The Chosen Bride

Cleaning Up

Brunhilde sat in her room, desperately trying to cool off. It had been about twenty-five minutes since her outburst. She didn't know why, but she had an urge to return to the room where it happened. Like she had unfinished business. She walked to the doors. There were no guards, so she was able to walk in by herself. She pushed open one door very slightly. She saw the room. It was completely silent. Completely empty as well, except for one. Loki sat on the couch exactly as she had left him. His head in his hands, on the couch where they had sat. The door creaked just a bit as she opened it, alerting him to her. He looked up quickly, but kept his hand on his face. Brunhilde instantly knew that he was hiding something. She had a feeling she knew what it was.

She walked over, her dress flowing behind her. She stood over him. He didn't look up at her, so she crouched down so that she was below him. She took his hands and pulled them from his face. This revealed a large bruise and a small cut on his cheek. His face was red with blotches from crying. There were two shining lines where tears had been falling. She sighed. "Come with me. Let's clean you up."

Loki resisted at first, insisting that he was fine and that it was nothing, but he eventually gave in. Brunhilde walked him to her room to her sink. She had him sit with his back against her sink on the ground, while she got things to clean his wounds. She did all of this quietly and sternly. Loki kept staring at her sadly.

She crouched down to meet him again with a cotton ball and some cleaning agent. She took it and wiped his cut. The cut was small but the bruise was big. It covered from under his left eye to the bottom of his cheekbone. It was a very light purple and getting darker.

Loki finally broke his silence. "Are you still upset with me?" he asked. Brunhilde just looked at him blankly. "I'll take that as a yes." he said. "Brun, I am sorry. You are right. You are here because of me. You shouldn't thank me for anything. But you did. You did thank me and I lied about that as well."

Brunhilde did not acknowledge this. "Why did Odin hit you?" she asked. Loki looked a bit taken aback. "How do you know what happened?"

"You think I cannot infer? It is very obvious." she said as she continued cleaning his face. Brunhilde got up and went to her vanity. She came back with a compact of powder. It was Aphaea's, but she had no pale makeup of her own because of her tan complexion. "I'll ask again. Why did Odin hit you?"

Loki sighed. "He was angry to start with because he thought I was being immature by laughing at your quip about freedom, but I had not told him about the training room. That was just between me and the people who are putting it together."

Brunhilde stopped. Her. It was because of her that he was hurt. "Oh, Loki. I-I am so sorry-"

"Please don't be. It was not your fault."

"But it was."

"No. It wasn't. You did not know."

Brunhilde sighed. She then picked up the compact powder. "Wait. What are you doing?" Loki asked. "Covering up your bruise. You don't want people to see it do you?" Loki put his hands down. "Thank you, Brun."

Brunhilde nodded and took Loki's hands in hers. "Are you alright?" she asked. Loki smiled. "Yes, thanks to you."