"Loki.....Quit that.....haha...not fair.....AACK!"
Loki and Sylvie had been going through combat training for the last hour when, just as Loki was about to have his ass handed to him, he resorted to the dirtiest of dirty tricks.
Tickle torture.
He waited until she did a roundhouse kick, then grabbed her by the ankle and held tight. He changed his dagger into a feather and started dragging it across her foot.
"You know, I rather like hearing you laugh, you should let me tickle you more often."
"Don't....you....dare....hahaha....stop it!"
"No," Loki teased as he moved the feather back and forth,"I don't think I will."
She laughed even harder, and a strange phenomenon began to occur. Lines started to run across her face and hands, as though the skin was cracking. Loki didn't notice right away, until they appeared on her foot and started spreading outward.
He stopped what he was doing, staring in awe as patches of blue began to form all over her.
As Sylvie's giggling began to slow down, she noticed her boyfriend's wide-eyed expression.
"Loki what on Earth are you looking at?"
"You.....Sylvie you're......"
She didn't understand what he was trying to say until she glanced at her reflection in the mirror behind her. Somehow, all the laughing from Loki's prank had caused her glamour to fall, exposing her full Jötunn form.
In a panic, Sylvie scrambled away from him and ran out the door.
"Sylvie, where are you going?! Come back! SYLVIE!!"
He raced out of the house and through the woods where patches of ice were forming along the path. The forests of Vanaheim were not as familiar to him as Ásgarð's was, but they'd explored enough of the clearing around their home,that he had a fairly good idea of where she was going.
Sure enough, she was sitting by the hot springs they often shared romantic picnics at, scratching and clawing at her blue skin like a rash.
"Sylvie! There you are, I was so worried."
He was alarmed to see rivulets of blood running down her arms, and quickly knelt down to grab her hands before they caused further damage.
"Let go!"
"No! You're going to hurt yourself! Why don't you just change back into your glamour instead?"
"Glamour? What glamour?" Sylvie shouted hysterically,"Last I checked I'm not naturally blue, Loki!"
"Of course you are! It's the normal form for our kind."
"What the blazes are you on about? Æsir don't look like this!"
Loki didn't understand what she was confused about. Didn't she say her parents told her the truth?
Unless....
"Sylvie, what exactly did your parents tell you about your heritage?"
"Just that I was adopted....I never got the chance to find out from who."
No wonder she was freaking out. It seems her Óðin was no more forthcoming than his had been.
"Alright, I'm going to show you something that you should have been told about centuries ago.....do you trust me?"
"I do."
Loki took a deep breath and let it out, before slowly lowering his glamour. Sylvie stared in awe as pale skin was overtaken with azure, green eyes turning into red.
"Loki.....what are we?"
"Frost giants, Óðin found me abandoned on Jötunheim....I'm not sure if it's the same for you."
"Are we monsters then? The few tales I remember of the Jötnar were horrible ones."
"At one point, I would have said yes," Loki said as he rubbed the raised heritage lines across her hand with his thumb," but I've learned that the true monsters don't wear their cruelty on the outside. You, my love, are the least monstrous being I've ever known, and by far the most beautiful....no matter what skin you're in."
Sylvie sniffed and leaned her head against his chest. He let go of her hands long enough to vanish their remaining clothing off, before picking her up and walking into the hot spring. As they relaxed in the water, she slowly faded back to the peach-colored tone she was used to.
For awhile it was silent as Loki rubbed his hand up and down her back. Just when
he thought she'd fallen asleep, he felt her shift to look at him.
"Loki?"
"Hmm?"
"Can you teach me how to switch back and forth at will? I want to get used to my other form."
"Of course, I'd do anything for you," He whispered before his face broke out into a grin," except stop tickling you of course."
He laughed when she splashed him in the face, and pulled her down into a kiss before she could leave the water. With her lips sealed to his, Loki waved his hand to teleport them back to their cottage, where they could explore a true form of acceptance.
Together.