Okay, so THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS! I love you all so very much xoxox. Now.
Be very prepared, this is a bit of a...angst thing. Because, I don't know. I was in the mood.
Tissues may be necessary.
Enjoy~
Loki woke up coughing and disoriented. He was sweating and the air was too thick to breathe. What the...
Smoke.
He sat up, eyes wild and heart hammering in his chest. Smoke clogged the air, clouding his vision and suffocating him. The room was already a sauna. Sirens wailed in the distance. The building creaked and groaned loudly around him, the fire was already raging. He was up and out of the bed in a split second. In passing, he grabbed a scarf off his desk and tied it around his mouth and nose. He and Steve nearly collided when he burst through his door and almost face-first into Steve's chest. Their eyes met, and why was the big quarterback still here? He must have overslept.
They sprinted for the door, they had to get out of here. Now. Steve grabbed the doorknob then jerked his hand back with a loud curse. The door knob was hot. That meant fire had already taken over the hallway. Loki felt like his heart was going to explode from the adrenaline racking his body. They were three stories up. How were they going to get out now?! Hysteria was about to set in. Steve grabbed his hand. It forced him to calm down and think. He couldn't go insane just yet. Wits about him. That was the most important thing to remember. Stay calm. Well, as calm as one can be when trapped in a burning dorm building.
"What do we do?" He asked, his blue eyes wide and pupils dilated with fear. It was a little horrifying to see big, strong Steve scared.
Loki almost screamed. He couldn't handle this. "We have to break the door down and take our chances, I guess." His voice was rough from the havoc the smoke was wreaking on his throat. It was much like that time he had tried smoking, only a thousand times worse.
Steve nodded. "Go over there. I'll do it." He hacked, coughing hard and long. Gods.
Loki raced to hide behind the corner. This was the most awful thing he had ever experienced. A loud bang slammed against his eardrums. "Fuck." He murmured, feeling the blast of heat from the fire rushing in to claim what little oxygen was left in the room. The air felt forcibly sucked from his lungs, leaving him to cough up his windpipe.
"C'mon, Loki!" Steve called. Loki forced his petrified limbs to move.
Keep moving. You gotta get out of here.
They ran down the hallway, slamming on the breaks at the stairway. It was being eaten by flames. The big picture window above the stairs had blown out, and tendrils of the fire was thrashing at the oxygen from outside. Loki could barely breathe through the heat and billowing smoke. He was shaking from the adrenaline and hammering pulse beating against his veins. The stairs were the only way out. He and Steve looked at each other, shrugging. It was either chance getting burned or die for sure.
Loki went first, tripping and stumbling around the flames. He felt something hot and angry bite into his arm, but he was racing downward too fast to care. Finally at the ground level, he jumped off the third stair and went running, hearing Steve behind him like a locomotive. The lobby was bright orange and red with flames, throwing demonic shadows everywhere. Loki could barely concentrate on how to get out of here. Everything was distorted by panic and shadows and fire. The heat scorched his skin painfully, and his arm was still screaming at him in agony. But all Loki could even consider was the door, getting out of here, surviving.
Sprinting through the flames was excruciating and by the time he got out the door, he felt like he was being eaten alive by fire. Steve tackled him to the ground, rubbing his arm and rolling him back and forth. Someone was screaming. Like an anguished, blood-curdling scream.
It was him.
Tony sped towards the college, his radio blasting. He didn't even hear it, his heart was beating too loudly. He could see big black clouds of smoke billowing in the wind above the campus. The tires screamed as he hit the breaks outside the caution tape. The car left running, he bolted under the tape, looking wildly around for Loki or Thor or someone he god damn knew. Ambulances were everywhere, some with names of counties he had never even heard of. But the building, fuck. The building looked like a monster, flames coming out of at least half the windows and the fire raging almost audibly. That big window above the staircase to Loki's room was blown out too, fires coming out of it like living creatures. His heart stopped.
Firemen were running, policemen were trying to keep people in order; those who needed help their only concern. The place was a fucking mad house. He couldn't find anyone. The more time that went on, the closer he was to having a fucking panic attack.
Where.
Was.
