Chapter 14: Wait, I'm Having One of Those Things

Friday was spent solidifying all the plans and working out minor details, but there wasn't a lot for Nova to do other than wait. Waiting wasn't something she was overly fond of, and with her enforced bed rest, the day dragged for her. Even Loki wasn't around to keep her occupied, he had departed shortly after dawn to take care of his own agenda.

Sitting in the shade out by her pool, Nova pondered the change in their relationship. Even though he was more tender towards her, he was still the same mischievous person at heart. Her housekeeping staff had spent an hour this morning chasing down little black and white alien creatures that ate anything small enough to get in their oversized mouths. Right now, one was sitting under the table by her, munching on one of her shoes.

"I'm going to call you Nibbler," she told it. It stopped chewing on the shoe long enough to chirp at her. She noticed it had green eyes, but she could have sworn they all had black eyes. She shrugged mentally, telling herself it was just another one of his illusions.

"Glad you approve," she smiled at it. She had found herself giggling at their antics, but she hoped their destruction throughout her apartment was also part of the illusion.

Speaking of illusions, last night had been magical in many ways. Loki seemed to enjoy showing off his manipulative skills almost as much as their physical intimacy. In many ways he was like her, she thought.

Just thinking about their night together started tingles between her thighs and, damn, if her nipples didn't pucker slightly. He was unlike anyone she had ever been with; equally demanding and giving, all with tireless energy. He had woken her up at least three more times during the night for more. He had been considerate of her injury but still left her pleasantly sore.

Nova refused to think about what would happen between them once both her problems and the Chitauri were taken care of. She knew it was foolish to expect him to stick around after all, he was nearly immortal compared to her. She would just focus on enjoying whatever they had while she was here and deal with the rest later. She certainly wasn't going to fall in love with the Trickster. That would be stupid.

There was a shriek and a crash from inside the apartment. She laughed out loud. That was something that wouldn't disappear later!

She stood and stretched gingerly. Her side was feeling much better even if it was still sore, so she slipped out of her clothes and eased into the pool. She swam a few leisurely laps to work the kinks out of her muscles, then just floated and relaxed, visions of alien stars replacing the hazy Los Angeles afternoon sky.

Back at the hotel suite, Loki paced restlessly. He, Braggi, and Volstagg had already finalized their plans and the other two had left to gather what they would need on Saturday. Not having anything to do, Loki wanted nothing more than to return to Nova and pick up where they left off early this morning.

But he had stopped himself. What was he thinking? Nova was just a human woman, weak and short-lived; there was no future for the two of them, no matter how well they suited each other. He had stuck around, cloaked in invisibility, to watch the chaos caused by his latest prank and had been delighted to see her giggling over it. If she was an Asgardian, she would be the perfect consort for him. Oh, the havoc they could wreak together across the universe, he thought.

But she wasn't, so here he paced, waiting for the day to pass. If he only went to her at night, he could just pass it off as passion. Not infatuation. Certainly not love.

Nova was seated at her dining table having a light dinner, Nibbler on the floor at her feet, chirping and purring happily as it chewed on a fork. She had tried to slip it a morsel of her dinner despite knowing damn well it wasn't real, but it had sniffed the proffered treat then ignored it. Instead, it had fixed its strange green eyes on her and whined until she dropped a fork beside it.

Throughout the day, the little black and white critters had blinked out of existence as the illusion creating them expired or failed, but this little guy had yet to disappear. It had followed her around all day, never more than a handful of feet from her. She wondered if it was Loki's way of keeping an eye on her. The thought brought a flare of warmth inside her chest while it still irritated her that he felt he had to watch her.

The door opened and Loki walked in, dressed in jeans and a dark green button-down shirt. God, she thought, he looks sexy no matter what he wears.

She set her fork down, "productive day?"

He shrugged and sat down beside her, "not bad." He picked up a tomato from her plate and popped it in his mouth, "is that all you're eating?"

"What's wrong with my salad?"

"You're too thin," he told her.

"You didn't have any complaints last night," she snapped, her eyes flashing.

"You need to take better care of yourself," he continued as if she hadn't spoken.

Obviously, he was trying to provoke her, so she took the opportunity to respond in kind. "You can get rid of your little spy now."

"What spy?" he asked with confusion.

"Don't be coy," she said, leaning over and pointing out Nibbler under her chair. "That's the only one left and it's been following me all day long. I even gave it a name."

Loki's confusion only grew. "It should have disappeared hours ago."

The little creature looked up at Nova with its green eyes and chirped. In response, she grabbed a flower out of the table arrangement and tossed it on the floor in front of it. It pounced on the flower and chewed it, purring happily.

He looked at Nova in disbelief, "that's not possible."

"What's not possible?" she asked, intrigue replacing her irritation at him.

"I just tried to dissolve the illusion and it didn't work."

"Wait," she shook her head, "are you telling me that you can't make one of your own illusions go away?"

"There's something weird going on here," he told her.

"Well, at least it's cute," she smiled at it and it chirped happily at her.

Loki abruptly shoved his chair back and stood. "I have to go," he announced.

Nova frowned at him, "is it that big a deal?"

But he didn't answer as he hurried to the door and left. She threw her napkin down on the table with a huff.

"What the hell?"

