#do you think being out from the shade of Odin's favouritism for mere few days caused him grief

[worstloki]

// Fortesa Latifi, The Truth About Grief //

[imagine-loki]

By The Willow Shade

TITLE: By The Willow Shade CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 11 AUTHOR: MaliceManaged ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine being a witch (on Earth) and accidentally summoning Loki. He gets angry and confused, but ends up actually liking your company and teaches you more magic. RATING: T

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    “Willow; for the last time: No!” Was the first thing that Thor and Odin heard as Loki walked into the more private dining hall reserved for the royal family with a rather exasperated look on his face.

    “Oh, come on! Pleeeease?” Willow pleaded insistently as she followed him in, “I’ll give you a month!”

    “You could give me the rest of your life; the answer is still no,” Loki snapped with a finality to his tone as he dropped down to his seat.

    Willow pouted but said no more as she sat down beside him as usual and wasted no time in digging into her food. The day’s lesson had been exhausting; Loki wanted to find what her new limits were, as he did once every month, and she was absolutely ravenous. Thor shared a look with Odin at that odd exchange, somewhere between curious and concerned as to what it could mean.

    “What do you mean, ‘give a month’?” Thor asked Willow.

    “It’s just a thing we do,” Willow replied vaguely, barely looking up from her food.

    “Care to elaborate?” Odin asked Loki.

    “Simply a lesson in moderation,” Loki replied nonchalantly, “Few things in life are free, and nobody likes to owe another.”

    “So she barters for favours with days of her life?” Thor asked incredulously.

    Loki rolled his eyes. “Well, what else would she use? She has nothing of value.”

    “She’s also sitting right here and is not deaf,” Willow spoke up in annoyance.

    “And what exactly do you intend to do with said days?” Odin asked rather sharply.

    “Whatever I want; they are mine now, after all,” Loki replied casually.

    “And you agreed to this?” Thor asked Willow.

    “Seemed like a good idea at the time. I really wanted something,” Willow replied with a shrug.

    “And just how much time has been given by now?” Odin asked next.

    Willow thought for a moment. “You know, I’m not really sure.” She looked to Loki questioningly.

    “How very responsible,” Loki said sarcastically. “You’ve given me thirty-seven days.”

    Willow mulled it over. “Eh; for almost five months, that’s not so bad.”

    “This practise cannot continue,” Odin said disapprovingly.

    “That isn’t really your choice, Allfather. It’s her life,” Loki replied testily.

    “As she is not an adult, her life is not hers to give just yet,” Odin said simply.

    “Okay, are we seriously going to keep talking about me like I’m not here?” Willow cut in.

    “What were you even asking for?” Thor asked suddenly, as though just remembering.

    Willow was about to reply, but Loki beat her to it. “Nothing. She will not be getting it, and it will be discussed no further.”

   Willow whined childishly but Loki only rolled his eyes and continued eating. Odin looked between them thoughtfully before returning to his own plate, still thinking about their arrangement. It wasn’t that he was worried for Willow’s safety - despite Loki’s penchant for chaos, he knew he wouldn’t put her in danger willingly - and he certainly did get the idea behind it, but he didn’t think it was altogether a good idea to teach the girl to use her own life as currency.

****

    The next day found Willow sitting in a corner of one of the gardens - dressed in a dark purple t-shirt with a lighter shade button up worn open and tied at the bottom over it, black cargo pants tucked into her combat boots, and her sunglasses perched on her nose - tossing the orb Loki had given her on her first day there into the air and catching it easily, much like he had been. Sometime later she heard animated chatter nearing, followed by Fandral and Sif. They paused when they noticed her and walked over.

    “Good morning, Willow. Tired of Loki’s presence already?” Fandral greeted with a grin.

    “He’s in a mood,” Willow replied vaguely.

    “He tends to be,” Sif said with a slight scoff.

    “Yeah, well; he’s got a lot on his mind,” Willow said slightly defensively.

    Fandral let out a laugh. “No one would doubt that; he’s always plotting something.”

    Willow bristled slightly at that and stood. “Right, of course, that must be it,” She said shortly then began to walk away.

    “You are awfully defensive of him,” Fandral commented as they followed after her.

    “Your point?” Willow said without looking at him.

    “Well, it merely makes one wonder…” Fandral replied, letting the implication hang in the air.

    “You people are twisted; you know that?” Willow said exasperatedly, “I mean, seriously; is that all you think about?”

    “Him? Basically,” Sif replied with a snort. “But it must be said, it is a bit suspect that you put so much faith in him.”

