Here it is as promised, Chapter 14! I hope you all enjoy. Also to note this is the longest chapter yet :)
Chapter dedicated to KatelynnBB, thanks for your reviews! An of course a hout out to my wonderful beta housesbabe1 :)
Playlist
Only Love - Jordan Smith
Jamie Scott - Unbreakable
Dave Baxter - whispers
Nathan Wagner - Love
Yours - Ella Henderson
Let go - Beau Young Prince
Triggers - Mentions of tortrure nothing graphic though, repurcutions of torture and skinship with others, Thor being thrown thorugh a wall ;)
Trying to excuse herself back to her apartment without being suspicious failed because she was in the presence of one of the best espionage agents in the world. Right before Sofiya had escaped Natasha's clutches, Natasha slipped into the elevator right behind her.
"He's here, isn't he?" It was less of a question than a statement. Sofiya stopped acting, it was pointless. She was too filled with emotion to lie successfully, Sofiya sent back a silent nod in response.
"I still . . . Sofiya I just don't know what to do. I mean yes, because of him Earth was saved but also because of him many lives were lost. He needs to face the consequences." Sofiya could understand Natasha reluctance, after all, few if anyone but Sofiya had figured out what had happened to Loki and were on his side at the present time.
"I know it's going to be hard but please just don't go back on your word and give him one chance. He was still a prisoner until the end." As Sofiya reminded Natasha she wished that others could see Loki in the same light that she saw Loki in. Especially Natasha whom she had grown close to over the last couple days.
"If you are lying about him being a prisoner, so help me Sofiya - that's the only thing that is stopping me from bringing hell down onto him now." There was something in her eyes and Sofiya had guessed Natasha had a dark past as well, something that let her empathize with the situation that Loki had been in.
The rest of the elevator ride was tense and silent. Sofiya was very much aware of the dilemma circling around Natasha's mind, but she was so eager to see Loki she could not bring herself to confront it. Sofiya barely heard the whisper of Natasha saying she would wait outside Sofiya's door to give them some privacy.
Knowing what that meant - Natasha was trying, Sofiya turned back and gave the scarlet spy a quick hug and thank you. Natasha's eyes were weary and Sofiya would not have put it passed her to spy on them. Knowing there were only motion sensors and that Jarvis would only be listening if his name was mentioned gave Sofiya some sense of privacy. Still, if Natasha wanted, Sofiya had no doubt that she could hack into the motion sensors and watch them throughout the apartment.
But Natasha probably had better things to be doing, knowing that the spy had been neglecting her personal life while she helped with rescue and rebuilding efforts in the city. Even though seeing the destruction in the city bothered Sofiya she had never let her fears stop her before. But at the same time she was sadly happy that Natasha had said helping out in the city was not an option for her when she had gained the courage to ask about it. Natasha's reasoning had been that there was concern that Sofiya would explode if she was unable to control her powers due to the emotions of seeing the destruction first hand. Sofiya had nodded her head in understanding but sensed that Natasha would not have let her help out and just made another excuse if the situation had been different.
Now, faced with her apartment door in front of her, Sofiya hesitated to reach out and actually open the door. Energy filled with anticipation and excitement was practically radiating off her skin, but there was also a hint of apprehensiveness.
How would he act? How was she supposed to act? Afterall she did not even know his favorite foods or whether he preferred coffee or tea. But they had experienced the almost enslavement of humanity and stopped it together. That brought them close in some ways even though they were farther apart in others. It felt like the stages of their relationship forming were all mixed up and that left her without a sense of how to move forward.
The cold metal of the door handle against her palm helped satiate the sudden clamminess of her hands. Taking one final breath, she entered her eyes searching every part of the sectioned rooms of the open floor plan. The anticipation that had her fingers itching was not the only emotion overwhelming her senses now. His tall frame may not have been in the scope of her vision at the present time, but there was one surefire sign that he had been in her living quarters. The beautiful whitish-grey walls that wrapped around her apartment where now a shade of green that suspiciously matched Loki's eyes.
Finding that her feet had a mind of their own, Sofiya took step after step, her feet taking her to her bedroom. The door was open and she knew she had left it closed. She spied black sock covered feet crossed at the ankles, another step and she could see up to his thighs, clad in grey sweatpants. Her next step brought her under the doorframe and she watched as his eyes snapped open to latch onto hers, his bright and light irises contrasting with the black long-sleeved T-shirt that stretched over his torso.
