[earlier days, pt. 2]

[forewarned_is]

Kali wakes to sunlight on her closed eyelids. She stretches luxuriously without opening them, taking a moment to savor the pleasant lingering ache of last night's exertions -- both the battle, and what came almost immediately after.

That was, she has to admit, pretty unexpected. But there's some satisfaction -- all right, a lot of satisfaction -- in the knowledge that it took him even more by surprise. And a lot of amusement in watching him try to pretend that it was his own idea all along.

She rolls to her side, and opens her eyes.



At the volley of astonished swearing, a flock of small, brightly colored birds takes swift and panicked flight from the trees overhanging the little tent.

Comments

[changeinasnap]

He will not be distracted when glory and honor are on the line!

...not that much, anyway.

And thing is, when he said he took to swimming like a fish, he meant it. A narrow, shimmering shape darts past her, trailing bubbles of laughter in its wake.

[forewarned_is]

Well. We'll just see about that.

Kali drives through the water, all six limbs moving.

---

Not too long later, the red swatch of silk is still lying undisturbed on the sand -- but two figures are stretched out near it, drying off in the sun.

[changeinasnap]

"You know, the sad thing is," he's saying thoughtfully, eyes closed and face upturned to the sun, "if you did cheat I really can't say anything to that but, 'Well done.'"

Thoughtful, and perhaps a bit sulky as well.

Or, er, more than a bit.

[forewarned_is]

"If I did cheat, don't you think I'd tell you?"

She's lying on her front, arms folded, toes tracing idle patterns in the sand.

[changeinasnap]

Peacable, "Of course you wouldn't."

He cracks open one eye.

"Because if you did I'd have to rescind my 'well done' on the spot."

[forewarned_is]

"It would still be well done if you couldn't spot it," she points out. Serenely.

[changeinasnap]

"But! If you cheat, and everybody knows you cheated, it loses a little..."

He spins a hand, digging up the words.

"Je ne sais quoi, you know?"

[forewarned_is]

"True," she says, entirely unperturbed.

"Hold still a moment."

[changeinasnap]

He lifts an eyebrow. "Why, what're you gonna do?"

Nevertheless, obligingly, he does as directed.

(And gets ready to jump if circumstances require.)

[forewarned_is]

She bends sideways in the sand, propping herself on one elbow, and reaches for his foot.

"You've got some seaweed in your toes."

[changeinasnap]

"I do?" He peeks down at his foot, lifting it just enough to get a good look. "Huh."

He wiggles his toes, and, by extension, the seaweed lodged between them.

"So I do."

The little scrap of green keeps moving even after his toes have stopped.

[forewarned_is]

She snorts with amusement at that, and reaches out to pluck the ribbon of weed off of his foot.

It evades her fingers nimbly for a moment or two before she finally snags it.

[changeinasnap]

Immediately, it curls around her hand like a pet cozying up to its owner, prodding a fingertip with one of its ends.

Her companion just grins. "I think it likes you," he remarks.

[forewarned_is]

The face Kali makes is perhaps best described as Determinedly Not Laughing.

"I do pick up the strangest admirers," she agrees, entirely cheerful.

[changeinasnap]

"Hey, we've all got good taste, what can I say."

The seaweed makes a tiny, squeaky noise like wet glass being buffed with a cloth. It's a noise that sounds...weirdly contented.

[forewarned_is]

... Determinedly. Not. Laughing.

It holds for another second or two before she breaks, dropping her head onto her still-folded arm and giggling helplessly.

[changeinasnap]

Yeah. She may have won the race, but he definitely got this round.

(Kali doesn't laugh nearly enough: not like this, anyway, clear and bright and miles away from a battlefield. Idly, he thinks, I could listen to her do that all day.)

Still grinning -- and with less smugness than might be expected, this time -- he rolls to his side and drapes an arm around her.

[forewarned_is]

Kali raises her head at that, still chuckling.

"You utter lunatic," she says with deep affection, and leans in to kiss him hard.

[changeinasnap]

"'S why you love m -- " is all he gets out before she kisses him.

He can't say that he minds the interruption.

Humming deep and low in the back of his throat, he wraps both arms around her and returns the kiss with interest.

[forewarned_is]

He's not wrong.

Kali's hand trails down his spine, and traces back up, fingernails scraping lightly over the skin.

[changeinasnap]

The hum turns to a sharp intake of breath; somewhere in it is a whispered, "Kali -- "

His hands slide to her hips, encouraging her closer.

[forewarned_is]

The sound she makes in her throat is halfway between a purr and a laugh.

Her hands close hard on his shoulders; a shift, a twist, and the two of them roll over on the sand, coming to a halt with Loki flat on his back and Kali poised over him.

Sometimes it doesn't take an arm across the throat to pin him down; sometimes all she needs is a kiss.