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Golden, rowdy curls… unsure, confused steps.
The child was… lost, for certain. He had looked around and tried to act brave at first. But soon, it all devolved into panic and fear.
He was now crying. No, he was a sobbing mess. Crying out for his mother, looking around with frantic, wet eyes.
He was deep in the woods and there was no help in sight.
Were his parents not around? Why wasn’t anyone looking for him?
The hidden, shadowy figure moved closer to the boy as his sobs grew louder, drawn by his distress. Not a sound was heard, but a rustling of wind through the trees.
Slowly, the inky shadow took on a more solid form, though the shape looked like a mirage. Ever changing, never settling.
The boy hadn’t noticed the presence yet, for he was far too perturbed with his immediate surroundings.
Finally, on a whim, the shifting mirage settled on a form, just as his footsteps squished the fallen, half rotten leaves on the wet ground.
It had rained not long ago, and it might as well start pouring again.
Not that it mattered. To him, it didn't…
But the child would be soaked, and it wouldn’t bode well for him. Children were fragile little treasures, after all.
The boy turned around just as he heard the wet footsteps approaching, his eyes wide and terrified.
They were a lovely shade of blue, big and expressive.
He smiled, stopping before the boy, letting him observe him.
“W-Who are you?” he asked, his voice cracking with nerves, his little body shaking in response to both fear and the evening chill of the woods.
“That’s irrelevant, dear heart. Are you lost?” he asked the trembling boy, extending his hand towards him as an offer.
The boy didn’t move, eyeing his hand with apprehension.
He didn’t trust him. That was wise. Trusting strangers in the woods was bad form.
But in this instance, there was little room for choice.
Ah, but he knew he had to be patient. Children were delicate beings. Innocent from all wiles, they held a special place in his heart.
Bending down on one knee, he asked the same question again.
“Are you lost, my child?”
It took him a beat, but the boy finally gave him a little nod, his lips trembling as the tears once again escaped his eyes.
“I want to go home,” he mumbled, barely audible.
“I see.” The proffered hand still extended towards the boy. “Come then, we shall find a way back.”
Patience unlike which he usually possessed took over then, as he let the boy take his hand in a slow, measured approach.
“My mum says that I shouldn’t trust strangers,” the boy stated, even as he grasped his hand with his little fingers.
“That’s all true and wise, but your mum should’ve been here to protect you.”
He did feel a certain ire towards irresponsible parents.
“It’s not her fault. I ran away and got lost,” the boy said contritely, lowering his head. “I didn’t listen to her. I just wanted to run, to feel the wind on my face. I didn’t see where I was going.”
“Ah, I see. So you were being rebellious.” He smirked as he rose to his full height. “How very chaotic of you.”
The boy grew less scared and weepy and more loquacious as they began to walk, the sun setting behind them, darkening the woods.
“Is that bad? Being chaotic?”
“Not at all. Chaos is but an aspect of life. Without it, nothing would move, nothing would stir. Nothing would grow.”
“So… why did I get lost then? Why do bad things happen with chaos?”
“You think it’s a bad thing, but perhaps it isn’t. For what it’s worth, I found you.”
“Yes. But what were you doing in the woods? Were you lost as well? Or were you looking for something?”
A chuckle escaped between them. The boy was a curious creature. Good for him.
“No. I wasn’t lost, neither was I looking for something. I simply love wandering in the woods. I’m at home with nature.”
“Where do you live?”
“Far from here, but close enough to visit these woods every once in a while”
“You sound like a riddle, and you talk in a weird way.”
Another chuckle. “Do I?”
“Yup. But I like it.”
Slowly, they walked in a straight line and reached the edge of the woods, stepping onto the familiar grey asphalt that served as the pathway for all the manner of modern human conveyance.
“I recognize this road!” the child claimed with newfound enthusiasm, pulling at his hand as he tried to cross over to the other side.
He let him pull him, smiling down at him as he chirped about his house, which was only a block away.
Of course, it was.
Hand in hand, they reached the boy’s home in no time at all.
“Come inside,” the boy urged, still hanging onto his hand as they approached the house’s main door. “Please?”
He let out a sigh. “I must not, dear. I have places I need to be”
The boy pouted. “But you said you just wander around.”
“Not without a purpose. I do have things to do.”
The boy looked down, then sideways at the door to his house, letting out a little sigh of disappointment.
“Alright. But I want to thank you.”
“I accept your thanks.”
Shaking his head, the boy looked up at him again, one hand still hanging onto him while the other fished something out from his pants pocket.
“Here, please have it. I wanted to give you something more, something bigger, but that’s all I have right now.” He raised his hand up, offering him a confection.
He recognized it–chocolate, one of his favoured sweet treats.
“Please have it.”
Well, he wasn’t the one to reject an offering. Especially so innocently given. But… an offering given so freely had to have its consequences.
Silently, the confection changed hands.
“I shall take my leave now.” He bent down on his knee again, stroking the golden haired head of the boy, uttering a blessing audible to no one but him, spoken in a tongue as old as time itself. “Be good, and don’t spread too much chaos and mischief. At least, not until you grow up a bit. You’ll get plenty of opportunities when you do.”
The boy nodded, though his eyes grew sad. “Before you go, can I at least know your name, sir?”
Lightning sparked up in the sky behind him as he rose, illuminating his pitch dark tresses as he gazed down at the boy, a kind smile gracing his sharp features.
“I have many names, but you may call me Loki.”
Thunder rumbled then, loud and cracking as the rain came down in a heavy downpour. “Till we meet again, Tom.”
Patting his head again, he turned around and walked away, disappearing into the sheet-like rain.
“Wait… how did you know my name?” the little boy called out in confusion, only to receive silence in response.
Silence and the clamouring rain…
[Present Day]
“Tom? Hello, you still there?”
A blink, and just like that, his thoughts scattered, leaving the shadow of the memory behind. He pulled it back under lock and key, like always. This one wasn’t meant to be shared with anyone.
“Yes, I’m here. Sorry, bad connection.”
“Ah ok. As I was saying, Disney is going ahead with this thing, and it’s going to be pretty big. They want new stories, and they’re very eager to have one with Loki.”
That was… a surprise. He hadn’t been expecting this.
“Loki?”
“Yup.”
“As much as I want this to happen, he's… well, he’s dead.”
He had to say that with a very heavy heart, even apologizing silently to the one he knew was certainly alive and watching over him.
“We’ll figure something out. Are you game for it?”
He rubbed his palm against his face, closing his eyes. He was pretty certain that he heard a chuckle echo around him, light and effervescent and almost inaudible.
“You have to be gentle with my heart, Louis, I can’t keep saying goodbye to him. Be still, my heart.”
“I understand, man, but this time, you’ll get the reins. Tell his story in a more fleshed out way, it’s gonna be a whole series.”
“A whole series, you say?”
“Yeah.”
Tom opened his eyes and smiled, shaking his head in disbelief and joy.
“I’m in.”
Just as the call disconnected, he went to his kitchen and opened the fridge, taking out a dark chocolate bar.
“Thank you,” he murmured softly, smiling to himself as he placed it on the counter and went off to take Bobbie out for a run.
He knew that it’d be gone by the time he’d return. Just like it always did.