To Teach a Trickster

Loki stumbled through the door, somewhat surprised to see Jane sitting on the couch in the dark with only the light of her laptop illuminating her features. He squinted at her form, before turning to shut the door.

“What happened to the lights?” he asked.

“Nothing; I just felt like sitting in the dark,” Jane replied. He noticed that she quickly closed out an Internet window before he could see what it was. Although, he thought he caught a glimpse of something having to do with child discipline. “Where’s Darcy?”

“Uh…she’s here. She rode with me in the elevator and dropped me off. Since it’s so late, she went on up to her apartment.”

“Oh,” Jane reached over and turned on the lamp beside her. Loki blinked, putting his hands behind his back and backing up toward the hallway. She knew he was lying. She could see right through it. She wasn’t sure how, but she guessed it had something to do with the gifts Odin bestowed upon her. Besides, she knew her friend. Darcy would have brought Loki directly to the apartment and made sure that Jane was there before she left.

Her accusations were proven accurate almost immediately. It wasn’t more than a minute before a scrambling was heard at the door and Darcy suddenly burst in. She stood there, shocked when her eyes landed on Loki standing in front of her. Jane almost smiled at the bewildered expression on Loki’s face.

“Where have you been?” she shouted, slamming the door. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“What do you mean, where have I been?” Loki shouted back at Darcy. Jane could tell he was getting nervous because the lies he’d been spinning all day were coming unraveled. And yet, here he was telling more of them. “I got lost! I was looking everywhere for you! When I got tired of looking, I came back here.”

“Oh, you got lost and couldn’t find me, but you could find your way here, huh?”

“Well, I…”

“Jane, I’m sorry.” Darcy turned to her friend. “It wasn’t my fault. I turned my head for a few seconds and the next thing I know, he’s gone.”

“It’s okay, Darcy. I believe you. However, I’m very interested in hearing the whole story,” said Jane calmly, getting up off the couch and glaring in Loki’s direction. He swallowed.

“I’ll just go and let you two talk, then.” He turned to leave.

“No, Loki, I think you need to stay.” Something about the tone of Jane’s voice made him come back. “Darcy, would you please tell me what happened?”

“Okay,” Darcy took a deep breath. “We stopped to get ice cream first thing because I was angry and needed something to calm me down. Then we went to the park. We stayed there for about an hour and then decided to catch a movie. Of which he spent half the time complaining about his seat.” she rolled her eyes.

“It was too hard,” Loki explained. “And it hurt my back.”

“After the movie, he tells me he wants to go down by the river and see the boats. So we go to the river. I turn my head for, like, two seconds and next thing I know he’s vanished into the crowd. I have no idea how he managed to do it, but he did. I spent all afternoon looking for this man.” Darcy turned to Loki. “Where did you go, anyway?”

Jane’s eyes turned on Loki, waiting for an answer.

“I…uh…I just,” Loki nervously looked at Jane. Something about her seemed different, but he couldn’t understand what. “I…can’t say.”

“You can’t say or won’t say?” said Jane. “It doesn’t matter where you went. If you did tell us, I’m pretty sure it would be another lie. The fact is you disobeyed and lied on top of it.”

“I came back here!” he shouted. He blinked in confusion. “I don’t know how or why, but I did…”

Jane continued with the scolding, “You tricked Darcy into going to the river and then you went off on your own. I distinctly told you that you were not to go out alone and that you weren’t to give Darcy any trouble.”

Loki backed up against the wall, suddenly feeling very small and vulnerable. “I’m sorry,” he weakly said.

“You’d better be.” Jane walked toward him. “I hope that whatever you went off to do was very important because you are now in very big trouble.”

He cowered. And he hated himself for it. He wanted to be mad at this woman for speaking to him in such a way. He wanted to lash back to defend himself, maybe even use his silver tongue to get out of this mess, but something inside of him turned and ran the moment he heard her voice rise. What had happened to her that afternoon?

“Loki, I want you to go to your room and stay there. I’ll be in shortly to have another talk.”

“You can’t make me.”

“What did you just say?”