His arms were crossed above his head as he rested on his hands. To an outsider, his facial expression would appear to be lacking any emotion, but to her, she saw the look in his eyes. Sofiya's heart stopped at the same time she felt her hands start to shake.
For the last couple of days she had tried to hold her emotions in check, everyone was watching her, waiting for her to break. Something about them just waiting, knowing that at some point she would fall apart only made her try and keep it together more. And the fact that others had forever lost loved ones weighed on her chest. Sofiya had gained more than she had lost, she felt guilty for feeling overwhelmed compared to what others were going through.
But now as she stood in front of Loki, something about having her eyes on him in the flesh brought forth all the emotions she was trying to hold down. The leash she had around her emotions was starting to fray and her tears threatened to make an appearance. His eyes were appraising her, not in the judgmental way he had done before, but in a way that reminded her of a toddler being forced to look and not touch a new shiny toy.
Taking in his appearance some of her worries dissolved, he was in front of her, in one piece. Sofiya's heart started beating in a regular rhythm again once she assessed him for injuries and saw none. Loki's eyes were tired but strong as they checked her out in the same way she was checking over him. His hair was damp from a recent shower and the clothes he wore, clean and fresh.
This was the second time she had seen him in what was considered normal Earth clothing. The first time had been him in a suit before they crashed the charity event in Germany. The suit he had magically tailored to fit his frame looked just as good on him as the leisure clothes he was wearing at present. Sofiya watched how the material of the shirt and sweats stretched across his lean but muscular body and decided that Earthly clothes looked good on him. Then again with a body like his, everything was bound to look good on him.
If she was not so stressed her body might have responded normally to seeing a man of his glorious stature relaxing on her bed. As it was, her natural bodies response to blush was pushed aside by her will to not let the weight on her heart and shoulders collapse outward.
His gaze held everything in it, even though she would have thought that impossible. Years of memories and experiences shaping who he was were reflected in the pupils that were focused on her. There was something else too, but she had yet to decipher what that glint was. They sat there in silence watching each other for a moment. Finally having a moment between them where the world was not going to hell and back.
Staying still as a statue Loki reached out mentally to her, a sense of tangible warmth washing over her mind. She welcomed it and her heart picked up its pace. Sofiya had forgotten just how comforting the experience of being connected to Loki was. Loki's shoulders visibly relaxed as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and raised his arms over his head and stretched.
Her eyes snapped to the flash of skin that was exposed as his shirt rode up. Her heart skipping another beat she wondered for its health; was her cardiovascular system finally at its wits ends with all the stress she was experiencing? Rolling her lips in an effort not to lick them she took in the tight skin stretched over the well-defined muscle at his hip.
Loki closed his eyes as he stretched, taking a breath into his lungs that tasted of strawberries and roses across his tongue before he once again opened his eyes and turned to look at her.
For the last month, all his thoughts and every step, even word that left his mouth had been calculated with a stone-cold precision. His mind sharp as it kept up with the many lies and different lives he had been living, different people he had been portraying. But as Loki took in the form of the human woman in front of him, all that fell apart and he found himself not hiding. The voice inside his head screamed that was a bad thing, a deadly mistake. The thoughts in the forefront of his mind could not be further from the voice in the back of his head.
One last glance at her he promised himself, his eyes taking in her curves as the edge of his survival instincts that had been raging over the last month calmed.
Taking in everything about her from her black sandals and dark denim cut off shorts to her short-sleeved coral shirt with a v-neck that cut off just within view of the shadow of her cleavage. Sofiya's hair sat in a bun at the top of her head and her lips were parted in surprise as she took in his form sitting on her bed.
Before he could move his thoughts forward, Sofiya was bounding forward with her arms open as she dropped her bag on the floor before reaching him. Loki could not help but cringe at the impending contact with another being. It pained him that he could not withhold that cringe as it made her stop in her tracks and drop her arms. Unable to look at her expression Loki looked down at his feet, he had decided to change into something that she would associate with comfort. Internally he darkly chuckled at the irony.
During his time on the run he had managed to avoid physical contact with other beings on all but two occasions. The first time he was not paying attention and brushed across someone while walking, his spine had gone straight and a wave of nausea had almost overwhelmed him. It had been all he could to keep the flashbacks at bay until he found a solitary area.
For years the only contact he had with others had resulted in pain and his bloodshed. During captivity, he had rarely flinched or cringed, only when they had kept him awake for what seemed like weeks at a time and he was too tired to hold back the visceral response to torture did he react. Now that the mind control that had been integrated through his brain was broken and the adrenaline of war dissolved, Loki was noticing the tolls his captivity had left him with.
