Mischief On Earth ✔

Of Prison And Promises

* music above *

Gone. She was gone.

She had left.

The tears she had shed. The fear in her eyes. The way she had stepped back, when he came near.

Loki eyed the corridor where she had retreated to for several long moments, gaze steady, face calm, eyes unblinking.

He stepped away from the glass and headed to the coffee table, where he picked up the book he had been reading. He sat back down in the corner, legs stretched out, and had just flipped to the page he last stopped when there came the sound of a constant humming.

Loki frowned. He knew that sound. Sure enough, the glass in front of him was vibrating and clouding over, until it became opaque. He felt the energy shield around the glass weaken at a constant rate, until it disappeared entirely. The glass then slid apart in two halves, and standing in front of his now opened prison cell was the mortal Kyra Pierce.

She held his gaze with an unwavering one of her own. The eyes still glistened wet, but her cheeks were dry. Her jaw was clenched, and her chin held high.

She strode up the stone steps and didn't even hesitate when putting a foot over the threshold and into the cell. Loki watched as she crossed over to where he sat and looked down at him. Loki merely tilted his gaze up.

Without looking, Kyra directed her words to the prison guard standing nearby.

"Close the door."

The guard hesitated. "Lady Kyra, that is a highly dangerous criminal - "

"I know," Kyra cut him off, still not looking, keeping her eyes on Loki only. "That's why I'm telling you to close the door. We don't want a highly dangerous criminal to escape now, do we?"

"But you'll be alone with said highly dangerous criminal - "

"Oh, I think I can handle it."

The guard swallowed. "Just to clarify your order Lady Kyra, you wish for me to lock you in a prison cell, alone with a highly dangerous criminal?"

Kyra rolled her eyes and whirled around on the guard. "Just close the damn door already!" she snapped, exasperated. "Or I'll - " She made a threatening gesture.

The guard bowed his head and gave a wave of his spear. The glass slid back, blending seamlessly into each other, and the energy shield sprung back to life.

Kyra gave an annoyed shake of her head. "Seriously," she muttered, "what part of close the door did he not understand, it's not like I'll sue him if I get hurt, I don't even think I have the money to get a lawyer - "

She met Loki's eyes and her words halted. Loki said nothing, his face devoid of any expression. Looking sideways, she ran her fingers awkwardly through her hair, her eyes glancing here and there, uncertain. Still Loki remained silent, as if he had morphed into a block of wood.

Sighing, Kyra looked back at him. She was biting her lip, the worry making its presence clear on her face. There were traces of hurt there too, from what he had said, and the slightest shadow of what might or might not have been fear. But underlying it all, shining through all these other emotions, was resolution. Determination.

"Loki, I - " She stopped. The lump in her throat had returned. Her voice trembled. "I heard everything from Frigga. About your memories coming back, and giving you a hard time. And I - I know you're hurting. And the stuff you said - "

Her words caught in her throat and her eyes welled up yet again. She crouched down until she could stare directly into his unfeeling green eyes.

"I want to help you," she whispered. "I don't know what's going on, I don't know the whole story, but I do know that this isn't you. You're teasing and mocking, but you're never mean. Never. And I just want to help you. Please?"

And still Loki said nothing.

She raised a hand up, slow and shaking, unsure, reaching out to touch his face. And the moment her fingertips made contact with skin, there was a ripple that enfolded outwards, sweeping the entire cell.

The illusion broke.

Kyra's eyes widened as they took in the real state of the cell that had been hidden with what little magic Loki had regained. She saw the pristine furniture, now upturned and broken and scattered around; the bed, thrown to the opposite wall and its stuffing spilling out of gaping holes. Lastly her eyes returned to Loki, whose clothing was torn in several places, whose obsidian black hair was an unkempt mess, whose foot was bleeding and leaving dark trails across the floor. His green eyes held no arrogance nor spite, but instead were hollow and empty, numb to the world.

Loki cracked a wan smile, not meeting Kyra's eyes. She saw that his lip was cut.

"Whoops. Busted." His voice was dry and hoarse, barely there.

"Oh Loki." She took his face gently between two palms of her hands, the tears in her eyes mirroring that in his.

"I keep hearing her," Loki whispered, after a pause. "I can't see her, but I keep hearing her. Screaming, yelling, begging, pleading for them not to take her son away. Her voice, it keeps ringing in my ears, over and over and over and I......I keep hearing her."

He looked up at Kyra. "......And I can still remember. What it felt like. Me - strangling you. But I didn't know it was you, I thought it was Kolga, Kolga pulling me - the son - away......I didn't mean to hurt you I swear, I didn't know it was you, really - "

He sounded so broken. "It's okay. It's okay - I know. I'm fine. You're going to be fine," she soothed, her voice almost breaking herself.

"No it's not. It's not fine." Loki 's voice became a little more urgent and his left hand came up to grasp Kyra's. "I can do this again. This can happen again. A second time; maybe a third, a fourth, a fifth. And maybe next time I won't be able to come back. The memories can take over any minute and I'll - you -"

"You're strong. You can do this. We can do this," Kyra insisted. "I'll help you, remember? You're bounded to me."

Loki shook his head, shifting his eyes away. "The risk - "

"Is worth taking. Look at me. Loki, look at me." She nudged his head up and he didn't resist. "I'm not giving up on you, okay? I'm not giving up on my genie, my......boyfriend. I'm not giving up. So you can't, alright? You hold on. You fight it. You're Loki, the God of Asgard! You can do this. Okay?"

He didn't say a word. His green eyes looked so lost, like those of a little child's. Something inside of Kyra twisted. She touched her forehead to his, and closed her eyes.

"I wish I knew how to help," she whispered, half to herself, hating how she had no idea what to do.

His breath, with that peppermint scent, brushed the tip of her nose as he murmured back,

"You're already helping. Plenty."

They sat there for long minutes, both with their eyelids closed, just taking in each other's presence. The other prisoners vanished, they were no longer in an Asgardian dungeon, the world disappeared. It was just them and themselves, with no one else.

Loki's hands reached up to hold Kyra's, and the warmth he felt didn't come only from there, it also blossomed somewhere deep in himself, near his heart.