In a Hushed Silence

I walked down a narrow hallway in the Asgardian palace, where there was supposed to be a small celebration.

I was alone. There was silence.

AT least, at first.

Loki, prince of Asgard, skidded around a corner and almost ran right into me.

"Sorry, I—" Loki broke off, glancing at me. "Um, hello, Lady Toria," He looked back over his shoulder. "Um… I wouldn't go this way if I were you." He grinned and tried to edge around me.

I looked at him suspiciously. "What did you do this time?"

Loki glanced behind him again. "Nothing, nothing. Just trust me. Don't go this way."

There was sudden noise: what sounded like hooves, footsteps, shouts, and the bellows of an angry animal.

Loki grinned devilishly.

"Loki, what did you do?" I repeated, staring at him.

"Nothing," he muttered, starting to edge around me again.

The sounds of the commotion drew nearer.

"Damn, they're coming this way," he muttered, looking half-panicked and half-excited. "Come on, we should really run."

"Loki, what did you-?"

He cut me off by grabbing my hand. "don't ask questions, don't look behind you, and run," he said seriously, then flashed me a wicked grin and pulled me along with him as he dashed away.

"Loki!" I exclaimed, but I had no choice but to flee with him down the hall.

There was a clanging sound as something burst into the hall, far behind us. Whatever it was, it made a horrible noise; like a mix between a squeal and a bellow. It was followed by a myriad of other sounds, mostly consisting of men shouting and clinking of chains and swords.

Loki abruptly turned right, down another narrow hallway, and then peered inside an open door. "Get in," he ordered, still grinning mischievously. My hand was still clasped in his.

I looked at him mistrustfully, not sure if I should do anything he told me to. I started to pull my hand away from his slowly.

"None of that," he hissed, then yanked me through the door with him. He quickly closed the door and then leaned against the wall. "Now keep quiet."

WE were in a tiny room. A linen closet, I thought to myself. It was barely big enough for both of us. I could have put my hands on either side of the room, and my arms wouldn't even be fully stretched out. So Loki and I were cramped in a tight space. Loki still gripped my hand tightly, and we both breathed hard from the sprint down the hall.

The commotion that had followed us down the hall now passed just outside of the closet we hid in.

Men shouted, weapons clanged, and that horrible snorting, squealing bellow sounded on the other side of the door.

I threw Loki a panicked look, about to ask what in the world it was, but he put his other hand over my mouth.

"Shh," he breathed, still smiling.

A few moments passed, and then the cacophony of sounds continued on, moving down the hall.

AS the sounds faded down the hall, Loki laughed softly. He removed his hand from my mouth. "Sorry, Toria. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I couldn't just let you get trampled. Or framed."

I swallowed and looked at him hard. "Trampled by what, or framed for what?"

Loki grinned. "Just a harmless joke."

I listened hard, but all sounds of the din were gone, leaving us in a hushed silence. "It didn't sound harmless. Loki, what was that?"

Loki pressed his ear against the door, making sure they had really gone. "It was just a war boar."

My mouth fell open. "Loki, you let a boar loose on Valhalla?" I gasped.

"Shh," he said suddenly, putting his hand over my mouth again.

WE heard voices as a few people walked by our hiding place.

"—a boar, of all things to set on the palace. I swear, I am going to skin him alive," someone said mutinously. "Half the guards are trying to capture it now. It's going to leave a trail of wreckage, though. Lots of wreckage. I don't know what Loki was thinking."

"He was thinking it was funny, of course," someone else said. "He thinks everything is funny."

In the dim light, I could see Loki grin. He squeezed my hand a little tighter, and pressed his hand a little harder against my mouth, throwing me a warning look, then grinning at the door again.

"No, he doesn't think everything is funny," the first voice said. "He just thinks things that cause problems for everyone but him and cause destruction in his father's palace are funny. I'm going to skin him alive when I find him," he spat again.

I briefly considered struggling, making a racket and drawing the warriors' attention to the linen closet. Then we would both get what we wanted. They would get to punish Loki, and I would be free to go. Then Loki would let go of my hand and quit hushing me and putting his hand over my mouth to stop me from talking.

Loki's eyes locked with mine. He shook his head ever so slightly, and gave me a pleading look. He was thinking along the same line of thought that I was.

I glared at him, undecided if I should betray him.

He slowly drew his hand away from my mouth, and put a finger to his lips. Again, telling me to hush.

