Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Been crazy on my end dealing with life and all in general. Busy, busy, busy! But I finally managed to find time to get this chapter done! So enjoy!
-Chapter Nine-
Saia felt her senses come to as she woke and Loki's scent permeated her head. She remembered last night she couldn't get to sleep as she lay in bed and had gotten up and went down to Loki's room to find him already asleep and slid in next to him. And as she opened her eyes to look at his face close to hers in the darkened room with only the soft green light of the alarm clock behind him, his arm wrapped around her waist, she wondered if he really was asleep. Last time he'd obviously been awake and made good on pretending he'd been asleep as she'd tried to slip back to her room without his knowing.
Slowly scooting backwards to test if he was awake, she felt his arm tense up around her waist before pulling her closer. He shifted and rolled to pin her down under him as he opened his eyes to look at her.
"So what brings you to my bed this time?" he asked as he brought his face close to hers, curiosity flickering in his eyes for a brief second. He waited for her answer wondering what she'd say to him.
"Um...I uh..." she started to stutter as she looked up at him. "I...I couldn't sleep...and well...you were already asleep when I came in so..." She trailed off as she felt her cheeks turn warm. It was the truth though.
"So you thought you'd come sleep in my bed?" Loki seemed to finish for her as he raised an eyebrow at her. "You know, that's usually an invitation for me to do whatever I feel like to you." He smirked before pressing his hips up against hers as he pressed his lips to hers in a deep kiss. Saia gave a moan into the kiss as she felt his hand slide up underneath her shirt to her chest.
Suddenly one of the dogs came in and jumped up on the end of the bed with a bark that startled Saia enough to break the kiss. She turned her head to look at the dog as Loki started kissing her neck.
"I better go let them outside," she spoke up as she heard the other dogs at the door to his room and in the hallway.
"I'd rather you stay," he whispered huskily in her ear before kissing it.
"I'd rather not have them have an accident in the house," she replied as she tilted her head back as he kissed her neck again. "Otherwise I'll make you clean it up." That got him to stop with an agitated sigh before rolling over to let her up. She started to get up but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back in for one more kiss.
"I'll get what I want later," he spoke up with a purring growl that sent tingles all down her spine before he let go of her. He watched her get up and leave the room and listened as she opened the front door and let the dogs outside.
Sighing after laying there for another couple of moments, he got up and went down to the bathroom to splash some water on his face before heading down to the kitchen where Saia was already at with stuff for breakfast to make. The dogs had already been let in and were chowing on their own food. She looked up as he came in and he gave a silent sigh as he went over to help her with breakfast before sitting with her to eat.
Getting up and taking care of his plate and glass, Loki figured she'd probably just go out to work on her order some more. But as she took care of her plate and glass too, she spoke up.
"Get dressed," she said as he started heading for the hallway again. He paused and looked back at her. "We're going into town." He furrowed his brow at her. "Remember I said we could go into town and grab some better wood for you to try some pyrography?"
"Yeah..." Loki didn't think she'd do it that quickly though.
"Good. So go get dressed and we'll head that way," she said as she started to walk past him to the hallway first. "We'll take the snowmobile. It'll be quicker that way."
Blinking as he watched her head down the hallway, Loki raised an eyebrow before shaking his head and headed to his room to get dressed. He came back out and went to the front where Saia was at already putting on her coat, hat, boots, and snow goggles. He grabbed his and put them on with his gloves as she grabbed the keys and patted Aeden and a couple of other dogs and told them to behave and that she'd be back soon.
Heading outside into the cold darkness, Loki followed her to the garage and she had him learn how to hook the trailer to the snowmobile this time before she opened the garage and got on and started it up. Loki got on behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist as she guided the snowmobile out of the garage then hit the button to close the door and took off into the dark towards town. When she got there, she headed towards the gas station first to refill her tank. She showed him how to do that as well, all the while crinkling his nose at the smell of the gasoline.
"Sorry," Saia apologized as she saw Loki crinkle his nose. "Not exactly the greatest smelling I know."
"Then why do you use it?"
"It's the only thing that powers my snowmobile." She gave a shrug. "Most vehicles run on it though some do run on electricity. Though you'd have to plug them in to a special charger to recharge."
"You need a lesson on how to harness other energy sources."
"Like those from Asgard?" She raised an eyebrow at him as she hung up the nozzle and replaced the gas cap back on the tank and locked it back up. Loki just inclined his head to say yes. "Exactly what types of energy do you have there?"
"Besides magic of course, we do have use of other elements that are able to provide much more stable energy and won't run out quickly," he replied. "Though I suppose you don't have such elements existing here on Midgard."
"You mean like elements that could produce radiation?" Saia gave a raised eyebrow at him in question.
