Avalin hugged him tightly at the compliment, smiling softly and kissing his cheek, "My love, you compliment me too much. You're the one that looks like a God." She wandered to the bathroom when she finally pulled away, taking her time as she brushed her hair. She debated how to style it before deciding that leaving it down would be fine. Then she walked back to Loki with a smile, sitting down by him and pressing a kiss to his cheek before catching sight of his hair and sighing with a smile, "Would you like me to brush through your hair before we leave, love?" She personally didn't mind the messier style, but she wasn't sure how Thor would react, and plus, it had been a while since she was able to do something as simple with him as brush his hair.
He hummed softly at the kiss and leaned into her slightly. He laughed and shook his head “too messy?” He asked teasingly before nodding and taking off the circlet and turning around so his back was to her. “Want a brush?” He asked, conjuring one in his hand before slipping off The bed and sitting in front of her so it doesn’t be easier for her to reach. “Since when has my queen been concerned with my appearance, hm?” He asked with a small smirk, glancing up at her. His attention was averted when Queen came up to him and started swatting at his hair, thinking it something to play with.
Loki sighed softly and shook his head, nudging the car aside gently
She stuck her tongue out at him like a child but smiled, "You know I like your messy hair, but I don't think your brother share's my feelings. We have to look presentable." Avalin gently took the brush, then picked up Queenie and set her next to Loki so she could deal with his hair. She made sure to be as gentle as she could, taking her time to get out all of the tangles before brushing through his hair fully to style it in his usual way. "There we go," She said once she was done, pressing a kiss to the top of his head and smiling down at him, "Hmm…I'm definitely a fan of messy hair, but you look quite handsome with your hair like this too."
He rolled his eyes with a smile. He hadn’t looked presentable for the past year and a half, he doubted Thor would care If he came into the throne room looking like a disheveled mess or a prince, either way he’d still probably treat them all the same, beneath him. He took a deep breath and leaned into Avalin’s hands, giving himself that one blissful moment to enjoy the moment with his wife. When she said she had finished, he opened his eyes and smiled up at her, reaching up and cupping her cheek. “If it pleases my queen, then I’m happy as well.” He murmured, turning and pressing a slow kiss to her lips. “I love you.” He whispered softly
"I love you too," She murmured, returning the kiss and leaning into his touch. Quiet moments like this were ones she loved, ones where she was able to just spend time with Loki, not worrying about Asgard or Thor or even Magnus. It was selfish, but she wanted time like this, no matter how short it was. Avalin smiled at her husband as she finally pulled away from the kiss, reluctantly saying, "We probably have to get going…don't we?"
He nodded and offered a soft smile “yes, if we want to eat before the meeting with Thor, we’ll have to get going. He set the circlet back on his head and offered her his hand. He wanted to stay longer, just him and his wife. There was a lot they both needed to catch up on, between the five years due to Thanos and the recent year and a half apart, he felt as if they hadn’t had the proper time to enjoy their life after the wedding. He wanted to live a life where he didn’t have to look over his shoulder in case something threatened him or Avalin, he just wanted to be happy with her. He gently pulled her into a hug and rested his head on hers. “Maybe a few more moments couldn’t hurt.” He said softly
Avalin returned his hug, burying her face into his chest as she murmured, "I'd love a few more minutes with you." She didn't move from against him, even if she knew that they had to get going. There were a lot of things they needed to do, but this was also something she needed to do. She sighed and finally pulled away once more, smiling up softly at him before reaching up and pressing a soft kiss to his cheek, "Should we have Magnus come to breakfast with us?"
He gazed down at Avalin and took a deep breath. “I’d love to, he deserves a break.” He deserved more than that for helping him and Avalin. “I’m not sure it’s such a good idea though. Off Thor finds out that he’s missing, I doubt he’d consider giving him back the position. I’m not even sure he’d consider keeping him here.” He said, truly hating how much he feared his brother’s reaction. Back then hadn’t been scared of what he’d do, he even enjoyed the fights they had. But back then, Loki didn’t have anything that he wouldn’t risk giving up for his thirst for power Andy his brothers acceptance. He had Magnus, he had Leif and he had his future with his wife that he desperately wanted with, far more than his thirst to piss off hi so brother in order for him to be an equal.
She frowned but nodded, realizing that it probably wasn't the best idea. "We'll have to bring him food back then if he can't come with us. Eating something that you haven't had to cook is a really nice feeling." Avalin, nodded once more, this time to herself, "And something to drink as well, I want to make sure he has a good meal. It's the least we can do." She looked up at Loki, a hopeful but unsure look in her eyes, "Is that alright? I want to do something for him."
He smiled softly and nodded “I think he’d like that, love.” He said with a nod, gently taking her hand in his and opening the door, leading her through. He took a deep breath and glanced down as the pets joined them. “We’ll do more for him. We just have to be careful.” He said, dropping his voice down as a few servants past by, both nodding their heads but giving them both narrowed eyed glares. Loki gently tugged Avalin close to his side and quickly lead them outside of the castle, hating the scrutiny they were under in the castle
Avalin nodded, watching as Spot and Queenie followed them out of the room. She smiled at the servants that passed them, though her smile quickly fell as they returned her smile with glares. It confused her, but she didn't bring it up, just tried to think of a reason why they would glare at the pair instead of offering even fake smiles. She hadn't done anything to make them resent her or her husband, or at least she didn't think she did.
