Sunrise awakens to moonlight streaming through her window. She feels a brief moment of calm before the previous events come flooding to the forefront of her conscious and she burrows into her pillow in shame. Thoughts race through her mind, the vast majority centered on how much Loki is going to hate her and believe her to be weak. Sunrise feels no tears, despite the overwhelming need to cry (an occurrence that is relatively normal, in spite of the waterworks she demonstrated earlier that day).
Sunrise curls into herself under the covers, content to stay there for as long as she can. The meow of a cat startles Sunrise into poking her nose above the covers— she could have sworn her room was empty earlier. There is no cat in sight, but the malachite eyes of a certain god glimmer down at her.
Sunrise squeaks and dives down again. Embarrassed rage fills her as Loki chuckles above her before pulling the covers off. Sunrise screams— a shamefully high sound that is far too girly for Sunrise to ever admit it came from her. Loki laughs again before sitting on the edge of the bed and staring at Sunrise with intimidating seriousness.
"Are you all right?"
Sunrise blushes and looks at her arms instinctively before remembering that they are unmarred this time. Concern tickles at the back of Loki's mind when Sunrise doesn't respond and he follows her gaze to her arms. The tickle becomes a pinch and Loki grabs Sunrise's arm, forcing her eyes up to his.
"Are you all right, Sunrise? You slept in," Loki bluffs, carefully keeping all emotion from his face— not even the smallest micro-expression gave away his thoughts to Sunrise's scrutinizing gaze.
"I… slept— Oh god, the animals!" Sunrise starts, rising up out of the bed, only to stumble as black spots fill her vision.
Loki pulls her back down to the bed and grabs her shoulders to keep her from rising again. "Don't worry, I took care of them," Loki explains.
Sunrise stares at Loki in wonder, "You… But how on Earth did you know what—"
"I paid attention to you yesterday. It wasn't that hard," Loki scoffs, looking mildly offended at her doubt.
Sunrise stumbles over her words, "Oh, no, I didn't— I mean, I don't…" She takes a deep breath and shuts her eyes for a second before opening them and refocusing. "I was just shocked that you paid attention well enough to know exactly what to do."
Loki smirks and stands from the bed, allowing Sunrise to follow him and walk out of the room. Sunrise's first stop is the kitchen, where she notes the lack of dishes in the sink and happily wagging tail of Lupa as she munches on a bowl of food. Nox and Luna look up at her from the counter where they are enjoying a bowl of cat food while simultaneously preventing Umbra from being able to jump up there with them.
Sunrise nods slowly in satisfaction, before heading out towards the stable to inspect Oblivion. Loki follows behind, bemused and only slightly insulted at her doubt. Sure enough, when she gets to Liv's stall, the horse is happily munching away at a small pile of hay and only looks up for a second when the two walk in. Sunrise turns to stare at Loki in apparent shock.
Loki frowns huffs indignantly, "I'm glad to see you believe in me so much."
"It's not that, really. It's just, it took me almost a month to remember the exact right amount of hay for Oblivion, and it looks like you got it on your first try."
"I've been around horses before," Loki states dryly.
Sunrise nods mutely and heads back towards the house.
"Have you fed yourself yet today?"
Loki shakes his head, causing Sunrise to nod hers once, sharply, and head straight to the kitchen once they reach the house.
Sunrise busies herself pulling items out of the fridge and the cupboards frantically, steadfastly ignoring Loki and keeping her eyes on the things directly in front of her.
Loki takes a step towards her, but she flails a hand his way briefly before saying, "NO! Just- stay there. Please, don't come any closer."
Sunrise's voice shakes towards the end and she clenches her hand before drawing it towards her chest. Loki watches impassively as she shakes herself violently and moves to pick up a metal pot, only to drop it with a loud clang. Sunrise flinches back and Loki walks across the kitchen to grab her shoulders.
As Loki spins Sunrise around, she struggles, tossing her head and flicking wild eyes everywhere but at Loki. The briefest emotion flickers over Loki's face before he locks it away and wraps his arms around Sunrise while she cries. She clutches the god's shirt and buries her face in his chest, muttering something unintelligible.
