This is a long chapter, mostly to account for my lack of updates. I want to address two things.
First, Why did I make Loki burn his arm? It's pretty simple in a weird, stupid way. I was re-watching Thor and saw that part where the jotunn grabbed Loki's arm and revealed he didn't burn from the cold and get frost bite.
In my mind I thought, "How simple his life would have turned out if he just burned like the rest... Hey, I should make Loki burn his arm as some sort of metaphor or something right? Except I'll obviously make the heat burn him, not the cold!"
I swear that's exactly how that happened. Plus I needed something interesting and slightly worrying to happen.
Second thing, I received a rather upset and confused PM the other day about Luna's smoking habit. The point of the rather long rant was, "Why would I promote smoking and then have Luna herself comment on how bad it is but become a hypocrite?"
I have a simple answer.
She is a human teenage girl.
Have you ever done something and kept doing something that you knew you shouldn't? She may be smart with genius level intelligence but despite that fact she is still a teenage girl. God knows when my best friends offered me a cigarette when I was in high school and I coughed and sputtered around it I never thought I'd be smoking on a regular basis more then six years later.
She may recognize it's a bad habit but it's just that. An addiction, or at least becoming one.
I like my stories, fics, and characters to be as humanly realistic as possible. People get angry and scared and mess up and do stupid things, why should a character in a story be any different?
Anyways, I've said my peace.
Please enjoy this chapter.
:)
BTW I researched a lot on second degree burns, while they are painful they are not major and I feel my representation of how Loki takes it are somewhat correct. I hope.
.
The first thing Loki did was curse. He yelled a curse and stumbled backwards a few steps, his right hand grasping his left wrist tightly and holding it to his chest.
The second thing he did was rush to the sink and run his arm under cold water.
The third thing he did was curse again.
Now he found himself sitting on the floor of his downstairs bathroom alone, leaning against the marble granite of the cabinets.
Both his parents were out, Thor was out somewhere and Loki refused to call on what little staff they had at the moment for help.
He had let his arm run under the water for a long time, hissing under his breath while he bent down to lean his head on the counter. Afterward, Loki had immediately fished around his kitchen for saran wrap. Loki let his arm dangle uselessly at his side this entire time and it scared him just a little bit how bad his arm was shaking whenever he tried to move it. He walked out of the kitchen across the hall to the downstairs bathroom and shifted through the sink. Loki ignored the looks one of the maids gave him and twisted his arm away behind his body so she wouldn't see.
Eventually Loki found a half used tube of aloe gel. He gingerly spread it around and on the burn with the very tips of his index and middle finger. Loki hissed in pain again and ignored the dots of blood that mixed with the gel and slowly started dripping down to the floor.
He then tore off a large piece of the clear saran wrap and wrapped it around his arm and the inside of his palm. The burn itself wasn't deep he didn't think, but it was big. It covered the underside skin of his arm from the elbow down, the water splashing on his arm and going down to spill down his wrist and the bottom half of his palm.
Right now it wasn't as bad as it was when he first got it. He had sat on the floor of the bathroom for at least twenty minutes before finally deciding to call his girlfriend.
As the phone had been ringing he had briefly wondered if he should tell Luna the truth or not. She'd probably have a panic attack.
As usual Loki was right and now had nothing to do but wait until Luna got there. He glanced down at his arm lazily lying in his lap and frowned. Why did everything bad seem to always happen to him?
In record time Loki heard his front door slam shut, causing him to jump as he was nearly asleep.
The door slamming meant only one thing.
Thor was home.
Great.
Loki sighed heavily through his nose and stood up from the floor. Turning and opening the door with his good hand Loki shuffled out of the bathroom and into the hallway. He began walking down the left side of the hallway that led to the kitchen and main lobby when Luna walked around the corner. Both teens jumped, startled at running into the other before Loki saw her eyes dart to his arm.
"Now it looks worse then it is." He started, a grin spread across his lips. Luna frowned and jut out her hips, setting the back of her hand on them.
"Oh really? 'Cause it looks like shit." She responded before jerking her head behind her. "Come on. I wanna take a look at it and the light is better in the kitchen."
Loki laughed once and followed her into his kitchen. He glanced over at Thor, seeing the big figure hunched over and wiping up the long cooled water with a towel.
