Pure as White

26 - Tea Cups

Guard boots stomp, the click and clatter echo off the prison walls, as the patrol did their routine checks. It had been a week since the two had been imprisoned—and not a single word had been spoken between them since the first night.

Astraea sat at her tiny table in her uncomfortable chair, a cup of stale-tasting tea in her hand as she tried to enjoy her morning without being bothered by Loki. His presence was enough to drive her insane. She wondered if Odin had done this on purpose; was this her punishment? If it wasn't, it surely felt like it.

"Why hasn't Odin been down here to see us? When is our trial?" Astraea spoke, breaking the week-long silence.

Loki, stretched out in his bed, staring at the ceiling, smiled only to himself at the sound of her voice. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? I thought you knew everything. Had every single detail already plotted out in your twisted mind."

There she is, thought Loki. He wanted to smile but refrained from doing so. "What makes you think I don't already?" His brow lifted slightly, causing Astraea to huff at his lack of any emotion.

     Ugh. . ." She threw her hands up in defeat and sat back down in her uncomfortable chair. "I just want a decent cup of morning tea, at the least if I'm going to be stuck down here with you."

Loki turns his head slightly, his eyes fall upon Astraea—her head gently rests on her knuckles as she props herself up on her knees. Loki swears she could kill someone with just a look on her face; so dissatisfied and miserable.

"Bring your cup here."

Astraea looks at him, confused. "What?"

Loki didn't say anything else until he was at the force field staring at her. "I said, bring your cup here. Set it right next to the wall, right here, love."

The pet name, so simple, just another accent to his speech pattern, had Astraea's stomach fluttering with butterflies and her cheeks a light pink. "Do not call me that, I am not yours. And I don't suppose you can see at all, cause if you could then you would know a magical wall separates us."

Loki's lips curve into a small smile, his emerald green eyes locking with hers. He can feel her. The uncertainty, the hatred, the disgust. When she looks at him, Loki feels small. Odin said it was enough to make some go mad; and at this very moment, Loki understood. Maybe he was hoping that his love for her would overpower her feelings of hatred against him; but in truth, Loki knew hatred and betrayal all too well. He bathed in them every day.

"Yes, I am aware. Though these walls do prevent me from doing much larger scale spells, it has a flaw. If you bring your cup here, I can show you."

Astraea looks at her almost empty tea cup, debating whether or not she trusted him. "Are you going to poison me?"

"That would require me dying as well, I have no plans on that today."

Astraea thought for a moment, dragging out the silence for as long as she possibly could until finally she stood in front of Loki, tea cup in hand.

Loki crouched down and the girl followed his movements. Astraea places the cup down next to the wall and before her eyes, the cup filled itself with her favorite tea.

"How?"

"There's a small gap, just enough of a gap at the base of these walls for me to do small spells and them seep under. Anything stronger than filling a tea cup, and these walls will absorb it."

Astraea sipped the hot tea, letting all the wonderful flavors flood her taste buds in bliss. She didn't realize how much she appreciated something so small, such as tea, until she didn't have it anymore.

"Thank you. . ." Her eyes soft and sweet as they stared at Loki.

"You're welcome." He nodded.

"Do you really not know why Odin hasn't been down to see us?"

Loki thought for a moment. He didn't know why his father hadn't come down yet—let alone Thor, that imbecile is probably so heart broken. Loki almost smiled at the thought. "I don't. I had assumed he would've already been down here by now. If not my father, I had expected Thor to come looking for answers."

Astraea's face fell at the sound of his name. He was probably so heart broken and torn apart. What a mess she's caused. "We broke his heart. I don't think there is anything else he wishes to know about the situation."

Silence filled the space between them, and Astraea sat back down at her small table. "Loki. ." Astraea finally spoke, catching his full attention. "The night I gave you my soul . . I saw a woman, she told me to stay away from you no matter how strong the pull. She said it wasn't supposed to happen."

Loki is motionless, trying to rationalize what she is saying. "A woman told you what exactly?"

"Just to stay away from you. That we were never meant to be together."

"You were merely seeing things, a side effect of the spell you casted upon us. Large scale spells will cause one to be delusional for a period of time after if you've never casted one before. Darling you've never casted a spell as power as that one before, The woman wasn't real."