Whelve

To bury something deeply. To hide.

Phantom shadows danced languidly down the corridor, waiting and hiding until Furya opened her bedroom door. The whining soft creak sounded and her tall form emerged. Black shadows met her blue eyes and a sneer painted her lips.

"We're going home", A low tone emitted from her throat as those black combat boots clomped loudly against the floor. She laughed a low chuckle. A maniacal chuckle.

The dining hall was swarming with activity around Fury. The hour was just before midday and the Asgardian staff were bustling to get their lunches before they had to go back to their menial jobs. Not one of them suspected that they would be the next mangled body to find. The maid, who had never failed to provide Fury with piping hot beverages had tracked her down in the hall and handed her the silver insulated cup with a gracious smile. She was a young girl, no older than twenty with beautifully braided dark locks that untangled themselves into waving strands at her temple. While she looked plain her kind nature was anything but. She never moved or even asked about any of Fury's questionable items in her chamber. She had however picked the Vampire goddess off the comforts of the floor a few times and carried on her day like it were just any other morning. She was second to Myra in having hauled Fury into consciousness off that damn carpet. Ayla, her name was Ayla. Furya sipped at her coffee-like drink that steamed under the frosty weather outside. Her fingers picking at her roasted pork and salad medley. She found the bread difficult to swallow from the hoarse nature of her throat and gave up on it entirely.

Untrusting eyes watched from her seated position on the outer edge of the hall. Men and women in golden coloured uniforms lined patiently for their lunches, each smiled at the woman serving before scurrying back to the seats to devour a quick feast. What a boring existence.

Golden blonde hair swept past her sights, a being taller than any staff member in line and more extravagant in golden armour. His head bowed to the staff with a smile on his lips as he stopped for a quick chat to an older male. Fury watched Fandral converse with such ease and grace, a perplexed expression plagued her face. She breathed out quickly and stood from the table, making a swift course for the courtyard below.

Loki

Green eyes swept across the courtyard. Above him, gracing the balcony with her presence, Fury had come into sight. He glanced around with caution, knowing no one could see through his cloaking spell. Not even Fury in her vast greatness. He often used it to expose her sneaking, something she did well.

The woman walked viciously fast through the golden balcony, closer and closer to the stairs. Then she stopped, summoned by a voice calling her name. He watched that scowl creep onto her expression queuing Fandral's meaningless presence. The fool stepped quickly to catch up with her, lightly grasping her forearm when he did.

Fandral spoke with a smile upon his lips, staring as if she held the essence of his soul. It was the most intrigued he had ever seen the easily swayed beast. Loki sighed with irritation, she was wasting time. And no matter how she tried to get away, Fandral lured her back with a subject of interest. She need have only looked down and she would have seen Loki waiting.

Fenrir gathered at his feet. The furry creature weaved figure-eight shapes between his legs.

"Go away. Go-", Loki sighed, submitting to the creature and petting his striped fur lightly. Those glowing eyes watched Fury with Loki's same curiosity and question towards the golden-haired God who had stopped her. A growl emitted deep from the tiny beast's throat.

"Settle, Fenrir", Loki reassured the Fel in a soft voice.

I kill the man who touches Fire lady?

"Not yet", The God replied with a smile, watching the black armoured woman converse with Fandral. She wore her boring Midgardian armour with two guns strapped against her thighs. It was truly a misinterpretation of the power she held. Of the Goddess he had forged. Perhaps that was why she had donned it. To trick Valerian. How exciting.

I gather Fire Lady?

"No Fenr-", Loki halted mid-sentence, glaring daggers to the man who tried so valiantly to woo Fury. "Actually,"

He need not have said anymore as the speedy creature zoomed from his side and up those stone stairs like the Ghoul herself was on his tail. Fandral, the witless filth decided to make his move. Had Fury's armour been indicative that she was going somewhere she shouldn't be or perhaps her unashamed suspicious behaviour? Had she told him where they would go? Would he beg her to stay as his pitiful brother had?

