A/N: Sorry it's a little late, but hey! At least I updated! XD

Which is more than can be said for my other mostly deceased stories which I might or might not return to at some point with some sufficient motivation...

Anyway, moving on to happier matters: I really can't wait for Tony Stark to enter this story. That's not really a spoiler as this is a very. Very. LONG. Story, and one that's in the 'Avengers' fandom rather than 'Thor' for a reason, but imagine Shana and Tony in the same room as each other. Stuff of legends, people! And not the good kind of legends, either...

Anyway, hope you like this chapter, and remember: favourite, follow and review.

Chapter 14

A Touch of Magic

Every little girl wishes she could find her Prince Charming. Every girl believes in love at first sight, true love's kiss and every romantic thought linked to Disney. Even I heard of these stories, and believed in them.

But then I grew up. Suddenly, there was no such thing as true love, only those you trust enough to care for. Love didn't last forever in my eyes, which was a sad and depressing thought.

Every little girl wants someone who would complete them for the rest of their life, someone who can make them feel ageless and beautiful, and make them feel more loved than ever.

We are selfish creatures, us girls. We want what we can't get, and we want to feel good about it.

Is what Loki and I have love? Do I love him? Maybe. Does he love me? Probably not.

But we are selfish creatures.

Even as we walk through the woods, with me peering at him from the corner of my eye, I haven't a clue where we're going with this. He's hot and sexy, and not to mention a fucking powerful super villain (which is apparently my secret fetish).

He has a thousand years plus of experience, and blue blood running through his veins (maybe even literally). And that's another point- the man is an alien. A whole other species from myself...

And me? I'm Shana White-Friar. I'm a College student in a course that I'm shit at; I have average looks and an average mind with average blood running through it. I can be vulgar as crap in a toilet and some people occasionally mistaken me for a bloke (not sure why as I'm fairly sure I still look like a girl, and have even known a few girls who talk worse than I do).

Is it because I accept him for who he is- for what he is? Because I'm sure there are a lot of other women who would do the same. Would he move on to someone better than me once he realises this?

I don't know why I'm having these thoughts; I'm usually far more relaxed than this. Maybe I am in love. People always say that love can turn anyone into a fool, and I'm certainly feeling foolish.

"Shana?" We've stopped walking; Loki's watching me with green eyes filled with worry.

"What?" I ask him, frowning at the concern I see clearly in those eyes.

"I... asked you a question. You didn't show any reaction to it," he says, his brows drawing closer together in concern. I sigh, lowering my head slightly to look towards the floor.

Just empty your mind and live in the now, I say to myself as I stare at the ground.

"Sorry, Loki," I mumble, watching as an ugly little spider with a fat arse makes its way around Loki. "I just... why do you want me?" I finally ask him, unable to hold the question back any longer. Perhaps it's because I'm not looking him in the eyes. Things are always easier to say when you're not actually looking at the person you're talking to. Or is it just me who thinks that?

Loki is completely silent for a while. The spider has long since vanished from my sight, leaving me to shift my eyes over to a scuttling woodlouse, who seems a little confused given his awkward, chaotic running. As the moments stretch on, I begin feel a little like that blind or mentally handicapped woodlouse.

"Loki?" I finally say, raising my eyes to look at him. He's staring at me with his face blank and emotionless. "Are you okay?" I ask him slowly.

This is awkward. Are we dating now? Should we date? I knew how to act around him before, but now I'm not so sure.

"Yes, of course," he finally murmurs, though he's still giving me an odd, unnerving look.

"Are you sure?" I ask him slowly. I really wouldn't want him to suddenly turn against me in a random fit of rage, or something. Is that why he's looking at me like that? Is he angry with me? Am I supposed to say a certain phrase? How should I know? He's literally from a whole other world!

Maybe we shouldn't do this. Perhaps we should stop whilst we're ahead, and go back to being friends again.

"Beautiful," I hear the soft whisper of the word. Surprised, I turn to look back towards the man in front of me, as I'd previously returned to admiring that scuttling woodlouse again. He's still staring at me with that same blank expression, but it somehow seems more intense now.

"What?" I ask him as I shield my eyes against the strong sunlight that had managed to worm its way through the overhead leaves and straight onto my face. He frowns and blinks several times, now finally stopping the weird blank look he'd been giving me.

"It was nothing, Shana," he says, turning his head away from me to face in the direction we were originally heading towards (I assume). "The day is passing by us, and I would much rather get this finished with sooner rather than later."

