"For Valhalla's sake; hurry up Loki! We'll be late if you don't." I looked in the full length mirror adjusting the straps of the simple black dress before draping the long golden chain of my necklace back over my head, so it hung adroitly just past my bust. Whipping around I scowled at Loki who had yet to do the buttons on the crisp white dress shirt, but the sleeves were tauntingly rolled up revealing his forearms.
"Where, pray tell, are we going Eira?" He continuously grilled me with questioned while still lazily lounging on the crumpled silken green sheets. "I told you it's a surprise and if I told you then it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?" I quipped back, matching the level of sarcasm in his voice and holding back a demented sardonic smile. "Now stop pouting and get dressed."
Previously that same day I had made clandestine plans with Heimdall regarding our destination, London. Through an elaborate array of communication and arrangements I had managed to get in touch with a new friend on Midgard, and conveniently asked if there were any Shakespeare plays in production and much to my surprise there were several, Romeo and Juliet of course, Hamlet and lastly Coriolanus, a play that I was unfamiliar with for the most part but I had seen a copy of it on various occasions with marked pages on Loki's desk in the corner of the room, so that was the one I settled on.
I whipped around on my heels, about to continue my admonishment of words but much to my surprise he was dressed, shirt neatly tucked into a pair of crisp black slacks with a sleek black tie, his suit jacket thrown casually over his shoulder, and my mouth hung agape, words not coherently forming. "You were saying?"
Gathering my senses I rolled my eyes dramatically; "Finally! C'mon now we don't have forever!" I retorted curling my lips into an impish smile while grabbing his hand and pulling him excitedly towards the Bifrost. The streets went by in a blur, the people hardly taking note of the mischievous prince and his equally mischievous wife, who was me, even if we were dressed in Midgardian clothes.
Heimdall stood at attention, hands wrapped around the hilt of the heavy sword, his eyes like liquid amber and gold swirled with the colors of the far off galaxies, and from deep within his chest a deep timbre voice resonated, warm and welcoming. "My Lord and Lady."
"Good evening Heimdall." I beamed up at the gatekeeper as he motion for us to continue into the observatory, lowering his sword into the dais that activated the power of the Bifrost. The sphere begun to spin, energy hummed beneath our feet and in a flash we were consumed in an array of colors, flying across the stars and back to Midgard.
The landing was not nearly as smooth as what I was used to, the heels of my Louboutin shoes clanked against the asphalt of an abandoned alleyway, nearly causing my face to get up close and personal with the ground but thankfully Loki reached out and steadied my wobbly balance. Through a few strands off fallen hair I peered back up at him, shooting him a thankful half smile.
In a gentlemanly manner he offered me the crook of his arm as we joined the bustling sidewalks, filled with pedestrians frantically moving about. Big Ben was just in our line of sight, the sun was hidden away behind thick grey clouds and the air was heavy with impending rain.
"London huh?" Loki looked down at me with a raised eyebrow, I simply nodded, the people passing by giving us strange glances and second takes, but I simply owned up to their stares, with a proud walk that said "Yes-I-am-walking-hand-in-hand-with-an-ex-supervillain-you-got-a-problem-with-that?" The beginnings of a smirk were playing on his thin lips, I knew he had tapped into my thoughts. Enjoying yourself Loki, darling?
Quite so, love.
Quickly I glanced at a map situated on a street corner and found our destination. Donmar Warehouse. "Can you tell me where we are going now Eira?" I remained silent but the red neon letters soon came into view. I sighed in defeat and pulled him along the street towards the doors of the building. "I suppose I can tell you; I have two tickets to a showing of Coriolanus thanks to a new friend that I'm sure you'll meet afterwards or perhaps before. I hope you like it; it wasn't exactly easy to plan out from another realm."
The showing didn't start for another hour, but that wasn't nearly enough time to wander about the city, though I had already seen most of it on missions and assignments with SHIELD. I handed our tickets over at the door and silently we walked the corridor that lead to the stage. "You know I used to visit the Globe and watch Shakespeare's works. They were always quiet enticing and entertaining."
I was just about to jab at his age and how that was hundreds of years ago but an overly-excited voice called out my name and caused our attention to shift to behind.
"Tom!" He pulled me to him in a half hug and moved his attention to Loki, they stood at the same height, looking eye to eye, yet were polar opposites, "And you must be Loki, it is an honor to meet you, you're a lucky chap…well god, she's a sweetheart." In a possessive act, most likely out of jealousy, Loki slid his arm around my waist, mental I laughed, like I was interested in anyone else but him. Tom sent me a lopsided grin before racing off to finish preparing before he took the stage.
"Care to explain what that was all about?" Loki pulled me closer to him as the ushers directed us to our seats, front row, which was a pleasant surprise. I tugged my dress down a bit before sitting down and resting my head on Loki's shoulder.
