A/N: Okay guys, here's Chapter 10!
And here's the other thing. I start school in two days -.-. So... I thinks it's suddenly going to be a lot harder to post as often, as I also have extracurriculars and whatever starting as well. I'll try my best...but if I go a week without posting don't panic... it will get there. EVENTUALLY. You have to trust me on that. :P
Disclaimer: Loki does not belong to me. Although I wish he did. :)
Sunlight filtered through the hotel window, casting Ara in a golden glow. She stretched and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, feeling strangely full and rested, a sensation almost alien to her.
"Good morning," Loki said from the window, his back to hers.
"Hmm…" Ara sat up, yawning. Blinking sleepily, she added, "Good morning." She gently brushed aside the bed sheets, standing up. Tousling her hair, she walked lightly over to Loki. Reaching him, she let her fingers travel up over his shoulders and then down over his back, breathing in contentedly. She let her arms slip around his torso, her head on the center of his back. The movement felt so natural somehow, her body resting against his. "When did you wake up?" she murmured into his neck.
Loki turned gently towards her, disengaging her hands to wrap his arms across her back. "Long before you did," he smiled, letting out a sigh.
Ara leaned her head towards his chest, humming a reply. They rested for a moment before she stepped away, turning to the window. She sighed happily. "No bad dreams last night." She rubbed her fingers against the windowpane.
"That's good," Loki replied, reaching for the coffee pot. "You said something about seeing the apartment last night, by the way. I just was wondering what that was all about." He held up the full coffee pot. "I made some before you woke up. Want any?"
Ara laughed. "Of course." She grabbed a cup from the table beside her. "You always seem to think of these things. Anyways," she continued, pouring herself some coffee, "About the apartment. The fire department guy said that they were letting all the tenants back in today. We come in from one to four, and anything we find has to be approved by them before we take it home." She took a sip of her coffee. "What time is it?"
"Almost ten," Loki answered, and turned towards the window. "I let you sleep in."
Ara smiled. "Thanks." She lowered her coffee. "What do you say to some brunch before we go, then? It's too late for breakfast."
They went to a restaurant to eat at leisure, and Ara was glad for it. She wasn't exactly looking forward to seeing her apartment again. She still had no idea how bad the extent of the damage was, as she didn't have the heart to read the fire report. Loki had, but she'd asked him not to tell her what it had said. It still felt all too fast, everything happening right after the other- the fire, sorting out the damage, and now having to see it. Ara still wasn't sure if she could let herself accept what had happened- the events of the fire was blocked out in her mind, and she was perfectly content to keep it that way.
It was hard enough just trying to admit to herself the fire even occurred; it was even worse when she had to go back and face the consequences of it.
"Are you ready to go?" Loki asked once they had finished their meal.
"Mmm," Ara sighed, looking down at her lap. She found a loose thread on her shirt and began to play with it. "Good question, actually."
"Hey," he said gently, reaching for her hand. "You're going to have to go back eventually, aren't you?"
Ara gripped his fingers, hearing the concern in his voice. "Yah, I know. That doesn't mean I'm looking forward to it." She let out a breathy sigh, still not looking up. After a moment she stood up from her chair, grabbing her purse. "But I guess the sooner I go and get it over with, the sooner it's done." She glanced up, her mouth in a thin line, meeting Loki's gaze. "Come on." She pushed her chair in roughly, smiling grimly. "Let's do this."
The hotel they'd been placed in was only about ten minutes away from the apartment, so the drive was short. Ara gritted her teeth as they passed by the bar she had been working at, sighing. She'd told them she needed a week off work, and her boss hadn't been exactly happy, to say the least.
"Well," Ara said, pulling the gear into park as the reached the apartment. "Here we are." She took a deep breath in before opening the truck door, stepping determinedly onto the ground. Glancing up at the building, she had to take a step back. "Oh, god."
