The Fates' Favorite (Loki Laufeyson)

Part 11

As soon as I exited the shower I dried off and threw on a pair of pajama shorts and a t-shirt, leaving my hair wrapped in the towel as I went into my room.

I nearly jumped at the sight of Loki, standing surly against the door, arms folded and jaw clenched.

"Let me see it." Was all he said.

"Let you see wh-"

"The bullet hole, obviously." He nearly seethed now, speaking only through clenched teeth as the muscles on his arms tensed. "Let. Me. See it."

"How'd you..." I was careful. I never once lied when talking about the wound. I never gave him a reason to know.

"You were still rethinking what happened when you got off the helicarrier. I knew before you even stepped foot in the tower. You think I spend my leisurely hours in that oaf and pompous idiot's company?" He answered as if it were a tedious question, something I should've assumed. "I will not ask you again, pet."

"I'm not your pet." I felt myself speak up quickly. "I'm not your animal, I'm not your hobby, I am nothing to you."

Loki chuckled at that, his deep voice sounding all the more amused. "Oh, darling. You're still angry?"

I scoffed, shaking my head as I mistakenly turned my back to the god in order to find my hairbrush.

His hands were on me within a second, making me tense.

"Loki." I warned.

"Relax, love." Was all he whispered as he pulled my shirt off my shoulder. His eyebrows furrowed as he got a look at the wound, already calloused over.

"So that's why you didn't feel the need to address it." He murmured, his fingers analyzing each inch around the wound. "Admittedly, that's faster than most Asgardians would heal with such a wound."

"Steve compared it to Thor." I whispered.

"Thor and I are advanced, even for Asgardians. It comes with power." He mumbled, hearing my slight hiss as his finger ran gently across the wound. "It's still tender?"

"Of course it is." I said through clenched teeth. "It's a few hours old. Have you never been shot?"

Loki chuckled, shaking his head. "No. I've been stabbed more times than I can count, blown up more than once, but never shot."

"Think of it as a small, dull knife going straight through your body at 400 feet per second."

"Ouch." He mumbled. Then, as if only a light touch to him, the bullet wound was nearly completely sealed, no longer tender or sore at all. In fact, around the edge it had already scarred over, looking far older than it was.

"Did you just..."

"I don't do it often, so don't go talking about it to the rest of the lot. I won't do it for them." He murmured. "Asgardian magic is far more complex than other forms. Healers only have healing magic, and non-healers cannot heal."

"Then how can you?"

"Because I'm the best sorcerer Asgard has ever seen, darling." He responded with a smirk. "But... it's still exhausting, downright painfully so. Even I can only do so much without hurting myself."

I looked down as I turned around, staring at Loki's black shoes. "Thank you." I whispered.

His fingers gripped my chin, though his touch was still feathery as he guided my eyes up to him. His face was only inches from mine, his smirk long gone.

"Consider it an apology. I do believe you're owed one."

"I don't need your apol-"

"You were certainly right that you are not a hobby to me, but you are certainly not 'nothing'." His hand slowly left my face and he leaned back, looking down at me still. "I should not have referred to you as a hobby. I simply don't..."

I bit my cheek, unsure what I was actually believing at the moment.

"It's fine, Loki."

"It's not... Because you avoid me like the dragon pox. You look at me with this-this... This disdain, in your eyes. I simply can't stand it." He sighed. "I... Value you. And it's because I value you that I want no one to know that I value you."

"So you'd rather them think you're using me for entertainment?" I scoffed out, tilting my head.

Loki stayed quiet, staring at me for a moment before I shook my head.

"I'd rather not be valued, if that's the case." Walking towards my door, I opened it and kept my eyes at the ground.

Loki took the hint immediately, only pausing for a single second before his foot passed the threshold of my room back into the hallway.

I let the door close softly before I went and sat on my bed, clenching my eyes shut.

I knew Loki was complex from the moment I had met him, from that first second in the hallway. But I couldn't allow myself to be seen as weak or manipulated. I wouldn't.

I'd rather lose the friendship entirely.

I'd rather lose him entirely. Perhaps that was my own fault, my own pride getting in the way of something, or rather someone, who I already knew made me happy.

My pride was a hell of a thing.

As I laid on my bed I pulled my bear from my pocket space, hugging it tightly to me as I played with the small round pendent of the necklace twisted around the neck, my thumb grazing over the wolf etched along the center and the small symbols surrounding the edges.

Instantly, I felt calmer. It was only then that I realized I hadn't pulled my bear out a single time while in the tower, far too nervous about the prying eyes around the tower.

In Hydra, I always had to keep it put away, stored away from their prying eyes. I had gotten used to having to hide it, to having to keep my one possession to myself as I knew they'd take it.

I didn't have to hide it here. I was safe.

I huffed as I leaned back against my pillows, deep breaths escaping my lips as I felt my eyelids grow heavier, sleep eventually overpowering the urge to eat.