Reign

Chapter 8: Jealousy

After a while of idle talking, Ash placed the scepter on the counter upon the accepted offer of her making coffee for Thor. Of course, she offered it on the house. She wasn't about to make her bodyguard pay for his drink. She doubted he had Midgardian currency anyway. Typical God of Thunder...

Loki grew steadily more impatient by the minute. There it was, his scepter. He could just get it right now. If only his oaf of a brother wasn't hovering a few feet away. It wasn't like Thor was paying attention to such an insignificant creature like a cat anyway. Loki looked over to Ash as she was almost finished with the coffee. He had quite a mischievous idea. He began to fiddle with the scepter with his mouth as it slowly slid towards the edge of the counter, towards Ash.

Ash turned to bring the cup of coffee to Thor but she released it from her hands in a vain effort to catch the scepter which was pushed from the counter. If Loki were human he would have shrugged his shoulders at the scene, but as a cat, he simply decided to go down with the scepter seeing as to how Ash was so intent on catching it.

The coffee mug shattered against the ground and coffee spread all over the floor, catching Thor's attention. He immediately rushed to the scene, but as soon as he was around the counter he found Ash on her back with the scepter safely in her hands and the black cat lying on her chest.

She looked up at Thor and muttered, "I'll clean it up..." She shoved the cat onto the floor as she leaned the scepter on the counter beside her. She got up and gathered the towels required to clean the sticky mess. 

As she walked back to the mess Thor immediately walked up to her and grabbed some of the towels from her. "It would be impolite of me to leave you to clean it on your own."

"It was really Lucky's fault... I..." She sighed seeing his persistence in his eyes. She wanted to resist the kind offer but she gave up that thought rather quickly. It would have been an extremely vain effort to avoid his help. After all, it was her fault for using her powers to set a false sense of affection in Thor's mind. She just wanted to use Thor's emotions long enough to distract him from the scepter in hopes that Loki would take a good chance. But for now, she had to work with this. Ash knelt beside Thor as they began to clean up the spilled coffee and glass.

"So your cat's name is Lucky?" Thor's innocent question was the only thing to break the silence that was between them. 

She pressed firmly on the towels as they soaked up the coffee. "Yeah, though sometimes I think I should've named him clumsy..." 

She glared at Loki and he only rolled his eyes in response. He wasn't going to feel intimidated in the least bit by this. He was only waiting for Thor to leave from behind the counter so he could transform and again grasp his weapon.

Thor laughed in amusement as he glanced at Ash. "You are quite an interesting Midgardian. I've met a Midgardian who had a similar personality to yours. Though, she was a scientist."

Ash slightly blushed as she hated how personal the conversation was getting. She took in a calming breath and commented, "Well, I'm as dumb as a rock when it comes to science. I grew up on a farm and now I work a coffee shop. Not much intelligence required for a job like this."

"You are more intelligent than you credit yourself. Loki would not take such interest in you were you not competent." This caught her attention. 

Was it the fact that he mentioned Loki or was it the fact that he was basically complimenting her? Thor was a really nice man when getting to know his affectionate side. She was watching him as he was gently dabbing the remaining spots of coffee from the glass filled ground.

Loki glowered at the scene in front of him. It was like watching a soon-to-be couple bond. As he glared at them, he used his magic to slightly shove Ash away from his brother.

It looked natural as though her hand would have slipped. Her left hand skimmed straight against a large piece of glass and she yanked her hand back as she hissed in pain. She figured it was her fault as she wasn't paying attention to what she was doing. She was distracted by Thor. She only cursed herself for that.

Thor instantly shot forward and caught her wrist despite her pained tugging. She gave up as Thor took her hand and inspected the bloody wound. He smiled and told her, "Not to worry, Ash. We can easily fix this." He helped her to her feet and led her over to the sink in the back of the many different coffee machines where he began to rinse it under the warm water. 

She allowed the blood to be washed off before quietly admitting, "Um... Thor... I don't have any medical supplies here."

"We do not require that urgently." She was confused before noticing what he was talking about. He grabbed one of the white towels and tore a long strip off. He first dried her hand with another piece of the towel before wrapping the strip around her hand, just tight enough to where it would stop any more blood from seeping out.

She gave a gentle smile to him. "Thank you."

He pulled her injured hand up to his lips and placed a most gentle kiss on her hand. "You are most welcome, Lady Ash."

"P- please... just call me Ash." She stuttered as he lightly pulled her hand to where she was then standing right in front of him, his face so close to hers.

"As you wish, Ash." His lips were so close to touching hers. But they were suddenly parted by a blue explosion which threw them to opposite ends of the room. 

Ash landed roughly on the floor and held her stomach as she winced. She didn't have time to think about the pain for she was immediately yanked to her feet by someone else. She looked over to the person who was holding her arm, only to see an enraged God of Mischief. "Loki..."

"Silence, mortal quim!" That one statement made her fall silent in no time. She made not a sound as his hand was tightly gripped around her arm. His other hand was occupied by the scepter.

Thor stood as he glared at Loki. "Do not call her such terms, Loki! You only seek to use her for whatever plot you-"

"Oh, but this is only getting good, isn't it, brother?! You make your attempt of turning her to your own personal-" Loki's harsh words were cut off by the sound of Ash's pleading.

"Loki! I-" Ash was then silenced by a stinging hand which whipped her head to the side. She didn't bother to attempt removing the hair which entered her face. Her eyes watered, but if she was to cry, she most certainly would not be doing so in front of Loki. What had happened here? What had made him suddenly so violent towards her?

He leaned next to her face and whispered venomously, "Perhaps you will worsen your punishment if you continue to disobey me, love."

Thor called his hammer over to him as he saw Loki's sudden violence. Perhaps this was just the reason why Ash was so terrified of him. So terrified upon even hearing his name. He was nothing but abusive to her. Both verbally and physically. He shouted, "Release her, brother! She has done nothing to deserve your infliction of pain!"

Loki hardly smiled in amusement before raising his scepter and replying, "She will only receive what she has asked for, Odinson! You may just understand her position once I am King of Midgard!" He slammed his scepter on the ground, pulling Ash roughly into his grasp as they disappear into a flash of green.

Thor angrily stormed out of the building, tracking down the other Avengers. This had just become a worse situation for them all. He had foolishly allowed Loki to escape with Ash as his prisoner... She was too innocent a girl to have to suffer Loki's unrestrained wrath.

(A/N: So Thor or Loki? Maybe Ash liked Thor's soft side...)