"I met him when Pepper insisted on dragging me down here for a Bachelorette party, and to be completely honest, his hair was dyed black and from the back I though he was you, so I made a fool out of myself, only to find that he was quite a nice guy, loves Shakespeare and is a big fan of you, which is how I got the tickets for tonight."
Soon others began filing into the theatre and atmosphere filled with a pleasant chatter, but Loki and I sat in comfortable silence, his cool fingertips tracing runes on my bare shoulder, sending shivers down my spine. The lights dimmed, and the actors filed onto the stage, re-enacting a beautiful tragedy. The scenes and acts passed through, each one acted in a way that would have made Shakespeare himself proud. And in a haze when the cast bowed I hopped up from my chair, zealously clapping my hands, Loki rose to full height and joined, clapping at a much more sophisticated rate than myself. I elbowed him and raised my eyebrow quizzically.
"Soooo, what did you think? Not too shabby, especially since I had to keep it a secret for so long."
"You did a wonderful job darling." He slid his arm around my shoulders, as the people of our row moved to exit, but I insisted that we wait just a minute longer and sure enough Tom poked his head back out the stage door and motioned for us to join. An offer that I couldn't refuse, I just hoped Loki would, well you know, behave.
"Oh Tom, that was wonderful!"
"It's my job." He humbly replied smiling down at me then returning to look at Loki when he spoke up.
"Truly, I watched it as a boy at the Globe, but this presentation was exceptional." Loki complimented and by the glint forming in Tom's eyes I could tell they could at least bond over Shakespeare.
"Wait, you knew Shakespeare?" Tom asked in pure amazement, eyes wide like a child.
"I wouldn't say I knew him personally, but yes we did meet on select occasions, as a lovesick young boy I wrote a few sonnets and passed them along to him, if I'm not mistaken one of them is titled Sonnet 18."
And just like that the two of them went on a tangent and midways I lost interest and slumped down in the larger chair of Tom's dressing room, and soon succumbed to sleep, with light dreams of fields of blooming flowers and puppies. Why I really didn't know.
In the back of my mind I was still conscious of everything they were saying somehow, and with what felt like hours later a light amount of snickering partially caused me to wake up.
"If I didn't know any better I'd say we'd bored her to death."
"Believe me you can't kill her." Loki retorted sarcasm entrenched in his words.
"You know I can hear you two asses right? I half snapped, fully opening my eyes to see two nearly identical large grins.
"What's wrong Eira?" I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, the throbbing in my head raging on, headaches suck. I shook my head as part of the response to his question, and then massaged my temples in circles, anything to alleviate the pain.
"It's a headache; it'll pass in a few hours." I clambered into bed and pulled the covers over my shivering body, it was so strange for me to be cold, and waited for Loki to join me before curling up beside him, with my head nestled into the crook of his arm.
"Eira, love, your shuddering because you're cold, I'm not so sure sleeping next to a Frost Giant is going to help."
"You're right, more blankets." I stated as if it were the most obvious answer to his observation. I quite literally turned myself into a human burrito and still insisted on remaining nuzzled into Loki's side, where his arms slithered around my waist and my ear was over his heart, the steady beat lulling me to sleep like the sweetest of music.
It had been three days and my headache had not eased off in the slightest, I found myself running back and forth to the bathroom, heaving up the little food in my stomach that I was actually able to eat, and overall I was miserable and too stubborn to do anything but put on a fake smile and curl up on my side in bed, even as Loki went about his required duties; which I insisted he carried out instead of fretting over me.
Around midday Loki pushed the door open; stalking to the edge of the bed, his eyes told the story that he was tired, and worried, about me. "I will carry you down there myself if you keep this up." Loki taunted, even if it was a light remark it was masked under the concern and annoyance written on his face.
"Do that and I'll set your ass on fire." I snapped back pulling the covers further up, to where they nearly covered my head, every sound amplified to sound like cannon fire.
"Is that a threat?" He chided, ripping the mounds of blankets back, the air hitting my skin sending Goosebumps crawling up my legs. "No, it's a promise." I blankly stated as I snatched one of the blankets away and wrapped it around my shoulders. Scowling he flung himself face down onto the bed beside me, his shirt and boots dissipating into a golden glow.
His hair, now a ruffled mess, was inky locks splayed across the silk sheets, the muscles in his back contracting with each breath. I nudged him with my foot, beckoning him to roll over, and he complied, propping up on his elbow and stripping my blanket away yet again.
"You know you look much better in my shirts." I looked down at the forest green tunic, the sleeves much too long and the hem hit mid-thigh; poking his chest I smirked. "And you look much better without a shirt."
"The same could be said for you as well, love." He spoke with conviction, his eyes trailing over my body and an impish smirk forming on his lips; I rolled my eyes in response, and instead posed a question regarding the story I had overheard the tail end of from the previous night.
"I heard you telling Aria another story last night, would care to share which one it was?"
