Life Is What You Make It (A Tom Hiddleston Fanfic)

Chapter 3: Sneaking in to Hang Out with the Popular Kids

The High After the Storm

After leaving the stage, the adrenaline from being on the Wonder Woman panel is slow to leave. We had an awesome response from the crowd, and I can't shake the feeling that I am doing something great here.

Most of the main cast of performers participated in the panel. Besides Anna and myself, there was Amy Adams who portrays Veronica Cale, and Peter Drinklage who plays Doctor Psycho. There was also Bruce Willis who portrays Steve Trevor, and Channing Tatum who appears as Steve's son, Chace – and Wonder Woman's main love interest (a slight twist from the comics). It's also funny that I'm again acting with Channing – I'm sure cyber space is abuzz with rumors of our passionate affair, though I know for a fact that Channing is one of the most devoted husbands and fathers to be found.

Anna hugs me when we are out of sight of the crowd, and the crew is clapping when we step into the safety of backstage. I know I am grinning like a crazy clown at Clown-A-Com, but I can't help myself. Anna sees her husband just off-stage, preparing to take control of the crowd for the Avengers/Guardians panel. She hugs him fiercely, and gives him a devastating kiss. Suddenly, I wish I could kiss someone devastatingly.

As I finally look up to see where I am walking, Tom stands in front of me. "That was a bloody fantastic panel!" he says, with genuine excitement in his eyes. I naturally go to him and extend my arms in "bro-hug" fashion. Only, Tom's "bro-hug" seems to turn into something else.

I'm not sure how Chris Hemsworth or Robert Downey, Jr., interpret his hugs, but I can tell you from a female perspective, there is something both innocent and sexual about them.Tom bends slightly at the knees (because he is sooo tallll!), then he takes me in his arms as if I am the last human an earth, and his survival depends upon hugging me.

His hug is warm and deep, not at all the quick back-pat like some other hugs. As he hugs me, I feel his lean but strong back muscles where my hands touch him. He smells so wonderful that I think I could lose myself it in forever. I feel his hug deepen slightly, and I think we may never let each other go. I feel at once peaceful and completely charged as if touched with a live wire.

I fight the desire to both melt as if I am a five-year-old girl who is receiving solace because she skinned her knee, and compete in, as a grown woman, the world suck-face championship with Tom. Yes, it's weird, but it's not Tom's fault. In hindsight, I believe that his intentions are pure – it's only the interpretations of others that lead them astray.

The Hiddles Hug ends all too soon, and I step back to give Tom some space. There he is, looking at me again with his true-blue eyes. He seems disappointed as well at the hug's end.

"Thanks for the compliment," I say, breaking eye contact so that I can catch my mental breath. "Now, it's your turn. Go knock 'em dead," I say, smiling.

Tom smiles, mostly in a boyish way, but with a hint of mischief. It is a perfect smile for the transition from Tom Hiddleston to Loki Laufeyson. Tom is not dressed as Loki for this panel; he did that a few years ago at Comic-Con, and he brought the crowd to its knees (in true Loki style). Today, Tom is dressed in dark jeans, a light blue t-shirt and casual leather jacket. He's also wearing biker boots which lends to the good-boy to bad-boy metamorphosis.

As I watch, I see the mental transformation. I see the gentleness that is Tom alter toward a more ruthless naughtiness. There's something in my brain that is at once concerned yet drawn to this change. I know as well as any actor that there is a little bit of yourself in the characters you play; some part, no matter how small, that makes you connect. I wonder how much of Loki is in Tom and vice versa.

Just then, Chris Evans walks up and says in a low voice to Tom, "Avengers assemble." When he leaves, I murmur just loud enough for Tom/Loki, "He does know that you are not an Avenger." "He does," Tom/Loki leans in to whisper in my ear, "but I am a demi-god, so he knows to treat me with the respect I demand." He ends this statement with almost a growl in his voice. Oh Neptune, I don't know who is hotter – Tom or his incarnation of Loki!