2 | 𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐃 ▹ LOKI LAUFEYSON

xxvi. the illusion

A M O R A

"So...how was your mission?" Thor asked, handing Amora a warm mug of tea.

She accepted it with a smile, happy to finally be able to relax on the sofa in her chambers with her friend. "It was...eventful but fine. Nothing that we couldn't handle."

Her mind immediately went to her conversation with Loki in the forest, but she chose not to mention it. It felt too personal, like it belonged to just the two of them.

She took a sip of the tea. "How are you? You have been away for some time."

With the unbalance in the Nine Realms, Amora knew that Thor was needed to restore peace, but she missed seeing her dear friend with him gone for months on end.

Thor smiled warmly. "I'm fine, Amora. The civil war in Alfheim has been quelled, the Jotuns are in a well enough state to hate us again, and the shipments from Nidavellir have restarted. The Nine Realms are closer to peace; the remaining unrest is primarily in Vanaheim now."

Amora nodded, having already heard most of the reports from Theoric. Taking another sip of her drink, she asked nonchalantly, "And how is Midgard?"

"Fine," Thor answered somewhat uncomfortably, "I check with Heimdall regularly on their status."

Amora raised an eyebrow. "And why have you not checked yourself? You do have a lady waiting for you down there, do you not?"

The prince looked down and shifted the mug in his grasp. "I don't know," he said quietly, "I want to go see Jane, but...what if I have been away too long? What if she is no longer mine?"

"Thor," Amora reached out and placed a hand over his, "if this were two years ago, I'd say that it would be unlikely for a smart woman like that to wait for you. But you're a different man now. And if she is everything you say she is, she'll wait for you."

With fondness in his distant eyes, Thor smiled. "She is everything and more."

Amora sat back and smirked. "Honestly, I consider whatever she did to change you a miracle," she said wryly.

"Yes." A grimace flashed across Thor's face. "I was a fool then."

"And you aren't one now?" Amora quipped, eliciting a laugh from the prince.

"Speaking of fools," Thor said, propping his elbows on his knees, "Was there really no trouble with Loki on your trip?"

Amora paused before shaking her head slowly. "No. There was some tension between he and Gamora, but that was to be expected with their shared service to Thanos."

"But no scathing comments or quips? No veiled threats?"

Memories of their trip came back: the look of fear in Loki's eyes when Gamora first threatened Amora, the way the sorceress fell asleep with her head on his shoulder, the feeling of their first true kiss.

However, the fondness of those memories dissipated when her thoughts came to the cold aloofness of their final trip home. She wrung her hands together, wishing that the deep sense of loss would leave her.

She had hoped that seeing Theoric again would remind her of why she made her choice and give her a stronger peace of mind, but it only filled her with guilt.

"No," Amora said, shaking her head slowly, and shrugged, "Perhaps he had lost his edge."

"Or perhaps you stole it from him," Thor said, a knowing look, "I can recall many times when you rendered him speechless."