Winter's Hearts

Chapter 16

You scanned the room for threats the second you appeared in Loki's room, ignoring the blood dripping down your arm, ignoring the pain from the burns using a trick you'd learned nearly a thousand years ago to hide pain and discomfort from your conscious mind while you focused on your duty.

You relaxed when you saw that the room was clear and turned to Loki. "Are you alright?" you asked, looking him over with a healer's eye. He sighed heavily in exasperation, bent, and threw you over his shoulder as he stood again. You yelped as the leather of his armor dug uncomfortably into your stomach and cried out in pain when your red blistered, bleeding arms hit his back, breaking your concentration on hiding the pain from your mind. "Loki!" you protested, and even you could hear the pain in your voice.

He set you carefully on his bed. "I'm fine. You're the one actively bleeding and the idiot Jotun who jumped in front of a fireball," he reminded you sourly. He was angry you were hurt, angrier that you had been hurt saving him, but you could also see his worry over your injuries.

"That fireball was going to hit you. There was no way in hell you were dodging it," you reminded him equally sourly, trying to focus on bickering instead of pain. Pain would make you useless. Bickering was more useful.

"I could have taken it," he growled, looking over your injuries. You avoided looking as you got the pain back hidden behind shields in your mind. It took a lot of concentration, though. "We're safe, you can ditch the armor, by the way," AKA he wanted you in better clothes for him to work on your arms. His own armor shimmered away to a green tunic and black pants. You could tell he was upset when he automatically donned Asgardian clothes.

"What if Thor brings danger back with him?" you protested about the armor.

"Then you'll summon your armor back in less than a second," Loki reminded you, overly patiently. "But he won't. He can deal with the ravens." You sighed and let your armor shimmer away, settling on a blue tank top and soft black pajama pants. You glanced at your arms and wished you hadn't. You were bleeding badly from the deep gouges the raven's talons had left in your arm and the burns were swollen blistered messes. Jotuns were weak against fire and even small burns were worse on you than humans or Asgardians. These were not small burns and would have been even worse had Loki taken the attack instead. Loki sat beside you on the bed and summoned the first aid kit. "Why aren't you screaming in pain? This is really bad, love," he was in healer mode, worried about nerve damage.

"I'm a Valkyrie. I learned early to block out pain during battle to protect our charges, as you well know," you reminded him, your voice distracted as you focused on doing just that.

"You should have let me take that attack. This is going to hurt just to bandage," he was really concerned over your injury. He got to work stitching the talon wounds closed first, wincing at the small whimpers of pain you couldn't help, though you tried, you really tried to hide how much it hurt. At least he wasn't suggesting pain pills until you knew that you were both safe and staying that way. You wouldn't know that until Thor came back to report on the ravens.

"Loki. My darling prince. You have heard the oaths twice now. You have accepted them twice now. 'My life ever before yours'," you reminded him firmly. It was easier to focus on words and talking than on just ignoring the pain.

He growled, frustrated, but his hands were still gentle as he worked, cleaning, stitching, bandaging your arms. You fought hard not to whimper in pain. He would just get more upset. "I never wanted..." he started, though he seemed at a loss for words.

You reached up with the hand he wasn't currently working on to touch his cheek. He looked at you through tears in his eyes. "I know, love," you'd had this conversation the first time you'd been injured defending him on official duty, shortly after you'd sworn the oaths the first time.