"I figured a maid would have gotten that by now. What exactly are they good for?" Loki said lazily while sitting down at the table. Thor turned to give his younger brother a glare before his eyes settled on Loki's plastic wrapped arm.
"Oh..." Thor instead grumbled out and frowned.
"It's nothing." Loki ground out, not liking the look of pity his brother was giving him. He sniffed dryly and looked toward Luna, who was ignoring both of them and staring at his arm. Her fingers ghosted over the mediocre job he did like feathers.
After what seemed like an awkward eternity but was only a few minutes Luna finally spoke. "Well, I don't think you need to go to the hospital but you really should at least go to the non-emergency clinic. It's a pretty big burn area and the burns on your palm are what I'm mostly worried about."
Loki grunted once and lifted his arm to look at it. He ignored Luna's facial expression when they both noticed his arm shaking. "Yes, well the water splashed." Was all he said before letting his arm fall with an angry sigh. "You'll have to drive me then, I doubt I can ride my bike correctly with my hand like this." His eyes followed Thor as his brother left the room silently, the wet towel draped over his arm.
"Of course." Luna spoke before turning and grabbing a water bottle from Loki's fridge. "Here, drink this. Let's go."
"Why do you want me to drink this?" Loki asked in a bemused tone while standing slowly.
"Because I said so." Luna paused a second to think before adding, "You need water."
Right was they entered the main lobby Thor exited the garage and looked at them. Loki met Thor's eyes and looked away. "Does it hurt?" Thor asked.
"Does it look like it hurts?" Loki snapped at his brother before letting out a breath and looking away. He took two seconds to clear his mind before responding again. "It's fine."
Loki ignored the look Luna and Thor shot at each other and managed to not roll his eyes. "I'll come too, let's go." Thor spoke deeply before halfway turning towards the door.
"We'll be fine." Loki all but grumbled. "You don't have to go."
Thor ignored his brother and walked out the door to Luna's car. Luna shrugged once and sauntered out the door.
"Come on, maybe if this goes fast you can make it up to me for canceling out date tonight." She responded before looking over her shoulder at him and giving him a small grin. "I'm thinking Chinese food?"
Loki met her gaze for a second before giving a startled smile. "I knew there was a reason I liked you." He remarked earning a fake glare from his girlfriend.
Loki lazily slid into the back seat of her car, ignoring Thor was there all together and just stared at Luna. It was the first time that night he'd actually looked at her. She had her hair down, although it as half covered by a black beanie that hugged her head.
Her cheeks and nose were slightly red, and Loki watched the white wisps of breath flow from her lips every time she exhaled. Most of all, Loki liked how she looked in that leather jacket.
He tilted his head slightly to the side and met Luna's eyes in her mirror.
"What are you staring at?" She asked in an amused voice.
"You." He stated easily before grinning. "I just realized how well winter suits you."
Luna snorted once and lazily looked over at Thor. "I think your brother is delusional. Can he go into shock from the pain?"
Both Loki and Thor chuckled a few times before once again the car went into silence, although it was a lot less awkward.
It was another twenty minutes before they reached the clinic, and another thirty before Loki was finally seen by a doctor. Both Luna and Thor decided to stay in the waiting room. It was probably for the best. The way Luna's eyes kept darting around Loki could only assume she didn't like being there.
The doctor was a female and she immediately stopped in her tracks at seeing Loki sitting on her table. Loki observed her brows pull together and a crocked half smile pull at the corner of her lips.
She lifted her arm a bit and gestured with her finger at his arm.
"You do that yourself?" The doctor asked, the tone of her voice amused.
Loki felt his lips tilt downwards. "You mean the burn or the wrap?"
"Both I suppose." She spoke casually before walking over and gently unwrapping all the plastic wrap on his arm.
Loki felt the need to defend himself. "I had no gauze and cotton wrapping would have stuck to it. This was all I had and happened to be right next to me." He stated coolly while leveling her with a calm gaze. The doctor silently chuckled once without looking at him and continued to unwrap his arm slowly.
She touched her finger on the skin next to his burn and rolled the aloe gel between her two fingers. She then turned his arm around back and forth a few times to look at it. "Hmm..." She spoke before turning from Loki.
Loki watched her silently while she scribbled on a paper and ripped it off.
