Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men Evolution or anything else, except for my OC's.
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For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.
Aubrey Hepburn
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Loki had never once understood why Midguardians cared for football, or sports in general, to be quite honest. Baseball, basketball, soccer, tennis - out of all those sports, football seemed to be the most popular, by far. At least in America. He wasn't quite sure what other nations thought of sports, but, he knew how popular football was in the country he currently resided in, at the very least.
It didn't make one lick of sense, however. All it was, was grown men running around, tackling players from the other team, down into the ground, and throwing a ball (which, was not even spherical, so why was it called a ball, in the first place?) to their teammates, hoping to gain a 'strike' or 'touchdown' or 'homerun' or whatever you called scoring a point in that sport.
To be honest, Loki never liked sports, in general. That was always more of his brother's thing. Sports, fighting, matches, and all that jazz. Those were things only the elder of the two brothers had enjoyed. The younger had always prefered studying or making mischief around Asgard.
Sports were not something he enjoyed, nor was he good at - though, he would never admit to being horrible at sports, to anyone. Especially not Thor. He would not let anyone say he was horrible at any sport, because he deemed it untrue. He believed himself to be good at sports, however, he prefered not to entertain himself with something so trivial as throwing around a mere ball or whatever for enjoyment.
Yes, that was it...
So when his students had informed him about their high school having a football game coming up soon, and asked if he wished to accompany them to the game, he flat out told them that he wasn't interested. Even still when Jean checked for what felt like a million times, he refused - she always had to make sure no one was ever left out. He somewhat admired this characteristic, yet, it still made no sense to him why she had to check every five seconds, to make sure you hadn't changed your mind.
Then again, she was a teenager, as were the other three students that resided at the school. And trying to understand anything about a Midguardian teenager seemed almost impossible, from what he learned, so far.
Or maybe it was just these teenagers in particular...
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Loki was definitely more comfortable in the quiet haven he had claimed, within the living room, that night. He was sprawled out on the couch, with sweet, beautiful silence filling the room, as he was able to read, for the next - what, couple of hours?
Peace and quiet were things that were only gained during the days when the children had school, and were out of the house, for several hours out of the day. Yet, during those times were when he would tap into his abilities, trying to regain what abilities he had lost, and trying to strengthen the ones he still had back to their full power. That took up most of his time, during those seven hours away from his students. When they came back, it was time for their homework, Danger Room sessions, dinner, and other things, that would disrupt any 'peace and quiet' that ever resided in the Xavier Institute.
So, yes. He cherished the times when the children were out for the night, or on weekend afternoons and such, like they were large heaps of solid-gold crowns. 'Peace and quiet' time, his reading time, his time to not have to get up and do something he didn't want to, were miracles from above.
Nothing could bother him. Absolutely nothing at-
Loki, the voice of the dear Prof. Charles Xavier rang through his head, interrupting his reading. Would you please meet Ororo and I outside?
Damn it all.
Loki inwardly sighed, closing the book, and looking up at the ceiling. Of course, he had to get interrupted during his 'Loki time'. I will be out, momentarily, Charles. he finally promised the telepath.
Thank you.
The telepathic link seemed to be cut, as he could no longer feel the Professor within his mind - thankfully. He had always loathed when anyone used telepathy on him. He hated people getting into his head. Getting into other people's heads, now, that he liked. People going around through his mind? That was crossing a major line that had been drawn by Loki himself. Even if it were for something as measly as calling him somewhere or to ask to do something, he didn't flat out like it.
He, instead, wished the Prof. would learn to use a cellphone, get one, and simply text Loki. And, yes, Loki knew perfectly well how to work a cellphone. The girls had finally convinced him to do so, one certain Saturday afternoon. It took him a few hours to understand just how each thing worked, seeing as he wasn't all that used to this modern-day Midguardian technology. Though, really, the girls admitted it was easier than they thought to teach him to work the device.
Now, if only they were able to convince the Prof. he needed one, and needed to learn how to use it...then his life would be so much better...
