Loki's Mark

Chapter Three

Several weeks had passed already, and I was no closer to finding out just exactly what I had done to inherit the attention of the Trickster God of chaos and mischief. Try as I might, I was unable to get anywhere with the local histories. Most people shied away from my oblique questioning, and what little information I could find was all topical and bland. It was almost as if I was being blocked deliberately.

To add insult to injury, I was now being plagued with chaotic, twisted, barely formed nightmares that left me with little more than an impending sense of doom. Tiredly, I wished for the hundredth time that I had gotten myself a coffee maker, towel drying my hair as I walked into the bedroom in just my jeans and my bra to finish getting dressed.

"My, my, my, luscious, you surely are a sight for sore eyes first thing in the morning." I heard his voice drawl, and I could feel my eyes twitching as I lowered the towel to stare him in the face. I literally had no spoons to deal with his overly-seductive bullshit this early in the morning, with this little sleep.

"Oh for the love of fuck will you stop fucking calling me that?" I growled, as I turned and tossed the towel back into the bathroom. I turned back, to find him mere inches from my face.

"You wish me not to speak the truth, pet? Is it possible... that you don't see it?" He asked, head tilted in confusion. Slowly, he started to stalk around me, and I watched him warily. "Wine-dark hair the color of a rich merlot, vibrantly alive with bouncing curls when you let it dry naturally. Clear, expressive hazel eyes that can dance with joy and burn with rage. Full, lusciously plump lips that just beg to be kissed repeatedly, and often. A laugh that could make the muses sing and a smile that could bring a man to his knees, if he were so inclined."

He trailed off as he continued to stalk around me, looking me up and down and tapping his bottom lip. "Fair skin dusted with freckles like one might dust a confection with cinnamon. Well-rounded limbs... well-rounded everything, now that I think about it. The muscles you're developing from all the walking, blacksmithing, blade-work, and stretching you've been doing just add a little extra spice to an already perfect dish." He looked up at me, his eyes dark with desire.

I could only answer his stare with exhaustion and slight embarrassment, as I looked to the floor. I heard him sigh in exasperation, and I looked back up at him. "What is it you humans say? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, pet." He smiled and reached up to touch my face, and I turned away from his hand.

"Please don't call me that." I asked quietly, looking away. His hand touched my face anyway and turned me to face him. He stared me straight in the eyes for a moment, before I watched his gaze go unfocused, briefly. Then he shook himself and looked at me, dropping his hand.

"Oh. Forgive me, I did not know. I will find something less demeaning to call you, in the future. The last one didn't mind...I've been out of touch with humans for too long." I watched the genuine sadness flit across his face, all the teasing and seduction drained away by seriousness and a loneliness that shook me to the core. Sighing heavily, I took a seat on the end of my bed, burying my face in my hands, as he turned to look out the window.

"I'm sorry. I just... I haven't been sleeping well at all since our last conversation. My patience is worn thin, all of this still just confuses me, and all I'm finding is more questions with no answers in sight. At this point, I'd be happy just to know what I did to inherit this uh... situation. Is this my reward for leaving my toxic family and their bullshit behind? Is my life destined to literally be nothing but chaos?" Frustrated, I growled and ran my fingers through my hair, turning to look at his back.

"I don't suppose there's any chance of you just, you know, forgetting about whatever this is and just going on about your very important life, and going off and doing very important Loki things? And maybe, you know, I can literally forget all of this has happened thanks to a little magic, and just go on about my mediocre life, doing mediocre human things?" I could see his shoulders square up, and he crossed his arms as he turned back to face me, expression serious.