I scowled at him, then glanced at the door. Outside, I could hear the men's footsteps echoing as they started to get further and further away. I looked at Loki again.

Please? He mouthed at me.

Their footsteps were still audible. If I shouted, they would hear me and come running.

I glared at Loki, then at the door. I had just made up my mind to shout for help.

And that's when Loki suddenly kissed me. It was so sudden and unexpected, I didn't know what to do.

The footsteps outside faded into a hushed silence.

Loki drew away, leaving me still stunned. I stared at him. He pressed his ear to the door again, then sighed in relief and leaned back against the wall again.

"What was that for?" I asked, baffled.

Loki smiled a little bit. "I had to keep you quiet somehow, didn't I? Otherwise you were going to give me away," he said smoothly.

I gave him a disgusted look and tried to yank my hand free of his, but his grip tightened. "Let me go already," I ordered, glaring at him.

"Shh," he said.

"What now?" I whispered. I strained my ears, but I couldn't hear anything. "There's nothing out there. Let's go already."

Loki threw me a quick glare and then looked at the door. Tentatively, he stepped forward and tried the knob with the hand that wasn't still holding mine. He slumped. "It's locked," he hissed.

I stared at him. "Please tell me you're joking."

"Try it yourself," he challenged, looking furious.

I did. And it was locked. I stared at Loki. "Well that's just brilliant of you, Loki. 'Yes, Toria, let's go hide in a locked closet, and I'll make sure we'll be stuck in here for hours because I won't let you call for help. And to make things more interesting, I'll make sure it's the most cramped, tiny, uncomfortable linen closet in the entire palace.' Genius plan, Your Highness. I applaud how well thought out of a disaster it is," I said venomously.

"You can shut up now," he spat, flashing me a death glare. He fiddled with the door handle a moment. "Curse my father's insistence on having spells placed on all the locks," he muttered. "I don't think I can break it."

A sense of doom settled over me. "So we really are stuck?"

"Yes," he said mutinously. He leaned against the wall. "It appears we'll be in here for some time."

I glared at him. "This is your fault."

"I'm aware," he grumbled.

"If you hadn't gone and kissed me," I said maliciously, "I would have called for those guards, and then they would have let us out."

"Oh, please, quit acting like you didn't enjoy it," Loki said, rolling his eyes.

"What makes you think I did?" I asked, fuming.

"Well, Toria, you weren't exactly putting up a fight," he muttered, raising his eyebrows at me.

I flushed. "I just wasn't expecting—it just came out of nowhere—you caught me off-guard is all," I sputtered crossly.

Through the dark, I could see Loki smirk. "Yes, I'm sure that's all."

I glowered at him. "Yes, it is."

There was a moment of hushed silence.

Loki looked at me thoughtfully. "So, if I were to, I don't know, perhaps kiss you again, you would put up more of a fight, I'm sure."

I stared at him mistrustfully. "You wouldn't."

Loki looked at me in a calculating way. "Maybe. It does look like we're going to be stuck in here for a while, does it not?"

I didn't answer.

"And we could be in far worse company," Loki continued. "After all, you could have been stuck in here with Thor."

I swallowed, feeling a bitter taste in my mouth. "First of all, Thor wouldn't have set a boar loose on Valhalla for fun, second of all, Thor wouldn't have kissed a lady just to keep her quiet."

Loki sighed. "Your point being that you would rather be stuck with him than me?" Loki asked sullenly.

I didn't answer.

Loki gave me a look that had something akin to hope.

I blushed slightly and my gaze dropped to the floor.

Loki stepped a little closer to me. "So if I were to, say, kiss you again…" he trailed off, a question in his eyes.

I met his eyes again, but didn't answer. Instead, I gently squeezed his hand, which still gripped mine.

His lips curved into a sly smile, and then he pulled me close to him. His lips hovered an inch from mine for several seconds, giving me plenty of time to push him away, slap him, or protest. I did none of those things.

It was far past midnight when the door of the linen closet was opened, letting light from a guard's torch spill in.

I blinked sleepily and looked up, disoriented. "What's… Where am I?"

Someone grunted. "What-?"

Surprised, I looked around and saw Loki right next to me. We were both sitting on the ground, nestled in the corner of the linen closet. My head lay on Loki's chest, and his arm was around my shoulders

He blinked blearily and looked up at the guards staring down at us. He glanced back at me. Our eyes locked, we both blushed, and then we jumped up and scrambled out of the tiny closet.

