Jane heard Loki get into bed, and seconds later there was silence. She smiled a little to herself, and began to unpack all of her boxes.
Hours later, she collapsed onto the sofa, utterly exhausted. She had planned to go out and get food to cook for dinner, but a pizza delivery leaflet had been posted through her door earlier that day, and it was sorely tempting.
Loki let his eyes flicker open slowly, trying to look half-asleep. He could smell some kind of food, and let his gaze turn to her. She was stood half in, half out of his room, clearly unsure of what to do with herself. Her slight cough had 'woken' him, and he smiled gently. Her timid answering smile was almost endearing.
"I got food," she said, smiling a little more at his nod. She was so easy to play. He couldn't believe how she was falling so perfectly into his clutches.
"Thank you," he lowered his voice ever so slightly – women seemed to melt that little bit more when he did. "I shall come and have some in a moment," – he returned to a little more formality. He had to be so careful. If his plans were to play out perfectly, he needed to have her truly believe that he had feelings for her, and that he was reformed. So carefully, carefully he would bring her round.
He got up after she had left the room, and pulled on one of those detestable 'tee-shirts' that humans liked to wear. He plastered a smile onto his face and went through. He sat in silence beside her, looking around the room.
"Your dwelling, it looks lovely," he said, and she smiled. Her hair was mussed up and there was dirt smudged on her forehead – clearly she had spent the afternoon unpacking.
""I am sorry I did not help you," he said, trying to look sincerely apologetic.
"Oh no, really, its fine. I'm glad you got some rest," she replied.
"What is this?" He gestured to the pizza on the table.
"Oh, it's a pizza. There is bread, and tomatoes, and cheese, and peperoni," she said.
"And you made this?"
"Oh, no. I just ordered it."
"Ah, you had your servant prepare it."
"No, no. It's a restaurant. And they deliver it to your home."
"That is what I said."
"I don't have servants. I pay them to make food. I order it over the phone."
"I do believe you are talking about servants. Perhaps you call them something different here?"
"No, not servants. Cooks, who I asked to make us this dinner."
"Surely cooks are servants too? Specialist servants."
"Fine. Yes. I paid people to make food for us. Call that what you like." She rolled her eyes. "It's good, I promise. Dig in!"
"Very well." She tore off a slice in demonstration, and he followed suit. He cautiously nibbled the end, and she grinned as his eyes widened, chewing thoughtfully. He took a bigger bite next, and smiled back at her.
"This pizza. It is wonderful!"
They continued to eat in silence for a little while, before he took in a deep breath and let his gaze drop to the floor. Jane felt the light tone drop. Something serious was happening.
"I was thinking that I would like to return to Asgard," he said. She stopped eating mid-mouthful and stared at him for a moment, before physically shaking herself and carrying on nonchalantly. He waited for her response, desperate to know if he had timed this stage correctly.
"How? And is that smart? You aren't exactly the most loved of the Asgardians at the moment," she said after a while.
"That is true. But if what you said was true, that they held a funeral for me, and Thor has been encouraging people to think more kindly of me, I believe that hiding my existence from them would only further their distrust," he said. He could see her considering what he said, but she seemed reluctant to agree.
"Your father had you imprisoned for the rest of eternity. Do you really think he would change his mind just because he thought you'd died?" She said exactly what he wanted her to.
"I know, and it was a perfectly just response. I wish to make peace with him, and of course, I hope that he does forgive me. But if he chooses to see the penalty through, I shall not oppose his command." He let his words sink in, and saw the surprise in her eyes when she registered what he had said. He could imagine what she was thinking, how shocked she was that Loki of all people had accepted the error of his ways, and was even willing to take horrendous punishment for it.
"Well," she said, but tailed off, clearly not knowing how to complete the sentence.
"The only question is, how do I go about returning?" he said.
"Yes, I suppose that is the problem then. And you will have to find a way to transport two people," she said.
"Two people? Why?" He pretended to be bemused, secretly overjoyed at how well he had manipulated her already.
"I owe you my life, Loki. What you did on Svartalfheim..." she appeared to stumble on her words. "I am not going to let you go alone. I want to be there, I want to talk to your father. I need him to know that you are not just evil, that there's good inside of you." There was a surprising amount of passion in her voice, and for a moment he felt a twinge of what could only be described as guilt. But he brushed it aside.
"It will be dangerous. The way I plan to travel may not even work. And when we are in Asgard, it would not serve you well to show your sympathies lie with me," he said, sounding genuinely concerned.
"I don't care. I am coming too."
She had fought to follow him, and although he was certain she had confused and surprised herself by doing so, already she was playing into his hands. He smiled to himself at the thought of how smitten she would soon be with him. The next step was to start 'building' something that would transport them back. It could be slightly tricky, he was aware, as she had an admirable knowledge of the 'science' behind what he was to attempt.
