The next morning Loki woke up with heavy thoughts. The dreams he had had the night before didn’t help alter his mood. What could they possibly mean? He was not one for killing others in cold blood, or at all for that matter. He wasn’t a monster. Was he? After dwelling on the images of his vision and the nightmares, Loki just shook his head. He was being ridiculous. He wasn’t going to worry about last night’s vision. He was probably just tired. Sometimes his mind played games on him: it was just one of those moments. Besides, if he was a frost giant then Father would have surely told him. It wouldn’t be something that he just kept to himself. Loki took a deep breath and smiled slightly before getting changed into his armour. Today they would be training in the weapon arena. He needed to make sure his body was covered.
He made his way down to the arena. Today he was sure that he would beat his brother’s record. It was a running competition between them both. Whenever someone received a jab or a hit in a five minute match, their opponent received points and so far Thor had the record by two points. Loki entered the arena and noticed his father in the stands. Odin exchanged glances with Loki and Loki nodded back to reassure him that he was okay. Odin gave him a small smile and focussed on the rest of the warriors. Meanwhile Loki scanned the rest of the arena. He noticed Thor at the other edge of the arena talking to some woman that Loki didn’t recognise. She wasn’t a warrior and yet she was wearing armour. Loki decided to walk towards Thor so he could get a closer look at the mystery contender. As he reached his brother, Thor noticed his arrival.
“Ah dear brother I see you have arrived ready to be beaten this time.” Loki did a short laugh and retaliated instantly
“No brother, I am simply here to see the look on your face when my record beats yours….again. Oh and I’m here to see you fall on your ass.” He said playfully. Thor laughed heartily
“Then this shall be a good fight. I’m looking forward to it.” Thor slapped his hand onto Loki’s shoulder before walking off to join his friends. Loki shook his head and laughed to himself. Looking up he noticed the mysterious woman now standing all by herself. Loki walked up to her and managed to catch her attention
“Hello. I didn’t realise that we had anyone new joining us in practice. Would you like me to introduce to the warriors? I can tell you the game rules but I must warn you that………wait…… my lady is that you?” Loki stopped in shock. Laila giggled before composing herself and putting on an act
“Hello fellow warrior. My name is Laila and I will smash you into the ground!” She said in a deep, manly voice. Then, unable to hold her act any longer, she laughed again “Hello Master Loki, I was wondering when you would notice.” Loki realised that he was still staring at her
"Hmm. Yes. Sorry my lady I didn’t recognise you at all. That was awfully rude of me. I wasn’t expecting you to join us today.” Laila smiled playfully
“Yes well you did invite me here. Don’t you remember?” She pointed out. Loki replayed last night’s events in his head. He vaguely remembered talking about it with her, but she must have taken it the wrong way.
“Yes my lady, sorry, it’s just that the invite wasn’t actually meant for you to fight. I didn’t think –” Laila cut him off
“You didn’t think I would fight because I’m a woman. Is that it?” Loki blushed slightly
“I’m sorry my lady, please I did not mean to offend your femininity in anyway. That was completely foolish of me. We’ve never had a woman warrior before except for Lady Sif so I thought that you’d just be watching. Not that I thought you weren’t boring my lady….. oh dear….. ummm” Laila laughed at Loki’s inability to get out the theoretical hole he was digging.
“Listen, I’m going to stop you there before you really do make a fool of yourself, and please, call me Laila. I find the whole ‘my lady’ thing very old fashioned and silly.” She stated.
“Okay I’ll call you Laila but only if you stop calling me ‘Master Loki’. I’m not superior to you so I don’t need a name that suggests so. Deal?” Loki stared at Laila, his eyes dancing. Laila laughed and stuck out her hand
“Deal.” She said. Loki shook her hand before they both burst into fits of laughter. Laila then posed a challenge to the young prince
“Tell you what, I bet I can beat you in a five minute duel.” Loki laughed heartily
“I doubt that very highly.” He looked Laila up and down. She seemed determined and strong; a decent fight. “Hmm. You’re on” Loki said before breaking into a huge smile. Laila smiled back. Odin noticed the pair talking and smiled to himself. He was hoping that Laila would be the right woman for his second son. Of course he hadn’t said that but judging by the looks on each of their faces, things were going well. He called all the warriors into the centre to begin the days training.
“Welcome warriors to the weapon arena!” They all cheered apart from Loki and Laila who both grinned instead. Odin waited for hush before continuing “As usual you shall all be split into pairs and fight in a five minute duel. After each duel the winner will go on to the next duel and so on and so forth until we have a champion.” He turned to Laila “Now, Laila since you are new to this I will let you choose your opponent first.” Laila pretended to scan the crowd before looking back at Odin
“If it’s not too much trouble, my king I would like to fight your son.” She declared. Everyone gasped. Thor stepped forward
“My lady it would be an honour to fight you but I think that I’m a little too-” Laila realised her mistake and instantly interrupted
“Oh no sorry Thor I didn’t mean you. I meant Loki.” She blushed with embarrassment. Odin regained his smile
“Okay then Loki, you shall be Laila’s opponent.” Loki bowed his head and the group scattered to the outsides of the arena. Laila and Loki began getting ready. Just as Loki was about to go back into the centre, he heard his brother call out
“Come on Loki, it’s such a beautiful day. You don’t really think you’ll need that much protection against a woman do you?” Loki shrugged
“I guess not.” He returned to his corner and took off his armour and his undershirt. His bare chest shone under the Asgard sun, his well-toned muscles protruding through his skin. Then he walked back into the centre of the circle. Laila looked at Loki as he re-entered the arena, and was pleasantly surprised. She had never noticed how muscular Loki was. He was rather attractive actually.
