Tom Hiddleston and Loki Imagines - Bk. 1

Tom - Daybreak

Last request!  Scared yet?

Well, I think you all knew this was coming for the last question.  But here it is:

1...

Q: Which do you like better?  Tom or Loki?  (And which do you want me to write more of?

*****

Tom's POV

Daybreak.  The light had crept into the window as pinks and blues and purples painted the sky.  Dew trickled down the glass, and if you listened hard enough, you could hear the last hoots of an owl being replaced by the song of a robin and the calls of a crow.

This was the moment I longed for and the moment I loathed: the time before (Y/N) woke in my arms, the time I could watch her subconscious, but crave her awareness, both needs so perfectly balanced.

Carefully, I turned over to get a good look at her.  I hated that, flipping over in the middle of the night; it made it all the more difficult to keep her asleep as I cherished this silence.  But as I turn, I'm able to look over my left shoulder and see her peacefully slumbering, head turned towards me but she laying on her back.  I waited a few seconds, wondering if her eyes would flutter open like it always does when she wakes.  But like many times before, she remains in place; I'm successful.

I turn over more, now laying on my side, and I steady myself before leaning over and placing a gentle kiss on her temple before attempting her lips.  They were soft, malleable even, against mine, as if it were waiting for me to shape them.  I dared not take them again, for she was shifting slightly.

After she becomes still once more, I let my head rest against her chest, listening for the sound that could silence storms and calm hurricanes.  A steady rhythm, a soft pounding that was drawn to me, for me.  I could listen to her heartbeat like I could listen to the soft rain, hours on end, not wanting it to stop.

A humming sigh escapes my nose.  I didn't want to go today.  I didn't want to wake up tomorrow alone in a hotel room.  I just wanted to stay like this, stay in bed and memorize every trace of her--every bump, every scar, every line, every curve, every eyelash--anything and everything that was her.  I didn't want her warmth to go away, didn't want her heartbeat to unsynchronize with mine.

As she moves once more, I lift up my head and calm her with a kiss on the forehead.  Immediately, she calms, turning even more towards me.  I frown, eyebrows becoming more serious.  A nightmare, it had to be.  I could see it by the way her eyes would squeeze a little bit tighter, trying to think her way out of her thoughts.  I wondered what it was this time: who was slipping away, who was drowning, what was making her tremble, who I was, if  I even was in her dream.  So often the nightmares were about us splitting either through death or by other means of torture, and I wish I could absorb them all and not let her suffer any mental pain.  But that goes beyond my abilities.

Instead, I hold her closer, slipping an arm underneath and over her, bringing her into a hug and her head against my chest.  My heart skips a beat as I feeling her pulse normalize, her breath against my skin.  It was enough, holding her like this, to rid her from her nightmare; waking her, although effective, would diminish the amount of sleep she would get, and, because she was an insomniac, was the last thing I wanted to do.  She needed as much rest as she could get.

My lips find her way to the top of her head, planting soft kisses as she nuzzled closer into me, and from the gentle tickle I felt of eyelashes and quiet moaning, I knew I had failed.

"Tom," she whispers, hugging me closer.

"Shh.  Back to sleep, darling."

She shakes her head, but already I can feel her eyelids drifting back down.  I rub her head, cradling her into my hold.  Closing my eyes, I take in her scent, letting it permeate my lungs and mind.  Sometimes, when I was away, I could smell her perfume, the wind filling my nostrils with her sweet scent.  I would always look for her, craving to see her face in the crowds, but time and time again, I would end up disappointed and even more homesick.

The sky was glowing oranges and yellow now, the sun just peeking out from the horizon.  I was to leave in less than a hours time, was to disappear like the many times before. But now, and even when I had to tear myself away, no matter the distance, I was all hers.