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"COVER YOUR EYES," Loki instructed as they reached a slight bend in the trail, halting in his tracks as to avoid unnecessary spoiling to his mildly well-crafted surprise, "and absolutely no peeking." He added in an afterthought, and Serena dutifully obliged, using her hands to block her eyes while trying her hardest to suppress a foolish smile.
"You are not going to douse me in anything, right?" She teasingly joked, a giddy feeling filling her stomach with thousands of fluttering butterflies. Loki chuckled and came around behind her, placing his hands over her's to ensure she wouldn't cheat, turning the butterflies in sharp cutting knives that poked and prodded at her gut. "There isn't a snake waiting for me either, I hope."
"Don't go around giving people ideas, Serena," Loki remarked with a hidden smile and gave a gentle nudge to her back, signaling the cue to begin walking again.
She began very slowly, her temporary blindness adding a thrill to the surprise that wasn't there before. Serena's mind was going haywire trying to guess what was waiting for her just around the bend, but then her fear of tripping over something clouded those happy thoughts and replaced them with crippling fear.
Having lost her confidence to walk, her foot rolled as she stepped on a small rock causing Serena to nearly stumble onto the ground.
In a rush of adrenaline, Serena gripped tightly to the lapels of Loki's tunic in an attempt to regain her balance, and when she opened her eyes she realized to her horror just how close her face now was to a prince's, and how his hands had moved from her eyes to her waist.
"I... I'm sorry, I panicked." Loki didn't say anything, instead, he just looked at her for a second longer before removing his hands and letting her regain her natural balance.
"You are the prevailing ruler of needless apologies." He retorted with an obligatory eye roll; it wasn't a cruel look he cast her way, but more one of feigned annoyance.
"I'm sor-" Serena bit her tongue as she nearly repeated herself, "...um thank you... for not letting me fall."
"Well, I am not a complete monster." He joked, and Serena suddenly found herself unable to find the right words to say as her mouth grew incredibly dry.
"I don't think you are capable of being a monster." She added a soft, uneasy laugh to make her words appear lighthearted though in actuality they were quite difficult to say. Serena wasn't typically this candid with people she wasn't dearly close to, and even then it was often hard for her to put her emotions into words.
"Then you must not know me well enough yet." Although he lacked the usual smile, he added a sly wink to the end of his words before stepping forwards and continuing down the path, leaving behind a slightly confused Serena.
