Trickster of Ice

I Have Returned

(Narrator POV)
Loki was ready to leave surprisingly fast. His family and friends were easy to say goodbye to since everyone had no doubt that he'd be back as soon as he could be.

Normally, they'd worry for him. Some small part of them did, because it was just in people's nature to worry for the ones they loved, but everyone knew that Loki was too stubborn and powerful to go out in a fight without coming back to say a final farewell.

Packing took him almost no time at all because he just had to use magic to stuff some things in his pocket dimension. He didn't have a bag with him when he came back, but he was indeed fully prepared.

He met the Avengers by the area they had arrived in so that they could all be brought back to Asgard by Heimdall.

Loki really didn't want to go back to Asgard, but he understood that it was probably necessary for the politics of it all.

That didn't mean he had to like it though.

He was also slightly shifting as he stopped by them because he was back to his Asgardian height and some leather armor that was dark blue, black, and green in equal measures (a/n like his Ragnarok armor except with some added green)

However, his skin remained blue and his eyes stayed red.

"You should change back to how you appeared before.... because um... the humans may be uncomfortable!" Thor stated too loudly.

Loki scoffed even though he knew that Thor was right. He had been planning to change his appearance for the Midgardians because they weren't used to aliens, and he didn't want to end up in the renowned Area 51.

Men in Black may have been a great movie series, but he doubted that humans were ready to live like that.

Typically, he wouldn't care if how he looked or acted made people uncomfortable, but he figured that this was probably supposed to be top-secret from the public. Having a blatantly blue alien randomly strolling around may ruin the surprise.

Plus, he really didn't like all the attention that would bring to him. He didn't mind attention generally, and a lot of the time he fought for it simply because he didn't understand why Thor got all the praise and he didn't (he wanted a piece of the attention pie, gosh darn it!), but mostly he liked the shadows. That was his comfort zone and having a bunch of people openly gawk at him for weeks didn't seem to fit the bill.

Plus, the Lilo and Stitch jokes would get old fast.

The point was, Loki did plan to shift, but he wasn't about to let Thor know that.

"No. I refuse to allow your bigoted opinions to change me." Loki stated firmly with a finality that made Thor sputter.

"Will you leave me alone to speak to my friends for a moment?" He asked after a second of stunned silence.

Loki once again replied in the negative. "No, I will not wander out of ear-shot so you may badmouth me to your friends and throw yourself a pity party. We are both princes that are being sent on a mission to protect another realm. You are a future king, act like it."

Another stunned silence happened where Natasha seriously debated how it was possible for someone to gain her respect so quickly, and Tony refrained from dancing in pure amusement.

Clint was impressed and amused, while Bruce was liking how defiant this newcomer was, and Steve was just plain shocked.

Thor stomped off toward the pickup zone in a huff. Loki smirked and changed his skin from blue to pale, and his eyes from red to green.

"I don't like it, but he's right. I don't want to freak out any poor Midgardians so I'll keep a more common skin. However, Thor will still see me as a Jotun, in all my blue-skinned glory." Loki told the Avengers that had stayed by him. Clint and Tony gave broad grins while the other three gave hesitant, small smiles.