Still Stranded
When I woke up, something was wrong.
My body stiffened.
There was a weight around me.
It took my post-sleep brain a few more seconds to realize that Loki had made his way from his side of the bed and into my personal space. We were both laying on our sides, he was pressed to my back with one arm looped around my waist.
My body stayed ridged and I held my breath for a minute. There was only a small amount of light coming in from the window; it must still be early in the morning. I decided that this was not something I wanted to talk about when he wakes up, so I relaxed and willed myself to go back to sleep.
Sleep didn’t come, so I layed there with my eyes closed until I felt Loki move.
I kept my body relaxed, hoping that he’ll think I’m still sleeping. I felt him stiffen into a small stretch, then relax again. He brought his hand in closer to my stomach, holding me tighter.
We layed like that for a few minutes until he stirred again. Moving slowly, trying to to wake me, I felt him sit up slightly and brush a few stray stands of hair away from my face. He leaned down, and I felt his breath linger near my temple. He seemed to decide against whatever he was thinking of doing, got up, and went into the bathroom.
After a few minutes I got up to grab a book until the bathroom was free.
When the bathroom door opened, Loki was dressed and his hair was wet. I made a point to not look at him directly.
‘Morning’ he said.
‘Morning.’ I didn’t look up from my book.
‘I must say, that was the most well behaved I’ve ever been with someone in my bed’. I still didn’t look at him, but I knew he was smirking.
He was going to be difficult today, so I decided I would be too.
‘It’s not your bed. I’m going to take a shower’. I started towards the bathroom. Annoyingly, he wouldn’t move out of the way so I had to brush by him.
‘If I knew you were wanting to shower I would have told you to join me, since we seem to be sharing lately’. I closed the door on his smirk.
I knew exactly the type of person Loki was. He thrived on attention. That was exactly what I wasn’t going to give him today. He wants to get under my skin. He wanted to know that he could have an effect on me. Even if that meant that effect was making me incredibly annoyed. I won’t let him know how insufferable he is today.
When I showered, I traced my thumb over the cut on my lip as Loki had yesterday.
When I left the bathroom I immediately went to my bag to pack for checkout, until I realized;
‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ Lightning lit up the room from the window.
****
‘Sorry kid, not a single pilot is gonna fly you through these storm clouds’. I groaned into the phone.
‘You’ve got to be kidding me. What about a car?’
‘If you want to drive fourteen hours through a rain storm be my guest’. My stomach twisted. I wasn’t scared of anything. But if I was being truthful, I would say that driving in anything but desirable conditions sent my anxiety over the edge.
And spiders.
I fucking hate spiders.
I hung up my phone call with Tony and threw myself on the bed. A frustrated ‘Ughhhhhh’ was all I could manage after putting a pillow over my face.
‘Don’t be so dramatic, dear. I can think of a lot of ways we can make the best out of this situation’. I pulled the pillow off my face to meet Loki’s smirk with a glare. ‘And don’t throw yourself around like that, you’re going to rip your stitches’ he said and let his eyes fall back down to his book, but not before letting them linger down my body.
I rolled my self over onto my stomach with just enough force to let him know what I’m not going to be taking his advice.
‘Besides, you don’t need an excuse like ripped stitches to get near me again’ he quipped. I was going to snap back, but remembered what I told myself. I’m not going to feed his egotistical nonsense. Not today.
I leaned over and picked up my book instead. He was staring again, waiting for me to say or do something.
When I wouldn’t give him what he wanted he continued to annoy me.
‘Hm, you weren’t this silent last night. Has anyone ever told you that you talk in your sleep?’
I felt my cheeks heat up immediately, keeping my eyes glued to the page I stood my ground.
‘I’ll take that as a no. It was very intriguing. I had no idea you thought enough about me for me to be in your dreams.’
My cheeks burned feverishly. I was trying to decide if he was lying to get under my skin.
I broke. ‘Must have been having a nightmare’. I tried to sound nonchalant.
‘I think your blush and your voice last night would say otherwise’ he was smirking at me.
‘You’re insufferable’ I huffed.
‘Some people would call it charming’ he said.
‘I’m not some people.’ I sat up, repositioning myself on the bed.
He stood up and walked towards the door, stopping at my side to lean in and whisper ‘that’s exactly what I adore about you’.
I rolled my eyes and he kept walking, ‘I’m going to ask the front desk if they have any more complimentary tea’ he said as he left. Dammit. He was so pleased that he’d gotten to me. He was someone I found particularly difficult to bite my tongue around.