Unbroken

Chapter 48

Loki was now balancing quite a lot of different things in his life at once. He was learning combat with Thor, dancing with Frigga, and was teaching himself how to get over his discomfort around people.
He tried to have time to get to everything, but by the time he was finished his training with Thor he was always pretty worn out, then he showered before going to Frigga and pretending he had enough energy for their lessons together, then he went to his room and collapsed in bed and slept for about an hour in the afternoon. When he got up he would go to lunch and try to act like he wasn't tired. After that, He tried to stay out of his room so that he could get used to being among people, but he always felt very awkward.
It had been several days since Loki had asked Frigga to help him, and every time he went for a lesson he questioned whether or not he was crazy. Ever since getting to know Trinity more he'd been interested in her, she was smart and could take control when she needed to. She somehow managed to be both gentle and aggressive at once, he remembered when they were in the garden and she made him stop overthinking things. She didn't try to coddle him and sweetly suggest that he relax more. she laid it all out the way it was and didn't hold back, she addressed his problem and told him to start working on it. But she wasn't mean either, she was straight forward, but she was kind about it.
He admired her ability to balance the two qualities perfectly. He also knew how smart she was, she was a healer, and she'd taken perfect care of him, someone who is not even the same species. She was also brave, she'd gone on that search party when none of the other healers did. He admired everything about her, and had started to feel something toward her that he didn't think he'd ever feel. For a few days he battled with himself, half of him telling him to pursue her, the other half telling him to back off. The first half won out, and now he was going to ask her before he changed his mind.
He wasn't sure where Trinity was, but his best guess was the healing room. Once he got there and entered the room he was greeted by looks of surprise, Loki was becoming good at reading faces, and their faces all said 'you again?' He knew they thought he'd come because of another injury, but they were wrong.
"I'm not hurt, I was just looking for Trinity" he told them. They all relaxed.
"She's on her break" one of them said, it was the same woman who'd interrupted them at lunch when they were eating in the gardens a couple weeks ago.
"And do you know where she takes her break?" He asked. He didn't know why she wouldn't just tell him.
"Why do you need Trinity? Any of us can tell you just as much as she can" the woman said rudely. Loki didn't quite understand her bad attitude, but he had nothing to hide so he told the truth.
"Well I want to ask her to attend the celebration with me.... so I don't think any of you can help me with that" he said. The woman still looked put off by Loki's presence.
"I'll tell her what you wanted and deliver her answer to you" the woman said, and before Loki could say anything else, she went back to doing her work. Loki was now pretty annoyed, why was she being so rude? And why wouldn't she just tell him where Trinity is?
"Excuse me, ma'am" Loki said, walking over to where the woman had gone to work. "I didn't get your name" he said. She didn't look at him, but she spoke over her shoulder.
"It's Rea" she said. Loki nodded a bit.
"Well, Rea, I appreciate your offer to send my message to Trinity, but I'd rather ask her myself, so if you could tell me where she is, I will get out of your way"
He told her. He was getting a bit annoyed with her, but he tried to hide it.
"She's in the gardens" Rea said, then walked away from him again. Loki didn't care if she was rude, he got the information he wanted, so he left the healing room and went out to the gardens.
He wasn't sure where Trinity would be, so he just started walking around looking for her. But instead of finding her, she found him.
"Loki?" She saw him in front of her and wasn't sure if she was right. He never came out here alone, he was always inside.
Loki turned around and looked pleased when he saw her.
"I was looking for you" he said when he saw how surprised she was. But his explanation made her no less intrigued.
"Why were you looking for me?" She asked. "Is something wrong?" Maybe he was sick or something.
"No, everything is fine, I just wanted to ask you a favor" he said "I was wondering if you would attend Thor's celebration with me" he said. Ever since approaching people became easier, he didn't like to beat around the bush, he got right to the point.
Trinity was quiet for a few moments, she didn't really know what to say now. Of course she wanted to say yes, but she also wanted to be smart. She was attracted to him in a more than friendly way, and she didn't know how he felt about her. Though, he was asking her, and he's not exactly extroverted, so maybe the feelings were at least slightly mutual.
"I would love to" she said, feeling happier about his invitation now that she said yes and she knew she was going to get to spend an evening with him. "That's very sweet of you to invite me, thank you" she added with a smile.
"Thank you for accepting" Loki said "I've been wanting to ask you for a while now... I very much enjoy the time we spend together" he told her, the corner of his mouth was forming a slight smirk that she found quite charming.
"I do too. You're quite the gentleman" she said. He smiled a little bit more.
"So... why doesn't that Rea woman like me?" He asked her, he'd been wondering why that woman didn't like him, and Trinity said some nice things about him so he was curious.
"Oh... just ignore her, she's.... a little bit prejudiced" she said.
"Against?" Loki didn't know what he did that she didn't like.
"frost giants" Trinity told him plainly. Of course, he should've guessed that. No one here likes Frost giants, and frankly, neither did he.
"Well... unfortunately I can't help who I was born from, but I hope she sees that I'm not like the rest of them" he said. Trinity put her hand on his arm.
"Don't worry about it, most people know that your not one of them by heart" she told him "and honestly, I think most people forget that you're not from Asgard, you obviously belong here" she added after A minute. He was glad to hear that most people saw him that way, he often felt like he stuck out and didn't belong, but apparently he was mistaken.
"I have to get back to work, I'll see you later, Loki" Trinity said as she walked past him to go back to the palace to work.
Loki felt pretty good for the rest of the day, but he did keep thinking about Rea. There must be more people who are against frost giants the way she is, and a lot of them are probably more aggressive. He hoped that he didn't end up getting in fights about it, hopefully people just ignored him at Thor's celebration. He didn't want to start anything, but he would now defend himself if someone tried to hurt him.