Power of the Throne (Closed for Watching Cloud)

Loki took a peek at Ivy while she was sleeping. It was sorely tempting to join her, mostly for the sleep, but he had more pressing matters to attend. While she was down, he had to make some communications as Odin to begin prepping soldiers to move on the frost giants if they were more numerous on this side of the rift than anticipated. He also had to start moving the pieces necessary to acquire the explosives without drawing much attention to it.

Once finished, it was time to go meet the delivery skimmer. It was delivering the package to a location not far from the Tree House, but far enough to maintain the location's secrecy. He watched from the woods as the skimmer landed in a clearing and the pilot gave the surroundings their due skepticism. Shrugging, he unloaded a moderate-sized crate and turned to leave.

Loki went to work, weaving his illusion magic to create a sudden and impromptu infestation of Larque Spiders in the skimmer's cab. The hairy beasts were known for their aggression, ability to jump, and incredibly painful venom. The pilot jumped back with a shriek and looked around in a panic.

Loki gave him a minute to realize how bad the situation was before "arriving" in the guise of an old woodsman. The pilot looked relieved to see a friendly face. Loki suggested the only option was to wait or smoke them out, but he'd need a special gas to do it. Otherwise, it could take weeks. The pilot took his directions to a non-existent village several miles up the coast while he would "stay back and see if couldn't smoke them out using the old, slow method."

Five minutes later, Loki had a skimmer back at the Tree House and was pleased to find Ivy both awake and ready to go.

"You look well rested," he said. "Feeling better?"

He began gathering a few things for their outing, expecting they'd be gone most of the night, and poked around the pantry for some dinner. He suggested they eat before heading out.

"You're absolutely sure you want to do this? You do realize how dangerous it could be, right?"

“As better as I’m going to be for now,” She responded, her stomach twisting itself over the thought of having to deal with frost giants again.

When he asked if she was sure she could only raise an eyebrow at him, given that she thought it was the stupidest question and otherwise intelligent man could ask. Of course she wasn’t sure and she sure as hell didn’t want to go, but she provoked part of the problem and she wouldn’t feel right leaving it to someone else to clean up.

“No,” she finally responded as she reigned in her sarcasm, “But that doesn’t change the fact that it has to be done. The sooner we finish this task the better. After that, I think I’ll retire my battle armor.”

She shook her head at dinner. Her stomach was already in knots and the last thing she wanted to do was give it any ammunition against her. Before she could think about it further she turned towards the door.

“I’ll wait for you downstairs,” She said solemnly and made her way outside to the base of the tree. She leaned against it and took several deep breaths as she prepared herself.

Tough and resilient as Ivy had been, Loki had to concede she'd largely been thrust into those situations beyond her own will. Intentionally going into harm's way might not go as well. Would his (and her) luck hold?

Loki wrapped up and joined Ivy down at the base of the Tree House. He'd parked the skimmer in a small clearly nearby, the vehicle scarcely more than a small delivery van one would find on Earth. Night was about to fall and they'd have cover of darkness for what was to come next.

"Time for my bodyguard to keep me alive," he said to Ivy, giving her a quick wink.

He piloted the skimmer across the water, roughly taking the same route back to Asgard as they'd used to get to the Tree House. Rather than take the secret route through the caves, he flew around the city and landed near a small cluster of trees about a mile from the edge of the populated area.

"First stop is to pick up the explosives," he said. "Now, because we can't ask Odin to release explosives without people asking questions, we're going to have to...borrow it. Off the books."

He led her through a field, past a flock of sheep, and toward a series of low-slung buildings of a more utilitarian and durable design. He placed a hand on her back companionably.

"Those are some of the barracks and a munition depot for Odin's army," he said. "The depot is lightly guarded, but there's only one way in. For obvious reasons, we don't want to hurt anyone getting in and out, so I was thinking we'll do it the old-fashioned way - with a distraction. Think you could use your ample womanly charms to draw them off for a few minutes while I slip inside and grab what we need?"