"Hardly not," he replied with a shake of his head. "They wouldn't produce any such radiation like any of your energy sources might. At least none with negative effects like yours would."
"Huh..." Saia furrowed her brow slightly before shaking her head and got back on the snowmobile and started it back up with him on the back again. Then she headed down to the hardware store and headed inside with him.
Going inside, Loki blinked at the many various items inside as Saia headed for the wood section. He looked at the various woods when she stopped and pondered over them. He raised an eyebrow at her before hearing someone walking up.
"Can I help you?" the saleswoman asked coming up to them. "Oh hey Saia. Needing more wood for your figurines?"
"Oh hey Trina. Nah. I'm getting some boards for doing some pyrography," Saia replied picking up some smaller square boards.
"Oh? Are you going to get into something new then?" she asked tilting her head.
"No. Actually it's for my friend here," Saia replied turning towards Loki and smiled at him. "Trina this is Thomas. Thomas...Trina."
"Well hello," Trina grinned at him. "I haven't seen you around before."
"He's from out of town," Saia replied as she noticed Loki raise an eyebrow at Trina. "I'm helping him get back on his feet with a few things."
"Ah..." She gave Loki a once over again then turned back to Saia to help her get some wood she needed.
When Trina finished helping them and Saia had given Loki the wood pieces to hang onto while she and Saia went to grab a couple more items he'd need to finish off the wood pieces he'd be able to do, Trina spoke up again. "Are you two like dating or something?"
"N-no," Saia replied with a blink at her friend as she grabbed some sealing varnish from the shelf glad that Loki was a few aisles down since she'd had him just stay put for a moment.
"Uh huh," Trina spoke up putting her hands on her hips. "Girl don't you be lying to me. Because he looks fine as hell. Seriously looks like he fell from heaven or something."
Saia gave a small laugh at the irony of him falling but it certainly wasn't from heaven. But it was damn near enough. "I'm not lying honest," she replied grabbing a second varnish just in case. "Besides, it's...complicated. I really am trying to get him back on his feet."
"Uh huh. What did he do to require you 'getting him back on his feet'?" She raised an eyebrow at Saia.
Saia glanced at her friend who was pinning her chocolate brown gaze on her. "He got into a fight with his older brother and father," she replied. "He ended up coming here while he sorts things out and hopefully will get around to reconciling with them."
"Really? Why not just call them and work things out?"
"They're on non-speaking terms at the current moment." Saia shook her head looking at her friend who just raised an eyebrow more. "Believe me, if you knew how his father was and everything, you'd understand why they're fighting."
"And his brother?"
"Eh. He's not so bad I guess," Saia shrugged. "He loves his brother but they just misunderstand each other a lot." Her friend raised her eyebrow again. "Yeah I met his brother once." She nodded her head in Loki's direction. "He doesn't know it though. He'd just get upset about it. And right now I'd rather him just focus on himself and get his thoughts together so when he does confront them, he'll be able to solve things better."
"You know you really are a great friend," Trina said dropping her hands to her sides again and shook her head with a soft smile. "Always trying to help others out." She gave a mischievous smirk and pointed her thumb in Loki's direction. "But seriously, you can't tell me you wouldn't hit on that because that right there is seriously like a god or something. Well...okay he's not exactly like I've seen Thor on television. Skinnier and all. And taller."
"Oh believe me he's got muscles and strength underneath that skinnier exterior," Saia spoke up and Trina raised an eyebrow at her again. Saia felt her cheeks flush a bit with warmth as her friend smirked.
"'Just friends' huh?" she smirked at Saia seeing her friend turn pink in embarrassment. "Sure." She gave another smirk knowing she'd caught Saia red handed obviously having slept with Loki. "Well, if he's better than Brent was for you, then I'm glad at least." She gave a slight pause. "Speaking of Brent, what do you think he'll do if he meets Thomas? I mean, I know how much he was so possessive of you." Saia gave a groan. "Oh. They already met didn't they?"
"Yeah," Saia sighed. "First day he was fully here I took him into town because I had to get a few things for him and myself and I stopped up at the pub to let Dad know he was here. Either Brent and his lackeys were in there when I left him with Dante at the bar for a moment while popping back to let Dad know or he saw us while outside at came in and confronted him at the bar."
"Ouch. What did Brent do?"
"Oh Brent decided he'd try to start a fight asking why he was with me."
"And what did Thomas do? Did he fight back?"
"Nah. He just gave him that look people give when they realize their opponent is no match for them." She gave a small smirk at the thought.
"Oh?" Trina raised an eyebrow for elaboration.
"Like I said, Thomas is strong," Saia said with a shrug. "He knows how to fight."
"Like you with karate?"
