Emma's eyes widened in wonder as thousands specks of golden, orange and bluish lights arose from the soul forge right above her, creating a glowing image of her molecular energy (as the lady healer called it). She lied still on the device and kept staring up fascinated as the image became clearer. Her hands that had been protecting her belly relaxed and she gasped with a fond smile, seeing the tiny perfect figure of the baby emerging. It was emitting light blue glow inside of her and she felt like she was watching a new star being born from a cloud of gas in dark space.
She had been holding her breath nervously and only then dared to breathe again. "Wow, look at that. Isn't that tiny one just beautiful?" she sighed whispering and broke into a full smile when the baby looked like it was waving at them. Did it know they were watching, she pondered. It definitely had a head, two arms and two legs. She couldn't figure out the sex but the baby was a perfect tiny being and she could have just lied there admiring it the whole day. That is if she wouldn't have been feeling so hot.
She wasn't aware of the tears that were streaming down from eyes until the first ones reached her ears and she turned her gaze at Loki who stood by her side next to the soul forge with Frigga. He looked great even from that angle and she took note that his strong jaw line was clenched. His focused expression was unnerving as if he saw something she didn't. She called his name gently and would have wanted to hold his hand but the evil lady healer told she couldn't do that while the device was active.
His gaze was fixed at the manifestation of her and the baby's energies and he looked stunned, scared even as if he would have wanted to make a run for it. However the curve of his dark brows gave away his concern. The soul forge revealed his fears and he stood there mute before Frigga touched his arm to bring him back from his thoughts.
He blinked, tearing his eyes off the image. "Yes. Plainly beautiful," he murmured, but he knew none of the infants or unborn. It was his first time being so close to a new life and this one was special in all ways. He had known for months that Emma was pregnant with his child but now it had truly beginning to feel real. He was the reason it existed and was now growing inside of the woman he loved, blithely consuming her. It should have been impossible but there it was right before his eyes, glowing cold blue energy as though mocking him with its mere small but mighty existence. That small ferocious parasite!
"My boy, you are watching the purest thing in the world that you two have created. This ought to wring more out of your sharp-witted mind," Frigga said with a fond smile.
Loki wrung his hands lightly, finding it hard to return her smile. "I will be overly elated the moment we can ensure Emma's wellbeing. That is all that matters."
His brooding tone made Emma really wanting to hold his hand. It was as if he'd believed that the baby was a monster who was going to devour her. She exchanged glances with Frigga. The queen mother's moist eyes told her that at least the two of them were on the same page; this baby was the most precious thing in the world. Though, Emma wished that she could have been able to share this moment with her own mother, not with Loki's. It felt weird, but then again, the whole place felt weird.
"Hey, big bad god of mischief," Emma said endearingly. She captured his attention, and he looked almost hurt of hearing her calling him that. "This is just a baby. Unplanned? Oh yeah! Big time," she admitted sarcastically and laid her hand over her belly. "But I've survived worse. Maybe the pregnancy is a bit eccentric but it won't wreck me and I'm going to see this through."
"I know you will, my dear. And I won't let anything imperil you." His sad smile couldn't have been anymore unfitting to the god of mischief. "I admit I have been full of mischief all my life but this is not it. Emma, you must know this was not what I intended."
"I really hope so, because the moment I realized I was pregnant, I wanted to wrap my hands around your perfect neck and squeeze the life out of you," Emma confessed.
Lady Eir's questioning gaze dropped down at the patient and rose slowly at the queen and the prince. Majority of the Asgardians probably wanted to do the same thing after all his tricks but no one dared to tell it to his face. This girl was a brave one or then simply a fool.
His lips pressed together, Loki smiled to Emma with sympathy. "And what of now?"
Emma smiled back at him and wiped a hand over her sweaty forehead. "Still thinking about it occasionally."
"Do not think you are the only one who wants to get rid of me. I should move you to the head of the line."
The lady healer looked like an elegant DJ, operating the device opposite Loki. Her confused frown grew as she glanced doubtfully at him while reading the calculations and vibes of the device. "This cannot be right," she said and looked down at Emma with an expression that was mildly horrid now. "Are you not experiencing any pain?"
Loki dropped his playful mood and glared at the healer questioningly. "What is it?"