Ivy followed him blindly as they took off speeding through country side and then the city. When they finally arrived at the barracks where the explosives were held, she looked at him incredulously as he suggested she distract them. While she didn’t think herself ugly, she also didn’t think she was anything that would distract anyone either.

“I’ll do my best…” She told him and then took her hair down, letting it fall down her back before she took a deep breath. She then sauntered towards the guards looking as if she were lost. She figured if anything would work on these muscled men, it would be the little lost lady routine.

“Hello,” She purred as she approached them. The men both looked at her, confused to see an unknown woman, they started to ready their weapons when she bent over to “fix her boot”, giving them an uninterrupted look at her cleavage. When she stood up again, they seemed to have relaxed their grip on their staffs.

“I’m a little lost, I’ve never been to this part of the city before,” she began as she walked closer to them and gave them a schpeel about how she was meeting her girlfriend there and how they had just started dating. She figured nothing would distract a man more than thinking about two women making out.

She managed to keep them interested in her story, in more ways than one, until Loki was able to grab what he needed and load it into the skimmer. Once he was safely away she started to wrap up her story.

“Now, if you gentlemen see Alyssa, told her I went back to our secret spot…” She purred with a grin, “she’ll know what I mean,” She winked at them and then started wandering in the direction they had given her to return to the city.

As soon as was possible, she ducked behind one of the buildings and made her way back around to the skimmer. Her smile was gone now and she was tying her hair back from her face once more.

“I swear, mention kissing another woman and men on any planet or plane loses all sense and reason,” She said with a huff as she got back on the skimmer.

She looked at him for a moment and felt herself blush. Even in the cold light of the Asgardian night, she was feeling embarrassed that she let him have her, or more specifically, that she had allowed her guard down to him and enjoyed it so thoroughly. She made a mental note to leave as soon as this particular problem was handled. She didn’t have the strength to get hurt and she knew the longer she was around him, the more she would be manipulated and the more emotional pain she would go through.

“Let’s get this done,” She said with a surprising amount of sternness.

She spent the rest of the trip replaying all her mistakes in her mind and hating herself for it. Despite the self-destructiveness of it, it at least kept her mind off of the fact that she might be killed very shortly. She very much doubted that Loki would pull her ass out of the fire a third time.

“What do you want me to do when we get there?” She asked him, wanting to be prepared for whatever might happen.

"Well done," Loki said when Ivy climbed back in, smiling at her comment. She, however, didn't seem to be amused.

“Let’s get this done,” She said with a surprising amount of sternness.

Definitely off. He assumed she was nervous or the "distraction" had been awkward. Regardless, he was confident she'd be up to the task with the rest of the operation.

They flew in silence for a while, skimming just over the trees or shoreline as they worked their way back to the site of the breach. He slowed as they got closer, not wanting to draw undue attention.

“What do you want me to do when we get there?” She asked him.

All business.

"I want to scout the area, first, just to get some idea how many might have come through," he said. "Then we can use your device to get the bomb delivered. After it goes off, we either clean up the trash on this side or arrange for Odin's soldiers to do it.

"Out of curiosity, do you think your device could port this entire skimmer inside the cave? It'd give us some cover and while we drop it off, then we could escape while leaving it behind."

Before she could answer, something hard impacted the front window, shattering it. Loki instinctively started to dive toward the ground as he tried to figure out what happened. Another thud and another soon followed. Then he saw one - breethins. The vermin were native to Jotenheim, akin to bats but significantly larger, stronger, and meaner. One had sacrificed itself to shatter the window while more were latching onto the vehicle and climbing toward the opening with wicked claws on their feet and wings.

As the ground rapidly approached, Loki also noted that it was covered in snow. Even here, miles from the breach, the influence of Jotenheim had dramatically increased since that very morning.

"Well, this isn't going according to plan," he muttered as he shook the craft violently side to side in hopes of shaking the creatures. It didn't work. Worse, at least two dozen more could be seen, their icy hides glistening in the moonlight, flying straight at them.

Ivy’s heart raced as the ship moved to and fro from the creature’s attack. When he asked about the devices ability to move the whole thing, her guess was as good as his.

