A/N: The cover photo for this fic was made possible by the amazing thorkifantasies . tumblr . com – This blog is dedicated to drawing Loki and Thor pictures and is my number one go-to for Thorki art!

Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel characters or Beauty and the Beast. I'm not making any money from this.

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"Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young prince lived in a shining castle.
Although he had everything his heart desired, the prince was spoiled, selfish, and unkind.
But then, one winter's night, an old beggar woman came to the castle and offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold.
Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the prince sneered at the gift and turned the old woman away, but she warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within.
And when he dismissed her again, the old woman's ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress.
The prince tried to apologize, but it was too late, for she had seen that there was no love in his heart, and as punishment, she transformed him into a hideous beast, and placed a powerful spell on the castle, and all who lived there.
Ashamed of his monstrous form, the beast concealed himself his castle, with a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world.
The rose she had offered was truly an enchanted rose, which would bloom until his twenty-first year.
If he could learn to love another, and earn their love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken.
If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time.
As the years passed, he fell into despair, and lost all hope, for who could ever learn to love a beast?"

– Disney's Beauty and the Beast –

. . .

Loki pulled his satchel over his head as he walked out the front door of the cottage that he shared with his father, Laufé. Laufé was an inventor. The townsfolk didn't see him as that, though; no, they would refer to him as "Crazy old Laufé, always good for a laugh." The pair didn't acknowledge that, though. They kept to themselves most of the time. Avoiding the townsfolk, though, was a difficult feat that was seldom accomplished.

You see, at the age of nineteen, Loki was the most admired young bachelor in his village, Asguardé. Loki wasn't known for his strength as he was quite lean. He wasn't too keen on hunting, but he could chop wood for fires at least and he knew a fair amount about inventing and fixing. He had soft green eyes and silky black hair that reached his shoulders and flipped up at the ends. He often considered cutting his hair shorter. Why he thought this, he wasn't sure. Maybe it was to toy with the village girls; maybe it was because it was so much of a hassle. He never seemed to get around to it, though. He enjoyed his hair at this length. It was relatively manageable, and when he was bored, he would try out new hairstyles with it. His mother had taught him how to braid it when he was a young boy. When he braided his hair now, he would always be reminded of his mother.

He still cried for her sometimes, wishing she was still alive, wanting to show her how well he could braid his hair now. Maybe that was why he kept his hair long. If he didn't have long enough hair, he couldn't braid it and feel as though his mother was right there with him.

Today, he sported a relatively small braid on his left, tied at the end with a thin green ribbon. The air was on the colder side today, so he wore black pants and a green and gold tunic, tied at his waist with a brown belt.

Loki walked away from his home and toward the little, quiet town. He strolled down the worn stone pathway and stopped when he saw a small blue mountain flower, and bent down to get a closer look.

"Hello there, little one. You're quite the unusual little flower, aren't you?" he said to the flower. He smiled to himself and picked the flower, "I'll keep you with me. We can be each other's friend." Loki felt for his braid, and when he did, he managed to weave the flower's stem into it.

He walked on, and reached the village in a matter of minutes. As he stepped foot onto the uneven cobblestone of the town, he was greeted by a few villagers.

"Bonjour, Loki!" said one old man.

"Bonjour!" Loki responded.

"Bonjour, Loki." Said a young girl who looked to be around Loki's age. She winked at him and he nodded in response, not paying much attention to her.

One would think that Loki would be grateful and embrace the women who willingly threw themselves at him, but he didn't. He didn't know why he was like that. He decided that it was because he was so independent, and he didn't care for the "foolish lovesick boy" look. So, he simply chose to ignore them.

As he walked to the Bakery, the baker called out to him, "Oy, Loki! C'mere, boy!"

Loki walked over to the baker and placed his book on the windowsill, "Hello, monsieur. How are you?"

"No need t'act so formal with me, boy! Yeh've known me fer too long to call me 'monsieur,' now haven' ya? Ah've told ya time and time again not ter call me 'monsieur,' it makes me feel old! Yeh've gotta remember ter call me Nicholas!" the baker playfully chided him.

"Aye, that you have. My apologies."

"Bah, you young'ns an' yer formalities. Where're ye off ter this mornin'?" the baker asked.

Loki's eyes lit up as he remembered of why he had come into town today, "Oh, the bookshop! I jut finished the most wonderful book about four warriors and a giant creature from another world!" Loki gushed.

