A Whole Bunch of Loki's

To Be Granted One More Chance - Part Three

(After a weekend of work and deliberation (and a day of playing The Sims 4) I have decided that I will stick about for as long as I have some stories to tell and people who wish to read it.
I can't begin to thank you all enough for the support and I hope to continue seeing some friendly faces about so we can chat, have a laugh and see what strange requests you guys seem to enjoy challenging me with.
I can never express how grateful I am for the reception my writing has garnered over the years, it truly means the world to me.
Thank you all and here's to another 150 chapters.)

While I wouldn't dare to admit it out loud, I couldn't deny the fact that I was enjoying my time mucking out these large pumpkins.

It was calming and more enjoyable than I had anticipated, the young woman I had found myself with was also good company which helped the task seem less daunting and monotonous.

Perhaps it was the years of decrepit solitude, but I found that she was definitely a breath of fresh air and I could see why my younger, more impoverished self chose to befriend her.

Though her body wasn't as perfect and she wasn't as primed as the Asgardian's that I was accustomed to being around, I still felt drawn to her.

The infectious smile she had made it more than evident that she genuinely enjoyed what she did, watching as she worked diligently and fluidly, all the while talking or singing and being general pleasant company made me feel giddy in a way I hadn't felt in years.

It was entirely different to the years I had spent surrounded by people who always wore expressions of happiness that felt forced, as if they were mandatory for working in the palace.

While they were merely going about their duty because they had to, she appeared to take joy in getting stuck in and messy and there was something about that which spurred me.

Or, perhaps, it was just the effects of my younger body.

I couldn't say for certain if he had taken a liking to her before I had rudely interrupted, but I certainly felt a distantly familiar flutter in my chest every time she'd look at me with those kind eyes and make some kind of remark she would laugh at herself.

I also couldn't help but to notice that I would get quite a nice view each time she would lean over, the loose bodice to her dress curving in a way that would have made even the smallest of chests noticeable as she leaned into the pumpkin to scoop more guts out.

Silently, I thanked every God I knew in Asgard that I was rather consistently keeping a pumpkin in front of my crotch lest she learn that I was having a significantly harder time keeping my loins under control than I should have been.

This I also put down to my younger body, it had been many years since I was able to get this excited this quickly and although I attempted to distract myself with my task, I did find myself wondering if the two had ever been sexually physical with one another.

Something told me they hadn't, but that they deeply wanted to.

"So, pumpkin pie?"

"Pardon?" I asked, looking up from my half hollowed out fruit after being dragged from my distracting mental images.

"Pumpkin pie?" She repeated with a laugh, "should I make some with what we're collecting here."

I glanced around at the two large buckets we had collected after only doing six pumpkins, three each, and couldn't help but chuckle.

"Are you sure? That would be a lot of pie for just us."

She shrugged and set her shovel down to pick up her knife, sawing away at some insides that were stuck to the side of the pumpkin.

"Doesn't just have to be for us, I could make some for the festival as well, I'm sure they would appreciate all the donations they can get for the feast."

I nodded slowly then smiled at her.

"Sure, that sounds like a wonderful idea, perhaps I'll even help."

She may have wished to hide it, but I noticed the way she faltered and her smile turned into something I could only describe as wistful as she glanced towards me.

If they hadn't had sex, it was more than evident to me that she wished to.

Shame in my younger self for not grabbing the chance while it was there.

"I think it's time we had a break, fancy a drink?"

"I wouldn't mind one, thank you," I smiled at her.

"Sure thing," she grinned before jumping up, wiping her hands on her sullied apron that was supposed to protect her dress, "hot chocolate or something cold?"

"I'm warm enough, why would I drink something hot?"

Which was true, for the first time in my life I could feel the ending summer heat that others had mentioned over the years.

Before, my Jotun heritage would protect me from the temperature changes and I'd only feel a difference if it was severely hot but for the first time that I could ever recall I had worked up a sweat purely by sitting in the sun, cutting and scooping.

"My father always said it was best to drink something warm if you're too hot as opposed to cold, something to do with counterbalancing."

"Then I suppose I shall follow in the words of a wise man."

She gave an enthusiastic nod and then headed inside, my eyes trailing after her and taking in her figure.

What was coming over me?

This had to stop.

I couldn't get attached, especially not this quickly, if I was only doomed to end up returning and losing what I felt I had gained.

I definitely blamed my new body, whatever feelings he had towards this woman were rubbing off on me, that had to be it.

For the rest of the day I attempted to ignore these rising emotions, attempted to push them down and stem them as I was accustomed to doing for the years before this strange shift.

Then again, that was the reason why I had wanted to be young again, wasn't it?

To live life to the fullest and enjoy myself one more time before my time came.

Perhaps my living on these reservations was the wrong thing to do, but there was also every chance that once I had fulfilled what I had been sent here for I would end up being thrown back to live out my final days alone with only fond memories of a farm life that wasn't my own to keep me company in my last breath.

In the end, I decided to hold back against making any moves on the chance that I would end up being send back to my own life.

Though I hoped the poor lad I had taken this life from wasn't living my one.

When two days had passed and the festival drew near, I accepted that perhaps I wasn't going to snap back to my old life as quickly as I had anticipated and that it was going to be fine for me to indulge, just a little.

Over my short time there, I had done my best to see to my own bit of land, it was fun and I enjoyed the sense of accomplishment that came with completing a task and knowing that I had worked to help the farm progress in some way.

Tending to the animals was always charming in its own way as well, it gave me an entirely new appreciation for our stable workers.

I watched her working through my kitchen window, raking at stray strands of hay that lay on the ground.

As she paused and wiped sweat from her brow, I noticed that she glanced towards my window and I smiled, giving her a wave.

She appeared to be briefly startled then smiled and waved back before returning to her task.

That was when I decided.

I would allow myself to have some fun and ask her to accompany me to the fall festival.