"I'm okay," Emma said and fanned her chest. Not really that okay. The heat was getting unbearable. "Why everyone keeps asking me that? What's wrong with the baby?" she asked again and supported herself on her elbows.
She was already sweating as if she'd been lying on a bench in a sauna. The image of her molecular energy structure seemed to pulse above her and she felt a cold cramp arising. The feeling was familiar and was spreading like liquefied pain and she knew what was coming. She needed be somewhere colder because she was starting to turn into a human freezer again.
Lady Eir shook her head. "There is nothing particularly wrong with the fetus but clearly its soul print does not match of a mortal or an Asgardian," she said and cast a look at the queen and prince through the soul forge's floating energies. "Neither does hers. "
Assuming the healer lady was talking about the DNA or stuff like that, Emma snorted. "Yeah? What else is new? Are we about done here? Please turn off this thingy now! I need to get out," she said firmly and rolled on her right side towards Loki, grabbing her belly.
His arms rose ready to catch her if she would fall and he shot a glance at the healer. "Turn it off!"
Frigga gaped at the energy vibes that were visibly changing and the colors became more vibrant and then turned bluer. "Her entire body is experiencing vast changes in cellular level. Is she… Is she freezing?" she gasped.
"As a mortal she should be hypothermic by now according to these readings," lady Eir said.
Loki winced, hearing Emma's first suppressed moan, and his helpless hands clenched into fists. "Shut the soul forge off! Shut it off right now!" he demanded, the volume of his voice rising like a distant reminder of his darker side.
Dismayed, Lady Eir did as she was told. The prince's forceful tone got her off guard and knowing his reputation her sense of self-preservation made her taking a step back. The word was out that he had single handedly brought the Jotuns on their knees and forced them into a new peace treaty. A man with such power was to be taken seriously.
As soon as the soul forge was turned off, Loki grabbed a soft hold of Emma as she pushed herself up and off from the table and he pulled her to him. "You are far from fine," he said, feeling her trembling between his hands. He sensed the changing in her that she so desperately tried to conceal, and reproached her, "Stop being so damn brave! You are suffering…"
"Loki! I need to get out," she whispered anxiously and tried to fight off his hands but failed poorly because his fingers were like stubborn vines around her arms. "Please. I can't stay here. I've got to get out. I need cold…"
Oh shit!
It was game over already. She could felt it. It was happening faster now than back home. She was turning into 'a smurf' in front of them. With another humming-like moan she gave up and leaned her forehead against his collarbone and closed her eyes, letting nature take its course. The feeling of pins and needles waved through her and she breathed in his scent, her face pressed against him. She had missed his smell. He had always smelled safe but exotic and she breathed him in, finding a small sanctuary in his embrace as the cold pain played havoc with her.
His lips parted to speak but then he could actually feel her body temperature dropping dramatically. He locked gazes with his mother over the cloud of Emma's curls only for a few seconds. Frigga said something he couldn't quite understand as if she had been talking with a strange language. He was too distracted by the soft humming Emma made, recalling her sounding the same when he had been making love to her. His body responded to her moans and closeness. A flicker of his fantasies willed to come out to play. Mortified by his strayed thoughts, he held her near with the tenderest hold until she finally relaxed whilst he didn't.
Frigga was staring at Emma as though she had never seen a mortal before. Loki lowered his eyes. The skin on Emma's bare arms was pale blue and he assumed that the same thing had happened to her whole body. She was still breathing, more calmly now.
"Emma?" Loki withdrew his face a bit just to see hers, his fingers finding their way under her chin and lifting her head to face him. Pale blue. His forehead furrowed as he scrutinized her as if searching for any signs of discomfort. Her skin was paler than his in his Jotun form but delicately blue in shade. The color of her eyes however was her own.
She stared back at him with an uncomfortable grimace, thinking that she probably looked like the damn Smurfette. "Aw, don't look me like that," she murmured and glanced at her hand to check the obvious. "I'm fine, just feeling a bit blue."
There was nothing fucking funny about it. In fact it was probably the crazies shit that had ever happened to her and it stunned even the god of mischief himself. The sensations of hot and cold were gone and she felt just… changed, different, something still tingling in her flesh. His big, cold Jotun hug would have felt good though. She took a deep breath, consoling herself with the thought that it will go away as soon as she gets somewhere cold.
