Hello everyone! Here's another chapter for you. Hope you enjoy!
-Chapter Four-
Feeling his senses come to, Loki slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the darkened ceiling of Saia's spare room. He gave a stretch before getting up and made his way down to the kitchen. Saia wasn't there and neither were her dogs. There was also nothing made on the stove for breakfast. Only a single, skinny box with some weird looking picture of food on it sitting next to a bowl with a spoon in it sat on the table.
Going over to it, he raised an eyebrow and looked to the note on the table.
Sorry I had to get working on my order so I didn't have time to make any breakfast. Just pour some cereal in the bowl and some milk in it.
Looking at the box again, Loki picked it up and opened the box to find dry squares with a little white stuff on the top. He crinkled his nose a little before pulling one out and inspected it. He was supposed to eat this? Seriously? He gave a slight roll of his eyes before pouring some in the bowl then got the milk from the fridge and poured it into the bowl before returning the milk back to the fridge.
Sitting down, Loki poked at the cereal before taking a bite. He furrowed his brow as he chewed it slowly. It wasn't bad but he certainly wasn't used to eating something like this. But obviously he had no other choice to eat it since Saia hadn't made anything else. And he had no idea how to make those pancakes she'd made either.
Finishing up his breakfast, Loki stood from the table and started to turn to head back down to his room but paused looking back at the bowl sitting on the table. The memory of last night with Saia pointing at his plate then at the sink came across his thoughts. He gave a purse of his lips and a roll of his eyes before taking it to the sink. Last thing he wanted was her scolding him like a child again. He really detested that. It reminded him of Odin constantly looking down at him for something he'd taken the blame for because of Thor when they were kids. Of course, Frigga had seemed to know that Loki had taken the blame and would have Thor apologize to him later on after giving Thor the scolding.
Going back down to his room, Loki pondered what he could do. There wasn't much other than reading and drawing to do and as much as he liked reading and drawing, he didn't feel like it at the moment. He looked in his clothes he'd gotten and found some loose fitting, lightweight pants and changed into them along with a plain black t-shirt before going back out and down the hall towards the front door. He opened the door to the basement and flicked on the light before going down and looked around at the equipment. Even though he wasn't much of the fighter like Thor, he still trained. It was good to keep up enough with his brother, Sif, and the Warriors Three along with his magic. But since he didn't have his magic at the moment, that left training.
Tilting his head slightly at the radio on the end table by the mats across the room, he went over and studied it for a moment. He hit the button that had a little triangle above the word 'play' after hitting the button that said 'power'. It gave a slight whoosh sound from the top of it before a beat started playing in a bit of a fast tempo. He gave a blink at the strange music as it played on but it had an interesting enough beat to it that he could work with.
Stepping back on the mats, he gave a slow, deep breath in as he closed his eyes with his hands at his sides. As he slowly let out his breath, he opened his eyes as he brought his hands up and started in on his fighting movements he used.
Coming inside for a break around lunch, Saia pulled off her boots and coat as her dogs surrounded her and shook off before heading down the hall. She gave a blink as she looked down the hall to find it darkened without the living room light on.
"Loki?" she called out as she hung up her coat in the closet before going towards the kitchen and flipped on the light to find it empty. She did notice that the bowl she'd left on the table was gone and the box of cereal she left beside it was moved. Obviously he had ate breakfast and went to the sink to find the bowl sitting in it. She had to raise her eyebrow at the fact he'd put the bowl in the sink without her telling him to.
Going down the hall and flipping on the light to the living room, she found it empty as well. She furrowed her brow as she went to his room to find it also empty then checked her room and the bathroom. Still empty.
'Where did he go?' she thought to herself putting her hands on her hips then turned and went down the hall again to the door to the basement. It was the last place she could think of where he could be in the house since his boots were still by the door and his coat in the closet.
Opening the door, Saia blinked hearing the sound of her music playing out of her radio and the light on down there. She furrowed her brow as she descended the stairs slowly. Sure enough, there was Loki across the room on her mats, his back turned to her at the moment before he turned fluidly and made a jab in the air like he was fighting an invisible enemy with a knife or something. He moved really well, she had to admit, though her attention was half distracted because he was shirtless once again. She noticed his black t-shirt he obviously had been wearing was tossed to the side on the floor.
As he turned again in a fluid movement with his back towards the stairs, Loki felt eyes on him. He turned his head to find Saia standing at the base of the stairs watching him. He gave a blink as he stood back up straight and faced her.
