His New Beginning [MCU Loki]

9: Fun with Sharp Objects

"Loki," a voice said. Frigga was standing in the middle of the room. "Oh, my dear son," she murmured, stepping closer to Loki. He opened his mouth to say something, an apology, an 'I love you', anything. But he choked on tears. "Oh my dear," Frigga continued. "I know."

"Mother?"

"Shh, darling. You're sleeping. I came to your dream."

"Mother..." he whispered. "I...I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it...any of it."

She smiled. "If I could, I would give you a hug. And I know. I've been keeping an eye on you, Loki. I see with more than just eyes. And Nyssa was right. I sent her here. I saw that her fate would change yours. Have hope, my son. I have foreseen this: you won't be here forever."

"Mom," Loki said, tears running down his face. "I love you. And...and tell Thor...that...I'm sorry."

She smiled. "You shall soon have a chance to tell him yourself. Be strong. No matter what, I will always be with you." She placed her hand on his cheek, not making any palpable contact, but a reassuring presence all the same.

"Goodbye, my dear," she whispered as her figure vanished with a flash of green and gold.

He stood, motionless, staring at the place her eyes had been. Though tears coursed down his face, he was smiling and his eyes shone with relief.

When Loki woke up, he was surprised to find his arms around Nyssa. A welcome surprise, but a surprise nonetheless. Even more of a welcome surprise was the fact that she had curled into his embrace, her head resting on his chest, gorgeous hair fanned naturally behind her. Before he could decide to do anything, her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him with a slight flush on her cheeks.

She smiled. "Good morning, Trixie."

He chuckled. "Sometimes, I wonder if you've just decided to forget my name."

"Well," she said, a sly smirk tugging at her mouth. "Sometimes I just prefer to use a bit of a 'low-key' nickname."

He stared up at the ceiling. "Why?"

She chuckled. "You know you love it. Don't even try." She extricated herself from his arms and the blankets and stretched her arms.

"Nyssa, my mother came to my dream. You were right. She sent you."

She smirked. "Well, I'm always right. Get used to it." With a wide dramatic yawn, she looked around the room. "Oh, that's new!" she said brightly. "Looks like in addition to sending you a dream message, your mother sent a care package. See?"

She pointed to the chair next to the table, upon which there was a pile of some fabric and the apparent glint of metal.

She jumped up, pulling the blanket with her. "Get up, princess. It's morning."

He let out a dramatic groan before all but falling out of the bed. "Why? Why can't I sleep all day?"

She giggled. "Because that's silly. C'mon!" He slowly got to his feet and walked toward her. Before he could get a good look at what was there, she tossed something into his face. "I'm pretty sure that's for you," she said, monotonically.

It took Loki a second to get a good look at it.

"Nys," he said softly.

"Yes, Trixie?"

"This," he said, struggling to keep his voice level. "This is a dress."

She smiled. "Exactly! Perfect for a princess like you!"

He rolled his eyes, tossing it over her shoulder. "You're mean."

As it turned out, Frigga had left some food, books (both in English and Norse) and some clothes and weapons: armor and a pair of swords for Nyssa and two daggers for Loki.

"I haven't seen this in a while," he mused with a smile. "These were my first real weapons."

Nyssa chuckled. "Well, do you think you can teach me how to use this thing?"

She gave a sword a tentative swing and nearly took off Loki's head.

"Oh, good gods, you need help!" he exclaimed, jumping back.

She chuckled. "I wasn't going to stab you, I had it under control. I was just having fun."

Loki gave her a frustrated look. "Rule number one with sharp blades: never goof off."

She gave an exasperated sigh and sheathed the blade. "You're no fun."

He rolled his eyes. "Excuse me for valuing my life."

She tossed the sword on the couch and grabbed an armful of cloth. "Well, I'm going to get out of this ripped and bloodstained shirt." She vanished.

Loki shook his head with a bit of a smile. In her excitement, Nyssa had made a mess of everything. He began trying to neaten up the pile. He folded the clothes. One dress caught his eye. It was green and gold...he picked it up. It was an exact replica of the illusion Nyssa had crafted while they were dancing.

He smiled. He was lucky. His mother was the best.

He looked up at the sound of the sword being sheathed again.

Nyssa had reappeared in the light grey dress with a light coral pattern. One side had a bit of a cape over the shoulder in a darker grey. The other side was just a thin strap.

She tossed the sword back onto the couch along with a handful of the fabric. It appeared she had cut off the skirt at about her knees.

Loki raised a questioning eyebrow at her...unorthodox choice.

"What? A floor-length skirt is impractical for everything!"

"So you cut it...with a sword."

She shrugged. "What else was I supposed to do? Neatly hem it? With what?"

He picked up the piece she had cast aside and pulled a long thread out of the jagged cut.

She looked unimpressed. "And for a needle?"

He chuckled. "No idea. I'm just surprised you saw fit to take a sword to a formal Asgardian gown."

"I saw fit to adjust the length of this medieval and impractical dress. And are you seriously that surprised? I think it has more character now." She gave a little twirl, causing the mutilated edge to flare.

"I can't argue with that. You've successfully made a pink flowery dress reflect your savage personality. Congratulations."

She smirked. "Yeah...pink's not really my color. But this will do for now. So how do I put this on?" she picked up the armor.

He shrugged. "Seems pretty simple to me, but I've never used that much armor."

After a few moments of messing around with the straps, Nyssa was successfully clad in armor. The double sheath was on her back. She drew the swords and handed one to Loki. "Ok, so now what?"

He smiled. "Now, the fun begins."