The next few days blurred together. I talked to Thor some, but he was attached to Jane by the hip which was understandable. I spent a good amount of time with Darcy and Dr. Selvig who were fascinated by my powers. The night I had gone into space to scream, I had noticed something strange. When I transformed my form kept flickering before it ignited, it was something that had never happened before. Dr. Selvig was trying to figure out what it meant even if he knew nothing about how my body worked. Since then I had tried to transform again, but I couldn't and I didn't understand why. This didn't make sense as it was usually extreme emotion that allowed me to become the ethereal blue.
I hadn't been the best person to be around when I ended up hanging out with Darcy. She seemed to notice my discomfort and asked about it often, but I told her nothing. We were just leaving for another day of walking aimlessly around the small New Mexican desert when Thor stopped us.
"I would like to request Lady Naiira's company today Darcy." Darcy bowed dramatically.
"Yeah sure I guess." Thor took my arm and we began a long trek into the desert.
"So, was there something you wanted from me?" I asked curiously. He shook his magnificent blond hair. I swear, was his hair just always that amazing?
"I simply wish to know more about you my lady. I have neglected you…"
"Due to your infatuation with Jane, really it's okay. I'd prefer if you called me Naiira though or Naia if you prefer." Thor didn't blush or anything, he just nodded in agreement. We moved next to the road that circled the tiny town.
"Naiira then, perhaps you could tell me something about yourself." Thor asked kindly. For some odd reason I kept reasoning that I'd see the god more often. Probably my hopeful mind thinking something would come from the connection Loki and I sort of had.
"Well, I'm pretty boring. Are you sure you want to know about me?" He nodded his ascent. I sighed and chose my words carefully.
"My favorite color is green. I have been told I have a tendency to get highly attached to people that aren't really liked. I also have really weird powers that heal me and cause me to transform into a glowing blue creature although that is on the fritz currently." I told him. Thor blinked.
"I suppose I should have been more specific." He suggested. I smiled and nodded. He looked thoughtful for a few moments.
"Alright, well my favorite color is red. I attach myself to many different kinds of persons human and Asgardian alike. I also have what you would call "strange" powers yet it seems Mjolnir does not answer my voice any longer." I wasn't sure what to say really. Surely he was pained by his current position yet he did not complain. There was nothing changing in his gaze as he said these things.
"What was it like, growing up with Loki?" I asked. Thor smiled almost knowingly. My stomach twisted in knots. Maybe I should have kept that question to myself.
"He was always playing tricks on the gentry. Although in general my hot blooded impulse got us into trouble, he would always be able to lie our way out of any punishment. I suppose he may have a higher intellect than myself and therefore we never spoke much unless it was to fulfill some scheme of his. Perhaps if he is in trouble as you say, I may not have known him as well as I once thought." I felt sorry for Thor. It was obvious by the way he spoke that he cared deeply for his brother. I faced forward, watching the sand swirl in the light wind.
"I can't say he told me much, but for a time our minds were connected. He kept a wall up rather high, but I could see beyond the barrier. What I saw there was the closest I've ever gotten to a single living person. We could feel each other's emotions, see each other's past, even read each other's thoughts. They were only bits and pieces, but I felt happiness in those memories." I smiled as I imagined one of the short glimpses I had into Loki's mind. He had thought of his brother. The two young boys had been laughing and running down the hall from an infuriated guard. There was nothing but joy within that young boy's eyes.
"You care deeply for my brother don't you?" He asked. I felt my eyes tearing up.
"When I saw him last, I felt fear Thor. I felt his pain, the raw sadness that gripped his heart. It hurt so much that I still feel it when I think about it. He was so close and then he was ripped from me. I just can't understand." Thor rubbed his large thumbs beneath my eyes, wiping the tears away. He was smiling brightly.
"You feel a deeper bond with my brother than even I can comprehend. No matter how this ends I am glad that he met you." His tone was sincere. I was crying again, feeling the ache within my chest once more. Why was I being so weak over someone who probably didn't give a damn about me any more? Thor allowed me to press my small body into his arms. He let me cry as we talked. In this way we connected, a bond because of our mutual caring of Loki.
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Loki walked out of his chambers with the staff in hand. So far the plan was going well. He had gone to Jotunheim and Laufey had agreed to the conditions of his deal. Now he just had to wait, which was one of the most annoying things he had to do. For the past few days he had felt a certain ache within his heart that hadn't been there before. He had even heard an anguished scream that roused him from his sleep a few nights before. None of the guards had heard the noise, so he must have been the only one.
It had been Naiira, somehow he just knew it was her voice that echoed within his head. The staff of the king sent echoes down the hall as he walked. Used to the stealth, Loki was still getting used to having a presence that everyone noticed.
