Author's note: Sorry I didn't update last night, I was super tired and did nOt have the energy. "But it's not hard to post a chapter!" I hear you cry. You are correct, I am just extremely lazy :)) Here's chapter thirteen, pls someone come up with a good name for this I'm literally open to all suggestions! Hope u enjoy <3
...
Annoyingly, you'd had training with Nat immediately after breakfast, and you were far too tired to do anything but shower and sleep after that, so you'd had to schedule your first training session with Loki (and Thor) for the morning after.
That night you had sat in front of your window and practised summoning the ball of magic to your hand again, choosing to not think about what Loki had told you about it being dangerous. Then you'd stood in front of your mirror and turned your eyes purple and then back to their normal colour, again and again until you could do it almost without it burning. You'd only been practising for about half an hour before you fell into bed, shattered, and went straight to sleep.
The next morning you got out of bed the minute you were awake, got showered and dressed and went to have breakfast on your own; it was a Saturday morning – no one usually got up this early on a Saturday morning. Except for one person.
"What is it with you being sat in here every morning? I know you don't need to sleep, but you could find something to do." you asked, startling him this time.
"Good morning to you too." Loki replied, watching as you made your daily route to the kettle, smiling at his sarcastic reply.
"Reading passes the time, and I couldn't sleep at the moment even if I wanted too: I haven't used my magic for a while." he continued.
"What's that got to do with sleeping? Is that when you need to sleep, when you've been using your magic?"
"Yes."
"So you have to recharge after you've used it?"
"Yes."
"Will it be the same for me?"
"Probably."
Huh, that explained why you'd fallen asleep so quickly last night. You made your drink, grabbed a piece of fruit for your breakfast and went and sat opposite Loki, who had returned to his book. As you ate, you thought of about twelve more questions to ask him, but decided that you probably shouldn't talk too much more in case he got annoyed. After a short while though, Loki sighed, closed the book and looked at you expectantly.
"What?" you asked.
"I can practically hear you thinking about me. Ask away." he said, putting the book on the table and leaning back, spreading his arms wide in invitation.
"You can't... actually hear me thinking though, right?" you asked in uncertainty.
"No, you're doing a brilliant job of keeping me out." he scowled, and you briefly felt a tiny pain in your temple.
"Get out." you grinned, pressing your hand to your temple, and got a smile only slightly more noticeable than the pain had been.
"What do you want to know?" he asked again. You had a million questions; you were determined not to mess this up.
"Could you use your magic when you were imprisoned on Asgard?"
"Yes, in a way."
"What does that mean?"
"I could cast illusions, small things like that, but nothing more. Otherwise I could have broken out."
"Do you miss it there? On Asgard?"
He paused before answering.
"I miss being free there."
There was the sympathy again. It was hard not to show it, you guessed that he probably hated it even more than you did.
Eventually you sat talking for at least another half an hour while you drank your drink before you were interrupted by Bruce, who gave you a funny look when he entered the room.
"Hey." you said, when he didn't speak.
"Good morning Y/N. Loki."
Loki looked up, shocked that he'd acknowledged him.
"We should probably go now, before Tony wakes up and changes his mind about letting me train." you said, standing up and stretching.
"Shouldn't you wait for Thor?" Bruce piped up from the kitchen.
"Will you tell him we've already gone down when he appears?" you asked. Bruce didn't look too pleased at the prospect of you going alone with Loki, who stood up and came to stand next to you.
"I can't use magic until Thor comes down and takes this off." Loki reminded him, holding up a hand to display the metal cuff.
Bruce nodded curtly.
"Be careful Y/N." he said.
"Will do." you replied cheerfully, following Loki, who had already left the room.
"I dislike him." Loki said, the second the elevator doors had closed.
"Thor told me about the... incident." you said, trying not to smile at the intense scowl on his face. You couldn't blame him in all honesty. You'd seen the Hulk in action, it can't have been fun to be on the receiving end of his anger.
"He acts like it didn't happen. It did happen. It hurt." he continued.
You listened to his small rant in silence, still holding back a smile.
The training rooms were empty, luckily, and you headed for the biggest one.
