Chapter 2

The sofa sank underneath me as I knelt facing the God. I opened the first aid kit, pushing a random strand of hair behind my ear. Looks like it I would have to make use of what little first aid stuff I had...

"Okay, so the cut on your arm and your lip... Is that all your open wounds?" I asked before allowing some annoyance into my voice. "From my shed."

Loki nodded, blue eyes scanning my face. I don't see what he was looking for.

"I don't see the point in lying, unlike you." I ripped open the antiseptic wipe. "So this will hurt."

"I guess I deserved that," Loki murmured. What the hell?! This was not the God the public knew. This was the puny God the news had spoken of, that the Hulk yelled about.

I sighed. "Can I ask you one small question?"

"Of course."

I pressed the wipe to his arm, cleaning the wound. "Where the hell has sassy pants from New York gone?"

"He is still here, Midgardian," Loki smirked. "He just disappeared momentarily to finish Taking Over The World Part Two."

"Don't get any ideas or I'll shove that staff where the sun doesn't shine. And as for that kneel crap, you try to make me kneel I will break you." I glanced towards the bat.

Loki laughed. "You would make a grand ruler."

I put a clean antiseptic wipe to the cut on his lip. "No, I won't be your queen."

Loki's eyes met mine. "What ever gave you the impression I would want you as a queen?"

"Whatever gave you the impression I wanted you to comment on what I said?" I glared at him.

"Stichomythia."

I stopped attending to his wound. "What?"

"It is Greek for verbal sparring," Loki sighed. "How uneducated Midgardians are, how your race has lasted this long I do not know."

I pointed to the door, smiling sweetly.

"Of course, there is time to improve your race, and you. We will just have to see." Loki flexed his right hand, looking to me.

I pressed a little too hard on his wound, smirking as he flinched, serves him right. "No we won't see, we won't be doing anything."

Loki winced as I cleaned the wound on his lip. His lips were probably his most attractive feature. Aside from his eyes but they were too cold to be called beautiful; they were like a frozen lake, impenetrable. But his lips...

They suddenly curved upwards into a smirk again. "You are staring at my lips, Midgardian."

I took the wipe away and reached for a plaster and bandage. "Do you want my help or not? The cold street outside is calling your name right now."

Loki nodded. His smirk didn't disappear though. I wasn't going to lie: damn did he look hot when he smirked! But he was a tyrannical, loopy God and that certainly was not my type. Nope. To be honest I'd never really thought about that being a guy type until precisely this moment in time.

I wrapped the bandage around his arm. His skin was soft too, and where I held his arm I could feel his muscles flex. I removed my hand unsure of the situation.

"Okay..." I stuck the plaster on his lip before leaning back to admire my handy work. The God still looked like the Hulk had used him as his chew toy again but he didn't seem so helpless anymore. In fact his smirk had grown and he looked troublesome. Not good. "You need to look less conspicuous, buddy. I mean you've lost your jazzy helmet so that's a start."

"Jazzy helmet?" In his Shakespearean accent it sounded hilarious. I mean I'm a Brit but his voice made the sentence hilarious.

I burst out laughing.

"My helmet was spectacular and was awed by all who saw it," he frowned.

I wiped the tears from my eyes. "Right... You looked like a deranged goat."

"Do not offend me Midgardian," he snapped.

"Do not get sassy with me, God," I snapped back.

Loki clenched his jaw. That would have been sexy if he wasn't a lunatic God.

"How do you propose I look less conspicuous then?" Loki crossed his arms across his chest.

"Well, your hair makes you obvious goldilocks-"

"I am not my brother." Loki's smirk disappeared. He was glaring at me. Wow. Damn this guy had an attitude.

Okay back track. "I wasn't comparing you to Thor. Goldilocks is a fairytale character you douche."

Loki raised a slender black eyebrow. "You're quite the name caller. I might go as far as to say I'm offended by your frosty reception. Quite the host aren't you?"

