The Ice Began To Melt | Loki x Reader

Eight | Lessons In Magic

I hated inventing.

Well, no, I loved it, actually, but it just wasn't working for me, and it was pissing me off. I was ready to flip my worktable.

The ice just wouldn't stay put inside the gun.

I was grumbling, trying to figure out a way to fix it, when there was a knock at my door. I turned around to see Loki.

"Hi, Loki," I said. "Come on in."

I turned back to my bench and wiped away the ice still lingering on the table before turning back around to face Loki. Loki stepped into the room and looked around. I noticed that he was holding f/n.

"Did you finish it?" I asked, gesturing to the book.

Loki blinked in surprise before looking down at his hands, as if he forgot he was holding my book.

"Oh, yes, I did," he said, extending the book towards me. "It was... it was very good, actually."

I took the book from him and grinned.

"I knew you'd like it," I said.

Loki smiled at me and placed his hands behind his back.

"I was – I was wondering if you have any other recommendations?" Loki asked.

I nodded excitedly.

"There are so many! The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Maze Runner, Percy Jackson, Divergent... and those are only really in one category! You have the old classics as well, like Sense and Sensibility, Wuthering Heights, Anne of Green Gables... and then you have Stephen King, too, if you're into horror..."

I trailed off as I realised I'd been rambling. My cheeks heated up and I laughed awkwardly.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

Loki smiled at me.

"Do not worry," he said. "It is nice to have a... a friend who enjoys literature as much as I do."

I smiled. He thought I was his friend. Progress.

"Anyway, I can take you to the library and grab a few for you," I said.

I looked back longingly at my invention and sighed.

"I do not want to keep you from your work, Y/n," Loki said.

"No, no, it's fine," I said absentmindedly. "It's not working, that's all. I just can't figure out how to contain the magic like it is in my body, y'know?"

"May I?" Loki asked, stepping towards the ice blasters.

"Sure," I said.

Loki looked at them closely. His hands began glowing green as he used his magic.

"All you need to do is create a magical pocket to hold your magic," he said after a few moments.

"Right..." I said. "And... uh... how do I do that?"

Loki looked at me for a moment.

"I assume you do not know magic?" he asked.

"Nope," I said, popping the 'p'.

Loki studied me for another moment before speaking again.

"May I see your power?" he asked. "With my magic, of course. Just to see if you could potentially turn that power into magic, as I do."

I blinked in surprise but nodded. Loki walked up to me, close enough that it had my breath hitching. I hoped he didn't notice.

It seemed that he didn't because he placed his hands over my arms. His hands weren't touching me, but I could feel his magic as it worked. He raised his hands up my arms and over to my head. I followed his hands with my gaze, and after a while he put his hands back to his sides. He took a step back, putting distance between us.

"You could very well learn magic," he said. "I could teach you, if you'd like."

I grinned broadly at him.

"I would love that," I said. "When can we start?"

Loki smiled softly at me, and my heart started beating faster.

"We can start now, if you would like," he said. "But it would be better to find a bigger and safer room, just in case your magic does not respond positively."

I cocked my head.

"Why wouldn't my magic respond positively?" I asked.

Loki shook his head.

"That was perhaps not the best choice of words. Your magic may... explode out of you the first few times you try. It is completely safe, do not worry, but until you can grasp control, it may be a tad destructive," he said quickly.

I shrugged.

"Let's go to the break room then," I said.

Loki nodded and we left my lab. We took the elevator to the break room. When the doors opened, Loki looked to me in confusion.

"Why is everything broken?" he asked.

"Because it's the break room," I said.

I looked over the shattered furniture and scrapes and scratches on the walls. There were also quite a few bullet and arrow holes.

"We come here if we need to let off steam," I explained. "We break stuff. We get shipments of new furniture every now and then but... it's pretty therapeutic."

Loki nodded at my explanation. He waved his hand and a space cleared of wood and splinters and dust. He waved his hand again, and a table and two chairs appeared. He gestured for me to sit, so I did. He sat across from me.

"First, you need to... summon the magic," Loki said. "Yours is ice, but you need to look past that. You need to feel the power, not what it manifests as."

I nodded, slightly confused, but ready to try. I closed my eyes and felt around for my power. I summoned it, as Loki said, but I felt the ice instead of just raw power. I took a deep breath and exhaled through my nose, trying to separate my power from the ice. It was like pulling two magnets apart.

I opened my eyes to an explosion of ice. I widened my eyes, but Loki was unscathed.

"It is alright," Loki said, waving a hand. "Try again."

I closed my eyes again and focused on the magnet feeling. I couldn't pull it apart with too much force, or else the room would be covered in ice again. I was slowly able to part the power from the ice.

"Good, good," Loki murmured. "Now, try to bring a ball of light into your hands."

I did as he ordered, my eyes still tightly closed.

"Open your eyes, Y/n."

I did so and gasped as I saw a ball of blue light in my hands.

"I – wow," I breathed, transfixed by the sphere of magic in my hands.

"Very good," Loki said. "Would you like to learn more?"

I looked to him and nodded.

"Teach me everything."