Silver and Scales

Chapter Twenty-Three: Read My Mind

The warmth between Vyperia and Loki's naked bodies provided the additional comfort after what had transpired between them only an hour ago. The feverish enthusiasm that had possessed them earlier had slowly washed out from the outbreak of passion; and now there, in bed, they relaxed in the cool atmosphere of affection and charm. Relaxation hung steadily in the air.

Vyperia's head was cradled in the crook of Loki's neck; her arms were wrapped around his waist as if he would evaporate in her hold. She clung to him with a smile on her face, immersed in tranquility, undisturbed. As Vyperia held him close to her body, Loki's arm draped a protective arm around her body for equal measure. His unoccupied hand stroked Vyperia's wrist fondly.

Along Loki's chin and jaw line, Vyperia's eyes lingered on his still facial features. She gazed at him in endless longing, as if he were an idol that she had adulated since she had laid eyes on him on the battlefield.

In her eyes, and in her heart, he might as well have been a god—even if he was a mortal man.

Soothing breaths came from Loki's mouth as he embraced her. He was awake, but he merely rested there. His eyes didn't quake, though it appeared that he would be lost in thought. Vyperia was looking at him long enough to make these small notes. Finally, she broke the silence with a low and vacant whisper. She was careful to not disrupt him so abruptly in case he was in a deep conclusion of some grand puzzle.

"You can read my mind, Loki."

"I always have been able to do so." Loki answered with a low octave of his own. She smiled adorably when she saw his mouth move as he spoke. The smallest of things could make her heart flutter. His voice was hypnotic, mesmerizing, and in every way pleasant. He didn't open his eyes upon reply, though it was noticeable that his attention was focused on her.

"How long, exactly, have you been able to hear my thoughts while I am in your presence?" Vyperia questioned, merely out of curiosity.

Feeling her stir beside him, Loki's eyes opened; he turned his head to meet her curious gaze in an amused regard. She shifted in order to accomplish the angles of their heads. Her tight embrace around his frame loosened, and she sat up in order to ready for his answer. She didn't know whether his reply would be one of amusement or if he suspected her of a hidden treason.

"You're intrigued and curious by nature," he told her, calming her anticipated stomach tension. "In these last few days, I have learned that you are always willing to learn something new; and we do every day."

He accommodated Vyperia's bated breath with a smile.

"Lie back down," he gestured for her to resume their original positions.

Vyperia hesitated. Loki smiled at her serenely, with no sign of becoming irritated at her. She complied when he opened his arm to her in an inviting gesture. Loki pulled her close by his side, enveloping his arm around her naked hips. Her bare breasts pressed generously against his chest, and he smiled at her warm touch. Vyperia sighed in reassured relief. His protective hand embraced her into a comforting hold.

He could be romantic and very protective when the situation was called for it; he could be charming and persuasive when Loki needed her to do something for his own benefit. Loki could terrify and intimidate her if he found the situation so desired. Never, though, would Vyperia doubt that he loved her.

She found it very heartening that Loki held her so close like this. He was a gentle husband in this situation.

While Vyperia would love the controlling, dominant, and taunting rogue under the sheets; she found that her soothing, reasonable, proud, and admirable king was to be profoundly appealing as well.

Vyperia smiled as she huddled against him.

She would never in her life find anybody like him.

"You asked me," Loki replied gently, "for how long exactly have I been able to read your thoughts Vyperia? I have been able to do this since the battle of Nifleheim. I usually don't intrude on your thoughts; mainly for the reason that I have little reason to do so."

"Why have you not told me that you were able to do that?"

"It bore little importance during our courtship."

"So you knew, then, about my feelings for you?"

"Yes." Loki answered, grinning to himself.

Vyperia looked at him. She wasn't angry, but she was shocked.

"How could you be so sure that I wanted something like a secret courtship," asked Vyperia softly, "to blossom into an affair?"

"I didn't have to read your mind to know that you had fallen in love with me." Loki replied, meeting her queried eyes.

"Am I that easy to read?" remarked Vyperia.

