Silver and Scales
Chapter Twenty-One: Bedroom Talk
Vyperia seated herself along the edge of the bed as night fell upon Asgard.
Her corset clung to her breasts; she wore slick, black slacks—the thinness of them couldn't hide her legs from the slightest of breezes. Half-naked, her light armor lying on the floor where she had left it, Vyperia sat with her legs hanging off the side of the bed. She had been in the middle of dressing down in order to slip into her night gown until she had been momentarily distracted by the knife that had been cradled against her hip all day. Vyperia's fingers ran over the refined malachite; the moonlight that shined through the ever-massive window glinted off the blade, creating a small sliver of light to shine back on Vyperia's white face. She could see her reflection from within the glass. Her emerald eyes, as dark as evergreen trees, peered back at her; and she looked as if she was stuck in a trance.
She thought of Loki.
She thought of what he had said to her hours earlier, in the garden, when they had seemed to have fought just for a brief moment. Vyperia felt oddly irked by his words; however, at the same time, she was greatly touched.
Vyperia would die for him; but would it be selfish to allow him that kindness? After discovering his true parentage, and quite possibly that Odin's paternal love was non-existent, and his life—not in shambles—but shattered but all was a lie, Loki could possibly want to die. She could understand the jealousy that swam through his mind and the heartbreak that clung to his heart. Loki was the ruler of Asgard; but he never wanted the throne. Though, to take it all back would be destructive—the throne, the planet, the power…
Vyperia heard Loki say once before that he wanted to destroy Jotunheim. She only felt compelled to dissuade him because her duties implicated for her to do so. Vyperia felt nothing for the Frost Giants, only that she hoped Laufey still wanted Loki as a son. If he didn't, surely that would have the Jotun king a brilliant death, indeed.
The dagger slowly turned in Vyperia's hands. Her gaze shined back at her.
My dear love, what would you have me do?
Her thought was so clear and concise. Was this not what she always asked herself when she was faced with an idea that was torn between her entitlement to guardianship and her devotion to Loki?
Why would I choose some position that nobody believed that I deserve over my love for Loki? Who would choose duty over that kind of love? Is this not what I was meant to do? Could I leave all this behind if it meant an eternity at Loki's side?
"Would you?"
Vyperia startled at the invasive voice that pulled her out of her thoughts. At first, she believed that the voice came from within her mind, as if it had been make-belief of her own conscience; but she turned to see Loki, standing under the frame of the bedroom. Light shined in from behind him, though it was quickly put out when he closed the door; his hand remained on the knob as he leaned back against it as it made a familiar soft click.
"Oh…" Vyperia sighed, turning away from him, relieved to know that she wasn't able to make up voices in her head.
However, Vyperia's eyes squinted in oncoming understanding. She glanced over her shoulder to see Loki's eyes penetrating her gaze of realization.
He read her mind. He could see her thoughts.
"I've been able to do so for a while now," Loki said calmly. He pushed his back from the door as he strode full-bodily into the spacious room, his eyes on her as she watched him warily. He grew accustomed to seeing surprise on her beautiful face, as he hoped that he would never cease to amaze her. Loki approached her. He sat down beside her. He wore the elegant cliché of leather and metal, though his helmet was absent from his armor.
"You have many thoughts," Loki reported to her, a rogue smile on his handsome cheekbones. "Some are rational, logical, practical, and actually quite poetic. Some of them make me question whether or not that you are an Asgardian or if you are one of the hormone-driven, teenage Midgardians on Earth."
"A queen knows her place." Vyperia replied, knowing no other reply to give that was appropriate or relevant. Her eyes didn't meet his when she said this; they were drawn to the knife in her hands. When her gaze met the dagger's reflection, her stomach turned when instead, she saw the brilliant blue ones watching her.
Vyperia looked up at Loki; his gaze steadied upon the knife that was lovingly cradled in her hand.
"A queen knows when to speak when it is a formal occasion, appropriated by her guards and her common folk; and also"—his hand wrapped affectionately along her the back of her neck—"when she is in front of her husband, and the situation is calm and private."
Vyperia smiled.
"I never want you to think that I am capable of treachery," she said gently. "I am a goddess and my duties are prominent; but I am first and foremost yours to command. Well, don't you think that I could lay my life on the line and you be the hero in my eyes?"
