ikols | open post | psls

[ Montana is a lot like Asgard: mountains, wide plains, big scary moose. Loki intends to visit when it's snowy but the season is warm and all around are tall green trees, the exact kind of weather that puts his son at ease as soon as the green portal closes behind them. Sleipnir is saddled and Loki holds his reins to loosely guide him where he walks alongside, although they both stop and look around in interest for a moment once they arrive. ]

You won't lack room to run, at least. That must be the cabin ahead; be nice to his horses, please.

[ Sleipnir snorts a noncommittal answer that could be See if they're dicks to me, first.

They walk up to Chris's cabin, still taking in the scenery. Loki knocks on the door and finally lets Sleipnir's reins go so he can nose around the open garden, his own hands sweatier than usual and requiring wiping on his pants. He wears a shirt with the sleeves rolled up, helm missing and for all intents and purposes a visitor who just wandered up to the house our of thin air.

Sleipnir nudges between Loki's shoulders, prompting him to half-turn and scratch under the great black head of his child, petting his muzzle. ]

I'm not nervous, don't be silly.

[ Chris had extended an offer to Loki to come visit him on Earth early on. Chris wasn't going to be on Earth for a while, but he had said way back at the beginning that he'd like to have Loki stop by if at all possible, if only so he could figure out why his boyfriend — it's still such a novel idea, that he has a boyfriend — keeps bursting into giggles whenever he mentions home.

Some shore leave had come up, three whole weeks between when they arrived and when repairs would be complete and they could leave space dock, and Chris had send Loki a message immediately.

Come by whenever. I have no plans and I'd love to see you. Bring Sleipnir if you want.

Loki having a giant eight-legged horse as a son is still something Chris hasn't quite wrapped his head around, though he does believe he exists. At this stage, Loki has shown him so much that is outside Chris's frame of reference that he could tell him literally anything and there's a high chance he'll just shrug and go "oh, wow, okay" and believe him. Don't abuse this power, Loki.

It had seemed like a good day to bake bread, one of those time-consuming low-tech activities that are so hard to get fully immersed in whilst on a starship, so when the knock to his door comes, Chris still has flour splashed up to his elbows and a dish towel slung over one shoulder, his collar unbuttoned and his sleeves rolled up to try and keep things clean.

And yes, he's wearing an apron. ]

Loki! [ The grin that splits his face is broad and sunny, his dimples popping into full view and the skin around his eyes crinkling as he opens his arms. ] You made it. And, oh — wow. This must be Sleipnir. Hi.

[ Holy shit that horse is enormous. ]

Hello, dear.

[ The scent of baking and the sight Chris presents has Loki feeling like he has come home, stepping forward into those open arms for a brief kiss before Sleipnir takes the spotlight. Loki pats Chris on the chest as he stares at the horse blinking back curiously. ]

Chris, this is Sleipnir, the steed of Asgard. Sleipnir, this is Captain Christopher Pike of whom I spoke. He's the man who expressed a wish to ride you, if you allow it.

[ Sleipnir's eyes glow a faint red and he stands still with only one hoof pawing the ground to look Chris over, cleverer than a regular horse. Unsurprising, with a head that big ]

Hi, baby.

[ It's been longer than he'd like to think about and yet having Loki step into his arms and duck his head just that little bit to kiss him is such a comfortable feeling that Chris lets himself lean into it a little longer than necessary, just to feel it to its fullest extent. Space is cold and lonely, even surrounded by his friends, his crew, his family. It's reassuring to be able to embrace someone again.

Focusing on the absolutely massive stallion standing behind his boyfriend, Chris looks up at the huge skull looming over him, the horse's coat a glossy black so similar to Loki's hair, his bright eyes eerily intelligent. Figuring he might as well just go for broke — he doubt Loki will let his horse son chew Chris's arm off — he decides to greet him the way he greets all his horses: by reaching out with a softly-closed hand to bump Sleipnir's nose in a gentle press of his knuckles, an equine hello he'd learned to do as a child when he was still so afraid of being trampled by the big creatures that lived in his barn.