Loki uttered a small chuckle. Vyperia's voice started to rise in a manner that bore signs of one becoming insulted. His laugh, however, faltered the beginning of smolder on her face. She stared at him, puzzled.

"What is so funny? That my mind is an open book? That any person who knows me can clearly read all the secrets that run through my head and know exactly what I'm thinking? That's…intrusive. That's…violating…"

"You're wrong," said Loki, smirking at her.

He found it amusing that she had become rambunctious.

Loki met her eyes.

"I didn't read your thoughts when I courted you. I haven't found the need to do so since we started to see other. I don't have to intrude, as you put it so blatantly, into your thoughts because your face tells me all that I need to know."

"You're putting me in a bad light, Loki," said Vyperia, flushed.

Loki shook his head.

He placed a hand beneath the ended line of her chin to caress her jaw affectionately. Vyperia felt her heart pound against her chest, quickened by the gaze in his eyes that summarily melted hers. He could play her like a harp, like his very own puppet. Loki guided her lips to meet his in a sweet kiss. Her flushed cheeks paled then turned an embarrassed pink.

She felt her hands numb.

"Vyperia," he told her tenderly, "I didn't have to read your thoughts because you express your heart through your eyes. If a man should ever question his lover's feelings, he needs only to look into her eyes."

"You see me every day," Vyperia remarked. "You look at me no differently."

Loki grinned.

"I don't," he said with a small smirk. "You look at me."

She smiled, grasping his meaning.

He found her beautiful to look at, and he would look upon her for an eternity. It was easy to see her heart, for he was always there.

Vyperia blushed.

Her eyes were the portals to her soul. Was he ever not present there? He could entrance her, charm her, and would she not always gaze at him in this way—that look of longing—her passion that never vanished even when she feared or loved him? He could read her thoughts because her emotions were steadily high in her eyes; and she always looked at him lovingly.

"And it's not in just my presence that I can hear your thoughts racing," Loki added in the silence. "I can hear you when you are apart from me. They echo in my mind when I wish to listen. It doesn't surprise me to know that, in my absence, you quake and tremble."

"Quake and tremble, do I?" repeated Vyperia in polite amusement. "Am I so dependent on your affections that I should long for you in your absence?"

Her hand trailed delicately soothing lines from his neck to his waistline.

"Do your thoughts become hazy and complicated when you are apart from me as well?" asked Vyperia with a smile. "How could I possibly know that unless I, too, read your mind?"

"I would know that you did," answered Loki.

He collapsed his hand upon her roaming fingers. Their interlocked fingers stilled upon his heart. Vyperia met his eyes.

"You are always in my mind," Loki told her, "and never doubt that you are."

"You are in mine," replied Vyperia.

"How can you play coy with me?" Loki said seriously, seeing the mocking smile playing on her lips. "When I am sincere, how can you tease me with your eyes?"

"Tease you? I am still stunned that all this time, you have been able to read me like a book. I thought that I was enigmatic," explained Vyperia. "I am less a mystery to you than the Man's invention of a kitchen utensil."

"When I say that you linger in my thoughts, I mean it the most affectionate of ways, Vyperia." Loki told her seriously. "Where you lie, where you stand, where you sleep, where you sit—I can always find you, but isn't there a good reason why I have searched for you when we are apart? You ache for me, but I ache for you too."

Vyperia stared at him, pleased.

"Your honesty is…" Vyperia searched for the better of words. "It's beautiful, but I don't think that you have ever elated such truer words than these. Are you afraid that you will lose me if you do not come forth with the truth? Is that why you are forward?"

Loki shook his head.

"The last time that I was spoken the truth, I was told a lie. Look at the damage that it has done."

"If you can read my mind, surely you must know that I mean it in the strongest way possible that I think that you are not damaged." Vyperia said candidly.

He looked at her with an off-standing glance, as if she had said something that was entirely off the books. She spoke as if he had called himself a monster.

"Why are so quick to tell me that I am an Asgardian, Vyperia?" asked Loki seriously. "Why are you fast to tell me that I am not flawed like the rest of you?"

