Loki:

With the slam of Loki's door to his room, a relieved sigh is drawn from his chest. He slightly wobbles over to his bed and plops down with a huff. Thor is (unfortunately) his roommate but he isn't here on account of football practice so it allows for Loki to bask in quiet. Having a "friend" is exhausting and he's probably talked more today than he would have in an entire week. He's not sure how he feels about the young Stark though. His antics are mildly interesting and there seems to be more with him than meets the eye. If Loki does keep him around it probably will only be until the mystery has run out.

He rolls the idea of befriending Stark when an envelope is slipped under the door. He darts up and sits completely still for a few seconds. Cautiously eying the paper, he slowly snatches it off of the dark, wood floor. He promptly inspects the outside of envelope. Finally, when he deems it safe, he unseals it. The content of the letter is a typed story it seems. No intro, no explanation, nothing besides the story is inside. He glossed over it but it just looks like a nonsense story to him.

Loki scoffs and throws the paper across the room.

If they think that they can compel Loki to do their bidding then they are delusional. He returns to his previous spot on his bed and, just as he was getting comfortable, his phone starts to ring. He frowns and lets it go to voice mail. He starts to relax again but the phone starts to ring again. He angrily answers it and says, "Whomever you think you are I will not take part in your childish escapades so you can go away!" This outburst is met with silence for a while until the person over the line says, "If I did have escapades they would not be childish."

Great.

"What do you want Stark and how did you get my number?" He says, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"I'm more interested in your rude greeting just now. Who did you think I was that warranted such a tantrum?"

"I don't care what you're interested in, how did you get my number?"

"Pickpocketed you and took your number."

"You make it sound so easy."

"That's because, dear, it was. Now that I've answered your question, answer mine. Who did you think I was when I called?"

"You never answered my question of why you are calling me and besides, it's none of your business."

"Whatever. You're not in any trouble are you? I ain't about that life."

You have no idea.

"No."

"Just tell me, it's tiring trying to guess," Stark whines. Loki weighs his options and, since he's not taking the note too seriously, he decides to tell him. That's what "friends" do right?

"A letter was slipped under my door," he huffed "It appears to be some kind of code."

"Are you going to decode it?"

"No, I am not their trained monkey." Just as Loki finished talking, a sigh that sounds like it's accompanied by an eye roll erupts through the speaker.

"Just because you decode it doesn't mean you have to follow the instructions. I'll come over Friday to help you decode it."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah, is that okay? I'm not interrupting anything am I?" Loki can practically see the smirk on his face and he wants to tell him he's busy but he says, on instinct, "No. I suppose that's fine."

"See you tomorrow."

What am I getting myself into?


Tony:

Tony's face is assaulted by the early fall wind as he hangs up his phone. Loki sure is an unconventionally funny guy.

The leaves have changed but haven't fallen which gives the outside an ethereal look. It hasn't gotten cold yet so his short-sleeved shirt is perfect. Students are dispersing at a rate that shouldn't even be possible. Most are heading toward the dorms and Tony would be too if he had moved in yet. He finishes packing tonight. He lounges on a bench and waits for the parking lot to unclog before he goes out for his own car. Just as his driver instructed, Tony's red and yellow Ferrari sits in the parking space nearest to the door. He jumps in and inserts his key in the ignition. As he's pulling out of the lot he thinks about his conversation with Loki and all the past events today. Tony has been more contemplative than he'd care to admit but he always feels the need to analyze things that happen to him. Force of habit he supposes.

It'll be cool for him to decode something and it'll be challenging. He turns the corner and switches his thoughts to Loki. He thinks Loki is attractive both intellectually and physically but he's not sure about him. He really wasn't joking when he told him that he didn't want to get into anything nasty (i.e. gang related). But, even still, he knows, deep down, that Loki Odinson is neck-deep in some sort of trouble. He's planning to take the saying "ignorance is bliss" to heart in this situation.

His car rolls up to his father's estate and he leans over the open window to let the security system scan his retinas. The imposing gates open and he drives toward the modern mansions he's been forced to call home most of his life. He pulls out in front of the door and leaves his car out to be taken by their driver. He quickly opens the door and darts toward his basement/lab.

