A Falling Bluebird

To Asgard, Together

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Loki let out a sigh, stared at the pile of cloth. It looked awfully small for the incredibly powerful creature that had just been wearing it. He bent down, picked up Laevateinn and surveyed the room.

Still in a ring around him, the sycophants stared on in shock. Their foreheads were wrinkled and mouths gaping, hands twisted in surprise. And a healthy measure of unease. Loki hefted the staff, shook it at them in a vaguely threatening way. They scattered.

Revenge sated, he wearily made his way back to the ship, clambered in and just sat for a moment.

The Grandmaster had been sent to Helheim. A teleportation which would usually be out of the question, even if he had access to Gungnir. As well as the entire weapon's vault. But the combination of his life force, Laevateinn and unrestrained Yggdrasil seemed to be enough. The amount of energy such a feat must have taken might have been cause for concern, but Loki was so tired. Thinking didn't seem possible past the slush in his skull.

He hadn't felt like this since the time he fell into a frozen lake as a child. Above him, the hole he tumbled through iced over. Loki had been shivering on and off, beating at the blank white which kept him trapped, cold-weakened limbs barely even making a sound. After hours, someone had found him. He forgot who. But he had been exhausted, without the strength to so much as shiver.

If the temperature plummeted now, Loki doubted he would have the energy to shiver.

He could still turn a dial, though.

Arms heavy and fingers immeasurably clumsy, Loki twisted it, only a few degrees at a time. Then spoke, "... Thor?" It was barely a rasp, but the response was immediate.

"Thor!" Banner's voice, "Thor, get over here. It's Loki!" At the last word, crashing and thumping came from the other end and he couldn't help a small, exasperated smile.

"Loki? You're alright?!"

"I'm fine. Reven-... I got 'im back." Everything was going fuzzy again.

"Oh no," Thor muttered. Why did he sound so concerned? Loki had done it! "What did you do?"

"I used my sei-... I magicked him to Hel."

A pause.

Then, "You what?!"

Loki sighed. If not for Thor being so irate, he would've already gone to sleep. "I sent 'im to Hel."

"For the love of the Norns, Loki! What were you thinking?! You should be dead!!"

"Well. I'm not," He leant back in his seat. Previously, he'd thought it was rather irritating, but the hard plastic seemed a lot softer now. "And Odin can eat his words. I did it. Didn't even need Gungnir neither. 'Impossible to tele- move to other Realms' my arse..."

"You just... Stay awake, okay?"

Loki sighed. Of course, Thor wanted him to not do the one thing which would help him stop feeling so shitty. "Really?" The word drew out, slipping past his lips, thick and heavy. A voice in the back of his head was mortified.

"Yeah. Definitely. We don't know how badly you're burnt out, Loki."

"You're forgetting something."

"I am?"

"Hmmhm."

"What is it?"

"If you want me to do something I don't want to, you gotta bribe me."