Summer Clouds

The Truth

A/N: Sorry it took so long- I got sidetracked researching various torture methods on Wikipedia. And then I looked up Son of Sam and Albert Fish. Oh yeah, like a over-excited hormonal teenage fan-girl, I went out and bought an Avengers poster. It's hanging precariously on my door as we speak. Damn rip-off blutac!

Quote: I set the bar, so I call the shots.

 She was sitting at her desk, sketching yet another picture of Loki, when there was a loud knock at the door. Flustered, she flipped the sketchbook over, and hurriedly moved the other filled sketchbooks out of sight, before scrambling to open her door.

'Thor,' Savannah said, 'What is it?'

'I wish to speak to you,' he said, his voice surprisingly gentle, for once.

Savannah sighed, and stepped aside, allowing Thor access. He looked around, briefly, before his eyes settled on Savannah again.

'Yes?' she said.

'It is about Loki,' Thor declared, and Savannah tried to hide the sudden change in her posture. She failed.

'What about him?' she asked, cautiously.

Cautious, because although Hope was left, it was Hope that would kill you in the end. Not Despair. Hope would build you up, and then, like an unstoppable force of nature, shake the ground underneath your very feet until you fell into a black chasm of darkness, where brutal monsters fed on your soul.

'What does Loki mean to you?' Thor says, just as cautiously.

And she didn't expect that, not from Thor. So, she does what she always does where it seems best to lie.

She tells the truth.

'When I met him, as sappy as it sounds, I wanted to tell him everything. Every little secret, all of my worries, any fears. I trusted him already, and he'd only asked me a question. It was a personal question, yes, but because of that I was used to deflecting it. But I didn't. I wanted to speak, and I wanted someone to listen. And Loki listened. And listened. And listened. He listened to me tell him things that no-one else could ever know, personal things. He listened to me telling him about the things that had gone wrong, and helped me see that some wrongs can lead to a right. He listened when I wanted someone to talk to, and when I needed someone to talk to. Even if I didn't realise, he was always listening. To me. To the girl that no-one had really cared about before. He was practically a stranger, and he had done terrible things, but when he listened, I could understand why you always forgave him. When he listened, he made me feel important. And he always listened. He heard my cries for help, hidden under layers of lies, and he heard the pain in my voice when I laughed. He saw me cry, and held me until I'd forgotten that anything else existed, but the two of us, united against a world trying to eat us alive. He saw me cry, and held me until the tears turned into smiles. He saw me cry, and held me until I felt safe. Loki made me whole. And now he's gone, and I am less than a whole, and yet I know that it is wholly my fault. Every day, this guilt burns away my insides, the knowledge that my utter uselessness was the true reason for this shitstorm. He was my sunshine, and someone took him away. And now there's a permanent dark cloud hovering over my head, pissing on my face. So, yeah, Loki means a hell of a lot to me.'

She wasn't quite sure why she'd told so much truth, but it was out of her mouth now, words dangling like flies, thickening the air. Thor nods, once, and Savannah is suprised at his understanding. But Thor is perceptive, more so than most give him credit for, and so he notices almost immediately that Savannah has not mentioned the word 'Love' once, although her eyes say it for her. Scream it, really.

'Do you care for my brother?'

'Far more than I fear is healthy, Thor.'

'Then come to Asgard with me.'

A/N: Everyone, go mock RunYouCleverBoy234, because she fancies Martin Freeman (Hobbit)

Hehehe.