So this is just a quick little piece of fluff to tied you over until the next part of the story. I've been writing like crazy, but I like to have a nice back log of chapters mostly done before I start posting so it might still be a few weeks yet. There will be Thor 2 spoilers, although there isn't really any in this one. Mostly. Not really.
Anyway, I hope everyone is having a lovely holiday season! It is -8 where I am tonight. Stay warm and thanks as always for reading. Enjoy!
Chapter 32: Interlude
She dreams of her father, with his kind eyes and scratchy dark bread. She is small and loved. When he kisses her cheek, his stubble tickles and makes her giggle.
"Shave, Daddy," she tells him, pouting.
"Sing, Ellie," he replies. "You sing so beautifully. Your voice is special."
She tries to do as he says. When she sings it makes him smile, makes him proud, but this time when she opens her mouth, horrid, shrieking sounds spill out rather than music. She screams familiar words at him.
"You're not my dad! You aren't my family. You never ever fucking were. I hate you! I fucking hate you, you goddamn liar. Fuck you, Harrison. You're not my dad."
She wants to change the words. She wants to warn him about the next part, the dead part, but she has no control of her own voice, the one he loves so much.
This time it is fire rather than ice that takes away her father, at least Eleanor thinks it's fire. It is certainly red but also black, like burned, fluid sand. The whole world goes dark. She calls out for her father but he is incinerated before her eyes.
She wants Loki. She wants to wake up.
But they are not flames, despite the red and black that breaks up her father, particle by particle, until he is nothing but ash, dissipated into the darkness until there is nothing left of the man who raised her.
It's in her. This is her doing. She stares at her arms and the veins below her skin glow. She is surrounded. She is consumed.
It is not fire but something dark, something twisted and feeling and capable of snuffing out all the light in the world.
All the light in all the worlds.
It is neither solid nor liquid nor gas. It moves like oil, like pollution, like the scariest movie of her youth, the one with the fairies and Hexxus, but when the red and black speaks it does not use words or even a voice, but Eleanor understands the intent here.
Because it's all about intent.
The world goes red and suddenly it is Eleanor that wants to extinguish all light from the universe. The intensity of the feeling causes her to stumble. Veins of black, fluid particles fill her vision.
"Loki!" she screams, searching frantically through smoke that isn't really smoke but he's gone, snuffled out. He always claimed to have the heart of darkness, but when the light goes, so goes Loki.
Fear chokes her as she comes to the crushing realization that she is alone. No one will hear her screams. Nothing seems as terrifying as the aloneness until the sinister voice reverberates in her head, rattling around between her ears.
"Eleanor Tate," something says, tone laced with both pleasure and cruelty. "You will do. Oh yes, you will do."
And then there is laughter.
Eleanor wants Loki. She wants the voice to stop.
She is suspended in the air, vision black, arms spread wide as something is pulled from her veins.
And then her eyes open.
Soaked with sweat and heart racing, she stares at the ceiling for a moment and blindly reaches out for Loki in the bed next to her. She is met with nothing but cool sheets. She sits straight up in bed, clutching the comforter to her naked chest as she attempts to get her bearings.
One glance around the unfamiliar room has the panic returning tenfold.
She fell asleep curled up next to Loki in their cramped bedroom, but this is most definitely not the same space. The furniture is theirs, but in the night it seems to have relocated to a huge-ass, foreign room. For a moment she thinks she's back in Asgard, in Loki's quarters, but that is just insane.
She opens her mouth but it takes three tries for the scream to leave her mouth. "Loki!"
She is trying to catch her breath to call for him again when he suddenly appears at the foot of their bed.
"Eleanor?" he barks, eyes darting around frantically. "What has happened? Are you hurt? What is it that alarms you so?"
Ellie shuffles, getting on her knees to meet him at the end of the bed. The blanket falls away as she throws herself against him. She squeezes his waist and buries her face in his soft green sweater.
"Eleanor!" he exclaims, holding her a little too tight. "Please explain this. You are frightening me."
"Bad dreams," she manages.
Loki does not reply as he easily lifts her, settling them both against the headboard. He holds her cradled against his chest as she shakes, until she is calm enough to speak.
"You are warm," he murmurs, frowning down at her. When he lays a chilled palm on her forehead she sighs in contentment. He runs his other hand up and down the length of her spine, cooling her immediately. "Was it your father?"
"Yeah," Eleanor says, struggling to remember. The dream is rapidly fading but the fear remains. "It was different, even more terrifying but I can't remember. There was fire instead of ice."
