Here she was, in her room, yet again crying herself to sleep like some washed up soap actress. The melodrama of it all was actually adding to her internal frustration and venting outward as yet more tears. Fandral had stopped by, moments after she was escorted into her room by several disinterested guards, with a handful of condolences and equal lashings of 'I told you so' in context of Loki. It was not as if she could keep away from the prince, she worked in the palace and even if she didn't he was still a prince of asgard and could bother her anywhere he so pleased. All right, maybe she spurred on his interest in teasing her via retaliation pranks and getting knowingly underfoot; but could she really help how her personality was?
Now she was locked in her room, like a small child that's just got caught with her fingers in the cookie jar and it wasn't even her fault – sort of, she did say something not so good to the king after all. Griffin wasn't even with her, who knew where they had taken the man-cat too. She was desperately worried for her feline's safety on top of everything.
Lying on her bed, above sheets and sniffling as another wave of tears had finally ceased for the time being, Kari stared up at the odd shapes the nighttime light cascaded across her ceiling. It was strangely soothing watching the swell, almost relaxing enough to finally push her towards sleep if it had not been for a second knock of the night on her door. Maybe it was Odin summoning her for execution? Or better, maybe he was going to send her back to earth.
She got up, clothes now wrinkled and blouse untucked, making her way over to the door. She had to blink several times, and then wipe the blurriness from her eyes before it truly registered what she was seeing.
"May I enter?" Loki asked as she held the door open wider before shutting it behind him.
There was an odd pause as Loki looked around the dark room, a purring coming from under one arm that turned out to be a tabby cat of the Griffin persuasion. Facing her once again he deposited the unharmed feline in her eager arms and smirked at the instantaneous cooing she began smothering her fluffy menace with. It was like watching a mother fussing over a newborn until the child in question had his fill and loped away over to the bed.
"The queen, my mother, has sent me with a flower of apology." He was holding out a flower she recognized as being a white tulip.
"An apology from your mother?" She ignored the stem between his fingers. "What has she got to apologise for? You're the one wh-" She bit her tongue, letting her mouth run got her grounded after all and he with the power to mutate her cat again. "The only one who should be apologizing is you, Loki."
"Then I am truly, deeply sorry for whatever offence I may have caused you." His tone, his face was sincere but his eyes were definitely not.
"Liar." She scowled at him, the accusation causing him to chuckle and stroll from left to right as he calmed again.
"You cannot expect me to ever be sincere or trustworthy, I am the god of mischief and lies after all." He sighed as if it were a noble burden he had to carry alone. "Is the return of your animal not satisfactory enough?"
"How could you possibly, come to the conclusion, in that warped and twisted mind of yours, that returning my cat would some how make up for everything? You'll probably just turn him into something else the next time you get a bit bored and want to tease me. It's never ending with you and don't think I don't know it was you the first time either!"
"The first time?" He looked genuinely shocked. "But I thought you had mistakenly transformed the animal-"
"Don't." She was in no mood for his games now. "Just don't."
"Very well." He shrugged, his expression bored and indifferent. "I did not come here to play with you further, though you make it so easy."
"Is that why you're so obsessed with humiliating me?"
"Humiliating you." He stated; his eyes locked on hers with a level of fierceness. "I recall my hair becoming as golden as a wheat field."
"Yes well… you deserved that."
"Did I now? Did I also deserve to be made look a fool in front of your would-be-lover in the library after I so gallantly helped to hide you from him?"
"Oh we both know you'd of probably killed me if I hadn't of done that."
"I am more subtle than murder." He sniffed as if it were a point of pride. "Your slights against my person run redder than what I have done to you."
"You slapped me."
"And you slapped me."
They both went silent, eyes locked – blue on green – as the moonlight painted patterns over each faces. He definitely had her on that last one at least, a battle in his favor perhaps but the war was still undecided.
"I…" She faltered, swallowing back pride for a moment as he continued to hold her gaze. "I'm sorry I hit you in front of uh… everyone."
"I thought it was I who owed the apology." He smirked, finding it irresistible a jab to make. "It is a shame you can not heal my infliction as I did yours."
"I don't see a mark." She frowned, knowing all too well he was teasing her again and she hadn't hit him that hard anyway.
"Oh, the pain." His tone was so seductively low it made her shiver a little inside before getting a grip on her body once more.
"If that's what you really want, we have a midgardian version of healing bumps and bruises." She came closer; his position unchanged as she leaned upwards and lightly kissed his cheek. "Feel better?"
"No." He shook his head, unaffected by the occurrence and held the flower in his hand out to her once more. "Take it, pretend it is an apology from whomever you like."
She snorted accepting the tulip this time and finally letting him leave - now having accomplished his task.