"Is that a riddle?" asked Loki playfully.
"I'm serious, Loki."
His hand left her. He rose to his feet. She watched him as Loki strode around to his side, shedding the armor that clung to his body. He said nothing as he did so, forestalling what would follow to be an argument of sacrifice. He pulled off the layers of his upper armor; pale flesh stood out from the rest of his covered body as he undressed.
"If you saved my life once, wouldn't that mean that if I saved yours, the debt is repaid?"
"With you and me, there is no such debt," Loki replied as he hung his armor in the wardrobe.
Vyperia repositioned herself on the mattress; one leg still hung over the edge of the bed while the other was tucked underneath her bottom. She held the dagger lazily in her hand, though her thumb stroked it with the attempt of keeping herself steady through their discussion: she felt the oncoming heat of irritation but arousal peaked tightly into her chest as Loki disrobed in front of her.
"With you and me," continued Loki calmly—though the expression on his face was self-evident of bottled annoyance, "is there no precise amount of sacrifice that I could make that you would only take as gratitude that I love you? Would you, if the situation called for it?
"The weight of the world falls upon Asgard; I would gladly bear it all if it meant that you would come to me late at night and readily welcome I in an open brace—free from toil.
"Why"—he turned to look at her, momentarily abandoning his undressing—"would you trade that to ease your guilty conscience?"
"Because I am your wife," Vyperia answered. "We act very much like a couple in heat; but I meant what I said when I agreed to marry you."
"All you said was 'yes', and that doesn't count what followed," Loki said, pointing at her. "Mother and Father have always shared the burden of the throne; and look how close Odin is to never recovering."
"If they didn't share the burden, he'd have died and gone to Valhalla," Vyperia replied. "Is it so impossible to think that I could bear it? Your problems, your enemies, your hatred or otherwise—I could help you bear it. If you let me," she added.
Loki looked at her.
"You fear something great. I don't pretend to hide that I know this. You fear that I shall have an ancient war descended upon Asgard because I want to show Father that I'm worthy of the throne…"
"Oh, for the good of Asgard, of course I fear that," retorted Vyperia. "I don't want to see you hurt. That is what I truly fear."
Loki said nothing in return. He continued to undress. He pulled down his leather trousers, stripped down to his boxers. Loki wordlessly slipped into bed beside her. He sat against the headboard, gazing at her in concentration. His eyes searched hers.
"You hear me, but do you listen?" she asked him. "Loki, I know that I can be over-sentimental sometimes; but never mistake that for drama. I fear you when you become angry with me."
"I trust that; but I have read your mind when you drift into silence when I'm angry with you," said Loki cockily, "and what I hear in your thoughts is something less frightening and something more that borders on arousal."
Vyperia's cheeks reddened.
"Nevertheless, it's true," she pressed on. "I honestly am terrified when you become angry. You hide your pain before fury. You hide sadness behind it because anger is all that you know. You're so perceptive about everyone else but yourself."
He looked at her.
"Your mother has always said that to me, you know," Vyperia added with a smile. "Loki, God of Mischief. 'He can almost always tell when somebody is lying to him, but heaven forbid that he sees the little lies that he tells himself', is what she would say to me whenever you and I argued as children." Vyperia grinned. "It's true."
"Do you know what Mother says about you?" Loki replied kindly.
"Something nice, I hope," Vyperia inclined with a crooked smile.
"She tells me that you love me."
Vyperia nodded.
"Well, that should have been an obvious one," she replied, clearly disappointed that it wasn't something as analytic as Vyperia's little secret had been.
"This is something different," Loki told her. He sighed thoughtfully. "In fact, she tells me that every time that we have fought over something so insignificant. In a thousand years, it's unbelievable to know that you have never strayed from me. In all seriousness, I would have always imagined that you would have taken Thor first."
"Thor? Why?" Vyperia snorted.
Loki looked at her appreciatively, pleased to hear the denial and incredibility in her laugh.
"He impresses women alike with that hammer of his. The females who roam Midgard bow down to him after he summons some lightning and thunder; but do they know what real power is? No."
"Ooh, jealousy," teased Vyperia, smirking at him. "Real power…and you possess that, do you?"
"True power doesn't come from muscle and bone."
"Always brain over brawn," Vyperia stated summarily, gazing at him affectionately.