"Sorry if I interrupted you," she spoke up as she gave a blink shaking her thoughts from his shirtless form and walked over towards him. She stopped at the edge of the mats noticing he seemed a little out of breath and his hair clinging a bit to his neck and shoulders. He obviously had been doing his workout for a little bit since it was near the end of her CD she'd burned and put in her player. "What type of fighting style is that? I've never seen it before."
"Oh it's just something I learned back home," he replied with a shrug. "I've learned to adapt and use more fluid movements than brute strength that many others tend to use. Unlike Thor with Mjolnir or Sif and the Warriors Three with their swords, ax, and mace, I'm better with knives. And it helps being nimble with knife work."
"Hmm..." she said as she nodded her head at the information. He took a couple steps towards her and she gave a blink wondering what he was going to do before he stopped and leaned down to get his shirt from the floor. She could smell his sandalwood scent mixed with sweat but it wasn't appalling. It was actually rather enticing. She had to bite her bottom lip slightly and resist to reach out and touch his skin. Every other time she'd happened to touch it, it had been soft and smooth. And yesterday when she'd held him as he cried, his hair had been very soft and silky to the touch.
"Is something wrong?" he asked as he stood back up and put his shirt back on.
"N-no," she replied shaking her head as she turned and started for the stairs again. "Hungry for lunch?" She glanced back over her shoulder as he inclined his head yes. "Good. You can come help me fix it."
Loki gave a blink as she turned and headed back up the stairs before he could protest to making lunch. He sighed as he turned back to the radio and hit the 'power' button again. The music cut out before he headed up the stairs again and flicked the light off, shutting the door behind him before heading to the kitchen. Saia was standing with the fridge open.
"Well, I guess I'll go easy on you," she said pulling out the leftover pizza from yesterday and took it over to the island counter and set it down. She turned and went over to get some plates to put it on. "We'll just have leftovers for now. But you're helping with dinner."
Loki raised an eyebrow at her as she put the last four pieces, two for each of them, on the plates before taking them over to the microwave and opened it and put the first inside. He watched her shut the door and press a couple of buttons before it started humming with a light on inside. He was curious as to what the contraption was and how it worked.
"Exactly what is that thing anyway?" he asked as she turned to look at him and he pointed at the microwave.
"It's a microwave," she replied. "It heats up food." He raised an eyebrow at it. "I prefer using the stove and oven more so but sometimes it's good to be able to reheat things quickly."
Hearing the humming stop as it beeped, Loki still was curious about it. She opened up the door and pulled out the first plate before popping in the second and shut the door. She glanced back and motioned for him to come over to her, which he did.
"Push the four button," she said nodding towards the microwave. Loki raised an eyebrow at her as to why but the look she gave just said do it so he did. It gave a beep at him. "Now push the zero button." He did. "Now start." He did so as well and it started humming as it came on. "Good. You just set it for forty seconds."
Loki gave a blink as he looked to it again and watched as the green glowing numbers counted from forty to zero before the contraption turned off after beeping. She told him to open the door and pull out his plate while being careful because it would be warm. He did so and she had him shut the door and he looked down at the warmed pizza on his plate from yesterday before looking to Saia.
"See? Easy," she spoke up as she grabbed her plate from earlier and went to the table and sat down. He followed her and sat and picked up his pizza as she took a bite of hers before doing the same. "Now that wasn't so hard was it?"
"No," he replied after swallowing his bite. She just gave a grin before taking another bite.
Eating the rest of their pizza, Loki got up first and pushed his chair in. He could see Saia watching him as she finished the last couple bites of her food. Grabbing his plate, he took it to the sink and set it in there before glancing back at her. She raised her eyebrow at him as she stood with her plate in hand.
"Thank you," she said as she set her plate in the sink as well. "Now isn't that better than me having to constantly remind you?"
"Yes, well, I hate being treated like a child," he spoke up with an unamused look. "I got enough of it from Odin. Especially getting blamed for things that Thor started and I tried to get him out of." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay a few things I egged him on with simple persuasion of words, but he could have ignored it. But him being one that just charges in without thinking was his fault."
"Uh huh..." she said putting her hands on her hips with a look of 'yeah right' on her face. "Trickster through and through."
"I was just having a bit of fun," he replied as he smirked slowly. She gave a shake of her head as she turned and went to one of her cupboards and pulled out an empty water bottle before handing it to him. He looked at it with a raised eyebrow.
"You fill it with water or whatever you want to drink," she replied. "Then if you feel like doing more training, you don't have to run up and down the stairs as often for a drink."