Loki shivers. He hates fire. It's a big time trigger, a lingering scar from the Void. She cuddles a little closer.
"Except it wasn't really fire," she says. "There was red and dark smoke that wasn't really smoke and then there was nothing at all."
"What do you mean smoke that was not truly smoke?"
"I… I don't know." She shakes her head, but the dream is gone, the imagines fleeing her mind and leaving nothing but a sense of deep unease.
"Do try and recall, my pet," he says, kissing her temple. "Dreams can have great significance."
Eleanor nods and closes her eyes again. His soothing hands begin to caress her.
"I've got nothing," she tells him after a few seconds.
He sighs heavily and continues to touch her.
"You are so beautiful," he murmurs, reminding her that she is indeed naked. She smiles against his lips when he gives her a lazy kiss and threads her fingers through his soft, inky locks. "I can make it better," he whispers, hands dipping lower. "I can make you forget all but my name."
It is not until she finds herself flat on her back, writhing under her God of Sexiness, that she remembers the second reason for her morning panic. Using his hair, she tugs his head up from her chest so he has no choice but to look her in the eye.
"Eleanor," he says, obviously annoyed. "Why do you stop me?"
"Uh, because I have no idea where we are," she replies.
"Home, my songbird," he whispers, distracting hands running down her body. "Where else would we be?"
Eleanor scoffs, pushing him off her. He lets out a disgruntled huff when she gets out of bed, snagging her green silk robe off the floor, just where Loki discarded it last night.
"What the fuck?" she mutters, securing the sash at her waist as she glances around the room that is three times the size of their actual bedroom.
Loki sits on the edge of the bed and pulls Eleanor to stand between his legs. She crosses her arms over her chest and waits for an explanation.
"Later," he murmurs, pushing apart her robe with his nose. "I will explain how this is our home only after I've had you."
It's tempting, but curiosity wins.
"Where are we, Loki?" she asks with as much patience as she can manage. "Why are the walls green?"
"It is a very pale shade," he snaps, getting defensive. "I am surprised your weak, half-mortal eyes were able to notice."
With a roll of said weak, half-mortal eyes, Eleanor pulls away from him to look out the nearby window, pulling back dark green drapes. The view is basically the same, although now she is looking out at the familiar rocky outcropping from a much greater height.
"Are we on the second floor?" she asks, continuing to gape out the window. "We don't have a second floor!"
Smirking, Loki joins her at the window. "Now we do."
"Show me."
She's too stunned to say anything else and for the first time this morning Loki looks unsure but he still leads her through the new adjoining bathroom that now includes beautiful granite countertops and a steam shower with multiple shower heads. The tile work is lovely.
They go back through their spacious bedroom to an attached balcony. On the deck is the chess table she purchased for him last month.
They exit the bedroom into a hall with high, wooden ceilings, just like those in their old cottage. Despite the size and the luxurious features, this structure still looks like home. Loki shows her two empty bedrooms and slightly less fancy bathrooms.
"I thought you might want a hand in their decoration," he mutters, looking embarrassed. "For any visitors you might desire to provide accommodations for. My mother. Or, much to my detestation, Laura."
Eleanor manages to nod as she takes in the sunny rooms. Loki leads her down a grand, curving staircase into a foyer. The stone detailing somehow manages to be both cozy and opulent at the same time. For the first floor, Loki appears to have taken the layout of the cottage and stretched it to at least four times its original square footage, adding rooms off the main open space off the kitchen and family room.
The kitchen still has the counters she put in with Steve, but it is now spacious with room enough for a kitchen table. There is a dining room, a formal living room, both without furniture, and so many windows.
"You thrive in the sunshine," Loki mutters in explanation. He looks embarrassed again and picks at his left hand.
This is undoubtedly some sort of penance for the whole he thought about killing her fiasco. In the months since he's been extremely careful with her, almost too careful. Although they are starting to get back to normal, there were long stretches of days when he was too attentive and too doting. She found herself missing his snark and wit and even his mild distain for pretty much everything.
"Eleanor?" He extends a hand and she takes it, dumbly following as he completes the tour.
There is a library room with dark wood paneling and a desk that is obviously designed more to fit his rich tastes. All their books have been moved here from their cramped shelves in their former family room.
The spacious new music room makes her feel faint. The piano is on a raised wooden surface, surrounded on three sides by windows. There is seating near the instrument if she ever feels the need to perform. The practice portion of the room is lined with her instruments, on stands or hanging on the wall. The ceiling is a complex pattern of triangles.
"I plan to add a room in which you many record your music, but again I felt your input was required." With hands in his pockets and tension in his shoulders, Loki watches her intently.
