Roses
Loki winced as he raised his head. It felt like he had a hive of bees living in there, whereas his mouth felt drier than an Asgard drought. He felt slightly sick as well as he pushed himself up and shook his head, trying to clear it, but somehow that only served to make things worse. How could waking up be so painful?
Then he remembered.
It having been his birthday the day before, Ash had suggested they go for a drink together down in her local bar, and well, one drink had led to another and then another...and then the rest was all a blur. He shook his head, and then winced again, remembering the hangover. Now he knew that Thor was always complaining about whenever he went out drinking with the Warriors Three and woke up feeling ill the morning after.
Well, judging by the fact that he was back in his familiar room at the flat, they must have made it back alright last night, so that was something at least.
He managed to clamber unsteadily to his feet, noting that he was still in the clothes he had worn the day before, and stagger into the kitchen, holding onto his head for fear it might fall off if he didn’t keep some kind of grip on it. Standing by the kettle, Ash raised her head and smiled at him.
“Morning,” she greeted him, “or should I say afternoon?”
“I haven’t had that much to drink since...” Loki ran a hand through his hair. “What am I saying? I’ve never had that much to drink before.”
Ash giggle and pushed a glass of water into his hand. Loki gave her a grateful nod and then frowned questioningly when she pressed two small white pills into his hand as well.
“Painkillers,” she explained. “They’ll stop your headache. Just swallow them with the water.”
Loki watched her as she made a cup of tea. “How is it that you’re not suffering when you had just as much to drink as me last night?” he asked, swallowing the pills obediently with the water.
“I was this morning when I woke up,” Ash replied. “That was about four hours ago.”
“Four hours? Why didn’t you wake me?”
“I thought you needed your sleep.”
He couldn’t fault her for that, he supposed. “Well, thank you,” he replied, sitting down unsteadily on the sofa. The headache was still there but the water had at least made his feel a little better.
She gave him a smile. “Anyway, my Mum always says that it’s not the drinking that gives you a hangover, it’s the waking up afterwards.”
“Your Mother’s a very wise woman,” Loki replied, causing her to giggle. He liked that, he decided, he liked being the one to make her laugh. And smile. She had a beautiful smile that just lit up her whole face when she was happy. He hoped he could make her smile like that on Valentine’s day.
“Here,” Ash said, holding out a steaming cup to him. Loki thanked her with a soft smile of his own as he took it from her. She settled beside him with a soft sigh of contentment. “So glad I don’t have to go into work feeling like this,” she added, rubbing her eyes. “I mean, my headache’s gone but I still feel kind of groggy.”
“Perhaps food would help,” Loki suggested.
“Mm, yeah, I’ll make us both a sandwich in a bit,” Ash replied, stretching. “But if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not do much that involves moving today.”
Loki smiled at her. “A day in sounds fine to me.”
And it was nice, he found, do just spend a day with her doing nothing much other than normal domestic activities, lunch, washing up afterwards, watching a few films together, making dinner and just talking. The more time he spent with her, the more he realised just how much he wanted to be with her, not just as her friend and flatmate, but as so much more.
Oh, my sweet Ash, I would never treat you the way all those other men in your life have treated you; I would look after you the way you deserve to be looked after.
The days leading up to Valentine’s Day seemed to drag, even after he bumped into Mark in the library late on Monday afternoon. He had been researching into the holiday as much as possible, turning up all sorts of stories about fictional romantic couples, as well as real ones, when a voice near his elbow had said “Hey,” and caused him to start, knocking a couple of books to the floor with a soft thump.
“Sorry,” Mark grinned, bending down to retrieve them.
Loki managed a friendly smile. “You’re getting like me now, able to sneak up on people and make them jump. Seems I’m always doing that with Ash.”
“Speaking of which...” Mark gave him a pointed look. “Valentine’s is on Thursday.”
“I know,” Loki replied, “and I’m actually a bit stuck.”
“Oh?” Mark pulled up a chair and sat on it backwards, legs either side of the back and arms resting atop it. “Anything I can help with?”