    Willow stopped walking and turned to them with a glare. “You wanna know why I trust him so much? It’s actually really simple: He earned it. You wanna know how? Again simple: He’s the first person in my entire sixteen years of life who has ever actually given even half a damn about me. Imagine that!”

    With that she turned around again and stormed off, leaving the warriors to look at each other somewhat guiltily. She ended up in another part of the gardens she hadn’t been to before, not that she even noticed, and climbed up the highest tree there to sit in the branches. It was an old habit; the bullies she grew up around either couldn’t climb very well or didn’t think she was worth the trouble, so it was the perfect escape. She wasn’t sure how long she sat there gazing into the orb, mesmerised by the swirling colours as they calmed her, when she heard someone speak below her.

    “Peaceful; isn’t it?” Odin called up to her, “Frigga had quite a talent for it.”

    “So I’ve heard,” Willow replied, sitting up and looking down at the king.

    “Do you know? This was her favourite garden,” Odin continued, looking around fondly, “She spent much time here. It feels as though some of her lingers still, even now.”

    “I honestly didn’t notice where I was; I just wanted to be away,” Willow admitted. She more-or-less carefully moved from the braches she was sitting on and dropped down to the ground with her usual (lack of) grace then looked around. “It’s beautiful.”

    “A clear reflection of she who tended to it,” Odin said, “I admit to be somewhat surprised you did not escape to Loki’s hall, given the subject of your discussion with Fandral and Sif.”

    Willow looked at him somewhat surprised. “Do I want to know how you know about that?”

    Odin chuckled then pointed up. Willow followed his direction and saw a pair of ravens circling above them.

    “The purpose of bringing you to this realm was to observe. Did you not wonder how?” Odin said lightly.

    “Ah. Okay then; that’s not at all unsettling,” Willow replied. “As for my not going back to Loki; he needed some time to himself, which is the whole reason I left in the first place, and I didn’t feel like staying in my room.”

    “I see. I assume, then, that he told you of our conversation while you were with Thor?” Odin asked.

    “He did.”

    “I suppose it might be a good sign; his need for solitude,” Odin mused. “He has much to think on. As indeed do I. I can only hope this reflection does not come too late.”

****

    By lunch time Willow returned to Loki’s hall, given that her other option was the feast hall and she really didn’t want to risk facing Fandral and/or Sif again quite so soon; she was still a little upset over their conversation. When she walked into the sitting room Loki was just sitting down at the table. She walked over and took her usual seat across from him, filling her plate without a word.

    Loki took one look at her and immediately noticed something was off. “What happened?”

    “Nothing major,” Willow replied with a slight shrug.

    Loki raised an eyebrow then frowned slightly. “Who was it?”

    “Thor’s friends,” Willow replied, knowing he’d get the answer out of her eventually and not wanting to beat around the bush.

    “Of course,” Loki scoffed disdainfully. “About me, I presume?” He guessed and she nodded, “I’m sorry.”

    “Not your fault; people think what they think,” Willow said somewhat bitterly.

    “I hope at least they didn’t ruin your entire morning.”

    “Nah; I spent most of it in your mom’s garden,” Willow said with a small smile.

    “It is peaceful, isn’t it?” Loki said with a wistful smile. “I spent much of my childhood in there; it’s where she taught me a lot of what I know.”

    They ate mostly in silence then moved to the balcony for Willow’s lesson; he was teaching her to manipulate wind to her will, so they needed the outdoors, or at least as close as Loki could get to it. When Willow was tired they moved back inside and settled on the couch in front of the fireplace, where Loki busied himself with Willow’s hair, tying it into braids.

    “Have you thought about it?” Willow asked after a while.

    “About what?” Loki asked back absently.

    “You know what.”

    Loki was silent for a long while then sighed softly. “It is complicated, lítið einn.”

    “It’s even more complicated if you don’t even try,” Willow said, turning around to face him.

    “I have tried, Willow. Many times,” Loki replied, sitting back and looking at the ceiling, “I’m not sure it’s worth it anymore. If it ever was.”

    “Then be sure,” Willow said, moving closer to him and nestling into his side, laying her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes. “Make sure. You might find something, or you might not. But at least you’ll know,” She added then tried and failed to stifle a yawn.

    “Sleep, lítið einn,” Loki half whispered draping an arm over her shoulders.

    Loki gazed into the fire long after Willow drifted off, thinking about her words. He knew she was right; it was better to know for sure if there was anything worth keeping of his ties, regardless of what the answer was. He looked down at Willow’s peaceful expression and felt that familiar lightening of his heart. With every day that passed he accepted it more, despite his reluctance to put himself in that position again. He only hoped that this time it would turn out better.