"Ah, that's nice. Ah never got inter readin' much as a lad. Oh, almost fergot! Had my apprentice try out some baking. Turned out pretty well, not too burned. At least, the third time 'e tried wasn't too burned!" the baker guffawed boisterously.

Loki couldn't help but chuckle at the man's laugh.

"Anyway, since what he made ain't on my list o' things that I sell, I figured I'd give it ter you. Y'know, as a gift. Yeh've always been so kind t' me, Loki, especially when you take over fer me when ah'm sick, an' my apprentice is too jittery to do it 'imself. The lad wants t'be a baker someday, but he ain't got no people skills! Timid as a deer, I tell ya. Hold here, I'll go get it fer ye." The baker walked away from his shop window, and came back a moment later with a small box, "Ah guess the lad took all 'is people skills and put them inter his baking skills, 'cause this bread sure is delicious. Somehow, that kid got some banana flavor inter this here bread along with some walnuts. Calls it 'Banana Nut.' Ah, here ye go, take it. Lemme know if ye like it, I might just put it on mah menu if enough people like its taste." The baker handed the package over to Loki, who accepted it graciously, "Oh, an' if ye want ter give someone else a bit o' this here bread, take this, "the baker handed Loki a smaller package, "It's th' same bread. It was all we could save from th' second time the lad tried to make it."

"Oh, thank you very much. Tell Clint that I look forward to eating it. It smells delicious!" Loki's mouth started to water as the aroma of the still warm bread filled his nose.

"Alright, ah will. You best remember teh come back when ye finish th'bread, ya hear?"

"Of course I will, mons- er, Nicholas." Loki took his book off of the windowsill and waved goodbye to the baker and put the bread into his satchel.

Loki continued through town, daydreaming. When he passed the barber shop, the barber and his client saw him through the window, and they immediately started talking about him.

"Look there he goes, that boy is strange no question. Dazed and distracted, can't you tell?" the barber said.

"Never part of any crowd…" his client agreed.

"It's cause his head's up on some cloud, I tell you."

"No denying he's a funny boy, that Loki."

"Bonjour!" said a female voice, taking Loki from his thoughts.

"Good day, Natasha." Loki replied with a smile, "How is your family?"

Before she could respond, a tall dark haired man Loki had sometimes seen around town came up to the woman and snaked his arm around her waist.

"Bonjour." Said the man sternly, no doubt thinking Loki was talking up his mistress.

"Doesn't this man have a wife? And this woman surely has a family, I know them well. How peculiar…" Loki thought to himself, "Good day, how is your wife?"

The man grew pale, and before Loki knew what was happening, Natasha was slapping the man across the face, and started arguing with him. He decided it was best not to get involved, so he walked away briskly. The only part of the argument he caught was Natasha saying, "You said no one would notice!"

At last, Loki entered the bookshop. He put his hand to the door handle that he knew all too well and twisted it. As he pushed the door open, he heard the familiar faint sound of a bell.

"Ah, Loki!" came the voice of Monsieur Hill, the book keeper.

Loki smiled as he approached Monsieur Hill, "Good morning! I've come to return the book I borrowed." Loki handed him the book with a big smile on his face. It didn't matter that Loki had been reading for as long as he could remember, he always felt proud when he finished a book.

He took the book from Loki, "Finished already?" he asked as he put the book back on its respective shelf.

"Oh, I couldn't put it down! I'm certainly going to have to read again. Have you got anything new?" he asked eagerly.

The book keeper laughed, "Not since yesterday, no."

Loki climbed onto a near ladder to get a look at the books that were higher up. "That's all right. I'll borrow..." Loki scanned the books for a moment before making his choice, "This one!"

Loki handed him the book, "This one? But you've read it twice!" the old man chuckled.

"Well it's my favorite!" Loki swung off the side of ladder, causing it to roll down its track, "Far off places, daring battles, magic spells, a prince in disguise!" Loki marveled at the thought of the book.

Monsieur Hill chuckled, "Well, if you like it all that much, it's yours!" he handed Loki the book.

Loki was in awe, "But sir!"

"I insist!"

"Oh, well thank you! Thank you very much!" As Loki was leaving the store, he remembered something, "Oh, sir," he turned to the man. "The baker's apprentice made some bread. He calls it 'Banana Nut," and the baker gave some to me. Would you like some?"

"Oh, I couldn't!"