Loki pulls Sunrise's face away from his chest and looks down at Sunrise's tear streaked face. Sunrise continues mumbling in a near-catatonic state, her eyes staring at nothing while her hands clutch at Loki the way a child clutches her mother.
"I'm sorry," Sunrise murmurs. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"
Loki stares at Sunrise while she repeats the same two words over and over in a desperate mantra. Loki continues to stare while Lupa and Dusk walk up to Sunrise and whimper against her legs. Sunrise seems not to notice as she presses closer to Loki, continuing to mutter.
Loki sighs and bends down suddenly to hook Sunrise beneath her knees, lifting her up against him. Sunrise yelps and clutches to Loki, pausing her apologies in favour of staring at Loki in shock. Loki ignores her and carries her to the couch, the dogs following close behind.
As Loki sets her down, one of the cats jumps up and lands on her chest, pinning her to the couch effectively. Another cat leaps up on her legs, while the third (this one completely black, except for the pale yellow eyes) leaps up onto the back of the couch and stares Loki in the eye.
Loki bends down and brushes hair out Sunrise's face, revealing bloodshot, green eyes. Those same eyes stared at Loki, pleading and anguish in equal measures staring up at him. Loki sighs again and bends down to kneel next to Sunrise.
Lupa nudges Loki's side as he asks, "What are you sorry for?"
Sunrise hiccups suddenly, her entire body jolting and causing the cats to lash their tails. She shakes her head, not wanting to speak, unable to vocalize the whirlwind thoughts rushing through her mind.
Loki grabs her face in one hand and forces her to look at him. He repeats his question and Sunrise allows one more tear to fall.
"I'm sorry because I'm a mess. You deserve someone who doesn't fall apart because of the dumbest things. I'm sorry because I'm supposed to be helping you, but I can't even help myself," Sunrise whispers, her breath brushing over Loki's face gently, while her eyes lower to the ground to avoid his own piercing gaze.
Loki doesn't say anything, he simply stands and walks to the kitchen, leaving Sunrise to curl up on the couch and hiccup a few more times. A wet nose pulls Sunrise out of her ball and she looks up to see Dusk's snout inches from her face. The red dog licks his mistress' face and then pulls away, tongue lolling as he stares at her with a silly dog grin on his face.
Sunrise smiles faintly and starts sitting up, displacing Luna and Umbra, who jump up to sit next to Nox on top of the couch. The dogs follow Sunrise to the kitchen where she leans against the door watching while Loki puts away all the things Sunrise had pulled out in her desperation.
Sunrise makes no sign that she's watching him, and Loki makes no sign that he's heard her come in. Sunrise leans against the side of the door and watches Loki straighten from putting the last pot in its place in the cupboard.
"Thank you," Sunrise murmurs as Loki turns toward her.
Loki shakes his head gently and examines Sunrise as he steps closer. "Are you feeling any better?"
Sunrise nods her head vigorously, "I'm fine, thanks." She smiles up at Loki, her eyes remaining dull despite it.
Loki sighs inwardly and walks past Sunrise, leaving her to turn and follow back to the living room and watch him settle on the couch with a book. Sunrise watches for a moment more before walking into her study, sitting at her desk and patting the head that Lupa rests on her lap. Dusk settles on her other side and blinks big brown eyes up at her.
Sunrise sighs and pulls a thick transcript towards her to continue editing. Her red pen marks up the paper as she murmurs the words on it under her breath. Her attempts to edit are foiled by a loud rumble coming from her stomach. Sunrise looks down in shock, only to remember that the last time she ate was before the Kohl's misadventure.
Sunrise sets her transcript aside and walks back through the living room into the kitchen, glancing at Loki while she walks past.
Loki looks up and watches Sunrise walk into the kitchen only to stick her head out a second later and say, "Well, aren't you hungry?"
Loki raises an eyebrow and follows Sunrise into the kitchen as she smirks and ducks her head back in. When Loki enters the kitchen, he's greeted by the sight of Sunrise humming while she pulls a couple bowls out of a cupboard and sets them on the table before turning to dig through another cupboard.
Loki opens his mouth to question her, but is interrupted by Sunrise turning around with a colourful box in hand. "I hope you don't mind cereal; I don't really feel like cooking anything right now." She smiles apologetically and sets the box on the table next the bowls.
