CHAPTER FOUR:
THE GOD OF MISCHIEF
IT'S NOT THAT HE was disappointed, but Theodore couldn't exactly say he was impressed by Loki.
Maybe his expectations were a little too high for a literal God, but standing in the opening of the corridor as Nick Fury attempted to intimate Loki wasn't completely scary. It didn't seem right to him. Theodore crossed his arms over his chest as he leant against the wall; why had he just given up so easily?
"In case it's unclear, if you try to escape... if you so much as scratch that glass," Fury trailed off into a short silence before Theodore felt his mouth drop open a little as a hole opened under the glass containment Loki was locked in. Wind rushed around the room now, messing up Theo's hair and tugging at his clothes as Fury continued, "It's thirty-thousand feet straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works? Ant, boot."
Loki chuckled as he stepped back into the centre of his prison, his arms raising as he smiled widely, "It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me."
Fury sealed the opening back up. He turned to Loki just as Theodore began ruffling his hand through his hair, attempting to fix it from the winds; he was having little to no luck succeeding, "Built for something a lot stronger than you."
"Oh, I've heard," Loki turned to look at the camera sitting just outside of his cell as these words left his mouth, all while a small frown appeared upon Theo's face— a lot stronger than a God? And it was on the aircraft? Confusion circled his mind as he pushed up his still-broken glasses. He had realised how hard it was seeing things without the assistance of the glasses and decided to taped the arm back onto the frame using sellotape, which was stolen from an agent's office. It wasn't ideal, but bearable enough. Loki continued, still staring at the camera as he started walking, "A mindless beast. Makes play he's still a man."
Beast? At this point, the sixteen-year-old just sighed, pushing questioning thoughts forcefully from his mind. They wouldn't let a 'mindless beast' roam the corridors and even if they did, surely he would have seen it.
Theodore barely had time to gather himself from his thoughts when he looked back up, being greeted by a pair of eyes glaring at him, belonging to the imprisoned man, "How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?"
Loki was more than likely referring to Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner and his own brother, Thor. Theo had met Thor no more than an hour ago. He thought he was pretty cool with his hammer and cape, yet he didn't even throw a glance his way.
However, as Loki's eyes stared into Theo's brown ones, it felt personal, like he was talking about the young boy. An annoyed sensation began bubbling in his stomach as he cleared his throat, disconnecting his eyes from Loki's; he wasn't a lost creature. Far from it.
"How desperate am I?" Fury's booming voice broke the tense atmosphere, dragging Loki's attention back onto him. He started slowly walking towards the cage the man was concealed in, but not before casting a glance at Theo. The boy nodded gently, silently telling Fury he was alright, allowing him to continue his conversation, "You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace, and you kill because it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad you did."
Loki had little reaction to the man's words, only a deep exhale of breath in response, "It burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power. Unlimited power... and for what?"
A wide smirk spread across his face as the rhetorical question left his lips. Theo felt himself grow uneasy leaning against the wall. Nothing felt right: not Loki being imprisoned, not the fact that he had backed down with barely any fighting, and certainly not himself and Cordelia onboard with him.
"A warm light for all mankind to share... And then to be reminded what real power is," Loki finished, glaring at Fury, aggression dripping from his violent tone.
"You let me know if 'real power' wants a magazine or something," Theo pushed himself gently off the wall and uncrossed his arms as Fury began walking over, swiftly finishing his conversation with Loki. He barely even glanced back at the God when he reached the boy, placing a firm hand on his shoulder and turning him around, "I thought I told you to stay in your room."
"I did! Until I got bored. And Cordelia wasn't awake!" Theodore admitted, having to jog every few steps to keep up with Fury's long strides, "I was bored and lonely. What was I meant to do?"
"Not have a staring contest with a God, for starters," Fury retorted, raising an eyebrow at the boy, disapprovingly. However, Theo wasn't paying enough attention to see him. Instead, he was shaking his head, stuttering over his words slightly.
"That's... tha-that's another thing," Theo looked up at Fury, locking eyes with him for a second, before gesturing his hands back in the direction of Loki, "For a God... he's not that good-looking, is he?"
Fury let out a short scoff while a small grin grew on Theodore's cheeks. The boy flinched slightly as the older man raised his hand, before realising he was pointing at the door behind him, "Go wake your friend up. I need to talk to you two."