The logical side of his thoughts understood that it would take a sliver of time for him to become adjusted to freedom again. The illogical side of his brain wanted to berate his mind with self-hatred for being too weak to overcome the effects of torture.
"It is not you," Loki paused almost too late to debate what he had almost let leave his lips so easily. It went against his will to admit his vulnerabilities, but yet when it came to Sofiya he had almost let them slip freely.
"Don't worry about it," he looked up as she bit her lip and shrugged before continuing, "I have taken the opportunity to learn what to expect after someone goes through . . . " her voice wavered off and she brought her hands together in front of her before she finally settled for leaving her hands by her sides.
Loki just watched her and Sofiya could not help but feel awkward, maybe she should not have said that. But she did not want him to have to explain himself, she was worried he would have trouble accepting the effects of what he had been through, she knew she was. Even though Loki had by all rights taken great care of her while she was in his clutches, some of the things she had seen made a lasting impression.
Sleep for her was an experience of tossing and turning and waking up constantly. In the moment her eyes had not even taken in how much death she was seeing, the lives ending in horrible ways right before her eyes. But now every time she closed her eyes at night her mind would bring up images that she could not even tell were real or imaginary.
Sometimes she would freeze at sounds and her mind would race, adrenaline pumping through her system and she would have to take a break and sit down if she could not shake it off. Only a couple times had a golden hue started to become evident across her skin. When this happened whichever Avenger had babysitting duty over her would tense and ask if she needed anything. All but Tony, who would just make a dirty joke and offer her a drink.
"I'm sorry for slapping you in the ally way. I feel horrible about it." Sofiya dropped her eyes in shame as her heart ached from her own actions towards him. Knowing that the aftermath of the battle she was experiencing was nothing compared to what he was going through, what he had been through.
"For a human you are not that bad," Loki teased her, "One of the reasons for this is that you do not let anything stop you from expressing what is going on in that head of yours. By all means, do not stop on my behalf." Sofiya was about to respond when he spoke up again.
"I just need to become desensitized to touch again." Loki was trying to keep his tone light. They both knew there was more than just becoming used to physical contact, it wasn't like Loki had been kept from touch during his time in captivity. Just that he had come to expect something else when touch was involved.
A movement in the corner of her eye caused Sofiya to look down and see the hand that had been resting on the edge of the bed reached out towards her own. Right before making contact, his hand stopped but did not pull back. The moment was so brief Sofiya was not sure if it had even actually happened as he continued to reach forward. Then his fingers wrapped around her right wrist.
The second their skin touched, her lungs took in a gust of air and Sofiya could not help but feel like an inexperienced, naive woman. Loki was an Asgardian god, and yes he was hot as hell but he was so much older than herself and in his eyes, she was probably still a child. Then there was the whole situation, the completely wrong time for her hormones to be wreaking havoc.
"I deserved the slap. Do not fret your mind over it, darling." Sofiya looked up as his voice grew softer as he continued, "I am amazed by how fragile you are, I just hope I never forget it." This time it was Loki that dropped his eyes as he looked at his fingers encasing her wrist.
His hand tugged on hers and she stumbled closer finding herself within an inch from making contact with his knees. Loki brought his other hand up to her right hand. His fingers trailed over hers and she tried to stop her visceral reaction knowing if she did not get a handle on things he would soon be able to sense what was going on in her head, that was if he couldn't already.
Loki watched as his own fingers delicately traced the path of veins in her hand. There was an urge, an urge to trace the pattern of veins all the way up her arm but he contained himself. He also had to put a cap on the other emotions that were stirring just from touching her.
Sighing to himself, a weight on his heart he did not know he was carrying lifted. His bodies reaction to reaching out and touching her was not as bad as the reaction to her reaching out and making contact first. Dark thoughts still swirled in the back of his mind, but they were pushed even further back from all his senses taking in everything he could about her.
His time away from Sofiya had changed him, he wanted to relish in every moment they shared together as he knew they would be few and far between for him. His craving for her was stronger than almost everything. The conditioning of his torture being the only thing that still haunted him when he was focusing on her.
Was he putting too much in her? Too much faith, too much trust? Coming to the conclusion in that moment that he cared not, the comfort of her presence too addicting to push her away. The grumbling of her stomach took him from his thoughts as he looked back up at her eyes with a smile shadowing his lips.
