Secrets
Loki leaned unhappily against the walls surrounding the training yard, his arms crossed against his chest as he scowled at everyone that attempted to approach him. His eyes, when not sending a warning to Fandral to back off, were fixed on the sparring match in front of him: Sif verses Hogun.
Loki thought she looked most beautiful when she was fighting. Her hair pulled back out of her face, her muscles flexing as she swung her sword. Watching her fight helped to lessen his current vicious mood- "If you do it again one more time, Fandral, I swear by Odin's beard, I will pluck your mustache off your face hair by hair!" -somewhat, but not completely.
When the fight ended, the Warriors Three and Thor congratulated Sif on her win, and she thanked them in turn, especially Hogun for the spectacular match. As Fandral and Thor's match began, Sif walked over to Loki. Ignoring his scowl and leaning beside him, she attempted to converse with him. "Will I get to see you spar today or are you more in the mood to threaten your friends when they try to help you?"
Loki scoffed and said nothing to her. She signaled Voltagg and told him that she was going on a walk with Loki and either she would be back with his detached head or by the stars a happier Loki. Following Volstagg's laugh of amusement, Sif all but dragged Loki away from the training yard. The pair walked in silence as they headed for a private section in the Royal Gardens. Sif led him to a hidden pavillion, overgrown by vines and wysteria. Sif sat down on the bench in the middle while Loki stared out at the rest of the garden with his back to Sif. The two of them let silence surrounded for a few minutes.
Sif hoped that being in the gardens would help to calm Loki, but she quickly gave it up follpwing his sigh of exasperation. "You want to tell me what is going on with you or do I need to beat it out of you?" Sif asked him.
"Father would have you become Thor's wife." Loki answered, not wanting to be thrown through the gardens and beaten into the dirt. "Thor has been acting strangely around you since he found out, more flustered and...flirtatious."
Sif rolled her eyes and stood from the bench. She moved to Loki's side and set her hand on his arm, "Ah, I see. You are fretting over nothing."
"Tis not nothing. He has decided Thor will be King and you would be his Queen!" Loki argued, his knuckles were beginning to turn white from gripping the half wall.
Sif looked around to make sure they were alone before pulling him around toward her and kissing him hard. When she felt Loki's rigid posture relax against her and him beginning to kiss her back, she smiled to herself and wrapped her arms around him. After a few minutes, she pulled back from him, but Loki kept his arms around her. "You know I would refuse. How could I accept anyone else when I have committed my heart to you already?" She asked him breathlessly.
"I'll admit I forget sometimes about us...especially on a long cold winter's night" He murmured, setting his hands on her waist. "I get very lonely all by myself."
"And you remember before you bed another woman? Very impressive, my Prince," Sif retorted sarcastically and attempted to step away from him.
Loki pulled her back toward him. The metal of her skirst clashing against the metal buckles of his coat. "There is no other woman compared to you anywhere in all the nine realms," He told her with a very serious expression. "I would only have you. No one else could compete against you."
"Flatterer." Sif muttered back at him with a roll of her eyes.
"I mean it, Sif. No one else." Loki brought up a hand and cupped the back of her neck, bringing her lips to his once again.
Several hours later after they all had retired for the night, Thor was preparing for bed when he found his brother lounging on his couch with the same frown he had on earlier. "What is it now, Loki? Did I anger you accidentally once again?" Thor asked him with a sigh.
"You need to go to Father and ask him to reconsider your impending marriage." Loki answered, arms crossed in front of his chest and his feet resting on the edge of the small table in front of him.
"Is that what this is all about? Our marriages?" Thor asked, running his hand through his hair. "Loki, the girl Father picked for you is wonderful, I'm sure-"
"I am here about your bride, Thor." Loki interrupted him quickly as Thor took a seat across from his brother in the opposite chair. "The Lady Sif would not be a good fit for you. I have seen the way you act around her recently and it is clear to me by how she responds that she is not interested."
"Not interested? In me?" Thor scoffed at the seemingly outrageous claim. "Brother, you are mistaken-"
Loki grew angrier and quickly cut off his brother again, "She has told me this herself. She sees you as a brother, not as a husband."
"When was this conversation?" Thor asked him curiously. He had been keeping a close eye on Sif since Odin had told him about his marriage and bride-to-be. He couldn't recall a time when the two of them were absent from the group. The two of them were always bickering over something new every week.
"Last week." Loki answered shortly "Thor, she is a warrior, not your princess-"
"Well, I am sure I could convince her to change her mind." Thor suggested vaguely. He watched his brother's nostrils flare angrily and Loki seemed to have reached his snapping point.
"Don't you dare think of her in that way! You have no right!" Loki yelled at his brother, finger pointed at him.
Thor was taken a bit aback by Loki's extreme sudden anger. Why did he care about Sif becoming my wife? It wasn't like the two of them were good friends or anything. He's been in such a foul mood since Father announced the marriages....Thor's eyes widen as he stared at Loki. "Wait a second, are you jealous that I will be marrying Sif and not you?"
"I am not jealous." Loki muttered darkly under his breath.
"Why do you care then? It's not like she is becoming your wife and you aren't very good friends." Thor began and he watched Loki roll his eyes in annoyance. Thor was growing impatient with Loki's short attitude and ready for him to retire to his own chambers for the night. "She is to be my wife and if she has a problem, she can come to me about it. I've seen the way she looks at me and I think you are wrong about her feelings toward me..." Believing he was right about Loki's jealousy earlier, he added, "Fandral believes she'll most likely be in my bed before we're married."
"She isn't going to be your wife!" Loki snapped at Thor quicker than one of Thor's hair tie being snapped when he's pulled it too far. "Fandral is an idiot! She certainly won't be in your bed when she's already in mine so you can tell him exactly how wrong he is!"
The room went dead silent as the two brothers stared at each other. Loki stared in horror at what he had said to Thor, revealing his true relationship to his brother. Thor stared in shock at his brother before slowly speaking, "You and Sif? You must be joking! The two of you-"
"You can't tell anyone!" Loki blurted out quickly, interrupting Thor once again.
Thor leaned forward, "Our friends would be happy to hear-"
"-And the court gossips would speak ill of Sif and say she became a warrior because she was sleeping with a prince." Loki cut him off. He uncrossed his arms and set his hands on his knees. "I do not wish for them to say anything ill mannered about her. She has worked for too long to get what she wants and the court would destroy everything she has done."
"Loki, you cannot shield her from everything." Thor tried to reason with his brother."I will speak to Father about the marriage, but Sif must take a stand on her own as a warrior."
"I understand. Still, Sif is not ready to reveal our relationship. Please do not mention it." Loki explained to Thor. Thor nodded in agreement and Loki stood from the couches to return to his own chambers