afterglows || loki laufeyson [3]

chapter 21

"slippery twirls and frozen smiles and careful steps and cold intertwined hands."

loki's pov!

it was silent for a while.

15 minutes pass by. 20 minutes slipped away. 30 minutes disappeared without a word. 45 minutes and-

"you're still awake too, right?", her voice whispered, quietly.

"wide awake.", i murmured, finally opening my eyes, "how did you know?"

"your breathing-", she cut off scrunching her eyebrows, "man that sounds weird. but your breathing hasn't evened out."

"you pay attention to my breathing?", i smirked, making her groan.

"i know what it sounds like, though seriously you're so close to me! and it's not my fault that you're loud.", she huffed.

"i breathe loudly?", i questioned and she laughed and pushed herself away from my grip, getting out of bed.

"where are you going?", i asked her as she slipped a sweater- my sweater, above her head, covering the tank top underneath.

"tea.", she said with a light shrug, "then maybe a walk, also, of course you're coming with me."

i stood up, saying goodbye to slumber.

"where on earth did tony put the small spoons?", belle whisper-yelled, opening the drawers noiselessly, "what else are we supposed to use to stir our drinks?"

she hasn't noticed what my solution was, which i think is pretty effective.

she turned then, facing up to me, then down to my cup which i held with one hand. i used my other hand to stir.

"are you- are you actually using a dagger to stir your tea?", she asked in disbelief, "you could hurt yourself!"

"i think you're forgetting, dear love, that i am not a child and as surprising as this might be to you, i've handled daggers for a great amount of my life."

she shook her head, "no, lokes don't fool around. you might have used that dagger to stab someone before."

"as well as being experienced, i am very hygienic. this lovely dagger is new, love."

she blinked, once, twice, before flicking her hand and making a spoon of light.

it landed in her cup with a tiny judgemental clink.

we drank down the tea slowly, whispering and joking quietly as time bled from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m.

by now, i'm sure she's foregoing the idea of sleep. she couldn't be more awake than she is now, almost radiating with sugar serotonin. just how many packets of sugar did she dump into her drink?

"let's go, let's go.", she said right after the cups were placed in the sink.

tugging my arm and pulling me insistently, i relented knowing i had no choice in this.

once the winter early morning air hit our face, she jumped up and down in excitement.

"i can't believe we sneaked out of the tower without anyone noticing!"

"love, it's almost 4, i'm sure no one would even be awake to notice-"

she ran down the path, as i shook my head and followed her.

i caught up to her and wrapped my hands across her chest, kissing her rosy cheek tenderly. she laughed, fogging the air with her warm breath.

we continued walking like that, her clothes pressing against mine, sharing warmth that kept us from freezing in the cold.

she swayed side to side and said excitedly, "we're waddling like penguins."

"penguins?", i echoed back, "you mean those flightless birds?"

she nodded, "they're adorable."

"you call every animal adorable."

"am i wrong though?", she asked back, looking at me challengingly, silently daring me to say otherwise.

i just smiled and hugged her tighter.

slowly, snowflakes began falling gracefully. they danced their way onto our faces, our coats, and our hair.

my mind drifted to a time where instead of snowflakes, leaves fell around us, and we danced and danced with them. coming back to the present, i decided to recreate that moment.

i turned her by the shoulders and bowed, holding a hand out. she took my hand in an instant, and we were clumsily dancing in the snow. slippery twirls and frozen smiles and careful steps and cold intertwined hands.

tired and satisfied, we were quite ready to go back to the tower. light had peeked shyly behind the tower when we arrived, a new day had come.

she held onto my hand as we left footprints behind us. suddenly, she slipped, her feet giving in under her and successfully swept the both of us into the white glistening snow.

"i'm sorry!", she blurted out in a laugh, "it's so cold but that was so funny."

"your legs just decided you had enough walking and stopped working.", i laughed, and she laughed harder.

"they were like, 'aight, we're done, adios!'"

"such silly legs, they are."

"silly legs indeed.", she said and blew out a puff of breath into the air.

"you're silly.", i stated simply.

she grinned, "no, you're silly."

"oh really?"

"yes, really."

"i think not, you are the most silly human i've met in my life."

"perhaps. but then that means," she smiled, eyes twinkling, "i'm your silly human."

we stayed there lying in the snow for another moment, before i brushed myself up and turned to her, who was currently moving her hands and legs on the snow.

"what are you doing?", amusement coating my question.

she grinned childishly, "i'm making a snow angel."

"interesting.", i said softly, and offered my hands for her to grab onto right after she's done.

"look at her!", she said, as she tried brushing snow off her trousers and arms, "isn't she the prettiest?"

i glanced down then looked at her, "she's an exceptionally pretty snow angel."

belle nodded, satisfied. but as she took the first step to continue to the tower, i was quick to scoop her up in bridal style.

she protested, blushing wildly, blushing harder as i said, "but she's not as exceptionally beautiful as the angel in my arms."

i carried her back to the tower for the remainder of our walk. a wide grin threatening to form every now and then at the very sight of her in my arms. 

author's note:

personally, i'm proud i came up with those last lines. 

also a trip down nostalgia lane hit me tonight, and i was scrolling through old pictures and it felt nice. i missed it all sm.