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“Darling… it is a Friday night. You mortals usually love to be outside on such nights. Why in the Nine are you cooped up here, hm?”
She was most certainly supposed to be home alone, and yet, she clearly was not. She startled, whirling around to face this new voice (and it wasn’t a stranger’s voice, her mind was just currently more focused on surviving) with the knife still in her hand.
Loki chuckled at the sight, putting his hands up as a way to signal his supposed harmlessness. To him, it was a game, to see her terrified out of her mind and ready to protect herself against him, a God, with a kitchen knife. Even though her reaction was completely understandable since he’d apparently just broken into her home.
“Loki, what the hell do you think you’re doing?!” She hissed, setting the kitchen knife back down on the counter, her hand shaking slightly as the adrenaline began to leave her.
“Visiting a friend.” He shrugged, making himself look cherubically innocent. “But… I am beginning to think she does not wish to see me.”
“I don’t really want to see anyone if it means they’ll be breaking into my place…” She muttered, turning her back to him so as to get back to cutting her apple.
“Rather boring of you…” Loki murmured carefully, now leaning over her shoulder to watch what she’s doing. “An apple? Even more boring than the decision to stay in on a Friday.”
She huffed.
“What’s your goal here, Loki? To make fun of my life choices?”
“To show concern, darling. You are young! With more than half of your life ahead of you, you ought to go out and live it. Not eat apples at home.”
“I will do what I want with my life. What does it matter to you what I spend my time doing?”
“I am your friend, for one. What’s more, I want for you to have a pleasant life.”
“My apple and I will have a fine life, thank you very much. I thought you’d be busy on a double-date with Jane and Thor.” She cut her apple down the middle as she spoke, trying very hard not to dwell on the ache in her chest that was building at the thought of him out on a date with someone he’d been set up with (or worse, someone he’d chosen on his own).
“Ugh, no. They seemed frightfully intent on wanting a private night tonight. I do not wish for my thoughts to linger longer than needed on what that could mean for their plans later tonight.” He leaned in further over her, still peering over her shoulder, as he moved to whisper gently against her ear. “I much rather make my own private fun than hear about someone else’s. Don’t you agree?”
Her breath hitched at the distance, or rather the lack of it, between them, taking care not to look away from the apple on her cutting board as she carefully took to cutting it into slices.
“You’ve chosen to be here tonight, and yet you called my staying in boring… so maybe you won’t find your fun here.” The words were bitter as she spoke them, already readying herself for his departure when he realized she was nothing but a normal, oftentimes blustering, mortal.
“Fun can be made anywhere, pet.” He insisted simply, picking up one of the freshly cut apple slices and biting into it with undeserved confidence (those were her apple slices).
Everything in the entire world seemed to halt when her brain caught up with her ears, when she realized just what he’d called her. Still, she tried to remain aloof about the whole thing, doing her best impression of a personified cool cucumber.
However, her new resolve faltered when she heard him make a soft, languid noise of pleasure, turning her head to watch him before she could stop herself. The apple she’d chosen happened to be juicy, and some of it had trickled onto his lips, and slightly onto his chin, and so he was currently lapping up the errant juices with his tongue. It was sinful. Like most of his actions usually were, unintentionally or not.
“Mmm… what a sweet and ripe thing.” He purred, eyes locked on hers with what seemed like intent, though she told herself it was wishful thinking as she felt everything above her clavicles heat.
“Yeah…” She replied, sidestepping that entire metaphorical can of worms so as to not give her heart too much false excitement. “I was actually planning on pairing it with something else. I usually pair it with-”
“Mm, usually, yes… but, might I interest you in pairing it with me this time, darling? I do believe you’ll find it an… irresistible combination.”
“What?” She breathed out, finally managing to pull her eyes away from his mouth, now truly burning hot all over from forgetting herself and not looking away in time. She knew he’d caught her staring, and she knew he was pleased.
And indeed, he remained close to her, practically keeping her against her kitchen counter as he grinned, holding the rest of the slice he’d taken held up to his mouth, as a smug, knowing grin curled at his lips.
“What?” He repeated in a gentle breath of a whisper, mocking her in a way that clearly was not meant to offend, only tease. “I said, pet, that you should come here and taste this apple alongside me. And perhaps, allow me to taste the apple alongside you at the same time.”
She blinked at him almost dumbly, not believing her luck. She truly could not tell if this was real, or if she had somehow fallen asleep and was having a dream that was about to turn particularly dirty, or if she’d hit her head. He chuckled softly as he watched her, surely seeing her brain working to understand what was happening.
“What is that game you all like to play around the autumnal season? ‘Apple picking’, was it?” He placed the bit of apple at his mouth, holding it steady with the help of his teeth before closing his mouth around it and leaving only a bit of the apple out. She didn’t even have the mental capacity at the moment to correct him and tell him it was actually ‘apple bobbing’ the way she would have usually loved to do.
He gave her a pointed, knowing look, curling his index finger slowly in a come-hither motion.
She didn’t know of many people who had ever been fond of apple bobbing, even in dreams. So, she thought, even if this was a dream of some sort (though she was finally starting to doubt it), she’d play along and make apple bobbing her most favourite thing in the world if it meant getting to kiss him.
And, indeed, when she leaned in to get a taste of that damned apple slice, she’d thought the fruit had never tasted quite as sweet. Or tempting.