"Ah. A canteen," Loki replied looking at the clear plastic bottle in his hands. She gave a nod.
"I should probably get back outside and work more on my order," she spoke up as she turned and went to put food in the dog's bowls. They came barreling in from the living room and started scarfing down their food as she headed back towards the front door.
Watching the dogs scarfing down their food, Loki heard the front door shut again before he went to fill the bottle with water, took a long drink out of it, before refilling it again. He gave a look at it then the dogs before setting the bottle down on the counter and went down the hall to his room to get on some socks and a hoodie before going back down to the kitchen. The dogs were just finishing up their food. He grabbed his bottle of water and took a drink again before going to the coat closet and grabbed his coat and hat and slid it on with his boots before going to the door and outside onto the front porch. He looked back over his shoulder inside and gave a low whistle and the dogs came running. He stepped aside before getting knocked over by them as they rushed out into the snow to romp, barking at each other before shutting the door behind him and walked further out into the frigid air.
Sticking his hands in his pockets, Loki stepped down the steps to the ground; a white puff of air showing with each breath in the still air. He watched the dogs romping in the dim daylight; the sky obscured by thick, grey clouds, and noticing that the sun obviously wasn't above the horizon, but rather sat just below it. He'd noticed it before with how dark it seemed despite it being during the day. It reminded him a bit of Jotunheim with their endless winter. Would this place, Alaska Saia had called it the first day he'd woken up, be like that? Was it always this dark and cold in winter? Would it be like that in summer as well? He honestly hoped not.
Looking over to the garage, Loki turned and walked over to the side door and put his hand up to the cold knob. He could hear the sound of something running beyond the door and looked back at the dogs before giving a low whistle again. They came running over as he opened the door and they went barreling inside.
Feeling a cold rush of air from behind her, Saia turned her head from the machine she was using to get the base of her figurines started in shape before she finished them off by hand. Her dogs came barreling in and shook themselves off as they went over to the spot she'd set up for them to lounge when she was working on her figurines. She furrowed her brow as she shut her machine off. The last she knew, she'd left them inside with Loki.
Pulling off her safety glasses and setting them down on the table beside her machine, Saia walked over to the door and looked out. "Loki?" she asked sticking her head out before stepping out into the snow for a moment. She gave a shiver since her coat was still inside the garage and all she had on over her shirt was her hoodie.
Suddenly she was hit with a snowball from her right. She gave a yelp at the cold snow and turned to see Loki several feet away with another snowball in his hands ready to throw. A smirk was drawn across his lips. He threw the other snowball at her and she barely dodged out of the way.
"What the hell was that for?" she asked shivering as he walked towards her.
"Because I can," he replied still smirking as he stopped in front of her. "And I was bored."
"You better watch that boredom of yours," she replied shivering again before turning and going back inside the garage where it was warmer. Loki followed right behind her and she shut the door behind him before going over to the heater and stood by it trying to get warmed up again.
Going over to the machine where Saia had been working, Loki examined it as he furrowed his brow. Had this been the thing he'd heard from outside before opening the door? It must have been since he could see the fresh wood shavings below it.
"Careful with that," Saia spoke up and he glanced over to see her watching him from the heater. "You really don't want to rip your arm off."
"What is this thing?" he asked as he looked back at it.
"That is the machine I use to start my figurines with before I finish them off by hand," she said coming back over and picked up her safety glasses and put them back on. "You'll want to step back." Loki stepped aside as she stood back in front of it before turning it back on and picked up the tool she'd been using to get her figurine started.
Taking a few paces back, Loki watched as she worked on the piece of wood as she started its shaping. The scent of the wood filled the air. It wasn't pine that much he knew. He was familiar with that scent. But this one he wasn't sure of. It wasn't like any of the trees they had on Asgard that was for sure.
Feeling warm as he continued to watch her work, Loki pulled off his hat and gloves and stuck them in his coat pockets before taking his coat off and put it over with Saia's to the side. He wandered around the area and looked at the other equipment she had there before finding the scrap pieces of wood. He picked up a piece about the size of the palm of his hand before finding a knife in her tools that was sharp enough to cut into wood. Taking the wood over to one of the other tables, he set it down and used the knife to cut into the wood's flat surface.
Finishing up the piece of wood she was working on, Saia turned her head as she shut her machine off to see where Loki had gone. She'd noticed him watching out of the corner of her eye for a few before he disappeared from her sight. He stood behind her to the side at the workbench table with a piece of scrap wood she'd tossed in the scrap box to burn later with a knife in hand and looking like he was engraving something into the wood.
