Watch Your Step

It was a slightly awkward situation for him, having the redhead snuggling into his arm as he read about Heimdal and his powers which enabled him to see everything that happened within the nine realms. Which meant that he knew full well what Loki was doing at the moment.

He stopped reading and looked up, at the ceiling. There was a painting of a galaxy, The Milky Way, he noted after analyzing the faded paint. However, his mind wandered to his life back on Asgard. The way he spent his time there before his brother's crowning. Before he found out who he was. He realized he would have enjoyed to know her before. On Asgard, whether she was human or a goddess.

He would have enjoyed reading to her in these moments of mutual understanding and pleasurable silence when the words he read had no meaning and the only thing that mattered was their closeness. Yes, Heimdal could see that. And his Mother would enjoy that very much. To see her son happy, content and understood.

He would love to be able to see Frigga smile. To have her see him happy next to a woman who didn't seem to hate him like everyone else did. He put one arm over Alana's shoulder and pulled her closer, kissing her forehead.

"Why did you stop reading?" She questioned, having him notice only then that it indeed has been quite a while since the comfortable silence fell between them.

"I was thinking." He let go of her only to feel her nuzzle into his shoulder once again.

"About what?" She started patting his wrist, seemingly looking for something.

"Mother." The silence fell once again but she kept patting his wrists.

"What are you doing?" He quirked one brow, looking down at her only to find her own brows furrowed.

"I find it strange that a gentleman like you doesn't carry a watch." She finally stopped patting his wrists, turning her head up to face him, closed eyes yet a soft smile on her face. "Do you happen to have the time?"

He was slightly startled by her question but soon recovered and told her that it was precisely ten minutes to five.

"Damn....I guess I should be heading home by now. I still have to prepare dinner. She sighed and moved into a less awkward position. "And I wanted you to read about yourself. I'm quite curious to see how many of those stories are true." she giggled although she couldn't see his expression.

"I doubt you want that. Either way. It has stopped raining. Would you like me to take you home?" He helped her up and after gathering their things, they left the library, not forgetting to bid goodbye to Mrs. Funders.

For the most part, the trip to Alana's house was rather silent. More than half way through it, she finally decided to ask what was bugging her for a while now.

"Hey, Loki...you've mentioned your mother twice today..." She played with the walking stick, twirling it around before returning to patting the ground before her with it once again.

"Ah, yes. I do miss her. Out of everyone on Asgard, she seemed to be the only one not to judge me for my actions and my way of living." he answered, looking straight ahead, although he was aware that she couldn't see his facial expression.

"Aww. I see. She seems nice." Alana shrugged her shoulder and kept walking. "I still can't believe I am talking to an actual God about other actual Gods..." she giggled childishly and turned to him, walking sideways. "You’re real, aren't you?" she poked him with the handle of her walking stick.

"Very much so, my dear." he wrapped an arm around her waist and turned her so that she was walking straight once again, keeping his arm there. "See?" he squeezed her waist for emphasis.

"But it's weeeeeeeeeird." she somehow stretched, adjusting comfortably to his hold. Although he initially wanted to let go of her after proving his point, he kept holding onto her after noticing that she had gotten comfortable.

"If it is weird for you then it should be weird for me too, to walk down the street with a Midgardian." he simply stated, smirking slightly.

"I'm the good type of Midgardian, though." she smiled at him right before tripping over a small rock and wobbling a bit next to him. He tightened his grip on her waist once again.

"You are, you are. And a bit clumsy." he chuckled.

"It comes with the blindness." she pointed to her eyes.

"I'm so-"

"No, it's okay, really. I actually was clumsy before too." she giggled, fake-wobbling again.

"Have you not mentioned that you had been a dancer? How does a dancer cope with clumsiness?" he chuckled again, watching her curiously.

"Dancing is different." she pouted, continuing to walk.

"Yes. It requires more coordination." he teased, watching her grow slightly angrier. He found it amusing, how she got angry with him so easily yet act like they were best friends in the next second. His heart ached when he thought of the word ' friends' for a moment but he decided to ignore it and move on, slightly tickling her side to make her anger dissipate easier. She squirmed a bit and a mischievous grin graced his features. So she was ticklish.

"So tell me, Almighty God of Mischief. Would you allow the clumsy blind Midgardian to make you dinner?" she suddenly asked after a momentary silence. He was slightly taken aback but nodded then voiced his answer.

"The clumsy blind Midgardian cooks?" he continued to tease.

"Well, I learned how to cook before losing my sight." she scrunched her nose slightly and huffed her cheeks before turning to her right. He hadn't noticed that they made it to the building she lived in.

Reaching into her inside pocket, she pulled out the key, unlocked the door and got in, Loki following her inside shortly after. Walking the three flings of stairs to her apartment, she opened that one too and allowed Loki to follow her yet again. In the back of her head she couldn't help but be glad that the landlady didn't see her coming in. She wasn't very fond of strangers. Especially sexy-strangers-who-attempted-genocide.

"Make yourself comfortable. There is a bookcase in the living room, maybe you will find something you like?" she suggested, placing her things away and going to change, as she announced, before disappearing into a different room.

He took off his jacket and looked around the small but cozy living room. It wasn't what he expected to see when he imagined the house, but then again, he wasn't sure if he expected anything at all. The room was surprisingly tidy for a person who can't see. But he did notice a pattern in the way everything was set, making him smile as he realized that she had to memorize the place for all the objects in her apartment in order to be able to function at full power.

Turning his attention on the bookcase, he noticed that they were all neatly placed, although there was no trace of dust or of them having been there for very long. Did she read? How does a blind person read normal books? He shrugged and skimmed over the titles, noting that there were all types of books, from children ones to scientific things that Tony and Bruce talked about, to what looked like schoolbook and for the most part, fiction.

He grinned and picked up a book that seemed older than the rest, reading the title out loud - Wuthering Heights - and opened it at a random page, skimming through the text. He managed to pick up names, Heathcliff, Catherine, but that was about it when he heard Alana return to the living-room.

"Found anything interesting?" She questioned, smiling brightly, looking up at him. At first, when he turned around, he was shocked to see her eyes pierce right through his blue-green ones. Startled, he didn't know what to answer, but he calmed down when he realized that her eyes started moving the way they did when she was scared about being wrong or lost.

"Ah, yes. I believe so. It is called 'Wuthering Heights'." The words rolled off his tongue in a strange way, making her giggle at the accent, but she soon clapped her hands once, smiling once again.

"I absolutely love that book! Would you like reading it to me?" she asked hopefully and with a chuckle, he approved, following her to the kitchen.

He took a moment to observe her attire. She was wearing a loose beige sweater and brown tights, together with fluffy bunny slippers, which made him have to suppress a laugh, but his eyes soon traveled to her beautiful gingers locks that were messily put up in a bun. He briefly wondered if she intended to make it look like that, because it frames her face perfectly and brought about a lighter air around her.

//Wild timeskip

Half an our later their meal was almost done and Loki was still seated at the table, a big cup of tea in front of him as he read, having gone through at least 40 pages worth of quality writing as he listened to her move about the kitchen, finding no problem in dealing with preparing what seemed like an intricate dish.

He must have been to absorbed because he noticed her moving outside the kitchen after swiftly having turned off the stove and only then did he head the phone ring. He put his book down and patiently waited for her to return, surprised to see a look of sadness adorning her once bright features.