Green sunrise | Loki fanfiction

Part 3: Flying sparks

Loki gets up slowly.
I take a step back. "I am so sorry", I whisper, still staring at him in shock. "Are you okay?"
He breaths heavily and his eyes glimmer with something that I can't really identify. Loki is partly angry, I can see that in the way his eyes become darker, but there is also something else. Approval?
"Well done", he says, but his voice is dangerously low. Then he examines me and looks more upbeat, for the first time Loki seems to have forgotten the frustration about the Avengers. "Really, it is a good start. Try to keep the magic in the air and make different shapes. And then ..." He smirks devilishly. "You know that next time I have to fight back."
"W-what?", I ask with a high voice.
Loki smiles again and says nothing. He rises his arms and green magic begins to flow around him. It glitters and glows beautifully, I can't help but admire how pretty it is and how much he has it under control.
I watch a few seconds in awe, then Loki looks at me.
"Don't you want to prepare before I strike?"
I freeze and lift my hands, desperatly trying to get my powers to work. Uncontrolled sparks fly around, I look like a sparkler with slack joint.
"Calm down", Loki says softly and stands still, waiting. "Make the shapes and I will choose my moment."
A bit of relieve flies through me. At least he gives me time. I frown and try again. The yellow sparkles are coming back, forming glowing magic. I concentrate and think about a shape.
Slowly and wobbly, the magic forms a ball. It levitates like a little sun between my hands. I look up with a beaming smile just to catch a look of Loki walking towards me, his green magic swishing around like a big light cloth.
I squeak and take a step back, but with him smiling in a prankish way the atmosphere is more playful than tensed up. My magic ball seems to deflate, and I concentrate quickly. While I am still walking back, I throw it in Loki's direction.
He leaps aside much faster than I expected and uses the same speed to jump over to me. His magic comes from above and rains down on me, but my yellow magic forms a saving net over my head. The green sparks collide with mine with a loud plop like the opening of a champagner bottle. Both magics disappear.
But that isn't the end of the fight. I stare at my hands wondering how I did the net and catch him moving from the corner of my eye. Suddenly, he has two daggers in his hands. I know I wouldn't be fast enough with magic and I turn around and run away. He laughs, runs after me and catches me in a corner.
I look at him and take a step to the left, but he also does that. Loki really seems to have fun, he grins and as I take a step to the right, he repeats it again. As he comes closer, I try to dodge him and escape under his left arm. He chuckles and wraps his arms around me, I screech and struggle. I manage to make us fall, and we end up on the ground. I breathe heavily under him while he holds me down in a fighter position. He grins and lowers the dagger on my throat, but just as it should pierce the skin, it disappears with a green shimmer.
"Illusions, dear", he smirks.
Relieved I put my head down and gasp for air. Then I lift my head again and whisper: "Could you ... I mean ..." I motion to his arm on my upper body which is pressing on my lungs.
He looks down. "Oh. Sure." Then he gets up.
I groan and follow. "Is that always so exhausting?"
"Exhausting?" Loki laughs. "We didn't even start." Then a mischievous expression sneaks onto his face. "Or Madame (y/n) Fainty wants to take a break to relax and dab her beautiful face."
I open my mouth in indignation. "Never!"
He snickers and gets in his fighting position again. "Then let's start the next round."
We train for the whole afternoon. Loki's hair gets messier with every round and I get sweatier, I have to admit his exhaustion looks prettier than mine. When I comment on that he rolls his eyes again. But the bitterness from the beginning is gone for at least these few hours. In the middle we have a break to drink something and at 6 pm, Tony comes in to announce dinner. As soon as he sees him, Loki gets quieter and the playful glimmer in his eyes disappears. I try to make him happy but he responds almost as ill-humored as to the start of our lesson. Then we follow Tony downstairs.