After a minute, Loki managed to pull himself away from his relaxation, and leave the comfort of the couch. He walked over to the bookshelf, placing the book that had been in his hands onto it, reluctantly making himself save the continuation of his reading for another time of peace.
Whenever that may be.
With the book tucked away, the God of mischief turned on his heel, before beginning to walk out of the room. He sucked in a deep breath, closing his eyes, resisting the urge to ball his hands into fists, or flip Charles off or whatever. Disturbing one of his rare moments of peace.
Xavier better have a damned good reason for ending my reading...
Honestly, he didn't even care whether or not the old man was reading his mind at that moment or not.
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Alright, whatever the bald man was doing, he wasn't about to let Loki on any of it - so, why the hell did he ask him to come with him somewhere? Loki knew that the Professor was not going to just toss him out and abandon him, in the middle of nowhere. It seemed very unlike him, and, besides - when the girls of the Institute would hear of that, there would be hell to pay. For the girls loved him - he was the favorite.
Even more so than Logan (but, then again, Logan had been gone for the past several months, out on the road, for some reason or another).
The car-ride, for the most part, was deathly silent. Ororo had her eyes set onto the road before her, only ever glancing back to check on the headmaster of the Institute, who was quietly staring out his window. Loki himself was staring out his own window, watching the scenery that seemingly flew past them.
It had only been a few minutes since they had left. They were just now heading into the city part of the 'settlement', just now passing a local diner the kids seemed to rather enjoy. A few blocks away from the diner would be the school, where that infernal game was being held. His mind wondered to the kids themselves, by now - wondering if they were still getting excited over the idiotic sport or if they were ultimately bored out of their minds, from the dreary thing. Or even if they had enough of that one boy Scott had complained about, once. Dan or Dakota or Derrick or whatever his name was. He seemed to have quite the interest with Jean, but, really though, the 'jock', as mortals called their sport stars, had really no chance with her, no matter what he did. He knew that girl had feelings for Scott, and-
Wait, why the fuck did he care? Why the fuck was he even thinking about this sort of thing? Because he had nothing better to think of? Hmm...yes, probably. That was probably just it.
Music broke through the silence - the chorus to "Knives and Pens", if he remembered the title correctly, began to play, almost trying to blast itself into their eardrums. Loki reached down into his pocket, realizing it was his cellphone. He pulled out the slim, rectangular device, holding it in front of him, to see who was calling him. Shawn was written across the screen, underneath a picture of the girl she herself had plugged in. He tapped the phone to make it accept the call, then held it up to his ear.
"Wh-"
"I SWEAR TO GOD, IT WASN'T OUR FAULT!"
The Aesir cringed at the volume of the girl's cry. "Will you please speak at a normal volume?"
"Sorry," the girl apologized, still sounding frantic. "But it wasn't my fault, and it wasn't Scott's, I swear!"
...Did he even want to know what those two did?
"What happened?" Loki demanded.
He could hear the teen take a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, then her voice became faint, hearing her let out a disgruntled cry. "Loki, it's Jason," the new caller spoke. "Listen, all you need to know is Scott and my sister were trying to take on Duncan," Ah-hah, that was the jock's name. "Cuz he was being an asshole, again - nothing new - and then he managed to punch Slim, and ended up knocking off his glasses. Scott opened his eyes, and let's just say there was a kinda big explosion..."
Fuck.
"Stay there, and don't move," the God of Mischief (...well, former, really) ordered. "We will be there to rectify the situation, within a few minutes time. Until then, you are to lay low." Before the boy was able to say anything more, Loki hung up, looking over at Ororo, who glanced over at him.
"What happened?" she questioned, beginning to look worried.
The black-haired man slid his phone back into his pocket, green eyes flickering to the road ahead. "We need to go to the school," he insisted. "There was an explosion."
"Scott." Xavier sighed, not even needing to ask.
Loki scoffed, just as Ororo hastily turned the corner, heading to the school. "I wouldn't fully blame the boy, Charles," he spoke, coolly. "While it was his powers that caused it, the fault of his glasses being taken off lies with another."