"What are you making?" she asked as she came over to him, pushing her safety glasses up on top of her head to sit. She noticed he'd started carving out what appeared to be one of the rune letters she'd seen on the drawings he'd done.
"Nothing in particular," he replied as he pulled the knife back and blew on the spot to get rid of the wood shavings.
"I didn't think you knew how to do things like this," she said eyeing his work.
"I don't usually make a habit of it," he replied glancing at her as he went back to carving another rune letter. "Just because I'm a prince doesn't mean I don't know how to work." He gave a slight pause again as he blew on the wood to remove a few more shavings. "I found lots of little things to do when I was growing up just to see what they were like. Mostly because Thor and the others liked to take off on their own at times and leave me behind from their little adventures. And between learning magic and doing a lot of reading, I found picking up other hobbies entertaining enough to pass the time."
Saia raised an eyebrow at him for that. She would never have guessed he'd be someone to pick up wood carving as a hobby. But she had to admit, living as long as he had, obviously he had to have something to pass the time. She watched him another moment before getting an idea and went over and rummaged through her other equipment and found her wood burner. Bringing it over to him, she set it down on the table and he looked at it.
"What's that?" he asked setting his knife down and picked up the burner and looked at it.
"Wood burner," she replied as she took the end of the cord in her hand and went to plug it in before grabbing another scrap piece of wood and came back over to him. "I'll show you."
Taking the burner from his hands as it heated up, she set her piece of wood down on the table before making sure it was hot enough and pressed the tip into the wood. She wrote out Loki on the wood to show him how it worked before handing it to him. He took the wood she'd used and practiced on it, writing in the rune alphabet below his name to get the feel for the tool before looking to his piece of wood before going over what he'd already etched away.
"Easier to use yes?" she asked watching him work on his piece. He nodded once as he continued with what he was doing. "Well help yourself to the scraps if you want. All I was going to do is burn them in the fireplace anyway."
Turning back to her machine, Saia took off the partially started figurine and took it over to where she had put several of the others she'd already started and grabbed another block of wood and attached it to her machine. She flipped her safety glasses back down again before turning the machine back on and picked up her tool before starting in on getting it started on shaping.
About two hours later and having several more figurines started being shaped, Saia turned off the machine and took the one off it and put it with the others. She looked at Loki who had been busy with whatever he was doing before going over to find that he'd used the smaller pieces of scrap wood that were only an inch or so in shape and had burned a rune letter into each of them. She furrowed her brow as he finished up the one he was working on and set the burner to the side after unplugging it.
"What are all these?" she asked picking up one of the pieces with a rune on it and studied it.
"Runes," he replied as he gathered them all up into a pile and looked to the one she held.
"I can see that," she said as he held out his hand for the one she held. "What are they for?"
"Prophecy," he replied as she put the one she held in his hand and he added it to the pile.
"Prophecy?" Now she had to raise an eyebrow at that. How would those tell the future?
"Each rune has a meaning and each holds a certain power to it." He gave a pause. "And even though I don't have my magic to use, doesn't mean I don't know how to read them when used correctly."
"Hmm..." She gave a curious look at them before giving a nod towards the direction of the house. "Well I'm done for the day. I have a few more left to finish up tomorrow then comes the fun part of doing the rest by hand. Ready to go inside?"
Inclining his head a little, Loki went and grabbed his hat out of his coat and put the runes inside it to keep them together before getting on his coat with Saia and headed for the door after she shut off the heater. She gave a whistle and her dogs came over towards the door before she opened it and they piled out into the snow barking and playing. She let Loki go outside first before shutting off the lights and shut the door behind her before walking with him back to the front door and went inside. They took off their coats and boots before she headed down to the living room with him following behind her, his hat in hand before pouring the runes onto the coffee table. He went to put his hat back in his coat pocket before returning back and looked them over again.
Watching Loki look at his wooden runes, Saia thought of something for him to use to hold them. Loki glanced at her as she left the room before looking to each of the runes again. If he had his magic to speak their individual names and imbue them with magic, it'd be easier to work with them but he didn't. So he'd just have to make due as is. Though he could still speak their names and give them a little essence of magic that way.
"Here," Saia spoke up coming back to the living room and over to him, her dogs following in behind her she'd let back inside. He looked up to see her holding out a dark green bag made of velvet and gold tie large enough to hold them all. "You can use this to hold them in."
