When you woke up, you were blind again.

You sat bolt upright, instantly panicking, no, no. A desperate sob escaped your throat and you pressed your palms hard into your eyelids, begging for it not to be true.

"Y/N? Y/N, love-"

A pair of hands gripped yours and pulled them away from your eyes, and you could see again. That probably had something to do with the fact that Loki had turned a light on.

"Oh." you breathed, beyond relieved. Loki pulled you on to his lap and wrapped his arms around you comfortingly; you returned the gesture. You weren't sure how long you'd sat like that for, with him stroking your hair and pressing kisses to your forehead every so often, but you hadn't wanted it to end. Ever, preferably. Eventually though, he convinced you to lie back down with him and try to sleep some more, as it was 3am. You agreed, but made him promise to keep the light on.

You woke next at a much more reasonable time, and left Loki sleeping peacefully on the sofa to go and take a shower. No one was yet awake, so you didn't pass anyone on your way. You returned to your apartment in the compound and gathered up all of your shower things, but not before pausing to take in your room. It looked exactly as you remembered it, and had remembered it the whole time you had been without your sight. Entering your en-suite you dumped your towels on the radiator, which was thankfully on, and turned on the shower. Then you caught sight of yourself in the mirror for the first time in over a year. Your mouth fell open.

You looked so different. A year ago you'd unbeknown to yourself glanced in a mirror for the last time in a very long time, and the girl that stared back at you now was not the same. The skin around your eyes was... well, it looked like what you would expect from being burnt so badly at that close quarters. You'd never really thought about your appearance while you were blind, but now... your Y/E/C eyes hadn't changed colour or been altered at all as far as you could tell, and they looked weirdly out of place in the chaos of burnt, red skin that surrounded them.

You blinked back tears. This had been what the others had been looking at for a year. And Loki... how could he love you when you looked like this? It was a mess, he'd never even seen you without your burns...

"Y/N?" Loki had come looking for you.

You were about to come up with some excuse about being in the shower when he saw you. You could not get anything past that man. He walked over to confront you.

"What is it?"

You pointed at the mirror sourly. He still looked confused.

"My face Loki. Why would you not tell me..."

"Tell you what?"

You just mouthed wordlessly, gesturing at your burns.

He finally cottoned on, and looked horrified.

"Y/N, you're beautiful..."

You rolled your eyes, hard. Damn, you'd missed that.

Loki grabbed your face firmly in his hands.

"Listen to me. You're seeing it worse than it is. Burns or scars don't define who you are as a person, you even told me that. I think you're gorgeous regardless, nothing is going to change that."

You softened slightly under his fierce glare; you knew he meant it. It made you want to prove the same thing to him.

"Can I see you in your Jotun form?"

He blanched. "I don't know if that..."

"Please Loki." you held his gaze, just as he had held yours seconds before.

He knew he didn't have a choice, and pushed the door shut gently. You fought not to show your shock as he closed his eyes and transformed into his Jotun form right in front of your eyes, but you almost immediately got over it. He was still Loki, that was still the same clenched jaw and furrowed brow. You picked up one of his hands and kissed it, and then repeated the same thing he had said to you back to him.

"I think you're gorgeous regardless, nothing is going to change that."

He responded by rolling his eyes, and you even got a small smile out of him. At least that was something. He changed back into his human form and pulled you towards him to kiss you deeply. Now here was something you hadn't needed your eyes for anyway.

Suddenly there came loud pounding from the door, and you jumped apart guiltily.

"Reindeer games, if you are in that shower with Y/N, I SWEAR TO GOD-"