-Unbetaed and a non-native speaker so feedback is appreciated.
-Warning: Canonical violence.
Loki sneered as the two of them left the Sanctum. The first step was creating some vague hints about Odin's whereabouts in the North Pole. It was a child's play. Of course his foolish brother would rise to the bait and drag his newfound ally along with it.
The second step was breaking into the Sanctum. He didn't even need to break a sweat to do that. The Trickster God just found a loophole. Apparently the newbie sorcerer just cast some spells to protect the Sanctum Sanctorum from entities with ill intentions of harming someone. Loki didn't have any ill intention when he broke in, well, at least not this time. He just wanted to teach his brother's new friend a lesson for helping his brother.
Loki smiled as he perched invisibly on a coffee table at the Sanctum's lounge when his brother barged into the bathroom while the Master of the Sanctum was in the shower. The timing was not accidental because Loki wanted to get what he came for and he knew how hot-headed his brother could be.
"Sorcerer Doctor Strange, Heimdall told me there are some signs of my father in the Pole of North. We must hurry before he moves again."
"By the Hoary Hosts of Hoggorth, you don't just barge inside someone's bathroom unannounced. Get out of my bathroom and let me get dressed."
"Midgardians are too prudish. Why do they always yell when I come into their Rooms of Refreshment? I don't see anything you should be ashamed of."
"Get out!"
Loki had to stifle his giggles when his brother hurried away from the bathroom and slammed the door. It was good that he brought a bowl of invisible popcorn. Invisible to others but not to him. He was not an idiot.
A few minutes later, the other fool got out of the bathroom. His brother asked him to hurry. The sorcerer sighed and created a portal for both of them.
As soon as the two fools stepped into the portal and disappeared, Loki rose and got to work. He didn't have much time because as foolish as they were, they would soon realize his trickery.
He went to open the biggest room. He was right! This was the sorcerer's bedroom. He seethed when he saw some of the rare relics the Midgardian put on the shelves. No mortals deserved them. But he must hurry. Those other relics could wait.
His quick thinking was soon rewarded. He found the red cloak hanging at the cloak rack near a full length mirror at the far side of the room. That fool certainly didn't deserve the Cloak of Levitation. He knew the Midgardian rarely parted with his cloak. The only chance to get it was when he was in the shower. Loki congratulated himself for his cleverness. He wondered whether red was his color. It might clash with his green robes but he could make it work.
He walked with long strides to approach the cloak. When his hand was about to touch the cloak, the cloak levitated and was out of his reach. To his annoyance, the cloak seemed to tease him. When he jumped high enough to nearly touched the cloak, it would fly even higher. When he landed, the cloak would lower itself at his eye level but still out of reach.
After a few failed attempts of jump and catch, Loki realized he was back in the lounge again. He was about to summon his magic to bind the cloak when he discovered that his hands and legs were trapped. His feet had been lifted off the floor by the cloak!
He wondered whether the cloak had come to his way of thinking when suddenly his body went sideways literally and his head hit the left side of the wall really hard. To his horror, his head then hit the right side of the wall again before hitting the left again.
While his body was used as a baseball bat by the Cloak, he thought belatedly that it was very unlikely that the cloak had come to his way of thinking. His operation had also went sideways metaphorically. He really hated his analytical mind at this time.
The Asgardian had never experienced what the Midgardian called a déjà vu. If this were a déjà vu, he would've none of it next time.
Stephen shivered as he stepped back into his lounge together with Thor. He really hated the cold. He was about to comment that it was another wild goose chase again to the God of Thunder when he heard the repeated thumping noises behind him.
He didn't know what to expect when he turned around but certainly not this. Sophie was having a lot of fun swinging Loki back and forth as long as Loki's head hitting all the possible hard surfaces she could find. It was so considerate of her to choose only unbreakable surfaces so there was no damage to the lounge. Otherwise, he would never hear the end of Wong's lecture about the responsibilities of Master of the Sanctum.
His first reaction was to laugh. It was too funny. His thinking brain then stopped him because Loki's brother was next to him. He chanced a glance at Thor and was surprised that the god himself was smiling.
"Sorcerer Doctor Strange, I think we now know why we couldn't find my father in the Pole of North. It all Loki's trickery as he coveted your Cloak. I guess we don't need to intervene as your worthy Cloak can handle herself."
Stephen still felt pretty bad. He took the Hippocratic Oath! He approached Sophie and attempted to catch her attention by waving both arms. Sophie slowed down a bit. One collar of the Cloak rose a bit higher and shook which was the equivalent of "Leave me alone to have some fun!"
He stepped back and Sophie resumed to her normal speed of swinging Loki. He might imagine the the speed increase after his "approval" but he was still not an expert in the velocity of his Cloak swinging another person around.
He went back to stand besides an amused Thor. "How come you are not concerned about your brother?"
"He needs to learn his lessons. Besides, friend Strange, in case you haven't noticed, Asgardians are very sturdy so very little can harm us. Loki might just get dizzy along with a couple of headaches after this. He has endured worse so it's a child's play for him. I'm impressed that he was bested by your Cloak. She is certainly worthy."
Stephen was horrified at the "endured worse" part. He often wondered how the Asgardians were brought up. It was a topic for another time.
He felt pretty bad for forgetting Sophie when he went with Thor. But as the god himself said, Sophie could take care of herself really well. He'd make up to her somehow.
They were both seated on the couch now waiting for Sophie to get bored and release Loki. He found a bowl of popcorn on his coffee table. He wondered where that came from. Most likely it was a leftover from Christine when they had the horror movie night the day before yesterday. He offered the popcorn to Thor which he took with much enthusiasm.
Since it might be a while, he said the most logical thing after all this madness. "Do you want a glass of beer with that?"
Notes:
-This story was inspired by an accidental non-prompt as I exchanged emails with Unknownnobody32. Her non-prompt was "LMAO I now imagine Loki trying to steal Strange's cloak and Sophie just beating the crap out of him." Merry Christmas!
-I apologize in advance to Loki's fans. As Thor said, Loki would just be dazed. No permanent damage
-This is my first time writing in Loki's POV (well, at least the first and second parts). I hope they are all in characters.
-Sorry for the gratuitous use of "By the Hoary Hosts of Hoggorth."
-As for people who said Loki would win with magic, yes, it was likely but not when your head was hitting the walls constantly like what happened in the Avengers.
-I wrote in the first part of the series "The Low Maintenance of the Cloak of Levitation" that Sophie wouldn't leave Stephen alone in the showers but in later stories Sophie already gave him some privacy.
-I think my favorite tropes now are "Thor barging into people's bathroom unannounced", "Sorcerer Doctor Strange", and "Stephen Strange becoming Thor's bartender".
-Feedback and comments are welcome.