"Eh not exactly." Saia pulled her brows together slightly trying to think. "I'm not familiar with his style of fighting but he did show me some of it." She gave a pause. "It's more like...dancing."
"Dancing?"
"Yeah. Like more fluid movements that are calculated at the same time with each strike."
"Dance-like fighting? Well that's odd." Trina gave a brief pause. "Sounds like something that would be great for a woman to use though especially."
"Well my mother did teach me it," Loki spoke up from behind them and they turned towards him, Saia nearly dropping the varnish out of surprise. She hadn't heard him come up or sensed him that time.
"T-Thomas," she stuttered slightly as she shifted the varnish in her arms from sliding down slightly as he came to a stop holding the several cut pieces of wood in his arms.
"What? You were taking too long so I came down to see what kept you." He paused and smirked slightly at her slight awkwardness as she looked to Trina.
"Your mother taught you to fight?" Trina tilted her head slightly at him intrigued.
"Yes she did," he replied looking at her. "Unlike my father who taught my brother to fight like him using brute strength, my mother taught me to use my opponent's strength against them." He gave a slight smirk. "And to use acts of illusions and trickery to gain the upper hand if need be."
"Illusions? Like magic tricks?" Trina asked.
"Something of the sort," Loki replied noticing Saia giving him a look saying to keep his identity quiet. "It's good to be perceptive of another person's way to fight. Then use that against them."
"But using illusions like that...isn't that kind of like cheating?" Trina asked tilting her head again. "I mean, certainly not real magic since there's no way humans use magic. I mean, Thor on the other hand with his godly powers with lightning and his hammer and all..."
"I'd hardly call that great magic," Loki replied with a slight snort at the mention of Thor's name. "And with Mjolnir...well that's kind of cheating in a way since he's the only one that can wield it."
"Because he's worthy isn't he? I mean, that's what the Norse myths always said about it and since he's obviously real, there has to be some truth to it right?"
Loki gave a slightly droll look then shrugged. "Well I suppose in the words of my mother, 'In war, the cheaters live, love.'." He gave a slight pause and glanced down at the wood pieces in his arms then up at Saia.
"Um yeah I better get these paid for and get back home," Saia spoke up turning to look at her friend. "I kind of left the dogs home alone and I don't need to come home to any accidents."
"Well alright then," Trina spoke up and grabbed a few of the wood pieces from Loki and helped carry them up to the front and checked her out. She gave a grin at Loki. "I'd love to see your finished pieces if you ever get a chance." Loki inclined his head at her as he and Saia headed back outside with everything bagged up for them.
"Did your mom really train you to fight?" Saia asked as she shut the hatch to her trailer after putting the bags inside once they returned to the snowmobile and turned to Loki.
"Of course she did," Loki replied.
"Why didn't Odin?"
"He tried but I wasn't built like Thor was," he replied with a sigh. "I was smaller than most of the other Asgardians as I was growing up. Since most of their training is based more on brute strength alone, I got knocked down a lot. So my mother decided to train me using her way of fighting." He gave a smirk. "It makes many opponents laugh to think someone like me is going up against them when they might be bigger or stronger than I, but once I start attacking back, they realize that I'm a whole lot faster than they are and can calculate their moves easier. And given my magic added in, I'm a force to be reckoned with." He gave a slight pause remembering back to the prison break before his mother's death. "Even Kurse knew not to let me out of my cell when he led the prison break. He took one look at me, one of the most feared creatures of the Dark Elves, and decided to pass me over as I stood my ground looking at him." He gave a soft sigh as he glanced away also remembering the words that led to his mother's death. "Because of it, I told him to take the other stairs...and then...well..."
"I told you not to beat yourself up over it," Saia spoke up and smacked him on his arm getting him to turn his attention back to her. She gave a shake of her head before getting on the snowmobile. "Come on. Let's get back home shall we?"
Giving a slight nod, Loki got on behind her as she started it up and wrapped his arms around her waist. She gave the throttle gas before pulling out of her parking spot and headed back through town and to the road that led back to her house. When they were about halfway back, Saia had an idea come to her and slowed the snowmobile down before stopping it.
"Why'd we stop?" Loki asked confused.
"Get off," she said as she turned her head a little back to look at him. He furrowed his brow at her. Was she seriously making him get off? Why? Did she finally have enough of him and going to just leave him in the snow, even if she just got this stuff for him to make crafts with? "Just do it."
Reluctantly, Loki let go of her waist and got up off the snowmobile and took a step away. He half expected her to hit the throttle and go on her way but instead she shifted in her seat and moved back to sit where he had been sitting. "Alright. Get back on."
"You're in my spot," Loki pointed out confused.
