Loki one-shots fanfiction ♡

35. dead are alive at night

If Thanos thought life after retirement was going to be simple for him, he was partly wrong.

To put it another way, Thanos saw Loki's ghost, and it kept haunting him.

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It first started with a shadow in the corner of his eye, something Thanos often brushed it off as a trick of the light, even if the shadow seemed to be following him around, creeping up on him from behind wherever he went.

When he turned to look he only saw nothingness.

Just a trick of the light. Nothing more.

He went back to harvesting his corn to prepare the soup for dinner. Life had been... quite plain for him after the war in Wakanda with the Avengers, but Thanos wouldn't have preferred it any other way. His work was done. He could finally rest, and that was exactly what he was doing.

He saw the shadow again when he was preparing the dinner in his non-fancy-looking kitchen in the non-fancy-looking cabin he called home. It was gone as soon as he glanced sideways at it.

Thanos made a soft hum from his throat, almost like he was in thought. He let his eyes stay on the now-empty spot for another few seconds before resuming where he left off with those ingredients in the pot.

He didn't think about the shadow again until he felt its presence hovering over his back where he sat and enjoyed his meal alone in silence.

He didn't turn to look this time, though he did put down the bowl in his hand and waited, like he wanted to know what it was going to do. It went away after a breath or two.

Then Thanos continued consuming that corn soup of his.

He went to sleep early that night. Or, he went to sleep early almost every night now. Life after his retirement had nothing much to do — he opted to farming, and that could only keep him occupied for as long as the sun still hung.

~~~

Thanos first saw Loki again in his sleep. He'd never seen him since... since the Statesman, since he'd killed him, and Thanos had expected he'd never see Loki again.

No resurrections this time, those were his own words. His promise.

Loki visited him tonight in his dream. Or, it was nothing more than his own imagination. Thanos wouldn't know which was the case, but the truth was, he barely thought about Loki again after having murdered him.
(He did think about his fallen daughter from time to time. Though she never made any appearance even in his dream after their trip to Vormir, save for that only time he was granted a chance to reunite with her shortly after his victory in Wakanda. She had asked what it costed, the victory, and he'd told her the truth; everything)

Thanos was in his room, sitting on his bed. Something about the atmosphere in the air told him this was a dream. Loki stood there in the corner, half of his body was hidden in the shadow, though he was wearing the exact same outfit he'd wore during his final moment, if his skin was a little paler than it was when he was still alive.

Thanos's eyes were quick to land on the mark ringing Loki's throat, it was dark and gruesome. Loki's face was in no better condition with his blood-red eyes and a sight of petechia scattering over his sclera. And Thanos didn't know how he should feel about that, though if anything he certainly wasn't intimidated.

Ghost wasn't something that scared him, had never been something he found frightening. Just a soul. And if their physical body failed to hurt him when they were alive, their ghost was even less of a threat.