So, if you haven't checked my profile, the reason why the chapter delays seem to be getting longer is I'm preparing to apply to my dream school, CalArts. I cant remember if I have mentioned it before, but all I've been doing is drawing aaallll day. So computer time has been cut about 99%.
Because Me + Internet = Procrastination. Just lovely.
SO. Sorry again for any further delays!

Sorry this chapter is half the size of the last, but I think it was appropriate.
So again, I really am so sorry for the delays. I really hate them.
Thank you all for your patience! I still cant get over how many of you are following this story.
Nice to know I must be doing something right, haha.
Hope you all are having a good start to your fall semester!

Read, Review, Follow, Fave, and ENJOY!

Chapter 26: Tumbling

Finn blinked, she was surprised by his answer. Titling her head back trying to create distance between them, Finn looked away. What was she supposed to say to that? Thanks? I see you too?
Finn couldn't figure out if that was comforting or disturbing. The nicer Loki treated Finn, the more weary she felt, despite the fact she yearned for comfort. Finn shifted her legs and plucked at the grass with her free hand, trying to think of something to say.
"What do you see?" Finn asked awkwardly as she stared at the ground.

Loki replied with, "What do you think I see?"
Finn stared at the ground, was she supposed to answer honestly? Finn was reluctant to say anything so personal. "I dunno." Finn muttered.
Loki shifted his head to the side, still watching her, "You do not know who you are?"
Finn looked up with her eyebrows together, then looked down back at her grass stained hands. Did she? The past events had completely shaken her safe world, but training with Loki and finding strengths she didn't know she had, and surviving a fall from thousands of feet definitely changed Finn. She just didn't know how.
Frankly, Finn didn't want Loki to know this. It probably would make her look weak. Finn sat quietly for a moment before flashing a grin, "I know I am strong, and can kick your ass."
Loki's eyes raised, mischief splayed over his face, "Oh, is that so?"
"Yeah."
Loki lowered his eyes, making his face more menacing, "Do you find it wise to threaten me?"
Finn couldn't help herself, "If you find yourself threatened, then you just proved my point."
Loki blinked, and pulled his head back, and let out a sudden short burst of a laugh. "Well, I did not anticipate that."
"Idiot!" Finn started hysterically laughing as she replayed his dumbfounded look.
Loki let himself laugh once more before letting his sneer of a grin cross his lips, "You really think you can beat me?"
Finn widened her eyes as she looked at him with her mouth half open from laughing. Her tongue pressed against the side of her teeth, and waited a moment. If she messed this up now, she'd look like an utter idiot.

Finn focused on her arm again, imagining wind trapped in a funnel, and just when she felt ready, Finn pointed her arm straight at Loki. "Yes!"
As Finn released the stream of air from her palm she knocked Loki on his back, and tumbled backwards herself. She quickly jumped up on her feet to see Loki twisted awkwardly, she had thrown him back enough that his body had done half a loop on the ground. Loki rolled out off the knot he found himself in to look at Finn with wide eyes. Finn burst out laughing; his hair was completely disheveled and blown back from the half summersault she had sent him in.
His eyes glistened icy blue as Loki's elbows jutted upwards as his palms slammed into the ground. Stomach to the ground, Finn could see he was going to pounce at any second, his loose tunic hung off one shoulder now to reveal his fit arms and toned chest. Just as his mouth curled into a toothless smirk, Finn turned on her heel, and ran in the opposite direction.
Finn could hear Loki leap up from the ground, his boots pounding against the grass. Finn bounded across the endless sea of grass with a fast, effortless ease. For a moment Finn forgot why she was running. With the wind in her face, and the soft sun on her skin, she felt free. No worries, no walls. Just freedom. Loosing herself for a moment her foot suddenly lost traction in the slick soft grass and she tumbled to the ground.
It took a moment for Finn to realize it was Loki who tripped her. Eyes sharpening Finn twisted away from Loki's quick hands.
"Too slow!"
Finn yelped before she could say anything else as she launched herself away again from Loki, and rolled up onto her feet.
Just as Finn took her first step into a run something freezing slammed into the back of her leg, sending her back into the arms of the soft grass.
"What the—" Finn twisted her head back to see Loki bouncing a ball of snow in his hand, his grin wide, "Having trouble, Finn?"
"Nope!" Finn moved her arms to lift herself back up, dodging another snowball as she did. Finn's heart pounded wildly as he threw more at her. Finn jumped and rolled away from them, missing three attempts, but the fourth knocked her down again.
"Dammit!"
Loki was nearly over her, his hand out to grab her, but Finn suddenly found herself launching her leg outwards to kick his hand back. Loki seemed to be in full swing now, and didn't show any surprise at her move. He caught her ankle, and Finn made an unpleasant noise, and twisted the other leg, kicking his arm hard.