To be perfectly honest, he felt horrible. He wanted to give up this stupid façade and go back to his quiet non-existence with Thor making a scene as always. Things had changed so drastically and his mind was elsewhere anymore. He needed to prove himself worthy to his father, to his mother. Yet as he really thought about it, he found everything useless.
No, he just wouldn't think about it. This was for his future, to prove a point that had been ignored for so long.
"Darling, are you alright?" Frigga stood in all her splendor before him. She wore her dirty blond hair up with a few waves around her face. The velvet blue gown suited her, allowing those bright blue eyes to shine within her age worn skin. If there was one woman he loved in this world it was his mother, the lovely queen who had never done anything to wrong him. She had tried her best to give both brothers an equal place in her heart. Even if Odin was not his father, Loki could not bring himself to abandon the love of his mother.
"I'm just tired mother. I never knew the pains of being a king." There it came again, the sudden ache radiating from his chest. So it was not his mother. The pain was beginning to overwhelm him. He gasped aloud and fell to his knees.
"Loki!" Frigga rushed to his side, kneeling beside him and pressing her hand against his forehead. Her eyes held worry for her youngest son. Loki felt as if he was being ripped in half. What was happening to him? A wave of emotion overcame him and he found himself beginning to sob though he tried to hide it by coughing. He never cried, at least not in public. The feeling continued, becoming steadily stronger as he held it in. He leaned forward, the strain on his body causing him to heave the contents of his stomach all over the floor.
"Quickly! Get Freya!" He could hear Frigga yelling at someone. His vision was blurred, but it wasn't from the disorientation. There were tears streaming down his cheeks, the dam breaking as he screamed into floor. Frigga was trying to comfort him, her hands rubbing his back and face. His vision blacked for a few moments and he saw her. Naiira was standing in a desert, her small body shrouded in Thor's shadow. He was holding her close as she sobbed. He could even hear her voice.
"It hurts so much, why does it hurt like this?" Her voice was music to his ears even if there was a great amount of pain in her tone. He felt his heart beating faster, his body shivering as he watched. He reached out but couldn't touch her. That was how it would always be, he would never be able to reach her from where he was.
His view once again came to be the vomit stained floor of the Asgardian hall. Loki's breathing was shallow, he literally gulped up the air.
"Loki, Loki speak to me." Frigga whispered with a comforting voice. He gazed up at her. She looked horribly worried and confused.
"Forgive me mother, I don't know what came over me." The ache in his chest was still there if not much less prominent. He grabbed the fabric of his tunic and tried to brush it against his skin. There was heat coming from the area just above his heart. Frigga noticed the movement and tried to move his hand. She gasped at the sudden burst of heat. Her son had never been that warm before. It felt like Thor's skin, her husband's skin. Spots of light swam in his vision and every few moments he saw Naiira before his eyes. Was she transmitting her emotions through the broken channel?
He hadn't tried to reconnect since the last time they parted, finding it painful to even try. Her mind was protecting her, an energy of great proportion keeping him from doing anything. Yet just now he felt her pain, her fear, her infinite sadness and it made his heart break. He was slowly losing it because of that mortal.
"Come Loki, let's get you to Freya." She pulled him up and Loki waved his wrist. The vomit disappeared to leave nothing behind except the immaculate floor. He followed his mother carefully, tears still streaming from his eyes. What he wouldn't give to have this stop.
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I walked back with Thor following close behind. He kept his arm out to steady me since I was a little shaky. He may be a bit naïve but he was a really nice guy. My mind stayed on Loki the whole way back, my whole body shaking. Jane took me carefully from Thor, looking up at him with questioning eyes. He grinned sheepishly.
Either way I think Jane got the hint not to ask about it. She fixed me some Earl Grey while I sat stuck in my thoughts. My phone started playing Radioactive and I picked it up. The caller ID declared that it was from Tony. I sighed and answered.
"Hello?" There was a snort from the other side of the phone.
"Well aren't we in a good mood. I've been calling the base but they say you aren't on site. Where the hell are you Naia?" He sounded a bit frustrated.
"You remember the god I was looking for? Well I found him." I looked in Thor's direction. He was trying to explain to Jane why I had come back crying rather heavily. Another voice came over the phone, it was Pepper.
"How are you Naia? Still holding up ok? You know Alex has been asking about you." I sighed, of course Alex had to randomly come back in the picture. We texted sometimes, but he had been rather distant after the party. I hadn't really thought about him in a while and that made me feel a bit more guilty.
"Tell him I'm fine because I am." It was sort of the truth. I couldn't tell anyone but Thor about the connection with Loki. They were brothers so the small amount of information I had was for Thor's ears only.
"I don't have pictures yet kid, you sure he's a god." I sighed and took the phone from my ear, pointing it at Thor and turning on my camera.
"Hey Thor say cheese." He turned and looked at me with an eyebrow raised. I took the picture and sent it to Tony.
"There happy now?" Pepper let out a whistle that made Tony grunt in dislike.
