Unexpected

What I Love About You

The strangled sound of terror that ripped from my throat was a mixture of a yelp and a gasp, and I jumped, knocking the side of my head into the wall I had been leaning against.

"Have I ever mentioned how beautiful your voice is, Darling?" Loki's tone was amused. "Are you alright?"

Blushing furiously at my reaction I lifted my hand to the side of my head, waving his question away with my other. "I'm fine." Then a thought occurred to me, "How long have you been here?"

"Long enough to enjoy that little dance of yours." His smirk grew into a grin that set me blushing further.

"Oh gosh." I groaned, slumping against the wall again and dropping my hand from the side of my head to block my face from his view. I could hear him chuckling, then there was silence for a minute.

"Penny..." His voice had gone soft, and I moved my hand so I could see him. His mirage shimmered for a second, but his expression remained the same, concerned, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." I assured him again.

"You look tired."

"That's because I'm not wearing makeup." I shrugged, "Why can you never appear when I'm looking good? It's always at night when I'm worn from work or something."

"Well, I highly doubt you would want me appearing in the middle of S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Touche." I mumbled.

"And besides, it's easier to reach you at night, less guards patrolling and my fellow prisoners are all asleep." His eyes traveled around the room, looking distant, probably seeing the cells around his own and the occupants inside that I couldn't see, "No need to put up an illusion or block sound when they are all snoring like bears. And the less energy I have to put into other illusions..." His gaze settle on me again, "The longer I have with you. But I was not referring to your makeup. Your posture, your expression... you seem weary."

I nodded, sighing, "It's been a long week... a long couple of weeks actually. I missed you."

"I missed you too. Come sit." He gestured for me to go settle on my couch. Crossing the dark room I closed my blinds before flipping the light switch and settling on the couch. To my surprise, his hologram settled down beside me on the couch. His eyes followed me, like he was trying to drink in every detail of me, a quiet smile playing on his face. "Your hair's grown longer." He commented as I adjusted a pillow behind my lower back."

"So has yours." How had I not noticed before, how long his hair had gotten? Last time we were together physically, his hair had been to his shoulders almost, slicked back and straight, but now the ends of his hair were settled around his shoulders and even though he still had it back from his face I could see how a gentle curl had come into play. Never before had I ever really liked long hair on a man before, but Loki... he pulled it off. I could feel my cheeks heating at the thought, but I fought against hiding my eyes from him. I wanted to study his features, remember everything about him, his face, his posture, the sound of his voice, every word and movement. He seemed kind of tired, actually, like he hadn't slept well or something, but I assume it was just the stress of maintaining the illusion's connection.

My eyes started to sting as I felt tears welling up. Was I going to cry? Why? I was so happy to see him. I shook my head and tried to huff a breathy laugh, "I'm sorry."

"Penny..."

Brushing away a tear before it fully escaped my eyelashes, "I'm sorry, it's just... I missed you so much."