Getting kicked some distance, into a surface (wall, tree, mirror) wasn’t unusual even in sparring matches. Loki himself - no real warrior - even accepted it as, essentially, the cost of playing the game. It was not, therefore, worrying in itself that Valkyrie had gotten so impressively flung.
What had Loki at full attention, reaching out (mostly mentally, but also a tiny physical step or two), and throttling down something almost like having his own breath knocked out of him, was everything else about it. How early in the match it had occurred, how she hadn’t dodged or countered. How she hadn’t rolled back to her feet before actually landing. How the spike and throb of pain radiating from her (when they were in the same place, Loki paid attention on reflex) seemed off, too sharp for a basic blow. Thor wouldn’t have hit her that hard....
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2019-04-03 10:58 pm (UTC)What had Loki at full attention, reaching out (mostly mentally, but also a tiny physical step or two), and throttling down something almost like having his own breath knocked out of him, was everything else about it. How early in the match it had occurred, how she hadn’t dodged or countered. How she hadn’t rolled back to her feet before actually landing. How the spike and throb of pain radiating from her (when they were in the same place, Loki paid attention on reflex) seemed off, too sharp for a basic blow. Thor wouldn’t have hit her that hard....