He was looking deeply and intensely into my eyes making me nervous in a good way. I was entranced with his eyes that I didn't even notice when we leaned in and then... I realized what was happening. Blinking, I snapped out of the trance and leaned back, coughing.
I laughed nervously. "Oh, Um... you are truly breathtaking too," I said, exaggerating to make it sound like I was joking.
He stared at me for what seemed like forever. Then he blinked slowly with a soft smile. "I know," he said with a grin. I laughed and the tension slowly dissipated.
-------
After the almost-kiss incident, I couldn't stop thinking about him. We acted mostly normal. Nothing had changed, and that was a relief, but in a way, I couldn't help to feel a little disappointed.
Do I like him? Or was it just a heat-of-the-moment type of thing?
Does he Like me? I groaned, frustrated, and decided not to think about this right now, so I went to my room and turned in for the night.
-----
"So, after the meeting you have with your father, are we leaving?" I asked as Loki and I walked through the gardens.
"That's what I said, isn't it?". replied Loki, irritated. I rolled my eyes and decided to ignore his answer.
"Yes, but we've only been here for three days. I thought we'd be staying longer. That's all," I said, crossing my arms. Loki just hummed, and we walked on, in awkward silence,
Loki sighed and stopped walking. Turning to me and gently taking me by the hand, he said." Forgive my attitude, darling, but these meetings always put me in a foul mood." said Loki, stroking my knuckles with his thumb. I opted to ignore the tingle his action gave me and responded by sighing heavily. "I noticed. " I said, shooting him a knowing look.
He tried to change the subject of the conversation. "Are you going to Eir today?" He asked as we resumed walking.
I smiled at him, not wanting to force any conversation about his father just yet. "Yeah, she's been teaching me healer stuff and such," I said with a small laugh and then added, "And I've been helping her with whatever she needs," I said proudly.
He looked at me tenderly. "So I've heard" The corners of his mouth turn up. "You practically live there." He joked.
I let out a shy chuckle. "Yeah, I think Eir and the other healers are getting sick of me." He shook his head, amused. "And how's it going?" asked Loki.
I glared at him. "What, the Eir...." I started, and he nodded. "Oh, well, I guess," I averted my gaze from him. "Well, I probably won't learn much, since I won't stay long enough to practice and learn more deeply. However, I'm glad to have helped, if only a little."
" Eir told me that half of the wounded..."
"They have already been discharged, I know..." But I still felt distressed by... as if reading my mind, he says. "You've done everything you could, dear. Stop blaming yourself." He said, touching my arm gently.
And now it was my turn to change the subject." Well, when do you have to meet Odin?" I said, avoiding his eyes.
He stuck his tongue in his cheek and I narrowed my eyes, daring him to speak. He sighed heavily, relenting, but his look told me he wasn't going to let go completely.
He smirked, his expression changing in less than a second, something about his capableness of switching emotion as if nothing was very intriguing.
"That meeting started about fifteen minutes ago. " He said nonchalantly
I raised an unimpressed eyebrow and rolled my eyes. "So, what are you still doing here?"
He smiled cheekily and took a step closer to me. "Don't act like you don't enjoy spending time with me." He said, and I took a step back with wide eyes. Speechless, I opened my mouth and closed it, feeling flustered.
Loki seem to have taken notice of this as he said "Are you blushing?" with affection in his eyes and a small grin that stunned me. I stared into his eyes for what seemed like an eternity, not wanting to look away. I shook my head. Still stunned, I said, "You should go to your meeting."
He said nothing, just nodded as if in a trance. "I should." He said, his eyes still glued to mine.
"Yes," I said, looking away from his eyes, trying to get out of the haze.
"Yes," I coughed, "You should go. " I said more firmly
"No."
I furrowed my eyebrows. "No?"
"You heard me right NO," he said crossing his arms with a small smirk.
I snorted. "Why are you so stubborn?"
He smiled. "It's nature."
I rolled my eyes, unamused.
Loki sighed. "Fineeeee, you're no fun, dear."
I chuckled. "Go away, Loki," I said, shoving him.
He laughed and walked away. Later in the day, he came back in a bad mood as predicted, but moving on from that, he was now taking me horseback riding. Everything was going smoothly until Thor showed up. "Brother!" He said, approaching us with quick steps, then looked at me, beaming. "Milady!" Then he gasped, looking from me to his brother. "How fortuitous that I found you." He said, feigning surprise. But it sounded too exaggerated to be real. Then he suggested that since fate wanted our paths to meet, he should join us on our journey. Needless to say, Loki was adamant. Until his brother started taunting him that he didn't want him there because he wanted to spend time alone with me, to which, at first, Loki was stone-faced, but then Thor started shouting.
"Is it true, brother?" Thor said loudly, drawing the attention of some people walking near us. Loki looked at his brother in confusion. Thor smiled and continued his charade. "I can't believe you're courting Lady Yn!" Thor said even louder than before. Lokis and I's eyes widened, and that comment seemed to pique the interest of the people nearby. I arched an eyebrow at the scene unfolding in front of me, curious to see where it was all going.
"What are you doing, you moron!" Loki whispered- yelled.
Thor grinned, "May I join you and Lady Yn?" Lokis eyes narrowed in a hostile look and he took a step closer to Thor. I stepped between them and pushed them gently. Thor backed up a step easily, but Loki stood his ground. "Okay, let's calm down," I said, starting to get angry at the silly fight that was about to ensue.
"He's not coming with us," Loki said, his temper flaring.
I sighed, rubbing my eyes. "Let's go with him, it'll be easier anyway, we all have to get to bifrost."