"We can talk while I make you the pancakes I owe you." Standing up he dropped his hands from hers only to bring one of his hands to the small of her back and push her towards her bedroom door.
There was another awkward silence in the kitchen as Loki set about getting ingredients out, Sofiya decided to just break the ice as Loki opened cabinet after cabinet looking for things.
"So, how do you know how to make pancakes?" She had no idea if they were among the common foods on Asgard, but even if they were the recipes had to be different than the pancakes from Earth.
"I looked it up on your computer while I waited for you to come back." His simple casual response brought her to a standstill for an instant.
Sofiya digested his words for a few moments. Loki knew how to use computers, the mental image of him sitting at her desk chair browsing the internet was a weird concept but maybe just because she imagined him with his helmet of horns on. Sofiya chuckled to herself and then felt a nudge at her mind.
"Yes, I can use a computer." The chuckle that followed rumbled through her mind and sent warm shivers through her. His voice was soft and gentle but then transformed into something harder and almost guarded. "Your human technology is outdated and frankly, materialistically wasteful in comparison to what other planets have."
Loki waited seeing if his mention of other planets would trigger negative feelings from her. Before the Battle of New York, he knew that she had been focused on survival and not processing all the information around her, like her planet being weak and vulnerable.
A surge went through her and Sofiya felt the need to get defensive about her planet. It seemed like travel and portals between other worlds was not uncommon. Here Earth was trying to come up with technology with no outside help … her thoughts finally caught up with her new-found knowledge.
SHIELD did know about other planets and beings and they had kept it from the public. There was no telling what else they knew, how ignorant she and the rest of the population had been.
"Speaking of SHIELD, are you working for them now?" Sofiya stilled at his question, he had been following her thoughts.
"You are obviously in my thoughts right now, can you not just find the answers to your question there?"
"I am in your stream of consciousness right now. The mind is very complicated and that is something we can touch on after we eat." Sitting up a little straighter Sofiya was highly anticipating that he might be teaching her something later. The next words Loki spoke were lighter, less guarded. "And even though I could just search your mind for anything I wanted, I like talking to you."
There was something else he was not saying, something he left out of his words. Loki could take advantage of his telekinetic abilities, especially now since his time in captivity had helped him learn to harness his powers in different ways. With Sofiya, dare he say he wanted to go about things the old fashioned way so to speak. His time away from her had brought him to realize just how much he liked their conversing.
"I'm not working with SHIELD. I'm taking refuge with the Avengers, there is a difference. My dad kicked me out of the family, basically said I was tainted from being taken hostage by you. In translation, being connected to me was a liability for his campaigning." She shrugged and Loki stopped pouring batter into the pan to look at her. The look on her face was casual as she wrapped her hands around her cup of coffee but the wave of emotion that hit him from her was anything but casual.
There was pain and loneliness in her emotions. They touched Loki in a way no one else's emotions ever had, suddenly he began to feel anger for the one who caused this sadness in his human. Loki's hand clenched around the batter bowl and the next instant batter sprayed out all over the room.
Sofiya blinked in surprise but then did something that astonished him. She smiled and sent a wave of warm comfort his way. Loki's mouth opened as he took in a gulp of air as the feeling washed over him. He wanted to ask her to do it again, but it was a dangerous thing to fuel an addict, and he had long become one.
"You have been working on your control while I have been away." He forced himself to sound casual and to hide the quiver that threatened to sound in his voice.
That she would want to do that for him, comfort him in ways no one else had was almost too much for him. His whole life he had been taught to hide what affected him the most. If he was to be a good king he needed to become harder and not let his enemies see through him, see what they could use against him. At least that is what Odin had tried to teach him.
But the world that Odin had created for himself, wasn't sustainable. Loki had had time to think about the consequences of Odin adopting him as a trophy. Using everyone around you would lead to your demise, that is the lesson Loki had walked away with. As a child, Odin had molded Loki's natural mischievous nature into a manipulative one. Loki now knew this was because Odin thought he had his unquestioning loyalty,and was molding Loki as a tool to use for Odin's own devices in the future.
The wave of comfort that Sofiya had sent his way was pure with no ulterior motives, it had been enough to stop him in his tracks, make his facade falter. Then again, Sofiya was picking apart his mask layer by layer, and he was letting her. After everything he had been through he had always fought things that tried to get close to him and keep them at a distance. Even Thor, who he once truly believed was his brother, Loki would prank to keep at a distance.