Loki.
Then he saw Thor. Thor. He had never been so happy to see motherfucking Thor. "THOR!" He yelled, praying to be heard above the whirling chaos. The man turned, blue eyes filled to the brim with worry.
Shit.
"Anthony! Have you seen my brother?" The man ran to him, grabbing his shoulders so tightly Tony thought for a pain-filled moment that he might crush him.
Then someone screamed, high and full of pain. Thor's head whipped around, looking for the source of the blood-boiling sound. Tony saw them first.
He ripped out of Thor's grip and started racing towards the dorms before he could fully process what he was doing. Loki was on fire and Steve was practically beating him to put it out. He had his jacket off and was pressing it down on Loki's arm the second he skidded to his knees beside them. Both boys had black faces and tears were streaming from under Loki's squeezed shut eyelids.
EMTs were running their way and Tony was soon shoved out of the way by the nurses and guys with a gurney. Thor was holding Loki's hand although the teenager had stopped screaming only to whimper and cry and look around with pain-dulled green eyes that made Tony want to puke. As the gurney started to wheel away, Tony realized Loki was looking at him. Tears still tracking pretty pale lines down his grim-covered face. After he was loaded into an ambulance, Tony bent over and gave up his lunch to the rose bushes that were now covered in ash and falling embers from the fire still raging on the campus.
Steve's hand rubbed his back, and the big quarterback sunk to the ground with him. "Are you okay?" He asked Tony. Fuck, shouldn't this be the other way around?
Tony nodded numbly. "You?" He gave the big blonde a once-over. No burned skin, no scorched clothing, no eyebrows.
"Yep, I'm alright. Loki really got the worst, it appears. Do you know how all this got started?" Steve asked the one logical question that Tony hadn't even considered.
He looked around, assessing the fire and the buildings being consumed relentlessly. It was gold, and orange, and crimson, and cherry. It danced like it was alive. It was beautiful and ugly. He hated it and it awed him. He had always had this relationship with fire. Chemical burns lined his arms and hands, scarring his tan skin with pale lines and blotches and designs. There was a story for each discoloration.
"I bet it was some idiot in the lab. The building the lab is in is almost gone." His eyes locked on the shuddering building that was starting to concave. Firemen kept people well away from it, but spectators did love a show.
Steve nodded, not even looking at the fire anymore. "Where were you?" There was that ever-present hint of suspicion in his voice that Tony had come to abhor. Couldn't anyone look at him without seeing addict? Or drunk? Or druggie?
Tony sighed, flopping back on the grass with the huff of breath. He could smell the fragrant coffee he had been drinking not even an hour ago tint the air around his face. It was quickly replaced by the odor of burning everything. "My da- Howard's lab. I needed some big boy toys. The kind the college can't afford." He shrugged, dragging his shoulders painfully on the hard ground beneath him. Funny how pain always seemed to make him feel better. Maybe that's why he never wore protective gloves or goggles in the lab when things were certain to blow up. Maybe that's why he only played with things that blew up when he was upset.
Steve regarded him with narrow blue eyes. "Let's go. I want to see if everyone else is okay." He stood, extending a hand down to Tony.
He just stared up at the gentle giant blankly. Everyone else. People that Steve cared about, but Tony's only concern was on his way to the hospital right now. Damn, he could use something very, very strong to drink right now. Instead, he took Steve's hand and ignored his worried gaze. He could deal with his own issues later. Right now, he needed to do what he could to help Steve, then check in with Thor to make sure Loki was okay.
On the other hand, he could ditch the captain of the football team and go get drunk. Then, in the morning, he could check on Loki. Hmm. Then Steve looked at him with those big, blue, sad eyes surrounded by smut and smelling like smoke and fuck. He couldn't leave now. God damn, he was a sucker for pretty eyes.
Loki woke up and almost screamed. The light was bright. Where was he? The SUN?
"Brother?" Thor's soft voice had dialed down from god-of-thunder pitch to church mouse. It was a blessed improvement.