“You can’t make me!” he again said.

“Go…to…your…room…this instant.” Jane’s voice was developing a dangerous edge. Even Darcy began to feel uncomfortable.

“I’m not a child!” Loki shouted.

“I’ll believe that when you stop acting like one. Now get to your room. I’m not going to tell you again.”

Loki nervously looked from Jane to Darcy and back again. He didn’t want to admit that he had just lost the argument that he was so sure he had control of. He was mad at himself at how easily he lost, too. Saying nothing more, he turned and disappeared into his bedroom, slamming the door.

“Jane, I’m sorry.”

“It wasn’t your fault.” Jane put a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “I should have known better than to leave him in your hands since he’s such a huge responsibility.”

“You had no choice.”

Jane nodded.

“By the way, while we’re on the subject, what’s this about you thinking I’m incompetent?”

Jane blinked and looked at Darcy in a puzzled way. “What are you talking about?”

“Loki told me this afternoon that you didn’t want me looking after him because you thought I was too incompetent.” she threw up her hands in a gesture of giving up. “You know, maybe you’re right. I lost him after all. Maybe I am incompetent.”

“Darcy, hold up. Loki told you that?”

“Yes, when we left the apartment.”

“Darcy, he was lying to you.”

“What?”

“He was lying to you. I never said you were incompetent. You losing him wasn’t your fault. He’s just…”

“A trickster,” Darcy finished. She shook her head. “I can’t believe I fell for it. And here I warned you to be careful of him. I’m sorry, Jane, I didn’t mean to get mad at you. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen!”

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. Just forget it.” Jane walked forward. “He tricked both of us. After my talk with him tonight, I’m hoping things will be different around here.”

“Whelp, good luck with that,” Darcy turned. “I think I’m gonna head out. Let me know how it goes.”

When Darcy disappeared out the door, Jane sighed. She wasn’t looking forward to this part of her day. But she was glad that she had had time enough to think things over first.

She bent over and fumbled through papers, notebooks, and other stuff lying on the coffee table until she found what she was looking for. She picked up a flexible, rubbery plastic ruler. She bent it to test it for durability, slapping the palm of her hand with it once.

“Ow!” she yelped at the sharp sting, flapping her hand. She nodded in satisfaction. She couldn’t believe what she was about to do, but she had no other choice. Loki was out of control. Okay, she admitted, he had never been under control to begin with. That part had been an illusion from the moment Thor dropped him off. If both of them were going to live there for three months, she was going to have to put some sort of rein on him, or go mad. Now that she wielded the gifts Odin gave her, she felt more confident than she had before. If Loki was determined to act like a childish spoiled brat, then she would treat him like one. After everything he had done up until that moment, he was well overdo for a good paddling. When she used to read the Norse myths as a child, she never would have guessed that one day she would be whaling the blazes out of the God of Mischief’s backside. She had never spanked anyone in her life…well…except for her toys when she was a little girl playing house. But that was different. Toys weren’t real. There was a knot in her stomach. Wonder if she did it wrong?

She hesitated a few minutes outside of Loki’s bedroom door, quickly hiding the ruler up the sleeve of her robe. She knocked on the door.

“Loki, open up.”

Slowly the door opened and Loki peeked out. He had changed into his silky pajamas and looked like he was ready for bed.

“May I come in?” Jane asked. She hid the arm that held the ruler behind her.

“Sure,” he softly said, opening the door wider. She walked in. Since they were alone, it didn’t matter if the door was open or closed. However, Loki left it open.

The air was silent for some time, Loki nervously moving his hands and playing with the sleeves of his night shirt.

“Loki,” Jane suddenly said, breaking the silence. “How old are you in human years? Do you know?”

Loki blinked at the odd question. “Uh… I think about sixteen or seventeen, give or take. Why?”

“Just wondering,” she gestured at the bed. That explains a lot, she thought. “Sit down, Loki.”

“I-I’d rather stand if that’s okay.” he moved around by the window.

“Loki,” Jane said in a firmer tone. “I said sit.”

