Loki couldn’t avoid looking at Jimmy. It was stupid, and he knew it, but he’d really thought he and Jimmy could have something. It wasn’t like him, but then, Jimmy wasn’t the kind of guy Loki usually went for. He was nice and gentle, and he wanted forever, which he now had with Qebui.

And Loki had nothing.

“You’re out of sorts,” Nu said from beside Loki.

Loki plastered a smile on his face, not wanting his old friend to find out what he was thinking about. They were sneaky, and they’d get everything out of him if he wasn’t careful. “Just a bit worried.”

“Does it have anything to do with that family emergency you had?”

Nu understood family emergencies. They were one of the oldest gods in their pantheon, and they had their fingers in every situation, or so it seemed. Loki was pretty sure they knew everything that happened in their palace and that the only reason they stayed out of most of the fights was that they just couldn’t be bothered.

Loki understood. Most days, it felt too much for him to deal with his family, and he didn’t even live in Asgard. Usually, people went to Odin when they had a problem, but this time, Odin was right in the middle of it.

Loki shook his head. “Can we please not talk about it? I don’t even want to think about it, to be honest.” Because it was a mess, and while he’d tried, he doubted there was anything he could do to smooth things over. He’d have to continue trying, because otherwise things would become worse, and when gods were involved, that could mean anything, but for now, he wanted to focus on this family dinner.

He looked around the table. This was a family dinner, no matter how strange it might look from the outside. With his pale skin and leather pants, Loki didn't belong, but he wasn’t the only one. Jimmy had lived in the United States until recently, but he’d integrated himself and looked at home. What was surprising was that Nu had left their palace to come down to the human one. Loki couldn’t remember the last time they’d done that beyond official ceremonies, and it could only mean that they wanted to spend more time with Jimmy and Merry, who were both human. They could have gone up to the sky palace, as Jimmy called it, but clearly, Nu wanted to stay away from it. 

Nu patted Loki’s knee. “But remember that if you need anyone to talk to, you can come to me. I, more than anyone else, can understand what it’s like to deal with a family like yours.”

Loki forced himself to smile, then turned his attention back to his plate. The king had gone all out for this dinner, but then it made sense. He was meeting his consort’s great-great-great-something-grandparent, and he wanted to make a good impression. Loki wanted to tell him he didn’t have to and that Nu already loved him and everyone else around the table, but it wasn’t his place.

What was his place? It wasn’t in Asgard, and it wasn’t in the human world. It wasn’t exactly here, surrounded by Egyptian gods.

Loki had never really had a place, but he could see himself becoming more comfortable with visiting, even without being with Jimmy. The only thing he wanted was for Jimmy to be happy, and he was—much more than he could ever have been with Loki.

Loki wasn’t a relationship kind of person. He had fun, lots of sex, then disappeared and never visited the people he’d slept with again. He wouldn’t have been able to do that with Jimmy. So in a way, he was glad they’d never gone beyond a date. He was pretty sure Qebui was glad for that, too. He wasn’t holding a grudge, but he clearly wasn’t as happy with Loki as he’d been before.

Loki didn’t care. Qebui should have gotten his head out of his ass much sooner, and if he had, Loki wouldn’t have taken Jimmy on a date.

But meeting Jimmy had made Loki think, and he was never comfortable when that happened. He didn’t do relationships, but watching Jimmy and Qebui together made him wonder what it could be like. What if he, too, had someone to go home to at night? It was good enough for Jimmy and Qebui, so why couldn’t it be for him? He’d always avoided it because it was better to stay away from complications, especially considering his family, but maybe it was time to ignore them for a while and focus a bit on himself and what he truly wanted in life.

Something brushed against his leg, and he looked down to find Nu’s cat making eight figures around his ankles. He’d been surprised to find the mummified animal was there, especially with Loki the dog hanging around, but neither of them seemed to have a problem with the other. The dog was wary of the cat and kept his distance, but the cat loved the attention, so Loki leaned down and gave his bandaged head a scratch.

When he looked up, it was to see Jimmy and Qebui kissing. It wasn’t sexual, which made the situation worse as far as Loki was concerned. If what Jimmy and Qebui had was just sex, he wouldn’t be jealous. Instead, there was true love and care in the kiss, as if it was something they did just because they wanted to and because it was nice to tell the other they loved him. It made Loki look away, but he couldn’t stop thinking about it, and after a moment, he got to his feet.

Everyone turned to look at him.