"I am so sorry," Loki whispered and kept staring at her features, finding her strangely enchanting and yet hating himself for doing this to her. The ice claws were nothing compared to her transformation into a whole new species. He was slightly hunching towards her and he wanted to graze her cheek with his lips just to feel her skin. He wondered if her mouth still tasted the same.
Emma swallowed as she noticed his hand. The tone of his skin on his fingers imitated the Jotun blue as he touched her and she moved away to break the exposing contact. "Is this what you expected to get?"
He didn't seem to mind about his hand which slowly returned to normal. He smiled, genuinely, as though he'd gone from overly concerned to carefree in a snap. "I shouldn't be surprised to see you overcoming this plight."
"She is a Jotun!" Lady Eir said in disbelief, keeping her distance and feeling simply stunned for not seeing the obvious right away. "You brought a Frost Giant in Asgard?"
Emma gave the healer an uncertain glance. "Do I look like any freaking giant to you?"
Loki straightened himself. "Emma is not a Jotun. I am," he stated calmly. "But I am sure you already knew that, healer. The child she is carrying is mine. She is a Midgardian and it is her unique biological traits that will assure of her body adapting whilst the Jotun genes of this child are dominant… to the extent."
Frigga watched her son standing there with his mortal girl, protective and big compared to her, seeming proud of himself or her or the new unborn life they had created, not even slightly ashamed of admitting it. If this wasn't love he was purely radiating, Frigga didn't know what was. And Loki had been right about the girl; with her gift she was going to survive. Frigga wouldn't have believed if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes.
The queen hadn't expected to get so deeply moved by seeing the baby in the soul forge, but this was her very first grandchild they were dealing with and she felt protective about it too.
"Lady Eir, all is well," Frigga said soothingly. "You are one of the few people I trusted with Loki's true parentage, and I still require your discretion in this matter."
Lady Eir looked like at a loss of words. "But a Jotun/mortal hybrid is a genetical impossibility. The genetic diversity is too great between the two species."
Frigga studied the blue girl in front of her and smiled assuringly. "Apparently not. Sometimes the answers we seek are not found from science or magic, but from heart. All it takes is to find a perfect match."
"Or a remarkable ability to adapt. This is unorthodox to a mortal. Does this conceivement have Allfather's blessing? We must study her further," lady Eir suggested.
"We are done! No one touches her without my permission." Loki's expression turned somber and he placed his hand on Emma's back. "I brought her here so we could help her, not examine her like a petty test subject. Nothing that transpired here is worth of Odin's attention. Understand?" he warned and lady Eir nodded in cautious understanding.
"Thank you but I'm done with experiments," Emma said to the healer, softening Loki's threatening tone. She stoked her belly as the tiny one gave her a kick of acknowledgement. She was sated with the knowledge that the baby was fine. Apparently she wasn't dying either, only evolving. "I'm a mutant and adapting is my thing." She turned to Loki again. "Could be please go out now? I need cold!"
Loki nodded but Frigga stepped closer to Emma, her head tilted. "I am afraid she cannot be seen walking in the halls of Asgard like this."
"Then what do you suggest?" Loki asked.
… …
Emma murmured a bad word as she nearly tripped again on her long hem that licked the marble floors with every step. Her arm hooked with Loki's, she was able to keep her balance as they hurried along the hallways, his loyal guards escorting them and Frigga.
Looking like a fancy sorceress, she was veiled with an elegant long-hooded garment that resembled something like a caftan and mantle put together. Obviously it was made for someone much taller than her, perhaps it belonged to Frigga because it was the queen mother who conjured it for her. With the luxury touch of silky smoothness against her skin and the regal look, she felt like she had become Loki's very own little secret he wanted to keep to himself. The exquisite, pearl white robe covered her whole body from head to toes and the long sleeves hid her blue hands. Apparently it would have brought huge commotion if the Asgardians were to bump into Jotuns or anything resembling to them on the palace.
It was hard to hide because the god of mischief was practically commanding attention just by walking by. Ever since his house arrest, Asgardians had rarely seen him and when they had, he had seemed like a whole different man; cool, confident and definitely not the same jester anymore he used to be. People's interest grew in Loki after his achievements in Jotunheim and in some level he was seen closing the monumental gap of prestige between him and Thor. He had slowly become a mystery people were keen to figure out, because life was boring in Asgard without his tricks. The funny part about it was that when he ceased to seek attention, he began receiving it instantly.
