Beneath A Moonless Sky: A Thor Fanfic

Tumman Virran Taa

The next two months had passed by like a blur. Thor and Loki had been crashing with Emily and Lanie in their guest bedroom toward the back of the house, and while Thor often spent the night in Emily's bed, it was becoming a little...tense, housing the brothers in the same bedroom. Tony was working periodically with Lanie and Loki on reverse blueprints in the few precious hours of spare time he had a week, and both Gods had been relentlessly trying to aid Emily in both controlling and utilizing her newfound abilities.

Thor had all but given up on any and all attempts at bringing his brother home, content with the level of interest his brother was displaying in helping Emily become a trained sorceress...or as close to one as was humanly possible. Loki wasn't hurting anyone, and for now, Thor's casual sexual relationship with Emily was far more interesting than running around playing babysitter and tattle-telling on his little brother.

As for Lanie, her budding relationship with Loki was off to a confusing start. On the surface things were great; Loki was attentive, witty, and the pair had grown rather fond of reading together, or going off on little adventures that usually ended in Thor yelling and items getting smashed. But deeper than that...there was a turmoil brewing inside of them both. Lanie was falling helplessly in love with him, and it was obvious as the nose on her face...you could take one look at her, and her eyes would be holding all the blind admiration and affection in the world. Loki, however, while perfectly aware of his own blossoming feelings of comradery toward her, was terrified of the idea that she was getting too close to him. He didn't want to let her in and have everything fall apart around him, like it never failed to do, and nor was he overly keen of allowing himself to eventually break her heart. She deserved better than him.

Those were the thoughts swirling around in his head as he lay at her side that morning, staring at her porcelain skin as he very gently caressed the side of her face. She was sleeping, and she looked like an absolute angel as she lay there. He thought she was so beautiful, and it bothered him more than a little that she was just another thing he had to be jealous of. Thor got to pretend he didn't love Emily, and still worshipped her body in every single way she deserved. Loki couldn't do that, not with Lanie. The pair had gotten closer than he'd usually allow, and he knew things about his Fair One that were plenty enough to keep him at arms distance...like the fact that she was a mere virgin. His innocent little Lanie...he'd already corrupted her enough.

He leaned in, kissing her still lips as softly as possible, whispering that he was sorry, though he knew she couldn't hear him. He wasn't even supposed to be in here right now, but Thor had been driving him crazy with his snoring, and...well, if he was being honest Loki had been dwelling on her all night. He needed her to remember, he needed this to be over. If she was going to find out what all he'd done when Stark restored her memories and break his heart into a thousand pieces, he may as well rip the band-aid off now. "I wish things could be different, I truly do. Maybe in another life." He whispered, laying his hand on her forehead as he'd done with Tony all those months prior.

Meanwhile, Emily and Thor were sitting on wooden steps in the backyard, sharing drinks as they watched Milo chase birds happily from one side of the picket fence to the other. They had been waiting on Loki for a while, as it was time for another one of Emily's training sessions, but in the meantime the pair had been snuggling in that damned blood red cape. Emily had it pulled up to her nose, contentedly breathing in the scent of her favorite person in the world. It made Thor laugh.

"I'm right here, sweet girl. You needn't sniff the cape."

She blushed and hid her smile from him as he leaned in, tickling her with his beard as he peppered her sensitive skin with kisses. She was squirming, peals of laughter erupting from her chest as she playfully fought to wiggle out of his reach. They were cutting up and rolling around with one another when Loki stormed from the house, eyes alight with unshed tears as he forced an unamused smile toward the happy couple. They might have had a casual relationship, but it was more than Loki ever thought he and Lanie would have, and it was rubbing salt in an open wound.