He stood in the dark and deserted hallway outside of Aislinn's rooms, having dismissed the guards disguised as their commanding officer. He was toying with an illusion, perfecting it for his plan. Love had been in the air in the palace for the past week: the midsummer festival was tomorrow, and every young person in Asgard suddenly seemed desperate for a passionate romance. Loki intended to use that to his every advantage.
He continued to tweak the illusion here and there until he was satisfied, and then became invisible and lurked in a dark corner of the hall. He was there for some time, until he saw Aislinn walking down the hallway. She was moving hesitantly, not wanting to be seen. He supposed she was trying to avoid Thor. When she had successfully passed his room, in order to continue down the hall to her own room, she seemed more relaxed, that is until she spotted something by Loki's great silver door.
His illusion was perfect in its vividness: there, two shadows were wrapped around each other. Loki watched the image of himself somewhat bemusedly as it passionately kissed a perfect replica of Sigrid. His hands ran over her perfect Asgardian body, tugged at her white-blonde hair and even pulled her dress sleeve off her shoulder. He watched her image wrap a leg around her partner's hip, and moan as his duplicate nibbled and bit at her neck.
He watched Aislinn as she came close enough to see, and waited for her reaction. He had spent hours imagining potential reactions to this. If she were jealous or angry, that might give him hope. He lived in fear of indifference, or worse, amusement. The reaction that he saw was wildly different than he had anticipated.
Pain rushed across her features as though she had been stabbed. She choked, and let out a small sob, tears already beginning to run down her face and she turned and took off at a run.
The image disappeared in a blink of green light, and Loki teleported out of the hallway as quickly as he could, trying to guess the path Aislinn would take.
No sooner had he appeared in the hall and started to walk forward to try to spot her, than she came tearing around a corner and slammed directly into his chest, still crying.
He did not need to feign shock and concern, although his surprise was all for her reaction, and not for being collided with.
"Aislinn! What is it?" He asked, gently placing his hands on her shoulders and trying to look into her eyes, filled with tears.
"You… You are not in the hall!" She gasped around her tears, smiling for a split second through them as relief dawned on her.
Loki knew what she meant, but still looked around himself and said, "I am in a hall, what are you talking about?"
"I thought I saw…" she said for a moment, looking down at her feet. For a fleeting second, Loki thought he would carry off this ruse and that she would be none the wiser, but then he saw recognition dawn across her face.
"It was an illusion!" She gasped, looking up at him with accusing eyes. "You made me see… why? You wanted to punish me? Laugh at me?" She shoved Loki away.
"Aislinn, I…" Loki began, trying desperately to think of something to say, and hating himself for his stupidity. His jealousy and anger had clouded his judgment, and he was paying for it now.
"Shut up!" She shouted. "I do not want to hear anything you have to say. Stay away from me, god of mischief. They were right about you when they said you were only a trickster. But you have had your laugh, why would you want to be around me anyway?"
"Aislinn please!" he almost whined, "I have to know that I can fix this, forgive me? Please."
She shot him a venomous glance over her shoulder as she walked away towards her room. "I am angry beyond words right now, little prince." She spat, using a moniker she knew he hated. "Just leave me alone until I tell you otherwise." And she disappeared beyond the corner whence she had come.
Loki slid down the wall and placed his head in his hands. He had never regretted a single prank, not even the frost giants, as much as he regretted this hasty decision in this moment.
Aislinn almost dashed into her room and slammed the door with an almighty boom. She began to weep openly and without control, until she felt Tofa's arms around her.
"Aislinn, my friend! What ever is the matter?" Tofa exclaimed full of concern.
"Tofa," she sobbed, "You'd… never believe… the day I… have had."