Beauty and the Beast

Chapter 18

Loki stared in awe at his lovely, wonderful, amazing darling and couldn't help the surprise and awe he felt at her skills and abilities. He had expected to have to protect her. She was blind and helpless and so newly made Asgardian. He hadn't expected her to be able to defend herself. Especially not so eloquently. He chuckled as he pulled her close and kissed her cheek. "You continue to surprise me, little one," he said warmly.

She laughed in reply. "You're really surprised? I've lived with Nat for summer and winter breaks for two years. Like she would let me out of her sight without being able to defend myself. I just don't go advertising the ability," she added with a shrug.

Loki couldn't help laughing at that while the morons groaned on the floor. "I should know better than to presume. Of course Lady Natasha taught you some of her skills,"

She smirked in reply. Mischievous little troublemaker was trying to keep him on his toes. "Of course she did," she replied pleasantly. "So who were the morons I beat up?" she asked him, curious now that they were safe. Said morons were still on the ground, groaning and barely conscious, which was impressive and mostly due to the fact that Morgan caught them by surprise. They weren't expecting a blind little Midgardian to not be Midgardian and to be trained in combat and not nearly as helpless as she appeared.

"They are my idiot brother's equally moronic friends, The Warrior's Three: Fandral, Hogunn, and Volstagg," Loki explained. Morgan nodded along. She knew of them from Thor's stories of his idiot friends.

"Morons," she agreed, wrapping her arms around Loki's waist.

"I could not agree more, my darling," he agreed and pressed a kiss to her hair.

"Hopefully Thor won't be too offended that I beat up his friends..." she said softly, concerned. She loved Thor as a brother and didn't want him upset with her.

Loki shrugged. "They deserved it,"

Morgan nodded. "They did," she agreed easily. "I'm sure you would've done it yourself had I not gotten offended that one of them touched me," she grumbled. She didn't like being touched by strangers, especially when she wasn't expecting it. Especially when she couldn't see them, which was all the time since the accident.

"I was ready to. You beat me to it,"

She giggled. "Sorry I ruined your stabby fun," she teased him.

Loki laughed. He loved this little ball of mischief. "It is quite alright, darling. I actually quite enjoyed watching you beat them up,"

"I'm sure they'll be embarrassed to tell Thor they were beaten up by a tiny blind girl," she was amused by the image in her head of the sheepish idiots trying to tell Thor how they were so beaten up.

"I highly doubt they will even consider telling him at all,"

She smirked mischievously. She really was a darling after his own heart. "Like you won't find an opportunity to embarrass them over it," she teased. She knew Loki quite well and knew he would do anything in his power to embarrass his brother's idiot friends.

"Of course I will. I actually look forward to it," Loki agreed and settled Morgan's hand on his arm so he could continue escorting her to the gardens. She trusted him to lead her safely and her blind trust in him warmed his heart.

Of course, the pair drew a lot of looks. The sight of a lady on Loki's arm was a strange one. Loki being stuck in Jotun form was strange, but people were fairly used to it by now. However, there were whispers of how the disabled girl wasn't worth of a prince of Asgard. Loki tried to ignore their looks and glared to stop the whispers. He didn't want Morgan upset because people were unfairly talking about them. He kept his tone light and casual with Morgan as they discussed magic and books as they walked, including some Asgardian children's tales. He wouldn't let her know by his tone how many people he was glaring into submission.