"I have a plan." Loki announced as you leant against the wall.
"Oh? Sounds dangerous." you smiled.
"When Thor takes this cuff off of me, I'm going to teleport away to somewhere I can use my magic properly." he started, stopping when he saw the look on your face.
"Why not here?" you asked, gesturing to the space you were in.
"It's too small in here."
To do what exactly? Is what you wanted to ask, but you didn't.
"Right. And then what?"
"Thor will throw a fit, which unfortunately I won't be present for. You'll have to enjoy that for me." he said, sounding truly disappointed. You smiled.
"And then?"
"I will return, and hopefully he won't tell Stark."
You breathed an internal sigh of relief. You hadn't been sure how the plan was going to end.
"The last part sounds a bit risky, but I'm up for that." you said, trying not to sound relieved.
"I just need to use it. Properly use it. If only for two minutes." he continued, looking wistfully out of the wall window.
"And to get out of here?" you guessed.
"Yes. That too."
You stood in silence for a moment, watching him looking out of the window.
"Where will you go?"
"Nowhere with Midgardians, that's for sure." he replied, scowling again.
You hoped that didn't mean a different planet.
"I will come back." he said suddenly, turning back to look at you.
"I know." you replied. You trusted that he would.
"So, what are we starting with? Can we do anything without your magic?" you asked, eager to get going.
"Yes, actually, we can."
For the next fifteen minutes he talked you through the inner workings of Asgardian magic and taught you an easier way to summon your magic without having to get really emotional before it happened. By the time Thor arrived your eyes were purple, and you were happy with how much progress you had made in literally a quarter of an hour and didn't feel tired yet.
"Started without me?" he asked, walking into the room with a key.
"Hang on, this isn't locked by some science or magic? It's just a key?" Loki asked, sounding outraged.
"Yes brother, just a key. Now please don't do anything foolish. Please." Thor begged as Loki held his arm out.
"Would I?" Loki said, rolling his eyes. You couldn't help but feel sorry for Thor, knowing what was about to happen. You also couldn't help but feel slightly nervous.
The lock clicked open as Thor twisted the key and took the cuff off of Loki's wrist. Loki flexed his wrist, beginning to smile.
"Loki..." Thor said, a warning in his voice. You doubted Loki even heard him. He looked at you with a full grin on his face... before vanishing into thin air.
Thor swore loudly.
You smiled and looked out of the window, wondering where he'd gone, feeling only slightly nervous that you'd just let the god of mischief loose in the world with all his powers intact. It would be fine... probably.
"Why are you smiling?! This is-" Thor trailed off as you looked at him with a knowing look on your face.
"Where is he."
"I don't know, he didn't say where he was going." you replied.
"Lady Y/N, that was foolish." Thor sighed, and you threw your hands up.
"You really think I could have stopped him if I had wanted to?"
"Yes, I do! He listens to you." Thor shot back.
"Well, I think it's good that he's getting to use his powers and get out of here for a while. He's been imprisoned for such a long time."
"And for good reason!"
You blinked, taken aback.
"I thought... don't you trust him?" you responded.
"He has betrayed me too many times before. I don't want to see you get hurt the same way." Thor said forlornly.
"Well, I trust him. For now. He'll come back." you said confidently.
Ten minutes later however, you weren't feeling so confident. You and Thor were sat side by side on the floor leaning against the wall, not talking. What would happen if Loki didn't come back? Tony, and everyone else for that matter, were going to kill you. You could always persuade Thor to tell them that you didn't know he was planning on escaping. Thor would cover your back... wouldn't he? If not, would you have to leave? You hoped not, you felt at home here for the first time in your life, and you didn't have anywhere else to go...
Right as you were about to start panicking, there was a flash of green in front of where you and Thor were sat, and Loki reappeared.
"HAH!" you exclaimed, leaping to your feet and pointing at Loki excitedly, looking triumphantly at Thor, who held his hands up and slowly got to his feet.
"You doubted me?" Loki asked, and you turned to face him, suppressing the overwhelming urge to hug him. He probably wouldn't appreciate that.