And some were more persistent of seeking his attention than others such as lady Thyra, who, while noticing him crossing one of the grant hallways, started briskly approaching him and the queen with a few of her fellow ladies-in-waiting.
"Oh, for pity's sake!" Loki murmured through gritted teeth as he noticed the annoying woman advancing toward them. He was certain no one would miss her if she dies. He could have made it happen with pleasure.
"What's going on?" Emma asked whispering under her hood. She felt his grip tightening on her arm.
"I will handle this, Loki. You two carry on without me," Frigga whispered to her son and saved them from the close call Emma had no idea of.
Loki nodded appreciatively and escaped the situation with a big smile. He loved how Frigga teamed up with him just to keep Emma safe. The rumors of his stroll with a mysterious woman through the halls will spread like wildfire, but he didn't care. In fact he was impishly pleased when lady Thyra saw him escorting an unknown, veiled lady, affectionately holding her near like a lover. The look on that dreadful woman's face was as though she would have watched her future crumbling down before her eyes. All her efforts on him, the flirting and wooing had been useless. She must have realized it on that very moment.
… …
Emma was getting annoyed by the ridiculously huge size of the place as they turned to another corner. She had to rely on Loki's guidance, following his lead, since she was practically blindfolded by the extra large hood, seeing only change of lights and shadows through the lightweight fabric. Her senses were sharpened though. The whole place smelled so strange, so not like earth, from what she could pick up under the lush perfumes of her disguise. She picked up every sound; their steps echoing in the corridors, the metallic sound of their guards' armors as they moved, strange steps of other people they passed, curious whispers of those same people mentioning something about Loki and queen Frigga's answers. Female voices! She would have wanted to stop and listen to any rumor they had concerning him, but Loki kept her moving and the talks faded away.
After a while their pace grew slower and Emma could feel how the tension Loki had been carrying gradually ceased.
"Are we there yet?" she asked in a hushed voice, pondering if he was just making her circling the damn place for fun.
"Almost there," Loki said encouragingly and guided her forward.
Another turn and a sound of doors opening. Finally they stopped and all the sounds seemed to die down after the huge doors closed behind her and she felt his hands on her shoulders. His guards used to follow him everywhere but not in to this place.
"Now then…" Loki lifted the hood off her head and his gaze settled on her face with a triumphant smile. "We made it. And we have a moment to ourselves," he said breathlessly.
Relieved, Emma pulled her long sleeves up to find her hands. "Yeah. And I'm suffocating under this thing. Can I get this off now?"
"Oh, I am sorry. Let me assist you," he said and was already unclasping the elaborate fastenings of her robe, eager like opening a Christmas present.
She followed the work of his skillful fingers as he undid the clasps of her garment one by one and it suddenly reflected to her that they were finally alone. After all this time they were now together in the same space just the two of them and he was already undressing her. She shivered with sinful thoughts of having him so close to her again. She had missed their intimacy, but was this really the time for it.
Her breast heaved when she remembered to breathe again, pondering if he dared to touch her anymore since he maintained the same cautiousness with her than on their way there; as if being afraid of touching her bare skin. And she had avoided touching him because her mere touch was turning him into his birth form; a big no-no!
She moistened her lips nervously. "Have you done this a lot lately?" she asked, trying and failing to sound careless. He stopped and glanced at her under his brows with a surprised smirk and she continued, "It just seems to me that you have had a lot of practice. You have such capable fingers." She cursed inwardly for sounding so damn lame.
He shook his head mildly, amused. "Rest assured, my love, I haven't been sneaking other ladies into my quarters to unrobe them."
Emma played with her fingers under her sleeves. "What I meant is that… Has there been anyone special in your life since…"
"I have not shared my bed with any other since you if that is what you are asking. Only you have monopolized my heart and thoughts ever since I was forced to leave you," he divulged and his emerald eyes studied her. He had longed for her and the excitement she brought into his life. He hadn't even doubted her fidelity to him, until he remembered the SHIELD men she was being with when he found her. The thought darkened his eyes. "And… you?"
"Oh, god no!" His straightforward approach caught her off-guard and she felt like she needed to explain. "This bump is a major turn off… not that I'd have been looking for anything. And I still have these issues with closeness. For months I thought that I'll never see you again but I couldn't think about anyone else but you."
