Fic: Dream Interpretation (Frostiron)

[bookishwench]

Loki gazed deep into the starry sky above, a wistful smile raising the corners of his mouth. He was lying on his back on a warm pelt, the soft fur warming his chilly hands as they rested behind his head. Beside him lay Anthony, equally enchanted with the view of the galaxy above them. It looked like they could simply reach out their hands, gather it up, put it in their pockets, and take it home. Loki breathed in the rich night air that was heavy with the scent of summer flowers and the leafy branches of the trees around them. He could also smell the earthy scent of Anthony’s forge clinging to the other man’s clothes, and it set his heart at ease, knowing he was so near.

A few weeks ago, they had visited this same spot. It had very nearly been Loki’s undoing. Anthony had insisted that after a long, hot ride they both should refresh themselves with a swim in the nearby lake. What had followed laid bare not only their skin but Loki’s most closely guarded secret: his feelings for his friend had been far more than friendship for many years. Anthony, who had always been a ladies’ man, was stunned, but he had permitted Loki to kiss him, something the prince had never dreamed he would be fortunate enough to do. The sweetness of those kisses made Loki’s heart both soar and shatter because he believed it would be the only time he would ever hold the other man in his arms.

But to his stunned delight, Anthony had kissed him in return, saying he was not yet certain of his feelings, but Loki had reason to hope.

Admittedly, getting back out of the lake was more than a little awkward, but they managed it fairly well. Loki had studiously kept his eyes averted while the chuckles of his companion suggested Anthony wasn’t doing the same. Once they were clothed again, Loki had taken his hand gently and asked for permission to court him. Anthony had smiled broadly and nodded, then went back to behaving completely normally, joking and laughing as they always had while they set up camp. Aside from a few lingering looks and some moments when their hands rested beside one another’s, nothing else of romance had happened between them during that outing, and Loki was almost glad of it. He wanted to keep his friendship with Anthony, whatever the other man decided.

The last several weeks had seen Loki carefully treading the maze of courtship, allowing Anthony time to consider what he was feeling. The changes to their previous friendship were subtle, but instead of taking a meal together in a rowdy tavern, they had trays sent up to Loki’s room so they could talk without interruption. They took long walks together, hunting or fishing, or sometimes they strolled along the rainbow bridge. More than once, Anthony had taken his hand, even when others were around.

When their evening was over the first several times, Loki had kissed him gently on the cheek. Eventually, Anthony had put a hand on his shoulder and guided him into deeper, more intense kisses that left Loki shuddering with hope and desire. But each night, Loki had gone home again alone. He was so terrified of ruining their friendship that he nearly fled.

When Anthony had suggested returning to the secluded forest clearing and lake where they had first kissed, Loki had been quick to agree. Now, after having eaten fish caught from the lake, they were merely laying together, gazing up at the sky as the flickering light from the campfire painted their faces in shifting shades of gold.

“I have a question for you,” Anthony said suddenly, breaking the stillness.

“Yes?”

“Do you have any skill in interpreting dreams?” Anthony asked, rolling onto his side and propping his head on his hand to look directly at him.

“A bit,” Loki said, frowning, “but it’s a wooly prospect. What a symbol means can change from one person to the next, though some tend to be universal. Why? Have you been having nightmares?”

“No, nothing like that, just very vivid dreams,” Anthony said. “In one, the royal coach was rattling down a country road.”

Loki raised a curious eyebrow. The coach was rarely used as all the members of the royal family usually preferred riding their favorite horses instead of being cooped up in the ancient carriage. The few occasions when the coach was used were for state visits or during very inclement weather.

“Perhaps you have a desire to travel,” Loki said, though it didn’t quite seem to fit.

“Perhaps,” Anthony said, agreeing, though Loki thought he saw a smile tugging at his mouth in the changing light. “In another, there was a waterfall.”

“The great waterfall?” Loki asked, meaning the enormous one spanned by the rainbow bridge that emptied into the void. It was not one of his favorite places. The view tended to make his head giddy.

“No, not that one,” Anthony said quickly. “This was smaller and hidden in the depths of the forest. It spilled into a still, green pond dotted with red flowers.”

Loki furrowed his brow, trying to remember if he had read anything about waterfalls as symbols.

“It could refer to change,” he said uncertainly. “Waterfalls can move a stream from one level to another, and if the pond was peaceful, perhaps you believe the change will be a good one.”

He didn’t dare to raise the hope of the symbolism of red and green in the dream, realizing it might be a reference to the two of them together.

“That’s a happy omen, then,” Anthony said, and this time, there was no mistaking his grin. “What of a dream of the throne room?”

“Power?” Loki suggested. He had his own dreams about the throne, though he doubted Anthony’s were similar. They tended to fall into two categories: dreams of ruling with his beloved friend at his side, or nightmares of being brought before his father for punishment.