He's quite a bit bigger now than he was as a little kid, but then again, so is Sleipnir. ]

Only if you don't mind. [ Absolutely none of the saddles Chris has could hope to span this back. Hopefully Loki can conjure something or Chris is going to have to brave riding this horse bareback. ] I'm just glad to see you both.

[ Luckily for Chris, Sleipnir is already saddled and bridled for exactly that reason, nothing mortal-made would fit. Sleipnir gives a snort by way of hello, sniffing that hand, then aloofly decides he's going to explore the grounds and turns around with all eight hooves clopping.

Loki gives Chris a squeeze around the middle. ]

That wasn't a no, for the record. [ He sniffs the air with the same curiosity as he passed on to his son, peering into the house. ] Making dinner?

[ It's with some relief that he spots the saddle once Sleipnir turns to the side enough that Chris can see around his massive chest and head. It looks more or less like something Chris thinks he could fit into, as long as he doesn't mind developing quite a twinge in his thighs.

It'd be worth it. ]

Baking bread. [ Now that they've been dismissed, it seems, by Loki's son, Chris lets himself turn his head to dole out another kiss, this time pressed to the hinge of Loki's jaw as he peers past him into the house. ] You want a tour?

How domestic of you. Yes, tour me!

[ Giving Chris a final squeeze, Loki wanders into the hour and starts peeking around. ]

It's very remote out here.

[ Tour me he says, and then immediately wanders away on his own, leaving Chris standing in the doorway, all alone.

Chris has to laugh, giving one last look to Sleipnir where he ambles around the grounds, sniffing everything curiously — he hopes the stallion doesn't feel like tearing out any of the landscaping, but considering he's not here that often and he doesn't have that strong of an opinion about the plants and shrubs that are closest to the house, he supposes it doesn't matter — he turns and follows Loki into the house, leaving the door half-open since the weather is nice and it doesn't seem polite to shut one of his guests out completely even though there's no way that a horse that massive will fit inside the door.

Looking around his place as if through outside eyes, Chris has to admit that yes, it is rather remote. ]

It's very close quarters on board. I like having a little space.

[ It's nice to have somewhere he can go where he doesn't always feel the eyes of everyone on him at all times. Privacy is hard to come by on a ship like the Enterprise. ]

[ With a running commentary behind him as he explores, he swans around the kitchen and the dining table, staring at baking bread and tapping the furniture as he goes like a cat walking over everything in a house it knows it owns. ]

It's nice, I like it. Rustic. Is that a real fireplace? Oooh.

[ Loki cycles his way back over, sliding his hands up Chris's arms. ]

I hope you don't mind me getting all up in your space.

[ Watching Loki wandering around his house, Chris leans a hip against the kitchen island and pulls the towel off his shoulder to brush the worst of the flour off his hands and arms before dumping it on the counter beside him and taking his apron off to drop it beside it. He has a feeling he won't be getting too much cooking done after this, so it's a good thing he put a dutch oven of chili in the slow oven earlier today.

One eye on the timer counting down until the bread is finished, he shifts his stance to let Loki insinuate himself in nice and close. ]

I think I'll find a way to survive. [ A way like, perhaps, looping his arms around Loki's waist and tugging him in closer to he can kiss him again, nice and slow the way he wanted to when they met on the porch. ] It's good to see you again.

[ The kiss is slow and intimate in ways that make the hairs on the back of his neck rise, the excitement of being back with Chris a palpable energy in Loki's bones. He runs a hand up Chris's neck and leans in to steal more, shorter kisses, pecks between words since he can't get enough of being fussed and held. ]

I've missed you more than you can know, Christopher. Tell me how much you've missed me!

More than I can know? [ That seems to please him even if it is hyperbole, and he smiles through the barrage of little kisses Loki places upon him, his hands drifting to stroke and squeeze like he wants to touch all of him and can't decide where to start. ]

So much, sweet thing. [ He winkles his hands in beneath the hem of Loki's shirt so he can splay his fingers across his cool, smooth skin, pressing his palms gently but firmly into his back to keep him close. ] So much.