"Thank you," he replied taking the bag and looked at it. He had to raise an eyebrow at the irony of the colors the bag and tie were. His colors. Just like he'd noticed her shower curtain was dark green with golden circles in a pattern on it.
"No problem." She turned and went over to her laptop again and sat down and started browsing on it.
Glancing up at Saia then back at his runes, Loki picked one up and held it in his palm. He put his other hand up over the other and closed his eyes and concentrated on it. Saia turned to look over at Loki as he held one of his runes in his hand and closed his eyes before he started speaking something quietly she didn't understand. She furrowed her brow slightly at the slight shift in energy of the air too. What was he doing?
Continuing to watch him from the corner of her eye as he opened his eyes again and set that rune down to the side, he picked up another and did the same thing speaking very softly in that strange language. Was it Asgardian? It certainly didn't sound like anything she'd heard on earth though it kind of had a similar sound to Norwegian. She had heard a little of that language spoken but this one still sounded very different at the same time. He finished with that rune and set it down before picking up another one and continued to speak whatever it was he was saying until every one of them had been held.
"What were you doing?" she asked after he finished with the last one and set it down.
"Speaking each rune's name and infusing power to it," he replied as he gathered them up and looked them over.
"But you don't have any magic."
"No but there is always magic all around," he replied looking at her. "I was merely using that magic instead."
"Really?" She got up and went over to stand on the other side of the coffee table and looked at the runes. She reached out and picked up one that looked like a pointed B. She blinked as it grew warm in her hand. "Whoa. It's...warm."
"Let me see it," he spoke up as she held her hand out and showed him. He raised an eyebrow at it as he looked up at her.
"What? Is there something wrong?" she asked confused by his look.
"No," he replied as he gathered up the runes and put them in the bag then took the one in her hand and put it in the bag as well. He gave it a shake before holding it back out to her. "Put your hand in and take one."
"Okay." She stuck her hand in the bag and pulled one out. It was warm in her hand.
"Let me see it," he spoke up and she opened her hand to show him. It was the same one she'd picked up before. He furrowed his brow slightly and held his bag up again. "Put it back." She did and he shook it up again before holding it back up. "Pick another." She put her hand in again and pulled out one and opened her palm again to the same one still warm in her hand.
"Okay what exactly does that mean?" she asked confused to his furrowed brow again as he stared at it. "Obviously this particular one likes me or something."
"It's berkana," he replied still looking at it in her hand.
"And that means what?" she asked confused.
"It means health, growth, new beginnings, and fertility amongst a few other meanings," he replied flicking his gaze up at her. "And it was one of my mother's favorites."
Saia gave a blink as she looked to it in her hand still warm as if it were giving off its own heat source. It was Frigga's favorite? Well given that Frigga had come to her in a dream personally to tell her Loki was coming...
"Well...um...is that...a good thing?" she asked a little curious as he kept staring at her.
"I honestly don't know," he replied before he held the bag up and she dropped it back inside before he tied it loosely. He set the bag to the side by his drawings that were still sitting there.
"Hm..." Saia put a hand on her hips as he looked at her still before she dropped them back to her sides. "Well, I'm sure you're hungry so we might as well get dinner started." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Yes. You are helping to make dinner again." She started for the hallway. "Now come. Otherwise you're not getting dinner."
Loki rolled his eyes at her as she disappeared around the corner. Seriously she was still adamant on him learning to cook? Seriously aggravating. But he gave a sigh as he got up and wandered down the hall to the kitchen. She was standing at the fridge looking inside with her finger to her chin looking like she was figuring what to make. She pursed her lips slightly before shutting the door and turned her back to look in the pantry before pulling something out in a long box and turned back towards the kitchen island.
"Are you going to stand there all day?" she asked as she looked up at him standing there still. He gave a slight roll of his eyes before going over and looked at the box she'd set on the counter.
"Spaghetti?" he asked raising an eyebrow as he took the box and looked inside to find thin, long, yellow, dried things inside. He pulled one out and furrowed his brow at it. How was this edible?
"You have to cook it first," she replied taking the box from him after grabbing a medium pot and set the box down. "Now first, you have to put water in the pot." She turned to the sink and put some water in it before setting it on the stove. "Then you turn the stove on." She showed him how to turn the burner on. "Then you wait until the water boils."
"That's it?" He blinked as he looked at the water in the pot just sitting there. He still had the one piece in his hand.
"Pretty much," she replied as she grabbed the box and brought it over to the stove then took the one he had and set it on the counter. She pulled out a small handful and added it to the one on the counter before turning and putting the box with the rest back in the cupboard she got it from. She grabbed out a jar and brought it over and set it down on the counter next to the noodles.