Years of habit told him to push Sofiya away, but instincts were telling him to pull her closer. He wanted to change not for her but for himself. It was problematic, he only knew how to push people away.
"I've been doing what I can," she admitted, "Trying to harness my magic has been exhausting but now it only takes me a couple seconds to create a ball of energy." Loki enjoyed the pride that was in her eyes but it soon turned troubled, "I can only hold it in my hand for around half a minute before it dissolves. When it comes to things involving my mind I've not been very successful. On my own all I've been able to do is meditate and try to get a feel for things. This was the first time I tried acting on it, it's not like there are any people here I can practice telepathy on."
"How do you know you could use telepathy on others, not just me?"
"Sometimes I hear what I think are very loud thoughts from others around me. Sometimes it gives me a headache." Sofiya's shoulders raised for a moment before dropping and then she took a sip of her coffee.
"I constructed a shield that keeps your thoughts private, but I never anticipated you being able to hear the thoughts of others. I shall make adjustments until you can shield against them yourself." While they had been talking Loki had made a sweep of the room magically cleaning up any batter. Three spots remained and he found himself not wanting to use telekinesis to dispose of them.
Walking up to the stool Sofiya sat on, Loki looked down at the woman who even with the advantage of being on a stool taller than her own legs carried her, still had to look up to him to meet his eyes. Dragging in his breath with more force than was necessary, he raised his hand to hover over the spot of batter decorating her forehead. Their skin touched and a jolt went through him. It was filled with memories of pain but sprinkled with the sensation of velvet skin under his thumb.
Sofiya definitely needed to see a doctor, her heart was in jeopardy of stopping at this point. A tug came from what she recognized as her chest, but this time she was unable to contain it.
As his finger lifted from her skin Loki saw the imprint of gold left underneath, pulsing with the pump of her heart, a corner of his mouth threatened to lift. Fascination overtook him for a moment as he thought about the meaning. In his younger days, he had always worried about his magic betraying his emotions, just like Sofiya's was. Those with more training could have faked the reaction, but she was not.
There was a stirring deep in his stomach but he pushed it away. Loki could not give her what she wanted.
This was not the first time he had touched her and gotten this reaction. Though the first time it had not hit him as hard, he was not unaware that he had the same beauty that was common among other Asgardian males. It humbled Loki that after all the dark acts Sofiya had seen him commit that her soul of pure light still found him attractive. Most would only see him as ugly after what he had done.
"You need to learn to control your emotions better, the magic in you will feed off of them and give away what you are feeling if you are not careful." He said as he wiped the second spot off her nose and left another trail of gold. Loki was so close he could feel the heat coming off her body and he had to stop himself from taking a step closer. "Human men can be dogs, you do not want them, with a single touch, knowing you find them attractive."
Sofiya wanted to hide her face, hide the feelings that were played across the planes of her face. But there was no turning back time and he had already seen through her. Loki was not backing down and neither would she.
"And what about Asgardian men?" Sofiya's voice was shy velvet to his ears, even though she challenged him. Her eyes were anything but shy. This time the corner of his mouth did draw up, she would never cease to surprise or intrigue him.
"They would take it as a gift." He answered as he wiped the last smudge from under her lip before continuing, "Though as you are human, they would not act on it."
And he did, take it as a gift that is. Every form of unconditional acceptance from her was like a drug to him.
"Great, then I never have to worry about you taking advantage of me!" Her voice turned chipper and she sat up straighter, Loki tightened his eyes as he looked at her and tried to figure out what she was planning.
"Jarvis?" Sofiya turned her head and asked.
"Yes, Miss Marshall?" The autonomous system answered.
"Can you put in a pizza order for me?" Sofiya's eyes cut to Loki's for a moment before she looked away again.
"Of course, what would you like?"
"One cheese pizza and-" Sofiya turned back and looked at Loki expectantly.
"The same as you." He answered smoothly.
"Yeah, but how much do you eat?" Sofiya held her arms out in front of her in a circle. "Pizza's are like this big, do you need more than one?"
"One will be fine, I can share yours if needed." Loki did not want to inconvenience her.
"How do you know I won't eat a whole pizza myself?" Her eyes challenged his.
"Are you forgetting that I took you hostage, my dear? I have observed your habits."
"Hum, how daft of me for forgetting such a trivial event." Sofiya teased as she rolled her eyes and Loki found something pulling at his stomach as she flashed him an uninhibited grin in his direction.