“Only one way to find out…” she told him. She then reached into his pocket and grabbed the cube. With one click, they were transported in their entirety to the breach in Jotenheim.

She hated that she was back here as the cold of her own fear affected her more than Jotenheim’s frosty temperatures. She looked out of one of the windows and didn’t see any frost giants, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there.

“We should move quickly, I don’t see any frost giants but that doesn’t mean anything,” she told him as she pocketed her device. “Is there a timer for these things?” She asked.

Loki was a little concerned by Ivy's willingness to try her device on the fly without knowing it would work. Sure, they were in immediate danger, but she might vanish without him. Luckily, it worked. It also didn't change the skimmer's momentum when it reappeared in the Jotenheim cave. The skimmer's built-in crash avoidance threw all its repulsors on max and they hit the floor hard but not enough to injure them.

Loki jabbed his dagger through the couple breethins that had come along for the jump.

“We should move quickly, I don’t see any frost giants but that doesn’t mean anything,” she told him as she pocketed her device. “Is there a timer for these things?” She asked.

Loki felt another pang of unease when Ivy put the device in her own pocket. Why was he suddenly getting all paranoid about her motives? He liked to trust his instincts, which was why he wasn't happy with what they were telling him.

"Yes," he said, climbing into the back to fetch the pair of bowling-ball sized bombs he'd procured. "They can work by timer. We'll probably want to set one against each side of the cave near the breach."

Loki fiddled with the controls, syncing the bombs with each other, and set the timer for thirty seconds.

"Stay here and cover me," he said. "Thirty seconds starting...now!"

Loki punched the button, then leapt from the skimmer. He placed one against the ice cave wall, not far from the vehicle. He then hurried to the other side of the breach and set the other one. In the back of his mind, he was counting down. Ten seconds left...plenty of time to get back to Ivy in the skimmer, but only if her device didn't choose this moment to fail.

Loki turned from the bomb and found himself face to face with a frost giant who'd just passed through the breach from the Asgard side. The giant turned on him in an instant, bringing a massive axe to bear. And the giant was directly between Loki and where he needed to be. Eight seconds; Loki drew his daggers. A blast took the giant in the back of his shoulder from Ivy, causing him to roar but not even drop his axe. Five seconds.

There was no way Loki could get around the giant in time to reach her.

"Ivy, go! Now!" Three seconds.

Loki threw an illusion of himself to replace his body, while obscuring his real position as he side-stepped. Two seconds. The blow probably wouldn't land before the cave blew. One second.

While it looked like he was about to attempt to parry the attack, the real Loki was diving through the breach, desperately hoping there weren't too many giants on the other side.

Ivy panicked as the scene unfolded in front of her. She had managed to stop the frost giant temporarily, but Loki was still in the giant’s sights. She had the device in her hand and the bombs were ticking down. Despite her mistrust of Loki, something in her didn’t want to see him killed. She hesitated, knowing she had very little time. She saw something move out of the corner of her eye, but she was unable to discern what it was. Just as the timer started to roll over from 1 to zero, she hit the button on her device and she was back in the tree house, standing by the table in the main room.

She stood there, panic stricken, her chest heaving up and down as the cold chill of fear crept down her spine. Moments later she clicked the device again and she found herself where the rift had been on Asgard. She looked around the rubble until she saw a flash of green.

“Loki! Loki!” she cried out as she went digging for him. She pulled at the rocks and rubble, the shards tearing at her hands but she didn’t care. It was only after several moments of digging that she finally found him.

She pulled him close to her and clicked the button on the device again until they were back in the tree house. She laid him down on the floor and then moved her hands over his body looking for any signs of serious injuries. When she was satisfied that he seemed to be ok, she moved to look at his face, smoothing his hair back.

“Are you ok?” she began, “What can I do?”

Loki wasn't sure how much of the blast would go through the breach. It was a calculated risk, thinking it would save him to get through it. The concussion was impressive, to say the least. Everything went black and he was pretty sure he lost consciousness.

Ivy? In the dark, he could just make out her face. She was doing something. Digging? His vision went fuzzy again.