His brows smoothened and fingers carried on the work and there was a shyish grin on his lips. "Sometimes I imagined you would be here. I used to talk to you," he confessed. The thought felt more awkward now since he had actually conjured her illusional double to comfort him and not just for a small talk. Was that considered cheating?
She watched him fondly. "I used to talk to you too and I dreamed of you... a lot."
After the last clasp done his gaze met with hers again and he smiled, a kind, loving smile, wishing he could have carried on undressing her with more than his eyes. The pale blue of her smooth skin was luring him to caress her, to explore her beautifully altered body. An hour ago he wouldn't have considered her pregnancy as a so big deal but now when that small fiend had made its presence felt, it was as though there was a third wheel among them. And yes, it was getting between them, physically and emotionally. That bump of her belly was practically telling him to keep at bay. But when had he ever paid attention to such demands?
Loki lifted his gaze back to her eyes. "Ah… So, this is the guest chamber right next to mine quarters," he said and spun behind her to peel off her garment like a gentleman and offered her to take a look around. "I am afraid this is the best I can do. I would have rather taken you into my chambers, trust me, but Frigga thought it would be wiser to bring you here instead." He returned by her side, her robe on his arm. "For now."
Emma glanced around her, then at him, and then at the huge room again that resembled very much of his chamber he once showed to her with his illusions. The room was beautiful in a mighty, cathedralic way with high ceiling, large windows, stone walls and decorative wooden furniture. The late afternoon glow through the windows gave a magical touch to the space as if everything around them would have turned gold.
She stared at the room in delighted disbelief while walking forward. "It's… heavenly," she managed to say and turned at him. So was he, standing there and looking at her like that. She was still feeling hot but in a different kind of way. "So… now what?"
Now what? He wanted to wrap her in his arms and kiss her, savour her slowly and passionately until they would melt as one on the bed. Her new enticing state was bringing out his feral side that was novel to him.
He folded the robe, keeping his hands busy. "Come here," he said then and strode across the room to open the balcony's doors for her, dropping the dress on a chair on his way. "The balcony. If you still have the need for cold you can while away here as long as you like. You will not been seen."
Emma sighed gratefully while moving to him. "Oh, that's great! That's what I need right now." Truth; what she would have needed was a big hug.
She ran on the private balcony and embraced the chilly evening air, closing her eyes and letting it nurture her body. She felt the cold breeze, snowflakes landing on her skin, the coldness that was good but it wasn't enough. She opened her eyes as she heard Loki stepping next to her. She would have so much wanted to show him the magic of her own, but nothing happened, not even when she placed the snow she scooped from the balcony railing on her baby bump.
Loki contemplated her odd snow ritual, staring down at the exposed shape of her blue, bulging belly. "My Valkyrie, is everything all right?"
"No." Confused, she stared at the tenacious blue of her skin. "It's not going away," she whispered in dismay. "It's not cold enough here." She lifted her gaze at him as if begging him to find a solution.
"Emma," Loki sighed in a repentant tone. "You have evolved to match the needs of the fetus and your gift keeps you alive in this unfair symbiosis."
She shook her head and hid her bump back under her tunic. "You don't understand. You'll have to take me back home. It was much colder in Canada. I changed back to normal there."
Only then Loki understood why she had kept so calm when her transformation occurred; with a false hope she believed she could change back. He took a deep breath before telling her, "Am I afraid there is no amount of cold that would return you back as long as you are with child."
There was a flash of shock on her face. "So, I'll be a blue popsicle for the next three months?" She gasped and ran hands over her head with a rueful smirk. "Logan will poke fun at me for a long time for this."
Loki lifted his hand and touched her hair, feeling the same softness of her curls. "You are no less to me than before," he said in his soft, deep voice. "You could be like this from here to infinity and I would love you nonetheless."
"This isn't about you, Loki!" she cried out frustrated and let out a sigh, taking a step away from him. "How am I supposed to take care of myself and this baby if I can't show my face absolutely anywhere? Not here anyway. I want you to take me back. Please, take me back home!"
Loki looked confused, upset, his eyes narrowed. "Why would you want to return into that petty life when you could have here everything you wish for?"
