I am getting hysterical, and finally he opens his eyes.
"Stop, stop...I'm awake, I swear.." he chuckles as best he can.
He stirs and groans and I help him sit up and remove the rest of his clothes down to his underwear and wrap the robe around him. I help him stand up and place his arm around my shoulder to get him to the bathroom. He pauses before he lets me help him completely undress; it's kind of funny because he is being modest about me seeing him naked. Just then there is another knock at my door.
"Damnit!" I exclaim, "Loki get in the tub, and I will be back to help you bathe...just relax"
"No you don't...need..." he says but I am already out of the door.
"When did I become so popular, no one comes to my door for how long, and now everyone needs to see me," I mumble to myself.
Opening the door, I find Cedrin standing there with a smile on his face.
"Oh Cedrin, hey..." I say and pull my satiny robe around me a little tighter.
"Hi," he says with a smile, "I wanted to see if you wanted to join me tonight, I thought we could have dinner in the village and then meet up with your friends...I will wait while you change."
He makes a move to come inside but I block the door.
"Oh Thank you, but Not tonight Cedrin, I am not really feeling great, kind of tired and my side hurts a little bit." I tell him. "I don't think I have recovered from last night."
"Oh, if your side hurts would you like me to look at it?" he says and makes a move to lift my shirt.
"NO!" I scream, "sorry, I didn't mean to say it like that, I am just a little off tonight, but I will be better tomorrow. Maybe we can meet in the great hall for breakfast?"
He eyes me as if he is trying to decide if I am telling him the truth. He leans over and kisses my cheek.
"I would be honored to meet you in the morning." He says, "Is there anything you need? I can sit with you if you don't feel well."
He says hopefully and I just shake my head.
"Thank you for offering, but I am just going to grab some more tea, and probably head to bed." I respond, " I shall see you tomorrow."
"As you wish darling...I will see you later, feel better soon." He says and leaves.
Closing the door, I cast a quick shield charm and then head back into the bathroom. Loki has managed to sink into the water so only his face is out of the water, the rest of him is covered by bubbles. He looks up and smiles at me, I motion for him to sit up so I can wash his hair. He sits in silence as I massage shampoo into his hair.
"You don't have to do this..." he says
"Hey, if it makes you feel better what can the harm be?" I say "You have a little bump on your head... can I heal it?"
"Um, you don't have to do that, " he says, but I heal it anyway.
"Why don't you let me take care of you for once..." I say and he giggles a little. "Besides you can be my practice for healing..."
I let my fingers work on his neck and his shoulders massaging some of his soreness.
"Let me know if anything hurts too much, ok?" I ask, and he just nods and puts his head down leaning slightly forward so I can reach all of his aches.
"You're very good at this..." he says barely in a whisper.
"Thank you,"
I push him forward gently so I can reach his back and work on his shoulders better. A small sob eventually escapes his lips, and I lean around to look at his face. He looks at me and I cannot help but touch his cheek.
"Hey, what's that for?"
"After all that I had said to you before and done to you; you are still gracious enough to care for me." He says, "and I do not deserve it."
"Probably not, but one argument won't end years of friendship" I smile and he returns it. "I said some terrible things to you too. After all I said to you, you still came to me for help... that means a lot to me Loki"
"Also, I am ashamed for you to see me in this condition..." he says, "but you are very good healer"
"Why don't you tell me what happened, " I say, and he eyes me suspiciously. "Come on Loki,"
"Help me out of the tub and I will tell you everything."
Handing him a towel, I conjure some underwear and pajamas for him. His torso doesn't look like he took any hits there, but his face looks terrible. He has a cut on his lip, and his wrist looks broken. I lead him back to my bed and give him some tea. Grabbing his wrist, I heal it but it does cause him some pain.
"Sorry" I say and move to his face. "That might be sore for a few days"
After healing his cuts and bruises the best that I can, but some marks will left behind. He reaches up and takes my hands in his. Sighing he looks into my eyes, sits back against the head board and then speaks.
"It was Thor."