When he came to again, he was laying on his back on the study floor in the Tree House. Ivy was leaning over him, looking him over, then running her fingers through his hair. That felt much nicer than the rest of his body felt, but he was pretty sure nothing major was injured. He would heal quickly enough.

“Are you ok?” she began, “What can I do?”

"You came back for me," he said, smiling. "Apparently, there's nothing you can't do for me."

Loki lifted his head and got woozy, so set it back down. "Maybe a drink. And some of that cream."

He willed his armor away, leaving him in just his shorts. A quick glance down showed a few abrasions and bruises, but nothing too bad.

Ivy bolted into action as she left him what he requested, as well as a bowl of warm water and some cloths.

She had brought both water and wine, not knowing which he would prefer. She set them down near his hand so he could choose for himself and then set to work at cleaning up his face and hands from the dirt of the explosion. After she was satisfied she picked up the healing cream and started to apply it on the various spots that were now darkening on his torso and arms.

As she worked, all of her thoughts about her situation tumbled through her head as she tried to straighten them all out. She had truly been afraid of losing Loki, and given how little time they had been together, her care for him scared her. As did the fact that she was under no illusion that he wanted any more to do with her than to get her device working and to use it to his benefit, whether it was benevolent or not, she was still nothing more than a cog in his clockwork of plans.

She finished rubbing cream into the last bruise when she sat down on her haunches and looked at him. It took her several moments to finally bring herself to say the words, but finally, the rushed forth.

“Now that the breach has been closed,” she paused and swallowed hard, “I believe it would be best if I returned to earth. Once I’m sure you’re comfortable, I’ll reprogram the device and make my return.”

She then rose from the floor and gathered up the things she had been using and put them up. She then came back to help him from the floor if he needed it.

“Let’s get you to bed,” she said softly.

Loki thoroughly enjoyed the rub down, Ivy's hands finding all the right spots while the cream quickly did its work. He was less pleased with her talk of returning to earth. Much less pleased. Something had changed in her and he needed to figure it out. If he had a working device, then he might be tolerant off her leaving, but that would put this technology potentially in the hands of the humans. That didn't sound like a recipe for his well being.

He let Ivy help him up, even though he was already feeling much better. He collected the bottle of wine and brought it along.

At the bed, he wrapped her gently in his arms. "Thank you again, for everything. You're an incredible woman and I'll be very sad to see you go."

He leaned down to kiss her, savoring her taste again.

"Please stay, join me. Celebrate the good we accomplished in securing Asgard."

His hands slowly slid down her sides as he pulled her in close.

She helped him into bed and watched his reactions. She hated that he performed exactly as she expected he would, and though she enjoyed his kiss she pulled away.

“I suppose allowing myself to be with you has led you to believe I’m stupid,” She said as she pulled away from him. “As much as I hate the reality of our situation, I’m under no illusion that I am anything more than a means to an end for you. While I wish I could find out why my device acts in the way it does here, I cannot in good conscious stay here any longer. You insult my intelligence to think that I am so grateful to be in your presence, that I would forget everything else.” She told him.

She moved away from the bed and walked to the armoire. She picked out the simplest clothing she could find, a pair of form fitting black pants and shirt and quickly changed into it. She slipped her boots back on and walked into the study to start reprogramming her device.

Loki was impressed and amused by Ivy's reaction. Again, this human continued to surprise him. He watched as she changed, still admiring her physical assets as much as her intellect and conviction. He couldn't let her just leave, though.

He followed her to the study and sighed.

"You are a smart one, Dr. Ivy," he said. "But I lust for you for reasons that go well beyond the practicality of your device.

"That said, Odin would never settle for allowing you to just leave with it. Not until we understand it's function and risks and, hopefully, benefits. Therefore, I cannot let you go."

He placed a hand upon her forehead and projected images of a Chitauri army laying waste to some back water planet. They were his own direct memories, when he'd had to bear witness to the titan Thanos's power and resolve prior to cementing their alliance ahead of his invading Earth. While Ivy bore witness to these horrors, she was oblivious to her own body and surroundings. He carried her back to the bedroom and tied her arms and legs to each corner of the bed.