"What's that?" Loki looked at the red colored stuff in the jar.
"Pasta sauce," she said as she turned the lid and it opened with a pop. "Could you get a small pot out of the cupboard over there?" She pointed to the cupboard and Loki gave a silent sigh before getting the smallest one and brought it to her. She handed the jar to him. "Now pour about a quarter of the jar in the pot." He gave a droll look before doing so and set the jar down. "Now put it on the other front burner and turn it on to low." He did so. "Good. Now get a spoon from that drawer." She pointed to the drawer and he went and grabbed one. "That will be the one to stir the sauce."
Nodding for him to put the spoon down on the counter beside the sauce, she turned and had him find the spoon for the spaghetti. He did so and looked at the odd shaped spoon with a raised eyebrow before she had him set it down and then had him break the spaghetti noodles in half as the water came to a boil and drop them in. She had him grab some bread and butter it and add garlic powder before popping it in the oven after showing him how to work it. Then she had him stir the sauce and showed him how to check to make sure the noodles and garlic bread were done. When it was done, she had him grab plates and put some on each and add a little sauce and some Parmesan cheese she grabbed from the fridge before sitting them at the table with a fork and some glasses with some juice in them.
"So how do you like it?" she asked after he'd taken a bite.
"It's different," he replied taking a drink. "But it's okay." He furrowed his brow slightly at the noodles. "Though I'm still curious as to how such a thing can turn into another with water."
"They're dehydrated noodles," she replied after taking another bite. "I'll have to show you how to make them fresh some day." He raised an eyebrow at her. "And how to make fresh sauce too."
Loki looked at her as she took another bite. She still insisted on teaching him to cook. And yet, as he looked at his plate of food, he had to admit he was surprised at himself for how easy it seemed. Though he also had to laugh at himself at how Thor would react to him cooking like this. Or anyone else for that matter back home. Certainly they'd have to do a double take. And what would they think about Saia giving him orders like she had been doing? Probably laugh at him. But given she was letting him stay here when everyone else would probably throw him out...
'Mother,' he thought to himself as he took another bite thinking back to the rune that Saia had kept picking out. He was curious as to why it was the one that was picked each time though. It had to mean something. It had been the one for new beginnings and his mother's favorite. Was she somehow a new beginning for him? And exactly what new beginning did that entail? He would have to ask the runes later to see if he could get anything out of them.
Finishing dinner, she had him take care of the dishes in the sink while she put the leftovers in the fridge. She came over to help dry them as he washed and rinsed them before she put them away. She was glad that at least he seemed not to be complaining as much about doing the dishes. At least outwardly and so vocally. But she did catch him give a roll of his eyes and a sigh earlier. She guessed he was realizing that arguing with her was just going to get him an earful before she made him do it anyway.
Once dishes were done, she grabbed the dog's food and put some in their bowls. They came rushing in from the living room and munched on their food. She shook her head at them with a laugh as Loki raised an eyebrow at them.
"Do they always do that?" Loki asked as the dogs seemed to munch greedily on their food.
"Yeah," she replied with a chuckle. "They're such big babies though. Got to love them."
"How long have you had them?" he asked curiously. He wasn't a big dog person but he could see them being very loyal to Saia.
"Since they were born," she replied putting the dog food away. "They'll be five next month. I had their mother and father before that. But they passed on last year. Aeden's the self proclaimed leader of the pack. She and Jasper are the closest. Jasper's kind of the beta of the pack. Then Rayne, Dante, Gabby, and Laela make up the rest. They can be a handful but kids are like that."
"Kids?" Loki was a little confused by her use of the word for them.
"You know, fur babies, feather babies, scale babies," she replied. "Pets can be like someone's kid sometimes. Like family."
"I see," he replied as he looked to the dogs again.
"Do you have any pets back on Asgard?"
"Me? No," he replied.
"What about Thor?"
"Him having a pet would be disastrous," Loki replied with a slight roll of his eyes.
"What about Odin?" Loki raised an eyebrow at her. "Besides Huginn and Muninn."
"He has Freki."
"Freki?" Saia raised an eyebrow at him.
"His wolf."
"He has a wolf?" Loki nodded. "Cool."
"Not if he attacks you," Loki replied.
"I figured that." She gave a shake of her head. "But he's loyal isn't he?" Loki nodded before Saia turned and called Aeden over. She had her sit in front of Loki. "Go ahead. She won't bite. Unless you provoke her."