Fandral, the man of abrupt action crept closer to those pointed fangs hung over crimson lips. He was unashamed that a whole hall of people would be watching. But Loki hadn't needed Fenrir to intercept the horrid kiss. Fury herself saw to it that Fandral halted all the same. She turned her glance. Her blue eyes seemed to bear down on Loki amidst the misty wind and his cloak. She stared into him and through his being and those lips spoke a harsh word that sent Fandral away. What a shame.

She was still for a moment and her face contemplative. Loki beheld her inner humanity. Engrossed by its ferocity that burned within her core. She felt emotions twofold. Like she carried the weight of the world. Because she did. He knew If she failed to contain the Wildmen within their land Asgard would fall into chaos and ruin. That the spells he had cast to guard the palace would crumble under the might of the magical beings. They feared Loki and they would learn to fear Fury.

Blue eyes wrinkled into a smile at Fenrir and she reached to pick the creature up, sweeping him onto her armed form.

"Are you quite satisfied?", A voice filled the void of silence at his shoulder, behind him as per her insult.

"Furya, you're late", Loki turned his head an inch to see her form standing at his shoulder with an unfamiliar closeness. She placed a silver jewel into his palm at his side.

"Wear this and shut up",

"Oh, but I didn't bring you any...", His eyes studied the talisman, it was old and caked with gunk. "decrepit and disgusting arte-"

"Shhh.", Fury rolled her eyes, silencing him with the motion of her hand.

"My, aren't we discontent", Loki smirked, pocketing the talisman into his jacket. Fury rolled her eyes back into her skull and viciously took his hand. Loki chuckled a wicked laugh and transported them into the heart of Vaniria.

Darkness consumed the heart of the black castle. It was early night yet no life echoed through the halls nor did the smell of cooking food greet them. It was dead within Vaniria. Suspiciously dead.

Fury snuck quickly through the narrow corridors without a word as he followed behind with a sense of excitement. She moved so gracefully and calculated throughout the castle. Like a shadow creeping through the halls. Soft voices met the God's ears and he cast a glance toward Fury who met it with a knowing nod. She flickered her eyes around the shadowed corridor, meeting the nook of a pillar with a devious grin.

Loki loosed a sigh, snarling as she viciously tackled him into the disgusting space where spiderwebs hung and dirt spawned from. His back slammed into the brick with a soft thud and Fury almost jammed herself on top of him. Contemplation crossed her blue eyes as he opened his mouth to sneer but she clamped it shut with her hand.

"Shhh", She warned, placing a finger over her lips. A small amount of moonlight bathed her shoulder and she turned into him, crushing his body against the brick. A soft groan escaped him as she tossed her hair over her shoulder, flicking his face with white strands of hair. He didn't need to see her face to know that a smirk was perched on those crimson lips. His green eyes observed the two figures that conversed while striding through the palace. Guards. He smirked.

"Okay", Fury leapt off his body as the Guards scampered out of sight. She launched down the hall, waiting for him to wipe the cobwebs of his leather jacket at the stairs. It was disgusting.

Today would be ideal

She hissed through their bonded link, making the tattoo itch at his neck. He growled silently, quickening his pace.

The hall of Vaniria awaited them below the winding stair, welcoming them into a room of heavy black colours. Loki grimaced at the unfortunate deep blue carpet and raised his sight to the ugly painting above the pointed throne. It stopped him in his tracks. A chuckle escaped his throat, followed by a sneering glare from Furya.

Valerian was depicted in the portrait. A younger boy with fewer scars and smaller stature. He was dressed in the finest clothes that money could buy back in the era it was painted. Beside him, a silver-haired woman stood. She was tall and slim next to Valerian. Yet her clothes didn't match the grandeur of the overlord. She wore a hideous gown of white ruffles. Had he not seen the blue eyes he would never have guess it had once been Fury.

Fury paid it a second of her time, breathing out her agitation before storming forwards toward the vault. Loki was almost howling in the joy it brought him to see multiple photos and portraits of the silver-haired woman. Valerian had almost created a shrine to mourn her. It was quite sad.

He still loved her so dearly despite what destruction had followed. It was clear to see. And Fury, did she feel the same? Undoubtedly. It made Loki loathe that the disgusting demon had been so fortunate as to meet her first. That Fury, despite her venomous words and unsettling cruelty, had loved the beast without compare.

