Perhaps [thor/loki]

Chapter 22

Nora stared in the mirror, playing with her hair between her fingers, lost deep in her thoughts. Her mind wandered where it had been last night, caught in a worry that her world was more complicated than she could have ever fathomed it.

She collected her things and left, finding Loki downstairs waiting for her. She walked over once she saw him, as he nonchalantly pretended that he wasn't waiting for her.

"Good morning," she said.

"Morning," he said, staring off into the sun.

"Sleep well?" she asked him, curious if he had gone back to the woman after she had fallen asleep.

"Very," he nodded, neither confirming nor denying. Without saying anything, they set off to continue their journey.

"How much longer do we have to walk?" Nora said, having recounted that it had been at least a week and a few days longer since she heard Odin's warning. She wasn't sure how many days it had been since they left Myrefall.

"As long as it takes," Loki said, poking the fire in front of them., "Unless you don't want to go to Asgard anymore."

They had made it another day of walking until they found they could not will themselves any further that day. They were to spend another night camping in the woods, a way Nora had come to enjoy spending her nights.

"Is it bad to say it's something I've considered?" Nora asked, balancing on a narrow log.

"Not at all," Loki said, "I leave that place all the time."

"Well, you're you," she reminded him, "I'm... me."

"And who are you, Nora?" Loki asked her with a tilt of the head.

"I don't know," she shrugged.

"That's not true," Loki told her. "Think of who you were when we met, a starry-eyed city girl who was too shy to stand up for herself."

"Hey!" Nora protested.

"And now?" Loki continued.

"And now," she shook her head and sat down to stare into the fire, "I am more of a mess than I ever was."

"Well, I rather like your mess," he toasted her, holding up a glass of wine.

She smiled softly at the fire and then met Loki's eyes. He licked his lips and opened to her, "But what if you didn't go to Asgard?"

"I have to," she replied.

"Just, think about it," Loki said. "The places you've seen, the people you've met, you really want to go back to the way things were?" Nora sighed, knowing she had thought of it. Loki inched closer to her, feeling bold. "What if we just kept exploring the world?"

"How lovely that sounds, Loki," Nora shook her head, noticing uch close he had come.

"Picture it," Loki said. "Wouldn't you be happier?"

"Maybe," she said, unsure of what else to say.

"Nora, I–"

Loki didn't have a chance to finish his words, as a beam shot down from the sky upon them. In the next moment, they were pulled from their campsite and flung across the galaxy. They arrived in Asgard, on their knees, in shock at the sudden capture.

"Welcome home," Heimdall said, his hands resting on his sword.

Nora pushed herself up onto her elbows and looked up at him, at the rainbow bridge, and the illuminated sky. She looked over at Loki, who stared straight ahead, and then down to his knees.