United

Chapter 14

Loki trudged down the cold sidewalk, the Avengers base slowly disappearing from view. His black trench coat trailed behind him, and his boots crunched over the white powder underneath him. A flurry of snow blew past him with a rush of harsh freezing air. The flakes landed on his green tunic, coat, and hair, but he didn't bother brushing them off. The cold didn't affect him. He breathed out slowly, and watched as his breath formed a cloud in front of him. 

He kept walking.

The only sound he heard was the constant and steady thumping of his heart beating in his chest, reminding him that he was still alive, though it didn't feel that way. Night had fallen, and the only lights came from the full moon overhead and the lamp posts emanating a soft golden glow, illuminating the sidewalk in front of him.

As he walked, he began to process recent events.

Asgard was destroyed.

His father was dead.

Thor wouldn't speak to him.

Brunnhilde had been ignoring him.

He had a son.

He had a son.

Loki didn't even know the name of the child with the same blood as him, but this young boy had lived his life without a father, and that was something that he could not bear to imagine.

Something about the constant repetitiveness of his heart thumping and his legs taking even strides was comforting.

Barely anyone was on the street he was on now, for he had taken many deliberate turns to get as far away from human life as possible. The few who did walk the same sidewalk has him didn't bother to glance in his direction. They all had places to be, appointments to keep, families to look after. Unlike him. Humans were always so busy. He figured that Asgardians weren't much different.

The Asgardians.

He veered down a familiar sidewalk and found himself in front of the warehouse. Stepping inside the surprisingly warm building, he found many eyes focused on him. The main room was mostly silent, the majority of Asgard's population gathered within it, waiting to see what the fallen prince would do or say. He found that he craved isolation more than anything else, so he continued through the warehouse until he reached his and Brunnhilde's room. Stepping over shards of glass from smashed liquor bottles, he made his way over to a small chest in the corner of the room. It was hidden by his magic, and invisible to everyone besides him. He reached inside of it and pulled out a tiny black box. He opened the lid to see the beautiful glimmering necklace, it's pendant a large glittering diamond, rough around the edges, but cut from a solid and impenetrable force. It was meant to symbolize Brunnhilde.

"What's that?"

Startled, Loki slammed the box shut and stuck it back into the chest, placing the layer of invisibility over it once more. He turned to see Sigyn standing in the doorway wearing a dark blue robe covered in small glittering specks, like stars in the night sky.

"Nothing. I really should be going. I'm tracking snow into the warehouse and that's not very helpful...." He said quickly, his silver tongue failing him.

She let out a light and bubbly laugh.

"Darling, if you cared about the snow in the warehouse, you wouldn't have come here in the first place."

She smirked at his flustered expression.

"So what is it then? A token of appreciation for your lover?"

Loki made to leave, but realized that she was blocking the doorway. He slowly pulled the box from behind his back.

"I was going to give it to her back on the Refuge, but I was nervous....and with everything that's happened recently...."