A/N: I hopped onboard the Lokyrie train before I even saw the movie, so now I'm ecstatic that I can finally write it. And also good Loki. I'm so glad he's back on the good side in time for Infinity War.
After a little while of not-so-dramatic flying towards Earth, the Asgardians dispersed. Hulk went off somewhere – much to Loki's relief – as did Valkyrie. Heimdall stayed, staring stoically out the window on Thor's other side. Part of Loki wanted to leave, but he just stood there with his arms crossed and head ducked a little.
Thor look up at him. "You're allowed to leave my side, brother."
"I know," Loki said, "but-"
"Those I protected will not harm you, my boy," Heimdall assured him. "For better or for worse, you are their prince, and an Asgardian."
"I'm not-"
"You are an Asgardian in every way that matters," Heimdall stated firmly. His golden stare practically dared Loki to argue, so Loki just nodded and reminded himself to accept the affection.
"Regardless, it's not the civilians I'm concerned about," he admitted. Not entirely, anyway.
Thor chuckled. "If Hulk was going to smash you into the floor again, he would have done it already."
Loki winced at the memory but shook his head. "He is not who I was referring to."
Thor twisted around to see Loki better, intrigue lighting up his remaining eye upon seeing his expression. "You have a crush on her!"
"What?" Loki exclaimed.
Thor laughed. "You like Valkyrie."
"She tried to kill me! Why would I like her?"
"Denial is the clencher," Thor said triumphantly.
Loki cleared his throat and edged away. "I have an apology to make. Excuse me."
"She would be good for you!" Thor called after him as he disappeared around a corner.
"Crush on Valkyrie," he muttered to himself. "What nonsense."
But when he knocked on her door and she opened it, bottle in hand and still clad in her white-and-gold armor with her hair in slight disarray, Loki's breath caught for a moment. She just eyed him. "What do you want?"
Loki opened his mouth, but the apology faltered at his lips, so he just pointed at the bottle. "Care to share?"
Her eyebrow rose, but she shrugged and stepped aside to let him in. The room was small and sparse, furnished only with a single-person bed shoved into the corner, a couple chairs, and a table already covered in various bottles of alcoholic beverages. "You don't strike me as a drinker."
Loki eyed the bottle as she slapped it into his hand. "I'm not."
Valkyrie grabbed a different bottle from the table and flopped onto the bed, leaning up against the wall. "Well, drink up," she urged, tipping her bottle almost entirely upside down and gulping it down.
Loki sniffed his, then gingerly took a sip. He gagged as it hit his throat, burning viciously. "Oh gods," he rasped.
Valkyrie laughed. "That's some of the strongest stuff in the universe right there."
Swiping away tears of pain, Loki set the bottle down on the table and pulled up a chair. "I can tell."
She grinned at his pain for a moment longer. Then she sat up and leaned her elbows on her knees, a more serious expression chasing away her mirth. "I get the feeling there's a story with you and the rest of your family. What is it?"