When finally out in the city, Loki loosened his hold on Avalin, letting her explore if she wished. He took a deep breath, immediately feeling relieved. He smiled softly and looked around, glad that the streets weren’t that filled in the morning. “So you’re going to order chocolate chip pancakes?” He questioned, arching an eyebrow teasingly. “You probably can have the most eccentric breakfast item in Asgard and you choose chocolate chip pancakes?” He smiled lovingly and pressed a kiss to her head
She relaxed once they were out in the city, walking alongside Loki and smiling gently as she laughed, "Well of course, why would I order something fancy when chocolate chip pancakes taste just as good for a quarter of the price." Avalin watched as Queenie meowed to Loki to be picked up, smiling gently even as Spot walked on her other side, sniffing and looking around happily. "What are you going to get?"
He nodded “you do have point.” He glanced down at Queenie and shook his head. “Is that so, tiny creature? Just a few steps out in the city and you already want off your feet?” He shook his head and scooped up the cat, setting her on his shoulders. “Better?” He smiled softly and glanced down at Avalin “I’m not sure. I’ve never there before, I only heard that it had popped up.” He said, lacing their hands together
Queenie happily purred as she settled down on Loki's shoulders, scanning the city from her new perch on top of him. Avalin smiled at the sight and chuckled, nodding as she squeezed his hand, "Well, I'm sure it's good, even if it doesn't end up having chocolate chip pancakes." Spot moved from walking on Avalin's side to walking between them as they laced hands, padding along easily.
He couldn’t help the smile from growing “I’m sure they do love.” He replied, lightly rubbing his thumb along the back of her hand as they walked through the streets of Asgard. He looked around the city, watching as it slowly came to life around them, colors and stand popping up as they started to open. He had always liked mornings in asgard, there’s was always a calming energy to mornings here that he found incomparable to any other realm
She smiled and walked alongside of him calmly, watching businesses open and shops start to come to life, bringing the usual color back to Asgard. "For as much as I do not like your brother at the moment, I love the city he governs," She murmured, looking up at him and then back at the streets that were coming to life, "I really love it here, it's…peaceful but full of life."
He nodded in agreement. “As much as we fight and constantly belittle each other in every way possible, I do have to admit he is a good king. One of the tHe bests we’ve had in a while.” He said softly, always having known his brother would be a good ruler despite never telling him, never accepting it himself either.
"He is a good ruler, but I think he could be a better brother," She replied, shrugging and squeezing his hand with a gentle smile, "You two could get along so much better than you do, but I understand that there have been rough times for us and for him, which makes getting along a little stressful." Avalin looked up at him and gently let go of his hand, though only to pet queenie before she slipped her hand back into his.
He shrugged slightly “that’s a bit more complicated, I have some of the blame as well fir that downfall. And the events that have followed haven't really helped that.”
Queenie purred at the pets and nudged gently into Avalin’s hand.
Loki smiled softly and pressed a gentleman kiss to her head was. “It’s something I wish didn’t happen but I can’t entirely say that I regret my actions.” He said, leading her down an empty street that went to a small clearing filled with shops and children already running about.
She nodded, understanding that the brother's relationship was more complicated than a simple fight. It would take a while to get them on good terms, or even tolerable terms again, and that was alright. It couldn't be a simple fix. "So, where is this place you talked about earlier?" She asked as she wandered alongside him, a smile on her face just from the kiss.
“You’ll see soon.” He replied, stopping to look around momentarily before finding the small cafe off in The corner. A bright smile lit up his face as a familiar figure stood outside the cafe, ushering patrons and children alike into the cafe. Loki glanced down at Avalin and smiled “I think we’ve kept Lillian waiting long enough, no?”
Avalin looked around as he led her, a slightly confused look on her face before she smiled widely at the sight of Lillian. "How is this happening?" She asked, genuinely excited as she squeezed his hand and tugged him towards the cafe, "We can't leave her waiting, c'mon." Spot and Queenie seemed just as excited as they neared the cafe, with Spot's tail wagging quite quickly.
He laughed softly and followed her to The cafe, different from the one on Midgard, most likely to draw in customer easily but it still had that delicious bakery, homey smell.
Lillian smiled and crossed her arms over her chest. “Well look who finally decided to pay me a visit! And not even that, I’m the one who had to come here!” She’s shook her head in mock disbelief and embraced the two. “Come in, come in, I’m sure you have a good excuse.” She’s ushered them in along with the rest of her patrons before shutting the door and gesturing to a booth near the back
"I wish we were able to visit sooner, there was just a lot that happened recently," Avalin said as she returned the woman's tight embrace, a happy smile settling onto her face. She glanced up at Loki with the same smile before tugging him along after Lillian, slipping into the booth she mentioned to. It was inevitable that they would talk about everything that had happened in the span of time Lillian hadn't seen them, but she tried to push that thought aside so she could enjoy the time with the cheery woman in front of them.