“If I want to stand, I’ll stand,” Loki said irritably. “We can have our talk just as well with me standing here.”

Jane walked over, grabbed onto his arm, and pulled him to the bed without a word. Loki was shocked and momentarily dumbfounded at how strong she was. He would have never thought it of her. For her being such a little person, she had the strength and pull of Thor. It didn’t make sense! He fought against it, but it was no use. She might as well have been Asgardian.

“I told you to sit, and I expect you to obey,” she said. “You can’t even obey a simple request like that?”

Loki eyed her in surprise, not liking where this was headed. He watched as she pulled the ruler out of her sleeve and held it in her hand. His eyes widened as he stared at the implement a few minutes, finally forcing his eyes to look up at Jane.

“Wh-what’s that for?”

“Judging from your reaction, I think you already know. Or have you ever been spanked? My guess is that you haven’t.”

Loki swallowed hard, his hands involuntarily inching underneath him. His eyes dropped down to the ruler again. It looked like it would be painful.

Jane continued to note his reaction. “So, you know what spanking is?”

“Yes,” he answered softly. “And I can't believe you're serious about this. Y-you wouldn’t dare…You can’t. You aren’t my mother. You have no right.”

“I’m not your mother, but I am in charge of you right now, so that gives me more than enough right to do it.” She decided not to add that Odin had practically hinted at it.

Loki licked his lips nervously.

Without another word, Jane walked over and grabbed onto Loki’s arm again, moved him over, and sat down on the bed beside him. She then began moving him in place over her knees.

“Nononononono!” said Loki, scrabbling and kicking wildly. Jane lifted her ruler and brought it down sharply and swiftly on his backside five times. “OW!!” he shouted, throwing a hand back to rub out the sting she’d put there.

“Be still!” she sternly commanded. Loki fell still and silent save for slight whimpers. He had been right. It was painful! Just five slaps stung like the dickens! The thought of more being applied scared him. He looked over his shoulder, his eyes darting between Jane and the ruler.

“Please, don’t do this to me. Please don’t.” he sniveled. “What did I ever do to deserve it?”

“What did you do? You mean to tell me you don’t know?”

Loki hesitated and then shook his head.

“You disobeyed,”

“I said I was sorry!”

“Do you think you’re going to get off that easy? I’d accept your apology if I thought you meant it.”

“Bu-but I do mean it! I—ouch!”

Jane brought the ruler down with a hard slap across Loki’s backside. “You’re lying, Loki. You’re just saying it so you can get out of this. I know all about your silver tongue.”

“N-no I’m n—” Loki swallowed.

“You’ve also been telling me lies about Thor and plotting behind my back. You think that isn’t deserving of punishment?”

Loki looked stunned. “How…how did you…”

“How did I find out? I guess I might as well tell you that Odin stopped by here earlier and told me a few things. He’s had Heimdall keeping an eye on us ever since Thor brought you here. Odin told me everything. How you lied to me about Thor’s other girlfriend in order to make me mad at him. How you’ve been trying to get out of here so you can find the scepter. He even told me that you purposely tricked and got away from Darcy this afternoon. Yes, I already knew about that before you even arrived here.”

Loki’s mouth dropped open. He wasn’t sure whether to be terrified, angry, or what. How dare Odin keep an eye on him! And this also explained why Jane was so strong all of a sudden. Odin must have blessed her with some of his gifts, he thought. Loki suddenly felt ill at his stomach. More or less because he now knew that he would never be able to gain any sort of control over Jane. She was no longer a mere weak mortal like she had been before. Any attempts at gaining control over her from now on would probably result in him being upended over her lap as he was at that moment. He shuddered.

“He also told me about your plans for this.” Jane tugged on the gold necklace around her neck. Loki’s eyes widened when he saw it. “How you planned to hide it and blame Thor for stealing it. And I’m not even going to list off all the times you’ve acted like a brat since you’ve been here, back-talking me, and the time you tricked me into taking you downstairs. And what about this room? It’s still a mess after I told you several times to clean it up. So do you still think you don’t deserve this punishment?”

“I’m sorry,” was Loki’s only reply.

