A Tale of Mischief and Mutants part 2

Lillesøster

—-Sam—-

I don't know what came over me. I don't recall stepping towards the nurse and I didn't really make a decision to attack him. It's like that time Loki and I were trying to eat dinner in New York and I somehow ended up threatening some asshole with Mjölnir. I made my move completely without my permission.

This time though instead of being driven by anger I was fully driven by fear. It wasn't just for myself either, when I saw those tools a fear came back to me from that place, and having just gotten Loki back... I guess my subconscious just decided they were a threat to him too and that I wasn't about to let anything happen to him.

Before I could even fully comprehend these thoughts my body took action to protect my husband. I look over the redness on the nurse's arm as he prepares his tools. Loki did say I could wind up getting stronger with Mjölnir but the change has happened so steadily and slowly I hadn't even realized I could do any kind of damage to an Asgardian until now.

... I feel awful for scaring him, even if it's not bad I should take it from him. All he's ever done is help us and I've hurt him. I'm still shaken both by my actions and by the situation I'm in. I, of course, understand everything is completely safe but everything feels too familiar.

The tools and the medical equipment in the room, the white clothing the nurse is wearing, even the smell of disinfectant and hand sanitizer... it all brings back too many painful memories. It's hard to hold myself together in this place when I'm not the patient but now that I am it's nearly impossible.

I'm distracted by my growing anxiety when once again the door opens. Mary is standing in the doorway looking awkward about having accidentally interrupted while the nurse is working. She looks at us both apologetically and in relief over seeing Loki up and ok again.

Her only reaction to Loki's current form is a slight look of curiosity at his change in appearance, no judgment, no fear, just a simple innocent look of curiosity takes over her features briefly before a look of concern again overtakes her face.

"Oh I'm sorry, is now a bad time? I just couldn't really stand to wait any longer and I just managed to get Strange to tell me which room you were in."

Loki looks at Mary worriedly, he responds seeming afraid to look her in the eye or even look at her face to see what her reaction is to him in his current form. He seems uncertain as he answers her with an unusual amount of quietness and timidity creeping into his voice.

"It's... it's alright you can stay, it's only that Sam's once again taken something that doesn't belong to her and needs treatment."

I smile ever so slightly at her my anxiety lessening a tad at Loki's comment. I nod a bit in confirmation as Mary looks at me to see what I took. She sees my leg and shakes her head in worry and disapproval at my habit sighing slightly.

"Oh Sam."

She knows by now though that scolding me won't change my mind and besides that, that it's now too late anyway so she doesn't continue. Loki goes on and her attention returns to him briefly.

"Birger was just about to stitch it up."

Mary again looks at me in concern

"Oh? How's that going?

Loki attempts humor to hide his blatantly obvious anxiety over the situation.

"Well it's gone swimmingly other than her attempt at breaking his arm..."

Mary looks at me in shock and Birger speaks up.

"It's nothing really. I'm fine though our princess is quite a bit stronger than she looks."

He flashes me a smile as he says this and I smile timidly back still worried about what he's about to do. He gestures to Mary while still looking at me.

"Do you care if I do the stitches while she's here?"

I shake my head and again gesture to the wound on my leg encouraging him to continue. Mary cautiously gets closer having observed enough over the course of Loki's rescue to understand that his Jotun form is something he's very guarded over. Though she still seems confused and upset by the fact that he hasn't looked at her yet.

"Lo'? ...Are you sure you're okay?"

Finally Loki looks at her face hearing the sadness and anxiety in her voice. She smiles sadly at him. She can't help herself anymore and takes a quick step closer causing him to reflexively pull away in an attempt to protect her from the sometimes unpredictable frostbite his skin can cause. She stops again looking a little hurt while at the same time trying not to, understanding that this is hard for Loki too.

"I... I was worried about you... like, really, really worried."

Marry's eyes start to water as she speaks and a tear escapes her eye. Loki frowns at the sight of the girl he considers his little sister crying. Mary, again unable to hold herself back, quickly takes another couple steps forward and she's hugging Loki before he even registers what she's doing. He at first tenses up pulling back a bit but upon realizing she's not being hurt by him he relaxes slightly into it accepting it.

"Miting, lillesøster... I assure you I'm alright now."

She pulls back a bit sniffling and wipes a tear from her face she smiles slightly.

"What's that word mean?"

He pauses before answering gauging her expression. I hope his self loathing isn't so blinding that he misses the distinct lack of fear or even perplexion on her face. In a stark contrast to when she first joined the X-men the unusual is no longer uncanny to Mary.  It's obvious to me that she's very quickly accepted that Loki is a blue ice giant from Jotunheim and that he has been one the entire time she's known him.

In true X-men fashion she's unfazed. To her it could have been anything, he could've been a pink elephant from Jupiter and she'd still love him just the same. To an X-man new and bizarre information about someone's background just doesn't change anything so long as the current content of their character is left untouched by it. He evidently sees the same thing I do and manages an adorably nervous smile as he answers her question.

"...little sister."

She smiles widely before she teasingly objects.

"Hey, I'm not little!"

He lifts an eyebrow and his lips lift into his usual mischievous grin.

"And what pray tell did you think miting meant?"

Mary pauses, thinking.

"...I don't know."

He smiles once again.

"It means little like a mite, or little like you."

She laughs

"You're being a pain you know that?"

He smiles fully at that.

"Then I'm doing my job, older brother's are pains here on Midgard as well are they not?"

Thor feigns offense.

"Hey!"

Loki just smirks at Thor seeming a bit more relaxed now that he sees Mary isn't showing any signs of distain for him in this form.