Getting Lucky

7. Restless Nights

(Loki)

I hear a knock on my bedroom door and look up from the book I'm reading.

"Come in," I call, closing the novel.

The door opens and James pokes his head in, "I believe this is yours," he states. Reaching his metal arm out, James holds out my Norse Mythology book.

I take it from him, "Thank-you." I enjoyed reading through the books about the Asgardian Gods and seeing what was accurate and what was not.

"No problem," he replies with a small smile.

We both kind of sit in awkward silence for a few moments, unsure of what to say next.

"Who's that?" James blurts out, pointing towards a small painting sitting on my dresser.

My heart winces slightly as I look over at the small portrait of Frigga. It had been one of the only things I had been allowed to take from Asgard before being sent here.

"That's Frigga," I answer, "my adoptive mother."

"Oh. Were you two... close?"

I nod, "Aye. We were close."

"How did she feel about sending you to Asgard?" he asks curiously.

"She didn't get to have a say in Odin's choice to banish me. Honestly, I don't even know what Mother would've wanted." 

"You say that as if..." James trails off, realization dawning in his stormy blue eyes. "God, I'm so sorry Loki, I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine," I cut him off, "You didn't know anyways."

"True," James whispers, going quiet.

I force a yawn to end the silence between us.

James takes that as his cue to leave (not that I don't want him to stay, it's just... awkward.)

"Well, goodnight Loki," he says, leaving the room.

 "Night," I whisper to the empty room.

I prepare myself to go to bed, though I know that sleep will be a long wait.

~'~'~'~'~

I awake to the sound of panicked screaming. Sitting upright, I slip a hand under my pillow and grab the small knife hidden under it. Opening my door slightly, I peek through the crack and spot James standing in the dining room, back facing me.

I can't see his expression, but from the tension in his broad shoulders and haggard breathing, the screams had been his.

I allow myself a moment to let my eyes trail along the backs of his muscular calves before putting my knife back. I then slip out of my room and walk over to him, "You okay?"

James jumps, looking over his shoulder at me. "I'm okay," he replies quietly, "just nightmares."

He's lying, but don't call him out for it. I have my fair share of nightmares, so I can understand how James is feeling. I recognize the haunted pain in his exhausted eyes and the tension radiating from his slumped posture, all too well.

We both go silent, lost in our own thoughts as James pours himself a glass of water.

"Well, I'm going back to sleep," he whispers turning around. "Goodnight again, Loki."

"Yeah, goodnight," I whisper back watching him leave. 

With a sigh, I turn around and go back into my room.

~ 3 days later ~

This time I'm already awake when the screams begin.

My internal clock very quickly gets used to waking up at approximately 4 am because of James' nightmares, and this time I'm already sitting at the counter when he stumbles out of his room.

"Oh! Hey," James jumps slightly when he sees me sitting there, "I didn't expect to see you up just yet." His eyes widen in surprise when I hand him an already prepared glass of water (normally, I would offer him something  stronger, but I soon learned that normal alcohol doesn't affect him.)

"I adjust to getting up at certain times quite quickly," I answer as he sits down beside me.

James cringes, knowing that I meant from the screaming, "Sorry about that."

I wave a hand flippantly, "It's no problem, I don't require much sleep anyways."

"Oh."

We both go silent as James drinks his water, and I stare out the window at the gradually lightening sky.

"You still tired?" I ask James, glancing over at him.

He shakes his head, "No. Not really."

"Well then, I think I have an idea to help pass the time."

James shoots me a questioning look.

I stand up from the counter, "The tower has a sparring room, a few floors down. I find it helps to beat something up or throw something sharp when I can't fall asleep. If you want to join me, just ask JARVIS to take you to the training room." If I'm being honest, I'm surprised that nobody else has mentioned sparring yet, ( they're probably still trying to get him accustomed to things around here.)

James stands up and moves to follow me, but stops when I hold up a hand.

"Before you come with me..." I gaze appraisingly at his legs, "You might want to put some pants on. Not that I mind, but I don't think that the others will appreciate your bare legs walking around in public."

James' face flushes red, and I smirk to myself as I turn around and enter the elevator.

(A/N: Hello peoples! The next chapter will be out soon, but for now... I hope that you're satisfied. Also, drop a  #LowkeyHittingOnYou in the comments whenever you detect subtle... hitting on people?

-Skye)