The Myriad Misadventures of a Midgardian Queen-In-Training || Loki x Reader

Chapter 20

He hadn't planned on staying this long.

It was ridiculous enough that he had stopped to help her. Seen her to her room, dismissed her maid, washed her hair -

And now.

Well.

Now he's waking up in a bed that is not his own, and her nose is pressed up against his throat, and he can feel her breath on his collarbone. He would move, but she's so close, and so warm - and besides, there's something almost sweet about the way the air hums out when she exhales. It's somewhere between a sigh and a snore.

He can feel her heartbeat.

Slowly, he detaches himself - not fully, just enough to put a few inches of bed between his skin and hers. A beam of moonlight crosses her face, casting a soft shadow off of her nose and the curve of her lip. Her eyes move beneath her eyelids. He wonders what she's dreaming, if she's dreaming.

Slowly, slowly, slowly sitting up. A moment of hesitation as he considers her hand, still clutching his. He manages to do it without waking her, but as soon as he's succeeded, once he no longer has the feeling of her palm against his, he is surprised by how cold the air feels.

He clenches and unclenches his fist, once. And then he slides off the bed, forbidding himself from looking back as he makes his way across the room, taking care to lock the door behind him once more.