A/N: This should be an interesting project. What I am going to attempt to do here is take chapter 5 from my recently uploaded drabble series and create two stories with it. One will be angsty, the other, humorous.
I'm not sure how this is gonna go...it might be disastrous, but I'm gonna give it a shot.
This is the funny one...the angst I'll publish within the next couple of days. And "Days of Wine and Roses" will be updated this week, too.
The drabble is reproduced here in its entirety, and I'll be doing the same with the other story. Yes, I am a masochist.
Hatred would have been easier. With hatred, I would have known what to do. Hatred is clear, metallic, one-handed, unwavering; unlike love.
Margaret Atwood, Cat's Eye
"I'll take you over, there
aluminum, tastes like fear
adrenaline, it pulls us near
I'll take you over…"
R.E.M.'s "E-Bow the Letter," was playing on her iPod, and Jane thought that it was an apt description of how she felt when was she was afraid…
It tasted like metal.
And it had been two years since she and Thor had called it quits.
Two years…and she was relieved, though it hardly seemed to be the case. She wasn't eating properly. She wasn't sleeping properly.
Jane looked out of her window and sighed.
She probably needed therapy.
She needed therapy because what she had done had destroyed her. And she bled. Her tears too insubstantial now, she needed to bleed her pain.
She took to drink, to, as they say, drown her sorrow.
She must be a good swimmer.
She hadn't meant to cheat on him, especially since her parents' marriage had ended in divorce due to infidelity.
And the look on his face…pain…rage…uncomprehending horror…Jane, his almost fiancé, in bed with his brother.
Loki.
She hated what he had done to her life…in some sort of mad rage and fit for revenge, he had seduced her.
And yet, she reminded herself, she went with him willingly.
And the metal rose from her bowels…
Because he had seduced more than her body. He had won her mind…
…and…she whispered…her heart.
Fuck.
The realization had descended its light on her a few months ago, when, after not seeing him since the break up, she ran into him at a party…
"Fancy seeing you here, Jane Foster," he purred.
"Fuck off, Loki."
"Too soon, then?" and he walked around her and placed his hand on her shoulder.
She shuddered….
Aluminum…
She turned and grabbed him.
And they were upstairs now, he had ripped her dress…
She divested his shirt of its buttons…
…and she pushed him onto the bed and took him there.
Because she hated him.
Because she needed to taste something other than metal.
He had completely ruined her, and her life was, from that point on, a series of longing for him, of hating him, of dreading him, fearing him…because she did fear him. He had made her into someone she didn't recognize.
And she loved him.
She loved him.
And the metal, it was strong…always metal, whether liquid or solid…always there, churning its insidious presence…
Her phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Jane Foster."
"Loki."
"Yes…are you free this evening?"
"No."
"Lies are unbecoming to such a perfect mouth, Jane…"
She laughed. "Yeah…" and then a tear fell. "I hate you, Loki."
"I believe that you want to, Jane…"
"There is nothing that I want more…Hatred would have been easier. With hatred, I would have known what to do. Hatred is clear, metallic, one-handed, unwavering; unlike love. And so I'm stuck. And I love you."
"Sweet."
"Go to hell."
"I'll see you in an hour," and he pressed "End" on the phone.
He looked out of the window of his vast, ostentatious flat.
He touched the small box in his breast pocket and smiled.
Soon…
And the metal of his car keys scraped the kitchen counter as he left to get her.
...these corrosives do their magic slowly and sweet
Traffic in mid town Manhattan was always a precarious thing. It was a crawl, a cessation of movement, and Loki seethed. He hated being late…
It was with a smugness reserved only for the unimaginably wealthy that he bellowed his instruction to his driver. "Can't you take the park?" he said.
"Sir…Park Drive's traffic is probably just as bad…."
"I didn't mean Park Drive, moron. I meant though the park."
The driver swallowed. "I don't think that…"
"You aren't paid to think. You are paid to drive."
"Sir, I…"
"Just do it," Loki snarled.
And he did.
He had decided last minute that he didn't want to be bothered with his Jaguar…not with this traffic. He wanted to be fresh and ready for Jane when he saw her.
The bumps made him laugh, and he was almost wishing that an officer would attempt to pull them over.
He did like being a rule breaker.