The smoke had stopped at least, but the exterior was still blackened and burnt, rubble still sitting in heaps around the ground. Yellow tape outlined the whole thing, marking it as dangerous, and, Ara thought, almost ominous.
Loki came up beside her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. He gave her a look, and she knew he was asking if she was okay. She nodded at him feebly, her heart suddenly fluttering. They turned towards the door, where a man was standing, wearing a suit.
"Do you want me to do the talking?" Loki whispered into her ear, as they began to walk towards him.
Ara gulped. "Yes please."
"Hello?" Loki asked when they reached him. "We are here to… see our apartment?"
"Yes, of course," the man smiled. "I'm George Walker, the property owner's insurance advisor." He took Loki's hand, shaking it.
"Loki," Loki answered. "And this is Ara."
The man nodded, and glanced up at the building above him. "You're the second group of tenants to arrive... the first group is still up there, so you'll have to wait for the guide to come back down. You're not allowed to go up there without a guide." He smiled apologetically. "You can just hang out down here until they're done."
"Of course, thank you," Loki nodded, taking Ara's hand. He cocked his head to the sidewalk. "Come on, let's go wait."
Ara, who felt as if she might've suddenly gone mute, followed him silently. They stood in quiet on the sidewalk as the insurance broker pulled out his cell phone, beginning to chatter away madly.
Ara reached for Loki as the minutes wore on, slipping easily into his arms. "What happens if I faint?" she whispered into his chest.
"I'll carry you out," he answered, and she could hear the smile in his voice. "Just like last time."
She let out a little laugh, even though it wasn't very funny. "Okay." She glanced up at him meaningfully. "I trust you."
The first group of people finally appeared from the doorway, two young women. They were carrying a plastic bag filled with things, and were thanking the guide.
"Are you next?" The guide called to them. He looked around thirty, young and tall.
"Yes," Loki answered, and took Ara's hand.
"Which apartment?" he asked, waiting as they reached the door.
"3A," Loki said, and they entered the building.
"I'm John, by the way," the man said as they began up the stairs. "Two days ago you would've needed masks to breathe safely up here." He nodded towards up the stairs. "They've done an excellent job of cleaning it up."
Reaching Ara's floor, the guide continued talking. "This floor got hit the hardest. As you can see, we've been doing some temporary fixes." He motioned around to the building materials scattered across the hallway and the yellow tape covering a few of the apartment doors. "Those ones can't be entered. Luckily, your apartment seems safe." He led them to Ara's apartment door. "Now, you should be careful. Don't…make a mess."
Ara let out a shaky breath, turning to Loki. She heard the door open; squeezed her eyes shut, and let Loki lead her inside.
She opened her eyes slowly. Loki had stilled beside her, his arm reaching across her body.
All she could do was stare.
The apartment had burned, all right. The carpet had partly turned to ash and curled in, the coffee table and sofa blackened and almost unrecognizable. Where the TV had once stood, there was now an empty space.
"We had to take that out," the guide said, motioning to the empty space. "All the electrical things were disconnected, but the TV was too damaged to leave here."
Ara swallowed, and Loki tightened his grip around her. "You okay?" he murmured.
She nodded mutely.
"Anyway, I doubt you'll find anything salvageable in this room. We can go into the kitchen, now."
The kitchen wasn't a better story. The cutlery and some of the dishes had been spared, and Ara let Loki place them into the canvas bag they'd brought, as she didn't have the heart to do it. The whole thing felt like a dream- a very bad dream, at that, and Ara wanted to wake, as fast as she could.
The problem was that it wasn't a dream, and this fact rang dimly in her mind as the man led them through the rest of the apartment, insistent like a bug buzzing in the back of her mind.
There was one room that Ara did want to see, and when they reached it, she felt Loki tense beside her, preparing for her reaction.
The art studio was the last room in the hall, and therefore it was the last one to be reached. The door was closed, and it seemed the door had survived the fire; it appeared the same, un-blackened and still standing. Ara felt herself oddly determined to see what waited for her inside the room, her mind going blank to anything else around her except the doorknob. The guide reached for it, pushing the door in, and they entered.