Loki frowned and followed after Fury, into the dimly lit vault which was encased in steel.

"Give me the talisman", She ordered. Loki reached for the grimy object in his pocket and handed it over to the woman who bore a soft smile.

"I can't believe you actually touched this", Fury laughed and tossed the disgusting metal object over her shoulder.

"I beg your pardon?", Loki asked with squinted eyes. She didn't answer as she tapped a pattern onto the silver surface. It groaned and creaked but didn't open.

"Your work is truly captivating", Loki sneered, eyeing the metal circle that lay on the dirty floor. Fury beheld him with narrowed eyes and rested her palm against the wall. A dry breeze clawed through the black grate in the floor, tossing her light hair over her shoulder. She spoke, tapping her nails on the surface of the trick wall.

"Valerian is most definitely your calibre of person. I'm yet to understand your 'shared' animosity",

Loki smiled a soft smirk that diverted his green orbs to that grate in the floor. He had waited for the brilliant Fury to ask. She looked at him as if to determine whether his answer would gain him entry into the vault or no. She resembled Fenrir's warning sneer with narrowed eyes and her nose scrunched into fine wrinkles. Such a vivacious creature Fury was.

"Valerian is a snivelling demon who feeds off the week. I may be villainous but even I would not befriend such an abomination.",

Fury blinked slowly at the word 'abomination', uncaring to cover her disdain for the phrase. While she didn't defend the beast she didn't hurry to agree. Those lips pursed in silent contemplation followed by the soft tapping of her nails against the wall. Perhaps he had offended her. A calmness washed over her. Like another being had entered her form.

"And I am assuming you told him that?", She asked with an unnerving spring in her voice.

"...Explicitly"

Fury smiled an equally disturbing grin and opened the supposedly baited door without an ounce of strain on her agile little form.

"Oh, am I allowed entry of such a palace?", Loki stepped past her into the dust-ridden vault, activating a blue stream of light to bathe his skin. "I am truly blessed",

Loki flickered his glance back to Furya who had followed a distance behind him. Her eyes scanned the smooth silver ceiling like she expected something to strike from above. Loki spoke.

"Am I to expect an aerial attack?",

His taunting tone faded as the ground beneath his feet shifted and crackled apart. "Shit", A sigh parted from his lips and a dreading ache dropped faster in his chest than his body into the baited abyss below. Fury, who knew all the steps to this dance bounded into action in a momentary glance. He felt the sharp sting of her shoulder ramming into his ribcage before he even saw her move. She slammed him into the dirt with more strength than he thought she possessed, summoning a puff of brown dust to cloud them. The horrid woman had thrown him away from the trap door like a piece of filth. He groaned, paralysed in place by the breathlessness that she had instilled. Fury herself hovered above him with that taunting smile, A trait he had hoped to train out of her. That unruly spirit that laughed at his expense, almost wheezing from her enjoyment. "Off", Loki shooed her muscular form off his own. Her sharp shoulder dug deeply into his waist.

"Okay, no more traps", She muttered, wiping the dust off her black pants. Her boots were planted firmly on the ground long before he had even moved. Was she always this agile?

Loki smirked a grin. Though she lacked the purity he had craved she was indeed enjoyable. Such a boisterous woman the silver-haired witch was. And she would go as far to offer him a hand. Insult or guilt? He didn't know. But he took it without a thought, towering over the unruly vampire beast with uncaged fury. And yet those electric eyes stared back without fear of recompense. How he wanted her to pay. To beg for mercy. She waited. He knew she did. Waited to be hit, to be made to bleed for her trickery. Perhaps it was Vaniria that brought to the surface her true fearlessness.

"C'mon we'll steal you something real nice, okay?", Those words broke his silent glare, cutting through it with a smile. She examined the silver shelves of jewels and beautiful garments, tinkering through the assortment like she was searching for a specific item of interest.

"Bullseye", Fury murmured, carefully slipping a silver ring onto her finger. Loki peered over her shoulder at the bulky piece of jewellery was which was engraved with runes that encompassed a dark emerald. It was ancient by the looks of it and dinted in a few places. She handed it to him.