"I insist!" Loki mocked, "He gave me a smaller portion of it to give to someone else if I wanted to, so I'm giving it to you as a form of gratitude." Loki reached into his satchel and pulled out the smaller of the two packages and handed it to the elder.

"Why thank you, Loki. This is very generous of you," he said as he accepted the package.

"When you finish it, you should go to the bakery and let the baker and his apprentice know what you think of it."

"Oh yes, I most definitely will. It smells delicious, doesn't it!"

"That it does monsieur. I've got to get going though, I'm so very eager to read this!" Loki motioned to the book.

Monsieur Hill laughed, "Of course, of course, Loki. Ever the reader. Go, have fun."

"I will monsieur. Have a good day!" Loki said as he walked out of the store.

Monsieur Hill watched Loki as he walked away and sighed, "That boy's going to find himself a handsome lad one day… Ah, better eat this bread before it gets cold!" Monsieur Hill walked into his store, licking his lips as he unwrapped the package.

Loki was all too excited to begin reading his book again. He opened up to the first page and ran his fingers over the smooth paper. He began to read as he walked past a small café.

Two women sitting by the window noticed him.

"Look there he goes. That boy is so peculiar! I wonder if he's feeling well." One woman said to the other.

"With a dreamy far-off look in his eyes, and his nose stuck in a book." The other woman added. "His looks have got no parallel. I do wish my hair looked like his. Do you suppose he styles it, or is it natural?

"Oh, he styles it, of course! How could he not? It's far too rare for a man to have hair such as that be natural. I wonder what his secret is?" A waitress approached their table and layed down two cups of tea. The woman thanked the waitress and took a sip of her tea before continuing, "But behind that fair façade, I'm afraid he's rather odd. Very different from the rest of us..."

"He's nothing like the rest of us," the waitress addressed.

"Yes, quite different from the rest of us." agreed the first woman.

Loki sat down on the edge of a fountain. He was so engrossed in his book that he didn't notice that there was a herd of sheep gathering around him until one of them started nibbling at the hem of his tunic. He patted the sheep's head and it stopped nibbling on his tunic. Loki began to tell the sheep about his book, "Oh, isn't this amazing? It's my favorite part because, well, you'll see. Here's where she meets Prince Charming," he pointed to the section of the page he was referring to. He dropped his voice to a whisper and said, "But she won't discover that it's him 'til chapter three!" Loki smiled. He looked up at the sky when he heard a flock of geese flying overhead.

. . .

Gwenevere aimed her gun at the geese flying overhead. When she was locked on her target. She pulled the trigger. Applause was heard all around her as the victim plummeted to the ground. Larissa ran over to where the goose was falling, holding open a bag. The goose fell into it head first, which gained her a few whistles from the crowd.

Larissa walked back to Gwenevere, "Wow, what a great shot! You are absolutely the best hunter in town, no doubt about it."

Gwenevere sighed in content, "I am, aren't I? Loki can't possibly resist me now." She looked over to where Loki was sitting, perched on the fountain. He notice her feat as he was too busy reading, but she needed reassurance, "La, do you think he saw?"

"Of course he did! How could he not? You're simply irresistible, Gwen," Larissa assured her.

"It's true, La, and I've got my sights set on Loki!"

"Loki is the inventor's son, right?"

"Yes, he's the one! The lucky man I'm going to marry." Gwenevere beamed.

"But I thought he was-"

"The most handsome man in town!" Gwenevere clasped her hands together and spin in a circle, giggling like the young, love struck girl she was.

Larissa sighed in annoyance, "I know, but-"

Gwenevere didn't hear her friend's warnings, "And that makes him the best. And don't I deserve the best?" she looked at La sternly, as if to give her a warning.

"Well of course, I mean you do, but I mean..." at this point, Larissa decided to just give up, seeing as there was no way she could get a word in otherwise.

"Right from the moment when I met him, no, saw him! I said he's gorgeous and I fell. Here in town it's obviously only him," By this time, Loki had gotten up from his place at the fountain and was walking by the crowd and Gwenevere, but didn't acknowledge them, as he was still engrossed in his book, "Who is nearly as beautiful as me," she turned to Larissa, "So I've decided to male plans to woo and marry Loki Lauféson!"

Larissa gasped, "How do you plan to do that?"

