Chapter 2:

By the time he gets off the bus from campus and into the rundown section he calls his neighborhood, Loki's head is absolutely pounding, another migraine, the pain nauseating and dizzying in equal measure.

His hands shake badly as he takes hold the wheels of his chair and struggles to move himself down the cracked and weed infested pavement, towards the ramshackle building which houses his 800 square foot apartment.

It's always a struggle getting up to the second floor of the building, where his unit is. He used to have a first floor apartment, but it kept getting broken into, and after a while, the ease of its location just wasn't worth the risk of getting hurt.

As it is, it takes him the better part of fifteen minutes to reach the building, despite being only a block away from the bus stop, and another five or six to get up to the second floor. The elevator in this building is an utter piece of shit, taking forever to arrive whenever anyone calls it, and groaning and creaking along as it takes you up. Loki wonders often at the miracle that the cables haven't yet snapped and killed whatever poor soul happened to be riding inside it at the time.

Pulling his keys out of his jacket pocket, with his hands still shaking and his vision starting to blur, it's harder than it should be to get them into the lock and turn, pushing his apartment door open and wheeling himself past the threshold.

He's breathing heavily by the time he's inside and closed the door shut behind him, remembering, as always, to lock it and use the chain, even though it's harder still to reach up that high. He's nearly fallen out of his chair more than once doing so, but the extra security, useless though it may actually be, makes him feel better.

He doesn't waste any time then moving himself around and towards the tiny kitchenette, where he keeps all his medicines lined up along the counter. Again, it's a risk, having it all out in the open like that. Some thief would be all too happy to steal such expensive pills and sell them out on the street. But Loki can't reach the cabinets above the counter, and really, keeping them in a nightstand or some such would do nothing to prevent someone from stealing them. If they were determined enough to break into someone's home, then they were determined enough to look through all their things.

He nearly drops the bottle as he struggles to twist off the safety cap, the pain in his head growing worse by the second, his eyes starting to sting with the threat of tears. Pouring out two pills into his palm, he slaps them into his mouth and swallows them dry.

Now it's just a matter of waiting.

He's lucky, he supposes, that the pills are so fast acting, as it usually only takes five minutes for the things to kick in and get rid of his migraines. They ought to be so effective though, considering he spends nearly a quarter of his weekly paycheck on the things each month.

Still, it's an almost overwhelming relief when they start to work, and he can feel the penetrating agony through his skull at last start to subside, melting away into blissful numbness.

He slumps back in his chair, eyes closing as he allows himself a moment to enjoy the pleasure of no feeling at all.

He's broken from his quiet moment by the sound of a small mew down near his feet, and opening his eyes, he sees Michael staring up at him with wide, golden eyes.

Loki can't help smiling.

"Hey there little man." He greets the tabby kitten, bending forward and reaching down for him, picking him up easily and settling the tiny cat in his lap. Michael immediately begins kneading at the material of his pants, and Loki's smiles widens.

He'd gotten Michael recently. There'd been a set up on campus, an animal shelter adopting out cats and dogs to students and faculty, and Loki hadn't been able to resist. It had set him back $50.00 bucks after filling out the adoption papers and all the rest of it, but it had been completely worth it, Loki thinks, as he brings the little guy up and squishes him against his face, marveling at the softness of the kitten's fur, laughing lightly as the cat meows and presses his tiny, padded paws against his forehead.

"How was your day?" Loki asks him, holding him out to look at his face.

Cat's really are the most beautiful creatures, he thinks. They're faces are always so perfect.

Again, Michael meow's at him, and Loki smiles.

"Better than mine, I hope." He goes on talking, finally setting the kitten back down on the floor. "Here, let me get you your dinner."

Moving towards the lower cabinet where he keeps all of Michael's food, Loki goes on talking to the kitten as he grabs up a can of the wet stuff, peeling open the lid and dumping it into a bowl set alongside all his other dishes arranged across the counter top.

"I'm telling you Michael," he says, setting the dish down and watching as the kitten immediately darts up to the bowl, digging in with gusto. "it's as if some of these student's are doing it on purpose. It says right at the entrance to please be quiet, yet I find myself having to tell at least a dozen of them a day to keep it down. There was this one group today, I think they must have been the loudest yet. And this one boy, oh… he was absolutely abhorrent Michael. Just incredibly rude."

Loki shakes his head at the memory of four friends, laughing and shouting and throwing things at each other.

Loki just didn't understand that sort of behavior. These kid's had such a great opportunity. To be able to gain an education, really learn and expand themselves and their minds. And yet he constantly saw student's just like the group today, who didn't seem to take any of it seriously at all. Who showed no, real appreciation for being allowed it. Why, Loki thinks, if he'd had the money and the chance to go to school like that, he might well be the happiest person in the world. As it was, he took every available opportunity he had to learn. Working in a library helped. He got to basically just sit there and read all day, which he loved. He loved books, and found himself constantly wishing he could afford to buy more. But with a salary which paid him only $10.50 an hour, it just wasn't an option.

Still, he supposes he has no real cause to complain. The hardest part of his job is having to constantly go up to students and tell them to be quiet which, admittedly, sometimes gets a little ugly.

Like the boy today, making fun of the way he dresses and all that. It was hardly the first time someone had done so, and really, the insult was minor compared to a lot of the things people had said to him over the years. Still, it hurt sometimes. Loki knew he wasn't anyone's idea of "cool" and never would be. Especially compared to kids like that. Just looking at them, anyone would have been able to tell they were the popular sort. Good looking, athletic, hip. Especially that one guy, the big one, with the massively broad shoulders and sun colored hair.

That kid had been ridiculously good looking, with probably the bluest eyes Loki had ever seen, and the sort of square jawed, chiseled features you'd find in a comic book super hero. You could tell too, even dressed as he was in a loose hoody and jeans, that the kid was built like a shit brick-house. He looked about as strong as an ox, and Loki had involuntarily found himself feeling vaguely jealous of the guy, daydreaming even hours after they'd left of what it might be like to be like, well, like that. To be so strong and physically capable.

Loki would never know. Even before he'd lost the use of his legs, he'd been a sickly child, constantly plagued by illness, always incredibly undersized for his age and weak. Something his father had never forgiven him for, and which Laufey had taken as an excuse to remind Loki every day of his hatred for him.

But those aren't thoughts he likes to dwell on, and brutally then he pushes them away. He'd finally gotten away from his father, and that was all that mattered now.

And he had Michael now too. He wasn't alone, at least, though sometimes he felt very much like he was. He didn't have any friends, really. There was Darcy, who worked at the library with him, but she was also a student, and Loki knew she'd be moving on eventually.

Loki thinks he must have looked particularly pitiful to those kids today, strong and healthy as they were. Even if he wasn't stuck in this chair, people like that would never even look twice at him. It was just the way it was.

But that too Loki resolves to push from his mind, and turning his attention to Michael, he calls to the kitten, who, finished now with his dinner, comes bounding up to him, jumping up into his lap.

Loki laughs, bending down and planting a kiss atop the cat's head.

"Come on little guy, how about we go watch a movie? I've got some new titles from the library." Michael replies by curling up in his lap. "How does 'Pride and Prejudice' sound?" Loki smiles, taking hold the wheels of his chair and moving them out of the kitchenette, towards the living room. "We'll make a night of it. Just you and me."

/

AN: Thank you so much to everyone for all your support! I'm glad to hear you guys' are enjoying the story so far! If you get a chance, let me know what you think of this chapter, and thanks so much again!