Loki groaned. Everything hurt. His arm really hurt. Like, white-hot sparks behind his eyelids and hot fire-pokers sticking deep into his skin and burrowing into his bone pain. And- oh, ow- moving intensified that about a thousand times over. He had to bite down on his lip- ew, was that blood?- to keep from screaming. Again. If he remembered correctly. And if he wasn't mistaken, he was so drugged he could be hallucinating this whole thing.
"Loki? Are you okay?" Okay, he probably needed to at least pretend to recognize Thor or the boy might lose his mind with worry. He cracked one eye open, then groaned again. He wondered how painful it would be to smother himself with a pillow.
"Thor, what are you doing?" A sleepy female voice murmured. Frigga. Oh, thank god. His mommy was here.
"Momma?" Loki croaked, slitting his eyes open just enough to make out a blurry image of his beautiful, golden-haired mother.
"Shh, darling. Do you want some water? Just nod or shake your head, sweetie." She leaned over him, brushing his sweaty- disgusting- bangs off his forehead and sending Thor off to get some ice. When he nodded, a cool cup was pressed against his lips and he felt cool liquid rush down his scratchy throat to rest like winter in his empty stomach. "You're in the hospital. Do you remember what happened?" The bed dipped slightly when she sat at the edge and looked down at him with a mother's loving concern.
"Yeah." Ew. His voice sounded awful. So much for silky smooth. "I remember the fire. I don't really remember much after Steve tackled me." He raised his uninjured hand to touch his throat. God, how much smoke had he inhaled? He sounded like a century-long smoker. Or worse.
"Your arm was burned pretty badly, sweetheart. And you passed out from the pain." Okay, if he hadn't been in an excruciating amount of pain, that might've been embarrassing. "And you also have a slight concussion. The doctors want to keep you here for the night, and maybe tomorrow. But they say you'll be alright. No skin graphs. Just lots of rest." She smiled and pressed a wonderfully cool hand to his cheek.
He nodded, happy that the burns weren't too bad. Apparently, he was extremely aware of pain, because his arm felt like he would need skin graphs for miles. And new bone marrow too. Ow.
"You need to get some rest, darling. I'll be here when you wake up." She helped him nestle under the hospital blankets comfortably- well, as comfortably as one could be with an arm that screamed agony- and shushed Thor when he came soldiering in. Odin had taught that boy well.
Loki smirked at his brother sleepily and sent him a hazy green-eyed wink, then drifted off to sleep on waves of morphine.
Tony glared at the nurse. "Look, lady. I don't want to see him. I just want to know if he's okay." It was taking way too much energy to explain this. He was hungover. Why hadn't he just called, for fuck's sake?
"Stark?" A thunderous voice exclaimed delightedly behind him.
Shit. Fuck. Damn. He could not deal with Thor's over-flowing cheer today.
"Hiya, big guy." He smiled, albeit, a very shaky, sunglassed smile. Yes, he was wearing shades. Inside. Because god damn were lights painful. "How's Loki?" He shoved his hands in his pockets and focused on not swaying. Was he still drunk? Maybe a little.
Thor's smile dulled. "He's alright. Mostly he makes me stay out here because he says my voice is too loud. Would you like to see -"
"No. No. No." Tony shook his head too fast and nearly flinched at the white-hot pain that exploded behind his eyes. Oof. "I just wanted to make sure he was okay. You know, no amputated appendages and all that jazz." He shrugged, kind of wondering what had possessed him to come to the fucking hospital in the first place. That's what cell phones are for, duh.
Thor frowned. "He would probably like to see you. You have a nice voice, or so he thinks." A grin started to develop on the neanderthal's face. "Not to mention, I'm sure my mother would like to meet you."
Whoa. Parents? Tony didn't do parents. "Uh. You know, I really don't think that'd be a good idea, Thor." Couldn't he see Tony was dealing with the hangover of a lifetime, here? C'mon, Thor, you've been drunk before.
Then he did what he had seen and fallen prey to all too many times in his short life. Thor morphed into a sad puppy dog before his fucking eyes. "Please, Tony? He really needs someone to cheer him up." The blonde mountain begged. Bitterly, Tony realized he had the eyes of a fucking golden retriever. A sad golden retriever, nonetheless.