Yes, people, he was actually standing up for somebody. It couldn't be that unnatural, could it?
...Could it?
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The two men rolled down their windows, once Ororo parked in front of the football field, staying on the sidelines. The police and the fire department had beaten them to the field, and were now trying to cease the somewhat medium-sized fire that had engulfed a small building, that had been located by the stands, as well as pulling whomever hadn't fled away from the fire.
Loki let out a very low whistle, seeing the sight. Well, it seemed Jason wasn't lying about a somewhat large explosion having happened, by the size of the fire. He glanced over towards the field, seeing them pull off one of the player's now cracked helms.
"Take it easy son," he could hear one of the men that were standing around the boy say, soothingly. "Try not to move."
"What happened here?" the cop standing in front of him questioned, calmly.
The man that had spoken first moved in front of the boy - the blonde jock, Duncan, who was usually found flirting with Jean - holding something in his hand. He couldn't see what exactly though. "My head..." he faintly heard. "Can't...remember..."
"Concussion," the first man concluded. "He's been hit hard."
The cop stood up, straightly, looking over towards the fire, as he tilted his hat. "Looks to me like..." his voice drifted off, for a minute. The liesmith looked over to the back seat, seeing Charles staring intently at the man. So that's what was happening, hmm? "Um...of course," the cop finally spoke. "Must've been a leak in that propane tank," he concluded, turning back to look at the boy. By this time, they'd gotten him on a stretcher, to put him in the back seat of the ambulance that stood by.
Just as the cop had turned to face him, they saw Jean walking over to him, to check on him. She stood there for a moment, consoling for a second, before following the paramedics to the ambulance, as they took him.
"Things are under control," Charles assured the two, turning his gaze from the window. "For now," he began to roll up his window, just as Ororo began to drive away from the sight. "But, we better hurry. We have a train to catch."
So that's where they were going. The train station. Perhaps they were picking up a new student? Or they were meeting with someone of importance? He sure as hell knew they couldn't be going anywhere, now, could they? The students would have been alerted of his departure, or of Ororo's, if she was the one leaving for somewhere.
Hmm...
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The train station seemed almost deserted, that night.
Not many people had come, save for themselves - a couple bystanders, either waiting for someone from one of the trains, or awaiting their own. They themselves - Charles, Ororo and Loki - were standing by, the white-haired woman and the mischief-maker standing on either side of the Professor's wheelchair, studying the train, seeing whom they were looking for.
"Just who, pray tell, are we looking for?" Loki demanded, after a minute of silence going on between them.
Charles looked up at him, a calm expression on his face, per usual. "We have a new student that has arrived, this evening," he finally said. "A young man named Kurt."
So, it was a new student. "You didn't think of informing any of us, earlier?"
"It's a surprise for our students," the bald man smiled. "And you never asked."
Bullshit. He knew the Professor. Charles would've known what the liesmith wanted to know. He knew Loki was wondering why he had been summoned away from his quiet time, and what was going on, for him to be needed. He could have told him at any time.
Ororo looked over in front of them, seeing a young man walk off the train. "Kurt?" she asked, not towards the boy, but to her fellow teachers.
"That's not Kurt," Charles assured her, as the boy began to walk away. He looked to the side, at another door to the train. The other teachers followed his gaze, spotting a clocked figure, carrying to duffle bags as he walked out. "This is."
The figure - Kurt - looked up at the three as they approached him. "Kurt," Charles said, calmly. "It's good to see you in person."
For a moment, the boy stayed silent, nervously glancing at the two adults standing with the professor. Loki caught sight of his eye coloring - a pale yellow coloring, that seemed to glow, in all honesty. "Ja, Professor," he finally spoke, sounding a bit hesitant. An accent was detected - German, if the Norse God remembered. Wait a minute...German accent. Odin, please let the boy be from Austria, and not Germany... "It is nice to meet you in person, as vell."