"This is for some antibiotics, just as a precaution so your wound doesn't get infected." She stated while handing him the prescription. "This is for a topical treatment that goes directly on the wound up to three times a day. This," She handed him another paper, "Is for an antibiotic that is to be taken orally twice a day until you run out. Now, I want you to keep it wrapped for up to a week to prevent infection. You were right; don't use cotton bandages as it will stick to the healing skin and don't wrap it too tight. Also, do NOT break or pop open your blisters. Let it heal."
She reached over and turned his palm over and spread a soothing gel on the area above his wrist. "You're lucky; the burns on your arm are worse then the ones on your palms. These look like barely first degree and should heal quickly." She sighed and clucked her tongue once. "The same can not be said you your fore arm. It will hurt for longer. Try to keep it mostly levitated for the next 48 hours."
Finally, after what seemed like forever to Loki he left her office with a freshly wrapped arm and palm. The doctor gave him a few packets of ibuprofen and sent him on his way. He signed a few papers before walking out to the waiting room to see Thor alone. Thor sat alone with both his huge palms lifted to cover his eyes, sighing as he rubbed his face.
Loki began walking over and Thor looked over at him with tired eyes but smiled all the same. Loki kept his face neutral as he walked over to his brother.
"Where's Luna?" He asked coolly.
Thor stood and motioned toward the door with his chin. "She felt a little cooped up in here I think. She doesn't like doctors."
Loki made a noise of under standing in the back of his throat and the two brothers walked side by side outside. Halfway to her car Loki spotted Luna leaning against her hood with a cigarette between her tiny, wiry fingers.
Upon seeing him her eyes went wide and she smiled widely while snuffing out her smoke. "Wow, for all that waiting that was fast." She spoke and walked forward to examine his arm.
Loki found himself smiling and reached forward to cup her cheek and kiss her. For a second he forgot Thor was standing next to them awkwardly.
He leaned back and lifted his arm, bending his fingers into a fist a few times. "See? All better."
"You're version of 'all better' is different from mine." Luna stated before looking at Thor. Loki finally remembered Thor and backed up a step to stand next to Luna at the front of the car. "You hungry Thor? I dunno if you had any but I didn't really eat any of the pizza Steve had brought."
Thor shook his head slightly. "No I'm full but I could defiantly go for some water."
Loki lifted a brow and smiled slightly. He leaned forward a little and peered into Thor's face. He chuckled once and Thor jerked away, glaring at him.
"Odin and Frigga go out for one night and you go drinking. Typical." Loki snorted and turned to walk around the car.
Thor turned from his brother and smirked. "Don't pretend you are an innocent little boy brother." He drawled out. Loki glowered at the back of his head, ignoring Luna's grin.
"Come on. I'm driving." Luna spoke before sliding into her seat. Loki followed after quietly.
Luna drove all three of them to some Chinese-Thai restaurant. Luna ordered some egg rolls and some kind of green curry.
Loki found he wasn't all that hungry and instead found himself nibbling on a rice and chicken bowl next to Thor, who only had a giant glass of water.
It ended up being pleasant conversation and Loki found he wasn't put off by Thor's presence like he thought he would be. Apparently having Luna around could make anything bearable.
"That's not the point," Luna chastised, giving the two brothers a stern look. Loki glanced at Thor and smirked.
"Oh really?" He asked. "Explain please."
"All I'm saying is I don't see the problem with acknowledging how good looking another woman is as a woman myself. It doesn't mean I am a lesbian. Seriously." She glanced away from them and sipped on her straw with a very embarrassed if not a little frustrated grin. She glanced around embarrassed to see if the waitress they were talking about was any where around.
Loki bit his lips to try to keep a grin off his face while Thor snickered. "So you do think the waitress is attractive?" Thor questioned.
Luna glared at the both of them as a slight blush spread across her chest. "You two are idiots. I never should have said anything. All I meant is she has a nice shape for her height, okay?"
The two brothers looked at each other for half a second before grinning.
Luna huffed and glared at them, only half serious. "You guys suck." She grumbled softly before her eyes darted behind Loki's chair. "Okay, okay, shut up. Here she comes."
The tall Asian waitress walked over to the trio and smiled kindly, asking if they needed anything. Luna spoke quickly before either of them could.
"Yes, I think we are ready for the check please. We're done here." Luna pushed her nearly empty plate and bowl toward her with a smile that twitched at the corner. Thor chuckled next to him and Loki smiled while watching Luna's face as she refused to look at them. It amused him so much to mess with her and he would be lying if he said that blush she got when Luna got embarrassed wasn't appealing to him. Their waitress smiled and cast a sideways look at Thor and Loki with a perplexed look while handing Luna the check book.