"I'm going to teach you how to drive this," she replied and motioned for him to get on. He gave a blink then got back on in her spot and she scooted forward until she was right behind him. Then she reached forward and pointed at the throttle and the clutch. "These are what you need to use to give it gas and get it moving. The brake is down there and the gears as well." She gave a pause as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "Click the gear forward one click and it'll put it back into drive from neutral and slowly open the throttle." Loki did as she directed and blinked as the snowmobile moved forward a little. "Alright. You can open the throttle more but don't go too fast. And just follow the path back to the house."
Opening up the throttle more, the snowmobile took off over the snow through the darkness with the headlights guiding them along the pathway he was getting used to using a little from the couple of runs into town and back they'd already taken. Loki noticed it wasn't as hard as he thought to drive the snowmobile either. It honestly reminded him a little of the skiffs they had back on Asgard. Just this vehicle didn't have the ability to fly in the air.
"Alright you can bring the throttle down a little," Saia spoke up as they neared her house and he could see the lights that she'd left on on the house and garage to find it in the dark. He slowed the snowmobile down a little as she instructed. "Go ahead and reach into the little flap there behind the windshield with your hand not on the throttle and push the button on the key fob. It'll open the garage." Loki did so before returning his hand back to the other handle to steer as they came up towards the garage. "Alright. Now go ahead and slow down till you're almost at a crawl because you don't want to come in fast to the garage."
Nodding, Loki dropped the speed down as they came up to the opened garage and slid the snowmobile inside just like he'd seen Saia do so and put on the brake when she said to do so and put it in neutral. "Now just hit the red switch there to the other side and it'll cut the engine." He did so and she slid off as the engine turned off. "Good. You're better than I thought."
"It isn't too much different than steering one of our skiffs we have back on Asgard honestly," Loki replied as Saia pulled her goggles up to sit on top of her head as he did the same. "Just yours doesn't fly." He gave a pause as she raised an eyebrow. "Plus I've flown other spacecraft before. This isn't that hard."
"Ah well...that's good I suppose," she spoke as she held out her hand towards him and he raised an eyebrow. "Keys please. Kind of need them to get into the house." He looked to the keys in the ignition and turned them so they came out and handed them to her. "Alright. I'm going to go let the dogs out. You can grab the stuff out of the trailer and set it on the large work table over there got it?"
Loki gave her a blink as she turned and hit a button up on the wall and the large door shut while she went out the side door and shut it behind her. He slid off the snowmobile and went to the trailer and opened the hatch like he'd seen her do and grabbed out the bags before shutting it again and set the items on the table like she'd said to do. The sound of the dogs yipping and barking sounded a moment later as he pulled out the items they'd gotten and set them on the table and stuffed all the bags into one. The sound of snow crunching outside the door caught his attention as he turned to look as she came back in the side door and shut it behind her with her foot before stomping the snow off her feet. There was a container of water in one hand and two similar styled glasses in her other hand that she'd used to hold the hot tea and hot chocolate from before in.
"What are those for?" he asked as she came over and set the items down on the table then headed for one of the other cupboards off to the side.
"Coffee." She opened the cupboard she had stashed the pop tarts from before and pulled out the small coffee maker and set it over on another table beside the wall that was open.
"Coffee?" Loki raised an eyebrow at the word since he was unfamiliar with it.
"It's like tea," she replied as she came back over and grabbed the water and took it to the pot and poured the water into the top. "Well sort of. It's got a different flavor all together than tea but it's still good." She gave a slight pause. "Could you go get the can of coffee from the cupboard by the way?"
Loki sighed and nodded bringing it over to her, opening the lid out of curiosity and gave a crinkle of his nose at the strong scent it gave off. It wasn't a bad smell or anything, it just was something he wasn't used to. He watched her take the scoop that was inside and put two into the white filter that was already in there before returning the scoop back to the can and put the lid on before setting it down again.
"It should be ready in about ten minutes or so," she spoke up turning on the coffee pot and he could hear the sounds of it trying to work. She took the can of coffee back over to the cupboard and put it back before going over and turning on the heater then went to the door and gave a whistle to the dogs. They came barking and yipping into the garage and shook the snow off their backs, a couple nipping at the others playfully before going over and settling down in the area she'd set up for them off to the side.
Looking at the coffee pot again as dark liquid started to filter down into the clear glass pot, Loki could smell the scent of it rising into the air. He raised an eyebrow at it still as he looked back to Saia, who'd taken off her coat and hung it up near the heater. He unzipped his, stuffing his gloves and hat into the pockets before hanging it up next to hers, then turned and went back to where she stood at the table where all his stuff was at on it after putting the coffee mugs over by the coffee pot.