[ The timer dings behind them, loud and insistent, and Chris sighs. Letting himself steal one last kiss, he disentangles himself and slips out from between Loki's arms so he can go to the oven and open the door, using his previously discarded kitchen towel to protect his hands as he reaches inside to retrieve the cast iron dutch oven that holds the bread that's been filling the kitchen with the comforting scent of baking for the past half hour. ]

What have you been up to since you left? [ he asks over his shoulder, kneeing the oven shut and carrying the heavy iron pot over to where he left the cooling rack so he can tip out the bread boule somewhere it can cool effectively. ]

[ He could spend an eternity in Chris's arms, held fast by the hands that skim under his shirt and the heat of the man practically baked himself in the hot kitchen. Loki lets him go reluctantly and heads for the fridge to find a cold drink, attention on Chris acting like the most adorable house-husband Loki has even seen in movies or magazines. ]

We had a party in Asgard for Pride Month, invited all the realms over. Everyone had a boogie on the Bifrost bridge, you would have loved it.

[ The fridge has a couple different options to offer as far as beverages, from a pitcher of water, to juice, to a few bottles of beer and a bottle of wine chilling in the door, so whatever Loki is in the mood for, he should be able to find what he needs.

His lips quirking, Chris mouths boogie on the Bifrost. ]

You're going to have to explain that to me.

Well, yes, I suppose I ought.

[ Juice! Juice for Loki, he pours himself a glass and walks over to sniff the bread recently put on a cooling rack. His hand absently roams up Chris's side, runs around his waist and back. ]

It's a great big bridge flashing like a rainbow and you get teleported off the end of it to wherever you want to go. It's enormously lengthy so the party took place all along it, from the end where it drops off into space up to the golden castle proper. There were frost giants, humans, elves, dwarves ... I, ah, may have flirted quite heavily with Rúna the Valkyrie while I was deep in my cups.

[ He looks abashed to admit it, at least. ]

It needs at least twenty minutes to cool, paws to yourself.

[ Or paws on Chris, that's fine. He's more than happy to have Loki's hands roam over him here in the privacy of his own kitchen, the slanting sunshine outside lending the already homey space an even cozier feel.

Listening to Loki describe the party, Chris is well aware his own imagination isn't nearly good enough to come up with an accurate picture of what it must have been like, but it sounds fun. It certainly sounds like Loki had fun, and he lets himself arch his eyebrow at the admission that he might have gotten a little too friendly with a Valkyrie, whatever that means. ]

Rúna, hm? [ He's not really feeling jealous, but he is disappointed that he wasn't there to witness it. Or to distract him when Loki got a little too messy drunk. ] Were they cute?

Rúna is one of Asgard's greatest warriors, she's terrifying.

[ That's a good enough answer because it was what attracted Loki to her. That, and the fact she didn't seem to like Loki at all until some tits were thrown in the mix; a fun conquest, it would have been.

But it didn't happen.

As he lays his head on Chris's shoulder he slouches to make up for the height difference, feeling out the lines of a strong back and shoulders. Of all the places Loki has been travelling, this is the only one he can truly relax in. ]

I did not bed her.

Mm, I'm sorry I missed it, then.

[ Chris likes powerful women. Maybe he'd have enjoyed watching the spectacle that would have been Loki trying to woo Rúna.

Loki slumps to tuck himself up against Chris's side and Chris automatically adjusts his stance to welcome him, leaning against the counter and draping both arms around Loki's torso to hold him close as he noses into that silky black hair, breathing in the familiar sharp scent of pine he'd missed so much. ]

What, did she turn you down? [ He almost sounds offended, like it's preposterous someone would decline the chance to sleep with Loki were they offered it. ]

Christopher Pike.

[ An exasperated sigh leaves Loki as he raises his head, giving him an assessing look to see if he's being teased. He tugs on the back of Chris's shirt in faint annoyance. ]

I didn't fuck her because, as I've said, I missed you beyond the telling. [ Pink-cheeked, he amends out of irritation, ] Obtuse as you are.