“Yeeeah, you aren’t sorry yet. By the time I’m through with you tonight, you’re going to have a very sore and hot butt, mister. And despite what you think, it’s well deserved, I can tell you that. You act like a spoiled brat; you’re going to be treated like a spoiled brat. From this moment on, for as long as you stay here if you so much as get out of line, I’m going to put you back in your place with this ruler.”

“Noooooooooo…” Loki wailed as Jane moved him around to better prepare him for what was to come. She pushed him onto her left knee, his upper half resting on the bed, and trapped his legs between her own. She moved his arms under him and pinned them there. Even though she had the strength Odin gave her, she was still thankful Loki had a small and slender build. It made him so much easier to handle in this situation.

Loki tried to move, more or less testing Jane’s hold on him, but he found he couldn’t budge an inch. A sickening knot formed in his stomach when the reality of the situation finally sunk in.

“You don’t have to do this! I’m really and truly sorry!”

Jane shook her head and lifted the ruler, bringing it down sharply across the middle of his backside. Loki sucked in his breath. Of all the things she could have chosen, why did she choose that accursed ruler?? Unfortunately, since he was wearing his pajamas, his pants were thin and offered little to no protection from the stinging blows. It didn’t help that Jane pulled them tight so that the curve of his rear was clearly visible through the cloth.

Jane repeated the action and kept on repeating it as fast as she could until she fell into a steady rhythm, the ruler being nothing but a whizzing blur. She made a mental note to keep herself in check, however. Loki was mortal now. As much as she disliked him, she didn’t want to hurt him in any way that was permanent. She would never do that to anyone, Loki or otherwise. This was a punishment, so she set out to make sure that it was memorable for the next several days.

Loki screamed and cried and wriggled about in her hold, but the agonizing sting of the ruler landed on every inch of his rear, eventually building up a lingering, burning pain.

“Yaaah!” he shrilly cried out when the ruler’s stings landed on the underside of his bottom. “Yowch! Jane, please! Not there!”

But Jane didn’t pay any attention to his words. She brought the ruler down several more times on the underside of his butt, eliciting more shrilly, watery cries from the trickster.

The spanking lasted at least two minutes before Jane stopped. Loki’s body convulsed in hitched sobs. She couldn't help but marvel over how fast the trickster had been reduced to a sniveling mess.

“Please, no more.” Loki sobbed loudly, sniffling. “Please. I can’t take anymore.”

“You still have some more to go.” Jane calmly said. “Believe me, you can take it.”

“Nooooooooo! No!” Loki choked out through his tears. “No more! I-I-I’m too cute to spank!” He couldn’t believe he had said it after the words left his mouth, but he decided to run with it. He looked over his shoulder, giving Jane the saddest, cutest puppy face he could muster to make her feel sorry for him, adding a bit of wibble to his lower lip. It had always worked on Frigga. Jane resisted it, shaking her head at the sad display, and Loki was even more terrified.

“Are you truly sorry for what you’ve done?”

Loki choked on his tears again. “I didn’t do anything to deserve punishment like this!”

Jane didn’t say a word as she grabbed hold of the waistband of Loki’s pants and pulled them down to just below his bottom, revealing an already well heated and reddened rear.

“What are you doing?!?” he squeaked out.

“What does it look like?”

Loki blushed furiously, his ears burning. “NO! Not bare bottom! Please, no!” he thrashed about harder, managing to get one of his arms loose. He quickly flung it back to cover his rear, snatching his pants and inching them up. Jane took hold of his hand and moved it out of the way, to the small of his back and held it there. Then she pulled his pants back down.

“No, no…” Loki turned to hide his face in the sheets. “Please, don’t. This is wrong. So very wrong.”

The ruler came down sharply with a smack.

“YEOW!” Loki cried out, lurching forward and hissing through his teeth. Why had she chosen his underside for the first swat?? Another one landed on top of it—and then another and another in the same spot, slowly moving up to his cheeks. The sting of each swat took a bite out of him, a particularly painful one making him arch his back.