Either I'm hearing things, or Loki's feeling embarrassed at being caught giving me a compliment...

-BREAK-

I look around the miniature clearing, noticing the absence of flowers as it makes way for winter. It looks like it might be the same clearing I saw back when Loki accidentally froze me. Loki stands a few steps ahead of me; his body is riddled with tension.

I might have put in my own encouragement, but this was his idea. He wants to show me exactly who and what he is- both the good and the bad. I generally disagree with him, though.

The way I see it, the actions he did the last time he was on Earth is the bad part of him. Everything else is just Loki.

"I am only showing you this because you've already seen it," Loki makes sure to remind me from where he stands in the middle of the small clearing. I nod my understanding, as it is still his greatest shame. I honestly don't get why he's so ashamed, as the Frost Giants seem quite formidable. Don't his people appreciate strength and power?

Slowly, his pale skin bleeds into a strong, dark shade of blue. The green of his irises and the whites of his eyes are overthrown by the rich red that seeps into them.

But everything is still the same old Loki. He stands there, looking at me with more than a little uncertainty- I see it, even as he tries to mask his self-consciousness. I walk forward with one hand slightly outstretched, hoping to touch the beautiful lines etched into his skin. He jerks his head away from my hand.

"No," he says softly. "You cannot touch me while I am in this form." I frown in confusion, thinking back to the religions book.

Did it say anything about not being able to touch their skin? Or is he just being weird and shy?

I let my hand fall limply to the side as I step forwards in curiosity. I come to a stop a few feet away from him- just far enough that I won't get burned or set off some kind of panic attack, but just close enough to be able to analyse the ridges in his skin.

"What do they mean?" I wonder aloud. Loki frowns in confusion at my question. "Your marks," I explain quickly. "I wonder what they mean." Understanding flickers through his eyes, but he's still frowning.

"I know not what they mean. Not that it matters- I am still a monster. I am still a beast." Self loathing twists his face as he levels a harsh glare to a dark blue hand he'd raised for inspection.

Right. That's it.

I roll my eyes at his melodrama and take a stubborn step forwards.

"Please," I say in fed up exasperation. "Stop calling yourself a monster and a beast all the time. You're making this entire situation sounds like some cheap, shitty Disney knock off story- and I ain't no pretty Disney princess!" You know, saying that, Loki kind of fills most of the roles for your average Disney film...

He's the villain, the magic user, the 'beast', the handsome prince charming, can most probably summon the talking animals, comes from a realm of magic and he's a pretty little princess, too...

Loki shifts his frowning gaze from his hand to my face, clearly not getting the reference at all.

"Dude, you really need to get a TV," I tell him gravely. "How can I make references to things when you don't even know about Disney? And as for your hatred of your own body because, I don't know, you're afraid of killing people accidentally-"

"That's not why," Loki swiftly cuts in to inform me.

"Well, I call bullshit on that, then," I declare forcefully, getting more than a little pissed off with his constant fountain of self pity. "Sure, you guys can freeze people solid with naught but a glance. But other than those dangers, why do you hate yourself so much?" There's silence in the baby clearing as Loki considers his answer.

"Throughout my entire life, Frost Giants have been considered the evil of the realms. They are nothing but barbaric berserkers who should be killed like the rabid dogs they are," his face darkens at a frightening rate as he explains his hatred for the race.

"Well that got dark quick," I comment lightly, though I'll admit that the slightly crazed bright red eyes are starting to unnerve me just a little...

"Look, Loki, I-" without really realising it, I automatically reach out towards him. Loki flinches back from my approaching hand and whips his own hand out- most probably to ward off my advancing touch.

Suddenly, the ground beneath my feet grows incredibly slippery. My feet slide for a moment, trying to find some dry and stable ground, but it's no use. Before I know it, I'm falling.

I'm only falling for a fraction of a second, before I come to a sudden stop. Ice cold agony splits through my upper arms, causing me to cry out in pain. The harsh stabs of pain promptly vanish, to be replaced with a dull, but still painful throb. I look up to see Loki now standing a couple of steps away from me and staring down at his hands disgustedly.

"My apologies, Shana," he says softly, his eyes rising to look into mine. "I told you. I'm nothing but a monster. Even whilst trying to prevent you from injuring yourself, I still succeed in nothing but causing you pain." His fists his hands by his sides in silent fury while turning his gaze to glare harshly at the ground.

"Look, I'm okay. Really, it's just a little- hey, wait a second!" I narrow my eyes as I fully process what he'd just said. "You cheeky little bastard!" I accuse, trying to keep the small smile off of my face. Loki is quiet for a moment as he stares at me in confusion.