"Well I suppose you can start off with something simple maybe," she said picking up a smaller piece of wood and flipping it over in her hands a couple of times then set it back down. She went over and grabbed the wood burner and a pencil and eraser before coming back over and set it down by the items. "You'll first want to obviously draw out your picture. So I'll let you go ahead and do that." She handed him the pencil and eraser.
Looking down at the piece of wood as she went over and grabbed her box of figurines out to work on, Loki furrowed his brow thinking of something he could do. He finally settled on an idea and started drawing out on the wood what he wanted while Saia stacked his other pieces of wood up to the side and put the varnish beside them. She took one of her figurines out and pulled over one of her stools and offered it to Loki to sit on while he drew out what he wanted and grabbed her spare stool and sat down after grabbing her tools to work on the figurines by hand now that she was done with them on the machine.
Pausing in her work after several moments, Saia got up and went over to the coffee pot and poured herself a cup and brought it over to Loki. "Here. Try this," she said offering her cup out to him. "This is straight black, no creamers or sugar in it. It will probably be strong." He took the cup and looked at the dark liquid in it. "Just be careful. It's hot."
Bringing up the cup to his lips, Loki gave it a tentative sip. He made a slight face at the bitter taste of it before handing it back to her. "It's bitter."
"Yeah. It kind of is," she replied and set the cup down and went over to the cupboard, grabbing some creamer and a plastic spoon out of it and brought it back over. She put some into the coffee and stirred it in. "This is the powdered creamer. There's liquid creamer but it's got to stay refrigerated. Here try it now."
Taking the cup she offered, Loki looked at the liquid now lightened up from the creamer. He took a tentative sip again still making a slight face. "It's a little better but still bitter." He took a second sip though.
"I'll have to have you try a few other kinds of coffee based drinks then to see how sweet you like them," she replied and he raised an eyebrow at her.
"Just how many are there?" he asked taking another sip, trying to get used to the different flavor.
"Oh there's lots," she replied. "There's mocha, lattes, espressos, French pressed, cappuccino, frappes, coffee mixed with tea or even hot chocolate." She gave a pause as Loki raised an eyebrow at all the names. "Or even coffee mixed with alcohol. Some Bailey's Irish cream mixed in with some straight black coffee is alright too. I've had that before." She looked at Loki as he gave her a blink and she gave a wave of her hand slightly. "Remind me to make some for you sometime." She gave another pause. "And on that note, remind me to pick up some eggnog next time we're in town with some spiced rum. It's a holiday favorite this time of year."
"Eggnog?" Loki raised an eyebrow at the word as she went over and grabbed herself a cup of coffee and came back over to put a little creamer in it and stirred it up.
"It's just a drink that's popular among a lot of people here on Midgard," she replied sipping her coffee. "Though some don't like it because of the flavor. I guess it's an acquired taste for some." She gave a shrug. "You'll just have to try it to see if you like it." She looked down at the wood piece then with his drawing on it. "Are you finished already?"
Loki looked down at his drawing and nodded. "Yeah. I figured it would be a good start."
"I like it," she said smiling at the wolf he'd drawn. It was just of the head and part of the upper chest, but it filled the whole piece. And the way the wolf looked out at the people that would be viewing it looked as if it was really watching them. She looked at the piece for a moment as she thought of ideas he could do for it. "Hmm. Obviously you'll want to outline and indent the whole thing with the burner but you could also potentially make it colored in with certain areas." Loki tilted his head a little confused by what she meant and she traced her finger along the wolf's nose and up its forehead to its ears. "Like if you take the wood burner and lightly touch on the wood in areas without really pressing down hard to indent it, you can have the wood turn different shades depending how long you let it sit so the wolf looks like it has color to its fur than just the one base coat. Like here, if you lightly put the burner here, it would make it a light brown color on the wood, which would make it seem the fur was a different shade, like grey or brown than the rest of the coat being whatever color you pictured it to be." She paused and touched the tip of the nose. "And if you place it on the nose long enough to make the wood turn dark brown or black, then the nose would certainly stand out from the rest of the piece. And if you lightly stroke areas of the fur, you can make it look like there really is fur there."
"I see," Loki replied taking in her suggestions as he looked at his piece while she went and plugged in the wood burner to start warming up. He did recall some of the pieces she had shown him the other night and how well detailed they had been.
"Well I'll leave you to decide whatever you want then," she said as she went back over to her figurines with her coffee cup in hand, giving it another sip before sitting back down and started in on her work.
Loki looked at her for a second then sipped his coffee again before sitting down himself and set his cup to the side. He waited a few more minutes while the burner got warm then started in on outlining the wolf first before going about making various shades of the fur like Saia suggested.