"He isn't all over you is he?" I laughed, watching Thor and Jane move farther into the kitchen.
"God's no, I think he's a bit more preoccupied with someone else." I smiled and leaned forward against the small slide in table.
"So I guess you two have kissed and made up right? When do I get sisters and brothers?" I was sure Pepper was as red as her hair at this point. Of course Tony didn't miss a beat, loving to tease Pepper anytime he got the chance.
"Pretty soon if she doesn't learn to keep her hands to herself." I smirked as a slapping sound came over the line. Tony let out a wail of pain before hissing.
"She leave?" I asked.
"Yeah, you better have something to pay for that slap. She hits pretty hard for a girl." He muttered. I snickered.
"Well you did deserve it." I agreed with Pepper after all. Tony was so fun to play with…wait a minute. I sounded like a certain god I knew. The pain returned.
"Naia, you sure you're okay?" Tony was someone who could usually read people even if he didn't look them straight in the face.
"No, I'm not, not even a little bit." I whispered. There was silence for a few moments.
"You wanna talk about it?" I sniffled a little, laughing through my tears.
"I know you don't understand it yet Tony, but I can't tell you right now. I want to share it with you, but I just can't. You see, there's someone's trust I'd be breaking if I said anything to you. Just trust that I'm handling it okay?" Tony sighed, his frustration obvious.
"Yeah sure Nai-Nai, but you call me when you need me understand?" I agreed and we hung up. Jane walked back in with Thor close behind.
"Who was that?" Jane asked. Thor looked rather fascinated by my phone.
"My father, he was just worried about me as usual." I took a good long sip of the tea in front of me. It made me feel infinitely better. So far chocolate covered cherries and a good cup of black tea were the only things that seemed to quell my emotions.
"Your father take an interest in Thor too?" Jane asked. I smiled weakly.
"Who wouldn't take an interest in a god? Thor here is pretty awesome." I patted his arm for emphasis. Thor's grin widened.
"Why thank you for the compliment Naiira, I'm am pleased you approve of me." I raised an eyebrow.
"Approve of you?" Jane giggled as she sat down across from me.
"Of course, isn't it important for the brother to accept his own brother's future bride?" I spit the tea all over her shirt. Thor began laughing heartily as Jane muttered her apologies. She kept saying it was only a joke.
"You told her?!" I asked. Thor shrugged. My lips fell into a frown. Of course he would tell the girl he was interested in, especially because he didn't have an explanation as to why I was crying unless he mentioned Loki.
"Was it wrong to do so?" Thor asked. Jane looked a bit nervous as I seemed to contemplate my answer.
"I suppose not as long as she keeps her mouth shut about it." I mumbled. Jane held out her hand.
"Sure, we can shake on it if you want." I took it, shaking and then gripping harder when she tried to pull away.
"I'm holding you to it, not even Tony knows about Loki." I hadn't really thought about it, but Jane was sort of in the same boat as me. It was obvious that she liked Thor romantically and I would admit to a crush on Loki. He was just so unlike anyone I had ever met here on Earth. I guess that's how Jane must have felt about Thor as well. We separated and the conversation turned to something else. We made lunch for the late risers. Dr. Selvig had been asleep while Darcy had apparently gone back to bed when Thor asked to walk with me.
We were sitting around the table together in the old fast food drive thru. Thor was bringing the plates of food out while Jane and I fixed the food. Since the others were just waking up we made pancakes, eggs, and sausage. I kept eating a little bit as we cooked so I wasn't really hungry by the time we all sat down.
That was probably why I noticed our guests first. There were four people that starting tapping on the window. Thor turned to look at them, the surprise evident on his face. Three were male of all different types. The first was stout with red hair and beard. His golden armor plated his entire body aside from a few places where you could see his red tunic beneath. His beady brown eyes twinkled. Honestly, the guy reminded me of a taller dwarf. The second looked Asian, his black hair pulled back into a tight ponytail and his black eyes fixed on Thor. His armor looked closer to that of a ninja, the black easily blending in with his tunic.
The third male looked like robin hood. His well-groomed blond hair and goatee were almost sparkling. His armor was silver with tunic and undergarments of a forest green. Like the dwarf's armor it had all sorts of intricate designs etched into the surface of the metal.
"Found you!" Even the red-head's voice sounded dwarfish. The woman standing there grinning made me and Jane look like ugly old hags. Her breastplate and respective other armor was silver with her arms and wrists visible. Her under tunic was made of black and red fabric. Her long and slick black hair was tied back in a high ponytail while her sparkling brown eyes watched us carefully. The flawless skin that was visible seemed to shine. I watched as Thor moved to open the door for them. They were Asgardians, that much was for sure. Dr. Selvig and Darcy looked starstruck. I smiled, they hadn't believed a word of what Thor said. Even Jane looked a good bit surprised. Oh yes, this was going to get interesting.