Only For You | Loki Laufeyson

     LOKI OPENS HIS EYES ON A BED. A real bed, not the floor of his cell. It has a mattress, and a checkered comforter, and where the hell is he?

     He knows immediately, of course, that he’s fallen into another soulmate dream. He also knows that this is supposed to be Midgard. But that explains nothing, and he doesn’t see his soulmate herself anywhere around. 

     He decides to get out of bed, as much as it pains him to do so when it’s the most comfortable thing he’s lied on in a week. His eyes scan the room; a bedroom. It’s decorated in a way that he does like, even if it’s a bit Midgardian. 

     Stepping into the hall, he’s surprised to find the wall lined with pictures of himself and Olivia, at various locations on Midgard. They look… happy, he thinks. He stops at one in particular. 

     “You have got to be kidding me,” is all he can think to say. The picture depicts him and Olivia, standing next to some sort of commemorative sign— but as corny as that is, that’s not the interesting part. No, what he cares about is the fact that the two are sharing a sweet kiss. 

     All right, who designed this dream? Clearly, they need a good dagger to the stomach. He promises it won’t hurt; well, not for very long, anyhow. 

     He proceeds directly past the ridiculous picture and into the living room/kitchen of the apartment, finding a familiar woman in the kitchen. He recognizes instantly that she’s supposed to be Olivia. 

     Emphasis on supposed to be. 

     While she does look the same, there’s just something inherently false about her. Maybe it’s something in her expression, maybe it’s some flaw in her appearance that he can only notice subconsciously; or maybe it’s just his subconscious mind reminding him that this isn’t the waking world. 

     “Morning,” she greets idly, offering him a small smile with a mug of coffee in her hand. “How’d you sleep?” He hesitates, but offers her a fake smile. 

     “Wonderfully,” he lies, approaching to sit at the counter. “And yourself?” She shrugs, pushing forward a mug of green tea that he assumes is meant for him. 

     “That sleeping spell you tried out worked great,” she hums. “Not a single dream, all night.” He nods, as if he has a single clue what she’s talking about. 

     “Good,” he agrees. “I’m glad it worked.” She smiles at him, more genuinely this time, as she seems to be waking up fully. 

     “Thank you again. I promise I’ll pick up some pills when the store opens tomorrow morning,” she pledges. He nods, not sure what to say here and therefore choosing to say nothing. 

     A minute passes, and he notices the radio is on. Figuring he could probably practice some slight magic, he tries to turn it up just a smidge. 

     Olivia grins, apparently recognizing the song once the volume is up. 

     “I love this song,” she reflects, putting down her mug and nodding along to the beat. Loki grins, finding her to be a little endearing. 

     “Everybody talks, everybody talks, everybody talks,” she choruses quietly with the song, bopping a little from side to side. 

     “Well, don’t be shy on my account,” Loki assures her, gesturing to the room. His voice betrays his amusement, inspiring Olivia to give him a playful glare. She goes entirely still; and then the song hits the chorus again. 

      “It started with a whisperr,” she sings along, fully dancing to the music, “and that was when I kissed herr~, and then she made my lips huuurt, I could hear the chit chaaat!” She points at Loki during chit chat, and then devolves directly into air guitar. “Take me to your love shack! Mama’s always gotta backtrack! When everybody taaalks, babe!” 

     Loki can’t help but laugh, and she laughs along with him, leaning against the counter as the song ends. 

     “That was… absolutely incredible,” he claims, a grin on his face. She rolls her eyes playfully, and he laughs. “No, no, I’m serious!” he protests, still laughing. “The, ha, the air guitar really sold it!” She playfully shoves him a little as they laugh. 

     “You asked for it,” she reminds him, still grinning like a dork. Their laughter dies down, and Loki is still smiling appreciatively at her. 

     “I didn’t know you could be so…” he trails off, uncertain what the word is. “Whimsical.” She snorts. 

     “Whimsical,” she echoes. “You have the whole English language to pick from, and the only word you can think of to describe me is whimsical.” He smiles, amused, but she shrugs. “I’m just comfortable, y’know? It’s nice to just be whimsical sometimes.” 

     He sighs, though more to relax himself from all the smiling. He looks at her again and remembers that this is, in fact, a fake Olivia. Of course, that begs the question:

     Where’s the real one?

***

      Olivia, much like Loki, wakes up on an unfamiliar bed. Like him, she finds herself very unwilling to get up; it’s the softest thing she’s ever slept on, she thinks. The sheets are green, and they’re so warm and comfortable that she just wants to snuggle into the dark blue comforter and stay here forever. 

     She rolls over, and her eyes are met with a sleeping Loki. She glues her mouth shut instantly, not wanting to make any noises of surprise that might wake him up. 

     She notices very quickly that this isn’t actually Loki; or rather, it is, but not the real one. It’s a fake Loki, created by the dream for some purpose that she hasn’t recognized yet. She can’t pinpoint exactly what it is about him, despite how obvious it feels. 

     His eyes flutter open, and he offers her a soft, tired smile. 

     “Good morning, darling,” he greets quietly. She nods, with some slight hesitation.

     “Uh, good morning,” she greets in return, kind of wanting to know where this is going. “Are you… hungry? I could make breakfast— or I could try, anyways.” She doesn’t actually know if she could make breakfast, but that seems like the logical next step. 

     “Oh, I think breakfast could wait another hour or two,” he hums. Then, he reaches out his arm to pull her flush against him. “I think I’d rather stay here for a bit.” 

     Ignoring the way her entire face feels like it might be on fire, Olivia chuckles nervously.

     “I don’t know,” she reasons. “I think I might be hungry.” Loki gives her an uncharacteristic, small pout. 

     “Five more minutes, then?” He requests. “I’d really rather not deal with Thor any sooner than I have to.” Now armed with the knowledge that Thor is going to be there when she gets out of this bed, Olivia gives in. 

     “You’re right,” she agrees, forcing herself to relax. “It’s way too early for that.” Loki chuckles, and reaches up to lightly brush the hair out of her face. 

     “I knew you’d see things my way,” he teases lightly. She laughs quietly, taking solace in the reminder that this Loki isn’t the real Loki; he’s really more like a dream. She wouldn’t really like for Loki to touch her, since they don’t know each other very well, but dreams are okay.

     “Careful,” she teases quietly, “that almost sounded sweet.” He chuckles fondly, offering the most loving grin she’s ever received. 

     “Only for you,” he pledges. She smiles, starting to feel very much at ease with this. Vaguely, in the back of her mind, she wonders where the real Loki is right now. 

     Well, she supposes she’ll find out soon enough.