"Fine." He growled, wishing for all the world it didn't hurt like a bullet-to-the-head to grit his teeth.
He let Thor lead him towards Loki's room, feeling his skin crawl. He remembered the last time he had been here. Fourteen years old, waking up and expecting death only to find a bright, white, cold hospital instead. Failure, again. He shook his head, now was not the time to relive childhood trauma. It would be filed away for later, when he could properly torture himself about his past mistakes.
"Loki, you have a visitor!" Loki flinched in unison with Tony at the sheer decibel of Thor's joy. "Tony's here."
Shock registered in emerald eyes that- thank god- were not glazed over by pain. Tony wasn't sure his heart could have endured that again. Or his already unhappy stomach, for that matter. "Stark. Hello." His voice was scratchy and completely wasted from the smoke.
"Hi." He waved awkwardly, noticing the woman by Loki's bed, who was smiling at him with eyes all too wise for his comfort. She had a pretty face, and blue eyes that were a gentle version of Thor's. Huh. "I'm Tony." He held out a hand to shake her's. Her grip was firm, but her skin soft. She smelled like honeysuckle. Just like his mother had the last time he hugged her. The memory had the room spinning, but he stayed upright.
"I believe my husband works with your...father?" She questioned, smiling pleasantly.
He smiled stiffly. "There are few people who don't work with my father, ma'am." Loki's green eyes flickered fleetingly. He shifted uncomfortably. "I really just came to make sure Loki was okay. I wasn't intending to intrude. I'm sure you need your sleep." Okay, time to leave. Now. And god help Thor if he got in his way or-
"Wait, Stark. Mother, Thor, could you give us a moment." And god damn, Tony was scared of that tone. Loki's voice was even more threatening when it was rough and deep.
Thor and Frigga obediently vacated the room. Leaving Tony standing awkwardly at the end of the bed, closer to the door really, and fidgeting like a crack addict. He looked anywhere but at Loki. Anywhere. Because, if there was one time when all of Tony's sparkling, gilded charm abandoned him, it was when he was with Loki. The boy was his kryptonite.
"Are you going to look at me? I'm sure the furnishings aren't nearly as interesting a view." Loki's voice was laced with contemptuous amusement. Tony felt heat rush to his cheeks. "Why are you really here?" His shrewdness was a little irritating sometimes, but Tony was actually pretty sure he knew that.
"Like I said, to check up on you. Make sure you were still alive and all." He shrugged, letting his eyes fall to travel across one sprawling leg. One batman-sock-encased toe peeked out from under the sheets. It wasn't easy to stifle the smile that wanted to spread across his face.
"Maybe that's what you want it to be, but there are such things as phones, Stark." His haughty tone wasn't what irritated Tony, it was his refusal to call him anything but his last name. That fucking name he hated. And Loki knew it. That cute, uppity little shit.
"I'm hungover, if you must know. Clear thinking isn't really my strong suit right now." He growled, his eyes following the leg up to his hips. Tony could see the thin boy's hip bones protruding even from here. God. Someone give him a sandwich.
Loki was silent- what, Loki, wordless?- for a few moments. Tony's gaze traveled further, taking in his pale, snowy neck, his inhuman jawline, his bright red lips, his glaring green eyes. "You know, I can see your eyes through those sunglasses." A devilish smirk grew on his face when Tony felt the blush burn his cheeks. But he refused to do anything but smile. If there was one thing Tony would never admit shame for, it was checking out a hot body. And let's just say, no one would ever call Loki homely.
But, it did clear up matters to Tony. He wasn't here because he was hungover. It was much more than that, although, let's be truthful, that had certainly attributed to it somewhat. He was here because he actually cared about how Loki was. Physically as well as mentally. Getting caught on fire isn't something you just smile through. He knew from experience.
"Still gonna use all that convenient alcohol for an excuse?" Tony began to feel a little nauseous, and something changed on Loki's face. "Bathroom's that way." He pointed to a door on the other side of the room.
Tony ran.
Loki laid back on the bed after Anthony, a bit green after his stint hugging the toilet, had left. Things rambled around in his head that he didn't really want to think about. The primary being: 'Where's Odin?'
