Silent Cellmate

5. Growing Frustration

Loki's POV:

Ash has been living with me in this tiny cell for weeks and is still yet to say a word. I can't understand what I am doing wrong. Have I not been as kind and compassionate as I thought?

She doesn't appear to be as afraid of me anymore which does make me happy. However, I long for her to talk so that I can finally hear her story. I mean, it must be a pretty interesting tale since it is not often that a Midgardian ends up in Asgard.

It didn't take me long to figure out that she was not a member of the Aesir or Vanir races. She was gaining weight even back when she was eating half of what I consider to be a portion at each meal. Not to mention the discomfort she tries to hide when I mention her home world.

I am not sure why she is trying to hide it from me by eating far too much food and leaving herself sleep-deprived. Maybe she is scared because of the events in New York. Or maybe there is some other reason, I have no clue how long she has been in this realm.

As I watch her try and force down too much food yet again I decide that I have to say something. She's going to make herself sick pretending to be something she's not.

"Ash" I called out softly immediately gaining her full attention. I saw the slightest hint of fear flash across her eyes before she managed to hide it. "I know that you must be beyond full at this point. You don't need to eat everything they give you, stop when you feel full".

I watched as the colour drained from her face and she began to shake and hyperventilate. I rushed to her side and took her hand. "Hey it's okay, it's just too much food for you. There's no need to be upset".

Unfortunately, this did not help at all, in fact, she seemed more panicked than before. I wasn't entirely sure what to do so I just pulled her into a tight hug. She fought to escape for a minute but eventually relaxed into it and slowed her breathing.

"Ash, please tell me why you are so scared of me finding out that you are a human".

She just turned at looked into my eyes with sadness and shame. It took me a moment to grasp the fact that she believed I would hurt her or worse just because of her heritage.

"Darling, I would never harm you because of what you are or where you came from. I hold no hate towards humanity, maybe a slight distaste but that is beside the point. I enjoy your company regardless of your race and where you came from. Nothing is going to change, I have known the truth for quite some time now".

I watched as my words of reassurance sunk in and she pulled me back into another tight hug. I felt her tears fall onto my lap so I began to gently rub her back in an attempt to soothe her. I certainly did not expect to hear her whisper "I'm s..sorry".

Her voice felt like music to my ears. It was soft and delicate, I could certainly tell that she had not used it for a while. However, it made my face light up in elation that she had spoken to me at all.

She looked up at me and saw the goofy grin on my face and began to smile back at me. "You can assume as many things about me as you like as long as I get to hear more of your beautiful voice" I jested.