I rolled my eyes, standing up. "Well, when you're done sulking and acting like a child, I'll be in the kitchen, getting food." I put back the first aid box. "Oh and Loki?"

His blue eyes were like razors. "What do you require now, Midgardian?"

"I can tell it's a Thor subject so I'll leave it alone for now," I grinned before walking off into the kitchen. Dammit, I'd told him where I was going. What was I going to do?

Act natural I guess. I reached up into my cupboard finding a jar of tomato sauce.

"You are not funny, Midgardian." His voice was ice cold and right by ear.

Oh my god.

I spun on him. "Don't call me that." I waved the jar in his face. Very threatening I know.

"Do not make fun of me then. Besides you did not tell me your name, so what am I supposed to call you?" Shit, how tall was this man?! And why would I tell him my name? He could use it to possess me when he got his magic back or something crazy.

"Ugh," I grumbled, walking past him.

"Ugh is your name?" Loki laughed.

I crouched, raiding in the cupboard for some pasta and two pans. "At least it's not as stupid as yours. Besides you're going to have to come up with an alternative because your name is not exactly low key."

Loki's eyes narrowed. "I admire your cruelty. But I must know do you treat everyone like this, like dirt on your shoe, insignificant?"

"Only people I don't like," I grinned at him, straightening up.

Loki's smirk disappeared and his eyes flashed with hurt before he composed himself. "You do not even know me."

"I know enough about you." I set the pasta and jar on the side, rubbing my bicep. "Okay, that was below the belt. I'm sorry, it's just been a really long day and as you can probably tell I don't deal with people well." I opened the fridge as Loki settled onto one of the breakfast bar seats.

"You do not know my reasons for my actions so you cannot judge me for them," he replied solemnly. "Only when you know me can you judge me."

"You're right, I don't know you and now I feel bad for saying what I said." I shut the fridge door, extending a purple packet to him.

"What is that?" Loki's black brows shot across his forehead to meet each other in a frown.

"Chocolate," I smirked. The packet ripped easily in my hands as I stepped forward, handing him a small square. "Try it."

Loki eyed the piece of food, before he extended his hand and took it. His lips parted briefly as he popped it in his mouth before he genuinely smiled. "This is Devine, Midgardian."

"Here, eat the rest it'll make you feel better." I turned back to the work surface filling the pan with water and the other with the red sauce. I heard Loki scoff behind me. One thing I'd learnt about him: giving him sympathy hacked him off. The gas flickered on, heating both of the pans. Now all I had to do was wait.

I settled into the seat across from Loki. "So... We could play twenty questions while we wait for food. Then I can conclude whether you're crazy."

"I am assuming that is a game where Midgardians ask each other twenty questions?" Loki raised an eyebrow.

"You guessed right." I shrugged. What else was I supposed to do? Besides this would help me get to know him better...

"Ladies first unless your customs here are different..." Loki's eyes never left mine. It was unnerving how cold they were and how you couldn't read a single emotion in them.

"No, they're the same." I bit my bottom lip, thinking. "What's your full name?"

Loki's face flickered with amusement. "Loki Laufeyson."

"Interesting." I nodded.

"What do you want most in the world?" Loki sat back in his seat, hands neatly folded on the counter.

"Ummm... I've never really thought about that," I laughed. "I suppose world peace?"

Loki chuckled. "You sound like the Avengers."

"Okay, maybe not then..." I looked over to the pan. No bubbles yet. "I guess I want someone who understands me." Way to sound pathetic there buddy...

"Is that not what we all want," Loki sighed. "My mother was the only one who understood me..." His blue eyes flickered to the marble worktop.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

His gaze immediately met mine. "I do not want your sympathy Midgardian nor do I want your empathy you are below me and do not forget it."

Ouch, I'd touched a nerve. "What happened to her?"

Loki blinked twice, taking a rather deep breath. "I told a monster to go one way and in turn he found my mother and killed her. I suppose you could say it was my fault. You may not trust me Midgardian but you can be sure of one thing: you can trust my rage - at myself and the world."

