Loki and the Pirate Fairy

Chapter 2

When Loki returns to Asgard to face Heimdall again, he nods politely in greeting and prepares to leave it at that. It's always nice to see Heimdall. They've never been close, exactly, but they get along well enough. He never seems to mind all Loki's coming and going, and their conversations as he does are usually brief and polite.

"Welcome home, Captain," Heimdall says with a small smirk, which leads Loki to believe this may be a less brief conversation. At least he knows Heimdall has a nice sense of humor. He's never been one for tricks himself, but he seems to appreciate the more harmless ones Loki pulls.

Loki chuckles. "Enjoying my adventures, are we?"

"Waiting for you to put an end to them," Heimdall corrects him, but it's a lighthearted remark. "This one especially."

"Yes, I'm afraid I might have gotten a little... over-involved in this one," Loki admits. "It was certainly fun while it lasted, but unfortunately, piracy involves a lack of empathy I could never achieve."

"You recognized you were being unjust and put an end to it," Heimdall says. "That's a good quality for a king to have."

"I doubt my father would see it that way," Loki mutters. He knows Odin is just trying to prepare his sons for the future title one of them will hold, but sometimes it feels like he's a lot harsher than he needs to be, especially to Loki. Thor can get away with just about anything, but sometimes Loki feels like he's walking on eggshells around his father. Changing the subject — because he really has no desire to talk about the future of the throne of Asgard — he asks, "You can see everything that happens in the Nine Realms, can you not?"

Heimdall nods slowly. "I can..."

"That fairy girl, can you see her?"

"Of course," Heimdall says. "Why do you ask?"

"Will you tell me if something happens to her?" Loki asks. He doesn't want her to end up in those pirates' hands again — or worse.

Heimdall cracks a smile, a rare occurrence with him. "Feeling a bit remorseful, I see. I wouldn't have expected that from you."

Loki shrugs sheepishly. "Well, she's been through a lot in the last year. She must be desperate for companionship if she chose to ride with pirates for months. I just don't want her to get in more trouble because of what I've done to her."

"You're right about one thing, at least," Heimdall tells him. "She truly must be desperate for companionship." He gestures with his head for Loki to look behind him.

Loki furrows his eyebrows and turns around. He makes the mistake of looking at eye-level at first, and, unsurprisingly, there's nothing to see. Heimdall doesn't have many visitors, after all. It's not until he lowers his gaze to the ground that he sees her.

Zarina is standing in the doorway, her hands clasped tightly in front of her. She glances around nervously, but, ultimately, even if there was someplace to hide, it would be too late, so she looks back to him warily.

Loki cocks his head to the side. "Zarina?"

She just nods.

"What are you doing here?" He looks back to Heimdall "What is she doing here?"

"She followed you," Heimdall says simply.

"She can't do that."

"Apparently she can."

"But this is Asgard," Loki insists. "Fairies can't—"

"Apparently they can," Heimdall says calmly. "If you have a problem, I suggest you discuss it either with your father or with her. "