Of Greater Sires

Only after the sun had set did Raeyn open her eyes once more. Loki still sat next to her, wide awake and lost in his own thoughts. He didn’t notice that she had woken up until she gave a soft moan of discomfort. He shot up, his eyes wide and his body tense and she immediately realized, to her shock, that he was gripping her hand.

“Y-You...” She tried to speak, but her throat was dry as dust. Swallowing her coughs, her eyes began to water.

“Are you okay? Can I get you something?” he asked hurriedly.

Raeyn nodded. “Water,” she whispered, coughing a little after. With a quick flick of his wrist, (nothing fancy as he usually would have, simply because of his worry) a glass of water appeared on her bedside table. Loki carefully wrapped an arm around her waist and slowly helped her sit up so she could sip at her glass of water. Once she set it back down, she finally spoke.

“You saved me,” she said quietly, unable to bring herself to look up at him.

He blinked at her, not knowing what to say for a moment. “You could have died. Did you not defend yourself?” he asked, running a hand through his loose hair.

She gave him an indignant look. “I am hardly a warrior,” she said, reaching to take another sip of water before coughing again. “My skill lies in healing.”

Loki nodded, giving her a look of appraisal. “A very abstract form of magic,” he said lowly, and to Raeyn’s surprise, with respect and a little admiration.

“Says the one who has mastered all forms of sorcery,” Raeyn coughed with a little joking smile.

Loki looked at her seriously. “Yes, but I had a great many teachers and resources, where you did not. I am impressed.”

“For little reason...” she said lowly, but still could not wipe the grin off her face. “You know, I really do not understand you one bit.”

Loki looked up from where he was still gripping her hand to her wide, green eyes. “What do you mean?”

She blinked up at him innocently. “You’re just acting like a whole new person. At first I thought you were cold and solitary. But now... now I...” She looked up at him through her lashes and quickly realized just how close they were leaning towards each other. Closing her eyes softly, suddenly his lips were just barely brushing hers. Trying to keep from smiling, she immediately wrapped her hand around his waist, pulling him closer and closer as he caressed her cheek. But just as quickly as it had begun, Loki pulled back a few centimeters to look down at her. She opened her eyes to search his worriedly, wondering what had gone wrong.

“We shouldn’t be doing this, you need rest...” he whispered, about to stand up. She held onto him, though, trying to pull him back towards her.

“I feel fine now, really,” she murmured, ready to say anything to be able to feel his lips on hers once more.

With this he untangled her hand from him and pulled back completely, his jaw set in determination. Any look of affection was now gone, and Raeyn was left gawking at him in surprise.

“I care about you, Loki! Do you not care about me?”

“No!” he shouted, standing up and stepping away from her. He ran a hand nervously through his hair as he paced around the room. Guilt and pain flashed across his face for a moment, but then it was gone. “I mean, I don’t -- I just don’t... Just never do that again,” he said sharply, turning to glare at the girl. The next words he said through a clenched jaw and gritted teeth. “I don’t want you.”

The shock fell of Raeyn’s face as her wide eyes creased into a glare trying to hide her hurt. “I was right. I really don’t understand you. You’re heartless. ”

His jaw clenched once more as he stormed out of her room.