Stars Have Fallen - A Loki Love Story (Marvel/Avengers)

13

"That is quite a high expectation for someone like myself," Loki expressed with a playful grin, going on dramatically, "but I'll do my best not to disappoint you, Essy."

Estrial cocked her head to the side. "Essy..?" She repeated in confusion.

With a light chuckle, Loki stood up. "It's a nickname," he explained, holding out his hand to the star. Estrial took his hand and let the tall man help her to her feet.

"Nickname," Estrial said with a small smile. She looked up at Loki. "Do you..?"

"No, I don't have one," he affirmed, "nor do I want one. 'Loki' will do just fine." Feeling the mood lighten between them, he sighed heavily in contentment. "Why don't you show me around?" He suggested, "I haven't gotten a good look about this place since I was trying to dominant the world."

It was a joke, of course, but there was more to his reason for saying this. He knew that Estrial had not seen him in his time of selfishness. Sure, she could sense his feelings, but she could not read the details of what he'd done. Loki wanted to see how she would react.

To his surprise, Estrial was unphased. How? How could this girl, who was terrified just by the sound of a raised voice, not fear him? Was it the bond they shared that clouded her judgement toward him? Or could she truly sense that the evil in him was not so evil after all? "I will," Estrial confirmed, walking out of her room with Loki.

Once out of the safety of her dark room, Estrial's being faded into that of a ghost. She instinctively clung to Loki's forearm. The demigod was taken aback, glancing down at her in confusion. "What are you doing?" He asked, his voice coming out more repulsed than intended.

Estrial grew shy, shrinking down a bit. "I don't want you to lose me," she muttered.

Loki laughed, making light of her worry. "I won't lose you, Essy," he insisted. However, he couldn't be sure of that; Estrial was quite hard to see in this lighting. And she must've felt his uncertainty, for she only tightened her grip in him. Then, they began to walk.

• December 14, 2012 •

"This is incredible," Jane marveled as she examined Estrial's glowing arm. "You're sure you're okay with this?"

"..This..?" Estrial wondered in confusion.

"Um, yeah," Jane replied somewhat awkwardly, "like, me studying you."

Estrial nodded in understanding and gave the woman a timid smile. She was finally growing more used to being around people. "I am okay with this."

Thor had invited Jane to the Avengers tower to meet the fallen star, knowing that she would take an immediate interest in it. And, being an astrophysicist, Jane did indeed find Estrial mindblowing.

The two woman sat in the main Avengers living room on a couch, accompanied by Thor and Loki. The two demigods sat on a couch parallel to the girls. Thor wore a warm smile as he watched them interact, while Loki looked bored out of his mind.

"I had no idea that stars had a consciousness," Jane breathed out, smiling in excitement as she continued to look-over Estrial. Her body was half transparent in the evening-sun lit room. "And you said most of them just sleep? That's why they don't move?"

"They are the essence of neutrality," Estrial explained quietly, slightly shaken by Jane enthusiasm.

Jane's grin widened. "This is...this is amazing!" She exclaimed, "the fact that you managed to create a physical human body for yourself." She then began to ramble on, "it makes sense, I guess; stars are just gases and smoke. And with an intelligence, they could potentially morph into whatever they'd like." Pausing for a moment, she looked abruptly into Estrial's eyes, "but, you're solid now..can you change back?"

Estrial had never thought about that before. Could she change back? "I..don't know," she murmured. Shifting in her seat a bit uncomfortably.

Loki, who'd been uncharacteristically silent for the entire conversation, finally spoke up. He sighed dramatically and spoke to Jane, "don't talk so fast, you'll make her explode."

Jane narrowed her eyes at the younger demigod, taking this as a teasing joke. But Thor pursed his lips to the side. "That's actually true," he admitted, "just..a little calmer, if you can." He spoke sensitively to his love.

"Oh," Jane declared, scooting a bit away from Estrial, "I'm sorry, I'm just.."

"Excited," Estrial finished for her with a small grin, "and fast." When Jane gave her a confused look, she explained, "your emotions are flashing. Very fast."

Jane's eyes widened and her mouth gaped slightly in awe. "Did my brother not mention?" Loki asked, entertained by Jane's bafflement, "Essy can see what you're feeling."

"Woah.." Jane huffed with a grin of wonder. After recovering from shock and calming herself down, she asked in a more soft voice, "how?"

Estrial looked from Jane, to Thor, to Loki, then back to Jane. "You see stars glow. In the sky," she began to explain shyly, "I see you glow, like the stars. But...different."

Jane blinked in surprise. Loki, too, found this new bit of information intriguing. He leaned forward in his seat a bit and asked for clarification, "so you're saying that, to the stars, we are the ones that glow?" Estrial looked to him and smiled, nodding smally.

"Glow with feeling," Estrial confirmed.

Holding her hand to her head, Jane took a deep breath. "This opens up a whole new perspective of space and what's in it," she emphasized, "stars..alive."

"Not alive," Estrial countered in a low voice.

Jane nodded. "Right, but, conscious."

"And what a shame it is that you can't share this information with the public," Loki spoke with false empathy, chuckling at the end of his sentence.

Jane, who still was not nearly ready to accept Loki as an acquaintance, shot him a subtle glare. "That's fine, actually," she retorted. She then turned back to Estrial and smiled softly. "Just learning this, for myself...is more than I could ever have asked for."