Redamancy

Chapter 20

Toxic
2WEI

Eloise POV

Eloise left Thor and Loki bickering in the kitchen, doubtful there wouldn't be any ice cream left by the morning. When she got to her room she found someone had left a bunch of clothes to add to her closet. She turned up her favorite Playlist on her laptop and started sorting thru things, a few things she had to try on to make sure they would fit, it seemed soon she would need to start shopping for maternity jeans soon since she doubted they were kept in stock here, there were even a few party dresses that she wasn't sure she'd would even have a place to wear but that she loved so she hung them up in her closet. A few things she stacked to return and then straightened up her room and her bed. Then she went to shower, trying to relax her nerves about the approaching night.

She hated night time, most of the times she had nightmares, of the planet where Thanos was, of running thru beautiful golden halls looking for someone but never finding anyone, and of darkness that would start in her heart and would consumed her till there was nothing left of herself. The last one was starting to concern her the most, lately she had felt a dark edge to her magic that scared her. It tempted her more than she wanted to even admit to herself.

She was glad whoever had left the clothes, had thought to leave her some pajamas, she pulled on a black silk nightie with some little shorts and a matching robe before heading back to her room. She didn't hear anything from Loki's room so she gently reached out to his thoughts to find them peacefully asleep. She hoped her night would be the same as she laid down, Bilgsnipe jumping up and joining her, snorting in her face.

"You must choose," a firm, faintly Scottish voice whispered from behind her. She gasped opening her eyes, instead of her room she was in a fantastical forest, she felt connected to it, magic flowing and beating as if it was her own heart beat. "You are waiting too long and you tread too fine a line trying to weild both light and dark mo leanbh. Soon the darkness will consume you both if you do not choose for yourself." The musical voice continued, not threatening but solid, as if guiding her. "Then no one would be able to stop you and you could destroy the world."

Suddenly she felt the darkness spreading again and a mirror appeared in front and her appearance shifted her hair turning raven black and wild, as if it had a mind of its own, her eyes grew hard and cat like, the blue draining from them, her face no longer soft but hard, she felt her magic shift demanding and corrupting, the woman in the mirror focused on Eloise and her hand shot thru the mirror and grabbed at her. She let out an anguished scream and woke to find herself no longer in bed but on the floor in the corner of her room. She felt like couldn't breath, her heart raced, she had no idea what the voice meant.

She half expected Loki to burst thru her door, he was so sensitive to her thoughts and she didn't think she had exactly been quiet in her sleep. After a few minutes as her breathing started to slow, she reached out with her thoughts, he was still asleep, without meaning to she dipped into his dream out of curiosity, she saw herself in Lokis arms, in front of him on a horse, dressed dressed in a long pale blue silk dress, a crown of flower in her loose hair, as they raced thru a field of wild flowers laughing together, his face triumphant and joyous. She quietly pulled back, hoping not to wake him.

She got dressed, in a pair of loose sweat pants and a tank top, slipping her leather jacket over her shoulders and decided to wander around and see what she could find to amuse herself at 3am. She was surprised to find Steve and another young man in the commons area in quiet conversation. She stood hesitantly at the door debating whether she could slip away without either seeing her when Steve spotted her. "Eloise," "I'm so sorry I didn't mean to interrupt." She started to turn away. "No, please join us, this is my friend, James Barnes." Steve waved her in, "Bucky, please doll, my friends call me Bucky" The stranger said by way of greeting. Eloise looked him over, he was handsome in a sort of broken way, he had strong features, soft eyes that looked like they had seen too much, his brown hair hung around his face and he had a five o clock shadow coming in, and she noticed he had a metal arm. "We were just catching up. " Steve said, as Eloise took a seat, giving both of them a smile. "What has you up at this time of night?" Bucky asked. "Nightmares. I'd rather be awake than close my eyes again. Please don't let me interrupt your catching up." Eloise pulled herself into a ball and stared at the window. Steve and Bucky exchanged several looks which Eloise decided to ignore, they returned to their quiet conversation.

Bucky kept an eye on the quiet young woman, he knew quiet a bit about not being able to escape nightmares and from what Steve had told him earlier this young woman had also been tortured which he knew how much it could still leave you fucked up. After a few hours she dozed off and Steve covered her with a blanket and went off to bed. Bucky stayed up, kept an eye on her, ready to wake her if her nightmares returned.

Loki POV

Loki knocked on Eloise's door, hoping to escort her to breakfast, he heard Bilgsnipe bark at the door but he didn't hear Eloise. He opened the door figuring that she would still be asleep in bed and he migh sneak in some cuddles before she fully woke and pushed him away. Bilgsnipe ran passed him and he saw her bed was empty the covers dragged across the floor, some black silk clothing thrown across the floor. In alarm he reached for her thoughts and found her asleep in another part of the building, commons area he thought. Worriedly, he raced off to her.

He practically ran up to her, she was curled in on herself under a blanket, he carefully checked her out not noticing the stranger sitting there watching them with careful eyes. "This your girl?" Loki spun around eyeing the stranger, "Yes, this is my wife." He said haughtily. "Steve told me a bit about her, you'd better keep a closer eye on her, she's more broken than she seems and its going to start tearing her apart soon if she doesn't get help. " He got to his feet, nodded to Loki and walked off.

Loki turned back to Eloise who had slept thru the exchange. He wasn't sure if he should wake her, she looked exhausted, purple circles under her eyes. He carefully picked her up, her head nestled against his neck. He carried her back to their rooms, he started to carry her to her own bed but given that she seemed to be having nightmares there he decided to put her in his bed with him. He slipped off her leather jacket and tucked the covers in around her on one side, he then peeled off his own clothes down to his underwear and scooted in be side her, pulling her against him, letting her rest.