Layla leaned over the balcony, allowing the cool morning breeze to blow through her hair. She would have to brush it again before breakfast, but the refreshing wind and the warm sunshine was well worth it. Layla hadn't realized how much she missed the Earth and its weather while out in space. Despite her disdain for many of the people of Earth, it would always be her home, and always be special to her. The large arched window of the balcony overlooked the Norwegian Sea, and the quiet city below. This little spot was already becoming one of her favorites.

    It was going to be a busy morning, and she was trying her best to enjoy the last moments of alone time she could get. She hadn't seen anyone since last night, and she was a bit anxious about what the day could hold for them. Had Thor and Loki had their talk about meeting with the rest of the Avengers? And if they did, how did it go? Layla wasn't super concerned about Thor's cooperation on the matter, but with the way Thor and Loki's relationship had been, she wasn't sure if things went alright.

    Steady footfalls alerted her to the fact that she wasn't alone anymore. Layla glanced over her shoulder, only to see one of the men in question come to a stop behind her. She turned to see Thor standing there with a gentle smile on his face.

     "Good morning, Layla," he greeted. "You would look quite content if I knew you weren't troubled." He took a few steps forward before pulling her into a tight embrace. "What ails your mind?"

    "I wouldn't say troubled, exactly," Layla started as she hugged him back, only to falter when Thor huffed an amused laugh. "Okay, I suppose I am."

    "Well, what about?" Thor asked, releasing her from his embrace.

    Layla didn't want to know, but she needed to know. "Did you talk to Loki?"

    Thor nodded. "I did. He and I had a pretty good chat late last night about quite a few things," he answered. "Some pretty important things."

    "Like what?" Layla asked. Loki was only supposed to talk to him about meeting with the remaining Avengers. What else did the brothers discuss?

    "Well, first of all, he told me Spencer went rogue and contacted the Captain and that you all wanted to arrange a meeting with him and the rest of the team," Thor explained. He ran a hand through his short hair, rubbing the back of his head for a moment. "And I think it's a good idea, so I instructed him to have Spencer arrange a meeting time."

    Layla nodded. She wasn't shocked to hear that Thor agreed to a meeting. He was open to making an alliance with Jotunheim- a realm that had been their sworn enemy for thousands of years- so why would a few estranged friends be any different? And yet, Layla was still not so sure about the meeting herself.

    "I'm not looking forward to meeting with our former teammates when they come to visit," she admitted. "They lack loyalty and morals and I don't dare imagine what deceit and betrayal they will wrought upon us in our fight against Thanos."

    "Are you aware that you have started to sound, as Anthony puts it, like Shakespeare in the park?" Thor asked, a smile on his face. Layla punched him in the arm lightly, causing him to laugh. "As for Rogers and the rest of the former Avengers, worry not. They have treated you all unfairly and without thought, but I do feel they will put aside their feelings to fight for the safety of not only this realm, but all others."

    "You sound so sure of yourself," Layla grumbled. "I just... I'm not sure if I'm prepared to face all of them. They were our friends, and they betrayed us. They are responsible for the trauma Tony and Anja still deal with."

    Thor was quiet, knowing fully well Layla wasn't done saying her piece. He nodded, but said nothing else, so Layla continued.

    "Maybe the Accords are garbage now with the shit that's happening with Thanos, but at the end of the day, we could've broken them together as a team- just like we always did," Layla went on. "But no... things had to be done the hard way. Between Steve and Bucky tag-teaming Tony in Siberia and Clint lying to and using Anja... I'm sure this meeting could just reignite that big blow out fight."

    Thor sighed. He hadn't been here for the Civil War, so Layla wasn't sure if he understood how bad things had gotten, and how horrible terms they all left off on. So many of them had been humiliated in some shape or form, and Layla knew the scars from it ran deep.

    "It's certainly a possibility," he said. "Hopefully it does not come to that, but we'll cross that bridge when and if it comes." He paused for a moment, seemingly thinking something over. "Even so, it is nothing your kings cannot handle."

    Layla nodded in agreement, until her brain realized what he had said. "Wait a minute... what?" she asked. "Kings? Why the plural? I thought you were the only king of Asgard?"

    "There has been a... change of plan, so to speak," Thor answered. "I offered to share the position of king with Loki."

    Layla blinked a few times in confusion. Did she hear him correctly? Loki? As king? Surely he had to be joking. There were a million reasons why that wasn't a bright idea.

    "Um... are you sure that's a good idea, Thor?" Layla questioned.

    Thor didn't seem to be as concerned as she was as he smiled back at her. "Why wouldn't it be?"

    Layla raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend. "You don't see any ways that giving Loki a higher position of power could be a bad idea?"

    "I see them, but I am choosing to give my brother the benefit of the doubt," Thor replied. "He has proven himself worthy of the position."