"Yep, yes, Sir," Theo sighed obediently. He backed up into the door behind him, his hand searching for the handle. His eyes stayed on Fury as he walked away before they caught another figure at the end of the corridor. Theodore's hand automatically ran itself through his hair and pushed up his glasses as he watched the two stopped and talk for a moment, then move away from each other.
"Shit, shit, sh—" He fumbled with the door handle momentarily as Thor paced up the corridor, before tumbling into Cordelia's room. The boy landed on the hard floor with a dull thud and kicked the door closed loudly. He glanced around the room, spying Cordelia sleeping soundlessly in her bed and sighed, "How the hell are you still asleep?"
Theo didn't have a chance to get off the cold floor before the door opened again. A short yelp left his body as his eyes widened, making Thor, who was now standing in the doorway, watch the young boy curiously. Seconds passed before either of the two did anything; Theodore was still sitting on the floor as Thor tilted his head slightly to the left, "What are you doing down there?"
"I wasn't— I was just... cleaning the floor," The words left his mouth more like a question than a response. He was mentally curing himself while Thor nodded his head gently— cleaning the floor? What kind of answer was that? Theo stood from the floor, his hand fixing his glasses before rubbing the ache in his side, "What're you doing?"
"I needed the restroom."
"I don't think this is the toilet, man."
"I see that."
The two stared at each other momentarily; Theo was more than confused about the whole situation. He was questioning why the two of them were even looking at each other, let alone why Thor was still here. Unfortunately for Theodore, it didn't seem like the man was making any effort to turn around and leave him to wake Cordelia alone. Instead, Thor continued standing there, looking rather incongruous to his surroundings. Theodore soon decided to ignore him and walked over to Cordelia.
He started shaking her forearm in order to wake up— it wouldn't have been his first choice of doing so, but considering there wasn't any water around him, he didn't have many options. She stirred in her sleep, encouraging him to continue.
"Wh— Theo?" Cordelia groaned as she slapped his hand away, squinting up at him with tired eyes. She rubbed her eyes harshly, before letting her head fall back onto her pillow, "Go away, I was dreaming about being a snowflake."
"A snow— What?"
She hummed in response to his confusion, "Yeah. It's kinda, it's weird. But I can't deny the fact I wouldn't mind being a snowflake. They seem very... flowy."
"Okay," Theo sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. He yanked the blanket off Cordelia, much to her dissatisfaction, "Lia, get up."
"Why?"
"Why? You've been asleep for like, twelve hours!"
She barely had the chance to move before the sound of her door shutting drew her attention. Rubbing her eyes, Cordelia looked down her room, immediately sitting up in her bed as she saw Thor, "Whoa, whoa, who the bloody hell are you?"
"I am Thor Odinson, of Asgard." The man replied simply. He started to examine the girl's desk, where she had dumped her belongings onto the side yesterday, being too tired to sort everything out, while the girl threw a 'what the hell?' look at Theodore. The sixteen-year-old dismissed the glare with a gesture of his hand, fighting the smile creeping onto his lips at her angered state.
"Yeah, naturally," Cordelia nodded slowly after a moment, watching Thor intently. A few seconds passed as she did this, her mind filled with thoughts— why was there a man wearing a cape in her room? She shook her head, a short, humourless laugh leaving her dry lips, "If you're Thor, then I'm Loki."
"No. You can't be Loki. He's trapped in the big glass box. Right...?" Thor glanced over at Theodore, wanting confirmation that his troublesome brother was still contained. As Theo nodded, a scoff left Cordelia's lips unbelievably.
"Big glass— Where in the world did you find this guy?"
Thor butted in right before Theodore could reply, allowing the sixteen-year-old to lean back onto the wall behind him, all while a small smirk grew on his lips, "Technically, little midguardian, I am not from your Earth."
"Yeah, he's from Asgard," The boy nodded matter-of-factly, visibly getting enjoyment from the interaction between the two.
Thor smiled widely, looking up from Cordelia's things and clapped his hands together, "Ah-ha! Other little midguardian is learning!"
Maybe Theodore would have searched for the compliment he was sure Thor had hidden in his words, but he was interrupted by the loud, almost cackling laugher from the bed beside him. Cordelia looked at him, amusement dancing in her eyes, "Aw, is the 'ittle midguardian 'earning?"