“Please, STOP!” Loki cried out before breaking out in more sobs. He attempted to kick his legs, but the firm hold Jane had on them would not allow it.

“Then tell me why you’re receiving this spanking.” said Jane, firmly, bringing the ruler down again.

Loki choked and sobbed through hitched breathing. “Be-because…I…I…” He swallowed.

“You still don’t know even after I listed everything off?”

“Because I was…bad?” he said meekly, blubbering.

“In what way were you bad?”

The ruler came down hard again, and Loki cried out in agony. His mouth worked for a few minutes as he fought to get the words out, but the pain in his backside was making it awfully hard to concentrate on anything else. Jane sighed. She raised her ruler and brought it down swiftly with a loud smack again, this time on his right cheek. He chanced a look behind him and saw she was about to land the ruler on his left cheek. He squeaked in horror, finally facing the fact that he would have to give in or the spanking would never stop.

“OKAY!” he sobbed out, trying in vain to move his rear out of the way of the ruler. “I-I-I lied to you.”

“Good. What else?”

The ruler came down on his left cheek with a slap, despite his efforts to get away from it. Jane added a couple more quick slaps to the underside for him attempting to evade the blow.

Loki whimpered, holding his bottom still. “I-I plotted behind your back. I dis-sss-disobeyed. An-and tricked Darcy. And wa-was going to blame Thor for the necklace.”

Three more slaps landed on his smarting and burning posterior.

“And I acted like a brat!” he choked out.

Jane nodded. “Good, I think we can finish this up, now.” She tightened her grip around his waist and brought the ruler down in a series of hard, quick swats, the number being lost as she let into his backside. Loki cried and hollered until his voice sounded hoarse. Halfway through, Jane threw the ruler aside and used her hand, bringing it down in quick, even slaps on both of his already stinging cheeks, eventually moving to the underside. The impact of her palm made the pain that was already there more intense, not to mention the new pain that was being laid on top of it.

“OWWWW!!” Loki wailed, trying to buck his legs. “I’M SORRY!!” And he was telling the truth. He really was sorry. He had actually felt bad about what he did to Darcy even before Jane spanked him. “I regret doing all of it! I won’t ever do it again, I promise! Jussttt-sss-stop spanking me, please!”

Jane stopped. Loki lay limply across her knee, shuddering and crying his heart out. She could feel the heat radiating off the brightly red bottom on her knee and felt that she had done the job quite well for it being her first time. She patted Loki’s back and gently pulled his pants up.

“Very good,” she said in a soft voice. “I think you’ve learned a valuable lesson tonight.” She moved her leg and helped him to shakily stand. He refused to look at her, turning his head instead to look at the lamp on the night table. Carefully, he reached behind him and vigorously rubbed his scorched bottom. It felt hot through his pajamas. The trickster’s face was about as red as his bottom was, strands of dark hair plastered across it. His nose was running and tears continued to pour out of his puffy eyes. All of that coupled with his already youthful facial features made him look like the equivalent of a well-spanked child.

Jane confessed that the sight touched her heart, but she wasn’t about to give in just yet. She got up and pulled some tissue out of the box on the night table and began wiping Loki’s face. He allowed her to wipe at his nose, but when she moved to wipe his eyes he pushed her hand aside and turned away.

“I want you to get in bed and go to sleep,” she said, pointing at the bed. Loki quickly did as she said, fearing that she’d start spanking him with that horrible ruler again if he didn’t. He pulled the covers up to his wet face and moved into a position that was comfortable and peered up at Jane with watery, sad eyes. She stood over him, hands on her hips. One hand now held the ruler again, of which he nervously eyed. He waited expectantly for her to hug him, but she never did. Finally, she turned out the light and exited the room, closing the door behind her.

Where were the hug and cuddles? Frigga always gave him hugs and cuddles after she spanked him as a child. He picked up a corner of his cape and held it to his face, nuzzling it. He put one of his thumbs in his mouth and peered through the darkness at the door. A fresh flow of tears gushed out of his eyes when he saw Jane wasn’t coming back. It figures, he thought. No one loved Loki.

Notes