Dog Days

Chapter 29

When we return to his tent, he throws himself down at the table and looks at me in a state of exhaustion "I think today has been a fucking rollercoaster."

I hum as I take a seat. After a few minutes of silence, I ask "So the girl with cancer?"

He looks at me tiredly "Her name was Loki, too, but we thought that was rather strange. We called her Sylvie, because she liked it so much better." He smiles fondly, before declaring "She was into swords. I was into daggers. We had a connection from the moment we met."

He looks at me with a sad face "But we only knew each other for two years. We barely saw each other, through our missions, but we were still sneaky enough to pass letters."

His face goes soft "For the first year, we were just friends. But, when I was fifteen, I broke my leg on a mission and was out of commission for a few months." He furrows his brow "We started talking more and more, and she started to develop this..." he thinks of the correct word "Pain, in her abdomen. We mentioned it to a handler. She had a CT, and it lite up like a Christmas tree."

Tears come to his eyes and he looks at me tiredly "As they were cutting into her flesh to rip out the cancer, they put me through months of hell to test for genetic anomalies. They gave up on her and left her for dead, but I stayed with her."

He gives me a little smile, before he states "She was in pain, dying a slow death with nothing left to fight." He sniffles, before looking at me, terrified "She begged me to drive that dagger through her heart."

I set my jaw and ask "Was it the experiment from your childhood?"

He nods, before declaring "I only found out about it after she died. They thought it was amazing that I was the only one that survived. I was the one they thought would die first."

He gives an exhausted smile, before I ask "You said that you have five handlers?"

He furrows his brow and states "We started off with one." He narrows his gaze and looks down at the table as he leans back "The first to die was number four. He died during the initial gamma radiation experiment." He takes in a deep breath and sighs "His handler moved on to number two."

He looks up at the roof of the tent and states "Number two died during the nuclear radiation. She was less than a year old, and she apparently became a crawling ulcer before she died."

He thinks for a moment, before declaring "Number four's handler moved onto number five. Number two's handler moved onto Sylvie."

He narrows his gaze and states "After the nuclear radiation, the three of us that were left moved onto biological experiments, trying to redevelop the primal instincts."

He looks towards me and sighs "Number five was so much of a success, that, even though he was a year old, he was a hundred pounds."

I furrow my brow and ask "How did he die?"

He looks at me with a soft smile "He was such a primal little monster." He takes in a deep breath before sighing "He ripped himself to pieces."

I give a confused look and he continues "Number five's and number four's handlers moved onto me. Number four's handler was my first kill and number five's was the man who took my virginity."

I stare at him and he explains "Over the years, the title of handler has been handed down or sold to the highest bidder."

I give a short nod, before I ask "What number was Sylvie?"

He takes in a deep breath, before declaring "She was number three, and I was number one." He furrows his brow and states "They labeled us from smallest to largest. I was the runt."

He falls silent and I allow myself to process, before I tell him "If I knew what to say, I'd say it." He scoffs and I sigh "I'm sorry you had to live through that."

He takes a long moment, before looking at me with a sad smile "I survived, so far."

I give a short nod, before furrowing my brow and asking "What happened after you leave?"

He smiles at me for a long moment, before declaring "I hunt down the Sanctuary. Neutralize the threat." He looks me over before telling me "Once they're gone, I might head west of DC. Go visit a hippie farm."

I give him a soft smile "I'd like that." He gives me a soft smile, but from the look of his features, something tells me that he's not being completely honest.

And as I sit the usual three feet away from him, looking at him, I see the cold distant between us. It feels like he's got one foot out the door. And a part of me begins to ache. A fire builds in my chest, and I see what feels like the end.

Then his face grows concerned. I realize that my eyes are glossy and my lip trembles. He looks at me like I'm the most delicate thing he could touch as he asks "Darling, what's wrong?"

I shake my head as a tear rolls down my face. I sit there for a moment trying to stop myself from crying, but ultimately, my diaphragm spasms and I suck in a desperate breath. Tears stream down my face and he begins to stand up to step up to me. He rests his hand on my cheek and asks "Thor?"

I look up to him as my lip quivers. His gentle face makes me think of lazy mornings laying in bed and laughing at some random joke. I see the perfect little life with him. I see us cuddling together on cold winter nights, or him running back to bed after making a cup of tea because he was cold and wanted to be under the covers. I see him and Hela smoking a bowl together in the swinging bench on the porch. I imagine growing old with him and adopting kids along the way. I imagine sitting with him on the porch in the swing when we're old.

After a long moment, he wipes the tears from my face and I beg "You have to come back to me, Loki!"

His eyes began to water as I beg "I need you! I need to grow old with you! You are the love of my life! Please, just, come home to me!"

He nods as tears pour from his eyes. He hugs me to his waist. We stay that way for a few minutes. As I hear his heart beating, my mind begins to slow down. It calms me down.

He leans back and looks down at me "I'm going to come back for you, Thor." He runs his fingers through my hair and declares "You are my life, now."

He looks at me tiredly, before stating "I promise you that I will do whatever it takes to come home to you, my love."

I give a soft smile and he straddles my lap to give me a kiss. As he pulls back, I look over his soft smile, before declaring "You are also the sexiest man I've ever seen. Definitely the best sex I've ever had."

He narrows his gaze with a soft grin "I highly doubt I'm the sexiest man you've ever seen."

I look over his defined face, with those gorgeous green eyes and his soft black curls. His smile is infectious. I nod, before remarking "Definitely the sexiest."

He rolls his eyes, before remarking "I watched you take three cocks from three different people this afternoon. I'd say you're the sexiest."

I furrow my brow and remark "That was a terrible decision."

He smirks at me "It was awful. I'm sorry I suggested it."

I hum, before reaching down and grabbing his cock "Mine."

He smirks, before leaning forward and whispering against my lips "Yes, little boy. I'm all yours."

I bite my lip, before he stands up and looks me over tiredly "I believe it's time for bed."

I hum, before watching him strip out of his clothes and crawl onto his little cot. With a soft smile, I stand and strip down, before turning out the lantern and crawling in behind him.