“Wow, you clean up nice.” She said teasingly. Loki instantly blushed at the compliment
“Thanks.” He said. They both took their positions and stared each other in the eye. Loki laughed to himself. He was so ready for this. He was going to beat her and then he was going to beat Thor. He regained his focus just as Odin began counting down
“Three…two…” He began. Laila whispered to Loki
“Your shoelace is untied.” She said. Loki looked down at his shoe and realised his mistake. He didn’t have laces. He had been tricked. He looked up to see Laila about to take a swing at him, confirming his mistake. He just managed to swing out the way in time, feeling the draught of the powerful swing on his back as he turned again to face Laila. He would be ready this time. The sword which he was carrying was poised and ready to take any blow. Laila ran towards him again and swung her ball and chain towards Loki’s chest. Loki put his sword in front of the target area and felt it being ripped away as the chain wrapped around it and tore it from his hands. He flinched as he felt the tip of the sword accidentally catch his shoulder as it left his grip, leaving a bloody gash. Blood began to escape from the wound rapidly. He was in trouble now . He glanced up at Laila who was untangling his sword from her weapon. She caught his eye and smiled smugly, then she handed Loki his sword back and took her position again. She ran towards him with her ball and chain swinging at her side. Loki waited until the right moment before he ducked underneath Laila and swung his legs underneath hers. As Laila toppled to the floor, Loki expertly landed back on his feet and pointed his sword at Laila’s chest.
“Give up?” Loki asked smugly. Laila looked him in the eye, her chest heaving with each breath she took. Loki expected her to give up. There was no way she could get out of this. Laila continued to stare at him when a huge smile broke on her face
"Nope.” She said simply before trapping Loki’s hands between both of her feet. Loki, who was not expecting this, dropped his sword from his weakened grip. Laila then proceeded to thrust both of her legs into Loki’s chest which sent Loki flying backward and landing heavily onto the dusty floor of the arena. Loki spluttered and coughed as he dragged himself back up. Laila didn’t give him long to recover. Running at full speed, she went for Loki’s back as a final blow. It would knock him down but not hurt him too much…hopefully. About a metre away she realised something odd. Loki wasn’t turning around. He was standing and had no injuries but he was just standing still. Laila put the thought out of her mind. He was probably catching his breath, making him a perfect target. She tightened her grip on the ball and chain and prepared to strike. As she closed the gap between them she felt her left hand suddenly go extremely cold. She looked at her hand and found, with great astonishment that her ball and chain had turned into a huge block of ice! Looking just ahead she noticed Loki, who had now turned around, with his hands outstretched and as she got closer to him she felt the cold air shooting out of them. So it was Loki who had turned her weapon to ice ! Well it would be no good now. Dropping her weapon, Laila prepared to fight Loki with her bare hands. She leaped into the air. Loki had stopped freezing the weapon and directed his attention to Laila who was about to land right on top of him. As Laila crashed into Loki’s body, they both tumbled to the floor and rolled for a few meters before finally coming to a stop near the centre of the arena. They both lay there, with their chests heaving and their bodies covered in dust and dirt.
“You are such a cheater.” Laila said jokingly. Loki did a short laugh with the little breath he had
“Sorry. Force of habit.” He said innocently. He then got up and put his hand out to Laila who took it and heaved herself up. At that precise moment the bell went signalling the end of the duel . Odin glanced at the two warriors in the centre with pride.
“That was a magnificent duel. One of the best I have seen but I am going to have to announce that the winner of the duel is……… Laila.” The spectators cheered and Laila smiled broadly. Loki turned towards Laila and bowed before shaking her hands and returning to his corner where he cleaned himself off. He didn’t mind losing; it had been a great match and he was pleasantly surprised at his new opponent.
***
Loki didn’t mind being the first out as fighting was never his strong point. Watching the rest of the matches was great fun anyway. He was able to sort the weak from the strong and mentally make notes on where the warriors made mistakes. He laughed just as Hogun fell to the floor after being beaten by Lady Sif. Laila had done quite well too. She had managed to get past three other warriors before being knocked out. Loki supported her all the way, even against fellow warrior pals. Taking a bracelet out of his trouser pocket, he began to play with the charms in his hands. They were small yellow and green charms on a chain made of Asgardian gold. He had had it made especially for Laila when she’d arrived. He was hoping to give it to her after training. Just as Loki shifted his thoughts to Laila, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning round he was greeted by a smiling, and slightly dirty Laila. Loki couldn’t help himself. A smirk formed at the corners of his mouth at the sight of her. Laila raised her eyebrow in amusement
“Something funny prince?” She asked sarcastically. Loki sniggered and shook his head
“Not at all princess.” He replied with a similar tone. Laila chuckled
“Good.” She said nodding. Comfortable silence filled the next few minutes before either of them spoke again. Loki cleared his throat.
