Exposure

Exposure: a situation or condition that makes someone likely to be harmed

Her feet felt heavy underneath the weight of her bad choice yet once again she found herself outside of that black door that was sprouting red veins of a strange weed. It was like being addicted to heroin but her drug was horribly brave but nonetheless idiotic ideas that found her in trouble. The day had run smoothly, a quiet day for her. She spent it recovering from the Aether's bitter sting that was yet to leave her system. She felt cold. A feeling most strange to her, having never felt it before. A meeting with Odin seemed to stable her jittery hands greatly. She had much to say and sadly only one person to say it to.

"My dear Fury, you have returned", Loki's emerald eyes met her own dulled blue from the comforts of his green lounge chair. A book was perched in his hand. His fingers were splayed out with three supporting the weight of the book. It resembled a chicken's foot, making her smirk childishly.

"You have a month", She breathed out, hugging her leather jacket close to her skin. "I beg your pardon?", He asked with a knitted brow, lowering the red novel in his hand.

"You have a month until Odin releases your funeral. One month left on Asgard", Fury commented in a louder voice than before, setting down the books in her arms on the green ottoman, sitting down next to them with crossed legs. The buckles on her boots jingled in her movement. Loki breathed out with audible anguish, closing the book in his hand.

"What's last on your bucket list?", Her question struck him as odd, she forgot he was from another world entirely. "Let me rephrase. What is your final wish before you die? The last thing you want to do?",. It was a question she had to answer for herself but yet couldn't find the will to do so. Dying was a sore topic. She felt it. The weakness in her movement and the dryness of her veins like sandpaper rubbing together. The Aether had fastened the process.

"Well...", A childish smile grew on his lips, suggestive in its charm that required no follow up question. A God but yet still a man. Fury knitted her brow with a scowl, surprised by his mortal desires.

"I didn't think you were that way inclined", The words escaped her lips without filter, sparking an onslaught of insulted expressions from the God, who could find no response. In no way was she assuming his sexuality towards the opposing genders, which is what her quip had sounded like. Fury chuckled to lighten the awkward tension she had created by digging that hole.

"I thought bestiality was your thing", She added, unable to contain the humour of her words.

"What?", was all he could utter with venomous words. Fury's slender fingers picked up a deep purple-covered book that she had brought with her. The pages flicked for a moment, locating what she had been searching for. "Here", Her voice spoke softly, sauntering over to the God. She handed him the book with caution. He snatched it with a swift movement. Her tightly bound jacket pressed against the green material of the chair while she hovered over his shoulder to point out the passage.

The chapter, based on Norse Mythology, depicted Loki as the father of a wolf and a serpent and also the mother of a horse, which he had achieved through his ability to shapeshift. She waited for it. Watching his eyes skim across the words. His eyebrows began to knit together. The further he read the more his expression morphed into disgust.

"There we go", Fury smiled widely toward his mortified grimace. His unblinking eyes darted toward her, making her smile grow wider.

"Who wrote this?!", He demanded, slamming the novel shut. Fury leaned over his armoured shoulder to see the white inscription on the rear of the novel.

"Someone who is since dead: J Grimm, 1835", She concluded, covering the smile on her lips. "Lucky for you your sorcery is more Infamous than your...dirty deeds",

"Why are you here?", Loki spoke over her mocking, placing her book on the armrest of his chair.

"Odin wants me to stay. To help protect Asgard from any attacks while it is still weak",

"My dear Fury, I only have a month left, please hurry this along", Loki sat forward in the chair with his elbows rest on his thighs. Fury sighed inwardly, he wasn't the person to express her concerns to. She was foolish to try. Her concern with Odin moving her to this wing of the palace was something to be left unsaid. He wanted to know why she held such power in a body that wasn't meant for it. It was all he wanted.

Fury sat with crossed legs against the charcoal carpet. Her back pressed against the wooden bookshelf. She extended her arm towards him with hesitance. Bitterly resenting the idea of him rattling through her thoughts and memories. His freezing hand caused her arm to reel back with an unexpected sting. She didn't like it. In fact she loathed the idea.

The God was quiet for almost 10 minutes. His green eyes were shut with concentration and his hand clasped against her wrist. By all means, she could dive through his mind as he was doing but she didn't want to know what death felt like. Nor what that creature's mind conjured. Fury breathed out with boredom. Her blue eyes caught the last rays of sunlight that created a shadow against Loki's pale face. He had been gifted with such beauty in his form. She felt herself becoming envious of his flawless skin and perfectly long eyelashes. She felt cheated.

"I'm flattered", Loki's voice startled her. For a moment she had forgotten he was in her mind. An idiotic mistake. Fury huffed with insufferable boredom, striking the fireplace alight with the motion of her fingers. It's warmth comforted her greatly. She was tired. So tired from the pain in her veins. She didn't feel it now. It was the only moment of relief. She could feel herself drifting into darkness. Fighting valiantly to keep her eyes open. But she couldn't.

She closed her heavy eyelids and saw a purple creature coming forth from the darkness. He was taller than any beast she had ever seen and muscled underneath his armour. He ushered her to follow beside him with the promise of power. She did. It was a mistake. At his side, the purple creature bound her with spiked chains that poured blood from her limbs in their malice. Her screams were silenced by a metallic muzzle that clamped her mouth shut. Her eyes flickered down to her green cape with fear, screaming from the pain that came from the beast's paw within her brain. He wanted her power. He craved it. He needed it.

"Argh!", Fury jolted awake, knocking into the bookshelf with the swiftness she tore her wrist away from him. She glanced to him with pain evident in her eyes. What the hell was that? It was the creature. It had to be. The one that manipulated his mind. Loki feared him greatly. Who was it?

He watched her breathe heavily with her back against the black carpet. His expression didn't falter from her erratic reaction to his memory. It was the most fear he had seen within the woman.

"What did you find?", She asked through the jittery feeling in her wrist, sitting up from the floor.

"You have a quite strange obsession for tragic romance novels. You despise the demonic blue of your eyes yet they are the only factor of your appearance that projects the illusion of normalcy", Loki stood from the chair, hosting a grim expression. "...and the Aether has lessened your life expectancy dramatically",

Fury clenched her jaw at the news. She knew it to be true. She felt her mortality fading into nothing. "Had your power not been slowly killing you, you could have held the Aether indefinitely. You could have been a most powerful weapon...", Loki trailed off in his thought.

"Fire cannot undo fire", Fury murmured softly. "How long do I have left?", She asked with a sharp voice.

"A month, a few days, I can't say",

"Then you had better get teaching", She ordered. His face glowed with a smirk, unimmune to her abruptness.