Lori was sat cross-legged on her bed watching her boyfriend pack – he was doing a horrible job of it. "Thor; pass it here…"
"Lori, please…"
She fell silent. She continued to watch him, and in a small voice she said, "I'm only trying to help…"
Thor's shoulders relaxed from the hunched position they were in, "I know… I am sorry…" He stopped and opened out his arms. They embraced, Lori nuzzled into his neck as he kissed her hair.
"I'll miss you…"
"I will miss you, also." Thor said. "Loki shall be here, however, I hope you can take this time to begin to understand each other."
Her stomach clenched, "Sure… I'll try." She shrugged it off. Or she tried.
There was a knock at the door, "Hey Bruce!" Lori said brightly.
"Thor? You ready yet? The plane leaves in an hour…"
"Yes, Banner. I shall follow…" Lori finished packing his things and took his case to the door.
"I'll miss you…" she repeated. Thor smiled, it was a sad smile, he was sad to leave her, and he didn't know when he was coming back. They hugged again, and Thor lifted her up, spun her around and placed a kiss on her lips.
"Goodbye…"
Lori was sat at her desk; waiting for the time to pass. She knew it wasn't very productive but she missed her boyfriend. It was true; she's even wallowing in self-guilt when she thinks about Thor.
But.
There is always a 'but', isn't there?
"Are you getting any work done?"
"Pepper – lay off, it's probably because she's missing Point Break…" Tony reasoned and he then told her to take a day off. She smiled gratefully.
She chose to go to the kitchens to retrieve any Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough ice cream that might be lying around… There were two large tubs, just sitting there, begging to be eaten. She took them and scurried to the lift.
Lori now had a habit of peering round walls and peeping through windows to see where Loki was. She was trying to avoid him. She had been successful so far. But she couldn't get complacent.
Ding. She put on Love Actually and snuggled into her sofa. She greedily stuffed her spoon into the ice cream and took a bite. This is my life, she thought cynically.
She was half way through the second tub when the screen blacked out.
"You've been avoiding me…"
"There's been a reason for that."
"Lori, you are very indecisive. Make up your mind." Loki's voice slithered into her ear.
"Maybe… Not yet…" Her voice grew smaller; and as Loki observed; indecisive.
"Very well… I just thought we could spend some time together." When Lori didn't reply, he continued. "It doesn't have to be like that…" He raised his brow.
"Well, I'd appreciate it if I could continue watching my favourite film…"
"And what would that be?"
"Love Actually – the film you happened to turn off and I do believe you still have the remote so if you don't mind…"
Loki sighed and put the film back on and Lori continued eating her ice cream. Loki placed his arm behind her and watched patiently.
Eating both tubs of ice cream and thinking of Thor and decisions made Lori very tired and involuntarily, her eyes fluttered shut.
When she awoke, Lori found herself underneath her rainbow coloured quilt that her mother made her when she was a child.
"Wha—" She said, still hazy from her sleep.
"You fell asleep, I thought, at least, I should respect you and not wake you…" Loki said.
"How very noble of you…"
"Your sass knows no bounds Lori…"
"You better believe it."
"What has become of you? You appear very bitter towards me…"
"Like when we first met. And anyway, you know why."
"If I already knew, I wouldn't have asked the question…" Loki retorted.
"I want to be with Thor. You keep getting in the way of that."
"Might I remind you, what we've done, isn't just my fault. You agreed to it."
"Please don't…"
"Too late. Now in my personal opinion; I don't want our little arrangement to end."
"Loki – please stop talking." She pleaded. "What are you doing in my kitchen, anyway?"
"Making you dinner… Is that a crime?"
"No… you are so sassy Loki…"
"Then we are evenly matched." Loki said with relish in his voice. He walked from the kitchen and placed a bowl of soup in front of her. "It's not drugged." He reassured as Lori eyed him, suspiciously. She tried it, the warm liquid glided down her throat, this is what she needed. It made her feel as if she were at home. She felt cosy. It was good. "How do you know how to cook?"
"I can only make soup, really. I was taught to prepare for my exile, however living with Thor, he just shares his food with me…"
"That doesn't really sound like him – to share food."
"I know, but he does; oddly. Now eat." She did as she was told. Then she nuzzled back into the nest that Loki had made for her.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Lori curled herself up into a ball and sat in the silence. Loki watched her.
"What?" she asked.
"Did you notice? We were being civil to each other, I was simply wondering how long at were to last…"
"Now you've just jinxed it." She said quickly.
"You've just made it worse…"
Lori didn't reply, he continued, "What are you thinking about?"
"That I just want to stay here, and never leave this sofa and melt away so I'm never forced to make decisions."
"Decision making is part of life; believe me; I should know; I've had a long one, I've made bad choices and I'll probably make more; but it makes who we are…"
"Ooh… Philosophical Loki…"
"I've had many years to learn from my mistakes… but it seems I just keep making them…" He paused, "Eat your soup." And she did.
"What should we do tomorrow?"
"Walk around Central Park? I haven't been there in a while." Lori replied.
"Very well…"
She watched the sun go down, into a burnt orange colour. It reminded her of when she was little, watching the embers of the fire fade into the burnt grey colour of ash. It reminded her of Christmas, of her family, and of the thousands of miles that sat between her and home. She sighed in sadness.
"God! Let me just go to bed and never wake up…"
"That's not the way to be thinking Lori…" Loki scolded.
She huffed at him. "I need more ice cream…"
"No you don't. Come here…"
Loki held out his arms and Lori fell into them. She momentarily forgot that she was meant to dislike him at that moment in time. She just needed someone to be there for her. She then dozed off again.