"Well, yes. If I assumed that my body was more powerful than the rest of me, I would be on Earth like Thor. Now what would that prove?"
"That even though you were stripped of your powers, you could probably still flog a tavern full of men." Vyperia said snidely.
Loki looked at her seriously.
"Now why would you say something like that?"
"Oh, please," scoffed Vyperia, sliding off the bed. She tossed the knife onto the mattress and rose to her feet. Her fingers hooked onto the waistline of her slacks before bringing them down to her ankles. "If I truly was attracted to your brother, do you think that I would have spent the last 980 years of my life with you?"
Loki looked at her as she stepped out of her slacks, tossing them aside.
"Quite frankly, no; but I'm certain that you would have given into your female-driven urges for at least one night with me," Loki retorted, looking at her sarcastically. "Your aloofness is as transparent as the dagger that you cradled in your hand, Vyperia. It is so easy to see your lust. You couldn't cut your tension with a knife when you are around me."
Vyperia chuckled, though she didn't deny his accurate observation. She reached behind her to unfasten the laces of her corset; her fingers readily worked them with ease. Vyperia looked at him.
"It's obvious to know that you're still attracted to me after all these years," she responded. "Since it's honesty hour here, I thought that you would have taken a fancy to Sif."
"The Goddess of War who makes play that she's as rough as the rock that we stand on but has the soft underbelly of a newborn lobster…" Loki said with little interest. "Sif is beautiful, in many ways than one, but her heart has always belonged to my brother."
"She's a firecracker, what are you talking about?" remarked Vyperia, amused.
"Oh, you haven't seen the way that she used to look at him. It might be a little worse now since Thor's heart is clearly devoted to another."
Vyperia was cut off from her amused spectacle when he said the last. Loki smirked at her, noticing her sudden surprise.
"It's true," he assured her. "Heimdall reported to me after I asked how Thor was doing on Midgard. He seeks attention and understanding from a mortal, a woman."
"Thor has a found a woman on Earth who clearly understands him?" muttered Vyperia. "Well, that's bizarre. With his arrogance putting him on a pedestal, I'm surprised that he could actually speak to a Midgardian with the littlest of courtesy. They aren't the lowest forms of races that I have seen, mind you; but their ignorance has become astonishingly strong as the years go by."
Loki amused himself with her words.
"Mm. Do you know that they believe that there is a higher power that governs their way of life?"
"Their God?" Vyperia remarked.
She unfastened the last couple of laces of her corset and drew the bodice from her body. She made a small sound of relief as I came away from her stomach. Muscle flexed along her the light ridges of her; the distinct push and pull around her ribs could easily be recognized as years of practical exercise. Her breasts were relieved from their material prison. She slid into bed beside Loki, drawing the covers over her half-naked body. She still wore her panties along her hairless midriff.
"A God," answered Loki.
"Like us?"
"No, something 'stronger' than us."
"You know," Vyperia said, entertaining the idea, "if we told them the truth about their God—whether he is real or if he's some fable that the first man made up—do you think that it would improve their lives or just worsen them?"
Loki smiled.
"Even to a god like me, that's cruel," Loki told her, though he smiled at the notion.
Vyperia made a small laugh.
The silence that fell over them was nurturing and comfortable. Loki lay down beside her, pulling the blankets over his body.
"Would you have me if I was a Midgardian woman?"
"In what context?"
"In the context that if I looked the same as I did, and you knew everything about me—like now—but instead of an Asgardian heritage, I was born from the first Man and Woman of the Garden of Eden, would you have me then?"
"If I knew everything about you, if you loved me as I love you now, I would," Loki told her with a handsome smile.
"Would you have me now, if I was cast out like Thor?"
"Why would that change anything?"
She smiled, touched.
"Of course," Vyperia added with a smirk, "I would have you if you were a Midgardian man too."
"I don't think that you would have much a choice," Loki humored her.
"Why is that?"
"You would know everything about me; and so you would think of me in your bed. It would drive you mad." Loki told Vyperia, facing her. "As it would, me."
"How can you be so romantic whenever the situation calls for it?" said Vyperia, feeling her heart melt from his words.
"It's part of architecture," said Loki. "Or perhaps the effect only has that impact on you."
Vyperia scooted toward him to wrap her arms around his waist. His hands fell upon her naked hips, pulling her close.
"Your silver tongue hasn't lost its touch, my lord."