Loki stares between Sunrise and the 'cereal' box before picking the box up and examining it. "Cinnamon Toast Crunch" is written on the front in a bright, happy font. On the back is a bunch of wiggly drawings and more writing. Just as Loki starts reading the writing, Sunrise snatches the box out of his hands and opens it, dumping a bunch of brown, sugary smelling squares into one of the bowls.
Loki watches in fascination as she pours milk out of a plastic container and sticks a spoon in the food. Loki follows suit when Sunrise turns a raised eyebrow at him. When Sunrise turns her back, he gives the mixture in his bowl a skeptical sniff, shrugging internally when it refuses to raise any immediate flags. Loki sticks a spoonful in his mouth, eyes widening comically when the sugar melts on his tongue.
Loki freezes as Sunrise's laugh permeates the air in the kitchen. He looks at her to see her smiling widely, her throaty laugh exploding from her chest. He scowls at her and sits in a chair, watching as she happily pets Dusk with one hand and eats cereal with the other. Sunrise notices Loki's stare and looks at him curiously.
"What happened to you? Less than an hour ago you were hysterical, and now you act as though nothing happened?"
Sunrise's smile fades slightly, "I got hungry, it's no big deal."
"That doesn't explain anything," Loki points out.
Sunrise stands angrily, "Look, I can spend ages being mopey and depressed, or I can get over myself and be useful. That's all it is." She moves to leave the kitchen, but Loki grabs her hand as she passes him.
"You are avoiding the situation. It's not healthy," Loki says almost mockingly.
Sunrise yanks her hand away and glares at him. "Oh, and you have such healthy coping strategies, Mr. I'm-going-to-throttle-you-for-no-well-explained-reason!"
Loki watches apathetically as Sunrise storms out of the kitchen and heads to the stables. He follows her out, the dogs at his heels and the bowls still on the table, the cereal starting to disintegrate into the milk.
When Loki finds her in the stables, she's already got a saddle on Oblivion and is working on tightening the girth. Loki knocks gently on the door to her stall, causing Sunrise to leap in the air and clutch her chest. Loki laughs as she turns to glare at him.
"What are you doing, Sunrise?"
She continues tacking Oblivion as she speaks, reaching past Loki to grab the bridle on the stall door. "I'm saddling Oblivion for a ride, I've been neglecting her lately and she's getting antsy." She pauses suddenly and turns to Loki. "Would you like to ride her?"
"Why would I want to ride the horse?" Loki asks with a raised eyebrow.
"You said you had experience with horses. Prove it, hotshot," Sunrise says, slipping the bridle on Oblivion and looping the reins in her hand.
Sunrise walks out past Loki as he mutters, "Hotshot?"
Sunrise smiles and leads Liv to an old stump that's been converted into a mounting block just outside the stables. She pulls the stirrups down and stands next to Liv by the mounting block, staring at Loki pointedly. He sighs and hangs his head, not wanting to piss off his host again and incite another episode.
Loki mounts the horse and Sunrise hands him the reins, gesturing widely at the surrounding clearing.
"Ride her wherever you want, she knows her way around. Try not to go too far, or you might not make it back before dark, and there really are wolves and bears out there," Sunrise calls as Loki nudges Liv forward with his heels, the mare far more responsive than most of the war horses Loki was used to riding.
Sunrise turned back to the house and walked into her study, only Lupa following her while Dusk waited outside for the return of Loki and Oblivion. Sunrise plops herself down on her chair in the study and stares at the transcript for a few minutes before sighing loudly and dropping her head on top of the papers.
A tickle on her cheek wakes Sunrise and she lifts her head to see Luna staring at her with wide, dark eyes. Sunrise starts and looks out the window, shocked to see the red light of the setting sun filtering through the trees. Sunrise stands swiftly, causing Lupa to yelp as the chair bumps into her.
Sunrise shouts apologies over her shoulder as she rushes into the kitchen and pulls the dog and cat food out of the closet. Lupa waits impatiently as Sunrise pours the food into her bowl and sets it down. The cats swarm in as Sunrise fills their bowl. She leaves the animals to their food and goes to the door, opening it and allowing Dusk back inside from his vigil.
