Endlessly

Hilund

Loki thrives on chaos- it awakens something unlawfully beautiful in him.

In between one of his rants, his eyes catch yours and he immediately drifts to your side with a suave smile. "How are you doing?"

"I'm alright- I just wish I could understand you two."

"You truly aren't missing anything all that exciting, but perhaps I could share my gift of Allspeak with you, if Hilund thinks it's safe."

The giantess stops her work at the sound of her name. "Allspeak?" The word sounds uniquely strange coming out of her mouth. "Viltu drepa móður barnsins þíns?" She hisses.

"Erm." He turns to you again, clearing his throat. "That's a no, I'm sorry- it is a very powerful spell."

The amount of trust Loki seems to have in this unfamiliar woman causes a stir in you.

Am I jealous? No, that can't be it. It's definitely this mud making me feel odd.

"Ég verð að fara fljótlega." The giantess pulls your dress back below your knees.

"Hvað- afhverju?" Loki rolls his shoulders back, forcing himself to stand even straighter than usual.

"Vegna þín." She jabs her pointer finger into Loki's chest, nearly knocking him off balance. "Aðgerðir þínar hafa valdið miklu uppnámi. ekki hafa áhyggjur, ég kem aftur fyrir sólarupprás." She shrugs away from him, disappearing into the back of the cabin.

"Loki, what's going on? Is she mad at us?"

The side of his mouth twists upwards into a smile, as though he has no control of the expression. He takes a seat on the side of the massive chair, resting a soothing hand on your shoulder. "She's... frustrated with me. Rightly so- but I do believe she's already taken a liking to you." He strokes the side of your face, his eyes trailing off to somewhere you cannot see. "It's impossible not to like you, so there's really no surprise there." He turns his focus back to you. "She has to leave for a while, but she has assured me that you and our baby are in a stable condition. How are you feeling?"

"Confused, scared... a little excited, too." Your cheeks grow warm.

"Physically?"

"Um." You try to ignore the feeling of the back of your neck catching fire, knowing he didn't intend for his question to sound nearly as personal as you took it. You take a moment to sit upright in the chair, using the seconds as an opportunity to truly analyze how your body is feeling. "Great, actually- the best I've felt in a while." You laugh. You feel a little silly for doing so, but the fact that you're feeling as well as you are, despite your extremely bizarre surroundings and situation, is proving to be a bit difficult for you to comprehend.

The giantess emerges once again from the shadows of the cabin, dressed in a striking mulberry cropped top and skirt. The lack of fabric proudly displays her narrow curves and beautiful markings lining her blue-green skin. You hadn't noticed them before, which causes you to ponder if she's enhanced them with makeup. She runs her fingers over her hair, which is now twisted and smoothed into a low bun, before addressing Loki again. "Hún er snemma á ferðinni, því ættu ekki að vera mörg vandamál, nú þegar hún er komin á réttan stað." She looks back and forth at the two of you, as though she's still trying to convince herself that you are in her home. "Gefðu henni þetta, ef hún finnur fyrir einhverjum sársauka." She hands him a small vile.

The stone floor creaks underneath Hilund as she kneels down by your side, so that the two of you are face to face for the very first time. She is striking in a way that is difficult to comprehend, wildly intimidating, and beautiful. Carefully reaching out to you, she places a massive hand on your swollen belly, whispering the word "dróttning." Before rising back to her full height, and stepping out the door.

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Loki spends the next twenty minutes or so rummaging through the cabin, opening up random canisters and scowling at the contents. You can't help but giggle to yourself when he occasionally sniffs at one of them, which always results in the same reaction from him; a wrinkled nose, accompanied by a look of disgust. "I'm going to go find us something to eat." He looks up from the final canister, his scowl softening as he gazes at you. "Will you be alright?"

"You're going to leave? For how long?" You definitely sound more panicked than you'd prefer.

"An hour at most. I promise to return as quickly as possible. You need to eat something..." He sets the container in his hand down onto the counter, making a bit of a show of shoving it away with a single finger. "Nutritious."

"I could come-"

You're not even a little surprised when he cuts you off. "It's far too cold out there for you. I should've thought to get you some more suitable clothing..." His words trail off as he glares into the distance.

"We didn't exactly take the time to pack." You smirk, making a purposeful attempt to distract him from blaming himself for yet another thing; a quirk of his that hadn't taken you any time at all to notice he does exceedingly often.

"Indeed." He smiles, taking a seat by your side once again. "Another thing we'll get sorted in the morning." He takes hold of your hand, tracing his thumb over your knuckles, seemingly lost in thought. "Thank you."

You tip your head to the side, confused by his sudden acknowledgment, therefore unsure how to respond.

"For coming back. For telling me about our baby."

"It was the right thing to do." The words leave your mouth before you'd taken time to consider them. You've been gearing up for this moment in your mind for so long and you have so much more to say, so much more that needs to be said, that you mentally kick yourself for hesitating for even a moment to do so.

"Not many people in my life have been overly concerned with doing the right thing." He scowls down at your hands.

"I wanted to- it was a selfish act." Okay, slow down there, Shakespeare. You begin to ramble, forcing yourself to continue on, grappling toward a point. "What I mean to say is-"

"I love you, Gersemi." His eyes meet yours with a brand-new kind of intensity; tears, like emeralds, glistening in them against the firelight. "You hurt me- more than I've allowed any other person who's betrayed me to hurt me before." He swallows roughly. "I'm not sure if I'm more furious over your betrayal, or the fact that I had absolutely no control over how horrifically it devastated me."

"Loki-"

"I will return soon with food." He lurches up from the side of the chair, lanky and ridged, storming to the door without looking you in the eyes again.

The glacial wind howls through the cabin like a wild beast with a consciousness of its own before the door slams shut again. A single, gut-wrenching sob forces its way out of you. It's one you've been holding back not just for the past moments, but for the past weeks. "I love you, too."

You roll over in the chair, tucking yourself and your sorrows against the armrest, eventually drifting off to sleep.