Loki's grip loosened enough for Finn to slip out of his hand and find her footing again. Finn bounced on her heels, egging him on.
"I thought you were a god. Not very good at it are you?" Finn said with a cocky voice. Guys were just too easy to goat.
Loki snickered, "Perhaps I should show you then."
"Good luck with that."

Loki threw another icy snowball, and while Finn twisted her body out of the way, Loki had closed the gap between them. His arm shot forward and Finn knocked it back, and soon she found herself in a martial arts fight with him, deftly and hastily blocking his hands in a slight panic. Finn could feel sweat drip down her back as he tried to knock her off her feet with his own. When Finn finally found an opening, she brought her leg up to knee him in the stomach, and as she did, she stumbled forward as her knee collided with air. He had disappeared. Finn swore, "That's not fair!"
Finn looked left to right, and before she could look behind her his arms wrapped tightly around her, pinning her arms down with his.
Wide eyed, Finn jumped from his touch.
"You have not been fair yourself." he crooned in her ear from behind her.
Finn writhed against him, and tried to knock her elbow into his stomach. Although her elbow collided hard with his rock hard stomach, he just made an exhausted groan. It had hit him, maybe kind of hurt, but it didn't even loosen his grip.
"Do you admit defeat?" Loki said with a cocky voice.
"Never!" Finn wriggled against him, flailing her short legs as he suddenly picked her up.
"Hey! What are you doing?!"
She could hear Loki chuckle, "My, aren't you the short one?"
"Let go of me!"
"Do you submit?"
"You're just a sore loser!" Finn said with a huff, still wriggling in his arms.
"Then we can just stand here until you do."
Finn stared off into the sky, her nostrils flared, "Who's not fair now!" Finn kicked her legs even harder, then suddenly went limp.
"Anything to say, Finn?"
"Screw you." Finn said through gritted teeth. A few minutes passed, and Finn could feel Loki's chest rumble with a chuckle. He really wasn't going to let her go. Finn couldn't help but think of this as more training.

Ok Finn. How do you get him to let go?
Kicking him didn't work, or calling him names. Using her wind was out of the question, her arm felt strained and tired. As Finn sat there, she could feel the heat radiating off his chest. His arms felt hot wrapped around her stomach. Why did he have to make the sun so hot too? Finn could feel sweat drip down her chest, which made her even more uncomfortable. Finn wondered if Loki could even sweat, as far as she could tell his chest was dry as a bone.
Think Finn. How do you get out of this? There was no way Finn would say he won. Finn stared at the ground for a minute until her head jerked up. She had to try.
Loki seemed to notice, "Have you reconsidered?"
Finn sneered to herself, "Oh. I have."

Taking a deep breath, Finn suddenly let out an ear shattering scream, focusing on the pitch, making it loud and painful. Loki immediately dropped her, and Finn stumbled onto the grass, interrupting her scream. Finn opened her mouth to continue, turning to look at Loki. Unfortunately for Finn, Loki quickly collided with Finn, rolling in a frustrated tangle down a slope, stopping when he had firmly pinned her on her back. His hand clamped down onto Finn's mouth while the other clamped her other hand down, his heavy body anchoring her to the ground.
His chest heaved and Finn suddenly started to laugh, muffled by him hand. Finn couldn't help it. Loki's hair was a mess, he had a grass stain on his cheek and his eyes were wide. He looked completely mad, because of her.
Loki looked surprised, and under his hand Finn laughed, "Eye wohn!" she continued to laugh, letting out a snort of laughter as well. Loki shook his head, and let out a chuckle.

"You truly are something aren't you, Finn?"
Finn let out a few short laughs, exhaling through her nose. His eyes were intensely looking at her, which put Finn's laugh to a slow halt. The breeze around them seemed to slow down, and all Finn could hear was her hammering heart, feeling his chest beating almost in rhythm as well.
"Sow eye wohn?" Finn said under his hand.
Loki dipped his head, his hair falling with it, tickling Finn's cheek. He let out a soft chuckle, "This time it seems." Finn grinned proudly under his hand.
"Sucker." Finn said, she liked how her voice sounded muffled. It sounded ridiculous. Which seemed to make her victory even sweeter.
Loki slowly released his hot hand from her mouth, brushing his fingers against her lips as he dropped his hand to the side. Finn didn't realize how close they were, and she suddenly felt the urge to hold her breath. The air felt cold on her mouth from the absence of warmth on her mouth.
His eyes flickered back and forth, leaving Finn unsure where to look. Finn could feel his chest start to move faster, and just when he seemed to lean in closer, he yanked Finn upwards with him.

Loki released Finns hand he had used to pull her up, and dusted the grass off of him. Finn looked down so see her pretty dress was now covered in grass stains, and groaned. "Fantastic…" Finn muttered as she frantically wiped away the dirt and grass as well.
Loki looked up and chuckled, "You do realize this is not real, do you not?"
Finn made an annoyed face and stretched her sentence out in annoyance, "Unfortunately…" Finn really liked this dress. She really had forgotten this was just an illusion, but she still wished she could open her eyes and be wearing it.