"You are not flawed, not to me," answered Vyperia. "You are the same to me as you were a week ago. You have changed for the better, for the best. What you are makes no difference. It's who you are that matters to me, and you haven't changed."

"I haven't changed…?"

Vyperia stared at him. She had misspoken.

Loki pulled his arms away from her and sat up against the headboard. She became untangled from his comfortable embrace and now laid emptiness. He looked at her, clearly unhappy with her words. Vyperia pulled the blankets up to her chest, attempting to hide her vulnerability and fear from the covers. She bit her lip, anticipating the shocking anger that would come about his line of conversation.

"I haven't changed?" he repeated coldly. "I have changed, and it has made this place a better rule and a better planet because I have changed. I am not the complacent brother as I once was. I am king!"

The word was venom on his tongue. His voice had deepened and became hoarse with simmering anger. She winced at his tone.

"Thor is gone," said Loki irritably, "and I have taken over the throne to satisfy the rule of Asgard. Where would we all be if it weren't for me? The damage that Thor has caused is near irreparable, and I have made it so the rest of my people can lie down in the shade and wary not for the dangers in Jotunheim. I have changed, and it's for the better, where would we all be? Where would you be?"

Vyperia stared at him, stunned.

"I meant no disrespect."

"I could read it in your face that you looked upon me as if I have branded myself a monster."

"I don't think that you are monster," snapped Vyperia. "If I did, would I have not left you the moment that I saw your skin blue in Jotunheim, Loki? Would I have not left your side immediately if I feared you when I learned years and years ago that you were one of them? If I cared about your parentage, why would I be in your bed right now? What purpose would that solve?"

"Your purpose would be for your own," Loki retorted. "You would call yourself an Asgardian; and would you turn your sights on Thor?"

"What?" Vyperia exclaimed incredulously.

Loki and Vyperia sat in their bed, arguing.

Loki's eyes smoldered as he stared at her angrily. Vyperia searched his eyes. Then her gaze fell to him with smitten understanding. Loki looked at her as if their sights battled for some contest, for some understanding.

Vyperia sighed knowingly.

"You speak the truth," said Vyperia slowly, "because you fear that you will lose me?"

Loki glowered at her.

"You fear that by some spell, that if your brother should return…you will lose me?" Vyperia clarified. "You're jealous."

"I'm not jealous."

"You are envious of Thor, but why would you ever think that I would suddenly ache for him when you have always been the target of my affections? Why would you think that?"

"I have seen your mind when he battled in Jotunheim. I have heard what they say about him." He paused to compose what breath he still had in his lungs. "A Frost Giant on the throne of Asgard…Would it not be a better suit for you to have the son of Odin as king and you, a goddess, as his queen? Wouldn't that serve your purpose?"

"I have no purpose." Vyperia consented. "Why would I ever have your brother in place of you? Your lies, your mischief—they are you. Thor is but a warrior. You were made to be king."

Loki stared at her.

Vyperia smiled at him.

"My thoughts for Thor are merely swift and sure. He is handsome; he is a god. You are, too, but you have always been the god who appears in my dreams late at night. Should I sacrifice my loyalty to you for a place on the throne? And when you are gone by some misunderstood reason, do you think that I would lavish my seat of Asgard if you weren't there to enjoy it with me?

"My love," Vyperia said empathetically, "you are my king. You have always been my king in my eyes; and I love you."

Loki met her gaze. He sighed in an outward release, grasping the strength of her words.

"Oh, Vyperia…"

His words were an echo, though he said nothing from his mouth. Vyperia stared at him, stunned, as she heard his voice in her mind.

"Vyperia, I'm sorry."

He met her eyes.

"Do you forgive me?"

His mouth made no motion, but his words were clear as day in her head. She smiled, realizing that this was what he had been doing for years. She could hear his thoughts. Loki smiled at her slowly, as he knowingly understood what she had realized.

"Yes," she returned with her mind. "Yes—"

"I forgive you," Vyperia said aloud.