Asking him more questions she finished up their order also asking Jarvis to order Natasha's favorite as well. The woman that had taken up root outside Sofiya's door had only crossed his mind once. Loki did not see her as a threat and saw no reason to concern himself with monitoring her.
A chuckle threatened to leave her lips, the world could come close to ending and you could still order a pizza. After Javis assured her that someone from security would deliver her order to her door, she swiveled on her stool and turned to face Loki, her knees brushing Loki's stomach as she did. This time his cringe was less noticeable, but it still there. Her heart ached for him. He took her cue and backed up a couple of steps.
Jumping off the chair she turned to Loki for one moment. Loki was still recovering from her touch.
"So help me - if you don't act like the perfect gentleman to her and live up to the good reputation I have been trying to give you - I'm going to withhold your pizza from you." With that, she turned and headed towards her front door. Swinging it open she looked down and saw Natasha slam her laptop shut and jump to her feet.
"What did he do?" Natasha's voice was crisp with judgment.
"Nothing besides ruining my pancakes," Sofiya answered casually and crossed her arms before adding, "Again."
"Oh?" Natasha asked clearly wanting more details on the first time Loki had ruined her pancakes.
"Yup. I need you to open the alcohol cabinet Tony locked me out of." Sofiya was trying to act normal but the sound of her blood running through her veins threatened to overtake the auditory part of her brain.
"Technically, you are underage," Natasha answered and glared.
"In America, not Russia. And since you're technically Russian." Sofiya drawled off knowing that they were not talking about opening the cabinet any more but spending time with Loki.
"No."
"Natasha I'm harboring an international fugitive, I need a drink." Sofiyas nerves were on edge, being around Loki alone for so long made her itch, but not in a bad way.
"Good enough." Following her into the apartment Natasha walked to the counter and set her laptop down ignoring Loki before she walked to the alcohol cabinet.
Loki's eyes cut to the laptop.
"Don't even think about it." Sofiya breathed through his thoughts.
"Natasha this is Loki, Loki this is Natasha." How comical his human was, Loki smiled and tried to look non threatening as Natasha's head turned to him and she gave him a once over, no doubt looking for weapons.
"We've met," Natasha answered sharply before turning back to the cabinet, Sofiya turned to eye him making sure he would continue to play nice.
"Would you like to stay and have pizza with us?" Sofiya's mouth opened in an o-shape as she looked between Natasha and Loki. Loki was behaving much better than she could have ever imagined, he was behaving too well. Sofiya's suspicions rose.
The only human he wanted around was Sofiya but if she wished for this other human's company, he was not going to push Natasha away.
"I don't trust you." Natasha answered flatley.
"All the more reason to stay. You do not want me taking advantage of a woman as she indulges in drinking."
"Don't talk like that! We are trying to get her to trust you." There was frustration in Sofiya's voice.
"Correction, you are trying to get her to trust me, I could not care less, darling vexy." Loki turned to watch Sofiya's expression as she scolded him.
"If you two are done flirting telepathically, then I'll make our drinks." Loki saw as Sofiya's jaw went slack, she had obviously not told about their telepathic link, but he had not exactly been hiding it either.
Sofiya went to get three glasses out of the cabinet and without even glancing at the objects Loki filled them with ice. His reward was hearing the soft 'oh' fall from her lips.
"Thanks."
Her responses enough to spur his civility on.
"Did you two have a productive day?" He figured if he referred to both of them he was less likely to get a response with an insult directed at him from Natasha.
Natahsa brought a bottle to the counter and got something out of the refrigerator, Sofiya tuned to glance over her shoulder at him as Natasha worked on the drinks.
"Yes." Sofiya clipped out before Natasha could answer.
"I took a guess and made your drink strong." Natasha voiced and turned to lean against the counter holding two drinks, one she held out to him. Loki took it making sure not to brush her fingers.
Unmeaningful conversation continued but Sofiya was just happy that the two were not trying to kill each other. They were now seated in her living room space, Natasha in a separate chair, Loki and herself on either end of the Sofa.
Suddenly Loki stiffened for a moment before relaxing against the sofa again. His eyes lazily catching hers and she caught the devious look in his eyes.
The next second the door burst open and Thor burst through carrying his hammer in one hand and pizza's in the other. She watched as his expression started out as one of friendlinesses, as he probably hoped by carrying the pizza up to her apartment he would be invited to feast. As much as Loki hated humans, Thor loved them.