"Magic multiplier. It's really cool",

"Why would Valerian leave this in a vault?", Loki questioned with a raised brow, eyeing the arched ceiling that grew into sturdy pillars on the floor.

"He didn't know I put it down here", Fury answered while turning back to the mannequins that displayed exquisite gowns and brilliant necklaces. Her long fingers trailed the materials with disinterest until she sighted a magnificent gown locked behind a glass cabinet. He watched that smile form. It was true Fury custom to revel in the chaos that would ensue if she stole it.

"The last queen of Vaniria", Loki read the engraved plaque that Valerian mounted upon the glass. It was a full ensemble with jewellery and footwear included. Valerian had seen to it that she was never a queen. Petty revenge perhaps but it was nonetheless maniacally calculated and flawless in its timing. She was indeed quite evil. It sparked humanity within him that he thought was long-since dead. He was undeniably in dire straits. Loki clutched the silver ring in his palm, slipping it on to his middle finger. It appeared to grow with his movement, enough to sit snuggly. The ring blended well with his black and green jacket.

"I simply must have it", Fury distorted her voice with glee. "Hmm?" He asked, paying little attention to her.

"The forbidden thing. I must have it", She explained to him like he were a fool. "Forbidden thing gon make alarm go beep beep. Must steal imperative things first", Fury taunted with a smirk, pocketing a few small items and tossing countless weapons into a bag. Armour, devices and daggers she took it all, handing him a twin set of swords. "Now you can put your butter knives back in the utensil draw",

Butter knives? His daggers were the finest made in Asgard. Albeit the twin swords were undeniably attractive. The was no winning outcome in arguing with her. So He took them with a huff.

"Okay. Now. Ahhh...Once I break the glass you're going to take the things back to Asgard", Fury's eyebrows furrowed with hesitation.

"And yourself?", He enquired with crossed arms. Fury rubbed her cheek with contemplation. Insincerity plagued her unfazed facade.

"I...i'm going to run",

"It is such an honour to be a transport service to you", He hissed with a childish ignorance. What was she but little more than an acquaintance? An irritating and uncouth creature that thought herself worthy to command him. To enlist his services in exchange for stolen relics and... He sighed, having neglected the truth that he was indebted to Furya in a sum that could never be repaid. Those Wildmen were his own making. A product of his naivety.

"Just take the shit back to Asgard and stop being a little bitch", Fury silenced him with her outburst in her usually civil words. He smiled a grin that buried his objection. Loki knew she ran like hell hounds bit at her ankles. But if she hesitated for just a moment there was no question whether Valerian would kill her. She'd be dead...

And of course, his powers would fade with her...yes his beloved magic...

"As you wish", He murmured with delay.

"Hey, Mischief", Fury called, catching his attention. He watched her throat bob with uncomfortable silence.

"Yes, Furya?",

"Be good", She smirked a weary smile. Was she truly saying goodbye? To him? Such a lowly creature?

"That relies on the state in which you return."

The dark hair of her arched brows raised in perplex. It was indeed a strange phrase to mutter.

"I best not return and find those ancient artefacts in a shop window", She broke the uneasy silence while grabbing the blunt end of a small mace. Loki chuckled.

The glass shattered with ease from the end of the mace she swung into it. It rained upon them like the snowflakes that plagued Asgard. The deafening alarm echoed through the castle like a shrill nodded to him with an unnoticed fear in her electric orbs. It was his queue to leave. Loki consumed the stolen property in tendrils of green magic, disappearing in a second.