Thor quickly glanced down at the table and tried to hide his snickering while Loki met her eyes and smiled. The waitress, her name badge said Jennifer, smiled hesitantly before looking away while she gathered their bowls. Poor thing, she probably thought they were laughing at her. Loki would make sure to leave a good tip. When Jennifer walked away Luna kicked him under the table and he jumped.
"What was that for?" He exclaimed but still couldn't help the grin on his thin lips.
"You guys totally made that awkward for her because you were making fun of me." Luna scolded while taking out a ten for her half of the price. Loki reached out and gently slid the leather check book across the table and turned it toward him before she could put her money in it. Luna barely noticed, instead holding her money in both her hands and twisting it while looking after Jennifer. "I hope we didn't ruin her night."
Loki snorted, interrupting the beginning of Thor's apology. "Of course not. One awkward minute is not going to ruin anyone's night. Besides, " He rolled his eyes while he stuffed three twentys in the folder and snapped it shut. "When she sees the tip I just left her she'll forget all about it."
Luna finally glanced down at the table and noticed Loki had took the bill. "Hey, I could have paid for myself you know."
"I don't care." Loki shrugged one shoulder and nudged Thor out of the booth. "With the monthly allowance Odin loads on our credit cards every month I could buy a car."
Thor looked at Luna and shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal." He responded in his deep voice.
Loki and Thor walked ahead of her while she followed next to him. They all knew the real reason was because Luna wasn't using her father's money anymore and her savings and paychecks weren't that big.
No one mentioned this as the three walked to the car but they all knew it. Luna frowned deeply beside him but didn't look very upset.
They sat in her car without turning it on for a minute of silence awkwardly before Luna finally spoke.
"So where are we going, anyway?" She asked, turning in her seat to look at both Loki next to her and Thor who had moved to the back seat. "Loki, wanna come over to my house for a bit or do you just want to go home? Are you in pain?"
Loki frowned slightly and sat back in his seat. "Around all your friends that hate me? I think not." He was doing a good job of ignoring the constant rhythmic throbs of pain pulsing through his arm till Luna mentioned it though. Now his mind defiantly focused on it.
"They don't hate you." Thor grumbled.
"Natasha will be there? And Bruce is probably there by now?" Luna said their names kind of like a question before relaxing in her seat. "Besides, I have some kick ass pain medication in my room that would take the edge off that." She motioned at his arm with a lazy roll of her hand.
Loki rolled his eyes but said nothing, seriously thinking for a second. With the prospect of pain relievers tugged on his conscious his mind wandered to Natasha and Bruce.
He wondered if Luna thought he was friends with them, because surely that would be incorrect? Natasha and himself had an uneasy truce at most. The only time they ever spoke to one another was either to insult the other or annoy them.
Loki would not even consider Bruce his friend even if the Banner boy was the only person he minded the least. Loki simply didn't understand Bruce, nor did could he fathom why the boy was the nicest of all Luna's friends toward him.
He had pried a little, asking Luna about him the night Loki had sat down and watched movies with her, Natasha, Steve and Tony.
He was leaving and Luna and Loki were out side talking and saying goodbye. Luna mentioned how is wasn't as awkward as she thought it would be and expressed her relief Loki sort of got along with her friends.
Loki chuckled briefly before squirming in a comment. "I suppose so, even if Natasha is crude and Bruce is annoying."
Luna frowned at him slightly but laughed. "Bruce? Annoying? How so? I thought you two got along alright."
Loki shrugged in a casual manner and sniffed once. "Well, what do you think of him then?"
Luna didn't pick up on his prying and leaned against the white pillar of the gate of her estate. "Well of course I always liked him since he was Tony's friend growing up," Loki felt his toes curl in his shoes before Luna continued. "But we've been getting closer recently."
"Is that so?" Loki asked, his voice completely even.
Luna had shrugged and let her body sag against the pillar. She coughed a few times before continuing. "I think he feels a little guilty he never spent much time with me so he's trying to make up for that. I mean, he was the first one I told that I liked you. He said he was glad you were nice to me and that I seemed happy, trying to convince me to realize you felt the same way. " Luna chuckled, completely ignorant of Loki's surprise. "He even offered to ask you if you felt the same way."
