Loki X Reader || Girl With The Gold Earring

20 | Into The Night

After having stared at The Casket Of Ancient Winters for some time, Y/N, Loki and Sigrid had realised they don't really know what to do with it.

Stood around the table thoughtfully, they had speculated about whether it needs to be kept cold and should therefore be placed in the ice box amongst the cuts of meat—

—but Sigrid had observed it has managed to stay cold since they removed it from its underground chamber, so perhaps it makes its own cold.

Eventually, it was decided they would hide the Casket in Y/N and Loki's borrowed room, wrapped in a blanket to keep it cool and out of sight of the children.

However, sometime after a dinner of vegetables and chicken, Addie had come across it whilst searching for one of Wolfy's toys, the blue glow seeping out of the blanket's stitching enticing her to pull the fabric aside.

She'd stumbled into the living room, almost toppling over with its weight and questions, so Loki had had to tell his story again—although this time to a much more captive audience.

The children were very impressed, especially at the part where Loki demonstrated the Casket's power by turning his right-hand blue. Encouraged by their oos and aahs, he hadn't pulled away this time, allowing the natural hue of his skin to join the growing gap in his mother's spell, the magic melting away like thawing snow exposing a mountainside.

Addie had clapped her chubby hands in delight, thinking it to be some kind of magic trick, and the older children had touched a finger to the cool surface to try and turn themselves blue—their faces falling at their lack of success.

When Arne arrived home that evening, The Casket Of Ancient Winters had been stowed away once more—to many disappointed whines from the girls—hidden in the one place they are least likely to look: the vegetable shelf in the pantry.

So far The Casket's presence has had no effects on anyone, adverse or otherwise—besides keeping the cauliflowers pleasantly crisp. Arne, weary of its powers, had bolted the pantry door with a broom handle all the same. The only person The Casket has had any sort of impact on is Loki, who—since its arrival—has turned pensive and broody.

Returning from the washroom that night, Y/N finds her prince already under the covers of their makeshift bed, his green eyes turned expressionlessly to the window.

Outside, black against the sky, the trees tap the window pane, his thoughts seemingly tangled in their branches.

Quietly, Y/N closes the curtains, the wax stick's sweet scent mingling with the evening's light breeze. In her nightgown, she joins Loki on the bed, propping herself up over him on one elbow. Tenderly, she takes the side of his face, rubbing her thumb over the bone of his jaw.

"You're worried."

Loki hums noncommittally. "I was thinking, what if we stay here for a little longer?" He turns his head on the pillow to meet her eyes, his hair like black ink scribbled over the cotton. "Or we could go to your parent's house first? I'd love to meet them."

Y/N frowns apologetically. "You know they'd turn you in. They love the royal family more than they love me!"

"I am the royal family!"

A smile twitching her lip, she nudges his side. "You know what I mean. Why are you putting off going to Jötenheimm?" Flashing him a teasing smile. "Are you scared?"

Loki holds her gaze earnestly, his eyes a sober emerald. "Yes. Aren't you? Seeing the Casket earlier turned silly fictional dreams into stone. Every time I think of what we have to do...I feel as if I am expected to leap over some vast precipice."