philosopherking1887:

I’ve been having trouble working on my long WIPs because they’re sitting there on AO3 being all long and unfinished and it’s kind of intimidating. So I thought maybe the way to get back into writing fanfiction was with a short little Tumblr fic. And since I got a little beetle in my brain after reading something, I thought I’d try writing it up and see if I can break through the writer’s block.

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Loki was gazing out at the unmoving stars through the wall-sized window in what seemed like the only empty room on the ship, probably because it seemed to have no other purpose than as a viewing platform for the unchanging scenery. He had many reasons to hate and fear this view of the endless blackness of space, but he could not afford to let them master him. So he looked out at the star-strewn dark and thought not about falling into a darker hole in the darkness, not about the dramatic backdrop behind Thanos’s massive throne on Sanctuary, but instead about all the strange worlds out there where he could have made his fortune, thrived even, if he did not feel bound to Thor… and yes, even to Asgard, which he had to admit was the closest thing he’d ever had to a home. And if Asgard was its people, then he was home now, though he could not make himself feel it.

When he heard the sound of boot-shod feet behind him, he assumed it was Thor; anyone else would probably turn around and walk away when they saw him standing here alone. So when it was Heimdall’s smooth bass, molten gold like his eyes, that said “Good evening, my prince,” Loki startled a little… though not visibly; he was careful of that.

“What do you want?” Loki said shortly, not turning.

“Only to gaze at the stars, as you do, Your Highness,” Heimdall replied, unruffled. “Why do you assume that I must want something in particular?”

Now Loki turned to fix him with an unimpressed stare. “Under present circumstances, I see no more point in dissembling. You don’t like me. You don’t trust me. Why pretend otherwise?”

Heimdall nodded slowly. “It is true that I do not entirely trust you; and you must admit that that is simple prudence, in light of my experience. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t like you.”

Loki scoffed, then turned back toward the window and didn’t grant that claim the distinction of a further response.

“Perhaps ‘like’ is putting it too strongly,” Heimdall conceded. “But I do admire you, greatly; I long have. That you found those secret pathways between the worlds, and kept them concealed from me, as young as you are—it is extraordinary.”

“Thank you…?” Loki ventured.

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