Eyes glancing at Loki to see him smile welcomingly but his eyes were anything but, she then watched as emotions played over Thor's face. First surprise, then anger as his brows rose. All hell broke loose.
Natasha was on her feet in an instant, Thor threw the pizza's as he raised his hammer and charged at Loki.
Sofiya sprung up, jumping between the two brothers almost to late as Thor was suddenly right in front of her, and then he wasn't. An invisible force had slammed him through her wall and into the hallway. Damn, her walls were enforced with a two inch thick steel.
Thor wasted no time getting to his feet and facing Sofiya again but his eyes were above her head meeting Loki's eyes.
"Stop! And I thought Loki was the one I needed to worry about." She shook her head but saw that Thor was swinging his hammer. "No, no, no, no." She stomped up to Thor stepping through the rubble of her wall to dig a finger into his chest. Thor's eyes were still focused on Loki and his hammer was still swinging as he ignored her. Thor swiped her hand away, his reigned in strength still enough to threaten her balance. Sofiya lost her breath as pain radiated up her shoulder from her arm.
A flash or green and Sofiya found herself flush against Loki's back as he inserted himself between her and Thor. One of his hands reached back and settled on her hip to make sure she did not fall back.
"Don't touch her." Loki's voice was calm but contained a dangerous edge to it.
"Brother, do not pretend. You just tried to enslave humanity and you think I will believe you are concerned about a human."
"Sofiya, got any popcorn?" Natasha asked and Sofiya looked to see she was on the counter garnishing a drink she had made before she took a sip. Sofiya had to get control of this situation before it got too out of hand.
Clutching her wrist Sofiya stepped out of Loki's touch and moved so she could view both Asguardian men. About to speak, Sofiya paused, suddenly feeling a warm searching energy over her arm and her attention was brought to Loki as she felt a heat against her skin coming from him, his jaw tightened and in a blink his hands were wielding a dagger.
"Loki." Sofiya's voice was low as she asked for his attention.
Eyes never leaving Thor's Loki answered her, "He hurt you."
"And you can heal it easily, it is not a big deal." She attempted to calm him before blood was spilled.
"Brother-" Loki interrupted Thor.
"Do not call me that."
"You would challenge me in defense of this woman?" Thor continued speaking as if he had not been interrupted. The brothers faced off, Loki towering over Thor a handful of inches taller than the dirty blond.
Sofiya watched as a muscle in Loki's jaw twitched and the brothers were locked in a silent conversation. Sofiya reached out with her now healed arm and gently pulled on his shirt, Loki impossibly tensed even more. Thor's eyes glanced down at Sofiya's hand before he locked eyes with Loki again. A moment later and Thor set his hammer down on the ground and bowed his head slightly to Loki who continued to darkly watch Thor as he tuned to face Sofiya.
"Sofiya, please accept my apology for harming you. It was not my intention. Knowing the difference in our strength I never should have touched you in anger, even when it was directed at someone else." Thor's eyes had softened but his shoulders were still tense and Sofiya got the impression that her acceptance or denial of the apology determined Loki's next move.
"I understand, Loki here has reminded me several times how easy it is for your kind to hurt humans." Sofiya unclenched her hands from Loki's shirt and slowly stretched her fingers against his side, feeling just how tense his torso was through the shirt. She also felt the twitch of his muscles under her hand.
"I also apologize for your wall. I would stay and help you clean up," Thor's eyes glanced at Loki's, "But I think that I have overstayed my welcome." Thor turned toward his brother, "Will you be here tomorrow?"
Loki was silent for a moment before he answered, "Tomorrow I will be training Sofiya." Thor nodded.
"We will talk at some point my brother." Sofiya watched as Thor left and then turned to Loki. Before she could say anything Natasha walked through Sofiya's apartment door and into the hallway, still carrying her drink.
"Well, I think that's about all the excitement I can handle in one day. I'll leave you two be." Natasha said already walking toward the elevator.
Raising her drink toward Sofiya, "I'll bring this back tomorrow." Once Natasha was gone, Sofiya once again turned to Loki. Their eyes met and she saw him exhale before he held a dagger clad hand in front of him, motioning for her to step through the Thor sized hole in her wall first.
A hand on her back steadied her as she stepped through. Turning back she glanced at him, "You're cleaning this up, right?" His response was to nod.
"I'll get the pizza, you get the wall." Sofiya's nerves were fried, her focus shredded, her emotions overwhelming.