“You did great in the um...in the arena today; really well. You’re a great warrior; almost as good as me.” He said, stammering slightly. Laila smiled
“This isn’t your way of chatting up a woman is it?” She said, half laughing. Loki felt his face flush.
“N...No of course not. I was just complimenting you on your skill, that’s all.” He admitted. “And...and I wanted to give you this. It’s just something I had made for you. It’s a sort of thank you for listening to me the other night. Plus I thought you might want something pretty after everything you had was destroyed.” Loki offered her the bracelet. Laila stared at the bracelet for a while before gingerly taking it from Loki’s palm.
“Loki I-. I don’t know what to say! It’s beautiful! Thank you so much!” She exclaimed with excitement. Loki smiled warmly
“It’s my pleasure. I’m glad you like it. Would you like me to put it on your wrist? Unless you want to do it yourself.” He suggested. Laila nodded, still in awe of the bracelet. She had never seen something so beautiful. Loki swiftly clipped the bracelet around her wrist. Laila stared at Loki the whole time. Coming to that realisation last night made her notice a lot of interesting and beautiful things about him that she hadn’t noticed before. Like how his eyes danced when he smiled or that he always fiddled with his hands when he was nervous. Loki noticed that Laila hadn’t moved her hand from where she had been holding it out. Glancing up at her, he locked contact. Her eyes were so bright and full of compassion. He smiled at her and shook his head before pulling away and leaning against the edge of the arena. He couldn’t grow too close to her. It would never work. She would never like him back. Laila felt herself blush as Loki pulled away. She had wanted that moment to last forever. Instead she leant next to him.
“How’s the shoulder?” She asked sympathetically. Loki shrugged.
“It’ll heal; I’ll live.” He said, giving a playful smile. Laila nodded, still feeling guilty.
“I’m really sorry about that. I wasn’t meant to hurt you. I’d never want to hurt you. Promise you’ll see a nurse about it. I don’t want it getting infected and falling off. ” She spoke quietly; hoping it wouldn’t give too much away. She flashed a look at Loki who had now turned to face her.
“Laila I know it was an accident. Believe me, Thor has given me worse and he doesn’t even apologise for it so don’t worry about it okay? But if it makes you feel better then yes, I’ll go and see the nurse.” he reassured, looking deeply into her eyes. Laila nodded quickly, hoping he would look away before she passed out. This was too much. She couldn’t keep herself from looking at him; at his defined jaw and emerald-green eyes and Cheshire-cat smile. He was glorious. He was perfect.
He was asking her a question.
“Laila? Laila, you okay? Are you with us?” He asked with a bemused expression. Laila shook her head and blushed furiously.
“Sorry. Uh...sorry what were you saying?” she said, trying to keep herself composed. Loki laughed heartily, a noise that made Laila’s heart stop for a moment.
“Ehehe that's okay. I was just asking if you were attending the feast tonight.” He repeated. Laila grinned.
“Wouldn’t miss it.” She replied. Suddenly the memory of the night before flashed into Laila’s head. The noise of Loki’s screams jolting her awake; the images of him having a nightmare. She had to bring it up. She only wanted to help him.
“Loki I...um. Can I talk to you about last night?” She pressed, trying not to give too much away. She noticed Loki tense and instantly regretted her decision.
“What about it?” He said with no emotion. Laila chose her next words carefully.
“Well...erm...I heard....I heard screaming. A scream so loud, that it woke me up; they were screams of terror. Your screams Loki.” She said gently. Loki slumped his shoulders. Laila noticed a tired expression come over Loki’s face. He sighed slightly.
“You’re not wrong. Yes they were my screams but it’s nothing you need to worry yourself with Laila. It was just a nightmare. Trust me.” He said dejectedly. Laila gave him a supportive smile before slowly linking her hand with his. Loki instantly looked down at the two hands intertwined but did not try and move his away.
“You can tell me you know. I mean you don’t have to, but you can if you want. I only want to help Loki. I’m not here to poke and pry and make jokes. I mean, I’m not like a therapist or anything but I can be here as a friend if you’d like.” She gestured kindly, seeing the familiar lines of worry returning to Loki’s flawless face.
“I appreciate that Laila, I really do but...but even I’m not sure what happened last night so expecting someone else to understand is very unlikely. But thank you.” He said appreciatively, squeezing her hand as a way to show his thanks. Laila smiled warmly.
“Any time. Now if I were you, I would get that shoulder checked. We can’t have a one-armed prince attending the feast can we?” She joked. Loki relaxed and chuckled softly before giving her a mocking salute.
“Yes Ma’am.” He said quickly before striding off back towards the palace. Laila shook her head at him and laughed under her breath before returning her attention back to training.