To Teach a Trickster

When Friday morning arrived, Jane dreaded announcing to Loki that it was time for him to get his last two series of vaccinations. She knew it was inevitable, but still…she hated seeing the poor trickster freak out. She felt for him because she used to hate getting shots when she was a kid, too. And for Loki, the experience must be even more excruciating since this was his first time being mortal. She stalled for as long as she could, not breathing a word about it through breakfast.

Around eleven o’clock, Jane walked into Loki’s room. The trickster was sitting on the bed, reading. His sketch pad was open beside him, showing an in-progress pencil sketch of some mountains and a field of flowers.

Jane cleared her throat. “Um, Loki,”

He looked up from his book. “Yes?”

“I hate to say this, but…” Jane hesitated, walking closer to the bed, “It’s time to get your third and fourth series of shots.”

Loki’s face grew pale. “T-today?”

“Yes, today. It’s Friday.”

“NO!” Loki shouted in horror, dropping his book and pulling as far away from Jane as possible until he was practically hugging the headboard of the bed. He frantically shook his head. “No more shots, please! I just got to the point where I can sit down again!” He placed his hands under him as if trying to shield his bottom from the thought alone. “You mortals have such cruel and inhumane methods to cure illnesses!”

Despite himself, Loki curled into a tight ball and whimpered. Jane sighed, walked over to the bed, and grabbed him by the arm in an attempt to pull him along with her.

“I know, Loki, but such is life. Now, come on. Your doctor’s appointment is at twelve-thirty.”

“NO!” Loki jerked in Jane’s hold, scrambling and kicking and wadding the sheets up.

“Come on; don’t make me do something I’ll regret later,” Jane grunted. Somehow Loki managed to get out of her hold and rolled off the opposite side of the bed. He scrambled over to his Asgardian clothing and began picking up pieces of the armor to put in place on his arms.

“Loki, you are not going to wear that,” she said, walking over and taking hold of him again. He jerked his arm, trying to get her to let go, but she had a better grip on him this time.

“NO! I’m not going!” he shouted.

“Yes, you are,” she replied in a stern voice. “Now get up and let’s go.” She pulled him to his feet and dragged him out of his bedroom, but he grabbed hold of the doorframe and held on tightly. Jane would be lying if she said that the thought of throwing Loki over her knees and spanking his obstinate attitude out of him did not cross her mind, but she hated to do that. Loki had every right to be upset and fight against being stuck. She couldn’t blame him for that, but enough was enough.

“Loki, that’s enough!” Jane shouted. “Let go!”

By now, Loki knew that tone of voice all too well and knew what would follow if he didn’t comply. As much as he hated to, he obeyed and allowed Jane to pull him through the living room to stand next to the couch. Jane picked up a pair of white tennis shoes and put them on the floor at Loki’s feet.

“Put your shoes on.”

Glaring at her, Loki sighed and did as he was told.

It took awhile, but Jane finally got Loki downstairs and into the car. However, the event did not go without protest and a lot of screaming. Jane was embarrassed as she passed by the few people that were mingling about in the apartment building’s lobby. Her dragging out an adult man that was acting like a toddler probably did not look good.

The ride to the doctor’s office was surprisingly quiet, with Loki curled up in his seat, blankly looking out at the passing scenery. Every once in awhile, Jane would reach over and attempt to rub his arm, but each time Loki would pull away from her touch.

When they arrived at the doctor’s, Loki refused to get out of the car. Jane tried pulling him out but he latched onto the seat and refused to do what she wanted. Jane might as well have been pulling on the harness of a mule.

“Loki, you are severely trying my patience,” she said, standing beside the car with her hands on her hips. Loki refused to look at her, instead staring out across the parking lot. “You’d better get yourself out of this car right now or so help me I’ll spank you right here.” He finally looked at her, his watery green eyes nervously studying her face. “Do you want a spanking on top of getting shots?”

The trickster shook his head, holding back a sob. Jane grabbed onto his arm and Loki allowed himself to be pulled up to standing.

