The God of Mischief kept his distance from the Midgardian woman after their meeting in the garden. She made herself sparse, eating separately, hiding out in different locations of the palace. Loki, of course, knew where she was, but watched her from afar, sometimes for hours on end as she read. He hoped that she would come to him; he would beg her forgiveness, kiss her lips, and hold her.
He felt so lonely. He missed her.
"My prince," a servant bowed in the doorway, dragging Loki's attention away from watching Holly read in the gardens. "Miss Killigrew requests your presence in the gardens." The man bowed again as Loki hurried past him, heart racing.
He hoped to gods that this wasn't a goodbye.
As he reached the entrance to the gardens, he stopped dead in his tracks, seeing Holly standing in the doorway. Her red hair was pinned up off the back of her neck, revealing her neck and collarbones. She wore a similar green dress as the day in the garden, accented by golden bracelets, golden earrings, and a large golden necklace. Black eyeliner swept over her lid and to the corner of her eye, red lipstick accented her lush, pouty lips.
"Hi," she blushed, clasping her hands in front of her. Loki watched her warily as she stepped towards him. "Shall we go for a walk in the gardens?"
"Yes," he answered, offering her his arm. Holly was hesitant at first, but curled her fingers around forearm and walked closer to him. "Is your leg healing?"
"Yes, very well. Thank you for asking." She smiled gratefully, noticing that Loki kept a slow pace, remembering her prior difficulty. They walked in silence. Nothing was awkward, but there was the looming conversation to be had. As they approached a marble bench, Holly slowed down. "Can we sit?"
"Of course," Loki answered, waiting for her to sit before he sat beside her. Holly turned her body towards his, reaching to take one of his hands. He eagerly laced their fingers, a hopeful set of blue eyes meeting her gaze
"After a lot of contemplation," she paused, taking a deep breath. "I've decided to stay in Asgard… with you." Before Loki could react, she started again, "But I need to set some ground rules with you." He nodded, keeping his mouth shut. "I need you to stay even tempered as much as possible with me. I'm not always going to be perfect. I'm only human." Holly grinned at her small joke as Loki laughed quietly. "I need you to promise me that I am the only woman in your life. At least tell me where you're going when you leave… I apologize. It sounds terribly clingy and I hate to do that to you, but I've been hurt before… and I need reassurance."
"Of course," he nodded in understanding, squeezing her hand gently.
"The only other thing I ask is that we try to keep this quiet. If something goes wrong and I'm to return to Midgard, I have to be sure that I have a job and a life to go back to." She explained. "However, this rule can be broken if the circumstances are right." Loki nodded as she took his other hand. "That's not too much to ask, I hope." Holly bit her bottom lip, looking up at him with hopeful, warm eyes. Loki only smiled at her, leaning down to place a kiss on her lips gently.
"Nothing is too much coming from you." He whispered, his forehead pressed against hers. "I have missed you, Holly."
"I've missed you," she confessed, one of her hands reaching up to cup his sharp jawline. Loki kissed her again, one large hand cradling the back of her head. When they broke away, Loki glanced appreciatively down at her dress.
"You look stunning in my colors." His hand ran down the back of her neck and her spine until it came in contact with the marble. Holly blushed, biting her bottom lip.
"Thank you," she smiled, her hands pulling his face closer to kiss her again. Loki grinned into their kiss, arm looping around her waist and pulling her into his lap. Holly laughed, her arms wrapping around the back of his neck.
Frigga stood in the window that Loki had recently vacated, her hands clasped and brought to her lips. Tears came to her eyes as they kissed once more, foreheads pressed together in a lover's bond.
The next hurdle to conquer would be to convince Odin to allow Holly's stay. But she would take care of that. At the moment, Holly and Loki needed to focus on each other and each other only.