After a couple of hours, Saia gave a stretch and set aside her third figurine she'd finished working on and looked up at Loki taking his time working with his piece. She got up and went over to look at it as he pulled the burner back after finishing the spot he was working on. "That looks great," she said as he set the burner down and looked at his piece. He'd outlined a crescent moon up in the corner and made little burned dots into the background for stars. "Wow. That seriously will sell indeed."
"You think so?" Loki raised an eyebrow and looked at it then at her.
"Oh most definitely," she replied with a nod. "The way you really captured the wolf looking at you as if it was alive and watching intently. And the added background with the moon and stars. Yeah it's going to certainly sell." She gave a pause and tapped her chin. "I'd certainly start off with a minimum price of at least seventy five dollars. Put it on bid and see how much someone is willing to pay for it. Believe me, some would pay a lot more for it if they really wanted it." She gave another pause as she looked at it. "You know, some artists also put their signature on their works too so it can be identified by others." She paused again as she went over to one of her cupboards and pulled out a figurine she had finished and saved for an example and brought it over to him, showing him the bottom part. "See? I just put my initials down for mine but you could put your whole name or whatever you wanted."
Loki raised an eyebrow at her. "But wouldn't that give me away of who I am?"
Saia gave a blink then smacked her forehead slightly with her palm. "Oh yeah. You'd have to use Thomas Laufson. That's right."
"Or I could just..." Loki started to say and grabbed the burner before leaning over and finding a small spot at the bottom and wrote his name in the Asgardian runes.
"Hmm. I suppose that could work too," she nodded. "Unless someone knows Asgardian, I'm sure you should be safe." She gave a pause again before unplugging the burner. "Come on. Let's go inside and grab some lunch shall we?"
Loki gave a nod as she went over to the heater and switched it off, saying to go ahead and leave everything where it was and that it should be fine before slipping on her coat again. Loki did the same and she gave a whistle to the dogs and they piled out into the snow barking and yipping again while they made their way to the house and inside. She had him help with lunch again and ate before they went back outside and she showed him how to varnish it off so it would seal the wood and wouldn't get ruined should it get water on it right away. He couldn't help but cringe at the smell of the varnish but she said it's something that had to be done either way.
After they picked up everything for the day, letting the varnished piece sit off to the side to dry, Saia pondered a moment as she looked to the dogs and to her sled and snowmobile. "You know, why don't we take the dogs out for a run shall we?" she spoke up as she put on her coat again after clicking off the heater. "It'd be good to have a little more practice with the sled and give them some exercise too."
Inclining his head while shrugging a little, Loki slid on his coat again as she gave a whistle to the dogs and had them come over and line up all giddy about going out on a run. She had Loki help her again get their harnesses on and hook them up before opening the garage door again, ready to go. Loki started to go to the sled part to sit but she shook her head at him and had him come stand behind her again on the back of the sled to show him how to lead the dogs. They headed out into the cold darkness and she showed him more how to give the right commands to the dogs as they wound their way through the trees on the pathways she knew of.
After a good hour of giving the dogs a run, she had them come back to the house and got the dogs out of their harnesses before heading inside the house. She went to the kitchen and filled their water bowls and food dishes up so they could get a good drink and replenish themselves before heading down to the living room and turned on her laptop for a moment to check a few things. She pulled up her music player as Loki came in and sat down on the couch, grabbing his binder full of pictures to look over.
Looking at his pictures he'd drawn, Loki listened to the music that Saia put on. He furrowed his brow slightly as he looked up as it played and tilted his head slightly. "Is that...Strauss?" he asked as she turned her head towards him with an equal puzzled look on her face. "If memory serves correctly I believe that was called 'The Blue Danube'."
"You know Strauss?" she asked still puzzled. He inclined his head. "But...I thought you said you haven't been to Midgard really at all. Well besides New York..."
"No. Thor hasn't been to Midgard hardly at all since Odin decreed the Bifrost closed to Midgard sometime during the mid-thirteenth century," Loki replied. "When you humans started to rely more on science and lost the belief in us as gods, Odin decided it would be best to leave you to yourselves while we only watched from afar."
"But if that was in the mid-thirteenth century and Strauss wasn't born until the early eighteen hundreds..." Saia started to say still puzzled as she looked at Loki.
"I didn't use the Bifrost to get to Midgard," Loki replied as he set the binder back down on the coffee table.
"Then how did you get to Midgard?"
"I have my secret passages that no one knew about," he replied with a smirk. "And I used them from time to time to come here to Midgard to watch and learn about Midgardians." Saia raised an eyebrow at him. "And yes, I frequented here during the mid to late eighteen hundreds. Your England proved to be very interesting, especially with the dances and parties that were constantly held by the nobles."
"You went to dances and parties?" Now this intrigued Saia as she raised an eyebrow at him. She tried picturing him in some regal noble outfit that always seemed to be shown in movies and on television for the time period.