“Well, I do want to get her some flowers, but I don’t know what to get,” Loki replied. “I know for a fact that orchids are her favourites, but if I get those, she’ll probably know they’re from me and the whole point of this holiday, apparently, is to keep it secret, and according to this book, red roses symbolise romance, but personally I don’t care much for that idea because...”
“Oh, everyone and his dog always gets red roses for their Valentines,” Mark interrupted, shaking his head.
“Exactly,” Loki replied, secretly thankful that Mark had come up with that, it saved him from going into details about the true reason he wanted to give her any flowers that weren’t red. After all, red was Thor’s colour and he did not want to give the girl of his dreams anything that had anything to do with his brother.
“Let’s have a look,” Mark said, reaching for the book. Loki handed it to him and Mark flipped thoughtfully through it. “Mm...well, it says here that pink roses stand for romance too, like the beginning of a relationship type of romance, so that might be quite fitting for you two. And I’ve never know Ash to say that she doesn’t like the colour pink.”
Loki took the book back from him. “That would be fitting, you’re right.”
“Yeah, I think red roses are more for people who have been in a relationship for a while,” Mark agreed, thoughtfully. “Any thoughts on what you’re going to write on the card?”
“Not yet,” Loki admitted. “But I’m thinking. What about you?” he added, feeling compelled to ask. “Any plans for that day?”
“I have a date if you can believe that,” Mark replied, getting to his feet.
“Congratulations,” Loki replied.
“Yeah, a guy from the cafe’ I’ve been flirting with for ages finally asked me out,” Mark replied, grinning. “Wish me luck.”
“Good luck,” Loki smiled, and that had been that. Eventually, however, the day itself rolled around and he had everything ready, bouquet of flowers prepared, card written, and as he woke up a few minutes before Ash herself was due to wake up, he felt a tingle of excitement about the whole thing. Clambering from bed, he moved quietly to the front door with his delivery, placing it carefully where Ash wasn’t likely to fall over it when she went out, and made his way into the living room, crossing his fingers for luck as he did so.
Ash was with him a few moments later, making toast and tea for them both. She greeted him with a cheerful but sleepy “Hello,” and then after a quick yawn and eye-rub, added “Do you fancy hanging out a bit later? Grab a drink or something? I mean, you’re not spending Valentine’s Day with anyone else, are you?”
“No, I might as well be stuck with you,” Loki quipped, bringing a smile to her face.
“Good,” Ash replied, with a small sigh. “Sometimes I hate Valentine’s Day. I mean, it’s very nice when you actually have someone to share it with, but when you’re on your own, it’s like the rest of the world’s mocking you for being single.”
Loki just smiled and said nothing to that.
After they’d both eaten, he allowed her to have the bathroom first, since she actually needed to go out, whilst he spread himself casually on the sofa with a copy of The Jewel of Seven Stars, which the librarian had recommended to him since he had enjoyed Dracula so much. For once he found himself paying more attention to the scenes between the two lovers than the rest of the story and got so into it that it was only when Ash tapped him on the arm he realised that she’d been trying to get his attention.
“Sorry, did you say something?” he asked, sitting up a little.
She smiled at him. “Just that I’m off now so I’ll see you later, ok?”
“Alright, but if you get a date for tonight, let me know, otherwise I’ll be waiting at that bar wondering why you haven’t turned up,” Loki teased.
Ash laughed as she grabbed her coat plus the scarf he had given her for Christmas off the peg. “Well, I doubt that’s going to happen, but if it does, I’ll let you know.”
Loki waited for the door to close behind her before muttering to himself “Three, two, one...”
The door opened and Ash came in, holding the box of roses in her hands and examining the card he had put with them. Resisting the urge to smile, Loki fixed his expression into one of surprise and looked up at her. “That was quick,” he quipped, “or is today the shortest day of the year?”
She smiled although her eyes were filled with surprise and awe. “These were waiting outside for me.”