"Pardon?" he finally asks me, tilting his head to the side slightly, acting as though he's trying to hear me better.

"You!" I point towards him as I lose the battle with my lips, which stretch into a wide grin. "You were trying to 'prevent me from injuring myself,' eh? Like some damsel in distress? Well, I know that you're my Prince Charming and all that shit, but I'm- hey! That reminds me! If you're Prince Charming, does that make me your Snow White or summat? Personally, my favourite was always Treasure Planet, though I don't know who we'd be in that film. The cat lady and the dog? I'm sure you'd be the cat lady, as you're really posh and all that shit. I'm most probably the dog guy because I'm fluent in crap chat or whatever. Speaking of crap, do you-"

"Shana, are you alright?" Loki interrupts me to ask. He's leaning away from me slightly, looking just a little bit overwhelmed. I roll my eyes at his concern, though I still admittedly appreciate it.

"What, you mean this?" I lift my right arm for him to see and gesture towards it- his eyes widen comically. "Look, it's fine. It's a little on the hot side, but chill Loki... heh, geddit? Chill?" I snigger slightly behind the hand of my raise arm. It really feels quite warm and stings a tiny bit, but otherwise I don't know what's so bad...

"Humans suffer from a condition called 'shock,' do you not?" Loki asks warily, cautiously reaching out towards my arm.

"Yeah, sure, what of it? And what the fuck?" I protectively move my arm from his slowly approaching hand. His hand comes to a halt as he flicks his gaze towards his outstretched hand to glare at it darkly. I sigh in frustrated exasperation at his behaviour.

"Let's role play for a second and pretend we're in Frozen," I suggest slowly and calmly. "Just... conceal, don't feel, until you've learned to manage your magical slushy powers of doom," he glances away from his hand to stare at me in confusion. "Just... switch back to human Loki, for now." His face clears in understanding of what I'm trying to suggest, and slowly his original colourings return. He still looks a little bitter, though I know it's mainly towards himself rather than towards me. We've obviously still got a long way to go before he starts accepting the fact that he's just a little bit more special than all the other kids...

"I am not human," he stubbornly says as the last traces of blue vanish from the visible patches of skin.

"Yeah, sure. You're some great god and all that shit, just about everyone knows that by now," I grumble as I let him take hold of my arms for inspection. The damage on my injured arms, now that I'm actually looking at them, seems far worse than I had originally thought. While it doesn't look like full on frostbite, the skin is a bright, savage red and cracked like the desert. I grimace at the sight of yet more damage to my poor, abused skin.

"As I said," Loki softly says, his sombre eyes staring at my already scarred arm. "Not a human. A monster." He releases my arm and quickly steps back, away from me. I frown at him, knowing exactly what he means. I step towards him and reach my hand out to hold his hand. He looks at me in confusion and tries to step away, but I refuse to let go of my hold.

"Shana," he says warningly, and I know that if he were to really put some effort into it, I would have no choice but to let go- but he does nothing. All he does is give me a panicked, pleading look.

"No, Loki," I say softly. Something seems to switch in him, his eyes darkening just slightly. "I won't let go." The darkness leaves his eyes, to be replaced with shock.

"What?" he asks me, standing stiff and still.

"You're not a monster," I tell him again, vowing to myself that I'll keep repeating those same words until he finally gets it into his thick head that it's the truth. "A monster deliberately hurts people for the sake of it, with no reason and no remorse. You hurt me by accident, and you apologized for it-"

"I killed many of your people," Loki quickly buts in to say.

"Well, I can't really judge as I don't know what your reasoning was- if there was any reason at all. But whether or not you were a monster back then, something has obviously changed since then." He's quiet for a long moment, apparently thinking of what I just said. After a while in which he just stands there, staring at our joined hands, he says a single word.

"You."

"What?" I ask him, not quite understanding where he's getting at. "What about me?"

"You understood me, Shana. You are the difference." I stare blankly at him, slack jawed and in shock. Surely I didn't impact him enough to change him. As he's been so fond of saying, us mortals are barely anything- blink and you miss us! I doubt I'm the only one like me.

"We should return now," Loki interrupts my internal pondering to say. "I think that I should experiment with my... new identity on my own. At least for now." I open my mouth to argue against it, but Loki shakes his head. "Remember, Shana. This is strange for me, too."

Admitting defeat, I follow him into the cabin, all while telling myself that though he still hates the look of his other form and is most probably ashamed of it, we're making progress.