The Professor smiled, and gestured to his staff. "I would like you to meet some people, Kurt," he began, not taking his eyes off the boy. "Ororo Monroe and Loki Laufeyson."
"Hello, Kurt," Ororo smiled, pleasantly. "It is nice to meet you."
Kurt nodded his head, exchanging the pleasantry with her, before looking over at Loki. The Aesir remained quiet, simply nodding his head in recognition. With some hesitation still in his eyes, Kurt nodded his head back, glowing eyes darting away from the man, rather quickly - almost nervously or shyly. Oh, please let that not mean he recognized Loki...please, please, please, let there be some drama saved...
Just after the boy's eyes darted away from the man, they widened in surprise. The two adult's brows raised up, slightly, trying to figure out just what surprised this young man so much. Loki's eyes quickly glanced over at the Professor, who seemed to be smiling, both knowingly and gently.
Oh, that was it.
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It's alright Kurt, Charles soothed. You can trust Loki - he is not the same man who attacked Stuttgart, last year.
Technically, that wasn't a lie. He wasn't the man he was last year, he had begun to grow, and change. So, really, he wasn't the same man who attacked Stuttgart. So, no, of course the professor wasn't lying. All he was doing was trying to keep chaos from ensuing between the two.
And, really, that's what they needed.
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Kurt slowly nodded, finally realizing what had happened. Odd as it was, it was best for him to get used to it. After all, taken his appearance...
"Now, I think it's best to head home," Charles announced. "I'm sure you must be exhausted from the trip, Kurt, and, with some luck, we might be able to beat the others back home."
"Alright." the boy nodded.
With that, the professor turned his wheelchair around, and headed out, leading the three others with him.
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It was about an hour more before Loki was able to plop back down on the couch. Once they got home, he had to tour Kurt around the mansion, then show him to his room, so that he may get some rest.
He let out a tired sigh, running a hand through his unruly tangles of black hair - he should try and get it cut, but, no. The girls had all insisted that the long hair had looked good on him, and, if he had cut it, they would kill him. Not that they could, though, but, he'd rather not put up with fighting them. Fighting wasn't really as much interesting as it used to have been, after all - now a days all he seemed to want was peace and quiet, rather than combat.
Was that a little too much to ask for? Loki sure as Hel thought not. However, like mentioned before, when teaching a bunch of teenage children, that dream is too far from your grasp...
Especially tonight, it would seem.
Tiredly, the raven-haired man closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. He could just fall asleep here, and not give a damn. Sure, the couch might not have been as comfortable as his nice bed, but, really, he was so tired, it didn't really matter. Right now, it was quiet, the couch was there, and he had the opportunity to actually rest, and find solace in this peace. Yes, nothing to disturb him, finally-
Poke, poke.
"Loki?"
Poke, poke.
...
What sort of bull shittery was this?
Squinting open one green eye, he glared up at who had been poking him. Sitting in front of him was his most favorite person in the whole wide world.
"What do you want, Shawn?" he finally asked, opening both eyes. He might as well get up now. There would be no use in trying to go back to sleep, or telling this Midgardian girl to leave him be. Apparently, her father had never taught her to let sleeping Gods lie.
Which, brought up the question of when the hell did she get back?
"I wanted to talk to you." she told him, twirling a lock of hair.
He rolled his eyes. "If this has anything to do with yours and Scott's little fiasco this evening," he stared. "Then you may take it up with the Professor, not me."
Shawn shook her head, hands held up. "It's not about that, I promise."
"Then what?" Loki demanded.
She leaned back a little, rubbing her wrist. "Well, Dad called me on the way back from the game," she explained. "He told me he's coming back tomorrow."
Logan? He was coming back, already? Hmm...Loki had figured he'd be gone a lot longer - this time, he was only away for a month. The last time he'd gone off, he had been gone for four and a half months - and the time before that, as Ororo had told him, was several months. For some reason, from what Loki had learned, Logan had a tendency to leave for months at end, searching for something. But what? While it wasn't any of his business, he had to admit, he was curious as to why the man would disappear for so long.