“Oh,” Loki replied, closing his book. “Who are they from?”
“No idea.” Ash smiled as she read the card before holding it out to him. “But read this.”
Of course, Loki knew already what it said, since he had been the one to write it, but he made a show of reading it aloud anyway. “To the woman whose smiles light up my darkest days, with a beautiful name and a beautiful heart, who makes me want to be the hero I’m not, the one to whom my heart belongs.” He made a show of frowning too. “Bit fanciful, isn’t it?”
“Loki!” Ash scolded him, softly. “It’s beautiful! And so are these.” She inhaled one of the roses and as its petals brushed momentarily against her lips, Loki couldn’t help being envious of it. “God, if he’d signed it, I’d go out with him. He clearly has a way with words.” Then, she pulled herself together. “Shit, I’m going to be late if I don’t go now. Could you put these in some water for me, please?”
She was gone before Loki had a chance to respond. He grinned to himself as he went to do as she asked, and then realised what she had just said. His words alone had managed to charm her. He felt a flurry of different emotions within him all at once.
She might actually consider letting me court her.
The prospect that she might want him the way he wanted her suddenly seemed a lot closer than before.
He settled himself back on the sofa and tried to read, but his mind was too preoccupied with thoughts of her to concentrate on reading. Soon his imagination was running away with him as he started to picture what the rest of their lives might be like together, making a life for themselves like he had seen many loving couples do together in Asgard, the way his own Mother and the Allfather had done, the way that Thor wanted to do with that Midgard girl of his. Once again he felt a twinge of guilt for having denied his brother such a chance. In his youth, the pair of them had always scoffed at the notion of falling in love, maintaining that the rule of Asgard would always be more important than any woman, especially one from Midgard, and yet now they had both fallen completely head over heels for Midgard women and couldn’t picture life without them.
He made a mental note that the first thing he would do if he ever saw Thor again was apologise to him, and just pray that his brother could forgive him.
The whole day seemed to drag, but eventually Ash came back, with two white envelopes amid her workload of magazines, he noticed. He smiled, even though he felt a slight twinge of jealousy at the same time. “More secret Valentines?”
“You tell me,” she answered, holding them out to him. “Someone left them on my desk for you.”
Loki was more than surprised as he took them from her. “Well...who could they be from?”
“No idea,” Ash smiled. “Although one could be from Mark, I suppose.”
“Ha, ha,” Loki smiled, drily, opening the first card, which was rather unsubtle, with a bright red heart and a couple of cartoon characters he didn’t recognise and with the words “Will you be my Valentine?” written in bubble writing, on it, and which bore the message “Be mine, and not just for today...” inside it very swirly writing.
Ash leaned over his shoulder and smiled. “Ah. That looks like Jenna’s writing, actually, the way she writes her “e”s.”
Loki couldn’t help feeling a little smug in spite of maintaining that the girl wasn’t his type. Sometimes it was nice to know that someone liked you even if you didn’t like them back in that way, it was flattering, like having a fan. He opened the other card, which was much more subtle by comparison, very neat pink hearts drawn on the front, hanging from a vine like a pattern of ivy with the words “Happy Valentine’s Day” written on, and inside bearing the simple message “With love from ?”
He glanced at her. “Recognise the writing for this one?”
Ash shook her head. “Nah, that could be anybody. In the office, I mean,” she added, “otherwise how would they have known to put it on my desk?”
Loki nodded and got to his feet, thoughtfully. “So...both of us have secret admirers out there somewhere who are too shy to tell us face to face?”
“Hey, you have two,” Ash pointed out. “I have one.”
“Well, that means I get to choose which one I prefer,” Loki smirked, looked between both cards and then holding up the more subtle of the two. “And I think I prefer this girl more.”
Ash waited until he wasn’t looking at her before she started blushing. After all, it was his first Valentine’s Day on Earth, well, his first Valentine’s Day ever, and she hadn’t wanted him to feel left out.
She just hadn’t expected him to prefer her card out of the two.