O U T O F T I M E
book 3 in the 'chaos series'
in which lusine returns to earth and is reunited with steve, but not everything is as it was when they said their farewells after the events of the battle of new york. with new companions in tow, ol...
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sixteen "i don't want to forget you" -
The night is not kind.
In it rushes, hot and heavy. Clinging to the skin like a humid summer's day.
Lusine rolls over in her sleep, knotting the sheets between clenched fists, and letting out a fragile whimper as the grinning face of her mother looms before her in the nightmare scape her mind brings her to most nights.
With every blade that drives relentlessly into her flesh, a new face appears before her. The blood-stained face of Cloris, the decayed face of Regina, the face of her twin grinning in revenge, and (oh she always comes last) the sadistic mother come to teach her child a lesson.
A lesson she never asked for nor deserved.
But a lesson she got all the same.
She isn't expecting the dreamscape to shift from that fateful day to a beautiful day on Asgard. It's mid-Winter. The snow is drifting from the sky like tiny white feathers and Lusine is walking through it, smiling as the flakes land in her hair and upon her cheeks, melting into her freckles.
She wanders into the room that will always be stark in her memory. The room where they'd held the Winter Ball, where fates had aligned, where her life had taken a turn.
When she enters, he's waiting for her.
Standing there with that smirk she knows she'll always adore. His hair slicked back and shorter again, just like how it'd been on the day they'd met. Eyes his wonderful green and brimming with mischief.
With every step she takes towards him through the empty ballroom, her stomach lifts and falls.
When she's close enough, Loki extends a hand.
"How about that dance?"
His words jolt her from the dream, and she's yanked away. With a start, she wakes, sitting bolt upright, but she's thankful for the dream, for the break from the reminders of trauma.
And, with an ache, she realises that, actually, she quite misses the god of mischief and lies. More than she'd like to admit, especially to him.
Lusine slips from bed with sleep still heavy in her bones and weighing down her eyelids. When she cracks open her bedroom door, she can see the sun is beginning to peek over the horizon. Cresting to bring a new day to Earth.
She walks closer to the sunlight coming through the glass, drags the armchair right over to the large window, and slumps down in it to watch the sunrise.
It calms her. Brushes away the worries and stresses in the forefront of her mind. And, though this peacefulness may only last for a fleeting moment, it was a moment more than she'd had before. So, she lets the morning sun soothe her as she basks in its glory.
