Suprise bitches, bet you thought you'd seen the last of me?
First of all I'm really sorry I dropped off the radar for a while there I completely lost my mojo! Serious writers block mixed with incredible procrastination skills. And for anyone who is still interested in this story I'm sorry to say this is the last chapter for Zoe and Loki *sniffles* but it was just too damn hard to write.
So here I am bringing you this un betad chapter so you will have to excuse all my spelling and grammar mistakes because I really just wanted to get this finished, sorry if it's awful ;)
in betad Zoe awoke alone in the bed she shared with Loki, since he had come back off that trip with his mother Loki had started helping out around the castle more. He had ignored his princely duties for too long and now he was making up for it. To everyone's surprise, Loki had started teaching a small group of children how to safely and properly use magic.
Now that Loki had stopped with his tirade, magic among Asgardians was no longer a taboo subject and parents encouraged their children to learn how to use it properly, therefore Zoe often woke up to an empty bed in the mornings as Loki would be in the library with his class.
How many years it had been since Loki and Zoe took their trip to Lokis fort Zoe could not say but since then, things between the two of them had changed. The air was full of unspoken words left to hang in the air for years, seemingly forgotten although Zoe could never forget that day, she let it go hoping that Loki would eventually speak up. It was as if Loki was hiding something from her, his eyes never held hers for long when they would speak and he always seemed so full of tension. There were times when Zoe thought he would almost confide in her but those moments would go as quickly as they came.
It's not like Zoe wasn't hiding her own secrets but with Loki refusing to indulge in his Zoe couldn't tell him hers. The only solace Zoe found was at night when Loki would wrap his arms around her and hold her close as they slept, Zoe had a feeling it was as much for his benefit as it was for hers.
Although Loki was distant, he was softer now, more calm and caring than when they first met. Zoe couldn't believe that he was the same person. The ruthless murderer she had heard about from the avengers or the psychopath she encountered when they first met all those years ago. His transformation had taken place over what felt like decades but in reality was only a few years.
After they got back from their trip to Lokis fort, Loki never put the restraints back on Zosime and instead told her she was free to go home if she so chooses.
Zoe never left of course, instead she decided to stay, spending most of her time in the stables with the animals helping out the stable hand or even in the palace flower gardens picking flowers and arranging them into beautiful bouquets for banquets or fancy feasts. Sometimes she even brought them back to the room to brighten the place up.
finally deciding to get out of bed, Zoe dressed in a simple white sleeveless dress with a modest neckline and the waist was pulled in to give the otherwise plain dress some shape. The bottom of the dress graze just below her ankles and showed off her plain sandals, styling her hair in a casual up do ensuring that no hair was left in her neck as she could tell today was going to get hot.
Zoe made her way out of the castle but instead of heading to the stables as she normally would she instead opted to visit the public gardens which today, were full of people milling around enjoying the sun. Zoe walked around for a while deciding that she would sit against the large fountain in the middle of the grass the sound of water relaxing her and blocking out the chatter of the people around her. She sat there for awhile before taking out a book and opening it at her marked page.
Today was a good day for reading outdoors Zosime thought to herself before losing herself into her story. It didn't take long before a small group of people had gathered to sit on the grass around her, some in the shade and others out in the sunshine all of which had the same thought as Zoe. Nobody around her spoke, everyone was too busy reading to acknowledge that others around them had started to sit down and read. Zoe looked up to find at least 20 people sitting or lying on the grass around her with their attention solely on their books. Without having to think about it Zoe had placed a cushion and a glass of ice cold water next to each of the readers to make them more comfortable.
Those who noticed straight away nodded their thanks to Zosime and smiled. There was a time in asguard where nobody would have dared to get close to somebody from another world. Anybody not from asguard was a threat to their safety however times have changed and now Zoe was an accepted member of the community and had been for some time now.
Zoe stood up, finally stretching out her limbs. She had been sitting up against the fountain for too long and her leg had started to cramp up. Sighing, the goddess perched herself on the rim of the large fountain she had been leaning against for the past few hours, slipped her Sandals off and swung her legs round so that her feet we're submerged in the water.
She sat like this for a few moments staring up at the castle. From here she could see hers and Lokis bedroom which was on the top floor of the castle of you don't include the many towers it had.
Sometimes she wondered why she bothered to stay here when all Loki did was ignore her. She remembered the look of hurt on his face the day that they kissed in Lokis 'fort' when they broke away, she had been so close to confessing some type of feeling for him when he mistook her own facial expression for one of regret. At the time Zoe didn't know what to say, he had walked away too quickly for her to put things straight, his own fear of rejection putting an awkward barrier between the two of them that still hasn't lifted.
Zoe still liked Loki and cared for him deeply and she knew that he cared about her too otherwise the tension between them whenever they were alone would have lifted but neither one of them was prepared to talk about their feelings for fear of making things worse.
Zoe returned to the room later that day with a small bouquet of white roses to replace the old ones that were dying out on the table on her side of the bed.
Loki was sprawled out on a chair near the balcony, the large double doors were open letting a nice breeze roll through the room. The goddess sighed as she placed the flowers in the vase after throwing the old ones into the bin. Loki often pretended she wasn't in the room which irritated her.
"How did your lesson go today?" Zosime asked as she walked up behind him, palms resting on the back of the chair
"Nothing out of the ordinary" Loki replied nonchalantly. He had gotten so hard to speak to recently. They used to get on so well Zoe would be lying if she said she didn't miss the casual banter they shared or the lighthearted jokes they made at each others expense.
