Chapter 2 (b)

Chapter Warnings: not much.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Avengers. Balder is still sort-of-mine, as is Helblindi.

AN: Part (b) is here~ And we finally have a meeting, and the plot starts to move forward. ^^

On the Run

But I've a strangeness

A queer propensity

For twisting the knife too easily.

Thor and the stranger finally slammed to a stop, Thor pitching forward onto his knees as he breathed heavily, gulping in lungful after lungful of air. His sudden and unexpected companion was half collapsed against a tree, also wheezing from lack of breath. He wasn't actually sure just how long they had kept running for, but it was long enough for lights to dim and pain to start throbbing in his side.

"What was that?" Thor asked as soon as he was able to speak. "Why were there Einherjar? What have I- we, what have we done? What have you done?" he took another look at the hooded figure, "Who are you?" he asked finally, the most important question escaping him until he had worked at least some of the tangle of thoughts out of his head. The hooded man gave a startled, derisive laugh, at Thor's expense and at the expense of his confused questions.

"I am Loki," the stranger finally let slip through gritted teeth, "and I was perfectly happy minding my own business until you came and slammed into me, and apparently brought the royal army with you!"

"I did not bring them!" Thor protested loudly, "I have never done anything to warrant the attention of the royal families, certainly not enough to require arrest by the royal Einherjar…" he pondered his actions of the day, wondering just what it was he had done. Because surely there was something? The Gods themselves would not take interest in him had he not done anything wrong…his mind wandered back to the Apple Ceremony his gut tightening uncomfortably once again. He hadn't realised, but since the collision the anxiety and tension he had been feeling had completely disappeared, all throughout their escape and collapse against the trees.

The second his thoughts had returned to the ceremony had made the heaviness settle on his shoulders, dampening his mood. The now named Loki was apparently either completely unaware of the feelings that had come down on Thor, or he simply didn't care, as he let out another mocking laugh. "And what, you think it must therefore be I who has done something?" he asked snappily, arms crossing beneath his cloak as he pushed off the tree to stand with his hip jutted to the side.

Thor frowned, "How would I know?" he asked, his own tone sour, "I have never met you before! You could be a criminal for all I know!"

"Well I assure you I am not!" Loki returned, "it is the same from my position, I do not know you are who you say you are, nor do I know what you have or have not done. I can't trust a word you say. Even if I wished to, which I don't, I would not be able to do so."

"I would think I am more trustworthy than you. At least I don't skulk around forests with my face covered!" Thor shot a pointed look at the hood. "Besides. They said it was the both of us they wanted. We must be equally guilty in whatever we have done. If we are to run together, we should be able to at least trust each other a little?" He tried to offer a peaceful gesture, although he had no idea, and very little confidence in fact, that Loki would accept it. Indeed, Loki did not seem impressed or encouraged, stepping back from Thor.

"I do not wish to work with you. I do not wish to be anywhere near you!" he claimed. "If I am to be stuck with you, so be it, but I will only endure it for as long as it takes to straighten out this ridiculous mess."

"So be it," Thor agreed slowly, "But if we are to work together I demand you at least show your face to me. I cannot trust one whose face I cannot even see."

"Tough," Loki shot him down immediately, "I have every right to keep myself concealed if I wish, I have no obligation to you." He said snippily, chin tilting up proudly. Thor grew angry, and he strode towards Loki angrily, hand outstretched,

"At least once, I demand you show me your face!" Thor cried out loudly and, before Loki could protest, Thor had seized hold of his hood and ripped it back, eliciting a cry of pain from Loki as his hair was caught in his grip. But Thor barely noticed, as he stared with intense wonder at Loki's face.

Black and gold tattoos rioted across as much of Loki's skin as Thor could see. The seemed to shimmer and fade, the curling patterns sinking in and out of view under his skin. The sound of a throat clearing could suddenly be heard, and Thor looked down to find Loki with eyebrow raised at him, expression still pained and furious, hood down around his shoulders for the first time since they met. Thor released his grip on the fabric and Loki's hair, taking a step back to take in the full appearance of his apparent partner in crime.

Long black hair tumbled over his shoulders, curling down to mid back. It was pushed back from his forehead; Thor spied a couple of shiny gold beads threaded in to help keep it in place. It revealed pointed ears, coloured a deep blue, as was the rest of his skin, where it hadn't been dyed darker by the stab of a needle, and then later highlighted with gold. Looking closely, Thor realised it wasn't actually solid black, but thousands of lines of tiny runes and spells, inscribed right across Loki's skin, across his palms and fingers, and trailing up along the inside of his wrist, to…

Loki cleared his throat again, and Thor looked him in the eyes guiltily.

"Like what you see?" Loki asked dryly, sharply, opening his arms outwards in mocking display to allow Thor a better view. Somehow, the plain cloak and simple leggings and tunic looked out of place against Loki's deep blue skin and red eyes, which were still narrowed with fury at Thor's impatient violence.

"You…" Thor attempted to speak, to find anything in his suddenly empty head to say to him, "You are of Jotun blood?"

"And of Æsir," Loki said indifferently, examining his nails as if he had not a care in the world for lineage or race. Not that that was an uncommon view in this day and age, but he did seem to be more than a little overly nonchalant about it. "What of it?"

"How can you be sure it is Æsir? It may be Midgardian." Thor argued pointlessly, still staring. Loki gave a huff of impatience.

"Midgard blood drains the colour of Jotun skin. Æsir blood deepens and enriches it." Loki informed him.

"Oh." Was Thor's eloquent reply. It occurred to him that before now he had never had an answer for why the smaller breed of Jotuns could have skin colours ranging from the deepest royal blue to the pale almost grey-based tones that others had. "Is it the same with the markings…?" he asked curiously, thumb reaching up to brush over the scores marked across Loki's forehead, brushing against the black and gold writing that lay between them, the tattoos even extending to his face.

Loki flinched backwards and slapped Thor's hand away. "I do not know about the markings," he replied, snappishly. "There seems to be no correlation between outside blood and the prominence of markings, other than the more distant the Jotun blood, the more the markings fade." His fingers rose to run across his own markings gently, feeling the ridges that mapped out his face. Thor swallowed loudly, and tried not to imagine tracing his own fingers over those markings, feeling Loki shiver at the touch, beneath his fingers-

Woah. Woah there, brain. Back up a few steps. Thor had only just met Loki- and by running into him no less. And now they were being chased by palace soldiers, for reasons still unbeknownst to the both of them, and yet he honestly couldn't stop staring at Loki, drawn to him by some unknown force. Thor's finger's twitched; he wondered if he would feel that same electric sensation once again if he were to make contact with blue skin again.

Loki had apparently grown sick of Thor's deep thought and prolonged silence, his own long fingers dancing anxiously over his arms. Like Thor, he had no idea why the Einherjar had suddenly appeared, or why he was feeling such revulsion towards Thor, such an urgent need to get away. "This is ridiculous…" he muttered angrily, moving a couple of steps away from Thor. "This whole situation is downright ludicrous. Why in all the nine realms are we being chased?