"Of course. They were most intriguing considering we don't usually have the sorts back on Asgard. We focus mainly on training and fighting, not dancing." He gave a slight pause. "I'd have certainly been mocked for dancing back home anyway."
"Did you ever dance at the parties?" She gave him another raise of an eyebrow because she still couldn't picture him actually dancing something like the waltz.
"Of course I did," he replied with a nod. "I watched how the dances went first though since I had never seen the likes of them before." He gave a pause before standing up and went over to stand in front of her. "My favorite is the Viennese waltz." He held a hand out to her.
Blinking at his hand, Saia took it and he pulled her to her feet before taking a couple of steps backwards. He pulled her towards him still holding her one hand before wrapping his other hand around her waist after placing her other hand up on his shoulder where it was supposed to be placed. She looked up at him feeling her cheeks get warm standing so close to him before he smirked and started moving his feet. She gave a slight stumble at first for not knowing the steps but after a few moments of him showing her the right steps, she finally was able to follow along without too much hassle.
As they finished up the full dance that Loki showed her lasting several moments, Saia blinked looking up at him, his face close to hers again. She could feel her cheeks warm up again as she felt lost in his gaze.
"You're um...a really good dancer," she spoke up feeling her heart pounding in her chest. She didn't know why it was beating so rapidly like some school girl experiencing her first real dance with her crush. Given after all they'd done, something like this would seem like nothing but yet it definitely was affecting her as such. But then again she really had never danced like this with anyone. She'd only gone to her high school prom because Dante hadn't had a date and neither had she really. So they'd gone together as friends just to enjoy the night.
"I've had plenty of practice," he replied with a slight smirk seeing her cheeks flush a bit. "But you learn pretty quick as well." He smirked more as her cheeks flushed a little more.
Suddenly one of the dogs gave a bark and Saia jumped a little startled and she turned to look as the dogs sat in the doorway to the living room watching them. She gave a shake of her head at them as she let go of Loki's hand and pulled her other away from his shoulder and stepped back from him.
"Guess I better let them out," she spoke up as she turned towards the dogs. "Then we should probably get dinner started." Loki inclined his head slightly as she went over and shut off her music that had been playing on her laptop still before heading for the hallway.
Following her down the hallway, Loki went into the kitchen first as she continued to the front door before she came back a moment later after letting the dogs out and got him started on making dinner. She let the dogs back in while Loki watched the food and helped finish it up before having him help set the table and sat down to eat. Then she had him help with dishes before she excused herself to get a shower. When she was done, he got his while she had gone back to look over more emails and update her expenses on her laptop.
Glancing over at him as he came in the living room again after his shower, Saia gave a slight purse of her lips as he sat down on the couch again. There was still a little time left before she called it a night.
"Hey. You want to watch another movie?" she asked as she turned her head to look over at him as he looked up from his notebook he'd picked up and was writing in.
"Sure?" he replied with a slight shrug and inclined his head a little at her.
Getting up after shutting her laptop, she went over to her movie shelf and looked at her movies. She paused at the one she was thinking of showing him also the other day before she had picked out Tarzan instead and grabbed it before taking it to the player and put it in. Then she went over to the couch as Loki set his notebook down again and scooted over some as she set the case down and grabbed the remotes.
"Hercules?" he asked raising an eyebrow as he picked up the case while she turned the television on and the movie loaded.
"Yeah. It was the other one I was thinking about the other day honestly," she replied with a nod looking at the case. "Though technically his name is actually supposed to be Herakles in Greek while Hercules is the Roman equivalent." Loki raised an eyebrow at her. "Long story short, Zeus, Greek god of Olympus...I guess much how Odin would be equivalent to Asgard...had an affair with a human and Hercules the demigod was born. Of course the woman decided to name him Herakles after Hera, Zeus's goddess wife. Hera wasn't exactly happy with this affair and tried to make sure he wasn't born but when he was, she tried killing him as a baby by sending snakes to his crib to bite him. He managed to strangle them because he had the strength of a god with him. And because she knew she couldn't win in a fight nor get her way with Zeus, she decided to take pride on making Hercules's life hard." She gave a pause. "From what I do remember of the original stories, Hercules became a great warrior and had a wife named Megara and a couple of children. But Hera sent him into a rage of madness and he ended up killing his wife and children. When he came to his senses and realized what he did, he had asked Apollo to rid him of the evil from his spirit. Apollo told him he had to do certain tasks in order to cleanse his spirit and told him to go to King Eurystheus of Tiryns and serve him for twelve years while performing the famous twelve labors that some said would turn him into an immortal god should he complete them."
"Did he complete them?" Loki asked tilting his head slightly.