"Welcome sir," his AI, Jarvis, greets when he finishes his descent down the cool, metal stairs.

"Is the big man home?"

"No, Mr. Stark is not home."

Good. Dummy rolls up to him and takes his bag and jacket but his attempt to roll away is thwarted by a wall. He sighs and crosses a couple of wires and fixes the problem. Dummy whirs away.

He probably should being doing his work that was assigned at school but it seems tedious and irrelevant to his future. His sociology teacher even gave Tony a project to do. He said he'd send someone over to his house be his partner despite Tony's objections. The doorbell resonates through the house. Speaking of.

He doesn't have to worry about his father's curiosity so he lazily strolls to the door. His mind drifts and thinks of Steve Rogers. He probably has a nice home with nice parent to go home to. He probably doesn't have to worry. Tony's indifferent attitude toward him starts to grow resentful. When he reaches the door he punches number in the panel to display his new partner for the project.

Just his luck, it's Steve Rogers.


Steve:

"Brother Steve, why so glum?" Thor asks.

Steve stiffens and averts his eyes. They've finished practice and are walking through the school hallways, heading toward the dorms. What happened with the new kid Tony distracted him the entire day. He kissed another boy. No! A boy kissed him so technically he didn't kiss him.

"You are beginning to worry me," Thor states, placing a hand on Steve's shoulder. He's been such a good friend and he supposes he could divulge a little information.

"Well, you see, there's this kid, a boy, and he likes other boys," Steve stutters out.

"Yes?"

"What should I do?"

"I do not understand the dilemma."

"I just don't know how to handle it…"

"Just treat him like a normal person because that's what he is. I imagine if Loki or one of my friends was of different sexuality they'd not want to be treated differently," Thor reasons with a look that says "isn't this common sense?" and he continues by saying, "It's bad enough that they can't love who they love in public but it would make it worse if the people who were on their 'side' treated them like a freak."

"I never thought of that. Yeah, I guess you're right. Thanks buddy."

"Anytime friend."

So I should be normal friends with him? Even though he was childish and kissed me, I should be the better man. Yeah! I should get to know him more.

A cluster of baseball players walk down the hallway. Something is peculiar about them and it stirs Steve out of his thoughts. He's never seen them before.

"Hey Thor, isn't something weird about those-?" he stops talking at the sight of Thor in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. He looks around but no one is around. The players disappeared without a trace.


The ambulance drives off with a delirious Thor in tow. They couldn't get any information out of his because of his physical state. It couldn't have been an accident. Thor isn't the type to just accidentally fall down the stairs. He tried telling Mr. Fury, the school's principal, that but he was convinced it was simply an accident.

"Sorry Rogers but Thor won't be able to go to school until the second semester," Mr. Fury says, standing in front of the school entrance.

"Are you sure?"

"Boy, he's broken each one of his limbs and you want him to go to school?"

"But what about my big sociology project? Thor was my partner and it's too big of a project to do alone!" Steve grimly says.

"It's nice to see kids concerned about their grades. If I'm not mistaken a new kid just transferred into that class. I'm sure Mr. Xavier will let you partner up. Go to his room and ask if you're so concerned," his assistant walks up right next to Mr. Fury and jabs his pointer finger at his watch, signaling a previous appointment. "I've got to run kid; hopefully I don't see you anytime soon."

Steve starts walking toward the Mr. Xavier's room and his arrives quickly since his room is close to the entrance. His teacher is actually a professor and he just got out of college. He's a genius and no more than 21 years old. He has full, dark brown hair and smiling blue eyes.

"Hello, Mr. Rogers, how's today faring you?"

"Not well. Thor got hurt and won't be back for a while so that means I've got to get a new partner for that project," Steve's eyes won't meet Mr. Xavier's as he says "Mr. Fury said I should partner up with the Stark kid."

"I think that's a great idea! I'll give you his address so you can go plan with him," he says, writing on a piece of paper "Good luck!"

He walks toward his car to drive to Stark's mansion. As he gets in he thinks, Thanks because I'm going to need it.


Author's Note: Thanks for reading. Sorry it wasn't longer and better ;0; Schools out so from now on chapters will be longer and more frequent. :) I'd really appreciate reviews voicing compliments, thoughts, ideas, concerns, etc.