To Loki's irritation, he awoke before the mortal next to him. Her face was no longer pained but she showed no sign of waking up anytime soon. Getting up from his too-big bed, the trickster stared out of his floor to ceiling window. It was deep into winter and his country was currently being blanketed with snow. Darcy loved the snow.
The god blinked. Where in the world had that come from? He looked at the girl now curled up entirely around a single pillow. With a heavy sigh, Loki admitted to himself that he knew exactly where the thought came from. The mental link between them had remained open far too long to close. A small push against her mind confirmed his suspicion when she frowned and squirmed against his pillow.
Darcy became very restless at his probing and Loki grinned as she started waking up. He was beside her in an instant, eager to see what she would do. The silly girl stretched like a cat and several joints popped back into place. She froze before slowly letting her muscles relax and looked back at the god behind her.
There was no warning before she launched out of the bed with all the grace of a beheaded chicken. Panic was in her eyes as well as her mind. Loki let himself slither into her head, making sure she knew he was there.
"You asshole! What have you done to me?!" Darcy's voice currently reminded him of a banshee. Annoyed at her tone and angered at her words, the God of Mischief lept off the bed at her.
"Do not address me in such a manner. You should be begging for forgiveness, not throwing insults!" A snarl had formed on his face by the end of his reprimand. For once Darcy did not cower in the face of her angry master.
"Forgiveness? Forgiveness?! You attack my mind for no reason and you want me to feel guilty?!" Fire was alight in her blue eyes. Where did this jerk get the audacity to accuse her of wrongdoing, especially after what he had done? One look at the stewing God in front of her told her that she should stop 'poking the bear'. Darcy's own death flashed briefly through her mind at the gods behest; the image did nothing but cause her anger to burn brighter.
"I open my residence to you, I save you from that oaf who would like nothing more than to destroy all light within you, I fix your pathetically broken mind, and this is how you repay your god?" All were done to his benefit and he only brought them up to remind her of his superiority, but her lack of gratitude was irksome.
"Okay, first of all, you said yourself that the only reason you got rid of him was to set an example, not to help me! Second of all, you are the one who 'broke' my mind in the first place!" Her words were hissed with hatred. "And let's not forget I didn't do anything to deserve it!"
"Who are you to decide what warrants my wrath?" Loki's voice went from boiling rage to a silent promise of death if she didn't tread lightly. This stupid girl was no longer entertaining him. To presume that she hadn't slighted him was to presume she knew the workings of his mind.
An appropriate amount of fear reflected back to him from their link but did not show on her face. Before she could retort, there was a knock on the wall that separated his room from the hallway.
"Master Loki? I apologize for the interruption, but do you happen to know where Miss Lewis has gone off to?" Jane Foster's steady voice reached his ears and with one last withering scowl at the insolent child before him (that she gladly returned) disappeared from the room.
Darcy breathed a sigh of relief as she was once again freed from the god's presence. Only twice had he been near her and she found it was more than enough to last a lifetime. He was overbearing and had a serious anger problem.
The decision to come here was glaringly wrong now and she wondered if it was too late to leave. To where, she had no idea. Her parents had been born in Prussia and she had been raised in the British province of New York. For reasons she cared not to remember, neither place welcomed her. Darcy had come to Loki's country for the same reason she would stay: there was no where else for her to go.
Melancholy gripped her; she was stuck here.
Looking around her, the blue-eyed beauty realized she was in Loki's personal quarters. That creeper. He had an obvious love for hunter green and gold. Also clear was his taste for fine art. Darcy soon found herself pacing with worry. Would she ever leave this prison? Her master had been gone a good half hour and did not say when he would be back.
Her panicky movement was cut short abruptly when a sensation like a slithering snake could be felt along her brain. A sudden urge to vomit nearly overcame her but the knowledge that the resident of the room would highly disapprove kept the bile from coming out.
Emotions not her own were flooding into her mind and a voice echoed in her ears. The words were muffled, like she was under water trying to hear something that was just beyond the surface. With a sudden clarity, the words slammed into her.
Stop trudging around up there or I'll stop blocking the pain you have yet to recover from. Loki's voice sounded off loudly in Darcy's mind. With a small, surprised jerk, the small woman fell backwards onto the bed. Surely she had imagined the whole thing. No one could project words into someone else's thoughts. Right? Maybe not a pathetic mortal, but a god obviously can. Once again, his languid, almost bored tone came back to her.
Darcy almost cried. Did he not even need to touch her anymore to inflict the pain from last night? He obviously didn't need to, to access her thoughts. Hoping that he would hear, Darcy kept one thought at the front of her mind. I'm sorry for being ungrateful, but please don't hurt me like that again.As the God of Lies, Loki probably knew she was not sorry in the least, but she prayed beyond hope that he didn't tear her mind apart again.