Raising an eyebrow at Saia before looking to Aeden, Loki slowly held a hand out towards her. She reached her nose up and sniffed at his hand a moment before giving it a couple of licks. Saia gave a chuckle at Loki's look to his hand from the bit of slobber Aeden left on it.
"She likes you," Saia said still chuckling as Loki wiped his hand off on his pant leg. She turned and went to grab the bag of treats and came back over to stand next to him again. All the dogs turned and immediately swarmed up to them and tried jumping up to get the treats. "Ah ah. Sit." All the dogs sat down. "Good. Now stay." She turned and handed Loki a treat. "Go ahead and give one to Aeden."
Looking at the hard bone shaped treat with a raise of an eyebrow, Loki looked to Aeden. He held it out towards her and she sniffed at it but didn't take it. Loki furrowed his brow at her.
"You got to tell her 'okay'," Saia spoke up and Loki raised an eyebrow. "I taught them not to take it until I said the phrase to let them take it." Loki turned to look back at Aeden as she gave a quick, high pitched whine.
"Okay," he said to her and she immediately reached up and took the treat out of his hand and turned away as she munched on it. Saia handed him another one and had him turn to Jasper and do the same until each dog had one.
"See? They're pretty good dogs," Saia spoke up as she turned and put the treats away before coming back over to stand beside Loki again. "They just don't really know you yet. But give them a little time and they'll certainly love you too."
Excusing herself, Saia turned and headed out of the kitchen and down the hall leaving Loki standing there watching the dogs as they finished up the rest of their food and got drinks before meandering down the hallway to the living room again. He followed after them and sat down on the couch after seeing that Saia had gone to get a shower before looking to the bag holding the runes. He flicked his gaze in Saia's direction again before taking the bag and opened it and closed his eyes concentrating.
Sticking his hand into the bag, Loki pulled out a rune and looked at it. It was thurisaz. He had to scoff at that because of its meaning for hardships, discipline, and knowledge amongst others and one of his personal ones he had liked. But obviously it was telling him now he was in the middle of this hardship of being stuck on Midgard powerless and mortal. He set it down on the coffee table before concentrating again and pulled out another one. Raido. He gave a scoff at that as well because of its meaning for a journey, destiny, and life lessons amongst others. Obviously it was relating to the first one speaking about him being stuck here. Though he had to ponder about the destiny and journey part. And what lesson was there to learn? There wasn't anything as to why he was here. It was just another reason for Odin and Thor to get rid of him.
Setting that next to the first one before reaching into the bag once more, he pulled out berkana. His breath caught in his throat slightly as he looked at it. Thoughts of his mother came to him again as he looked at it.
"You are our son Loki. And we your family."
Loki closed his eyes as he held onto the rune and took several slow breaths in and out. He couldn't cry anymore. He already had poured his heart out yesterday to Saia. He honestly was worn out from crying. But still his heart hurt to know that his last words to her had been hurtful.
Suddenly there was a soft nudge at his knee as something touched it and he opened his eyes to see Aeden place her chin on his knee and look up at him with a soft whine as if she knew what he was feeling. He gave a soft, but sad smile as he set the rune down next to the others on the coffee table before reaching a hand out and scratched her behind the ears. She seemed to give a soft doggy smile at his attention.
Saia came back down the hall after her shower in her pajamas and paused in the doorway to the living room to see Loki petting Aeden who had her chin on his knee. She gave a soft smile that it seemed that they were getting along. She also saw the bag she'd given him holding the wooden rune pieces in his other hand and three sitting on the table in front of him and wondered which ones he'd pulled out of the bag.
"That's a Kodak moment," she spoke up and Loki turned his head to look at her as she walked over towards him.
"Kodak?" he asked puzzled furrowing his brows at her comment.
"It's a company that makes cameras to take pictures with," she replied with a slight shake of her head. "It's just an expression we use when there's a moment that's special and worth capturing on film."
"I see," Loki replied slightly understanding what she was meaning as Aeden lifted her head from Loki's knee. He set the bag down on the table next to the runes that were already there and reached for the ones he had out and put them back in the bag. Then he stood, giving Aeden a last scratch on the head before heading past Saia to the hallway and down to get his shower.
Hearing the bathroom door shut, Saia looked back to Aeden as she sniffed the bag holding the runes and nudged it with her nose. Curiosity got the best of her as she picked up the bag and looked inside before reaching in and pulled out one of them. Again, it was the one Loki had said was berkana. She gave a furrow of her brows as to why that rune kept being the one she kept pulling out of the bag. Though she was also curious about the ones Loki had pulled out. She'd seen that the last one had been berkana but the other two she wasn't sure what they meant right offhand. She had seen which ones they were though before Loki had put them back in the bag.