"Petty life?" Emma echoed to his sudden brusque tone and there was immediate regret in his eyes. "At least I had some control over my life back there. Don't think this has been easy for me. I don't live in a damn castle, but I had everything planned out ahead. Hell! For some time I thought I was going to die." She sucked in a breath. "I've been like a freaking hamster; I got everything ready for the baby. And I had Logan… and I found my mother. I finally had the family I kept dreaming about ever since I was a kid…"
"I want to be your family!" Loki said abruptly, revealing his hidden vulnerability.
She just stared at him, utterly disarmed.
Unrelenting he stepped near her and closed the gap between them. "You were there when I had lost everything worth living for and you pulled me away from the darkness that was destroying me. It was not so long ago when you and I dreamed of a life together. Do you not remember that? I do. That is the one thing that has kept me sane all this time. A decade used to pass in a heartbeat compared to those months we were apart. I want us to be real, Emma. Say that you stay with me and let me look after you and our offspring."
She had expected him to get angry with her and give her a reason to snap at him but after his words she searched his beautiful eyes until she had to turn without finding right words. The view of Asgard spread before her eyes, and she realized that it was the exact scenery he showed her with his illusion six months ago. The vision so astonishing that it swept her once off her feet, and she smiled sadly to that memory. He wasn't anymore that scary, mad demigod she met on the arctic glarier. Who was he and what had he done to her Loki? She could only ponder what he had gone through during his time of punishment.
He whispered her name gently and she turned back at him with teary eyes, gazing down at her hands as if they had been contaminated. "I can't even touch you without turning you into something that everybody hates here," she whispered ruefully.
"No, don't ever shy away from my touch because of it. I accept it willingly as long as it won't harm you." He inched closer and his hand rose again towards her face. "May I?"
She nodded longingly and with her permission he touched her cheek with the back of his fingers. She shivered because his touch felt so warm at first but then his skin began changing color and cooling down. He captured her hand tenderly and guided it on his face, letting her touch him and letting her cold touch reveal his true form. She watched in silence as his beautiful features were slowly turning into his Jotun form under her fingers. She could feel the ridge patterns rising on his cheek and she ran her fingers over them like reading tactile alphabets.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Don't be," Loki assured.
However her influence on him was small, changing only half of his face, and to complete it she placed also her other hand on his face.
She sniffed back her tears with a painful memory. "The last time I saw you like this, you were dying."
"But I survived." Loki smiled affectionately and let his hand find its way on her neck, cupping the back of her head. His hopeful eyes, ruby red and alien now, looked at hers. "We are both born to survive. Do you not see? We are meant for each other. Please stay and be mine."
"You know I'm already yours," Emma sighed, rediscovering the divine sensation of his cold caress which she gave into momentarily. It was what she had needed.
"Then there is no reason to waste more time," he reasoned quietly and looked somehow solemn, taking both her hands. "This moment is equal to a sunset, don't you think?" he asked, glancing far at the colorful horizon. In the late afternoon glow he was practically glowing too.
"Yeah, and it looks amazing here." She admired briefly the glow in the sky that matched the sunsets back home and when she turned back at him, he lowered down on one knee in front of her like a noble knight, holding her hands and leaving her standing in puzzlement. Oh, no way! Was he going to…?
She gasped wildly, staring down at him, her mouth ajar. "Loki, what are you…?"
His face had returned back to his normal pale tone and his emerald eyes beheld her with devotion. He held her hands gently, just a bit tighter though, because he didn't want her to run away. "Emma of Midgard, Logan's daughter, my love and the mother of my unborn heir. I know more than well that we come from two different realms and yet you have become the center of my universe." He spoke softly and she was visibly holding her breath.
A trace of an uncertain smile played on his lips and his thumbs stroke the back of her palms. "There is not much more than my imprisonment I can offer to you to share with me now, but I shall give you all of my heart and devotion and banish my selfish intentions for the good of our future." It was a lot coming from him, he reflected, feeling silly knots in his stomach. He united her hands, holding them with one of his, and placed his free hand gently on her bump. "This child should not have to pay for my mistakes. I want us to bring up it together and give it a true family so that it will never feel different, abandoned or unwanted in this world."
His words sunk somewhere deep within her, warming her very core, and he sounded so sincere. Her eyes were already brimming and she bit her lips to stop them from trembling. Oh, god! He was really doing it! It was really happening. He remembered. He was holding up his end of their deal.
