Another Chance

Books

Loki couldn't stop thinking about what Sigyn had told him (or confessed, from the tone the girl had used). He, who considered himself an expert at sneaking around unseen and spotting any threat at once, had been spied on. That he didn't like (the understatement of the century) eating in front of other people was no secret, though few people understood why. That he preferred spending time alone, either. But that she had witnessed how he looked for hiding places to get away from everyone, or to eat, was...

He wasn't sure what it was. He wanted to be upset, but somehow he wasn't. Perhaps because Sigyn hadn't used that information against him, nor had she told anyone else. Perhaps because being stealthy around him was a skill that had surprised him, and one that he couldn't help but admire. Or maybe because the idea that Sigyn had paid so much attention to him for so long to notice his escapades and to deduce how much he would have rejected her presence in those moments was almost intoxicating.

And his thoughts couldn't help but spiral around a single question: Why? Why had she paid so much attention to him? Several ideas came up, but he forcefully put them down. He could not be carried away by fantasies that went beyond reason. Nay. He had to be logical. Perhaps Sigyn did not believe the rumors and gossip, and she was not carried away by them to deny her friendship to him. But he had no reason to think of any other reason.

Maybe his bloody body was full of hormones that made him blush. Hormones that pushed him to remember how good she had felt in his arms. But Loki had been able to suppress the stupid Asgardian adolescent behavior, and he wouldn't let that mortal body defeat him.

(And maybe, just maybe, he couldn't bear to have his hopes raised only to be crushed. Not when it came to her.)

When they arrived at the common area study room they found it empty. It wasn't strange at that hour, when most of the students were busy with club activities. Loki had accompanied Sigyn to her bedroom to collect her backpack, and when they sat on opposite sides of the table the girl spread her notebooks and books on the surface.

Loki had no homework to do, and therefore nothing to distract him from the tidal wave of ideas crashing into his mind. Forcing himself to think of something else again he got up and checked the shelves. There was not much variety, being rather a selection designed for academic consultations. And as much as the complexities of the geographical and political layout of the country caught his attention (no), he felt little motivation for such a reading.

"Do you want me to lend you my ebook?"

Loki turned and saw Sigyn waving the device at him. He made a conscious effort not to wince, but some of his disgust must have come through even so, because Sigyn rolled her eyes.

"Oh, a purist for paper books."

"The experience is clearly superior," he replied.

"As is the back pain from carrying too many, too," she countered. "But do as you want. I will respect your right to be wrong and to be bored."

Loki huffed and went back to his seat. He watched her with some dissimulation while she copied and solved exercises. He lasted five minutes. To be exact, he lasted three before he was plunged back into meaningless questions and ideas. And two others felt like a stalker as he studied the way she held the pen and gently bit her lips as she wrote.

With a feeling of defeat Loki gave in and reached across the table to grab the offending device. Out of the corner of his eye he caught Sigyn's triumphant smile.

"Oh shut up."

Sigyn let out the laugh she'd been holding in, but didn't say anything. Loki rolled his eyes before turning on the electronic book. And his library might be less flashy than two dozen floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, but it had a fair amount of books. And from a wide variety of genres and themes.