“That could be it,” Anthony said, tipping his head to one side. “And a dream of my forge, the fire brightly lit and sunlight streaming through the windows?”

“You really have been dreaming a good deal,” Loki said, chuckling. “I should say those are thoughts of home, happy thoughts, contentment and safety with no darkness in them.”

“I find myself glad I have asked for your help in understanding these,” Anthony said, pulling himself up to sitting and allowing his hand to rest on Loki’s side as he shifted closer to him. “Finally, what meaning can you find in a field of wildflowers?”

“What sort of flowers?” Loki asked, every atom in his body aware of the hand on his doublet, gently stroking the leather.

“Oh, Norns’ Tears, some Bleeding Valkyries, a scattering of Sunwort,” Anthony said off-handedly. “Maybe Silverfeet.”

Loki sat up as well, humming a little as he thought, but putting his own hand in Anthony’s palm and keeping it close.

“Norns’ Tears can sometimes mean happiness. Bleeding Valkyries might be a desire for adventure. Sunwort is usually a symbol of good luck, as is Silverfeet,” Loki said. “The real question is what the field means to you.”

“It was beautiful,” Anthony said, his fingers intertwining with Loki’s. “All of them were. In each dream, there was nowhere else I would rather be.”

He leaned forward unexpectedly and kissed Loki, who shifted his position so he could hold the smaller man close against him, luxuriating in the feeling of Anthony’s lips moving against his own. When Anthony finally drew back, Loki saw him bite his lip for a moment.

“I have kept back two details from these dreams, and I wonder if telling you would change your interpretation of them.”

“That all depends on what they are,” Loki said, but honestly he couldn’t have cared less about the dreams. He wanted Anthony back in his arms.

“You see, in each of these places in my dreams, we were together,” Anthony said. “That was what made them so perfect that waking was almost painful.”

Loki felt warmth spreading through him at the thought that Tony was dreaming happily of them being together. It was wonderful, lovely, and then, a thought sprang so quickly to his mind that Loki blurted it out without his tongue asking permission from his brain.

“Were we naked?”

The moment the words were out, Loki’s eyes widened in horror at his slip, but Anthony merely laughed.

“Yes, we were,” he said, smiling at him cheekily. “That was the second detail I had kept back. How did you ever guess?”

Loki threw back his head and laughed, then pulled Anthony towards him again and kissed him without fear of overstepping propriety. He drank greedily from Anthony’s lips, thrilled when the other man enthusiastically matched his own passion. Loki’s heart was so light that it was in danger of floating up into the stars shining upon them.

“I would indeed like to change my interpretation,” Loki panted when they stopped for breath, resting his forehead against the other man’s. “I believe you desire a lover. Would you agree?”

The playful mood changed suddenly as Anthony put a hand to Loki’s face, and the prince turned his cheek to nuzzle gently against it.

“I do,” Anthony said, his voice little more than a whisper. “I desire you.”

“You are certain?” Loki asked, barely daring to believe it.

“You have given me time to realize that I have always loved you, and I believe I always will, but that was no surprise,” Anthony said, softly kissing the back of Loki’s hand where it rested on his own. “I have loved you as long as I have known you. But from the moment of our first kiss, when I knew your love for me was the sort that sets worlds afire, I began to allow myself to discover that I feel the same for you.”

“This was why you wanted to come here?” Loki said. “To tell me that—”

“I wanted to go back to the place where the Norns smiled on me by guiding me to look in the right direction at the perfect moment to see what you truly felt for me. And now I know what I feel as well. My heart says it with every beat. I love you, and I am in love with you, my beautiful prince. Will you become my lover in all ways this night?”

Loki found, for the first time in his life, that words failed him. Anthony’s declaration was more than he had ever dared to hope for. As he looked at the earnest expression in the other man’s eyes paired with the gentlest smile, silently encouraging him to lay aside his doubts, he began to believe this was really happening. In response, all he could do was hold Anthony, his Anthony, burying his face in the crook of the other man’s neck and fighting the urge to weep with relief and joy. Loki gently pressed his beloved down into the soft fur of the pelt beneath them, his hands trembling as he reverently bared Anthony’s skin to the starlight. They kissed again, and in that moment, Loki’s most cherished dream came true.

And if Loki had anything to do with it, Anthony’s dreams would soon come true as well, all of them, starting with taking the royal coach out of storage as soon as they returned home together.

A.N. After reading Stars's gorgeous fic, Let's Be Alone Together, I wanted to give the boys a sweet moment a little in the future. Just a little thank you for all the many, many wonderful hours I've spent reading your stories! I wanted to give the boys a sweet moment a little in the future. Just a little thank you for all the many, many wonderful hours I've spent reading your stories!