"It was about the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim, do you know them?" He genuinely asked, pulling himself up so he sat beside me, and pulled me to his chest, wrapping his arms around my waist.
"Only the myths, and granted there are few about the cousins of Alfheim."
"Which ones have you heard? Midgardians have a strange tendency to twist the truth to unbelievable circumstances, and take away the sheer gore of other realm's cultures."
I thought back quickly to the book of myths from around the world I used to read constantly as a child, my favorite myths coincidently were those of Norse origin. I could still see the color images and text clearly in my mind, as if it were a picture.
"Well the only one I really recall goes something along the lines of: The dark elves hated the sun so they lived in the murky underground; they are also hideous and can be a great nuisance to humans. The dark elves are supposedly responsible for nightmares. Those dark elves were called mares. A mare would sit on a sleeping person's chest and whisper bad dreams to haunt the person; and they cannot be exposed to sunlight, if the sun's rays hit them, then they will immediately turn into stones…" I looked over at Loki, mainly for approval of the myth, but when he shook his head all I could do was laugh softly knowing that there was probably more blood and death involved, after all this was Asgard.
I closed my eyes and listened to the melodic qualities of his smooth voice with just a hint of rasp, each word carefully enunciated. His fingers danced along my forearms, as he began. "The dark elves were born of an eternal night, before light, some believe there was nothing but there was darkness, and that is where the elves came from. Yes, the dark elves were cousins to those on Alfheim, but when Bor was king a war waged between the Asgardians and the Dark Elves, their leader, Malekith was willing to sacrifice his entire race to lay waste to Bor's army. But their power source, which has the capability to plunge the word back into darkness, part of which flows through your veins, was called the Aether. It could not be destroyed so it was buried in a place where no one knows, and the Elves were destroyed. The saying my mother used to tell us was born of eternal night, dark elves come to steal away the light."
Laughing lightly I opened my eyes and craned my neck to look back at Loki. "I suppose that is much more somber than the tales on Earth." His dexterous fingers still brushed over my skin, one hand trailing all the way up to my neck were he urged me to look back at him once more, our lips brushing against one another's. I pulled away breathless, fighting to regain control of my breathing, but when I looked down at my hands it became nearly impossible.
"Holy shit." My veins were no longer the blue color that stood out under my pale skin; instead they had taken on a reddish tint, pulses of energy moving through them, just under the skin and completely visible, slithering as a snake. "Loki…what –what's happening to me?"
"Eira, love, you need to go see Ava."
Loki wasted no time to scoop up from the bed and into his arms; he traced the path to the healers, pushing the door open to reveal Ava preparing an array of medicinal herbs and potions.
"Now what have you two gone and done?" I laughed lightly, trying to calm the unknown severity of the situation, but when Loki motioned towards the unnatural shade of my veins Ava nearly dropped everything she was handling and rushed over to a dusty table, pushing books and medical supplies to the floor without so much as a second thought.
"Put her on the table Loki." The smooth marble counter was chilling against every place on my body that was unclothed, and then I began to worry, far more than I should have, but nothing like this had ever happened to me. Loki gripped my hand firmly, his thumb rubbing soothing circles in my palms as I looked onward, Ava at the opposite side of the table.
A beady hologram that was a perfect representation of myself floated mere inches above my face. "Be still, Eira." I nodded and continued to look onward; watching as my veins were singled out the orange hue turning into a vibrant red. "What is this?" I asked out of curiosity, lifted my free hand. "It's a soul forge, now stop moving Eira." Ava coolly answered, her face showing no sign of what could be causing this to happen, and if could be detrimental.
"It's not of Asgard, nor is it of Midgard; I know you possess a piece of the Aether but I do not see as to why it would cause this; perhaps a blood sample will aid in your diagnosis."
"Do what is necessary." It was Loki who responded in my place, propped myself up on the examination table and smiled at him, and then looked to Ava and provided my consent.
"Come Loki, lay with me." Turning to the side I looked to the balcony where he overlooked the city, the moonlight casting a silver quality to his pale skin, the muscles of his back rippling with each breath. His black hair was shambolic, the strands clinging to his skin with water left over from bathing.
Intently I watched his graceful movements until he slipped beneath the covers, his bare skin sliding against mine. "Feeling better love?"
"Much." I confirmed, splaying my hand across his chest and rested my head on his shoulder. Loki shifted his head until his eyes, still laced with worry and concern, bored into my own. "Sing for me Eira." It was a hushed plea, murmured against the skin of my neck. Silently I smiled and moved my hand up into his hair, and found my voice.
"The walls you've built, they bend, not break. I'm not the same, and the time I have it's yours to take for what it's worth you're worth it all.
My arms are always open, my dear, I'm here...your hand will always fit in mine, dear
You will never be alone as long as I am alive, you will never be alone I'll stand the test of time…"
