Jewel Thief ◇ L. Laufeyson

19 ◇ infatuation

A BLACK DRESS.

A gold circlet crown.

Large candelabras were littered around the room. Patrons dressed in fine silks and admirable armor milled about, though I couldn't make out any of their faces; just blurs and expressions.

I knew this place.

I had dreamed about it many times before, though it had been a while since I had been here, in this - what I now know to be - shared dreamspace.

He put me here. So where was he?

"Come on then!" I shouted, the other banquet guests ignoring me, as if they were ghosts.

Or, as if I was the ghost myself.

This was a shared space. He had to be here somewhere.

"Loki!" I growled, yelling again. Why would he bring me here? If he wanted to see me again, he should have joined us on the ship, not betrayed Thor and stayed behind on Sakaar.

"Loki!" I demanded, even louder, whipping around to find him. I couldn't see him anywhere, just the crowds of faceless party goers.

"Stop shouting."

My breath hitched in my throat. Loki had snuck right behind me. I held back a groan as I stuck my chin higher, turning around as soon as I got the nerve to face him.

He was dressed in his classic Asgardian armor, minus the crown. He looked...sad. Though his sadness was masked with his signature smirk, I could see right through it.

"Let me go," I seethed. "I want out of this dream."

Loki didn't say anything, he just studied my face in the candlelight. "Y/N Stark, I was a fool."

His confession threw me off so much I took a step back, almost tripping on the dress.

"What the hell?" I spat out, before getting over my shock and holding my ground. "No. No, you can't do this. You can't just pretend you're sorry--"

"You're right. But I owe you an explaination."

I stomped my foot, hot tears threatening to fall. I had no idea why this was upsetting me so much, but my emotions were running wild. "You owe me more than that! You're a coward," I put my hands on his chest and pushed him back. It didn't do much to push him away, in fact, he caught my wrists and held me steadily close to him.

"Would you stop interrupting?" He said pointedly, tilting his head to the side a bit. "So headstrong. I miss that."

I clicked my tongue, wrestling my wrists out of his grip. "Don't you dare say that," I pleaded through gritted teeth. "Don't!" My chest rose and fell with angry breaths. "Don't say you miss me when you're the one that stayed behind!"

Loki's face fell and his coy demure disappeared. "You're...actually quite upset."

I looked at him, my jaw clenched incredulously. "Yeah, you idiot! Of course I'm upset!" I hit him again, and this time he didn't snatch my wrists, he just felt the weight of my push and fell back.

For a second I caught myself, watching his reaction.

"Let me explain, please," he said, putting up one of his palms. Around us, the party goers began to fade away, leaving us in the large hall alone. A soft tune echoed on a record player as Loki took a few cautious steps towards me.

I nodded a bit, giving him the signal that I would listen.

There was a million things I wanted to say.