"Emma, I am on my knees here," he whispered and smiled slightly and then asked with his smooth voice, "Will you become my wife?"
Dazed, she just kept staring at that gorgeous man who was waiting for her answer. Fleetingly she forgot how to speak. "Now? Here?" she asked meekly, looking almost scared. "Loki… I'm blue."
"My dear, I was born blue and I have come to terms with my true parentage." He smiled patiently. "Is there… someone else you would rather spend the rest of your life with?" he teased gently and she puckered her brows, shaking her head. "So then, what is your answer?"
Trails of tears streamed down her cheeks with a blink and she nodded because her body was undoubtedly willing to be his and only his forever. "Yes," she whispered at first as if being afraid to say it aloud. The small, uncertain smile that rose on her lips grew with his, and her heart was ready to burst. What the hell did she just say?
"Yes?" he repeated with an innocently sweet grin.
Emma let out a shivering breath and grinned like there was no tomorrow. "This is crazy, but yeah. I want to marry you, Loki."
To hear her really saying that made him happier beyond his imagination, even he wouldn't have accepted any other answer. His gaze didn't leave hers as he rose again, towering over her. His charming dimples must have become permanent by now. "To seal our betrothal, I give you this ring," he said and conjured his precious gift to her. "This is no illusion, but made from the finest Asgardian gold," he assured, still holding her hand.
The wide golden ring with carvings and an absinth green frosted emerald looked exactly the same he once conjured for her. That had been his illusion and eventually vanished but this was real. She could feel the weight of gold as he placed it on her finger and she gulped because that had to be the most expensive jewel she had ever worn. It fitted perfectly like truly made for her.
"Fit for a queen," he said, pleased, as she lifted her gaze from the ring back at him.
"Loki, it's perfect." Just like he was. She kept smiling overly delighted like a crazy person that she probably was by now. "Please, tell me you didn't steal this from Frigga."
A width grin revealed his perfect teeth. "I had it specially made for you, my love," he said, appreciating her playful mood. His hands ran up her arms and he didn't give a damn when every part of him that touched her turned blue. "Everything will be perfect and we shall have traditional Jotun weddings."
She looked a bit confused, guessing he had to be joking. "Um. Sounds… romantic."
"Oh, yes. Now I shall drag you from your hair into my frozen cave," he said passionately.
She broke into giggles with his twisted sense of humor. "We'll definitely not have Jotun weddings!"
He chuckled with her and pulled her to his chest as far as her belly let him and she wrapped her arms trustingly around his neck. The third wheel expressed it presence between them and he could feel the baby's kicks against his lower pelvis. He dropped his gaze momentarily with the cooling sensation as his private parts were clearly taking Jotun form in his pants. He kind of liked it. Making love to her was going to be sensually interesting, he pondered, and returned his gaze back to her eyes.
"You have captured my heart completely, Emma Morgan, and I have no intentions to reclaim it from you. I love you," he whispered, lowering his face towards hers, wanting to taste her cool lips.
She was melting inside, because this divine man – no, a devilishly beautiful god– wanted her to be his, blue and all. She rose on her tiptoes, meeting him in the halfway. "I love you, Loki of Asgard," she whispered to his lips before she claimed them with a kiss that was cold outside but ardent by its nature.
… …
Frigga stood motionless in the quiet bed chamber, her hand flat against her heart. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop but when she arrived to the guest chamber, her adopted son was just proposing to the mortal girl. The queen had frozen to hear the answer, not wanting to spoil this moment. Her wayward boy, prince of Asgard and the uncrowned king of the Jotuns, kneeled before his love one. Was there any more glorious way to propose? Frigga smiled with delighted goosebumps. If her dear stubborn husband Odin would have proposed to her that way, she would have said yes on his first attempt.
Against her habits she moved subtly further away from the balcony's doorway granting the newly betrothed couple some peace. It truly seemed that Loki had finally found some sun for himself and this girl was worth keeping.
… …
AN: It feels like we are living so uncertain times right now when there's a real unfair war going on here in Europe. I have no words. People have much bigger things to worry about and I thought about giving up writing, seeing no meaning in it, but then... You'll never know what happens tomorrow, so that's why; if a little story can give someone a bit hope and put one's mind at ease a while, then it's worth it. And when I say 'stay safe', it comes straight from the heart.
Stay safe, Everyone!