"So...?" the liesmith drawled out.
Shawn remained silent, looking like she was pondering something over, before standing up. "Uh, I just thought I'd let you know," she told him, turning on her heel to face the door. "So, that way, you know that you don't have to instruct Danger Room sessions by yourself, for a while..." she looked down at her feet, still rubbing her wrist. "I-I'll let you go back to sleep, sorry for...waking you..."
With that, the teen scurried out of the room, not once looking back.
Loki watched as she did, a bit befuddled by what had just happened. Shawn was never really good at hiding when she was apprehensive, especially at that moment. But, why?
Yes, it had something to do with Logan returning - but, why would that trigger it? Shouldn't she have been excited about her father coming home? This was the first time he'd ever seen it being brought on, but, then again, she never talked to him about this subject the last time Logan came home...
He made a mental note to question her about this later - or, at the very least, her brother or the Professor.
Yeah, he cared about another being - these mortals grew on you, after living with them for a year.
What did you expect, him trying to kill them all? No, of course not.
That was a Danger Room session situation, not a real, every-day situation, you crazy readers.
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By the next morning, Loki had, thankfully, managed to get several hours of un-interrupted sleep. He had finally gone into his own bedchambers, locking the door to ensure nobody would walk in there, crawled under the covers of his bed, and fallen into deep slumber. It was dawn by the time he had woken up, with the faint rays of the sun peeking through his curtains being what had awoken him.
Tiredly, he swept the sheets off of his body, before swinging his long legs over the side of the bed. There was no use in trying to get back to sleep - much too many things to do today, after all. Slowly, he stood to his feet, running a hand through his black mane. He headed over to his dresser, and proceeded to look through it for suitable garments.
After a minute or so, he settled on a long-sleeved grey button up, black pants, and dark grey socks. Once he had everything else ready (teeth brushed, hair somewhat brushed, etc), he started walking out of the room, whilst rolling up his sleeves to stop above his elbows.
It was only when he got by the mirror that he paused, deciding to look at his marvelous reflection.
Within the past year, Loki had not changed very much. He still had his thick black mane, that had become a bit unruly, his eyes still held the mischievous glint to them. There were still the scars - the ones around his lips, one on his nose, and one above the brow. They were faded a bit, but, still there. And, of course, he had the scars hidden by his clothing - ones on his chest and back (half of those coming from the clobbering of the green beast), even a couple on his legs.
All in all, he at least still had those damn good looks of his.
Loki smirked, slightly, before continuing out of the room.
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This day was going to suck.
Shawn knew it the moment she woke up. Nothing good would come out from today, especially with him coming back. Oh, and then you had to calculate the fact of her having school - a place she didn't wanna be at, after last night's little fiasco. Which, totally wasn't her or Scott's fault. She was also pretty sure that there was going to be a quiz in a couple of her classes (one of them being a subject she totally sucked at). And was today mystery meat day? That would have just been icing on the cake...
Now, she tried not to be a whiner about these sorts of things - she had her good days, she had her bad days. Today just happened to be one of the bad days. And, really, the way it would seem, she'd rather just try faking sick. Not that it would work - after all, she lived with Ororo, the Professor, and Loki, who knew when any of them were faking an ailment.
School - that Shawn could just face, and try and deal with, just like the others. The rest of the day...
Her father was coming back, after all. She didn't hate him, or anything, really.
But, did he have to come back home?
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Alright, guys, this was 11 pages on Word Document! And last chapter was nine pages, so, we now have a grand total of 20 pages.
Sorry it's taken me so long to write this chapter - I needed some inspiration, and shit, so, yeah...
Anyways, thanks to Starlette Serene Wolve, for her review, it made my day :)! And, please review guys, cuz it makes everyone happy!
The next part will be the rest of episode 1, just because I'm too lazy to write the entire episode at the moment, and I want to get out another chapter. So, yes, some episodes will be done in parts, so, sorry!
Okay, will, till then readers, I will bid you adieu.
