Providence Of Divinity || Loki X Reader

Chapter 5

Thor was uncomfortable. He stepped awkwardly to the side as he watched you and Loki take a full twenty seconds to stare unblinkingly at one another.

When the spell at last broke, you found your feet were again willing to comply, and your fear had all but vanished. It was replaced by massive irritation; a reaction he seemed to consistently invoke. You strode the rest of the way to Loki's cell until you were standing right in front of him. "Hello, you bloody insomniac."

Loki's eyes narrowed in amusement, a grin breaking out on his face. His posture was relaxed but intent, hands clasped neatly behind his back. "Curious," he commented, his voice smooth as satin. "I was beginning to think perhaps you were dying. I can hardly feel you. A pleasant change from your incessant tide of emotional instability."

Your anger flared harder, and his grin widened. "My incessant emotional instability?" you exclaimed, nearly at a loss for words.

Loki nodded. "Of course. Do you know it's terribly difficult to remain awake when you're cosmically tied to a permanent source of exhaustion?"

"Have you ever considered," you snapped, biting off each syllable, "that it is difficult to get any sleep when you are cosmically tied to a permanent source of murderous anxiety?"

The God of Mischief shook his head innocently. "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

Realizing that he was deliberately trying to infuriate you (and succeeding), you took a deep breath and determinedly tried to get to the point of your visit. "You've seen it too, right? The dreams?"

You satisfyingly watched the amusement slide off his face. He unclasped his hands from behind himself and took a step closer to the barrier. He looked masterfully calm, but you could feel a pulse of terror from him. "How many have you seen?" Loki asked in a tone that suggested he didn't really care. Perhaps to Thor, it appeared as though he honestly didn't, but you could feel the echo of earnestness from him.

"Two," you replied. "But that was enough to get me all the way here to talk to you. I want to know for certain: are those your dreams I'm seeing, or horrifying visions of some sort?"

Though the dreams didn't look horrible, you always awoke with your heart in your throat and your lungs devoid of air.

You faintly felt the same anxiety continue to beat through Loki, but you couldn't tell if it was because he didn't like you seeing his nightmares, or because those visions scared him as much as they scared you.

His reply wasn't comforting. "Those aren't my dreams."

You chewed your lip, FBI investigative instincts trying to examine all possibilities of his statement. "What if you're lying? You are in prison. You might say anything to get out."

Loki's expression of calm calculation remained in place like a perfect mask. You would never have believed the deduction sent a burst of irritation through him if you hadn't felt it.

"If I may point out," Loki said, falsely patient, "you are able to feel what I feel. Don't you think you might be able to tell when I'm being disingenuous?"

"I don't know," you replied, trying to remain as outwardly calm as he was. "I think you're someone who is very good at lying. And, let me just toss in, I'm not exactly an expert on reading your emotions. How am I supposed to know what every tinge of anger, fear, anxiety, calm, or delight means? Those could all be your reaction to lying. In fact, now that I'm talking to you face to face, I don't know what to make of you at all. You stand there and act like a perfectly composed jackass when I can feel your confusing swarm of discomposure with perfect clarity."