He arrived at Jane's apartment and rang the bell. He shifted, and a smile curled his lips, not unlike the cheshire cat…
"Loki. Right on time," Jane sighed, and stood aside to allow him entry.
"Punctuality is a highly attractive trait, Jane."
"So is humility."
He laughed. "You would detest me if I were any other way," and he slid into her sitting room.
"I detest you as you are."
Loki laughed once more, and sat on Jane's sofa. "Well, what would you like to do this evening?" a suggestive look graced his visage.
"I would like for you to leave…"
"You agreed to this," he purred, and sat back in the sofa. "When will you redecorate your apartment? It does need seeing to," as he looked around.
God what a jerk.
Jane huffed and went to the kitchen, she needed a drink.
She had agreed to this…it was like a sickness. She hadn't seen him in at least a month, so when he called, she pounced on the opportunity. She wanted him, and she hated that she did.
Jane went back into the sitting room with a glass of wine. She sat opposite Loki and sipped.
He stared at her.
"What?"
"Tsk tsk tsk, Jane Foster. Who taught you your manners?"
"You can get the wine…you know where it is."
"Did Thor put up with this? I doubt it."
Jane swallowed a mouthful and glared. "Don't mention him to me."
"Still stings, does it?"
"I hate you," and she rose, and going into the kitchen, she willed the tears which welled to stop.
Loki sighed from his station. He didn't want Jane to hate him so…but there it was, and he rather believed that he could sway her eventually if he persisted enough…
Hatred, he believed, was closely threaded to other things; other more pleasant things. And he and Jane already enjoyed a healthy sex life…well…close enough.
Loki had not thought much of her when he had been introduced as his brother's girlfriend. She smiled too much. He loathed a simpering woman. But the more he engaged her, the more impressed he became, and he thought that Thor would never be able to handle such a woman. She was bright, enthusiastic, precocious…
And he saw a fire brimming behind her eyes.
Loki Odinson was enraptured, and he would have her, and make Thor pay for all he had suffered as a result of his loathsome brother's status as family favorite.
"Jane?" he called.
"What," she responded.
"Why don't we order in? Traffic is ferocious."
"Alright," and Jane retrieved her phone and began to look for the take out Thai place down the block's phone number.
She went into the sitting room with a menu and sat next to Loki. "Here," and she handed him the glossy paper.
"Do you honestly hate me, Jane Foster?" he asked her as she scrolled through her phone.
"Yep. You are the very worst of men. You think that you are all that, you are so full of yourself. And you're rich. I fucking hate rich people."
"You overlooked that character flaw enough with Thor."
"He wasn't an asshole," and she looked at Loki. "Do you know what you want?"
"Yes."
She raised her eyebrows in question. "Do I need to guess?"
"That might prove to be a fun game."
"I hate games," and she stole the menu from his hand.
Loki grabbed her hand, and pulled her toward him. "That's not how I remember things, Jane."
She attempted to wrench her hand free from his grip. "Let go, Loki."
"No," and he leaned toward her face.
"Yes…" and she pulled away, but began to laugh a touch.
"Tell me that you love me again…" he whispered.
"No…" but she ceased her frantic movement. She could play his stupid games.
"Tell me, Jane."
"Why? You already know it. What good would it do to repeat myself?" he let go of her hand at that.
Loki looked crookedly at her.
He decided something that moment. He decided that he would win her. Her mind, that is, for her heart and body were his already.
The box in his breast pocket would need to wait.
He could play the rueful lover. He could play…
He loved games.
"Never mind the food. I think I'll head out," and he stood.
"Aww…did I hurt your feelings?" she said with mock concern.
"No. But I decided I'm not hungry," his long overcoat swept over his shoulders. "For…anything," he added with heaviness.
"You're serious," she said, standing.
"I am. I'll be in touch, Jane," and he left.
She stood there a bit confused.
What was that all about?
Jane rubbed her face with her hands and went to her window to watch the black car pull away.
Hateful, insane, morbidly fascinating man.
And she went to take a shower.
Loki sat in his car…he looked at the Manhattan lights slink by. This was a good idea, one of his better ones. He could forgo sex for a bit…
Did he love this woman?
Yes, yes he did.
But she needn't know that bit of information just yet…