Between Bars
“This is all your fault,” Sif growled, continuing to pace back and forth behind the bars of her parallel cell.
Loki rolled his eyes from where he was reclining on his own cell’s cot. She had been at it for an hour and he was convinced if she didn’t sit down she would wear a tread in the stone floor.
“Firstly, it is only my fault in the basest semantic sense. Secondly, set yourself at ease. Alfheim is an ally of Asgard; they won’t let its prince sit in prison for long. Odin will send an ambassador to orchestrate our release shortly.”
He knew his argument was sound, but it seemed she could not have cared less.
“I should have known better than to follow you into this folly. I should have known your intentions were far from diplomatic,” she continued. “This is precisely why no one trusts you.”
Loki could only smirk. He had gotten them in and out of situations far worse than this and they both knew it. Still, she was so damned honor-driven that even the slightest mishap to mar her perfect image of loyalty sent her into a spiraling fit of frustration. Alright, so maybe he just might have stolen that artifact in plain sight because he was in the mood to see Sif squirm.
“What are you smiling at?” she snapped, finally stopping her torrential pacing to lean against the bars, her hands dangling over into his side.
“Simply at how lovely you are when you get angry.”
She scowled and he became aware of how fortunate he was that they had been placed in separate cells.
“Tell me, my lord, how much prison time would I serve in Asgard for breaking your royal jaw?”
Still, he continued to grin smugly.
“I do cherish these times we have quality moments to ourselves, Lady Sif. I feel like I really get to know you whenever we get into these situations.”
She swiftly drove her palm against one of the metal bars, silencing him with the piercing ring of flesh on steel.
“You mean these situations you get us into! Every time something like this happens, it is nothing but a game to you. As royalty you are untouchable, but I could lose my position over this. I could be stuck here, I could be banished!”
Loki sighed and finally rose from the stone bed. It was so amusing when she fell into a frazzled mess, but he still considered her a friend. He would only let her suffer so much. Making sure to watch that her hands didn’t clench into fists, he slowly approached and put his own hands on her shoulders.
“I will not let anything happen to you when we return to Asgard, I swear it. If anyone wants to punish you for my misgivings, then they must first survive my wrath.”
Despite the fury still painted across her face, he noticed just the slightest softening in her eyes. Before he even really thought through it, Loki let slip,
“You know so long as I live I will never let anything happen to you.”
It came out quieter than he had expected; more intimate. All traces of hostility suddenly dropped from Sif’s countenance and gave way to shock. Loki could be an insufferable flirt when he wanted to be, usually to embarrass her in public, but this time he actually spoke with substance and feeling, without even giving it any real though, either. They stood in silence for a few moments, both too taken by surprise to offer an immediate follow-up. Finally, Sif answered,
“It is my duty to fight and die for the kings of Asgard. It is your destiny to rule our realm and mine to defend it. You can’t protect me forever.”
He gently grasped her hand that was still hanging over to his side of the bars and lightly touched it to his lips without taking his eyes from hers.
“But it is my wish to do so, and what can you do to stop me?”
“You’re such a petulant child,” she groaned, but a smile still grew across her lips.
They spent the rest of the afternoon on the floors of their cells, backs against the bars so they could talk of meaningless things and feel some familiar warmth. As Loki had promised, it took hardly more than a day for Thor and an ambassador to arrive and arrange their release. Though Thor encouraged them to laugh and joke the whole way home and Sif seemed satisfied to forget the incident all together, Loki did not surrender the way his promise tasted as it rolled of his tongue or the feel of Sif’s skin on his lips. There was something blossoming inside him. Something he wasn’t sure if he was alright with, or if anyone else would be either.