When the vision faded, he saw the awareness and fear return to her eyes.

"That, my dear, is what would've befallen earth were it not for me. Because of your accursed heroes, it may still yet happen. I need... Asgard needs everything possible to deal with threats like... That."

She was about to tell him what she thought about his lust when his hand was placed over her forehead. The images she saw chilled her to her bones and it was only as she gasped that she became aware that her body had been secured to the bed.

“What…” She pulled at her arms and her legs only to find them secured to the bed.

She looked to his face as he explained to her a deeper truth behind what had happened. She understood why they would wish to harness the power of her device, and now, she wondered if Odin had known all along what would happen to her. Had she betrayed her curiosity about Loki? Had Loki been sent with her to this paradise to cajole her into her continued assistance?

The latter hurt her heart to think that they both had made a fool of her. She turned her head to the side to look away from him. She had let her loneliness cloud her judgement and now she was in no doubt that she had transpired from guest to prisoner.

“Where do you expect me to go? Just take it. Why tie me to a bed?”

Loki gave Ivy a pensive look.

"I don't expect you to go anywhere," he said. "But I would like you to stay."

He circled the bed slowly, taking her in the entire way. It was far from the most revealing outfit, but he liked the way it subtly hinted at the sensuality underneath.

He produced her device seemingly from thin air and set it on the nightstand. Then he continued walking back around the bed, letting his hand draw across her leg, then brush the underside of her foot.

"I need to understand this device and I need you to want me to understand it. I can't risk losing you until I'm certain of that. Certain I have your loyalty and understanding."

He ran his fingers from her hand up her arm, over her shoulder, and down almost to her breast. Then he leaned in closer and whispered.

"I need to know I have your complete...devotion. I don't think you yet appreciate the benefits of having a god for a patron.

"They are...plentiful."

He kissed her beneath the ear before standing back up and smiling.

She closed her eyes as he kissed just below her ear. How little he understood her and how obvious it was due to his tactics.

“You truly know nothing of me other than what you have seen,” She said softly, “You want me to be devoted? Please, enlighten me on how tying me to a bed will accomplish this goal.”

Loki smiled, almost smirked.

"This," he said, vaguely waving his hand over her and the bed. "This is just because it's what you wanted. Maybe not specifically, maybe not consciously, but wanted nonetheless."

He sat on the bed beside her and began rubbing his hand along her inner thigh. Each pass, his hand moved closer to her crotch, never quite reaching it.

Loki then leaned over and brushed aside a lock of hair from her forehead. Then he brushed her mind, bringing back her memories from this morning of their lovemaking. Like his vision of death and destruction, these memories were complete in their perfect intensity. He'd focused on her desire for him, her desperate need to submit. Just before the memory reached its climax, he brought her back into the moment.

Ivy's face was flush and breathing labored.

"I cannot read your mind, my dear, but I can sense things. I know what you want. It's just a matter, now, of you accepting it for yourself."

Her eyes rolled back in her head as she was suddenly brought back to their morning of delights. She felt her body respond to it, her nipples hardened as she could feel a swirl of excitement curl deep in her belly. When he removed his hand against, he stood there, that knowing smirk on his face.

“I accept that it is very clear that I made a mistake this morning. I also accept that you will make me pay for it,” she began to tug at her restraints again and let out an aggravated cry of frustration.

“So you think a quick shag will make me devoted to you? Please. If anything you clearly can’t seem to let me go. Perhaps you’re afraid of me…is that it? Afraid you might like someone for more than what you can get out of them?” She asked, though she knew that wasn’t the case.

“Furthermore, how can I explain how the device works when I’m not even sure what the vibranium is reacting to?” she struggled again to pull free of her restraints. She knew it was a fruitless endeavor but she never gave up easily.

Loki sighed and resumed his pacing around the bed.

"So much potential in you," he said, shaking his head. "And yet you keep denying yourself, pushing down your raw instincts and urges, trying to rationalize them away. You feel guilty for having enjoyed yourself this morning. You're trying to convince yourself it was a mistake, a moment of weakness. You want to resent me."