I didn't meet anyone's eyes and focused on straightening the skirt of my dress, which was now rumpled from my sitting on the closet floor.

Loki cleared his throat awkwardly and glared at all the guards. "We— we weren't doing anything, we just got locked in, and, um… That's all. Nothing happened."

"Nothing at all," I echoed, crossing my arms and staring determinedly at the floor. Odd. Loki and I weren't holding hands anymore. WE hadn't let go of each other's hand for hours, and it felt odd not to have his hand gripping mine.

"We're not interested," the lead guard said in a gruff voice.

Another guard snickered. "Speak for yourself. I'm curious to see what kind of story they come up with to explain this one."

I turned pink and glared at the floor as if this was all its fault.

"We've been looking for you two for hours. When you didn't show up to the celebration, search parties were sent out. And Loki, your father would like to see you about the trick you pulled with the boar. He's not particularly happy," the lead guard said, emphasizing the last word.

Loki smiled wryly. "Of course he's not happy. I knew he wouldn't be happy. Hence the hiding in a closet."

"The whole getting locked in there with me was a bit of a hiccup in the plan, though, wasn't it?" I asked, my lips twisting into a smirk.

"It wasn't too bad," Loki cocked his eyebrow at me.

I blushed and suppressed a smile.

"No, nothing happened whatsoever," another guard muttered sarcastically.

"You said my father wanted to speak to me," Loki interrupted abruptly.

"Indeed," the lead guard agreed, giving the rest of his group a stern look. "Focus, men. You're paid to do your job, not to tease and gossip."

Both Loki and I threw the guard an appreciative look, which he returned with another stern look. "I'm sure the Allfather wouldn't mind speaking to you as well, Lady Toria," he added. "I'm sure he would offer an apology for the trouble you went through tonight with the prince."

I nodded silently, not looking up from the floor. The guards formed a circle around the two of us. No one spoke as our strange procession started the long trek through the palace to the throne room.

My face burned with embarrassment, not entirely sure what had just transpired between Loki and me. I was tired and cramped from being trapped in the tiny linen closet. I crossed my arms over my chest and kept my eyes on the floor. All I wanted to do was fall asleep in my bed and forget about my brash actions tonight. About the kisses with the prince of Asgard. Then I felt a hand touch my elbow.

I glanced up in surprise to see Loki giving me a gentle smile. I hesitated only a moment before slipping my hand into his. Once more, we held hands. It was a comforting feeling. He rubbed his thumb along the back of my hand, as if to reassure me, and I nearly tripped over the silky fabric of my skirts as my heart skipped a beat. Loki threw me a smirk, but it wasn't as hard or sarcastic as his smirks usually were.

"Something troubles you, Lady Toria?" he asked quietly, his voice almost mockingly soft and sweet.

"No talking," the lead guard snapped.

Unable to voice an answer to Loki's question, I simply elbowed him gently in the ribs, but gave him a small smile, barely visible in the dim torchlight that lit the halls past midnight in the palace.

Loki squeezed my hand gently and pulled me a little closer, so we walked so close, we almost tripped over each other's feet.

And we walked on through the palace in a hushed silence.

Note from LoquaciousQuibbler: This is a really random little story, isn't it? I don't know; it's kind of odd, funny, sweet… hmm… Not sure if I really like it, but hey. This would happen way before Avengers and Thor. When Loki was just a trickster, not necessarily evil... Probably just a teenager, even. Ah, letting a war boar loose on his father's palace, and kissing poor Lady Toria just to prevent her from calling for help. Jeez, Loki. Suppose it could have been worse, though. AT least he didn't just let her get trampled. And did anyone else get a flashback to Thor: The Dark World when Toria was yelling at Loki for getting them trapped in the closet? She sounded just like Loki yelling at Thor about his plan to escape Asgard. XD That's like my favorite scene of all time… the Asgard escape scene... Sorry I'm starting to ramble on a little bit.

BTW I have dubbed Loki and toria's ship Loria.

I think this one will just stay a one shot unless by some miracle I'm struck with a groundbreaking idea or reason to continue it. I would love some feedback… and though I appreciate those little comments that just say "Loved it!" I would prefer a little more than that. What can I say? I love specificity… Lovely word, that. Specificity… Sorry guys I'm really tired and bored lol. I am literally writing this at 12:30 in the morning. I should probably stop before I say something really weird. Like brownies. Mmm. Brownies.

'Kay I just went over the edge. Gotta go. ;) Bye.