Lore: When a Trickster Meets His Match

"Loki."

Her hands were timid. They were much more shy than he had been, which should've made him wonder if he'd been too forward with his actions in the first place, and there was a tremble in each fingertip as she gently reached out and put her hands against his chest. He hoped that he hadn't given away his feelings, that his heart wasn't spilling out his thoughts through the morse-code splutter of each heartbeat as she put her palm against his heart.

Her breath fluctuated from time to time, perhaps with a brush of his thumb across her mouth, or she became stunned by a thought or a feeling that floated through her. Sometimes their eyes were closed. Sometimes open. Regardless of what they could see, they stood in that embrace to feel the mingling of their breath and to hear the singing of their blood in their veins.

"Darling," Loki spoke.

The woman met his eyes.

"May I kiss you?"

Her gaze mellowed.

It was all that he wanted to do. To say thank you. To say thank you for understanding. Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for being here. Thank you for not trying to stab me in the kidney, as many people would've. It seemed that she wouldn't respond with words. It was the way that her jaw tensed as her muscles stretched, putting her on tiptoes so that she was tall enough to reach his lips. It was a split-second that her arms came up, resting now on his shoulders. His eyes met hers as he leaned in to bridge the gap.

It was the way that it all went crashing down.

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Lore is a book of short stories about Marvel's Loki.

For a character as multi-faceted as Loki, it can be difficult for him to find love. Here are the stories of people who are drawn to him (whether they like it or not) and seem to fall in love with the maddeningly different aspects of Loki's character: a trickster prince, a tortured villain searching for redemption, a frost giant, a god of mischief and stories, a TVA agent, a would-be king and a sorcerer.