The Sound of Silence

Chapter 4

The next couple of weeks passed in fun, friendship, and nearly entirely in Loki's company. The others kept apologizing, but they were called out on near-constant emergencies. They did keep apologizing for leaving you alone and postponing the things you needed, and promising to start working on your powers and that medical exam Nat mentioned, but both kept getting delayed. You didn't mind. Neither of those things would be pleasant and you were nearly 100% certain your powers couldn't be controlled.

Your sleep schedule was nonexistent. You tried to sleep at night, but it was hard to get back into a schedule after the erratic schedule of the underwater prison. You'd never known what time of day it was there. So you rarely slept through the night and ended up curled up anywhere and everywhere around the tower for naps whenever you could sleep. Loki never seemed to sleep either and never seemed to mind your company no matter what the adventure was, how late the hour, or how often you fell asleep in his company.

You took to leaving the door to your bedroom open unless you were actually sleeping or actively changing clothes. Anyone looking for you was just going to barge in anyway, so you just saved them the trouble. The closed door got respected more that way anyway.

One night you showed Loki how to bake cookies. He showed you the stairway to the roof he'd found, where you would watch the stars and feel and breathe fresh air. You were both on house arrest, which meant you couldn't leave the tower, but you were both convinced that the roof was part of the tower and didn't break the rules. You spent plenty of time in the library and even spent one night teaching Loki how to play video games. He was picking up sign language at an amazing rate and began to teach you to read Asgardian texts.

*

One afternoon you sat in one of the training rooms watching him practice drills with a dagger. You watched, fascinated at the grace with which he moved. You of course were not at all affected by the fact that he was shirtless while he practiced this activity. Not at all. Despite the fact that he was really, really attractive. Ok...maybe you were a little affected. Just a little. Anyone could admire the male form when it was shirtless...right?

He saw your fascinated gaze. "I can teach you, if you'd like," he offered when he finished the drill he'd been working on. You stood, curious, and willing to try. You stripped off the zippered hoodie you'd been wearing and set it carefully aside, braving being down to a long-sleeve t-shirt. Loki looked impressed by that. You were never without a sweatshirt of some variety. He offered you a dagger and began walking you through the basics of it. "You're a natural, love," he commented after awhile. You grinned at him and shook your head.

[Not a natural] you signed quickly. [I have practice with something that helps] you gave him a smirk, daring him to ask.

He took the dare. "And what would that be?" You thought about the best way to answer.

[Can you summon anything with your magic?] you asked, thinking a demonstration was better than trying to actually explain.

"Within reason," he replied, most curious than anything. It had only been a few weeks of knowing him, but you'd spent nearly all of those few weeks together, and he knew you well enough by now to know you wouldn't ask for anything extravagant. You usually didn't ask him to use his magic at all. You nodded and pulled up a picture of the item you needed on your phone and showed it to him. He looked confused on why you were asking for a pair of shoes, but he summoned them with magic and handed them to you.

You grinned and sat down to break the shoes in quickly, taking your dagger and cutting the fabric away from the toes, about a quarter sized piece on each. At least the ribbons were already tied on. He watched confused, but fascinated. You stretched a little. You were out of practice, but not too much for what you had in mind. At least the floor in this particular training room was perfect for this activity. You tested the shoes, then got into position and snapped to get Jarvis' attention, before asking him to play The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. It wasn't the most creative thing from your repertoire, but it was a classic and you'd had to dance it every Christmas for years. You couldn't have forgotten it if you wanted to. You started the dance, joy filling you as you did. Ballet had been one of your passions for years. It was something you could enjoy even without your voice and you'd been training as long as you could remember.