Why would I adhere to anything you request, especially when you so pathetically lie within the same sentence? Damn. The tears began to flow freely with a newfound sense of hopelessness. How could she go up against a god in a battle of will? He was slowly but surely crushing her sanity.
Before she could cover her face with the pillow she held, a hand plucked the object from her grip. "I will not have you soiling my bed anymore than your mere presence had already." Loki was scowling down at her once again, looking at her like the sight of her made him sick.
An incredibly sarcastic and provoking remark almost escaped before she realized what an error it would be to anger him further. "I'm sorry," Darcy managed to ground out the words, matching her scowl with one of her own. His gorgeous green eyes darkened at her thinly veiled contempt. Loki was suddenly very close to her face, and it was obvious that whether or not she actually said how much she hated him, he would know.
"Your thoughts suggest otherwise." Loki noted that while literally trembling in fear, the mortal's ridiculous tears had stopped and she met his gaze without flinching.
"Then maybe you should stop looking through them." Her tone was as if the notion was painfully obvious and he was a fool for not doing so.
The god leaned back, and observed his servant. Her eyes were red and puffy from the small bout of crying, her hair was still mussed from thrashing around in the pain he had inflicted, and with a twitch of his nose he realized she had not changed from the outfit she strained herself in the night past. In short, Darcy Lewis looked positively dreadful.
"Of course I do! Normally I've gotten appropriate sleep and a bath by now!" The silly mortal screeched at him with an indignant flush in her cheeks. She immediately started fussing about the state of her hair, trying to make the brown/black curls lay flat.
Darcy stopped her fidgeting when an unreadable look passed over the gods face. A frown tugged at her lips. He wasn't being condescending or downright mean. Just staring at her like he expected her to reach over and slap him. It left a bad feeling in her gut.
"What have I done now? Or do you just like staring as pretty girls on your bed?" Darcy didn't bother smothering her sarcastic tendencies. Loki jumped, her voice taking him away from his thoughts.
Gathering his composure back, the god turned away from the mortal pet on his bed. Earlier, he had been discussing her removal from his residence with Jane. The woman fought tooth and nail to keep Darcy, claiming that there was no room to be picky at a time like this. Eventually she relented to his demands. Loki had come back to tell the girl that her services would no longer be needed. But this changed things. Mental links were not supposed to be like this; his thoughts had never been for anyone else but himself to see.
Loki looked back at the girl who was currently looking around his room. The look of awe reminded him of the night before when she had entered the study. Seeing an opportunity for mischief, a devilish grin spread across his face.
Twisting his hand behind his back, the trickster swallowed back his smile. No need to alert her of what he was doing. One of the roped hanging from the curtain for his window by the bed suddenly twitched taking the form of a giant anaconda. Darcy slowly turned her head, taking in all of her surroundings. An unexplainable feeling of nervousness washed over her when her gaze landed on Loki. There was a twinkle in his eye that she really didn't like.
Before she could question him, a long hiss behind her froze every muscle in her body. Turning slowly, Darcy found a gigantic snake descending from the curtain rail of the window. Immediate panic seized her. Was it poisonous? Would it attack if she remained completely still? Her body refused to let the latter be answered as she soon found herself leaping from the bed and behind the nearest object.
Loki snickered as her face went from awe to suspicion to skin paling shock. With a quickness he had yet to have seen from her, she launched away from the illusion and scrambled to seek shelter behind him. The situation was no longer entertaining. The mischief maker waved his hand and the anaconda fell limp, reverting back into a simple curtain rope. He turned his head to the quivering woman behind him. She was gripping his coat with a wary look on her face, clearly not trusting that the snake was gone.
"Darcy." The girl in question jumped when she heard the low, seductive tone. She flicked her gaze up to his face. Following his line of sight, she realized her hands were tightly gripping him. Pulling up a mask of dignity, Darcy released her hold and smoothed down her rumpled clothes.
"That was unnecessary and cruel." She stated in coldly and with as much bite as possible. The twinkle of mischief returned to his eyes. There was no remorse. As she continued to glower at him, Loki's face fell into a frown . While it had been amusing to scare her in such a way, he needed to address the troubling issue of her knowing what had been going through his mind.
"Sit down. Now." Darcy threw him a dirty look, but complied by the warning in his voice. Before she could land on his bed, he steered her towards the chair next to it. She plopped down, not bothering to be graceful. "How did you do it?" The question was asked with calculating suspicion.
"You mean how did I get so shockingly lovable? I'm just amazing!" She batted her eyelashes sarcastically. The god before her was not amused.
"How did you know what I was thinking!" Loki's patience for the girl had run out. Her antagonistic comments finally got a reaction from him.