As Sunrise walks to the stable, she keeps an eye and an ear out for Loki and Oblivion, but receives no sign of them. She frowns as she makes her way into the stable and sets Liv's hay and grain in her stall. Sunrise proceeds back to the house, intending to edit more of her story, but only succeeding in wearing a hole in the carpet with her pacing.
Sunrise shrieks as she trips over Umbra, who had decided that walking across the living room carpet was a solid idea for some reason. Sunrise groans from her spot on the floor and turns to glare at an irate Umbra, who stalks off with her tail held imperiously high. Sunrise stands slowly, rubbing her hip where it slammed into the ground.
When the front door creaks open, Sunrise forgets all about her hip and races to greet Loki as he walks in. She stares at him with an expression close to wonder on her face. Loki stares back, confused as to why Sunrise seems so shocked to see him.
"Do I have something on my face?" Loki asks dryly.
The wonder on Sunrise's face fades to embarrassment and she ducks her head briefly.
"What the hell took so long, I thought you'd been eaten alive out there!" Sunrise retorts.
Loki raises an eyebrow mockingly, "I didn't know you cared."
"I don't," Sunrise proclaims swiftly. "At least, not about you. But if you'd been eaten alive, Liv would probably be hurt as well. That's all."
"Right," responds Loki, unconvinced. "'That's all'."
Sunrise huffs and glares at Loki while she asks, "Did you untack Liv and put her in her stall?"
"Yes," Loki says, in the way that a child responds to an annoying parents' question.
Sunrise nods determinedly and storms towards the kitchen, Loki following behind with a bemused expression on his face. Lupa and Dusk look up at the two from the living room carpet as Sunrise stalks by, Loki on her heels, holding in his laughter.
Loki watches from the archway separating the living room and kitchen while Sunrise punches buttons on the stove. She then moves toward the freezer, opening it and pulling something out that Loki stares at in heavy confusion.
Sunrise holds it up to Loki and asks, "Have you ever had frozen pizza?"
Loki shakes his head and Sunrise smiles, prepping the pizza and setting it near the oven to wait for the appliance to beep in readiness. Loki watches Sunrise put the pizza in and press a few more buttons to set a timer.
When Sunrise moves to sit at the table, Loki follows suit. He watches her fiddle with her fingers for a moment before breaking the silence.
"What's the occasion?" Loki inquires.
"What are you talking about? What occasion?" Sunrise asks, confusion obvious in her voice.
"You don't make… 'pizza' very often, do you?" Sunrise flushes under Loki's knowing gaze and returns to staring at her shifting fingers.
"I just didn't feel like cooking anything tonight, okay?"
Loki shrugs and continues to watch Sunrise in tense silence until the timer beeps and Sunrise rushes to snag the pizza out of the oven. The smell assaults Loki's senses and he feels his stomach clench in anticipation.
When Sunrise turns around with two plates of cheese pizza, only a thousand years of restraint keeps him from ripping them both from her hands and devouring the delicious food. As she places the plate in front of him, Loki painstakingly picks a piece up, mimicking Sunrise as she takes a bite out of her own pizza.
The moan that falls from Loki's lips is entirely unexpected from both parties and they stare at each other in shock and bewilderment before Sunrise laughs, putting a hand up to cover her mouth. Loki glares for a second before her laughter catches on.
The pizza is quickly devoured with Sunrise only barely managing to score a third piece from Loki's greedy hands. The cottage is filled with the peaceful end of their happy laughter as Loki moves to sleep on the couch again and Sunrise heads towards her bedroom, a room that Sunrise had expressly told him to stay out of before her breakdown- A rule that Loki had felt necessary to break.
Sunrise turns off the lights in the living room, but turns to stare at Loki's form resting on the couch, a blanket over him. She smiles and leaves, whispering four words into the still air.
"Of course I care."
AN: So I missed a week. During that week, I moved to Tokyo, Japan, had orientation at my new school (which included picking classes) and began settling in to my new room. I also failed to upload Fire and Blood and for that I am ever so sorry. I hope you can forgive me and that you enjoyed the chapter. Please review, you guys are starting to make me think no one's actually reading this story. :( On another note, I should be able to post the next chapter on time, but I do start school tomorrow, so if there are delays (which there shouldn't be) that is why and I am ever so sorry! :)