Theodore groaned. From the mischievous look displayed on her face to the fit of giggles echoing around the room, he realised Cordelia wasn't going to let that title fade away any time soon. His eyes searched the bedside cabinet next to him, spotting the iPod Cordelia had been using, "Shut up. and get up. before I smash th—"
"I'm up, I'm up!" Almost panicking, the girl practically jumped up from her bed, grabbing the device Theodore's hand was about to touch. She gripped it tightly, pointing straight at the older teenager, "Do not take out your impatience on such a precious thing."
"What is that thing?" Thor broke the eye contact between the two teenagers, tearing Cordelia's eyes from the growing smirk on Theo's. She groaned quietly, handing the iPod over to Thor, who grabbed it with wide eyes. A yawn left her dry lips as she walked away, heading over to the pile of laundry stacking up beside the door.
Cordelia knelt down and began searching through the used clothes while Theodore concentrated on answering, "You play music on it."
Grabbing the hoodie she wore yesterday, Cordelia tugged it onto her body, over the crop top she was using as her pyjamas— despite it being the middle of the day, the girl still felt it was too early and didn't have enough energy yet to dress properly. Pulling down the hems of her leggings which had ridden up during her sleep, Cordelia glanced across at Theo and Thor, feeling the two were being awfully quiet.
Theo watched the man closely as he pressed the buttons on the small device, holding it up to his ears every so often. He chuckled at his actions, pushing up his glasses gently; did they not have electric devices in Asgard? A small mutter left Thor's lips, "I can't hear anything."
Panic struck through Cordelia's body as Thor began hitting the iPod on her bedside table. She quickly got up and practically ran to the man, not before casting a glare at the sixteen-year-old boy attempting to conceal laughs.
"No, no. No breaking! No," Cordelia snatched the device back, immediately checking it for dents or scratches. She shoved it into her pocket before taking a deep breath, closing her eyes. The urge to push the two from her room and get back into her bed was overwhelming. She looked at Theodore and sighed, tucking her hair behind her ears, "Who is this?"
"Thor. It really is. He's not just a myth. And his brother, Loki," Theodore said, nodding as Cordelia mouthed 'Loki', "Yeah, the Loki that the old guy went to get. He's here."
Her eyebrows furrowed, bewilderment distorting her facial expression, "Uh, here? Like, onboard? Why is he here? Isn't that dangerous?"
He paused, his lips parting slightly— maybe actually listening to the adults would have cleared that up. He chuckled gently, his hand running its way through his hair before resting on the back of his neck, "Good question. They probably said, but I can't say I wasn't a little distracted."
Cordelia followed the boy's gaze, her own eyes landing on Thor. She scoffed, shaking her head as she turned back to Theodore, "Dude! Look at his hair! When was the last time he washed it?"
"Why would I ask— If you think that's bad, go find Loki." Theodore said with a nod of his head, tearing his eyes from Thor, who was now deciding to join the conversation again after hearing his brother's name.
"Okay. I will, where is he?" Cordelia asked, looking from Theo to Thor expectantly. Instead of telling her, the older man met eyes with the boy, who shook his head.
"I don't think we're allowed."
"You just told me to go and find him."
"Fury said he wanted to talk to us. Shouldn't we, you know, avoid the murderous God and see him first?"
"See, I think I'd get more... more enjoyment from talking to a 'murderous God', actually."
Thor interrupted the teenager's bickering after a moment contemplation, unsure whether to share his knowledge on the situation. However, he pointed to the wall on his left, "In the big glass box. All the way down the corridor. That way."
Theo looked at him with wide eyes, gesturing his hands in front of him with exasperation, "Hey! Why would you tell her?"
"She gives a good argument, and she was polite. It's common courtesy... Is it not?" Thor said, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched Theo roll his eyes and push up his glasses in defeat, deciding not to say anything else.
"Thank you... Thor." Cordelia smiled at him, still unsure whether or not she was talking to Thor or not. She had no reason not to believe it, yet it seemed like such an implausible situation; out of all the planets to come to, why Earth?
The girl smiled at Theodore with a raised eyebrow, who gave her an unenthusiastic thumbs up in response; it was pointless to even try and stop her now. He watched as she walked out of the room, the door slamming closed behind her. Pushing himself from the wall, he scratched the back of his neck as he exhaled deeply, "Great job, man."
"Thank you. Now, may you point me in the direction of your bathroom?"
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AUTHOR'S NOTE !
sorry it took so long to publish
this chapter !! writer's block is
an absolute pain
i treasure theo and cordelia's
relationship istg, they own my
heart
ALSO aurora gets introduced
soon !! you better believe i'm
excited for you to meet her aah