𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕄𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕄𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪

39: A Sliver of Hope

I'm not givin' up, I'm not givin' up, givin' up, no, not me

Even when nobody else believes

I'm not goin' down that easily

So, don't give up on me

Don't Give Up On Me - Andy Grammer

"So besides the fact that you called me a whore," Ingvild stated with a passive-aggressive hiss. "Elizabeth heard you and thought you were talking about her?"

"I believe so, yes," Loki confirmed, his voice broken with guilt. Ingvild looked down at him with a poisonous stare, her pupils dilated with a look that said 'I'm not impressed'. Then she smacked him upside the head and Loki shrunk away, his hand covering his cheek that she'd slapped. "Hey!"

"Fix it."

"I've tried getting to her house but she cloaked it so I'm unable to enter."

"You screwed this up for yourself."

"How in Surtur's name was I supposed to know that she was listening?" Ingvild crossed her arms over her chest. Her chocolate brown eyes stared at him with unusual coldness.

"Forget about what happened! It's in the past now, there's nothing you can do to change that. You need to think about what you can do to show her that you didn't mean what you said." Loki ran a frustrated hand over his face and then through his hair. He'd tried getting to Liz so many times but failed to get past the barrier no matter what he tried. He hated to say it, but he taught her well. And it didn't help that she had his most detailed sorcerers book with her. Those spells are the strongest tricks he's ever learned, and for her to master such a complicated spell was impressive. It made his job even harder.

"It's more than obvious that she has no intention or interest in seeing me, Ingvild." He grunted when she smacked him again, this time with a knock to his bicep. Ingvild shook her head.

"You know, for such a womanizer, I thought you knew more about us."

"I really don't need this nagging right now," He said dryly as he leaned back in his loveseat in his library. She looked at him for a long while, her arms crossed over her chest as if she were a mother scolding her child. Needless to say, she wasn't all that happy that he'd been so reckless. Granted that it wasn't entirely his fault, the words still came out of his mouth. They continued to gaze at each other, their stares tense and the air between them heavy with unsaid words. Finally, Ingvild broke the silence.

"So let me get this straight," She started as she rested her head on her fingertips, a disapproving look covering her angelic facial features. "You had everything the way you needed it, had her opening up to you, talking about her past, you even kissed for Odin's sake," She looked at him with a hooded glare. "And now you've fucked up and everything is back to square one."

"Would you care to repeat the situation another time?" He sassed. "I don't believe I got the memo quite yet." The blonde woman shook her head with disbelief at her friend.

"Don't point your attitude towards me just because you're upset. I don't deserve to be lashed out at." Loki only looked away, a defiant mask covering his face as he refused to look at her. Ingvild sighed and uncrossed her arms, letting them hang at her sides.

"When you're finished protecting your ego then you're allowed to come talk to me," And with that, she walked out. Loki sighed with pent up irritation. It's been almost three days since Liz left. The rest of the Avengers team had gone home soon after as well. Not even Nat had known why Liz left so drastically, and Loki couldn't help but feel like an idiot for not being more careful. Everything happened so fast. He replayed everything that went down from the lucidly passionate evening between them to when Liz disappeared. Loki tried to think about possible moments he would be able to somehow get to her or at least weaken the spell.

Suddenly, an idea popped into his head that caused him to walk briskly to his room. Once he arrived there and stood before his vanity, he took the sheets of music from Liz's guest bedroom into his hands once again. Loki had read the lyrics over and over again, his heart swelling at how Liz had managed to tie in moments of their relationship into the song. He didn't realize that it was about him all along, and when he discovered the meaning behind the lyrics, it caused him to fall even deeper in love with her. Which made not being able to see her even more difficult. Loki licked his lips with anticipation before making his way to the piano in one of the living areas, then began practicing the piece before him. He remembered that Liz was going to be performing her new song soon. Perhaps he would be able to pull some strings in order to see her then. After all, he wasn't the God of Mischief for nothing.