    Layla bit her tongue for a moment, debating how to best word her concerns. "But Thor, he's betrayed you before. What makes now any different?" she started. "New York, overthrowing your father, turning on you on Sakaar, giving Thanos the Tesseract, probably a million other things... what is stopping him from screwing you over again?"

    "During New York he was being manipulated by Thanos," Thor defended.

    "That only covers that one thing, Thor," Layla countered. "That doesn't explain everything else he's done. So again, what is stopping him?"

    "The same thing that is making you think he royally screwed us over already," Thor replied. "Anja."

    Layla snorted. "Yeah, okay. I seriously doubt Anja can stop him from doing anything. She's been a lovesick puppy since he showed up. She certainly isn't going to prevent him from doing something if it makes him happy- including anything that could screw you over."

    Thor shook his head. "I think otherwise. I've seen drastic changes in him since Anja has been in his life. It may not be apparent to you or the others, but I see it. He's always going to be a trickster, but I don't think he is as vindictive and hateful as many make him out to be."

    Layla shook her head. "I'm still not so sure of that. How many times has he stabbed you? Tried to overthrow someone? The guy is a loose cannon."

    Thor ignored her questions and changed the topic a little. "Perhaps the Man of Iron has rubbed off on you a bit too much; you were not against their relationship initially. It won't do you any good to dwell on it; they are happy, and ultimately that is what should matter," he said. "Loki has already determined Anja will be his queen, and I have no doubt she will accept."

    Layla didn't doubt it either. Anja wouldn't be able to resist. In all their years spent together, if there was one thing Layla knew about her best friend it was that when she fell in love, she fell hard. Anja hadn't dated many guys- just one in high school, Clint, and now Loki- and each one she was absolutely serious about. If anything, Layla was more nervous that Anja was on the fast track to getting her heart broken again.

    She sighed. "I'm sure she will," she answered. "It's not that I'm completely against them. I just... if Loki hurts her- in any way- I'm going to lose my shit. Anja's been through enough."

    "By all means, if he does, I'll kill him myself," Thor replied. "But I'm not worried about that coming to pass. He expressed he wanted to make her his queen, and I know he wouldn't have said that if he didn't mean it." He paused, glancing out over the horizon for a moment. "Eventually, I may do the same with you. I know our relationship is new, so I don't want to rush into any of that, and I am sure you feel the same."

    She nodded in agreement. The two of them certainly hadn't been together long enough to even think about a lifetime together yet. Honestly, she wasn't sure Anja and Loki had been either, but they at least had a few months under their belts now, and that was much better than a few days.

    "Yeah, definitely not looking to be queen any time soon," she replied. "Baby steps and all that."

    "Let us not think about it right now, the time for that will come," Thor said. "For now, if you are ready, I can escort you to breakfast. We should probably get this over with."

    Layla sighed. "Yeah. I'm ready. But I'm not looking forward to Tony's reaction to this news, but the deed must be done."

    Thor nodded as he offered her his arm. "Indeed it must."

    Layla hooked her arm with his, and the two of them started to walk towards the dining hall. A few minutes passed in relative silence, but then Layla looked up at him and smiled. It only took a moment before Thor looked down at her.

    "Hm?" he asked.

    "You know what I am looking forward to about this impending meeting with the team?" Layla replied.

    "What?"

    "I look forward to seeing Loki verbally eviscerate all of them," Layla answered, grinning evilly as she glanced at Thor.

    The god was shaking his head but laughing silently. "It is nice to watch when one is not on the receiving end of his vitriol," he agreed. "Hopefully it does not come to that."

    "Hopefully not, but if it does, the sass will be too much," she said with a laugh.

    Layla didn't have high hopes that the upcoming meeting with the Avengers was going to go any more smoothly than the talk with Tony here in a few minutes, but at least for now she could pretend things were going to work out okay between the former friends. And more importantly, if they didn't, they could at least have some fun at the expense of their former friends.

*****

Hi everyone. Long time no see. I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, if you celebrate it.

I apologize for taking so long to post another chapter. Generally speaking, I try to keep one chapter ahead of what is posted here, but I decided to break that so I could give you all an update. It's been too long, and I apologize for that. I have had little writing time as of recent. My daughter has decided that it's very cool to not sleep again, so once we have gotten her to sleep, I've pretty much been going to bed too as opposed to staying up late to write. She has had rare naps, so that has also crippled my daytime writing as well. I've been doing my best to get a few sentences or paragraphs in when I can, but unfortunately it's been all too infrequent as of late. Hopefully things will get back to normal here soon and I can get back into the swing of things.

Work has been rather slow recently (mostly thanks to the pandemic) so I haven't been too busy on that front, anyway. The holidays are coming up, and with the pandemic, I'm not sure what they'll look like this year. Only time will tell, I suppose.

I hope all of you are staying safe out there. Thanks, as always, for your patience with me. I truly appreciate it.

~arty_writes