Loki Laufeyson - Saviour {2}

Chapter Fifty Five - He's a Good One

After we had ordered, we sat down on the metal chairs painted a pale aqua surrounding similar tables in groups of two, three and four. On the top of each table, there was a pot of dark, blood-red flowers that matched similar shaded flowers in bigger pots.

A young girl came over to us eventually, dropping off our foods and drinks and I didn't hesitate to dig into the food. We ate in a comfortable silence, occasionally broken up by comments about the food or the surrounding environment. It was certainly a beautiful place, more beautiful than I thought a little van on the side of a street could be.

Once both of us were finished, we walked around through the streets a little, giving me plenty of opportunities to take pictures of the sunrise as it peaked over the top of the buildings. There were a surprising number of people already out and starting their days, but we only teleported back to the compound when the sounds of all of the trucks began to become a little too much.

"Thank you for taking me there." I smiled up at him after we landed in my room. "I really needed that."

"I figured." He smiled. "We should do it more often, it was really nice." I nodded, blush gently creeping along my cheeks. I watched him for a few seconds before tilting my head to the side, confused.

"Are you going to go back to your room?" I asked, a smile playing on my lips.

'I will if you decide to let go of my hand." He grinned, and I looked down to see that our hands were still joined from the teleporting.

I quickly let go, my face burning as I looked away, thoroughly embarrassed. He chuckled softly as I tried to untangle our hands, giving mine a soft squeeze before he let go. He reached out to tuck some of my hair behind my ear, his hand resting resting on my burning cheek for a moment as his eyes darted over my face before he slowly pulled back. He smiled at me one last time before disappearing. I looked at the spot where he had been standing a moment ago before I slowly sunk down onto the edge of my bed, running my hands over my red face. .

"Be grateful I don't tell Mr. Stark everything." Interrupted JARVIS, causing me to jump slightly, before I chuckled.

"Thanks JARVIS." I smiled.

The AI fell silent and I breathed out a heavy breath before I changed out of my clothes into training gear. It was still early in the morning, but I knew that Steve would no doubt be training already and I wanted to release all of this bubbling energy that was making me all jittery. Although training was still only light work, it was enough to sometimes leave me puffing.

Steve, as I expected was training when I got down there. He gave me a tight smile as he strained under the crazy heavy weights he was holding and I waved back before I set down and began my own warm ups. Bucky came in after about half an hour, already sweaty from a run, and he stopped to ruffle my hair as I taped up my hands for punching but left before I could get back at him.

-{+}-

It was beginning to become a tradition for Loki and I to go out together every morning. I was a little tired from them at first, but slowly I got into the swing of it. The mornings began to become warmer too and the sun rose earlier, providing prettier sunrises every time. We continued to go to the same van every time and by about the fourth visit, the owner, a large Italian man by the name of Giuseppe, who always brought me freshly baked chocolate croissants to our table the moment he realized I loved them. He knew our orders off by heart by about the tenth visit and we would just have to say good morning to him and sit down before barely five minutes later, our food was sitting in front of us.

After we ate, we would go for a walk through the streets. New York was really beautiful in the morning, when the sun was just beginning to rise and paint everything in a stunning orange glow. I had so many photos from those mornings, including ones from Loki, and he had plenty of me too.

No one, except JARVIS who didn't really count, knew that we were going out early every morning. I think Wanda might have suspected something, and I tried really hard not to 'project' my thoughts, even though I didn't know how I did that. Even if she did find out, I don't think she would have told Tony.

Training began to become more intense as I slowly began to gain my strength back. Bruce cleared me to start training with Bucky again and we started off slow, but that didn't mean it wasn't painful at times, even if he was holding back. I wasn't going to lie though, something about the pain felt familiar and it made me feel more back to normal than I had in a little while.

"Em?" Loki's voice broke through my thoughts and I blinked as I looked up from where I had been staring at my coffee. "You zoned out again." He gave me a sympathetic look.

"Sorry." I murmured, taking a sip of my drink. "I was just thinking."

"You look really tired." He reached out to gently brush his fingers over my knuckles. "We don't have to keep doing this every morning you know if its making you tired."

"No." I shook my head immediately. "Its just training that's exhausting me. I don't want to stop this at all."

"I don't want to make this feel like a chore for you." He sighed, giving me a look as I tried to swallow back a yawn.

"It is definitely not a chore." I protested, sitting up a little straighter. "I want to be here, I'm just a little tired."

"Well maybe we should make it less early in the morning." He offered, eyes flicking over my face.

"I don't want to mess up Giuseppe." I smiled weakly, but just as he opened his mouth to reply, a voice called out from behind us.

"I heard my name!" I turned around to see Giuseppe moving towards us, holding a soft cardboard container in his hand. "I wanted you two to be the first to try these, it's a new recipe I am trying; still chocolate dipped but with strawberry sauce inside."

My eyes widened in excitement and Loki huffed out a laugh, relaxing back into his seat a little as Giuseppe held the box out for me. I eagerly took it and peered inside to see a literal mountain of them pressing against the plastic window on top.

"I hope it is enough for you." He stood next to our table, eyes focused completely on me as he watched my expression. "I can make up some more for you if you wish."

"Thank you so much." I grinned up at him before I began to dig through my purse to try and find some of the money that I had begun to start bringing just so I could feel like contributing something even when it wasn't my money. "Is this enough for them?"

"Oh no, don't even try that bella." He shook his head, pushing away my outstretched hand holding the money.

"But-" I tried to protest but he shook his head firmly, smiling down at me.

"It's a gift." He cut in front of me. "You two are my favourite customers."

"Thank you so much." I smiled up at him. "You are the best."

"Let me know if you want some more later." He grinned. "I'll have plenty made up for you."

"I don't think I can eat these right now." I laughed softly. "All of your other food has made me so full."

"I can look after them for you." Loki offered, holding out his hand to take the box, which I handed over with a smile.

"È un bravo tesoro. (He's a good one)." Giuseppe winked down at me, my brain immediately recognising the Italian after a couple of seconds of slow processing. "Dovresti tenerlo vicino. Un giorno ho potuto vedere piccole versioni in miniatura di te correre in giro. Assicurati di lasciare che vengano a trovarmi (You should keep him close. I could see little mini versions of you running around one day. Make sure you let them visit me).

I blushed bright red and I was lost for words for a moment at his boldness before I finally managed to murmur.

"Non penso che ciò accadrà presto(I don't think that will be happening any time soon)". The words wererough; I hadn't spoke in this language in a long time, but it still seemed tobe enough for Giuseppe to understand me because he huffed out a laugh and justwinked before walking away. 

AN:

I'm so sorry for taking forever to post this, school has started up again and its been absolutely crazy! I hope you all enjoy this chapter though!