Putting the one she'd pulled out again back in the bag, she set it down then went over to her computer and pulled up to search about Norse runes and their meanings and looked for the ones Loki had pulled out.
'Thurisaz,' she thought to herself as she found the first one she'd seen. 'Hardships, discipline, and knowledge. Huh. Well he is kind of in some hot water if he was pulling them out for himself.' She found the next one. 'Raido. Journey, destiny, life lessons. Well obviously he was sent here for learning something maybe? But destiny? What would that mean? And why tied to me?' She remembered what he'd said about berkana earlier to her but looked it up anyway. She'd remembered about the new beginnings part. But she was puzzled by what exactly that could possibly pertain to Loki either, especially since she also had pulled that same one out. She wondered also if it was Frigga trying to say something to her through her pulling out the berkana rune. It couldn't just be coincidence. There had to be a reason behind it all.
Sighing and shaking her head as she exited out of the page on runes, Saia looked up as Loki returned in his pajamas, hair all fluffed. He was about to sit back down on the couch when he looked her way.
"What?" he asked as he looked at Saia looking at him.
"Nothing," she replied as she glanced back to her laptop then looked back at him. She got up and walked over towards him and reached up to his hair, causing Loki to raise an eyebrow at her. "You look like you could use a trim. Not a lot. Just enough to take the very ends off."
Raising an eyebrow at her, Saia had him follow her to the kitchen where she pulled a chair out and had him sit backwards in it and grabbed a pair of scissors and comb. She gently combed out his hair and trimmed off the very ends so that way it was even.
"There. All done," she said as she brushed off his back of the loose hair to the floor and went and grabbed her broom and dust pan to sweep it up. "You can go look in the mirror if you want though I didn't trim a whole lot off. Barely an inch."
"Thank you," Loki replied as he stood and glanced down at the little bit of hair on the floor she swept up and went to toss it in the garbage.
"You're welcome," she replied with a smile putting the broom and dust pan away. She went to go put the chair away but he grabbed it and put it back instead. He only inclined his head as if to say 'you're welcome' to her silent thank you. "You know, if you ever want it trimmed or cut more than that, I can do that for you."
"I think I'll keep it like this," he replied as he pulled a little of his hair forward and looked at it. "I've grown accustomed to it being this long." She raised an eyebrow in question at him. "I used to keep it much shorter than this before the whole mess of things and I found out my real parentage."
"How short did you have it before?" she asked curiously. He raised an eyebrow at her but put his hands up to show about where he had it before. "Ah." She gave a slight pause. "Well if you ever want to pull it back in a ponytail or something, I do have hair ties in the bathroom. Help yourself to them if you need one." He inclined his head in thanks to her.
Heading to the front door, Saia gave a whistle to her dogs and they came running past Loki standing in the kitchen doorway before they went out the open door Saia held into the night barking and yipping. Saia shut the door again before going past to the living room with Loki following and she shut her laptop down before heading down the hall to the bathroom to finish getting ready for bed. Loki grabbed his bag of runes and took them with him to his room and put them on the nightstand before going down to the bathroom and grabbed his toothbrush.
"Goodnight," Saia said to Loki after letting her dogs back in and headed for her room as he finished up brushing his teeth. He inclined his head as she disappeared into her room and shut her door down to a crack.
Finishing up, Loki turned off the lights on the way to his room before sliding under the blankets after shutting his door down to a crack as well. He gave a sigh as he looked to the dark ceiling before rolling onto his side and closed his eyes to try to get to sleep. The sound of soft metal clinking caught his attention and he opened his eyes and turned to look towards the door as it opened up and the soft footfalls of one of the dogs padded over towards the bed. The sound of sniffing before the feeling of the dog jumping up onto the end of the bed and walking up towards the pillow before flopping down beside him got him to furrow his brow in the dark.
Reaching out to the dog and feeling for the tag, he ran his thumb over the engraved metal and could feel the name 'Aeden' across it. He figured it was probably her. He gave her a scratch on her head as he felt her put her head down on her paws before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.
Well that's the chapter. Saia's certainly adamant on having Loki learn a few things. And Loki showing more of his artistic side as well with the wood carving. And having his interaction with the dogs is always a good thing. Hehe. Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter and thanks for patiently waiting while I updated. Any and all reviews are wonderful! (hands out cookies)