Darcy frowned at the outburst. "I don't think I like your tone, sir. Maybe if you asked nicely I'll tell you." Her master's eyes widened comically at her words. Pride welled in her, knowing she had left the god with the silver tongue speechless.
Just as a smug expression came over her face, Loki leapt at her. Lifting her by her neck, he tossed the girl on the bed. As he pinned her down, Loki could see by her thoughts that she was flashing back last night when she was in the same position. Overwhelming fear and hopelessness seemed to consume her and the God of Mischief felt slightly offended. While ruthless, he did not inflict pain without reason like some sort of barbarian. The girl had her hands over her temples and was trying to curl up into a ball. He may enjoy seeing her afraid, but she was clearly over reacting. Loki pulled back enough for her to wiggle away. Darcy immediately flipped her back towards him and latched onto one of the pillows again.
A frown landed on the trickster's face. Darcy wasn't calming down. Her heart rate was erratic and she couldn't breathe fast enough to keep up. Annoyance filled him. The human body was so counterproductive. Though if she was hurt by her own body, it could prove harmful to himself. Yet again he berated himself for accidently forming such a strong link with a fragile being.
One arm snaked around Darcy's waist and pulled her flush against a warm chest. Knowing exactly whose it was, she struggled to worm away. The hold on her tightened and she felt an equally warm hand slide up her leg. Humiliation filled her as the touch calmed her fear somewhat. Of course he would know how to calm her down; he could possibly know every aspect of her entire mind seeing as he was always in it.
You need to calm down, haustier. He whispered the last word in her parents language. Loki's voice was calm in the storm of her thoughts. Darcy knew the affection in his tone was false but coupled with the motion along her thigh was slowly making her feel lethargic. The shaking of her shoulders stilled as she felt his presence in her mind. Unlike the times before, it was a soothing balm towards her emotions rather than an accelerant. Darcy allowed her master to turn her over to face him. He was giving her a calculated look but it was not unkind. Once again Loki's smooth, melodic voice flowed into her.
Please tell me how you knew what I had been thinking. Darcy felt very compliant. For once he was not making her feel like she mean nothing.
I have no idea. I felt more than heard it. That was not what Loki had been expecting. She had not intentionally looked into his thoughts, he had broadcasted them to her. That was even worse.
Loki continued to massage her thigh, pushing the feeling of exhaustion. Sleep, haustier. It took minutes for her to fall into oblivion. The god carefully detached himself from her gentle grip. He felt relieved that he no longer had to fake affection, though it was not as difficult to do as he would hope. He found himself frowning at the girl in his bed yet again.
Hours passed while Darcy slept and now it was pitch black. The lack of light was no bother to him but a human would never be able to adjust. Loki looked up from the novel in his hand when a he felt a stirring in her mind.
"Sir?" Darcy's little voice was thick with sleep as she called out to her master. He got up from his spot on the chair and went over to her small form. She was sitting up and was looking around with slightly confused eyes, like she couldn't remember where she was and how she had gotten there. Her large blue eyes landed on him as he approached like she actually knew he was there. She reached out a hand that grasped at nothing before eventually landing against his arm. His pet looked towards the general direction of his face with a bleary expression.
The urge came out of nowhere. She was practically begging for it and the opportunity was presented so perfectly. Pushing her back down onto the bed, Loki covered her lips with his own. She let out a small squeak and every muscle in her tensed. The god threaded his fingers through her hair, pushing some less than decent thoughts into her mind. Darcy finally regained control when one hand begin to creep up her shirt, sliding against her smooth flesh. As much as she wanted to get away from his touch, the image he sent her depicting what he'd do if she did stopped her. Tears flowed from her eyes as Loki's hand massaged her large breast. Was it not enough that he violated her mind? He had to take what little else she had left?
The god above her pulled back and she could feel his breath puff against her cheek. A minute amount of hope sparked in her before he quickly crushed it. Loki moved the hand in her hair to under her bottom and pulled her up towards his body. She felt herself pushed against his rock hard erection and when he let out a low moan, the fear coursing through Darcy exploded into full blown terror.
"Stop, pleaseā¦" Sobs choked her words when he began rocking his hips. The plea did nothing but incite him to press harder. His hand gripped her breast so tight Darcy knew there would be bruises. He was still throwing thoughts of naked flesh and lustful screams into her mind, but whenever she tried pushing him off they turned to fearful images involving restraints and monstrous strength.
Before she could stop herself, Darcy screamed into his mind. Please! Don't take this from me! Loki immediately pulled back and even though she couldn't see him in the dark, Darcy got the distinct impression that he was confused. His body was frozen against her. Ever so slowly he moved his hands from their inappropriate places to framing her face. Loki lowered his forehead against her neck. Darcy opened her mouth to say something but before the words could form Loki commanded her to sleep. Her mind deferred to his stronger will.
