Found (Loki Soulmate Story) {COMPLETE}

Chapter Twenty

(A/N: Warning; there's a brief scene that describes some minor abuse, which is marked by '***' before and after the scene. If that's a trigger, go ahead and skip it if needed. Thanks for reading!)

(Your Pov)

You exited the locker rooms, refreshed and ready to go. You figured you'd simply head back up to your room, or maybe venture to the lab. It seemed Natasha had left by now, and there was no real reason for Loki to stay. But you still wanted a small moment alone with him, so you decided to follow the pull towards the library. Where a very cute and mysterious soulmate sat reading.

Loki was facing away from the doorway, laying across the couch with a book propped open in his lap. He flipped steadily through the pages, and you couldn't help but admire his docile form. If only for a moment.

"What'cha reading?" You ask, finally entering the room. You picked the first book that caught your eye from the shelves, heading to sit down on a chair near the fireplace.

"I was doing research." Loki flipped another page, barely glancing up at you in the process.

"On what exactly?"

"Myself. Midgardians have come up with such strange stories." He flipped another page, his face growing in distaste as he read it. "Like this one. I have never married, nor had any children. I know of Sigyn, yes, but she was already engaged last I heard."

You laughed. "Oh is she? And when was that?"

"Must have been 400 years by now." He finally closed the book, setting it aside.

"That's- How old are you?" You change your comment last second, rethinking what you knew about him. He didn't look very old, but just by the way he talked or acted suggested otherwise.

"One thousand four hundred and eighty, as of my last name day." It seemed to take him a moment to remember, and the fact he did was impressive. You forgot how old you were yesterday, whether 17 or 18.

"That's- wow. That's a lot of birthdays." You pause, laughing lightly at how much of an age difference there was. How much more experience he probably had. "But 1480 divided by 70... that's twenty one and change. By human standards, you're just a few years older than me."

"It seems so." He seemed mildly surprised by this, or more importantly your math. 1480/70? Who ever solves that in their mind? "And I have been waiting for you ever since my nine-hundreth birthday."

"Nine hundred? Wow. I found out at thirteen. Five years ago." He chuckled, and you smiled at his enthusiasm. "So have you always been able to... feel everything I do? Before I got mine, I mean."

Loki smiled a sad smile. "Always. Although I felt nothing throughout the first few centuries."

You knew exactly what he was hinting. Exactly why he had that concerned expression in his eyes. He knew. It confirmed your worst fear, someone finding out about that day. It wasn't your favorite to relive, but it was also probably Loki's moment of 'realisation' of his soulmate. The day he really knew you were there. You could feel his unease through the connection, him deciding whether to bring it up.

"You want to know what happened?" You asked him, receiving a single solemn nod. A nod of reassurance, urging you to continue while confirming your running theory. The theory that his first soulmark was a cut, one dealt to you from one of your mom's drunk boyfriends. That one night stand who didn't head back to his house, instead being put behind bars.

***

"It was just about a decade ago, when my mom had brought home another one of her 'friends'. It happened all the time back then, some random stranger hitting on my mom all night while I just tried to stay out of the way." You caught his concerned expression when you mentioned the 'hitting on' slang, quickly clearing it up for him. "He was excessively flirting in an inappropriate way. It wasn't the first time, but the only time that mattered. I don't even know what had happened while they were in her bedroom, but somehow we both ended up in the kitchen while my mom was out. I was grabbing a glass of water or something, and I saw him."