Fury

Alarms cried their shrill call as she bounded down the dark corridors in a swift sprint. Voices followed after her that had been gaining momentum since she shot out of the vault. Those blue eyes glanced over her shoulder and spotted a light gaining on her. Damn. She thought she could outrun it. Fury violently jammed herself behind the cover of the dark window sill. She was grateful no one had activated the lights yet. The silver-plated guards passed her by without suspicion, muttering amongst themselves. They were truly miserable. She didn't have time to dwell on them. Shit. The guard dogs and their masters swept towards her, activating the blinding lights within the castle. Fury's eyes flickered to the floor below then to the cement balustrade. "Fuck", She hissed and climbed the railing. Below the floor was a ten-foot drop between plants and chairs. At least it was carpet. She reassured herself with little comfort. Blinding strobes of white light bathed her from the extravagant light shade above and she dropped. There wasn't a chance in hell that she could leave unscathed. A sharp pain crawled up her thigh. "Fuck", She hissed with tears gathering in her eyes. The overarching warrior statue had impaled her with its metal arrow. Shit. She had forgotten about the hideous thing. Her leg had snapped it clean off the statue but those quick feet pounded hard against the carpet, dragging her damaged leg like it didn't slow her. Climbing and twisting, higher and higher until she met the hideous carpet that laid on the floor of the hall. Fury breathed out a relieved sigh. Creeping closer to the arching door that would give her freedom. Her leg stung like it was on fire. Blood seeped from it without fault and her lungs burned from running. She was close. So close. Ten more steps.

"Furya", Valerian's voice emitted from the shadows, creating the chill that twisted around her spine. Her eyes flickered to the throne. A woman hooded and cloaked stood in his grasp. Splayed at his legs like a pet snake. Her face was shadowed barring her dark braids that spewed from the darkness. Fury winced at the scene. Valerian gave with one hand and took with the other. No one would ever sit next to his throne. It stood alone. Metallic and cold. Cloistered away from any life.

"Why don't you get that poor girl a chair?", Fury sneered..."Oh, Wait",

She wanted to run. She needed to run.

Like Valerian could read her mind the arching door locked shut. Fury flinched at the creaking sound, breathing out a hopeless sigh. The windows were overgrown with ivy and dead rose bushes that sealed the grime glazed glass shut. Ah, the grapevine chandelier. Sharp enough to injure, but not enough to kill. Her options were running low. Guns wouldn't faze him. He was a miserable excuse for a magical being, but still impenetrable by human weaponry. A defiled perk robbed from a more prestigious being.

"You've come home", Valerian peeled himself off the horned chair, jingling from the chains that swung from his attire. His dark skin came to life underneath the fluorescent light that burst alive. Unsurprisingly that ominous shadow that had haunted her clung to his back like a second skin. Dark and forbidden magic. It haunted her too. Watching and waiting. Never striking. Under the fluorescent lights, she finally saw the black masses for what they were. Parts of herself, memories trapped within Vaniria. Tortured and writhing. Every sliver of sanity she lost to Valerian. Every drop of blood he spilt. Trapped here for all eternity. Haunted by her.

Black and gold eyes shimmered at Fury with a sadistic smile. A beautiful smile from a demonic beast. Closer and closer he crept. Constricting her chest tighter.

"My wife", His words turned bitter as he reached to trace her lips. Wife? She was never a wife to him. She was unworthy of being a loved possession. Unable to bear his children. She counted herself blessed that her human half existed to reject Valerian's demon offspring. Yet he still called her wife.

"Death did us part", Fury slinked out of his touch and summoned her sword into her hand. It erupted in tendrils of iridescent flame.

The woman who had remained silent chanted a string of foreign slurs. Whatever it was it singed her sword's magic like a bucket of water thrown upon it. Fury flicked her sight to the woman, her braided hair hung low at her waist. After she killed Valerian that problematic little witch was next.

"Who are you conspiring with?", Valerian had the woman's magic take the sword from her hands, clattering it to the ground. Shit. He grabbed at her throat, dragging her across the hall. "Who would dare touch you?",

Her kevlar vest collided heavily against the brick wall with Valerian's weight atop of it. He made it difficult to breathe. All she could think was how she could make him suffer. Yet if she let him see what she had become...No she wouldn't let him. She remembered erupting into light at the Ghoul's den. Valerian would eat her alive if he knew what power she possessed. If he knew what she had become. To keep her secret she would endure whatever torture he envisioned.

"Maybe you're just not as good as you think", Her answer painted his face with anger and she felt his hand curl at her waist. That rage disabled anything within him that had once been pure. When he was irritated it didn't matter whether you were an enemy or his wife...He was a demon.

