Stars Have Fallen - A Loki Love Story (Marvel/Avengers)

22

A look of worry glinted in Loki's eyes when he noticed Estrial's reddened cheeks. Approaching quickly, he reached down to her face. "Are you alright, Essy?" He wondered with a frown, feeling her cheeks with the back of his hand. As always, his skin was icy and smooth on hers.

Thor, now noticing the red standing prominently against the star's paper-like skin, frowned. "Perhaps she is unwell," he suggested. He stood abruptly and announced, "I will make some tea for you, Estrial."

"No," Loki snapped, his annoyance returning. His brother raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I'll take care of her," he insisted with a bit of a growl. His voice softened when he noticed Thor back down. "She is my guardian," Loki went on, hesitating for a moment before adding, "my friend."

His friend.

This was no secret, of course; it was obvious how much Loki cared for his star. But the fact that he'd spoken it aloud to his brother was intense. Loki, whom never admitted his relationship with another so forwardly. Thor decided then and there that it would be best to let the God of Mischief take care of Estrial on his own. If she really was ill, Thor knew that she was in good hands. He nodded in understanding, giving his brother a warm smile. "Of course, brother." Giving Estrial a small nod of reassurance, the demigod left.

Estrial was still quite awestruck by her discovery. This feeling that Loki had for her was love. Or similar to it. She found herself second guessing out of a new-found insecurity she felt. For she didn't know much about love yet, but she was aware that there were different kinds of it. There was the love one would feel for a significant other, but also that for a family or a friend. The question she was now prompted with, however, was: what were her feelings for him?

Taking the seat that Thor had left, Loki sighed. "You're skin is much hotter than usual," he observed in worry, taking her hand into his, "your entire body."

"It is," Estrial confirmed, suddenly aware of how the temperature around her seemed to rise substantially. There was even a bit of sweat accumulating on her forehead, something she'd never had happen before. For a moment, even she wondered if she were possibly sick.

Loki looked down at her small hand in his. After a moment of silence, he ordered gently, "remove these cuffs." Estrial didn't hesitate, but there was no ounce of ill-intention in the demigod's words, so there was no reason to worry. Swiftly slipping them off of his wrists, she watched in shock as his right hands slowly turned blue. Seeing her surprise, Loki smirked. "There are some things about me that not even you know of," he teased.

The coldness of Loki's skin grew more intense on Estrial's hand. "..What is this?" She wondered softly.

"It is me," Loki replied simply. He lifted his blue hand to her forehead, gently dragging his finger tips from her forehead down to her jaw bone.  Estrial felt immediate relief of her body's temperature. The feeling must've shone on her face, for Loki smiled, letting his hand go back to it's usually pail skin tone.

Estrial looked up into his blue-green eyes in awe. She squinted as if trying to see this blue color again. But she could only see his current physical form, and the rapid flickering of his emotions. "Let me see," she pleaded.

Loki shook his head in response. "No..that's quite enough for one day," he insisted, not wanting Estrial to see his truest form. Not yet. He held his hands out to her with a smooth grin on his face, signalling that he was ready to be cuffed again. She gently morphed the cuffs back around Loki's wrists, keeping her hands ontop of his. His skin was back to it's usual cool feel; Estrial wondered now if the reason his skin was always cold was partially because of his other, much colder, form.

"Now," Loki began, standing up from his spot on the couch. He extended a hand out to Estrial, a charming smile on his face. "How about that tea?"

• • •

Estrial stared down at the dark golden liquid in her cup, a look of indifference on her face. "That is..gruesome," she muttered while Loki poured his own cup of tea. The two were in the large kitchen, sitting across from each other at the island.

"It's not gruesome," Loki corrected, "it's just dead leaves."

"It is the ashes of something that once lived, boiled in water," Estrial pointed out with a frown.

Loki sighed. He'd spent the past thirty minutes trying to explain why making tea out of dead herbs wasn't the same as murder. "Plant life is far different from human life, Essy," he urged. But the star continued to wear a face of discomfort. The demigod sighed, deciding he'd have to reference something he had hoped never to speak of again. "Tea, in a sense, is like apple juice."

Estrial squinted her eyes and scrunched her nose. "Tea is not like apple juice," she argued quietly, refering to the difference in taste.

"I mean that they are both made from plants," Loki clarified with a small chuckle. "Now, you like apple juice, right?" Estrial nodded with an innocent smile. Loki finally felt like he had gotten through to her. "See?" He finished, "it's not bad."

"Okay," Estrial accepted, taking a more welcoming sip of her tea. Now that she was sure it wasn't hurting the once-living herbs, it was more pleasant.