“I’ve never seen such childishness in my life,” Jane mumbled as she slammed the door shut. “Worse than an actual child,”

Loki hugged himself as they walked into the waiting room. Jane pushed him down in one of the chairs while she busied herself with filling out paperwork. He huddled up, crossing his left leg over his right and sullenly stared at the floor, a few tears escaping down his cheek. The TV on the other side of the room was turned to the news, which was still showing and rambling about the aftermath of New York City.

“It’ll be awhile,” said Jane, sitting down.

“Fine,” Loki mumbled. “I can enjoy sitting on my rear a bit longer.”

“If you behave yourself then maybe they’ll give it to you in the arms.”

Loki huffed. “Oh, like that’s any better!”

“At least you’d be able to sit down.”

“But I need my arms to do stuff with, too.” Loki huffed.

“Just behave yourself.” said Jane with a sigh.

Loki rolled his eyes, silently mouthing Jane’s last words mockingly. He wrinkled his nose in disgust, sighed, and turned away, still hugging himself. Fresh memories of pain started seeping into his mind and he shuddered. Even though his bottom had healed from the other injections, he could still feel it there. It was like a brand that had been seared into every fiber of his body. He didn’t relish repeating the experience again. But here he was, moments away from being put through the agonizing and humiliating torture a second time. A sickening knot started to form in his stomach and he felt lightheaded like he might pass out. As much as he hated admitting it, he felt that all too familiar nauseating panic start to creep up on him, pushing him closer and closer to hyperventilating. It was at this moment that he realized his hands were visibly trembling. He quickly stuck them between his legs to hide them. His eyes rested on the glass door of the waiting room. If only he could make it out. It would be a perfect chance to make a get-a-way. But Jane had been right. Where would he go?

He jumped when Jane rattled the pages of her magazine.

“Calm down,” Jane said, patting and rubbing his arm. “Just relax.”

Yeah, easy for her to say, he thought. Tears stung at his eyes when he thought of how helpless and trapped he was. He hated the feeling so much.

After an hour of waiting, a nurse finally walked into the waiting room and beckoned for Jane and Loki to follow her. Loki’s face went pale and he felt as if his heart flew up into his throat. He swallowed and slid down in his seat, not wanting to move.

“Don’t act up, Loki,” said Jane, tugging on his sleeve. “Come on,”

The nurse led them down a long hallway until she came to an empty examination room.

“If you’ll just wait in here, the doctor will be in shortly.”

Loki’s eyes nervously danced around the cold walls and all the medical equipment, in his mind viewing it as being horrendous torture instruments. Visions of the Chitauri flashed through his head and he suppressed a scream. He shrank back against Jane, almost stumbling over her.

“What’s wrong now?” she said, pushing him off her foot.

He struggled to get words out of his mouth, eventually swallowing. “Th-this place…I don’t like it. It brings back bad memories.”

Jane pushed him forward and helped him onto the examination table.

A knock on the door made them turn. A young man—looking to be in his twenties—stepped into the room, carrying a clipboard and a pen. The white coat he wore made Loki tremble.

“Loki, is it?” the young doctor said, glancing at his board. “It says here that you’re scheduled for two series of immunizations.”

Before anyone could reply, there was a sudden loud, sickening thump. Turning, Jane saw that Loki had fainted backward across the table. The doctor rushed over and helped her pick him back up.

“Are you okay?” the doctor said with concern when Loki finally came around again. Loki slowly turned to look at the man, not entirely certain what had happened. “I’ve seen a lot of reactions to white coats since I’ve been in the medical field, but I think this is the first time I’ve had someone to faint just from the sight of me.”

Loki frowned, pulling himself away from the doctor.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to look you over before we start.” said the doctor. “Just do a few little checkups.”

Loki looked at Jane. She nodded.

Loki sighed. “If you must,”

Jane turned and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her. She leaned against the wall and pulled out her phone to check it for messages. It wasn’t but about three minutes when she heard a loud cry from inside the room, accompanied by a crash. She first thought it had been Loki, but when the cry for help met her ears and it sounded more like the doctor than Loki. She quickly grabbed the doorknob and ran in, stopping when her eyes landed on what was unfolding in front of her.

“Loki!” she gasped. Loki looked at her, guilt washing over his face. He held a small dagger in one hand, the tip of it pointed toward the doctor’s chest. “How could you?”

