is your phone?”
“My phone’s right here, why?”
Loki took it from you and tapped the screen, frowning when nothing happened. “You always listen to music when you’re upset.”
You laughed tearfully—he knew you so well. “It’s dead.”
“Well,” he said, pulling away to instead settle beside you, “I supposed I’ll have to do.”
You weren’t sure what he meant until settled beside you, pulled you against him, and began to hum. It took you a moment to recognize the song, but it was definitely one you played frequently. You wiped your eyes again and tried to listen to him instead, trying so hard to stop crying, but you blubbered anyway, too touched that he knew one of your songs when you knew he didn’t care for Midgardian music whatsoever.
“I don’t know all the words,” he sang to the tune of the song. “But I know how the song should sound.”
You laughed.
“And she loves me anyway,” he sang, “so I don’t need to learn the lyrics.”
You just leaned against him and let him hum, sometimes making up his own words just to earn a giggle from you. All your problems seemed so far away as you sat with him beneath the tree, listening to him. For the first time in a few days, you had actually felt at peace.
“I’ll ask Thor to charge your phone again,” Loki murmured, kissing the top of your head. “Though you know I’m always happy to sing to you.”
“I’m very glad,” you chuckled. “But I don’t think Thor wants to be bothered about the phone anymore. I think Odin really ripped him a new one.”
“Probably,” Loki said as his fingers trailed up your back lightly. You welcomed the feeling and melted against him further, if it was even possible. You thought back to Odin’s words and wondered what he would say if he caught you practically sitting on top of Loki outside where anyone could see. “What are you thinking about?” Loki asked, his voice quiet. “Thor won’t mind charging your phone, I promise you he’s more than happy to assist. You should have heard him bragging to our mother about being such a good brother, it was sickening.”
“As long as you’re sure he doesn’t mind…”
He cupped your face and pulled your chin up, so you had no choice but to look at him. “What are you thinking about?” he asked again.
You didn’t want to tell him about Odin’s cruel words. He would be furious and it would cause a huge argument, and you knew Loki and Odin weren’t on the best of terms to begin with. You didn't want to be responsible for it getting worse. “I was thinking about the song,” you lied, trying your best to keep your voice even and believable. “You took a dirty song and turned it into something sweet just for me.”
Loki laughed. It caught you off guard but you smiled as his laughter rang out, trying not to flinch at how loud he seemed to be. “Oh darling, you and your scandalous songs,” he laughed, planting another kiss to the top of your head. “My sweet girl.”
His sweet girl. You liked the sound of that, nestling against him and enjoying the cool summer breeze. “My sweet prince,” you sighed against him.