I see you || Loki

23. Quiet Coupling

No one was telling you anything.

Even if Loki hadn't informed you of Thor and Odin's fight, you would have known that something was wrong. Rumors in Asgard took an almost tangible form. There were stares. And whispers. And glances that turned away too quickly when your eyes met theirs. Everyone knew something and no one wanted you to know what it was.

You stood in the great hall with your mother, hands clasped in front of you as Odin addressed the business of the day. He slid the announcement of your impending wedding date in among other, more mundane, news. A month. Just one. As Odin spoke, Thor opened his mouth in protest, but Loki laid a hand over his arm and whispered something in his ear. Thor stopped, though he didn't look any happier about it.

The news was greeted with a ripple of murmurs through the crowd. You felt the eyes of Asgard on you, a thousand tiny pinpricks that could leave you in a puddle of blood on the palace floor. You rolled your shoulders back and lifted you chin.

Odin was an excellent liar—perhaps that was where Loki gained the skill. His face betrayed nothing of his anger at Thor, even as Thor visibly fumed under his watchful eye. If you didn't know better, you would think that it was like any other fight that had erupted between the two before. But this time, you did know, and you knew it was about you.

Despite what Odin thought, despite all evidence to the contrary, you weren't going to marry Thor. Though, you still didn't know how exactly Loki intended to bring that about.

You're going to have to trust me.

Ugh. Trust. That wasn't something that came naturally to you. Your every instinct said to rely on yourself first and only. Yet you'd let Loki lead you around until you hung over a bottomless cliff, with only his support to keep you upright. And you had said you'd trusted him.

You were summoned to the throne as others were dismissed. If Odin expected you to have questions, he had no intention of answering them.  He instructed you to stay by Thor's side throughout the day, then left without hearing your response. Thor scowled after his retreating back.

"I'm sorry," you said, when others had drifted away and you were left with Thor. "I've caused a great deal of difficulty for you."

Thor shook his head. "I thought I could reason with him."

"Thank you for trying."

"I haven't given up." His brow furrowed and he looked at you quite seriously. "Will you be alright?"

Before you could answer, Loki appeared at your side. "It will be difficult," he said, "but I think she will survive. A broken heart still beats, after all."

Your mouth fell open. Was Loki really intending to approach this in so bald a fashion? You glanced back at Thor, but he seemed unsurprised.

"I told Loki of your circumstances," Thor said. "He can be trusted."

Stars, no he couldn't be. You swallowed the retort that rose on your tongue. Once again, Loki had lied to Thor, advancing an agenda to which you were not privy.

You're going to have to trust me.

You shook your head. "Thank you for your support," you said to Loki. Then, to Thor, "There have been worse starts to a relationship." You forced the smile even as your stomach turned. You were lying to him. You'd been honest that you loved someone else—at least he knew that—but this new conviction to be with him... that was false.

#

The best thing you could say about your day was that it ended. At least you'd had company in your misery. Thor hadn't seemed to enjoy the endless greetings and formalities any more than you had.