Now, normally, Loki didn't really care where his father was or what he was doing or even why he wasn't paying attention to his youngest. The teenager had figured that out pretty early in life, quite frankly. But this was different. Loki had just been in a life-or-death situation and had the ever-loving hell burned out of his arm. Nevertheless, Odin had yet to show his face other than the first hour or so he had been conscious, and even that had just been to tell Frigga goodbye. Loki hadn't been quite lucid at that point. Morphine was a powerful drug.
Thor snuck in, coming to sit beside the bed and study Loki unabashedly. "Can I help you?" Loki snarled, giving his brother a feral, green-eyed glare. He wondered, idly, if this would always be their relationship: acerbic Loki being condescending to bright, innocent Thor? He supposed so.
"I wish I looked like you, sometimes. Girls are always chattering about how beautiful you are." The boy admitted honestly. "You're so unique. It makes me feel so very ordinary."
Loki couldn't keep his surprise off his face. "What?" He was dumbfounded, to say the least. There were no girls itching to date him, no comments about his beauty. Wait...was he hallucinating? Was his mind trying to comfort itself during this admittedly traumatic time?
Thor just nodded, pulling his own long blond hair back into a ponytail. "Momma always said you were special. I mean, I know it hurts you how dad treats you. But you're different Loki, while I am nothing more than ordinary, a reincarnation of my father."
Loki stared in pure, unadulterated shock. He couldn't believe his ears. Really, he didn't believe he was hearing this. Something was wrong, they needed to get a doctor in here because Loki was finally losing his mind. "Thor, are you...kidding me?" He could barely spit the words out. "I'm the odd one out. I don't fit! It's not fun being different. It may look like it, but trust me, it's no cake-walk." He sighed. "I always wanted to fit in to the family. To be a little blond-haired, blue-eyed reincarnation of someone. But I'm not. I don't fit into this puzzle." He scrubbed his face with the hand that wasn't aching like it had just been run over by a train.
"Don't say that..." Thor whined, sounding like a kicked puppy. Loki knew it was hard for him to hear that his little brother had never felt he belonged, because all Thor had ever wanted was for Loki to be happy. Just like he was. Even if he did deal with a little bit of envy, which honestly didn't make Loki feel better. It made him feel like he was being lied to, although his sixth sense screamed that Thor was being truthful and blunt about his feelings.
The door opened and the formerly absent father-figure stepped inside. Really, had anyone in this family heard of knocking, personal space, or privacy? Loki sighed, averting his eyes to the sheet his fingers were toying with. It had always been this way. Loki feeling small and insignificant before his powerful father, fidgeting and acting like he knew he was just an insect Odin could squash at any time. It had always been there, even in his most defiant moments. Even when he rebelled with all his heart. He still felt so small, so unimportant, so worthless. The thoughts raged on, until he finally realized that Thor and Odin were actually speaking, and probably had been for a good five minutes while he dazed out.
"...Doesn't want to." Thor was saying, a stubborn look on his face. Loki really wished he hadn't been daydreaming, and fought the instinct to again blame his attention issues on the morphine.
Odin looked positively stormy. Uh oh. Thor had stood up to their father? Interesting. Of course, the only way Thor would defy Odin's wishes were if it involved one person, and only one person. Loki. Fabulous.
"Who doesn't want to what?" He smiled sweetly at his elder brother, using all that little brother charm that only works if you're Loki and your big brother is Thor.
Thor melted, as customary. Odin, on the other hand, was a different story. "You're going to be living with your brother on campus." The big, eye-patch adorned man informed him.
Oh, hell no.
"Pardon?" His voice was incredulous and bratty and pompous and all those wonderful things Loki tended to be when he was royally pissed. Mostly because he felt he had license to be a diva after all those precious childhood experiences. "I will not be living with Thor. I will have my own dorm room with someone I am not related to as my roommate. You agreed to this a year ago, Odin." The tone in his voice threatened that a helluva shit-storm was on the horizon if Odin denied him his one great joy in life...freedom.