"There is a man. A being of great power. She's been defiled by his...magic. I can almost taste it on her", That hooded witch spoke softly at the throne, heeling like the obedient creature she was. But how? How did she know? Fury's mind was a crypt sealed tightly...but Loki's was not. Perhaps she had bound herself to him with more ferocity than she had assumed. The skin at her tattoo itched more feverishly the longer she thought of it. She hadn't exactly read the fine print when snaring Loki with the blood contract, A signature Valerian move.

Another man was not something Valerian would appreciate. He was going to hurt her and he was going to hurt her bad. That hand clawed at her skin and his breath was hot at her neck.

"Does he know that you were claimed by a demon? Does he feel it when he fucks you? Does he pity it?", Heat rose in her chest. He was vulgar. A complete beast. And he wanted her to fight him so he could prove himself an alpha. An overlord.

"I don't think of you at all while we're 'fucking', A smug smile met her lips despite her sweating palms and erratic heartbeat. He growled like an enraged beast. "Five extra inches and I forgot who you were",

She was too short of breath to avoid the fist that crumpled her to the ground. He let her fall but was swift to hound her on the floor. A hand wrapped around her thigh, dangerously close to her wound. The other caressed her face.

"What is this fallacy that you've embodied? When we both know what you are, Furya. You're a weak and insecure little girl who relied on me to save you from that coven of Vampires. A minion that allowed me to defile your body with dark magic. Who was too scared to say otherwise...Oh and I waited for you to...for years. Fifty years you obeyed. A willing slave. Fifty years you let me bruise that pale skin, yet you always returned to our bed. Without a word of protest. You did this to yourself."

Furya gritted her teeth together so ferociously she thought they would shatter and choke her to death right in front of him. When she didn't reply he kept talking, his eyes mentally groped at the brand he had burned into her forearm.

"While I'm killing your lover in every gruesome and depraved way I can imagine, I'm going to ask him...", Valerian reefed her upright, his breath hot at her face. She hissed as he pressed into her gash on her leg. "Does she still make that whimpering sound right before she...", She stopped hearing him speak as a smile consumed his lips. This creature...A demon who was unjustly handsome and built stronger than any mortal, Though his face was scarred and burned and his eyes an unearthly gold. He was the psithurism that fluttered through the woods. He was the jewellery that the ghoul kept encrusted with dust and buried beneath more worthy trinkets. He was nothing.

She watched as another depraved thought entered his mind. "Then when you've been in the dungeons for days, perhaps weeks, When I am your only solace from the dark, You are going to beg to...'Remember me',"

Fury didn't doubt for a second that this creature of nothingness' intentions were impure. In the two hundred years she had been gone he had snapped entirely. She hated that she feared someone so insignificant. She was strong. So strong. He was vile filth. Unworthy of life and undeserving of this castle. She was just another stolen object.

My name is Furya and I am a goddess. A sorcerer of flame and light. A witch.

"...I don't want you to suffer...", Fury choked out with frailty. "I want you to die",

She grabbed his forearm and stared into those vacant orange and black orbs. Fire blistered Valerian's skin and he stumbled back from the surprise.

"Argh", He hissed in pain, and his eyes, for once they wondered if he had underestimated her. Valerian's lips parted with perplex.

"I was going to bring you jade vine flowers tomorrow then-",

"If I cannot stab you with it then assume I do not want any gift you provide!", Fury felt the heat melt into her core like a volcano ready to explode in a molten mess. Valerian twitched and she watched the veins in his neck pulse faster. He sensed something.

The ground shook beneath them, startling the occupants as the arched doorway shattered into shards against the hideous carpet. It made the hooded witch flee into a scattering of dark ash on the carpet. Such a loyal companion. Furya shifted on the floor, waiting to capture a glance at the person. A groan escaped her lips. She held onto her wounded thigh with a clamped hand.

A being stepped forward from the wreckage. His shadowed eyes glared to the howling of the wind and it surrendered to him. He was the epitome of chaos and power. A creature so strong that even the earth rumbled beneath his feet. He glided with purpose and threatened with the dominance that radiated off his form in tendrils. Those loose tendrils tossed the long dining table out of his path without a sweat.