Loki faltered, trying to decide whether to lower his hand or not. He already hated himself for pulling the dagger on the doctor. It had been a stupid move, one of which he was quite certain his bottom would pay dearly for. He swallowed and forced himself to look at Jane again; looking the equivalent of a scolded puppy. Finally, he lowered the weapon, hiding it behind his back and stepping away from the other man.

Jane turned to the doctor. “I’m sorry about this. He’s…” She glanced at Loki, “got issues. Could you leave us alone for a few minutes? I’d like to talk with him in private.”

The way Jane said the word ‘talk’ sent prickling chills down Loki’s back which ended in a pang of remembered pain in his backside. He swallowed, quickly putting his dagger away in a pocket of his pants.

When the doctor left, Jane shut the door and turned on Loki. “I have had all I can take. Do you want a spanking?” She kept her voice low, yet firm. Loki lowered his head and began backing up.

“No! Why would I want one?”

“Your behavior just now says that you want one.” Before Loki could say anything, Jane was by his side, bending him over forward and putting him in a headlock. She delivered four hard swats to his rear before allowing him to straighten back up. “That was a warning. Care to try for the actual thing?”

Loki eyed her wildly as he scrambled over behind the examination table to put it between the two of them, his hand vigorously rubbing the sting out of his rear. “N-no,”

“Then act like an adult.” In afterthought, she thought she’d better rephrase that. “Act like a sane adult.” She held out her hand. “Give me the dagger.”

Loki shook his head. Jane took several steps toward him. “Give it to me, Loki.”

“No! I don’t have to. I’m tired of you being the boss of me!”

Jane stomped over to him. He quickly darted away to the other side of the table.

“N-n-no, please, don’t,” he whined, trying to stay away from the madwoman. “Not in public!”

She finally caught up with him, grabbing hold of the sleeve of his shirt and pulling him toward her. He twisted in her hold, but, thanks to Odin’s strength, she managed to bend him over the examination table with no problem and began to spank his bottom in earnest. He let out a slight squeal and reached behind him to cover his rear from the blows. Jane stopped long enough to move his hands to the front of him and began pelting his backside again, as hard as she could.

“Give me the dagger,” Jane said after stopping. Loki still refused. “Okay, then. You can’t say I didn’t warn you.” She began the spanking again, yanking his jeans and boxers down enough to expose part of his bare cheeks.

“OKAY! Okay, okay. You can have the dagger. Just stop! Stop, stop, stop!.” Loki wailed. He pulled out the dagger and handed it to her. “I’m sorry!”

“Is that the only one you have?” she asked. He nodded. “You’d better not be lying. If you are, you’ll regret it.” She took the dagger and stopped the spanking, pulling his pants back up. Loki turned around to face her, sniffling. She stood back and regarded him with an annoyed look.

Loki glanced at the door, hoping that no one outside heard what was going on. He sighed and rubbed his bottom.

“You let the doctor examine you.” Jane pointed a finger at him. “And don’t try to kill him. If you pull any more tricks like the one you just did, I’ll come in here and spank you again—in front of the doctor if need be. Understand?”

Loki blushed and nodded.

“Good.” She walked to the door and opened it. The doctor was waiting on the other side. “He’s all yours.”

“D-does he have any more…”

“Nope, he’s completely harmless. Again, I apologize for that.”

After the doctor completed the examination, Jane was allowed to enter the room. She found Loki huddled on the table, hugging himself.

“You okay?” she asked soothingly, rubbing his back. Loki nodded then got up off the table.

“I’m ready to go home now.”

Jane grabbed him by the shirt. “Nice try.”

The trickster let out a faint whimper, seating himself back on the table.

“Jane,” he said weakly, “I think I’m going to throw up.”

At hearing this, Jane pulled the trash can closer to the table. But Loki never did what he said he felt like. She gave his arm a squeeze and patted his back.

When the door opened again, an all too familiar sight stepped into the room. One that made Loki’s heart fall down to the pit of his stomach. Two nurses walked around the examination table and placed two trays of syringes down on the counter, one of them reaching to pull a pair of disposable latex gloves out of a box on the wall. Loki followed them with his eyes, feeling panic surging up again.