It wasn't that Loki didn't love Thor, or enjoy being in his presence. But Loki is a solitary creature. Thor is anything but. That tended to interfere at times, especially when the big oaf decided he wanted nothing more than to be within ten feet of his baby bro 24/7. That usually turned Loki into a big, pissy, flustered mess. And really, I think we all know Loki is a mess without any added exacerbation.
"Yes, you are staying with him. Loki, you're going to need help. The doctor said this would be best." The flinty blue eye glared at him darkly. Oh, coldness? Two could play that game.
"Guess what, Odin. I got a few of your traits, although god knows how. Stubborn pigheadedness and refusal to listen to the wisdom of others. I'll take my chances without nurse Thor." He snarled, his eyes turning into ice-storms. Because when Loki got mad, he swore his core temperature dropped to -30 degrees.
Thor was looking back and forth between them as they argued like they were playing a tennis match. The look on his face clearly stated that he had absolutely no idea what to do, and for once, Loki was just so happy his brother had lost capability of speech. If he had opened his big mouth, Loki might have torn out his vocal chords.
"This isn't a choice, Loki. You're staying with Thor, and that's final." Odin snapped. And really, that was a big mistake. Nothing was ever final until Loki said so. The boy would argue with a deaf man.
Loki laughed. "I do what I want, old man." He growled, the laughter still ringing through his scratchy voice. Maybe he was getting a little hysterical, because really, there was nothing funny about this situation at all. Or maybe it had simply come to the point where Loki learned it was better to laugh than cry.
"Be very careful, son. You're treading on thin ice." The threat mingled with Odin's voice was enough to make Loki want to punch someone. Someone with white hair and an eye-patch, who weighed about three times what Loki did.
The teenager let his own voice drop. "Ice? I'm the king of ice, Odin. Don't you know that yet?" He giggled. What was scary about this whole argument was quickly becoming Loki's nonchalance and indifference. The new objective in his drug-addled mind was to irritate Odin till he snapped. Probably not the best idea considering that when Odin snapped, he tended to lash out with his fists.
The man shook his head, his face growing so red it was almost purple. "I'm not having this argument with you. Thor will help you move your stuff later tonight." Then he was turning away, turning his back to Loki because he thought he was bed-ridden (and okay, he technically was). But that was not acceptable to Loki.
"I will not be treated like less because I am not your angelic, muscle-bound warrior, father." He snarled, his voice so low it was almost inaudible.
Thor's blue eyes were wide.
Odin turned, his mouth set in a firm line. "And I will not take your disrespect any longer. Thor has done nothing wrong, and neither have I. This is ending now, Loki. Or there will be serious repercussions."
Loki laughed, throwing his head back and giggling like Odin had just cracked the joke of the millenium. "No! You haven't! You haven't done a thing! And that's the point, Odin! What did I do to make you dislike me so? Is it because I'm not your little replica? Is it because I won't go out and fight in tights over a ball? Is it because I like to cook and read and write instead of play games and wrestle and get dirty?" There was a tight little fist in his chest that was grinding against his lungs painfully. He could barely breathe. Red was flashing in his eyes.
"No! It's because you're not mine!" Odin yelled, then gasped. All the color drained out of his face. "I mean...No. What-what I mean is..." He stuttered, blinking hard and opening and closing his mouth like he was trying to say something but the words just wouldn't come out.
Really, it didn't matter what he said. Loki didn't hear a thing. The damage had been done and everything suddenly clicked into place. Of course. He didn't fit because this wasn't his puzzle. Hell, this wasn't even his family. Thor wasn't his brother, Frigga wasn't his mother, and Odin wasn't his father. All these years, he had been living a lie- or trying to. All his broken, tearful nights, and this was the awful truth that had been lingering behind the alluring lies he had just been too desperate to validate.
"Loki..." Thor's voice was so soft, Loki thought he was imagining it. There were tears slipping down Thor's suddenly sorrowful face when he turned to look at him. And Loki resented him all the more for it. He should've been the one crying. Thor didn't get that right, he had a family he belonged to.
"Loki, you can go now, we- what's wrong? What happened?" Frigga stood in the doorway, one hand on the doorknob, one holding his clothes. Her wise blue eyes flickered from son to son to husband and back around again. "Odin?"