"What?" I say, "Why would Thor do this to you?"
"Because of our fight." He sighs again "when you did not agree to go with us earlier, he assumed it had something to do with me, so he pulled me aside and demanded I tell him what happened. I told him to stay out of it, and that was when he began to pummel me. He decided that I was hiding something, and that I didn't deserve to have you as a friend, or in my life. He wanted to make me hurt like he thought you were hurt....because of me...he said that you would be better off without me, and I began to believe him."
"Loki, I have seen you fight with Thor and not walk away with a scratch, why was this different for you?"
Loki drops his head and then slowly raises his eyes to look at me.
"When he mentioned you and kept talking about whatever I must have done to hurt you, so then I started to think about what happened. I know it was my fault and all I could do was focus on you, and wanting to apologize to you .... I lost focus and could not fight back. He said that you would be better off without me in your life at all; that if you were to be with a Prince it should be him...and not me. Sometimes I think there is some truth to those words of his."
He continues to hold my hands and carefully rubs his thumbs on my hands. We hold eye contact for a while and do not say anything. Eventually I look away and break the silence.
"Loki, we were both to blame, and I am sorry it got to this point with us. " I say, " just so you know, I never said anything to Thor about our disagreement. He came to ask me to go with everyone tonight, and I say no. He did ask me if you had done anything to upset me and I told him no."
" And Loki, there is no way that I want to be with him..." I say and see Loki breathe a sigh of relief.
He makes a move to kiss me, but I back away.
"Lay down, and rest." I say, "or would you like me to take you back to your rooms?"
He shakes his head with a panic in his eyes.
"No, I .... I do not want Thor to find me..." he says.
"Do you need anything?" I ask him and he pauses for a moment.
"Could I stay here, at least for the night?"
Just then I hear the main door open and my mom calls out to me. Loki looks to me with a panic in his eyes, but thinking quickly, I do the only thing I can.
"Just a moment mom..." I yell.
"She doesn't know I'm here, does she?" Loki panics and I shake my head.
"It will be ok, trust me" I say as I touch the side of his face.
Reaching into my pocket, I pull a small vial out and rub some of the contents on my lips. Moving closer, I kiss Loki, and force his lips to remain on mine.
"What are you ....do-?...." he asks against my lips and then quickly falls asleep.
I lean him back on the pillows and cover him. Running a hand down his face, a tear falls from my cheek.
"Sleep well, my friend."
He mumbles in coherently. I leave the room and find my mom in the sitting room. She begins to tell me about her day, and everything that she and Frigga did. Once she finishes telling me about her night she turns to me and see the blood stains on my shirt.
"And how was your night, is your side bleeding again?" she asks and moves towards me.
I move away from her before I respond.
"No mom, I'm ok, this isn't my blood. It's....um...." I stop
"Mom, can I show you something?" I say, and she nods.
Leading her to my room I show her that Loki is sound asleep on my bed, flat on his back. She can see his bruises and cuts. She moves over and sits next to him on the bed, and touches his forehead.
"Oh my goodness, what happened to him?" she says and I recant the story that Loki told me.
"It does not surprise me. Thor came barreling into the grand hall looking for Loki." She says then turns back to look at him.
"He has had a few rough days lately. Did you give him a draught?" she asks and I nod. "He probably had no chance if Thor kept spewing things about you."
My mom's eyes cloud over briefly and then when they refocus she tells me that she just told Frigga to come here.
"Mom! She can't find him here!" I say. "He's going to get upset, how can I explain Loki in my bed and beaten like this...I just want to take him back to his rooms so he can rest."
My mom puts her hands on the side of my face and forces me to look at her.
"F/n....calm down, it's fine" she says, "she needs to know what Loki told you. And no one would think that you are responsible for this."
"But I am mom! The fight he and I had, if I would not have been so stubborn and just stayed until he..."
Frigga knocks on the door and my mom greets her while I wipe some tears; tears of anger, sadness, frustration and dread.
How am I supposed to explain this to her? Does she blame me for being the reason that Thor did this to her son?