A Whole Bunch of Loki's

The Fatigue of Heroes

It was great fun being a superhero or even a reformed villain, even if people didn't fully trust them but that just added to the enjoyment of what they were doing.

It was even more fun being the sidekick, even if in some cases they didn't get the attention or praise they sometimes deserved and were pushed into the background, only acknowledged of their full potential by people on online forums usually dedicated to them.

Loki had come to Midgard after realising that he would never have the chance to live up to his full potential in Thor's shadow, people didn't care for him in Asgard and shunned him in favour of his brother and he found this realm to the one most likely to appreciate his power and what he could do with it.

Truthfully, the Midgardians had taken a while to grow on him, their behaviours and traditions seeming more primitive in comparison to what he was used to, but he intended on showing them what true power was and used it to deal with some of their bigger threats.

He knew he was either going to conquer them or save them, it appeared that the latter suited his need for acceptance much like Thor had back in Asgard a lot better than if he tried to rule over them.

Loki had been saving Midgardian hides for ten months before he found a sidekick in a girl who reminded him of himself in ways.

Rejected by most around her due to her differences, but cunning enough to get by and have a dry wit and a clear head about her that meant he didn't have to be there to save her ass every time a bad guy attacked.

Her powers were strongest telepathy and aided well within battles, but it had taken Loki a further four months before he convinced her to embrace what she had been brought up to dampen down.

They rode the highs of the fame that came with saving people.

They were congratulated by masses and found that over time people began to adore them, watch their moves and follow them online.

It was fun and games to begin with, there were sites dedicated to the two that were harmless and fun, some a little more intrusive in ways, but nothing that crossed too many boundaries.

That was until the media got involved.

They had started to take it upon themselves to start following them around, reporting almost everything they were doing on gossip based television shows and at first it was fair enough, they were heroes, of course what they did would make the news.

But it wasn't long until they began to try and invade their private lives, as if they were everyday celebrities rather than people out to protect others.

They loved spinning stories about how she had helped change his life, make him see the good in things and changed him to 'the right side'.

Loki never cared enough to correct them, in fact he kind of enjoyed the tales they would spin and embellish on.

She, on the other hand, grew to despise it over the months.

It was easy to see how it grated on her, the more they saved the city together the more rumours surfaced and soon it was impossible for her to even get an ice cream with a friend without someone stopping her and asking questions.

Eventually, after a particularly hard mission, it all came to a head at a conference.

On reporter, a nervous looking young woman with wide eyes and freckles, had held up a microphone and read off a question from a notebook about the rumours and their relationship.

The poor girl hadn't expected to open up a can of worms the size of Mount Vesuvius.

She groaned and ran a hand through her hair, "Look, I get it, in books and movies or TV shows you can't go five seconds without the hero and the sidekick exchanging longing looks, mostly if they're the opposite sex mind you, but it's boring, tedious and this is real life."

Loki looked at her from the corner of his eye, a low laugh building in his chest as he tried to suppress the smile that was growing.

"It's no different than selling stories of 'if you fall in love as teens then you'll be together forever', it's sickening and you all need to stop perpetuating it, some people don't even like romance in their media and that's not even delving into the issues of diversity and representation."

The crowd had grown silent beyond a few small murmurs here or there and looks being exchanged.

"So, you have your fictional worlds, but you reporters need to stop making up stories about things that aren't there, behind the hero masks we're real people and we should be treated as such."

Loki stepped up to the podium, partially wanting to stop her tirade but mostly wanting to get a better look at the people in the front row, particularly the girl that had asked the dreaded question.

"Let people have their fandoms and their fics and ships and whatever, but you're the media, stop reporting rumours of our love life and share the actual good we're doing."

Although it didn't physically happen, people could practically hear an imaginary clap with each word she spoke next.

"Not every superhero needs a romance story."

She let out a long huff of a breath and stepped away from podium, walking back into the city hall whilst grumbling to herself.

"Don't worry," Loki chuckled, a sly and suggestive smirk adorning his features, "I'll 'calm her down' tonight."