A/N: Hey, everyone! I'm sorry it's been so long, I haven't had much of a chance to write with competition and class (and an acute case of WB (writer's block) ) But, a jolt on inspiration and an all-night writing binge gave birth to this little beaut (Well, you guys will have to tell me whether you like it or not, I'm not a very confident person) I hope you all enjoy it!
The night before had been quite enjoyable, Steven having cooked a quaint lasagna to share with his team that tasted way more than merely quaint. Afterwards, the "super friends" as Happy had nicknamed them after a while, had managed to just sit and enjoy each other's company, making conversation till the early morning where Loki had picked her up bridal style and announced that he and his pupil had another long day ahead of them.
Everyone had murmured a fond goodnight to the begrudgingly squirming Avenger as the changed man who had slowly stolen her heart lovingly carried her off. "Loki, I'm not-" she was cut off by a loving murmur of a song she couldn't recognize.
"Himmelen er mørk og åsene er hvite. Som stormen-kongen hastigheter fra nord i natt; Og dette er sangen stormen-kongen synger, Som over hele verden kappen han slenger:"Søvn, søvn, lille, søvn;"Han rasler sine vinger og barsk synger: "Søvn, lille, søvn." His eyes sparkled lovingly as he sang to her, allowing, her to wrap her arms around his neck and nuzzle into his chest.
Jessica was lulled into a pleasant sleep before Loki had even stepped off the elevator.
** linnnneeee break**
The morning that came was much more pleasant than the one before, including being able to sleep in a bit later. The lazy Saturday morning began when the young mutant realized that her pillow rose and fell with her breaths. Blue eyes fluttered open a few moments before she smiled gently, watching the lanky body of her lover from the abdomen down relax in sleep, the odd twitch here and there. His feet and ankles were exposed, most of the green sheets curled around her and his upper body.
Wait... Jesus, if he changed the color of my sheets- wait... My walls aren't green too...
Her head lifted cautiously off of his chest to look around, finding that she was, in fact, not in her room. The furniture was set along emerald green walls in a dark brown wood grain, almost black, with gilded knobs on the drawers. The light streamed in slightly, but blocked as if by almost sheer curtains.
Loki, though, looked at absolute peace in his sleep. Jessica could feel his hand at her mid back, and would not dare to move, lest she disturb the gentle, but genuine smile playing on his lips. His eyes darted under his eyelids in a dream cycle, lips parting as he murmured her name and curling up a bit more in a larger smile. His broad, bare chest rose and fell slowly, allowing her a clear view of his relaxation, alabaster skin glowing faintly in the warm, morning sunlight.
Oh, I hate to do this... But I just have to! He's so beautiful!
Tremblingly nervous hands slowly began to stroke his hair, leaning close to him in loving adoration as she began to sing, softly. "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine; you make me happy when skies are grey. You'll never know, dear, how much I love you, please don't take my sunshine away."
He moaned slightly in his wakening as his eyes fluttered open, glistening like jewels as they met her's, and he smiled broader, wrapping his arms tighter around her waist.
Their foreheads pressed gently together as the song continued. "The other night, dear, while I was sleeping, I dreamt I held you in my arms. When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken, so I hung my head and cried."
The godling chuckled at this verse. "And now, my love, you have me." His lips pressed gently to her nose and he beamed, whispering. "And you will never lose me."
The next chorus came in a beautiful harmony of both of their voices, only being interrupted by a soft rap at the door on the very last note. Loki furrowed his brows, not sure of the person upon the other side of the door. Helping his- still fully clothed- girlfriend to sit up, he wrapped a protective and slightly possessive arm around her shoulders and called for the voice to enter.
A sleep mussed Thor opened the door, to both of their surprise. Jessica stood up and approached him in worry as he whispered to them "Your voices intertwine perfectly, as if following the roots of Yggdrasil in their delicate knots and braids."
He's using an inside voice. Scratch that, he's WHISPERING. Who died? What happened? Is he sick? Is-
"Thor," the dwarfed brunette asked as she approached the shirtless god, his pants wrinkled and body covered in fading goosebumps, most likely from the exposure to cold after exiting the warmth of his mattress. She began to check him over. "Baby, are you okay?"
