Chapter Text
"Y/N?" Loki called from the other side of your door, knocking gently.
"Come in." Opening the door quietly, he found you sitting on your bed, huddled over your laptop. Cuddling further into your blanket cocoon, you glanced up from reading to give him a tired smile.
"What are you doing?" Inching closer, he gestured to your laptop.
"Reading." Turning your attention back to the screen, you scrolled down and continued scanning the page.
"The five stages of grief?" Folding his arms he glanced over your shoulder. You hummed in response. Loki leaned closer, practically propping his chin on your shoulder. "What prompted you to look into the five stages of grief?" Turning your head, you almost bumped noses with him before pulling back and clearing your throat.
"Just curious." You hedged, shutting the laptop and pushing it away. Shuffling over, you patted the spot next to you in invitation. Loki perched on the edge of your bed and looked at you intently.
"This had been a very strange day for me as well." He sighed and raked a hand through his hair.
"What, you weren't expecting to find out you were gonna be a parent?" You nudged his arm, chuckling halfheartedly. Loki propped his elbows on his knees and smirked at you.
"In a word, no." Seeming to recall something, he crossed his legs and turned to look at you with such intensity that you squirmed.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Narrowing your eyes, you pulled the blankets over your head and peaked out at him from a peep hole you created. He merely raised a brow slightly. To your mind it seemed like he was studying you, almost as if he were trying to peel back your skin and muscles and take a look at your heart, mind, and soul. "Loki." You groaned, flopping back on the bed."
"I cannot determine what has possessed you to proceed with having this... child." His face scrunched when he said the word, it felt foreign on his tongue. "If it even is a child." Rolling over you propped up on your elbow and looked at him.
"Hey, it would be kinda freaky if a xenomorph bust out of my chest." Your eyes danced.
"That's a poor jest." He folded his arms and looked at you sourly, but you didn't miss the crease between his brows or the almost weary note in his voice. He was worried about you. That stunned you. After all the back-and-forth jabs and barbs, Loki was worried about you. Mentally you shook yourself, trying to be present in the moment. That was something you could unpack later. Sitting up, you looked at him seriously.
"Loki, from was Bruce told us, all of his scans thus far indicate a naturally progressing pregnancy."
"But scans can be wrong."
"And scans can do their job and be right." You reached for his hand and laced your fingers through his. Loki's eyes widened at that, but he didn't try to pull back. "Sure, maybe a xenomorph abomination will come flying out of my uterus, and there'll be lots of blood and guts and it'll be super gory," He scowled, and you squeezed his hand. "Or, a baby will come out of me, a tiny human-jotun hybrid... and there'll still be blood and a fair deal of screaming so, you know, practically the same thing."
"I don't think I like your teasing." He sneered playfully, squeezing your hand. You grinned and squeezed his hand back. Loki's shoulders slumped as he sighed quietly in momentary relief before his eyes flickered again. "Jotun." That was another word that sounded foreign in his mouth. "Xenomorph, as you jest, or Jotun, either way our spawn is a monster." He spat, pulling his hand free of yours. You noted the stubborn set of his jaw, and the way he refused to even look at you now and sighed.
"Loki." Shucking off the blankets you pressed his hand gently and waited for him to look at you. After several tense moments, he turned his head slightly and looked at you outside the corner of his eyes. You could work with that. "What makes our child being half Jotun, monstrous?"
"You have to ask?!" Loki turned his whole body to face yours and looked aghast. Shrugging, you look at him impassively.
"You say it all as if the Jotun aren't simply one of the vast numbers of alien species out there."
"The Jotun are different." He ground out.
"Oh, yeah? And what makes the Jotun so special?"
"For one, they're frozen blue giants, the lot of them."
"I see, and that makes them monsters?"
"Well... yes." Loki looked at you incredulously. "I fail to see what about that you don't understand."
"For one, you're not a giant, so this little bean inside of me probably isn't going to be one either." His eyes softened slightly when you patted your non-existent bump. Looking into your eyes he opened his mouth to speak, but you held a finger over his lips. "I know what I'm about to say won't instantly melt away years of ingrained lessons and perceptions of self, but here it goes. Sure, maybe we'll have a blue kid." Pulling your hand away, you looked soberly at him. "So what?" His mouth opened and closed several times before clenching his jaw.
"So what?" He hissed through clenched teeth.
"So what? Besides," You whispered, leaning closer to him with a sly grin. "I've always kinda had a thing for blue skin." His eyes widened again, and he blinked at you. You grin widened when his pupils dilated and contracted.
"You have not." His voice rumbled low in disbelief.
"Oh, but I have." Your grin turned downright devious. Loki's brows pinched and a flurry of emotions flashed across his eyes before finally a hint of admiration shone in their blue depths.
"You may indeed be worthy of the offspring of Asgard." The moment lingered, and your skin started to crawl under the gravitas of the moment, and you blinked.
"But is Asgard worthy of my offspring?" Loki's eyes flashed again at your mischievous tone, and he chuckled.
"You're a hellion."
"Loki Odinson, was that almost.... a compliment!" You clasped your hand to your chest dramatically and gasped. "Aghast, shock, faint!" You flopped back on the bed, and Loki pulled you back up with a roll of his eyes.
"Oh dear." He released your arm and paled.
"What is it?" You scooted closer in concern. Loki looked at you reluctantly.
"Thor." Your heart leapt to your throat.
"That's right, I hadn't even considered telling the team." You breathed, turning to stare at the wall.
"I don't dread telling any of them."
"Thor's not that scary, I bet he'll take it very well." You nudged his arm with your elbow.
"That's not what I'm worried about." His eyes cut to you.
"LOKI!" You jumped when you heard Thor's excited voice as he thundered past your room in search of Loki.
"He sounds happy." You offered, glancing over to see Loki pinching the bridge of his nose.
"That's what I'm worried about. Can you imagine how insufferable he's going to be when he finds out he's going to be an uncle?"
"Oh, he's going to be so excited."
"You're not helping." Loki glared at you.
"Sorry." You chuckled.
"HAS ANYONE SEEN LOKI?" Loki groaned and rubbed at his temples. You snorted and dissolved into a fit of laughter. Loki growled and tackled you against the bed, caging you between his arms.
"It's not that funny." He hissed, playfully holding a pillow over your face.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" You squealed, swatting at the pillow. Tossing the pillow aside he caught your wrist, and you instantly sobered. His weight was braced on his free arm, and he looked down at you seriously. Your breath caught. If it were even possible the blue of his eyes was darker than usual, and his pupils were definitely dilated. His breathing had shallowed to match yours, and was he leaning closer?
"LOKI!" You jumped apart at Thor's booming voice.
"Uhm..." You began furiously smoothing down the blankets. Loki ran a hand through his hair and cleared his throat.
"I should go see what the lumbering oaf wants before he starts eating the furniture." He glanced in your direction, but you refused to make eye contact.
"Yeah... that sounds... like a good idea." You continued smoothing blankets and fluffing pillows until you heard your door quietly shut. Groaning, you flopped back and covered your face with a pillow. "Guess life wasn't complicated enough."