She did not even remember cleaning up half the pizza mess, until she was brought back to reality by a hand covering hers. The brief touch grounded her and she looked down at his hand over hers. Her skin was gold, looking at her other hand she saw the same. The now familiar golden hue coming from under her skin was just another reminder of the troubles she had experienced. There was simply nothing left, she couldn't hold it back anymore.
"Go sit down, I'll clean the rest." Taking her leave, Sofiya managed to make it to the sofa before she collapsed with her head in her hands. Her thoughts were racing, she could not focus on a single thought anymore.
There was a rustling of fabric as the couch dipped beside her. Closing her eyes she moved closer to him, felt the jolt that went through him at their first contact but Loki didn't push her away.
Curling up against his side she gauged his response. She could feel his steady breaths as his chest contracted and expanded again and again. Sofiya had never been happier that someone was comfortable. If he had shown any sign of being anything else she would have hated it but moved away from him.
His body was hard as stone but malleable under her fingertips as she laid a hand on his stomach. Trying not to think about the lines she could feel through his shirt, letting her know just how much lean muscle he had, Sofiya nudged him backward. Of course, she did not have the strength to move him, but Loki got the message laying his back into the couch.
Slowly, Sofiya followed, putting her weight on the hand on his chest as she adjusted and brought her knees up turning herself to face him in the process. Getting more comfortable she laid her legs across his lap settling her feet down on the other side of his thighs, so she could still hug her knees to her chest.
One of Loki's arms wrapped around her back and pulled her closer, giving her the comfort she needed. His other hand grabbed on to her barefoot and after a moment of hesitation, he began to rub his thumb into the arch of her foot.
As Loki sat with the human woman in his arms, he focused on being gentle enough for her. Realizing then that he had put so much effort into showing her that he could be gentle, and Thor had almost ruined that in an instant. Even as he thought back to that moment now that she was safe in his arms, it still angered him. The irony that his brother, the gentle giant had been the one to harm Sofiya, and not Loki, the savage and brutal frost giant was almost enough to make him laugh darkly.
He had been worried that she would withdraw from him after Thor's actions, any average sane human would. But then again, Sofiya was anything but average. Loki was just grateful that what she had been through had not changed her. Before coming back to her he had been worried that she would have thought of him different and not accepted him anymore, but now as she laid in his arms his heart let that weight go for the present moment.
Her emotions had been kept in a tight box over the last week. Avoiding sleep had been easy, there was so much to do between setting up her new apartment and cleaning up New York Sofiya guessed she had only gotten a handful of hours sleep since the battle.
The first sob was nearly silent but she knew Loki had heard. The tears came and Sofiya lacked the ability to stop them. The hand on her foot moved to wrap around her knees.
"I'm sorry." She choked out and Loki just shushed her.
"Do not apologize for this. You have been through more than most humans go through in a lifetime."
"Sometimes I like it better when you are an asshole." Sofiya tried to chuckle but it came out as a choke. Through her tears, she looked up at him. The lines of his face had relaxed from earlier and he was just watching her.
The last time she had cried in front of her mother, she had shushed Sofiya and told her that she was weak and needed to dry it up. When Natasha and Sofiya had gone to talk to her parents, her mother had just sat back and let her father make the decisions. Nodding and backing him up when appropriate, never standing up for Sofiya, her own daughter. Her parents were perfect for each other, always looking at things in a way to determine what strategy was best for his campaign.
"My father attempted to bribe Natasha a couple million to take me off his hands, said that I was tainted now." Watching his expression trying to determine his reaction Sofiya waited.
"My father abandoned me too." Loki responded quietly and if she had been anywhere else in the room she would have not been able to make out his words.
"Odin?" Sofiya racked her brain, trying to remember what Loki and Thor had argued about after Loki had dragged her out of the plane.
"The records on Earth are lacking." Loki looked away from her and she could feel he was reluctant to answer as his shoulders tensed around her.
Loki had to look away from her, the softness in her eyes almost too much for him. No one had looked at him like that but his mother. His memories were in pieces all screwed up, but at one time Loki believed he had trusted his mother.
"Loki?" Her voice called him out of his thoughts.
The Watcher had said to trust her, and Loki did to a certain extent. But he needed someone to talk to and work through his memories and thoughts with, someone to confide in. Sofiya was the only one that had so far accepted him unconditionally and if he was going to let anyone in, it would be her.
As always, thank you for reading and please review. The more of you that review the faster I will be at writing chapter 15, since I only have less than 1k of it written.