The Girl With Bad Luck

Distractions

"Hey, Loki?" Persephone questioned as she sat on Loki's shoulder reading her new book Loki had retrieved for her. It had been a couple of days since she had forgiven Loki and their friendship was as strong as it had ever been. Loki started speaking to her about his emotions when they were too much to handle or when he even felt the slightest bit of anger or sadness. Persephone had become less frightful of his gigantic movements and let him comfort her when he had nightmares. But she had yet to tell him of the incident that had saved her life when she had been at the mercy of the rats.

"Yes, little one?" Loki had his eyes trained on his book, not prepared for the big statement she was about to make.

"I need to tell you something." She felt his shoulder stiffen underneath her which sent panic through her entire being. Replacing her confidence with anxiety. Then his hand greeted her, pinching her waist and holding her captive with his green eyes. Her legs dangled over his lap awaiting her if she should fall, but still feeling anxious with all the different sensations she felt.

"U-uh Loki." Persephone squeaked. She watched his eyes narrow in confusion then widen in the realization of his scary-to-her actions. Without another word from her he cupped her in a palm ferrying her to the table they usually ate at together. He layed his palm down for her to disembark and then lowered his head to rest on his arms as he came close to her eye level.

"Better?" He asked, "Much," Persephone replied.

"What is it you want to tell me, little one?" Persephone no longer held the same confidence as she had in the previous moment she had gotten his attention. She tried to draw the attentiveness away from her earlier statement.

"Why must you call me little one? You know I'm not even that short, I'm like 5'5 on my planet!" Persephone said with humor lacing her voice. And she had lied: She actually did like Loki calling her "Little one".

Loki's lips spread into a grin at her complaint. "You don't look too tall from my perspective, little one." He said with a smile still on his face.

"Hey!" She retorted lamely with no other better remark and launched herself at his face aiming for his nose. Her little legs ran swiftly and she hurled herself onto the bridge of his nose, straddling the sides with her legs. In the last week, her leg muscles had gotten a workout from the constant need for climbing gigantic objects that surrounded her. She playfully punched his nose, which didn't even cause him to flinch, "Take that you Big Buffoon." she teased. She felt him chuckle which vibrated her entire body forcing her to hold on even tighter and then heard him say, "Oh I will, little one." with mischief coating his words. No sooner than when the words had left his mouth, he lifted his head off his arms and tilted his head back leaving Persephone to scramble around for a good grip on his nose. When he finally stopped moving she clenched her thighs and arms in a death grip on the bridge. Looking ahead of her she saw that she was extremely close to Loki's eyes. They were wide with amusement and she felt a smile rising to her face.

Loki had enjoyed watching her antics and laughed at the punch she had barely felt on his nose. Tilting his head back he found it humorous to watch her struggle on his nose, of course, if she fell he would catch her tiny form. Her eyes weren't on him as she found purchase by squeezing her surprisingly strong thighs tightly around his nose, but when she looked at him he realized he could see every detail of her small face. Usually, being a hundred feet taller than the girl, he often saw her from a bird's eye view. But here he could distinguish her facial features so clearly. Long, dark brown hair cascaded over her dainty shoulders framing her pale, heart-shaped face. Freckles dotted her nose and dimpled cheeks. And her eyes were the color of dark coffee.

"U-uh Loki, can you put me down? My thighs are literally burning." Persephone remarked. He would imagine they would be burning. If she had been his size, she would present as a formidable opponent when sparring and racing. He gently grasped her sides between a finger and thumb. He found happiness in the fact that he could no longer feel her ribcage as he had been able to before, her health had been improving with her stay on Asgard. As he looked at her form he noticed the hollows of her cheeks were filling out. His fingertips also could percept a rapid tiny pounding sensation, which he recognized to be her heartbeat. He was faintly reminded of a hummingbird with her dainty form and fast movements. As he lifted her off his face, she let out a squeak. He couldn't help but smile at the sound. He knew she was in no discomfort in his grasp, yet, she always made that sound when he gathered her in his hands.

"Why must you let out that noise every time little one?" He asked her.

"What noise?" Persephone asked, truly not aware of the tiny sound she had made.

"Nevermind, what is it that you wanted to tell me?" Loki asked, setting her back onto the table, resting his head upon his arms once again. He was aware of the distraction she had managed to make earlier in order to change the focus off of her. Loki was no stranger to this tactic.

He watched closely as she wrung her hands together and shuffled back and forth on her feet, looking down towards the tabletop. He reached out slowly, with a tentative finger and thumb to seize her nervous actions by clamping his fingers over both her wringing hands. Her gaze snapped up to his, her coffee eyes meeting his emerald orbs, and took a shaky breath in. What in the world could she have to tell me that is making her so distressed? Loki thought to himself.

"You know the other day when the... rats... attacked me?" Persephone asked. Loki nodded his head wordlessly and encouraged her to continue.

"Well, when they were all around me and kept biting me I kinda did something..." She said, extenuating her voice at the end. Loki winced at her words, remembering how he had found her mangled body.

He released her hands and tucked his own under his chin. "What did you do?" He said very interestedly in where this was going.

"There was this raging power through me and I thought I was going to die. But it kept pounding through me and then I released it. It sent out this bright white light and killed the rats. Then I passed out. That's all I remember."

Loki had never heard of this before. As far as he knew mortals were not capable of the power that Asgardians held.

"Has this power shown up anytime before then or anytime after?" Loki inquired. Persephone put a hand to her forehead, scrunching her nose in concentrated thinking. Her face tilts upwards and she shakes her head.

"I can't remember ever having any instances like that. Just that one."

Although Loki hated even asking her and threatening to bring up traumatic memories, he needed to know if her power had shown at all when she was in danger while she had been held hostage.

"Did it ever come up when... you were..." Loki wasn't sure how to word the question but thankfully Persephone spoke up. "While I was kidnapped?" She said with hardness in her voice. He took no offense to the tone, he knew she still had nightmares of that horrible time in her life. Persephone took a deep breath and shook her head again. "No, I don't remember it being there either."

"Alright little one, let's do some research on this then." Loki presented his palm and patiently waited for her to climb on. He usually would have smiled at her adorable struggles, but his mind was plagued with worry. But this time they would work through this problem together.