"Did you tell him him to kill her?" I asked, getting up and adding pasta to the boiling water and stirring the sauce.

I looked back to see Loki clenching his jaw. "I don't see how this has-"

"Just answer the god damn question!" I snapped.

Loki gave me a sincere look. "I would never ask someone to do such a thing, I may be a monster but I would never be a creature of Hell."

"Then it wasn't your fault, the monster chose his own actions not you." I sat back down.

Loki tilted his head, watching me. "You speak words of wisdom for someone of such an infantile species."

"And I've also used up four questions," I tutted.

"What is your mother like?" Loki asked.

I thought back to last year, flinching. "Was."

A cold hand was on top of my own. "I am sorry."

"You're a hypocrite you know?" I laughed.

"If I answer that it will count as a fifth question," Loki smirked. Douche.

"It was rhetorical, you have two questions left." He didn't move his hand from mine as I spoke. Strangely, I found it comforting. It made the pain a little easier.

He glanced down at our hands. "What happened to your mother?"

I tore my hand away from his. "Do you remember the New York attack?" I could already feel the tears welling in my eyes. I could hear too easily the phone call my parents had made to me amongst screams.

Loki froze. "No."

I broke his gaze, feeling cold. "The Chitauri killed them."

Loki sighed. "That was my fault and I take full responsibility for their-"

I leant across the table, putting a finger to his lips for the second time. "Don't say it, I don't want to hear it right now. I don't want to think about it. I don't want to hear how you're sorry when you're not. You're just trying to stay alive right now and I'm the means necessary to do that."

Loki took my finger from his lips. "I am a bad person even you cannot argue that, Midgardian. And if you do not want my remorse then I will not give it to you."

"You were a bad person." I sat back in my seat.

Loki frowned. "I do not understand, I have not died so why are you using past tense?"

"You haven't done anything bad to me, well apart from the shed but I'm guessing that wasn't your fault, unless now you have a desire to destroy all garden sheds in the area." I raised an eyebrow.

Loki laughed but it sounded tense. "You are saying that in the future I may be good?"

"Anything can happen." I shrugged, getting up and turning off the pasta. "The world is full of 'what ifs'."

"You are not angry with me." Loki stood by my side, watching me drain the pasta. "Why?"

"I get the feeling that's all you've ever had." I put the pasta back in the pan, adding the sauce and stirring it on a low heat. "People being angry at you."

"So you're choosing to ignore the fact that I got your parents killed?"

I waved the wooden spoon in his face. So threatening. "One, I will never forget that you were part of the asshole brigade which came down to earth and killed my parents on their 30th wedding anniversary and-" I continued to stir. "- Two you were just a puppet in a show, and three if I was that angry with you I would have kicked you out of the door the moment I walked in and saw you. No, in fact I would have killed you myself but I didn't so stop doing the whole 'I'm terribly sorry act' because I don't care and it's a waste of time for the both of us."

Loki's mouth hung open before he closed it and buried his hands in his pockets.

I sighed. "And four, right now I don't see an angry, rebellious Diva in front of me. Right now I can see someone who needs help. Someone who's lost - you're broken. And I'm going to help you whether you want my sympathy or not, because that's the idiot that I am. Besides the bonus is that it pisses you off when people feel sorry for you."

"Thank you, Midgardian," Loki croaked as if the words seemed foreign to him. They probably were.

"No problem." I reached up into the cupboard, grabbing two bowls. The gas flickered off as I removed the pan from the hob and poured the steaming contents into the bowls.

I grabbed two spoons, handing one to the God. "You better be hungry."

"When you've been in prison as long as I have you're always hungry," Loki mumbled, taking a bowl and sitting back down.

"Prison?" I took a mouthful of food.

"Actions as serious as mine don't come without consequences," Loki sighed. "The Allfather threatened to have my mouth sewn shut to keep me from weaving my tales of deceit."