Fury beheld the creature with astonishment and an inkling of lust. The flawlessness in which he readjusted the lighting to his liking was something unchallenged. An ultimate insult to Valerian to have this being upturn his home. Valerian scurried to his feet, the weak miserable demon. Though he would not bow, he didn't dare kick the magical being out of his palace.

"L...loki", Valerian stammered with unease, flinching as the God summoned Fury's sword into his palm and passed the demon without recognition.

Fury smiled an unconcealable smirk as Loki hauled her off the floor with that sadistic smile buried deep underneath the intoxicating facade. His arm wrapped around her shoulder, luring her closely to his body. He halted her just before Valerian, facing her with those emerald orbs. His arm hung loosely against her waist, skimming her vest against his black leather-bound chest.

"I do find that whimper quite euphoric", His hand traced her jaw. A thumb dancing at her lower lip as his eyes shimmered with lust. They flickered softly to Valerian with a devious smile.

This is only for show, dear Fury.

Fury softly raised a brow, uncertainly allowing the trickster to inch closer to her lips until they disappeared from Vaniria In a sinister black cloud. She was left peering into those soulful emerald orbs with Loki's breath at her cheek. It was exciting and chaotic. Loki retreated to a safe distance and that unexplainable longing disappeared. It was for the best.

Loki nudged the bag of stolen goodies with his foot, gesturing to behold the fruits of their mischief.

Fury smirked weakly, declining any thoughts he had of running inventory on the items. Instead, she limped to the white-tiled bathroom, switched on the light and lowered herself to the floor. The blinding light illuminated the silver triangle of metal that buried itself underneath her skin. Her hand quivered at the thought of having to dislodge the chunk of metal from her leg. She was still so sore and bruised from the Ghoul. Fury rested her neck against the cold tile, closing her eyes. She wanted a long vacation. Even a week where she didn't get impaled or hit or clawed. A holiday from being who she was. Her eyelids pried open and beheld Loki, crossed armed and leaning against the shower frame.

"Would you like me to?", He motioned to her thigh, his nose wrinkling at the unsightly blood.

"By all means", She replied in a breathy voice.

The God knelt before her, so regal and proper in his action. She forgot he was a prince. The prince of Asgard who aided so tenderly to her wound.

"Is it possible to capture a moment in time...A feeling and cast it as a...' ghost' I suppose?", Fury asked with a wince of pain. She frowned at the nonsensical babble, it sounded ridiculous. Loki's eyebrow knitted with thought. He spoke with interest.

"Show me", He held his free hand with prodding at the triangular arrowhead with the other. Fury grasped his hand with her own and imagined the shadows that haunted Vaniria. Loki bowed his head with understanding but no words could roll off his razor-sharp tongue.

"It requires a horrific measure of agony to disassociate with the mortal realm. To exist between life and death. If only in a moment. It's called 'Scattering' ", His green eyes softened their unruly stare. Fury pursed her lips in contemplation, asking softly.

"How do I get rid of it?",

"It Is trauma Furya, you cannot simply recite a spell and banish it. It is with you until you die. You acknowledge that it exists and you do what you must to survive.",

Loki spoke without meeting her eyes. His hands worked thoroughly to grasp the slippery metallic chunk. Without warning, he tore it from her flesh.

Magic tendrils softened her deafening growl working quickly to sew the wound shut.

"Fuck!",

A childish smirk crossed his lips like he had done something incredibly devious. He softly tapped her newly healed thigh and stood from the bloodstained tile.

"Thank you, Loki", Fury groaned, struggling to her feet. She didn't mean just for healing her wound.

Loki scoffed, "I didn't do it for-", She held up her hand in protest. "I know, but thank you",

His expression shifted into something untraceable from the being who had raided Valerian's keep. His eyes conveyed every feeling that he had ever felt, searching for an appropriate response. He didn't have one.

"Finally. I've found the mute button", Fury jabbed to recover some sense of normalcy. Loki smiled that sinister grin and left her to her own devices like everything would fall back into place in the morning. But it wouldn't. It couldn't. Not after that night.