The doctor and a couple more nurses entered.

“There appears to be a special note attached to your records given to me by the hospital. More like a warning.” said the doctor, looking at his clipboard. Loki and Jane both looked at him. “It says that you aren’t one for getting shots and that I might need to restrain you…?”

Loki visibly swallowed and turned a cowed look to Jane.

“Would it be possible if I stayed in here with him?” Jane asked.

The doctor shook his head. “Sorry, but if I have to restrain him and have more nurses in here to help keep him under control, you’ll just be in the way. I’d prefer if you waited outside.”

Jane gave Loki a sympathetic look, squeezing his arm again. “I’m sorry. I’ll be right outside the door.”

Loki watched as Jane disappeared and several male nurses came in, closing the door.

Suddenly the room felt awful crowded and cramped to the trickster, like everyone was moving in on him. He knew he was shaking all over, but he couldn’t help it. The next thing he was aware of was someone moving beside his right arm. He turned to see a nurse grab for his sleeve. He jerked his arm out of her hand and backed up as far as he could on the table, pulling his knees up to his chest.

“I guess they weren’t kidding.” the doctor remarked. Loki said nothing as he glared menacingly in the doctor’s direction, pretty much daring him to make any sort of move.

The nurse again tried to grab hold of Loki’s arm, but he shoved her away and leaped from the table, trying to push his way through the nurses to get to the door. But he soon discovered it was no easy feat. The male nurses were the ones blocking his path and it was basically like shoving his way through trolls or Frost Giants. They tackled him before he could even reach the door and held him tightly by both arms, dragging him over to the table. They looked to the doctor and he nodded, an action only they understood—an action that made Loki even more nervous. He struggled in their hold, kicking and flailing and grunting, but they managed to get him back on the table. To Loki’s horror, he was placed on his stomach, the nurses holding him in place like a vice. Two nurses pinned his upper body, while two nurses pinned his legs.

“Nooooo! Not this again!” he wailed. “Please, anything but this. I’m sorry! I won’t act up.”

“So you know what this position means?” said the doctor.

“Yes,” Loki sniveled, looking over his shoulder. “Please, don’t. I can’t handle going through this torture again.”

“Don’t you worry; it’ll all be over in a little while.” the doctor promised. Loki felt like he was about to suffocate under the hold of the nurses, his face being pushed into the table’s hard surface, but that was completely forgotten the moment he felt the doctor unzip his jeans and pull them down, his underwear following in short order. A cool breeze met his bared backside and fear crawled over every inch of his body. He began to twist and struggle against the restraining arms of the nurses.

“NO! Please! I beg of you!” he wailed out in a hoarse, watery voice, burying his face into one of his shoulders. He somehow kicked one of his legs loose, but the nurses were quick about pinning it to the table again.

“Nooo!” he choked out. A wet cloth was swiped over his bared cheeks, making him blush. He tightly closed his eyes and fought to keep his breathing under control, knowing all too well what was to come next. He hated being in this position. Oh, how he hated it. He never wanted to be in this position again, yet here he was. It was horrific, that’s what it was. It was one big, hideous nightmare. Any moment he would wake up and find himself in bed in Jane’s apartment. He hoped.

“OW!!” Loki screamed out. A stinging pain in the left side of his rear woke him up to reality. It really wasn’t a dream. He held his breath, determined not to make a scene. He felt tears welling up in his eyes and he finally gasped and let out the breath he’d been holding. Another sharp pain like the first stabbed him in the right side of his rear, making him arch his back the best he could under the restraining hold of the nurses.

After three injections, Loki had enough. He no longer cared about his dignity (what was left of it anyway) or whether or not he made a scene. He wriggled and tried his best to wrench himself out of the nurses’ hold, succeeding in getting one arm loose after he bit down on one of the nurses’ hands. He looked over his shoulder and saw one of the female nurses standing by with a syringe in one hand ready to jab it into his butt like she had done with the first three. He panicked and began twisting harder.

“No more!” he sobbed out. “I don’t want anymore!”

