Loki did not sleep in the conventional sense of the word, or even in some permutation of the word. The trickster had learned the art of wakefulness centuries before, and now only needed small snippets of time to orient himself to continued consciousness. He waited through the next few hours for telltale signs of restless sleep, but apparently one interruption was enough.
Still, it was not nearly long enough before he heard movement in the adjacent room, and the light clicked on underneath the door. He narrowed his eyes as he listened to sluggish steps and some bumbling into objects. A few vile terms were uttered, and he realized as she opened the door that she had forgotten his presence.
She paused upon seeing him there, and blinked slowly. He waited for her angry outburst, or demands for him to leave. She sniffed loudly, swaying a bit on her feet, and said:
"Oh. I forgot."
She stepped forward once, her gait unsteady with recent waking. He stood to meet her and prevent her from entering the kitchen. The habit was unconscious, and he was not hungry. He steered her instead to the couch, where she sat and looked mildly confused.
"Why are you here?" she asked quietly, and sniffed again. She was bleary, and he couldn't conceal an amused smile at her expense.
"What a creature you are," he said. "How long until I can expect reasoned conversation with you?"
"God, don't talk like that," she groused. "You always talk so fancy. It's five in the morning, can't you use small words for once?"
"I am not sure I am capable, Amma Lynn." He clasped his hands behind his back. "It is unbecoming of one such as me."
"Whatever," she muttered, and laid herself out on the couch. She was nearly asleep again, and in another time he might've regretted interrupting her natural progression.
"Who did you speak with, before?" he asked. She opened her eyes and looked at him briefly, then shook her head.
"It wasn't you," she said. "Sorry if I woke you."
She did not think he'd been there. He crouched in front of her, bringing himself nearly eye level with her prone figure, and tilted his head. She opened her eyes again and smiled slightly.
"I should call you Macavity," she said. He decided not to try and decipher that remark. Instead, he said:
"You sounded very afraid, Amma Lynn. Will you force me to tell Stark you refused to speak with me? He is not above accessing the computer system in the walls."
She glanced up at the ceiling. "JARVIS is on my side," she said.
"Of course, Miss Creed," the A.I. said.
"JARVIS is but a program," Loki said, "and Stark is the creator. He can find a way."
"That's true," Lynn said. She had closed her eyes again, and Loki, using the stealth of an unseen hand, reached and stroked hair back from her face. She did not react, and he knew she was fully awake.
"Tell me, Amma Lynn," he said. "Is it Thanos? Do you dream of him still?"
"I never stopped," she whispered into the air. He removed his hand and draped it between his knees. "He hurt me enough."
"Indeed he did," Loki said as he straightened. "And he never will again."
"You can't know that," she said. "Third time's the charm, Loki. He can always find me again."
And Thanos might. The Mad Titan had intended a very specific purpose for the small woman before him. Loki could not imagine that losing her would be a slight easily forgiven.
But Lynn did not need to be aware of such matters.
"He will not," Loki said. "I have ensured it."
She looked up at him, then sat up, her brow furrowed.
"What did you do?" she asked.
"What needed to be done," Loki said. Of course, he had done nothing. "He will not find you, or at least not easily." After a moment's pensive silence, he added as a coup d'état, "Thor would know immediately."
She brightened significantly at the news, blinking hard and biting her bottom lip.
"You've got a spell on me?" she asked, hesitant and uncertain of the proper language. He flinched at the term and she plunged onward. "Something that will, will let Thor know? And you?"
"Heimdall is very observant," Loki said. "He will alert the both of us the moment we are needed, if all else fails." The implication that multiple measures were in place hung between them, and he willed her to believe, to accept the falsehood as truth.
He saw the moment the lie embedded within her mind, the sudden lifting of subconscious fears, replaced by a certain self-assurance. The knowledge that she was watched, and under the protection of powerful beings.
He smiled. It was no easy task to fool this mortal, and he couldn't stop a moment's triumph in his success.
"That's good," she said as she stood from the couch. "That's good to know. Thank you."
He met her eyes and saw the lie reflected back at him. She knew, she knew he was lying, and he was flummoxed for how. His shoulders tensed in annoyance at being so easily caught, but when she smiled it was genuine, confident and lacking anger.
"Thank you," she said again, and entered her room to prepare for the day.
"You know I am lying," he said to her back, as she turned to close the door. "Why are you so pleased?"
"Because you tried," she said, and closed her door.