The elder brother smiled and ran a gentle hand through the long brown locks that framed the young agent's face, stroking her cheek gently as a sleepy smile spread across his features. "Merely tired, young one. After you and my dear brother had left, we spoke well into the morning, and I spoke with the lovely Lady Jane across the line of telephones long after that."
Before Jessi could even speak through her blush and sweet, pitying smile, Loki had crossed the room; the fires of jealousy burning viciously in his eyes as he possessively, yet ever so gently grasped her shoulders. As Thor took the hint to drop his hand, he nuzzled into her neck and looked up at his adoptive brother, not allowing Jessica to see the look on his face. "Maybe you should return to sleep, Thor, the rest would do you some good."
Thor nodded tiredly and left the room without a word afterwards, warranting the female to turn and look to her boyfriend in disappointment. "That was unnecessary, Loki, he was just being kind." Slowly pulling away from him, she exited to the next room, hoping to apologize.
When she finally returned, everything being brushed off with amazing understanding and Thor's humble sleep over taking him once again, she found the Godling slouched at the end of the bed. His head was held between long slender fingers in obvious shame as his breathing seemed forced, calm, but slowly morphing into more. Upon her approach, terrified of what she may have done unintentionally, he whispered. "Please, my Valkyrie, do not be cross with me. I am so used to being shadowed- to being used to get to my brother- even for Thor to outright steal the heart of any maiden I may have had my eyes on, I have been blinded to his many acts of mere fondness that he often shows. You- you are different than any other woman I have ever had an interest in. I cannot quite explain my thoughts on the matter, but you are special," Emerald eyes pleaded for forgiveness, glistening in almost weakness at the threat of losing her.
H-he can't be serious... C-can he? Can I really make him so weak?
"Jessica Wade, of all the sacrifices I am willing to make, I cannot lose you. Please, please forgive me."
Jessica sat next to him and cupped his face in her hands, insuring that he would look at her. "Loki, I sit here next to you for a very well-known reason, and that reason is that I love you. I love my entire team, but I am IN love with you. You stole my heart from the very shadows you speak of, luring me with your mystery and trapping me with the truth about you. I will never leave you, Loki. And, though, I do admit that your brother is extremely attractive," The young sorceresses smiled brightly as she gestured to the man in front of her. "I'm more of a tall, thin, dark, handsome, magical, kind, mischievous... Loki type girl."
The Godling's eyes slowly brightened and he smiled softly, slowly realizing how she felt, and kissed her gently, his fingers slowly tracing her cheeks as he repeated through the mind link. "All mine, forever mine, she loves me and she is mine!" Ecstatically, as if was the only thing that mattered in this world.
*** (^_^) ***
By the time 1:30 had rolled around, they had decided to move into the living room and begin the lesson, as to not disturb the slumbering god in the next ro. The sound of a bear with bronchitis echoed down the hall, from the crack of space beneath his door. . For now, they sat, both dressed now, Jessi in her jeans and grey v-neck from the night before, and Loki in the dark green button down that she had seen him wear at the café, so many weeks ago.
"Since the lesson from yesterday is still fresh in your mind, I have decided to refine it- as you wished originally-" He chuckled and nudged her gently with his elbow, earning a slightly embarrassed smile from his apprentice. "We will be increasing the difficulty of the lesson so that you may learn to create an object, rather than to paint a picture."
Silently, Jessi nodded, standing up slowly and stretching a bit. "Where do we begin?" Her response came as a clouded rumble from her throat, clearing it and repeating her question so that it would be understood easier.
A mischievous smile formed again in gentle green eyes. "Listen to you, as eager to learn as any. You sound strikingly like me with those words."
The apprentice snorted in reply "We could make a movie and have that line in the trailer. The suspense would simply do the world in!"
A chuff of laughter was heard from thin lips, muttering to himself about "Ah, yes, this is where I have laid my affections." As he stood and crossed the room towards her.
"What was that?"
"I was merely admiring your cleverness in my own introspective way, love. Let us begin with creating another landscape." He turned her away from the large wall-like window near the television and led her down a separate hallway, towards the elevator that would take them back to the gym.
Mmhmm, okay, Loki.
Upon entering the gym, after a quick ride down the elevator, he led her back to the room they had been in the day before, the Godling turned back to her. "Today, I am going to instruct you of a place to imagine, instead of giving you more of a freedom. Then, we will decide what to focus on and narrow down the illusion to demonstrate the feeling."