"No. I didn't." you replied, your heart thumping in your chest.
"You seem very happy to see me... brother, wait." Loki said, taking two steps back as Thor approached him with the cuff in his hand.
"I can't risk you escaping under my watch Loki..."
"I'm not going to escape! I came back didn't I? I'm stood here right now with all of my powers and I'm choosing not to leave. For some reason." Loki implored, eyeing the cuff with distain.
"How do I know you won't leave again?" Thor asked, already visibly refraining.
As Loki talked, you couldn't help but stare. You seemed to be doing that a lot lately. He looked alive. Of course, he had looked alive before, but now he looked... good. Healthy. And so much better than when he had first arrived. He looked like a prince. A god.
As he turned to you, you quickly erased the smile from your face for fear of looking like a creepy person.
"Well?" he asked, still looking right at you.
"Well what?"
"Thor asked you if you still want to train."
"Yes. Obviously." Oh no. Now you sounded desperate. The smile you received from Loki after saying that made it worth it.
"Good. Let's continue, shall we?"
Thor was looking at you suspiciously, and you decided to pull a face at him as Loki turned his back, only to receive a knowing look in return. But that didn't mean he hadn't seen you watching his brother with a smile on your face for the last minute and a half.
Great.
After about an hour of training, you felt as though you could sleep for a day, even though you had barely just woken up. Thor was channelling your energy and had fallen asleep against the wall; you were obviously very interesting to watch train.
"How are you feeling?" Loki asked, as you sat down heavily in a chair.
"So tired. Is that n-nor-" you were unable to finish your sentence as you yawned so widely tears came to your eyes.
Loki chuckled.
"Yes, I would imagine so."
"Do you think the mist will still try and protect me, even after I can use it properly?" you asked, resting your chin on the palm of your hand as Loki sat down next to you.
"I don't know. We'll find out when you're next in danger I suppose." he replied, not all that reassuringly.
That was just great, you thought to yourself. If it wouldn't protect you anymore before you could even use it properly, that would be a problem.
"Your wall is down. Around your mind." Loki said suddenly, causing you to look up sharply.
"Why? Can you...?" your tired brain struggled to form a coherent sentence. You were slightly panicking, not entirely sure you wanted Loki inside your head.
"It must be because you've exhausted your magic after that training. And- yes." he said, beginning to smile.
"Hey no! Don't." you exclaimed, sitting up and putting your hands over your head, as though that was going to do anything to help.
"Relax, I won't." he replied, still smirking.
"What are you hiding from me?"
"Nothing! I just – I'd rather not..." Why could you not string a sentence together?
"I'm not going to read your mind Y/N." he told you reassuringly.
"Thank you." you sighed, resting your head on your arms tiredly.
"You need to sleep. We should wake him up." Loki eventually said, standing up reluctantly.
You pulled a face, not wanting him to have to put the cuff back on.
"We'll train again soon. Maybe you can get out of here for a bit again too?" you suggested, slowly getting to your feet.
"Maybe." he replied, sounding more despondent than hopeful as he nudged Thor's leg with his foot.
"Wake up."
Thor grunted his way back to consciousness and stood up, apologising profusely for falling asleep and then proceeding to lock the cuff around Loki's wrist again, who didn't resist. You noticed Thor looked rather more relaxed as you all took the elevator back up to the living quarters. Loki did not.
You just about made it to your door without falling asleep and just remembered to say thank you to Loki as you turned around and collided with his chest.
"Shit. Sorry." you said, taking a step backwards only for your back to come into contact with your door.
"Are you okay?" he asked, half reaching for your arm.
"Yeah. Just need to sleep." you replied, and he nodded, taking a step back.
"Listen, thank you for helping me. I really appreciate it." you said, for some reason struggling to make eye contact at this close quarters.
"You're welcome. Thank you for letting me use my magic for a while." he replied.
"You might want to go and check that Thor's keeping his mouth shut." you advised, and Loki nodded.
"I will do that. Sleep well."
You barely made it to your bed before collapsing, fully dressed, on top of it.
You wouldn't wake up for another four hours.