It was a disaster.
Now Loki went completely still next to her, awaiting her reaction. The room had not been burned, that much was clear, but all the same, everything was in ruin.
Ara blinked, her mouth parting slightly, feeling the overwhelming agony come over her in a huge wave. A scream ripped itself from her throat, and Ara wrenched herself from Loki's grasp, stumbling blindly into the wreck, ignoring the guide's awkward shouts behind her.
It hadn't burned, but they'd destroyed it. They'd destroyed everything. Of course, they'd hosed down the building, of course they had, and of course they'd soaked this room, her paintings, of course, of course, of course…
All that was left of her canvases was a soggy pile of color, the paint melted from the heat and then washed away from the water. Everything had been knocked over, the paintings that had lain against the walls, the ones once mounted on easels; the blackboard had fallen from where it had hung. Ara felt unable to breathe, the choking grief taking her in wild gasps, throwing her in relentless pain to the floor, screams leaving her throat again and again.
Loki had reached her, his hands reaching to pull her from where she'd fallen upon her knees, but she was blind to it all. Tears covered her eyes in filmy curtains, her feet crunching madly over some works of art that had fallen to the ground as Loki pulled her up. Swirls of color danced in front of her eyes, again and again she felt Loki whisper her name, but it didn't matter, none of it mattered, none, none, none…
"It's destroyed," she whispered, the screams having rubbed her throat raw. "Everything… everything's destroyed…"
Loki held her, gently murmuring things into her ear, but Ara didn't hear any of it. She felt the demons from her nightmares coming at her, suddenly insistent- now that she knew they were free, now that she knew, their return was fast and strong and hit her in a tidal wave so rapid she wanted to curl up on the floor and cry.
All the devils she'd ever painted into this room, all of them, they were suddenly back out in the air, suddenly waiting for her once again.
"Everything!" she shouted, and pounded her fists weakly against Loki's chest.
"No, not everything," he whispered, and this time it was enough to get her to raise her head.
"What?" she choked out, the tears running steadily down her face.
"Not everything is gone, Ara. Look." He turned her gently towards the middle of the room, and she saw it.
Her blood painting. The sheet that had covered it had fallen halfway off, but somehow, it was still standing, the beautiful terrified face staring at her from her table.
Ara almost tripped over her own feet to reach it, her face pressed against the bloody canvas, her sobs finally subsiding. It survived, and somehow, this calmed her more than Loki's words ever had. She removed the rest of the sheet, gently, slowly, until the rest of the gruesome thing was revealed. It wasn't gruesome to Ara, though. It never would be after this. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.
The guide had stood in shock throughout her whole breakdown, and now she turned back to him, taking the painting in her arms.
"I think we're done," she said calmly, feeling the tears drying on her face.
Loki reached for her arm, unsure, and she let him wrap his fingers around her. The guide nodded, speechless, and slowly led them from the apartment. He didn't say anything as they reached the first floor, staying silent as they left the building.
The drive home was numbingly silent. Ara could feel how unsure Loki was, the tension that plagued the air between them, but she felt strangely calm. The painting had been placed in the back, the face turned away from them, but just its presence was enough to level Ara back out again.
Loki stopped her when they entered the hotel room, his hands holding her back firmly. She turned to him, her eyes weary, her whole body suddenly tired when she met his gaze.
His green eyes were burning with sadness, their whole ordeal at the apartment reflected in them. Ara swallowed slowly, and she leaned into him, let him wrap his fingers around the back of her head, pull her close.
And he let her reach up, lips parted, and kiss him every so softly on the mouth.
It wasn't fireworks. It wasn't explosions of amazingness, but it was what Ara needed.
He kissed her back.
He did.
They drew away, and Ara let her eyes flutter close, let herself revel in the perfection of what had just happened, let herself ignore everything wrong in her life and focus on this one moment of beauty.