Providence Of Divinity || Loki X Reader

Chapter 21

Loki found you in the kitchen, a perplexed-looking frost giant standing back while you went through and grabbed as much dry food as you could stuff into the pack you carried.

"Need help?" Loki offered; though he did enjoy watching you inspect the food with a doubtful expression, sniffing each thing before putting it with the others. The chief looked offended.

You glanced at the Asgardian, taking a whiff of a. . . piece of. . . leather? It looked editable enough. You stuffed it in the pack. "Help with what?" You asked innocently. 

"Well, first of all, I hope you don't intend to eat that pot-holder."

You took the leather back out of the pack, sniffing it again, eyebrows creased. "This is a pot-holder?"

"Indeed. May I see what else you've decided is fit for consumption?"

Defeated, you handed over the sack of food. He opened the top and shuffled through the dried-goods, taking out a seasoning packet, a soft plate, and cured (but raw) meat. It may seem dry now, but that would smell in a day or two. 

You picked up the plate, which looked like a piece of jerky. "This isn't food?"

He shook his head. "Decidedly not." Loki caught the eye of the disgruntled chief (who had been told to let you raid his kitchen), and shrugged. "kvennalið, eh? Opt freista eta platene. (Women, eh? Always trying to eat plates.)" 

You looked back and forth between the chief, who was now grinning, and Loki. "What did you just say to him?" You asked suspiciously.

Loki said immediately, "'Midgardians, eh? Never know a thing.'"

But you could feel his hidden amusement. You put your hands on your hips, smirking. "What?" Loki asked.

"I can tell when you're lying now. Wow. You said that with such a straight face, voice even, pulse low. You are an excellent liar. Tell me what you really said."

He looked vaguely alarmed. "How could you--"

"Tell? Because I can feel your emotional response, and I'm getting better at reading it. Are all the non-food items taken out of that bag?" 

Loki gave it another quick look through, then handed it back over to you, unsettled by how well you had learned to read him. "You're certain we need this much?"

"Probably not. But you haven't eaten hardly anything in since we got here, so I'm hoping to entice you with this delectable looking. . . . dried up stuff that may or may not be meat. You need to be strong if we have to kill people."

"Thank you, Mother."

"Don't even."

"Apologies. Thank you."

You patted his arm and walked out of the kitchens with him tailing behind you. Valgard's scribes seemed very disappointed to see you off without first being able to study your bond. Every one of them acted as though you would die on this errand for certain. Lot's of solemn, "Best of luck, Fulfillers," and "May you serve with Honor," or, occasionally, "If you live, we welcome you to come back here and. . . er, celebrate."

Valgard saw you off at the bridge that separated his tower from the open, and gifted you with a new cloak. He looked weary, like a man who knew every turn out of this situation would be a painful one. He put an earnest hand on your shoulder and pulled you slightly off to the side while Loki helped the guard on duty lower the drawbridge.  "Please," the frost giant king said, "if you should come to confrontation with Irina, just remember that she is doing what she thinks she has to."