“Mister Loki, please be still.” the doctor said, grabbing hold of him. “There’s no call for any of this.”

“You try going through this and see if you can be still!” Loki seethed, his voice dripping with venom.

The nurses holding him picked him up by the arms and scooted him back onto the table. Loki knew he probably looked like a fish out of water as he flopped and struggled to get free, but he frankly didn’t care. Although he was momentarily embarrassed by his rear being fully exposed, his pants bunched up around his knees.

The nurses finally got him mostly pinned down again, one of them putting the full weight of his upper body right across the middle of the trickster’s back. Loki caught sight of the nurse holding the syringe coming up next to him again and he made one last attempt at hindering the inevitable. He yanked his left leg loose and kicked the nurse’s arm, the needle flying backward onto the counter, making a loud clattering crash as it landed in the trays. The nurse let out a yelp of pain and grabbed her arm, and everyone else started talking at once, the doctor shouting orders of how to restrain Loki.

When everyone was in their positions again, the annoyed nurse Loki had kicked grabbed a syringe and angrily jabbed it into the trickster’s rear so hard he let out a deafening, inhuman screech that made everyone wince and grab their ears. He felt sure the nurse only did it to punish him. He silently confessed to himself that he’d much rather be spanked by Jane’s ruler than to go through this. And that was saying a lot since he loathed being spanked by her ruler.

“THAT HURT!” he yelled, gasping. Tears streamed down his cheeks.

“Serves you right.” the nurse murmured. But Loki still heard it and he shot her a dangerous glance—as dangerous as he could muster anyway, considering he was bawling at the same time.

“Hey! That was uncalled for.” the doctor said, pointing to the nurse. Loki looked at him in surprise.

“He had it coming!” the nurse shouted.

“I don’t care. We don’t treat our patients that way.” The doctor turned to Loki. “I apologize for that.”

Loki heard the apology, but he was crying too hard to say anything in reply. Besides, an apology wasn’t going to take the pain out of his rear. He felt someone, the doctor perhaps, dab a cotton ball on the area the nurse stabbed. He hissed and winced at the pain.

After two hours, and Loki making another failed attempt at escaping, the nurse gave the trickster one final shot, which he felt was the most painful one yet, next to the one she had rammed into his tail. He squealed in agony and wriggled about in the nurses’ hold. By now, he barely had a voice. What little was still in tact came out through hitched breathing and choking sobs, tears streaming down his cheeks in waterfalls. When the vaccinations were over, all of the nurses stepped back, breathing in relief.

“I have never seen a grown man act that way before.” the doctor said, massaging his temples. He, along with everyone else in the room, looked exhausted. The doctor turned and opened the door. “You’re free to come in anytime, Miss Foster. By all means, please take him out of here.”
Jane immediately stepped through the doorway, stopping a few seconds to take in the scene. “What’s been happening in here? The screaming I heard was enough to wake the dead.”

“Jane,” Loki weakly said through his sobs. He stretched out a hand toward her. She walked over to him and ran her hand over his head and rubbed his back.

“What’s been happening?” the doctor snorted. “It’s taken us two hours to give this man all of his vaccinations. Most of that time was spent trying to keep him restrained. I’ve had kids make less of a fuss over getting shots.”

“I’m glad it’s over with.” said one of the female nurses. “Although, I’ll admit, giving him that tetanus shot actually felt good.”

“You gave him a tetanus shot in his rear??” said Jane, her eyes glancing at Loki’s still exposed bottom. She blushed and reached over, took hold of his pants, and began pulling them up gently. “What kind of cruel, insane nurse would do that to someone?”

“He was being ornery!” the nurse snapped back. “He kicked my arm. You try giving him shots and see what you result to doing.”

“I hate all of you!” Loki choked out. “I hate this place!”

Jane grabbed Loki by the arm and gently helped him to stand. “Come on, Loki. Let’s get you out of here.”

Loki felt sure he wouldn’t be able to walk, but he managed to waddle a few steps forward. Jane held onto his arm to keep him steady.

“Ow, ow, ow, ow…” he hissed out, stopping to zip up his jeans. His cheeks flushed redder at the thought of another car ride home laying on his stomach in the backseats.

Notes