Chapter 1: The Wayward Odinson

Loki wiped off beads of perspiration with the back of his gloved hand before resuming wiping his customer's windscreen. The sun has already risen midway, emitting summer heat through its surroundings. Luckily for Loki the petrol station roof was big enough to provide him with some shade from the blazing sun.

Loki placed the petrol pump back into its handle and waved goodbye to the pair of kids at the backseat as the car drove away. It stirred a distant childhood memory at the back of his head but it was too fuzy to recall the details. Family trips were very rare in Loki's list of daily activities. In fact, anything to do with that word was the main reason he left Odins household four years ago and never look back.

He chuckled when he recalled his father's flushed face in the aftermath of his verbal war with him. Loki, the ever Silvertongue had use his legal age to his advantage and won the heated argument, to Odin's demise. On the other hand, his elder brother, Thor did not oppose Loki when he decided to leave home. It's not that Thor was supportive of his actions; it was quite the opposite. Thor did not buy the idea of Loki's sudden obsession towards an independent life but he did not dwell further into his skepticism. He believed that his wayward brother would return once reality shed light on his imagined slights.

In the contrary, Loki Odinson has never felt so alive in those span of four years. It was a struggle at first from renting a place to stay to seeking part time jobs to pay for his expenses. His journey of independence finally paid off when he received a scholarship offer to pursue his degree in a local college institute, which happened to be near to his accommodation.

Loki fished out his smart phone from his back pocket when he felt the device vibrating. Thor's name

flashed on the screen with a message notification. It read,"Brother, are you coming back home for dinner this weekend? Mum is planning to cook your favourite apple pie."

Loki smirked. He could total read his brother's intentions behind those words - Please come back home. I miss you. The idea of having freshly baked apple pie was tempting, after all it is Loki' favourite. However, he has promised himself to cut all ties with his family and he wished to stick to that. No hell way would he be caught to be in his old house, especially by his father. His pride would not allow that.

And so, he thumbed the virtual keypad on his screen and politely declined his brother's invitation. Immediately his phone rang. Loki frowned at the screen and let the ringtone played out. When the phone rang the third time consecutively, he put his mobile on silent mode, feeling extremely annoyed with his elder brother's persistence.

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Loki wolfed down a sandwich as quickly as he could before he rushed to the bus stop downstairs. To his dismay, the bus has left two minutes ahead off scheduled time leaving Loki no options but to walk. He could imagine Richards scolding him for being late for their project presentation and quickened his pace. He took few shortcuts and deviated from his original path, hoping that he could save a couple of minutes of his journey. One last turning and...BAM!

Loki fell backwards when he crashed into a group of youngsters at the corner.

"Hey,watch where you going!Pray that my blueprint is still intact or else..."

Loki's speech stalled when he saw who he bumped into. His eyes widened in fear when he saw a furious Hogun, towering over him intimidatingly.

"Looks like we found Thor's runaway brat. You change a lot since the last time saw you, Loki."

Fandral appeared behind him and picked up a scroll of papers.

"One thing for sure, his love for geeky things still stay," the blonde retorted.

"Give it back! I need that for my presentation today," Loki retorted angrily looking at the crumpled material in Fandral's hand.

Loki tried to reach for his belongings but was stopped by Hogun's massive body. He grabbed Loki's shirt collar and threw him against the nearest wall. Loki swore he could see stars in his vision from the brute's force.

"I take my word back. You are still the same weakling that no one cares about. Even your family has abandoned you."

No, it's not true. I walked out on them willingly.

Loki wanted to say those words to Hogun's face but he knew they wouldn't believe them just as how his family claimed to love him. Shameful tears brimmed in Loki's eyes when he was reminded of the torment caused by his brother's friends not so long ago. To make it worst, Thor had been a willing participant of Loki's torment.

Loki's impassiveness caused Hogun's anger to boil even more. The teenager closed his eyes anticipating a painful blow when he saw his bully's hand raised and clenched into a tight fist.

"Hogun, stop!"

Both heads turned. Loki shivered when he saw Thor standing at the end of the alley, eyes burning with anger.

Perhaps, he would not be able to survive today.

TBC

A/N: Please share your thoughts and feedback. Really appreciate it! :)