"Thank you, Frigga. If you could give me my clothes, I need to get out of here." Loki spoke firmly and politely. But there was an unmistakable frozen taint to his words.
"Loki, please, let me go with you." Thor sounded like he was about to break in two.
"No. I don't want to even see any of you." And there it was, the acid and the poison and the cyanide just dripping from his lips. There was something dark and ugly building up inside him, threatening to rot him to a cold, bitter skeleton. "I cannot believe you didn't tell me. I cannot believe you made me live this lie! You didn't even want me did you? What Odin, was I just a stolen relic to parade in front of the media? Just something ugly to pretend to love so you would be lauded for your charity?" He spit, sounding like a wolf growling at it's cornered prey. "And I was treated like the little pauper I was, ignored in favor of your own child." He laughed. "If it wasn't so convoluted and twisted, I might actually be able to wrap my brain around it. But alas, it seems I can't stoop to your level, Odin. I can't be what you want. In your eyes, I'm merely a leech, right? Do let me get out of your way." He was on his feet, yanking his clothes on, not caring that everyone sa2 his bare chest, thin and lithe and positively puny compared to Thor's mighty girth.
"Loki, that wasn't the way it was!" Odin exclaimed, his face still red. But Loki was satisfied to see it was from shame.
"Of course it was!" Loki thundered, losing his cool for good. It was gone. G-O-N-E. "Why else would you ignore me and treat me so cruelly! I was your punching bag, Odin. I was nothing more than a strategic move in your petty campaign." He snarled, now in Odin's face. And suddenly, he wasn't scared of the man. Not in the slightest. It was probably just the adrenaline battering his body, or the hatred, but he used it to his advantage. "And don't think I will ever forgive you for that, no matter what excuses you give. It all makes sense now. How you used to take Thor camping, and take Thor to the park, and play ball with Thor, and build treehouses with Thor. You never did anything with me. You never cared about me, Odin. And now I know why." He pulled back. "Because I was nothing. I was just a nuisance. Just in the way. Just a strategy."
Loki was getting sweaty, his body on fire with true rage like he had never felt. But his heart felt cold, so very, very cold. Something inside him hurt, like a knife had been stuck inside him and twisted by a merciless hand. And maybe that was the hand of Truth. Because truth doesn't care if you're happy or comfortable, it has no conscience, it has no sense of timing, it had no remorse for dropping an atom bomb on him when he definitely could not handle it. At times like these, Loki prayed for a lie to make him feel better.
"Please, Loki don't go." Frigga grabbed his shoulder, trying to stop him from rushing out the door. "Honey, let us explain." She begged, her voice soft like she was talking to a rabid dog. Loki realized, that was probably what he looked like right now. He was practically foaming at the mouth.
"No." He smiled, but it wasn't a happy smile, it was a twisted, ugly thing. "You can't explain this one away." He shrugged out of her grasp and was gone.
But now that he had no family, now that he was an orphan...where did he go?
Tony woke up slowly, head still foggy and aching like the devil. He groaned, licking his dry lips and wishing for all the world that the nearest water was not a god damn light-year away. His phone was ringing like a little demon, making it feel like someone was taking a sledgehammer to his brain. Ow.
"Hullo?" He rasped, blinking away the stars that exploded in front of his eyes when he stood. Damn, he needed to stop drinking so much.
"Stark, it's Loki. Can you meet me...somewhere?" There was a desperate rawness to Loki's pretty voice that made Tony stop in his tracks. Fuck water.
"Loki, what's wrong? Are you okay?" He didn't really manage to veil his care for the boy, but it didn't sound like Loki was in the state to really give a fuck.
"I want to get drunk. Like, really, really drunk. With you." Now that, that was a bad idea if Tony had ever heard one.
How could he say no?
Oh gosh. Well. I hope you enjoyed this. Review please! I live on reviews. They are my sustenance!
Really though, I gotta say I SO APPRECIATE all the reviews and the follows and favorites! I never thought anyone would like this. I'm so happy you guys enjoy it, and I hope it continues to please you. :) Any complaints or criticism is welcome! But I love all your kind words. ;)
XOXO