"So," Jessica began. "After I'm exposed to the cause I can use it to recreate the effect?"
"Very clever, love." Though, as she took a breath to thank him, he continued. "Today, you will duplicate-" he paused as he actually pondered his choice. "A plaza at the school you attended for your powers."
"Xavier's School?" A nod in the affirmative. "Um... Well, there's an area in the back with a small decorative pool and statues?"
"That will suffice for the purpose."
"You sound like a robot, lord have mercy." She muttered, much like he had done several minutes prior.
"What was that?"
"Just admiring your incredibly sexy voice in my own introspective way, bab- damn it! I really need to come up with a nickname for you. Like, a trademark one that only I can call you." The young woman gaped as he rolled his eyes and turned to the task he had laid at her feet.
Slowly, the scene tattooed itself to the air surrounding them from the transfer paper of her eyelids. The greenery of a large garden-like field at the edge of a small wood appeared as a peripheral wallpaper behind the image of the area the young sorceress knew so well, lightly weathered statues of people, most likely modeled after students, walking along the bushes lining a few of the pathways, many with books or papers in their arms as they seemed to speak to each other in a gentle fashion. The pathways leading to the gardens where cobblestone, worn from several generations worth of mutants putting them to good use, a more cemented look surrounding the rectangular pond that seemed to have been cut like a cookie from dough, a small spout caused a fountain of water to spray about two feet in the air, keeping the water flowing.
Loki took in a deep breath, as if her illusion could bring in every sense that a place could offer, before he turned halfway back to her and pointed to a statue of a young couple walking together. The girl seemed to have been laughing heartily as the male told a story, his face once having been clearly in the middle of a word with the quirk of a smile on his lips. But, as time took its toll, their expressions slowly became dulled as their stone surfaces weathered. The books hugged to the female's chest seemed strangely clearer than the rest of the statue, including the flowing 50's style skirt she wore and the bulge of one of the young man's hands stuffed into his pocket as his other gestured to the distance.
"This is our point of focus. I want you to slowly erase everything but this statue." His apprentice nodded silently as he walked behind her and placed a set of slender fingers to curl around her right shoulder.
The tattoo of air was slowly washed away, erasing as if watercolor paint as it blurred, like drops of excess water smudging the ink, before disappearing completely until, after a few minutes, only the statue remained.
Loki gestured over her opposite shoulder to drop the image and she obeyed, leaning into him as she blinked the strange sensation of casting such a focused illusion away. "What did it feel like?" He murmured to her as she turned towards him once again.
"It felt like my vision was tunneling... But I could still see everything. It was so weird! I'm kind of dizzy now too, but I'm okay." Jessica looked up at him and smiled as he stroked her cheek fondly.
Her mentor gently turned her back to her original position and whispered "Now, recreate that same sensation and show me the statue again, without the process of melting away the scenery."
The young agent silently took a deep, steadying breath into her lungs and bit her lips harshly in thought, the statue taking a few moments to appear in front of them once again, surprising her with her success.
Loki crossed in front of her, walking towards the object and behind it, chuckling to himself to see the figure was two dimensional. "Let us take another step towards progress. I want you to remember all of the sides of the statue, all the times you passed it, sat near it, studied it, or even merely glanced at it. Put all of those fragmented memories together to form all sides of the statue."
The grip on her lip tightened and she threatened to shut her eyes as she squinted in thought, the object expanding into the third dimension as if it was a shaped balloon, being filled with air from the pump that was her sheer will and memory. A glimpse of the energy that drained from her shone in her eyes, almost invisible in to him from the distance between them.
He glanced over at her, an almost nervous, contemplating look leaking from his eyes across his face as he considered an idea. "Make it real. Temporarily allow me to feel it."
Blue eyes skyrocketed open to the size of saucers, flicking away from her creation a moment to look at him in disbelief.
But- I mean- that's impossible! It's only an illusion, right?