"Why did they kick you out?" I asked, setting my spoon down.

"They cast me out because I faked my own death and tried to overthrow the king. My brother and step-father found out and threw me in prison where I rotted for half a year before my step-father decided on my punishment. They have exiled me to earth until I can show them I have changed my ways and that I would make a good ruler." Loki took another mouthful of food.

"And how are you supposed to do that?" I asked.

Loki smirked. "For once, I do not know, besides is it not my turn to ask questions?"

"True," I mumbled through a mouthful of food.

"What is your favourite colour?" Loki asked.

"Emerald."

"A brilliant choice," Loki purred.

"Creepy much?" I laughed.

"It is my favourite colour too," Loki grinned. "There is nothing creepy about coincidences, Midgardian."

I shook my head. "Shame, I had you pinned down as a rainbow guy..."

"What are your hobbies?" Loki questioned. His blue gaze was kind of imprisoning as I stopped eating.

"Well I like reading and cooking I guess."

Loki pushed back a lock of his hair. "How old are you?"

"I'm twenty-one. How old are you?"

Loki's lips pulled up at the corners. "I am over a hundred years old."

I dropped my spoon. "You're so old!"

Loki raised his eyebrows. "Was that necessary?"

"You look thirty, late twenties at the least," I muttered. "Where do you buy your skin cream?"

Loki chuckled. "Asgard."

"Bit far to travel." I set down my spoon.

Loki set down his spoon too. "It was delicious." His bowl was completely empty. He wasn't lying when he said he was hungry...

I yawned, as I stood up and put the dishes in the sink.

"This is an unusual sensation..." Loki mumbled, looking paler than normal.

"What's wrong?" I asked. If he was going to faint there was no why in hell I'd be able to catch him.

"I feel fatigue." Loki's pale face creased as he frowned again.

I nodded. "Tough life being a Midgardian, but hey I didn't choose the Midgardian life it chose me. And now it's chosen you." I motioned to the living room. "The sofa is back in there, feel free to sleep on it. If you even do that sort of thing."

"Surprisingly Gods sleep too." His voice was near me. He'd followed me to the airing cupboard. "And thank you, Midgardian."

I sighed, chucking him a blanket. "Yeah well, don't get used to it. It's a cat eat cat world here."

"I was not planning on such a thing, relying on a pathetic Mid-"

I chucked a pillow at his head. "You're the puny God here buddy so don't you dare start that." My hair fell in my eyes as I went into my bedroom. Thank god it had gone back to name calling. I didn't like how he'd suddenly become nice. It was odd and gave me the heebeegeebees.

"Goodnight, Midgardian." His voice was right by my door, no longer soft but cold.

"Goodnight." I pulled my shirt over my head and ditched my bra, putting on a PJ top. I did the same with my trousers and pants, swapping them for some shorts.

"Midgardian?"

"What's wrong Loki?" I asked, opening my bedroom door and leaning on it.

He motioned to his clothes. "Could I borrow a more suitable attire for sleeping?"

I felt sorry for him then. He looked like a little lost puppy that no one wanted, including me.

I went back inside my room, raiding around in my draws until I found an old pair of baggy shorts and a massive t-shirt. "Will this be okay?"

"Yes, Midgardian."

I took the clothes back from him. "Manners?"

"Yes, thank you," Loki said. I didn't miss his jaw clench as he looked down at me. He was so tall... It was obvious he hadn't had to rely on others until now.

I handed him the clothes, laughing. "Goodnight Loki. And as for my name, it's Freya."

Loki nodded, turning on his heel. His smirk was gone.

I closed my bedroom door then. This was an interesting turn of events to say the least... What on earth was I going to do with him? And what was he doing to me?! Those blue eyes were so piercing and cold but in that one moment in the kitchen they'd changed; they'd become kind. And then all too soon the kindness had disappeared and The Loki was back. But underneath it all, underneath the vanity, the arrogance, the charisma he was broken and he was trying his best to hide it.