"If I remember right, he did." She gave a pause.
"Did he turn into a god?"
"No. At least not then," she replied. "He had more adventures and got married a second time. Can't remember the wife's name right off hand but some centaur gave her some balm that he said was supposed to make Hercules love her forever and to rub it on the inside of the cloak she'd weaved herself and give it to him when he returned from another one of his adventures he continued to go on because he couldn't just sit back and be idle in his life." She gave a slight pause again. "But the balm was actually a poison. It began to burn his skin the moment he put the cloak on and even worse when he tried taking the cloak off. He thought death would be better than this pain so he had his friends make a funeral pyre and laid on it letting them set it ablaze."
"So he let himself get burned to death and never became a god." Loki gave a slight shake of his head.
"Not exactly. The gods looked down on him and Zeus told Hera that he'd suffered enough and so Hera agreed and ended her anger. Zeus sent Athena to go gather Hercules from the pyre and brought him to Olympus where he became a god then."
"Hmmm..." Loki raised an eyebrow at her then looked at the movie case again.
"Of course, this being a Disney movie, they can't exactly put something that violent for kids to watch," she said as she took the case from him. "They changed a lot up but they did allude to the twelve labors that he did take part of in this. And of course, Hera is actually his mother since again, infidelity shown to kids usually isn't something adults like to show nowadays." She gave a shake of her head and hit play before setting the remote down and scooted back and up next to him. "But just enjoy the movie."
Raising an eyebrow, Loki turned his attention towards the television as the movie came on. He raised his eyebrow at some of the differences but continued watching. Though as it got near the end and he saw that Hercules had given up his strength because of his love for Meg, he had to raise an eyebrow. He noticed Saia curled up closer to him again. And when Meg shoved Hercules out of the way of the falling pillar that would have killed him, thus giving him his strength back because of his deal that Meg wouldn't get hurt, he had to raise an eyebrow again. But what really got him was when Hercules went to sacrifice his life to regain Meg's soul and became a god again and had the chance to go back to Olympus but then gave it up to live with Meg back on Earth. He was confused that after all that time that Hercules had spent trying to get back to Olympus, in the end he had decided to stay on Earth with a human because of love.
"So...?" Saia asked as the credits started rolling and she turned to look at him.
"He spent all that time trying to regain his godhood and gave it up for a woman," he spoke up with a shrug.
"Well like Hercules said, 'People always do crazy things when they're in love'," she replied. He raised an eyebrow at her again as she furrowed her brow at him. She could tell that obviously the concept of love was still foreign to him which was why he didn't understand why Hercules did what he did to be with Meg. She gave a slight shake of her head as she stopped the movie and went to put it away on her shelf before turning back to him with a yawn. "I guess it's about time to get some sleep so tomorrow I can get more stuff done with my order."
Turning off the television and DVD player, she headed for the hallway and down to the front door to let the dogs out again. Loki gave a sigh as he looked to his notebook and picked it up again before writing a few more notes in it then set it back down and went to get ready for bed. Saia let the dogs back in and they headed for her room as he headed to his.
"Night," Saia spoke up as she paused in her doorway and looked at him.
"Goodnight," he replied as she went into her room and shut the door down before he went into his room and shut the door down and clicked his light off and slid into bed.
Looking towards Saia's room in the darkness, he gave a soft sigh as he tried to get to sleep and closed his eyes. After a few moments, he heard soft footsteps again before hearing Saia come in again and over to the other side of the bed like last night.
"What is it now?" he asked this time opening his eyes to look at her figure in the dark standing there.
"I uh..." she started to say as she realized he wasn't asleep. She heard him sigh softly before moving the blankets and she slid in next to him. She scooted closer to him and gave a slight shiver when she felt his arm wrap around her waist and pull her closer to him.
"You really are asking for me to do whatever I want with you," he spoke up and she could hear the smirk in his voice.
"Maybe later," she replied as she snuggled closer to him and yawned again. "Goodnight."
Loki gave a blink as she went quiet still snuggled up next to him. He had to admit, he had been wondering if she was going to do this again tonight. But with her warmth next to him, he really wasn't complaining either. He gave a soft sigh as he heard the dogs come padding in and one jumping up to lay on the end of the bed while the rest seemed to flop down on the floor around them.
Closing his eyes again, he listened to Saia's soft breathing of her having fallen asleep already in his arms. He gave an ever so slightly soft smile before allowing himself to relax and fall into the darkness of sleep himself.
Well that's the chapter. Hope you enjoyed it! I couldn't resist giving Loki a little knowledge about dancing from the Victorian era. Given he has his secret passages, who wouldn't want to explore a little?
Anyways, thanks for the patience as I update more! Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday thus far, whatever you may celebrate!