"With my charm and good looks, of course! As you said, I'm simply irresistible." The girls started to follow Loki, but it was difficult because he was walking through a thick crowd of people out for their daily shopping. When Gwenevere caught sight of him, she sped up her pace, "Look there he goes! Isn't he dreamy? Be still my heart, I'm hardly breathing," This was quite true, as she had been running and was out of breath, "He's such a tall, dark, and handsome brute."

Panting, Larissa said to Gwenevere, "How can he… walk so easily… through this crowd of people? It should be… easier for us… because we're so much… smaller than he…"

"Bonjour!" a woman said to a shopkeeper.

"Pardon!" Gwenevere said as she pushed past a rather large woman.

"You call this bacon?" a man complained to an already too busy man at the Boucherie.

"What lovely grapes!"

"Some cheese!"

"Ten yards!"

"One pound, s'il-tu plait."

"'Xcuse me!" Gwenevere passed through a group of quarreling customers, "Please let me through!" Gwenevere exclaimed.

"This bread!"

"Those fish!"

"It's stale!"

"They smell!"

"Madame's mistaken!"

Determination driving her forward, Gwenevere declared to herself, "Just watch, I'll make Loki my husband!" She didn't add "if it's the last thing I do!" to her declaration, or she certainly didn't want to marry Loki and die soon after!

As she reached the edge of the crowd, she grabbed Larissa's hand, "Come on, La. We've got to make this!" They ran as fast as they could to the very edge, aiming for the only open spot they could see. Running faster, they got through it just as it closed back up with the myriad of townsfolk.

"That was close-hey, where are you going? Don't you need to rest?" Larissa chased after Gwenevere, who hadn't stopped running after she let go of Larissa's hand.

"This is it, this is my time to shine!"Gwenevere thought to herself as she neared Loki. Soon enough, she came face to back with Loki.

"Oompf!" This caught Loki by surprise, causing him to drop his book in a puddle of mud, "Oh, no! My book!" Loki picked it up and began to clean it off.

"Oh, hello Loki! That a nice surprise, meeting you here." Gwenevere didn't seem to notice that she was the cause for Loki dropping his book.

"Bonjour, Gwenevere. Yes, what a surprise. Oh, bonjour to you, Larissa," Larissa had just caught up to Gwenevere and was completely out of breath.

"Bon… jour… Loki." She said between breaths.

Gwenevere grabbed the mostly cleaned book from Loki's hands and started flipping through the pages.

"May I have my book, please?" Loki asked, holding out his hand.

Gwenevere scowled, "How can you read this? There's no pictures! This book is boring." She rolled her eyes and handed him back the book.

"Well, some people use their imaginations." Loki said sarcastically.

"You know, you should really get your nose out of those books and start to pay attention to more important things... like me! The whole town's talking about us.

"I hardly doubt that. Where do you get your information?" Loki asked quizzically.

Ignoring his question, she moved on to her next topic. She loved to talk about herself, and wanted Loki to know every little detail there was to know about her, "Hey, how about you and I go to the tavern and have a drink? We could get to know me a little better. Then when it gets late we can go on a long walk and talk more about me and I guess we could talk about you, then I can show you my hunting trophies and you can learn even more about me!"

Loki, ever the gentleman, pretended to consider her request, "I'm sorry, but no. You see, I need to… Help my father make some repairs on the roof of my home." He didn't really, he just wanted to get back to reading his book. He also needed to feed the animals.

Gwenevere's shoulders slumped when she heard his answer, "Oh, do you need help? You know, when I was younger, I-"

She was cut off by Loki holding a hand up, "I'm sorry, Gwenevere. Thank you for the offer I appreciate it, really. But I can manage it myself. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to help my father." Loki started to walk away.

Gwenevere and Larissa started to laugh, "That crazy old loon, he needs all the help he can get!"

Loki turned abruptly and walked back to Gwenevere. Pointing a finger at her, he said in a low, angry voice. "Don't you talk about my father that way. Ever."

Gwenevere's face turned red. No man had ever gotten in her face about something as simple as this. She had originally thought that he was coming back to kiss her, but she was only dreaming. Acting on impulse, Gwenevere turned to Larissa, "Yeah, don't talk about his father that way!" she said as she smacked Larissa's arm.

"And my father's not crazy, he is a genius." Loki was never one to threaten, so he refrained from doing so.

Suddenly, a loud explosion was heard behind him, in the direction of his home. He turned around and started running, Gwenevere and Larissa's laughing sounding farther and farther away as he ran.