Loki hadn't lost control of an illusion since he was a child and even back then losing control meant that it disappeared before he wanted it to or didn't do what it was supposed to do. Never had he had one that wouldn't end at his command. Now he had no one to ask about it. His mother, Frigga, was the one that had taught him how to use and control his magic and she was gone. All his books in his library were also lost to him, so he had nothing to consult.

Did it have something to do with her naming it? Who the hell names an illusion, especially when they know it's not real? He quickly discarded the notion, but there had to be a logical reason.

Fruitless hours later, he returned to the apartment. Nova had retired of the night and was asleep. The creature was curled up at the end of her bed. When he approached, it opened its eyes and actually growled at him. When he ignored it and reached out to touch the sleeping woman, it lunged at him. Sharp pain shot through his hand and he quickly pulled it away. Teeth marks pricked the back with tiny drops of blood. He examined the creature closer. He didn't remember making any with green eyes. Was there something else going on here?

No matter what he tried, it would not let him approach too close, so he slumped in the chair beside her and picked up the tablet and amused himself the rest of the evening reading from the endless supply of books.

Nova woke by herself in the bed, a slight weight at her feet marking the continued presence of Nibbler. A soft snore called her attention to the man at her side. She smiled as she watched him sleep, his face relaxed and boyishly innocent. She could miss him when he left, and the thought caused a sharp pain in her chest. She chided herself for being stupid.

She must have made a slight noise, because his eyes opened. For a brief moment, they were soft and caring, before becoming cool and aloof.

"What are you doing, sleeping in that chair?" she asked to cover her disappointment.

He sat up and a growl came from Nibbler at her feet, its eyes intent on him. "That damn thing won't let me near you." He held up his hand to show her the bite marks.

She burst out laughing, she couldn't help it. His own illusion bit him.

"It bit me," he said, unnecessarily.

"You didn't figure it out last night?" she asked.

He shook his head, "apparently not," he said sardonically.

She started to answer but was interrupted by a knock at her bedroom door. It was Lev, Vikton, and Barak. She asked them to give her a few minutes to shower and get dressed. Nibbler followed her into the bathroom.

She was too agitated to sit still, instead she paced her office while waiting for all the players to gather. The last person they were waiting on was from Los Zela and Santiago had assured her his man would be there.

As it had been throughout the day, Nibbler was nearby, chewing on a shot glass it had found under the couch. She had tried to leave it behind at the apartment, but when the elevator had stopped on the ground floor of her building, it was waiting in front of the doors. Then, they had tried to keep it out of the SUV, but it had attacked the vehicle and doing an inordinate amount of damage for such a small creature. Nova had finally relented when she had to change vehicles and allowed it inside with her.

"That thing gives me the creeps," Barak muttered to Viktor.

Lev put his cell phone down, "That was Santiago's man, Juaquin. He's on his way."

"Good, that's everyone and we still have an hour before showtime," she told them.

"Everything is going as planned," Lev assured her.

"I know, but there's still a lot that can go wrong."

Lev shrugged, "there's nothing we can do about it. We've done everything we can, from here on out, it's all up to fate."

"Fuck, fate," Nova muttered, pouring herself a strong drink.

Lev chuckled, "that's the spirit, Myshka!" Then he and the other two men left the office for last minute preparations, leaving her alone with Loki for the first time since that morning.

She physically blocked him from leaving the room, standing in front of him with her hands on her hips. "Are you not talking to me now?" she challenged him.

"We don't have time for theatrics," he said impatiently and reached out to physically move her out his way.

She stepped back out of his reach, "are you kidding me? You are the fucking god of theatrics! You should be thrilled!"

"Even I can be serious when needed," he retorted and grabbed her by the shoulders.

A threatening growl came from beside them. Both looked down to see Nibbler at their feet, snarling at Loki.

"See that!" Loki released her and walked to the other side of the room. "I can't get near you without that thing threatening me!" His voice rose to a shout.

"Don't take your shit out on me!" She yelled back, getting angry. "That 'thing' is one of your creations. If it is fucked up, its because you fucked it up, whether intentional or not! So, own up to it!"

Loki started to yell back at her but stopped himself and looked thoughtful as if something had just occurred to him. He looked at her, then at the creature and shook his head and gave a rueful smile. He stood there for a long moment considering her words.

"You're right," he told her. "You're absolutely right." He sank down onto the couch. He gave a short laugh.

"What?" she asked him, leering of his mood change.

He looked up at her and gave her a sly grin, "come here."

"Why?" she asked cautiously.

"Come here and find out." He actually crooked his finger at her and gave her a look that sent chills up her spine. Good chills.

She approached him slowly, watching Nibbler as she did. Suddenly, it didn't seem to care about Loki. What the hell?

She stood over him, and he reached up and took her hand to pull her down to straddle him. Still nothing from Nibbler. He had truly lost interest.

"What did you do?" she asked him softly.

"I gave myself permission to do this," he said and pulled her to him and kissed her gently.

She melted into him as she kissed him back. When they finally parted, they were both glassy eyed with desire.

"We don't have time for this," she told him.

He sighed, "I know."

"Later, when it's over," she said leaning in to kiss the corner of his mouth.

"Yes, when it's over," he echoed, turning into her kiss and threading his fingers through her thick hair to hold her still while he plundered her mouth. She surrendered to his control and just reveled in the feel and taste of him.

Behind her, Nibbler blinked out of existence.