"You did all this?" she asks, finally finding her voice.
"Obviously," he drawls, picking at his left hand.
"Did you steal anything?" She has to ask, although she doubts it. Their newly expanded home seems to lack stuff.
"Of course not," he snaps, scowling at her now. "All you see is the result of manipulated and duplicated matter found already in the cottage. And from several paint and tile samples I procured from the internet."
Eleanor gapes at him, marveling over the detail of his workmanship and the fact that he used the internet to sneak in tile samples. He managed to maintain the character of the home she loved so much while adding an air of elegance that is just so clearly Loki.
"Is this an I-am-sorry-I-thought-about-killing-you house?" she asks.
"Pardon?"
"Did you do this because you still feel bad about our fight a couple months ago?" she clarifies. "Because I forgave you for all that. I didn't need an apology house."
"I did this because if I am to resign myself to a fate trapped on this dismal realm than I am in need of proper accommodation befitting of my station," he says, smirking slightly when she rolls her eyes. "Also, it is a bit of an apology house."
Eleanor laughs and shakes her head, trying to clear it because this is beyond unbelievable. "Good. Maybe you will stop acting all weird."
"I have not been weird."
"Dude, you are treating me like I'm made of glass."
"I know not what you mean."
Except the look on his face says he clearly does and that he's horrified that she noticed a change in his behavior.
She can't believe this beautiful house is real.
"You did this all last night?" she asks, trying to understand how this is even possible.
"When else am I supposed to construct such a surprise?" he's losing his composure, gesturing wildly. "Sneaking away from you is obviously an impossibility."
Eleanor thinks about her terror upon waking without him in such unfamiliar surroundings.
"I'm not sure I like surprises," she murmurs, studying the amazing ceiling. The acoustics in here are going to be bomb.
"I can change any aspect of which you do not approve," he mutters, upset. Eleanor realizes that she's said the wrong thing, but she's still too shocked to express herself properly. "Or I can also set everything back just as it was, if you prefer. It may take some time, so I require your patience, my lady."
His formal tone serves to snap her from her daze. She's hurt his feelings. It is just stunning to see the effort her expended to please her.
Eleanor smiles and approaches her nervous God of Remodeling.
"You made me a house," she says, taking his hand. "An apology house. You built us a beautiful home, Loki."
"I did." Now he looks wary.
"You built us a house!" This time he picks up on her awe and joy.
"I built us a house," he agrees, proud but still guarded.
"Wow."
"You like our new home, I take it?" He seems to hold his breath as he waits for an answer.
"Understatement," she replies, wrapping her arms around his waist. His hands rest on her shoulders as he blinks down at her in confusion. "I… It's amazing, Loki. You are amazing."
Loki seems to deflate, his body relaxing against hers as he hugs her to his chest.
"I am relieved and thrilled," he murmurs, stroking her hair. "Anything for you, Eleanor. Anything."
Again, he is being a little too nice and a little too schmoopy, but she ignores it for now because he built them a house.
"How long have you been working on this?" she asks.
"Months. Since…"
"Since you decided to really be all in when it comes to the whole atonement deal?" she supplies before he can bring up the killing her plan. She doesn't want to hear him say it again.
Loki sighs.
Eleanor pulls way in order to keep looking at everything he's done for her. "The acoustics in here are really great," she observes.
"I borrowed heavily from Asgardian architecture for this room in particular." He runs his hand up a wooden beam.
Eleanor sings a quick scale, making Loki grin.
"I love it, you sneaky, sneaky, god."
"Allow me to show you the pool."
"There's a fucking pool?"
"Language!"
Eleanor looses her words once more as she takes in the water. The day is already heating up and the placid blue water is appealing. The pool is a ridiculous shape and it takes her a moment to get it.
"Is it bird shaped? Did you make us a bird shaped pool?"
"It's songbird shaped," he corrects, grinning.
"Cool," Eleanor replies, allowing her robe to fall from her shoulders. The silky green fabric gathers at her feet. "Take off your pants."
Loki laughs, hands moving to fulfill her request. "Just my pants?"
"The rest of it too. Skinny dipping is the best."
When he reaches for her she dodges at the last moment, leaping into the water. She tucks her knees to her chest and hits the surface as a cannonball, hoping her splash reaches him.
She whips her hair back and out of her face in time to see his smooth dive. It doesn't take long for him to find her ankle, pulling her towards him. When he pushes her up against the edge to the ridiculous bird shaped pool, she smiles and groans and forgets her nightmares.