He paused and turned to her.

"When you act in the heat of the moment, act on instinct, that's the only time you're being true to yourself. When you fought to save yourself and me. When you came back for me tonight after the explosion. When you crawled into my lap, wanting nothing more than to be filled with my cock. Those, my dear, were the times you stopped overthinking and denying yourself."

Loki picked up Ivy's device and considered it for a moment. "This? I think you have a much better idea about how it's working than you claim. But that doesn't concern me at the moment."

He set it back down, then sat beside Ivy. He placed a hand upon her stomach and made small circles until his fingers just grazed the bottom of her breasts.

"You're smart. Brilliant, really. And, eventually, you'll figure out that I'm what you aspire to be. Fearless, relentless, focused. Determined to ascend above the sea of mediocrity around you. When you figure that out, you'll worship me, and our inevitable partnership will be fulfilled."

“Worship you? Please. You had to tie me up to get me to stay here,” She said with conviction. She was doing her very best to ignore his hands on her, but if he was correct about anything, it was that she wanted him.

Despite her misgivings about him, and she had to admit to herself that they were all based on New York and second hand knowledge of the man, she liked him. While she found him incredibly sexy, she found him intellectually sexy as well. If he took her into a library and started reading Aristotle to her, she probably would have quickly puddled in her panties.

Despite all this, she didn’t like being a joke or being used. And so, she tried to move away from his touch as best she could, given her restraints.

“Untie me!” she growled at him.

Loki grinned.

"Or what? You'll keep denying yourself?"

Loki could feel the anger and lust building within Ivy in equal measure. He savored the raw emotion, the battle of wills within her. She didn't realize just how much he respected her. Go figure it would be a human who caught his fancy.

He continued circling his hand, now grazing fully across the tops of her breasts. Her nipples were hard under his touch. He paused to pinch each in turn.

"Your body is so certain in what it wants, and yet your conflicted mind just...keeps...fighting."

Loki ran his hand back across her stomach toward her waist. As his fingers reached the tight fabric, he slowed, crawling inexorably across her pubic mound until he almost reached that spot. Then his hand veered off to the side, brushing her inner thigh and then the soft spot insider her pelvis.

"Will you lie to yourself? Tell me you don't want exactly this?"

She hated that he was right and she closed her eyes against his touch, whimpering softly as his fingers pinched her nipples. In spite of herself, her body responded to his every touch, her nipples longed to feel his hot mouth over them just as her pussy was growing warm and wet with anticipation.

“I hate how much you’re enjoying this,” she told him frankly, though she didn’t hate that as much as she hated her own treacherous body.

“Please, please untie me,” she added in a soft voice.

"Untie you? But dear Ivy, you're in bindings of your own making."

Loki's hand on her pelvis slowly slid between Ivy's legs, ever so gently grazing across her slit. Still wearing pants, the sensation would be dulled...a bit. Loki, however, could feel the tremble in her body at his touch.

"Tell me, doctor, just what it is you really want?" His fingertips danced across her pussy, her heat radiating through the fabric. "Not what you think you want."

He leaned over her chest and feigned as if to lick a protruding nipple through her shirt. Then he smiled and looked up at her.

"And definitely not what you think you want to spite me."

Ivy’s face mellowed as she watched him move over her body. When he posed his question she smiled at him.

“If you let me go, I’ll show you all the things I want,” She purred at him, her yes moving over his body, “though I’m sure you know what a great many of them are.”

She moved her body towards his touch, sighing softly. “How can I taste you if I cannot reach you?” she pouted.

"You'll show me?" Loki nodded in approval at her suggestion. "I almost believe you. But..."

Loki's hand massaged Ivy's crotch with just a bit more pressure this time. He leaned over and took a hard nipple between his teeth, teasing for a moment before letting it go.

"... I told you to tell me."

Loki removed his hand from her undulating crotch and slid it up her side. With his other hand, he cupped her cheek and then placed a single finger over her lips.

"If you're in desperate need of a taste, though, I can be accommodating." He traced his fingertip across Ivy's full lips.