Y/N's P.O.V.
"Y/N! Hurry up!" A small black-haired boy whined.
"It's not fair I want to read it!"
"Well, I can't hurry up if you're whining at me, can I?" I snapped at him, before seeing the sad look on his face.
"No, I didn't mean that. I'm sorry." I closed the book and handed it to him.
"I'm pretty sure I have a copy of this book at home anyway, here."
"You're sure?" Loki asked and I quickly nodded, giving him my best smile.
"You're too nice sometimes. You're going to make a horrible Queen. You'll just give anyone anything they want."
"I'm never going to be Queen." I shook my head, frowning.
"Father says that Lars will be king of Vanaheim when he's old enough, then after Lars, it will be Lars' children, so I'll probably never sit on the throne."
"Then you can be Queen of Asgard!" Loki grinned childishly.
"That's not how it works." I pulled a face, laughing a little.
"Sure it is! You just have to convince Thor to marry you!" He giggled and I glared at him. I had never met the blond prince, he was always off training whenever I came to Asgard and he never went with Loki and Frigga when they visited Vanaheim.
"I'm never going to marry Thor! That's gross." I said, scrunching my nose up, but Loki's giggle turned into a laugh.
"Stop it!" I pushed him, but he only laughed more. I glared at him, feeling myself get upset. Before I knew it, tears were streaming down my face and Loki wasn't laughing anymore.
"Y/N, I'm sorry." Loki nudged me.
"Come on, stop crying. I was only joking." I turned my back to him, wiping away the tears quickly, but they wouldn't stop.
"Princess, I really am sorry. Please don't cry. I don't like it when you cry." That stupid nickname. Princess. I hated it when people used my title, but when Loki said it, he insisted it was just a nickname, nothing more.
"Sorry." I mumbled, looking at him.
"It's okay. Just don't cry anymore, okay?" He looked at me hopefully, slight panic in his eyes. I laughed a little at his expression, nodding.
"You can't marry Thor anyway. You're can't be Thor's wife and my best friend, you'd start taking his side over mine when we argue. And you can't marry me when I become king because that would be gross. You can't be my wife and my best friend."
"Whatever." I rolled my eyes and he nudged me. I nudged him back and before I knew it, we were shoving each other roughly, both of us laughing.
"Y/N, we're leaving." My mother spoke, entering the room, causing me to drop my guard. Loki shoved into me and we both fell off of the couch we were sat on, causing us to laugh even harder.
"Ow, that hurt, silly trickster." I grinned at Loki, who was laid next to me on the ground. He grinned back at me and footsteps came towards us, before both of our mothers were looking down at us fondly.
"Come on, you two. You'll see each other next week at Loki's birthday gala." Frigga spoke with a smile. Loki pulled himself up quickly, before taking my hand and pulling me up.
"Loki, why don't you go and find Thor? He was looking for you."
"Ugh, yes mother." The prince muttered, still holding my hand.
"Princess." He kissed my hand and bowed dramatically and I shook my head.
"You're an idiot." I laughed, pulling my hand from his.
"You're an idiot, Prince Loki." My best friend corrected and I curtsied, giving him a sarcastic smile.
"Queen Skadi." Loki bowed his head to my mother, before leaving.
~
"Hey, you look much better- not that you looked bad earlier, but you just look more refreshed." Bruce smiled at me as I stepped into the kitchen.
"Thanks." I laughed a little.
"I feel better. I think Thor was right. It's exhausting to use my magic here."
"Did I just hear that correctly?" A voice purred behind me.
"Did you just say my brother was right about something? That's very unlike you, Princess."
"You don't know anything about me." I glared at Loki, seeing his smirk. Bruce looked between us, clearly sensing the tension.
"And stop calling me that. I hate it."
"I am the God of Mischief and Lies, and that, Princess, was a very obvious lie." Loki smirked as Bruce backed away from the conversation, leaving completely.
"Did you enjoy dreaming of me?"
"Get out of my head." I growled at him, knocking him against the wall and pushing a knife to his throat. I wouldn't kill him. It was a warning, but not a very effective one, considering it only made his smirk wider.
"I'm not in your head. Your thoughts were incredibly loud, I honestly had to try not to listen." He chuckled as I pressed the blade closer to his throat.
"Tell me, what did you dream of, Princess?"
"I dreamt of a time before my best friend turned his back on me and supported the monster that killed my mother." His smirk faltered at that and I stepped back, the knife vanishing from my hand as Loki didn't dare move.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nat watching carefully from the sofa, but she didn't say anything.
"If you even step the littlest bit out of line, I don't care what Thor, Lars or even Odin says, I will kill you."
"Will you?" He asked bitterly.
"Do you truly hate me enough to kill me?"
"Yes. I do." He seemed taken back by my instantaneous reply, as if he was thinking I'd hesitate, or even say no.
"I hate you, Loki, more than I thought it was possible to hate anyone."
