365 Days with You

Embrace

I woke to my face being pressed against something smooth and pine scented. Leather.

Wait. Leather?

I crained my neck to find Loki's sleeping face resting near mine. His arms wrapped securely around my waist. My face was pressed gently into his chest and my legs where tangled in his.

This wasn't unusual. Although neither of us preferred it, it was one hundred times better than trembling all throughout the night due to the freezing floor.

He began to stir and pulled me impossibly closer, crushing my hand between his stomach and my ribs.

I grunted and tried to wriggle myself out of his grip. Which was way too tight. There was no way I was freeing myself.

His eyes snapped open and he looked around before glancing down at me. Once he realized the position we were in, he immediately let go and pushed me away in disgust. His face twisted into an appalled expression. The kind you would make if you saw a rat.

He made a "hmpf" sound and pushed the hair out of his face before rolling to the opposite side. Soon, I heard his soft snoring.

He is a much more likable person when he is asleep.

I curled into a ball and rested my head on the cold marble floor. Shivers rolling down my spine. It was very early, maybe around 4:00am.

Guards don't start patrolling until 5:00am and they don't give us breakfast until 9:00am, lunch at noon, and dinner at 5:00pm, then they stop patrolling at 9:00pm.

This was how I kept track of time now, and it was the only thing keeping me relatively sane.

I shivered again and longed for the the feeling of Loki's warm arms to be wrapped around me again.

I felt my heart lurch and my stomach churn with home sickness. I missed my family. I missed everything. The comforts of home. My friends. My own, warm bed. Oh how I missed my silky sheets and duvet and my pillows that felt like clouds and my thousands of nicknacks that littered my wall and shelves. And my stuffed animals and my own bathroom.

Oh god and my own bathroom, now all I get is a pail.

Ohhh and food. Good food. Not this god awful sludge they feed us now.

Suddenly, Loki pulled me from my thoughts.

"L...Loki? Are you alright?" I whispered.

He twitched, his head jerking suddenly to the side as his eyes squeezed tightly.

"S-stop..." He pleaded, his head twitching violently to the other side. I scooted closer to him. "Stop! Please!" He cried out and then winced in pain, recoiled, and curled into a ball.

Sweat drenched his forehead and his hair stuck to his neck and face. I cupped his cold face in my hands. His trembling subsided slightly.

"Loki ... Loki wake up." I uttered, shaking him slighty. He groaned and then visibly winced. "Loki." I said a bit louder and shook his shoulders. "Wake up" I commanded, shaking him harder.

His bright green eyes flew open and he sat up. His irises darting around the room. He was gasping for air, as if he had just emerged from a swimming pool. He gulped hard, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Loki its okay." I cooed, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. He continued to breathe heavily as his eyes scanned the room, as if looking for any sign of danger.

"Its okay, its okay Loki it was just a dream, you're okay," I assured. He nodded slowly.

Vision of clutching him like this while we were tortured flashed across my eyes. While the whip slashes on his back bled through the night. While the burns and brands sizzled until morning. While the chains dug into our skin and reopened long forgotten wounds.