Chapter 24
We wandered around a bit and found ourselves sitting on a hill watching the sunset. A crisp breeze sprang up and he put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer to him. I leaned my head on his shoulder and we sat in silence watching the last rays of sun disappear below the horizon. I shivered slightly and he looked down at me,
"Do you want to go back home?" I nodded. He stood up and held out his hand, I took it and he gently pulled me to my feet. The next thing I knew we were standing in his room in the same position as we were in three seconds ago. I walked over to the bed and sat down, taking my boots off. Loki stepped over the puzzle that was still on the floor and sat down in the spot he was in yesterday. I slid off the bed and sat down across from him. We chatted casually about our favourite Disney characters and movies and such as we continued our puzzle from the last day. I told him that one of my favourite Disney 'princesses' was Mulan because of her strong personality,
"Most female Disney characters always seem to be so delicate and petite, but Mulan just shows such a strong character..." Loki nodded and agreed wholly with me. He looked up from the puzzle for a second to ask,
"Hey, do you want to watch that movie tonight?" I snapped my head up to gaze at him excitedly,
"I would love too!" He smiled and focused back on assembling Cinderella's dress. I fit another piece of Ariel's tail together and questioned, "Who's your favourite Disney character?" He grinned inwardly and said,
"I really, really like Scar from The Lion King." I laughed loudly and looked up at him,
"Oh, that is SO you!" He glared up at me,
"Oh? In what way?" I grinned and retorted,
"The god of mischief, trickery and lies. A beautiful mane of long black hair. How could Scar not be you?" His gaze softened and he grinned,
"Wow. I never thought of it like that." He flipped his hair and I laughed harder. We continued in a focused silence for a while when I began to think,
"Hey, don't you think that the Lion King is kind of like Hamlet?" Loki was quiet for a bit before saying,
"Yeah. Yeah, it kind of is isn't it?" I nodded,
"Yea. Timon and Pumbaa could be Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Scar is the Uncle, Mufasa is obviously the king, Simba is Hamlet etc." He nodded,
"Wow, I never thought about it like that. It's a really cool theory." I smiled,
"Thank you." We returned to our puzzle and we added our separate parts into the bigger picture. So far we had completed the frame, Cinderella, Ariel and part of the little forest animals on the ground. I took in a deep breath, straightened up and felt by back crack in several different places and let out the breath. I stood up, "I'm hungry, do you want me to make us some pasta or something?" Loki hopped up and said,
"Sure. I'll help you." I snickered and walked over to the kitchen, with him trailing behind me. I scanned the kitchen, checking in some of the cupboards,
"Do you have any cookbooks around here?" Loki's eyes widened and he started to talk very fast,
"Uuuhhhh, no. But I'm sure I can find one." I smiled and said,
"No, it's alright I just..." I didn't even get to finish my sentence before he had disappeared into thin air. I sighed and pulled a good sized pot from under the counter and placed it on the stovetop. I was searching around for some kind of pasta when Loki reappeared, making me jump, with a large cookbook titled 'The Joy of Cooking.' I turned and took the book from him, setting it on the counter. Flipping to the index and looking at some of the pasta recipes, I saw one titled 'Mediterranean pasta salad.' I flipped to the page number it was listed on and briefly scanned the ingredients. I nudged Loki, "What do you think of this?" He peered over my shoulder at the recipe and nodded,
"That looks delicious!" I grinned,
"Excellent! Let's get started then shall we?" I pulled the vegetables we needed from out of the fridge and placed them on a cutting board. I pulled out a knife and handed it to Loki, "Could you chop these up for me?" He stared at me with wide eyes,
"I... uh. I've never... I don't... It might not be a good idea..." I rolled my eyes at him,
"Oh, you'll be fine. Do you want me to show you how to start?" He nodded sheepishly. I grinned and took the onion, "Ok so, the onion is the hardest because you have to peel it and dice it and sometimes it will make your eyes water." He looked at me with curiosity,
"Why will they make your eyes water? Are they poisonous or something?" I laughed,
"No, they aren't poisonous. It's just that onions are an acidic food and when you cut them the acids from the onion mix with the chemicals in your eyes and create tears." He stared at me open mouthed,
"How... did you know that?" I shrugged and turned back to the cutting board, "I just like cooking and I'm curious as to why things happen." I peeled off the first layer of skin on the onion and cut it in half. I looked up at Loki to make sure he was watching, when I saw that he was peering over my shoulder, watching me intently I started off, "So, first of all we're only going to use half the onion and it's easier to work on a flat surface instead of a round one..." I continued to show Loki how to chop the onion and let him try after I was done explaining. He did a lot better than I had expected for a guy who had probably never cooked in his life. I told him to chop the green pepper a little less finely and just cut the black olives into slices. Once he was off cutting up vegetables, I boiled a pot of water and put the pasta in, mixed up the dressing and found a big enough bowl to put it in. I went to check on Loki, just to make sure he hadn't cut off his finger or anything. He seemed to be doing fine and was almost done, so I drained the pasta and put it in the bowl. I took the feta cheese and crumbled it onto the cooled pasta. Loki called me over to see if he was done, "Looks great babe! Great work." He beamed proudly and I scraped the cut vegetables into the bowl with the pasta and cheese. Finally I poured in the dressing and mixed it all together with some salad utensils. Loki grabbed some bowls from a cupboard and I scooped some out for both of us, "Movie?" He nodded and we both headed over to the bed. We both sat down and he flicked on the TV and we started Mulan. We ate and Loki kept complimenting my cooking skills. I just laughed and insisted that he did most of the work. I got us both second helpings and settled down next to Loki and enjoyed the movie. It was my turn to sing along to every song and Loki looked impressed. When the movie had finished I took our bowls to the kitchen and put them in the sink. I walked back around the corner and Loki was lying on the bed with his hand clasped behind his head, just staring up at the ceiling. I walked over and sat on the edge of the bed and ran a hand across his forehead and said quietly, "Tell them you're alive." He sat up and looked over at me with wide, almost scared eyes,
"WHAT?! No, I can't do that!" I looked him in the eyes and begged,
"Please Loki. I miss them. I miss the outdoors, the fresh air, the breeze on my face. I miss my freedom. It's not that I don't like being here, with you, it's just... I feel like I'm a prisoner here." I looked away and focused on the unfinished puzzle. He was silent for a long time before sighing deeply and saying,
"Fine. I'll tell them." I looked up at Loki, delight and pure happiness evident in my face. I threw my arms around him and said into his neck,
"Oh thank you Loki!" He patted my back,
"You're welcome, love." He pulled me away with two firm hands on my shoulders, "I'm only doing this for you because I don't ever want to lose you and I don't want you to feel like I'm keeping you prisoner." I gave him a small smile,
"Thank you. I love you more than anything in the whole world and I want you to know that I would never leave you." He smiled and our lips met in a whirl of happiness and feeling. I put my hand on his cheek and pulled him closer, he placed his hand on the back of my head deepened the kiss. I pulled away for breath and said quietly, "I'm going to go get ready for bed." He smiled and nodded, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and went to brush my teeth and get into pajamas. I found a hairbrush and a hair tie and braided my hair into a French braid that rested between my shoulder blades. I yawned and walked back into the bedroom. I slid into the bed beside Loki and smiled tiredly at him, "Thank you so much for everything." He just brushed his thumb against my cheek and smiled lovingly,
"And thank you for everything you've done for me." I looked at him drowsily and murmured,
"But I haven't do-" He cut me off by pressing a soft finger against my lips,
"You've done more than you know." I smiled, and unable to keep my eyes open any longer, I let myself be embraced into Loki's strong arms and drop off to sleep.