The Myriad Misadventures of a Midgardian Queen-In-Training || Loki x Reader

Chapter 3

Full of soda, cake, and laughter, you arrive back home feeling as though you could fly. Any thoughts of the letter are gone; the only thing you're worried about at the moment is the fact that you'll have to get up extra early to finish your homework the next morning. You have enough trouble falling asleep as it is, but after a day of festivities, the sugar rush combines with a natural high to leave you even more restless as usual.

You sleep lightly; fussily. You close your eyes at eleven and eventually fall into a state of semi-consciousness, only to open them what feels like hours later and see that it's only a quarter after midnight. You need to get up, need to move - maybe some tea will help you calm down. You climb out of bed, careful not to disturb Carlie as you shut the door - her bedroom is next to yours, and she's also a notoriously light sleeper. You walk down the stairs, wincing every time the floor creaks -

" - don't want her doing this."

"I don't think we really have a choice, Rob!"

You freeze halfway down the stairs, recognizing the hissing voice as that of your mom. You take one more step down, enough that you can see into the dining room without drawing attention to yourself, and crouch down.

"I'm with Dad on this one." Erik steps into view. "I've spent the last month and a half studying this guy. For a project. He's...not right. Not stable. From a psychological standpoint." You roll your eyes. Your brother's only minoring in psychology - his major is political science - but already he considers himself an expert on the subject. "Anyone with enough power to browbeat an entire planet into submission isn't someone I'd want to touch with a forty-foot pole. And someone crazy enough to even want to rule the world - do you really want (Y/N) living with someone like that? Marrying someone like that?"

"She's sixteen, I don't want her marrying anybody!" Dad explodes. You flinch - this is a far cry from the "always look on the bright side" attitude he had at dinner.

"Calm down." Mom glares at the two men. "We're getting ahead of ourselves. All I'm saying is that we have to submit her name. I don't want to," she adds quickly, seeing that Dad is ready to blow his top. "But it's exactly what Erik said. This man - he's powerful, and I don't want to do anything to cross him. We submit her name, she doesn't get picked, we can go on with our lives."

"And if she does, Mom? What then?" Erik interjects.

She shushes him gently. "We cross that bridge when we come to it. Just pray we never have to."

"Leigh Ann, I just...I don't..." Your dad trails off, looking lost. Mom rubs his arm.

"I know, sweetie. Layoffs are stressful. Right now, let's focus on keeping (Y/N) with us, all right? We have money saved. We've dealt with worse."

"I can come back home."

"No." Dad goes from dazed to firm in an instant. "You are not dropping out of school. Your mother's right. We'll make it through this, but right now, (Y/N) is the priority. In a week or two, this'll all be over."

Erik hesitates a moment before nodding. "I'm going to go upstairs. Love you guys." Somewhere in the back of your mind, it occurs to you that you should move before you're discovered, but you're more concerned by what you just overheard. Dad was laid off? When? And when were they planning on telling you? You wish you had the courage to confront your parents, but they're under enough pressure as it is, and they probably wouldn't be too thrilled to find out you were eavesdropping, and damn it he's walking this way. As he passes through the living room, he knocks over a pile of magazines from the table. He bends down to pick them up; seeing your chance, you stand up and run lightly back up the stairs.