[ He is being teased, a little bit.

Chris makes a valiant effort at keeping a straight face, though his dimples are starting to show which undercuts his sincerity a little, but his mirth fades into a painful sort of fondness when he sees Loki's cross little expression and hears his explanation. ]

Sweetheart. [ He leans in to kiss those pink cheeks, lifting his hands up to cup Loki's jaw, his thumbs brushing over his skin lightly. ] I'm sorry, I shouldn't tease. I missed you too.

[ He suspected, it's nice to have it spelled out in kisses and smiles though. Loki wriggles in Chris's arms and at first it might seem like he's just nuzzling at his neck to be affectionate but then there happen to be a missing handful of inches off his height and his face is buried in the curve of Chris's throat which he only just reaches.

Loki lets his weight go lax against Chris from knee to shoulder, holding onto him like he's the last piece of driftwood in the solar sea. His voice comes muffled. ]

Other things came to pass too, while I was away. I don't want to think about them anymore, not while we're together.

Oh, hello.

[ Loki shrinking a little so he fits better in Chris's arms is met with the same equanimity as most of his other shapeshifting tricks: a little moment of surprise, but then an easy acceptance and a resuming of previous affection.

Chris drops his arms to fold them over Loki's back, tucking him in close against his front, one hand lifted just enough to cup the back of his head and keep him nestled in against Chris's throat as he nuzzles a little at the top of his head. ]

Okay. [ He gives him a little squeeze, a grounding hug. Is he curious about what might have happened to leave Loki so affected that he's literally shrunk himself down to hide against Chris's chest? Of course he is. But Loki will tell him when he's ready, and unless those things affect Chris too, it's really none of his business. He'll be told or he won't, but it's not going to change hos he feels about or how he acts around his boyfriend. ] Whatever you need, baby, I'll give it to you.

[ He's a god, an interdimensional and time-travelling wanderer, living myth with irrepressible power, but in Chris's arms he can smell fresh bread baked just for him and he feels like he has never needed anything so much as to eat it. It will heal all wounds more effectively than a golden apple of Idunn, he's certain. ]

You're the only one who ... bakes for me.

[ To use that as an allegory for other things. ]

Tell me how you've been too, I want to know.

There's chili, too, if you're hungry. Once the bread is finished resting.

[ Chris has always had an irrepressible need to care for those around him, to make sure that they're comfortable and safe, to look out for them and provide for them as best he can. It's just his good luck that Loki seems to appreciate that instinct.

He is also aware that bakes for me encompasses more than just the bread cooling on the counter beside them, and he tilts his chin down to press a kiss to the top of Loki's head in response. ]

It's been fairly quiet since you left. We delivered a new batch of battery cells to a Federation outpost not too far from the nebula we dropped those sharks off at, the only really exciting thing to come out of that was another little skirmish with some Romulan dogfighters, but that didn't last very long as they don't like encroaching too far into Federation space, so they fled pretty quickly. It hastened our return to Earth, though, since some of the damage we sustained could only be repaired in space dock, and the brass wanted us nearby so I could be dragged into participating in an incredibly tedious meeting between Earth and some of our newest Federation members. Not that I did that much while being there, but it was more for optics than anything else.

[ He can multitask, case in point zoning out as he hangs onto Chris like a stray burr picked up in a field while also digesting everything he hears. That his lover is so very capable and clever is a balm to Loki's nerves, he doesn't need to pander or pretend in order to stay interested in Chris's life in its own right, he just is. It must be the same when he talks about things like dancing on a rainbow bridge, he supposes, new and fascinating details in abundance that he wouldn't experience otherwise.

And there's chili, too. Of course there is, Chris is a genius. ]

I hope you kept your yawns in the single digits. [ Meetings, ew. ] I'm glad the dogfighters didn't cause your ship too much damage.

[ The ship being Chris's real home, darling though the house is. ]

( MONTANAAA, @ chris pike III )

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