Disclaimer: Do not own Loki or any Thor related content, Avengers, etc. Talin is mine.
Just a quick bit for all you readers.
"I think I might be evil."
It was a whisper, so quiet he wasn't sure he heard it, until he looked down at Talin. She was curled up tightly under her blankets, her heated forehead still resting in the palm of his hand. She had another fever, and a severe headache to match it. Her glowing eyes glanced up at him, and she trembled slightly before closing them again, sighing heavily.
"Why would you say such a thing?" Loki asked, stroking her hair gently.
She looked at him again, and he knew exactly why.
"Well… do you want to be evil?" Loki asked.
"No." She answered quickly, tensing up for a moment.
"Well ok then." He said softly.
For a while she remained quiet, although clearly she was thinking about something.
"Sometimes… sometimes I can't tell which thoughts are my own and which are the other ones…" She said quietly, the faintest tremor in her voice.
"Don't say that." Loki said quickly. "There is no other one, Talin. It is just you in there. That other…thing… is just there to test you. It's only you."
"You don't know what it's like… you don't see, don't hear, what I do." She said, and suddenly she sat up, eyes trapping his. "Even now I know your thoughts. I know what you fear, what you know to be true. I am a monster, father. And you can't do a thing to save me."
"You are NOT a monster!" Loki yelled, grabbing her by the shoulder.
His hands burned so suddenly he gasped and pulled his hands away.
"I'm sorry!" Talin whimpered, pushing herself away from him.
She began shaking hard, clenching her fists and squeezing her eyes closed. The demon was causing her so much pain, it often was too much for her to move.
"It's ok… it's ok. Shh." Loki breathed, moving closer to her.
Carefully, he pulled her into his arms, cringing at the inhuman heat rolling off her skin. It fluctuated often, sometimes dropping horrifically low, then other times getting extremely hot. Sometimes, like it just had, her skin would burn everything it came into contact with, which is why he had conjured clothing for her that was more resistant to her fluctuating body temperature.
She pressed herself against him, welcoming the small and only comfort in her life.