Loki slicked his hair back with one brush of his hand, and took a casual step towards Finn. "This all can be real, you know."
Finn gave him a perplexed look, "An endless sea of snake and tick free grass?"
Loki's eyebrows moved together just for a moment before his eyes flickered back to hers, "No, not exactly."
"What do you mean then?" Finn said, looking up at him, hoping he wouldn't intrude her personal space again.
Loki took another step forward, a wave of loose hair falling into his face, "What I mean so say is, this can be real. The peace, the freedom, a place in which you can do as you please."
Finn wrinkled her nose. "I'm not sure I'd say that's how I'd sum up this illusion thing but—" Loki suddenly pulled Finns hand up, and pressed it to his chest, wrapping his hand around hers.

"No Finn. I can create a world where no law will bind you. No one will tell you what to do. There will be no shame or guilt, no lies or accusations." Loki spoke with a righteous, passionate fury. Finn pulled her head back, staring at his burning eyes as he spoke, startled by his sudden passion. "Think of what lies back in your reality Finn. What do you have waiting for you?"
Loki titled his head, and it took a moment for Finn to realize he wanted a response. She had hoped it was a rhetorical question.
"Well, I have Serena…" Finn said as she looked down, wrinkling her forehead. "My powers, too…." Finn bit her lip, and shifted her feet. "Not much I guess…" Finn said in a low voice. Finn wished he didn't bring this stuff up. She knew this illusion had to end, but she liked that she didn't think of what was happening on the outside. Thinking about how small her world had become made her feel small.
"Not much good left, is there?"

Finn looked up, his voice sounded sincerely sorry. "Yeah. I guess so." Finn said shortly, barely looking him in the eye.
"Finn, what lies out there for you is sorrow and despair. They will use you, beat you down, and leave you for dead. You are waiting at the mouth of the serpent Finn. They will devour your entire life."
Finn's eyes dropped down again, her stiff hand went limp against Loki's touch.
"You will try again and again to speak your truth, but they will not listen, Finn. I fear for your friend too." His eyes looked sorry when Finn looked back up at him. The passion in his voice stayed, but now sorrow touched it. Finn suddenly felt like she was going to cry. "Don't say that." Finn could feel her throat tightening.
"I'm sorry Finn. She will turn against you."

Finn snapped her head up and looked him directly in the eye, "Stop it. That's a disgusting lie. She would never do that to me!" Finn's voice hissed with venom.
Loki looked away with dewy eyes, "I wish I could say otherwise Finn. I do hope you are right. But we must face the fact my dear Finn," Loki paused to turn his head back to look at Finn's glistening eyes, "that she is not in this cell with us."
Loki's hand gently squeezed Finn's hand. Finn could feel the corners of her mouth tugging down as she stared at the ground. "They could be holding her somewhere else…"
"When you saw her, was she shackled in any way?" Loki asked with a soft voice.
"Well, no. She did say she couldn't use her powers on anyone though." Finn said stiffly.
Loki looked away confused, "But, did she not use her powers to speak to you?"
Finn looked up and opened her mouth, then closed it. He was right.
Loki squeezed Finns hand harder, making Finn look back up at him. His eyes shone with a bright intensity as he spoke, "Finn. There will be no lies with me. I will not say what is to come will be easy for you. I know you will not approve of what I must do. But believe me Finn, when all is said and done, you will be at peace. I promise you this Finn. No one will come after you; no one will try to hurt you. I will keep you safe."
When Loki was finished speaking, he brought Finn's hand up to his face, and gently kissed her hand, his eyes lowering as he did.

Finn could feel her mouth set in a stiff grimace, her throat felt dry and tight, and her breath quickening. She had no idea how to respond to Loki. This was the most sincere he had seemed so far. What he had said about Serena made her stomach turn in painful knots. Could it be she really was helping SHIELD? Finn couldn't even think that was plausible, but what Loki said made doubt creep into her mind. Oh God Serena, please prove him wrong.

"How do I know this isn't all a lie?" Finn said quietly.
Loki still gently held her hand in his, and took a step forward, pushing her arms down they were now comfortably at her normal chest height. Both his hands folded around her hand, pushing her hand into a fist as he did.
"You don't, Finn. I can't make you believe me. I know, I tried." A quick smile flashed on his face, and Finn couldn't help but feel one corner of her mouth twitch upwards.
"No matter what you choose, Finn. I will not harm you."
Finn looked up at Loki, "Even if I try and bash your head in, in the name of SHIELD?"
Loki chuckled, and slowly shook his head, "Then I shall hope my helmet does its job."
"How do—"
"How do you know I will keep this promise too?" Loki's hand tightened around Finn's hand, and leaned into Finn's personal boundaries, his nose almost touching hers, "You don't."
With a flash of his smile, suddenly everything went white, and Finn felt the familiar sensation of being yanked backwards into space.