The Soldier

„our secrets define us.", said the black fox

Tessa turned her head, her right hand covering the tattoo instantly. Loki looked at the place where it was curiously, nodding in Tessa's direction.

„What is this?", he asked, coming nearer again and Tessa was not sure if she wanted him to see it.

But then she thought about herself being curious and how he always answered her questions and decided to answer his questions too.

„It's a tattoo, a fox.", she explained fastly, looking anywhere except in his general direction, her hand still protectively covering the memory she always kept on her body.

The surname she once had, the one feeling so much more comfortable and right than Miles. Tessa Fox had a nicer sound than Tessa Faith Miles, but nobody was asking her about it in the first place.

„May I?", Loki asked carefully, taking her right hand and looking at her, waiting for an answer.

Now, he already saw it, so Tessa nodded, to which Loki slowly put away her hand, absentmindedly holding on to it for a second, before staring at her tattoo again.

„Is this some sort of scar? May I touch it?", he asked, looking at Tessa with open curiosity.

„No, it's a special kind of colour that you can mark your skin with permanently. Don't you have this in Asgard?", Tessa asked, flinching because of the sudden coldness of Loki's fingertip touching her tattoo.

She gasped for air as it only became colder and colder, a short electrifying sting coming from it, inhabiting her whole body for a second.

Her hands felt like pure energy ran through them right to her fingertips and she looked at them, they moved as if by themselves and her tattoo felt even colder once again.

Tessa flinched, moving away. Loki did not get the hint, still looking at it and touching it fascinated.

„Does it hurt you if I touch it?", he asked, still not moving away.

„It doesn't hurt, but you don't go around randomly touching stranger's tattoos.", Tessa said, putting away his hand, to which he only smirked.

„Well, you are no stranger to me, Tess. You mortals have weird practises to mark yourself... explain this to me, soldier. Why can I not make out any difference between this tattoo and your normal skin? No, we do not have that on Asgard, if it has no sense. Why did you mark yourself with such a strange symbol? Has it some kind of power? Does this fox have any use or is it just there for no reason at all?", Loki asked, pointing at it somewhat sceptically. Tessa smiled up at him, before answering that it had no power or use, except the meaning she associated with it.

„And what does it mean, Tess?", Loki asked, his fingertip once again resting on her tattoo.

Another cold shiver ran down her spine and for a short moment she felt kind of dizzy, but Loki immediately put away his hand now and smiled at her curiously.

„Our secrets define us.", she smiled, still shivering every now and then because of the coldness.

Not that often anymore though, she was getting used to Loki and the coldness around him.

Loki smiled at her, taking back a step and looking at her tattoo again, nodding approvingly.

„Are you going to tell me or do I have to read your mind to find out about it?", Loki asked, before chuckling. Tessa thought about telling him for a second, and she was actually okay with it for some reason.

Maybe because she found out, that Loki was adopted too, maybe because she thought he would understand but mainly because she was just not bothered by him knowing about it. It would not change a thing.