"You can't avoid me forever you know" Zoe blurted out as she moved his long legs off the seat and plonked herself down next to him.
"What?" Loki asked in shock, this was probably the most she had said to him in months and she was suggesting that he was avoiding her.
" I haven't been avoiding you Zosime" Loki reassured but deep down he knew that he had been distant with her these past years.
It had gotten difficult living with Zoe since she rejected him, he has this constant nagging thought at the back of his mind whenever they were together. 'What if I didn't run away after we stopped, what if I stayed and listed to what she was going to say' a part of Loki wished that he had it all wrong and that maybe she felt the same way for him that he felt about her but he didn't stick around long enough to find out and now they were stuck in limbo, neither wanting to make the first move
"Oh please you barely even look at me anymore" Zoe retorted.
It was true Loki almost never looked at the goddess anymore but that wasn't because he was avoiding her. Zoe had always had a powerful effect on Loki. Whenever he looked at her a fire would light inside him he knew he wanted to be with her from the minute he laid eyes on her and he inwardly scolded himself for going about it the way he did.
When they met he was in a bad place and she helped him out of it, she was there for him admittedly there were times when he wanted to strangle her, like when she put him in the chastity belt or when she rearranged his books and then pranced about naked in front of him.
"Why are you smiling like that" Zoe questioned, eyebrow raised.
"I was just remembering the time when you re arranged all of my books" Zoe noticed the mischievous glint in his eye. It seemed like an eternity ago since she saw that in them. Of course she knew what he was really remembering now. It wasn't the books it was her naked and she couldn't stop the smirk that crept up on her face at the thought.
"I was quite proud of that you know" she laughed as she pictured herself in the middle of Lokis room, feet propped up on his table, naked aside from his helmet on her head.
"As you should be. Truly wound me up in more ways than one. " Loki retorted, his smile never faltered
" I believe that was the plan" both Zoe and Loki laughed gently at the memory until silence once again filled the room
"You know we should really talk about what happened" Zoe sighed. She didn't know where this sudden bout of courage came from. Maybe she was finally getting comfortable around Loki again or maybe she was just getting tired of the silence.
"Zosime, please" Loki started but Zoe held up a hand to silence him.
"You thought I was going to tell you to stop didn't you" she stated bluntly. She was never going to tell him to stop. The moment had been too intimate she never wanted it to stop.
"Yes." Loki sighed as he smoothed his hair back nervously
"I wasn't" Zoe dared a look at Loki and she saw the look of pain on his features again as he realised what she meant. All these years of avoiding each other when they could have been something different, something more.
Zoe knew how she felt about him that day and she had tried to tell him and her ran off.
Loki had not forgiven himself for acting cowardly that day. He wanted her to want him so much that even the slightest possibility that she didn't scared him. But it wasn't until they got back that he realised the true extent of his feelings.
The moment they got back to the castle Loki was so sure that he had lost any chance with her that he told her she could leave if she wanted to and go home to her tribe but again instead of staying around to talk about it Loki bolted and took refuge in the library. It wasn't until the early hours of the morning that he plucked up the courage to go back to the room to find out if she stayed or not.
He almost cried out in relief when he saw her sleeping in his bed, on her side, her red curls splayed out on the pillow behind her. She stayed. He gave her the choice to leave and she actually stayed. She wanted to stay with him. That's when he knew how he felt about her. The heavy weight around his hips had vanished just like promised. He climbed into bed behind her and wrapped his arm around her pulling her closer to him.
Loki never told her though. He didn't know how not after everything that happened and that's how they ended up in this mess. But now was his chance to put things right.
"Zosime I love you. " Loki stated catching Zoe off guard, the shock was all over her face.
Zoe had accepted the fact that Loki would never love her a long time ago and here be was sitting across from her admitting the impossible.
"I have done ever since you stayed and I'm sorry I should have told you then" he continued nervously wiping his palms on his jeans. His heart was thumping in his chest so violently that he thought it might explode, he didn't know what to expect, he knew now that Zoe felt the same way he just didn't realise it back then.
"I love you too Loki" Zoe's voice was barely above a whisper but Loki heard it. And his heart rate sped up, but not out of fear, out of excitement.
He gently pulled her closer to him and kissed her softly on the lips causing her to sign in relief.
Loki had no idea how long Zoe had waited for this and she was going to make sure that he wouldn't get the wrong idea this time.
Zoe quickly manoeuvred herself so that she was sitting on top of Loki, her legs on either side of his. Loki's hands reacted instantly. One snaking up to the back of her neck and the other grasping her hip. desperate not to let her get away again, Loki deepened the kiss. His hand that was at the back of her neck was now tangled in her hair, his other hand guiding her hips to slide against his own.
He smirked as she moaned at the friction of their movements, her arms which were wrapped around his shoulders started to move, one hand was sliding down his chest to his abdomen where she could feel his muscles tense at her touch. Her other hand cupped the side of his face, keeping his head in place as she slowly kissed her way down his neck, too his collarbone.
Loki's grip tightened on her hip as she continued her assault on his neck. Fuck he wanted her, and she wanted him and this time there was nothing in their way to stop them as Zoe felt when she found a particularly sensitive patch of skin just below his ear.
Boom. There you go. So so sorry if that was awful, boring etc but Lordy lord I had to re write that whole chapter at least twice and completely change the origional plan.
I actually have a epilogue that's mostly written up but I don't know if I want to post it because I actually wrote it before I finished this chapter. Well this is it then I suppose, thanks to everyone who read, followed, favourited and reviewd I hope you enjoyed the story!
Xx