He pondered on the matter for a little while, listening to her tossing and turning in her sleep. He was on the sofa, and she had the bed. Being a gentleman, of course he had insisted that she took the better option. Perhaps it would be better if he strayed a little closer to the truth regarding their return to Asgard. He would achieve it through linking a tiny fragment of the bifröst with the main one, and so teleport them back. He could arrange to 'find' it in the rubble around where he had supposedly fallen to Midgard, and then use it. It would certainly be more likely to convince her that some scientific explanation that would no doubt be clearly flawed to her.
Jane slowly blinked her eyes open, a smile on her face. She had been having the most delicious dream, of hands slowly sliding up her thighs, lips pressed to her neck, and lithe body pushing against her own… she shook herself. No point dwelling on a dream that was already fading. She couldn't even remember who the mystery lover was. She got out of bed and pulled on clothes, before heading out to find Loki. He had been a gentleman and insisted that she took the bed while he slept on the sofa. She smiled at the memory of his insistence.
"Morning," she said, smiling at him. Her leg felt better today, and she had slept well. She felt peaceful and charitable towards him.
"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" he politely enquired.
"I slept fine thanks," she said, feeling the blush creep once again up her neck as she thought of her dream. "You?"
"I slept perfectly well. Although I have been awake for some time pondering my return to Asgard." She felt her smile fall away a little. Was she really going to return with him? In the cold light of a new day the prospect suddenly seemed a lot more daunting. To stand up for Loki against the Allfather could put her in a lot of trouble. But then she remembered him saving her life, and how kind he had been during his stay with her. He couldn't possibly be purely evil and still do all that. He needed, and indeed deserved, to have someone to stick up for him.
"When and how are we going?" she said, with a note of resolve in her voice. He smiled tentatively at her, and she returned the gesture.
"Please try not to frown upon this, but I have a stolen artefact, so to speak, with me," he said, his gaze dropping guiltily to the floor.
"What did you steal?" she said, trying not to sound parental.
"A piece of the bifröst," he said, sounding even guiltier.
"You did what?!" she said, louder than intended.
"I thought it could come in handy," he said, the casual phrase sounding odd coming from his lips.
"You cannot just steal the bifröst!" She was shocked.
"I didn't steal all of it! Just a tiny fragment," he said, sounding like a petulant child.
"Will it work?" she said, after a pause.
"To get us there? Yes, I believe so," he said, smiling at her a little to see if he was off the hook.
"Lets see it then." She said, crossing her arms and refusing to return the smile. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little shard of rainbow-coloured material that resembled fluid glass. She forgot for a moment what he had done, and stepped closer to admire it. It truly was stunning, the colours shimmering and changing before her eyes. She stared at it transfixed for a few seconds, before backing up.
"How could it work?" There was a doubtful note in her voice.
"It is still part of the main Bifrost, even though it is not technically connected. It should link us to it and provide a direct route to Asgard."
"Should?" she said, cocking an eyebrow at him.
"It has never, to my knowledge, been attempted before. But I fail to see any reason why it should not work. Clearly it is still active," he said, holding up the shimmering shard for her to see.
"Is it dangerous?"
"No, of course not," he said, a little too quickly.
"Loki…"
"I don't know for certain. But as I said, I don't see why it wouldn't work," he said, trying to reassure her.
"When are we going?" she said, and his grin was huge. She couldn't help but smile back, her crossed arms falling to her sides.
"How soon would you be able to?" he replied.
"Soon. But first we need to heal. And by we, I mean you. Your bandage is bloody again. May I?" She stepped closer, reaching out a hand to his chest. There was a rust coloured mark on his new shirt.
"Of course. Your leg first though. How is it?" His gentlemanly attitude still surprised her.
"Actually, it isn't nearly as painful as it was. Just a bruise, like you said." Loki smiled, and began unbuttoning his shirt. He had been healing her leg slightly. Not out of guilt. Of course, his intentions hadn't been to harm her quite so much. These mortals though, they were so delicate. But no, he didn't heal it out of guilt. He simply wanted to speed things along a little.
Jane stepped forward, and he felt her hands brush against his skin. Goosebumps appeared across his chest.
"I don't think it's bad, just a little bleeding. I'll disinfect it and put on a fresh bandage, and you should be fine." He enjoyed using his superior hearing to notice her voice drop slightly. He nodded down at her, seeing the now all too familiar blush creeping up her neck. He looked away, to save her some embarrassment.
The treatments she gave didn't hurt, considering it was a fake wound. But he pretended to wince a little, just to make it convincing. She looked pained herself every time she thought she had hurt him. He smiled inwardly. It was all falling into place so perfectly.