"Jessica, I know what you are thinking. Your self-doubt is horribly strong and I know that you think it undo-able, but I have been able to do it on a short term basis for centuries and the potential I see in you has outdone that of which I have felt for many of the great magic practitioners of Asgard. As it is so important to remind yourself, especially with your branch of magic, with no spells to help trigger the effect, you and I have a similar situation. Your magic will only work if you believe it will." She began to shake her head to make a rebuttal but his kind voice continued in his pep-talk monologue as he stuck out his hand to place it on the arm of the male. "I believe in you, Jessica, and I am the type of person who, much to my mother's discontent, will not hesitate to tell you when you cannot do something. But you, love, you are one of the few that can."
The Little Engine That Could...
"I-think-I-can! I-think-I-can! I-think-I-can!" She whispered breathily, tired but with the same faith the steam engine in the children's book had. The energy was draining her system quickly, but her words ruled her will, slowly allowing her lover to press his hand onto pale white, weathered stone.
"Eh-he!" Loki laughed in prideful joy running his hands and slowly leaning into the statue. "Jessica, my love, you have done it! Beyond the progress of a beginner and-" But, his complements where interrupted as the entire image fell away into nothing, causing him to stumble forwards into empty space. "Alright, that was completely uncalled for, Jessi-"
Her already pale features had bleached themselves out slightly, her use of energy to such great lengths debilitating her completely as she stumbled slightly, her hands flying to her face to rub her eyes. eHer "I-I-I'm sorry, Loki, I just couldn't-" Her exhaustion was justified as she began to fall backwards, but strong slender arms scooped her up before she could go very far.
The initial annoyance in his eyes had been replaced by a gentle, worried kindness as he smiled down at her. Cold lips pressed to her forehead before he whispered. "I couldn't just stand and watch you pass out... I remember how much you hate to fall."
A tired hand extended from her arm to smack his shoulder, but I'm the end wrapped itself around his neck. "I-thought-I-could! I-thought-I-could! I-thought-I-could!" She finished, just as she had started with a quote from The Little Engine That Could, smiling proudlyas she slipped into unconsciousness, a much more worked up version of the night before.
** uwu **
Agent Wade woke up once again from her exhaustion induced nap a few hours later, in the same bed that she had woken in hours before. Loki's. She realized, now, how prominent his smell was upon the sheets that surrounded her as well as the pillow beneath her head, comforting in a familiar way.
Kicking off the warm green covers to stand herself in the cool air of the bedroom, she padded to the cracked open door to see Loki standing in the living room with someone else. Normally this wouldn't have stopped her, until she heard the conversation at hand.
"Please, I can access her to teach at a much easier rate when I am here."
"Laufeyson, the repairs on your apartment barely took two days with S.H.I.E.L.D resources. Let alone this long." The voice could only belong to one, Nicholas Fury. And, he did not seem amused, more exasperated to her halfhearted amusement, it would have made her laugh, if she hadn't been so wrapped in the meaning of the conversation.
"Director, please. I know that you have come to tell me to return, but I ask for one more day, please. I require time- to let her know that I must leave. Time to pack." His voice sounded as if he was pleading, uncharacteristically desperate for such a proud man as he was driven to his last resorts.
The director sighed and she could see him cross the room to the short elevator hall. "Alright, Loki, one more day. You say your goodbyes and pack your things and I come back here tomorrow night at eight. But, I'm not leaving this without any benefit on my end. I get to test her. Soon."
What? That is absolutely no fair! He-
Loki sighed. "Begrudgingly, I accept your terms of service. I will be ready to return to the warehouse by 8:00 tomorrow night." The hesitation and fear for his apprentice evident in his voice.
Jessica froze in shock, taking in how desperate he must have been to agree to something like that, but was thrown back into reality by the sound of his footsteps padding towards the door. She dove under the covers and closed her eyes, slowing her breathing to simulate sleep and not even daring to snore.
He opened the door and silently walked in, curling around her on the mattress and holding her close to him, kissing her head. He spoke as if he knew she was awake, though his cautious whisper suggested otherwise. "If I must say my goodbyes, I will, but not to you. Our goodbyes are chaste because it will never be permanent. I will always be there to catch you before you can fall."
She calmed at those words, curling into him as he held her tighter and breathed in her scent as his nose pressed into her hair.
I guess, if it gets me an extra day with him, even if I have no say on the matter, maybe the test is worth it.
Loki's cool lips pressed to her forehead and he slowly began to drift off, Jessica only able to get out one more thought as she, again, drifted to sleep.
Yup, definitely worth it.