After that Loki casually changed the subject after that, offering a little "huh" and then responding with "In any case I still find him annoying but at least bearable. But, I agree, tonight wasn't so bad after the first movie. Would you like my jacket? You're shivering."
They had dropped the subject, talking for another few minutes before Loki left.
.
The only other time he had asked about it was almost a week and a half ago and that was directly to Bruce himself. It was when Luna was sick, a few days after Luna and him talked about Bruce.
Loki stopped by to bring Luna some homework and had sat around for a while playing her guitar while she worked for a few hours.
Eventually Loki had walked stopped to announce he was going to the kitchen to get something to drink and a snack. Luna barely looked up from her desk long enough to tell him she didn't want anything.
Loki made his way to the kitchen and rummaged around for a few minutes trying to find something quick but healthy. He finally decided to just settle on a peach and stood from the fridge. Turning and shutting the door Loki turned slowly but stopped to frown at Bruce, who was standing in the doorway. Bruce had one foot in the room and one out, looking like he might just turn around and walk away.
The two boys stood staring at each other, both faces not holding much emotion before Loki finally spoke.
"How long were you standing there?" He asked.
"Not long." Bruce took a step into the room and walked around the counter. Loki's eyes followed him without moving. "I just walked in when you turned around."
Bruce walked around and opened a pantry. He ignored Loki while looking inside before pulling out a bag of double stuffed sandwich cookies, some spray cheese in a can and peanut butter. Bruce turned towards Loki and offered him a small smile, holding his arms up a fraction.
"Believe it or not but this is Tony's diet." He chuckled before he began walking back out the door without another word.
Speaking of Tony, Loki's been thinking about what he said for a few days now. "Luna and Bruce would have been perfect for each other... "
Without thinking Loki spoke to Bruce's back. "Does she know how you feel for her?"
The seconds the words left his mouth Bruce froze and stopped walking but did not turn right away. After a moment or two Bruce half turned toward Loki and stared at him before giving a sad smile.
"I sincerely doubt it." He shrugged one shoulder. "You know how she is. Smart as hell but with a skull as thick as steel."
Loki frowned ever so slightly. "She told me you were very supportive of her and I."
It wasn't a question but Bruce answered anyway. "Yes." He responded.
After several seconds of staring at each other Loki finally asked the one question he wanted to know. "Why?"
Bruce smiled sadly again and Loki frowned hard. "I wasn't going to push my feelings on her when I knew she had the same feelings for you. It would be wrong." Bruce thought for a moment, his eyes focusing on the peach in Loki's hand before looking back at his face. "It never would have worked anyway. She was already head over heels for you. As long as Luna is happy."
Bruce looked away then, slightly embarrassed for whatever reason before turning and walking out the kitchen in silence.
Loki stared after him for a long time before Luna eventually came down asking what was taking so long.
"What's taking so long?"
"Loki?"
Loki snapped out of his memories and looked from Luna's face to his brothers. "Excuse me?" He asked.
Luna frowned hard at him. "You took forever to answer. Are you feeling alright?"
Loki said nothing for another second, in which Thor and Luna exchanged a look. Finally, he spoke, making up his mind on a whim. "I think I'll take you up on that offer of pain medication." He spoke while a lazy smile. "Let's go."
Luna hesitated a mere moment before turning and starting her car with a real long "Oooookay..."
Loki sighed out loud and relaxed into his seat. After a while he switched on her radio and changed one of her preset stations. He turned up the volume on one station that was playing Buffalo Springfield.
The pain in his arm was still an intense, steady throb but at least it wasn't getting worse. Loki cradled his gauze covered arm to his chest as he slid out of the seat. He walked between Luna and Thor up the steps of her house and through the first story to the back yard. The closer they got the louder the many voices got. Luna looked over her shoulder at Thor, who simple shrugged.
"Tony did mention he was going to invite more people." Thor commented. Luna shrugged as well and looked away as she opened the glass door.
There seemed to be a lot of people here. Loki took a deep, inaudible breath before he followed Luna out toward the patio.
"Hey guys. What's up?" Luna walked over to the table and smiled at her friends, her skin glowing from the orange fire of the heat torches around.
She belonged here.
Loki stood in the door way for a moment, looking around at the faces before him. Several people shot him a look of surprise at seeing him there, some people wrinkled their noses and looked away. Others barely glanced at him before looking away quickly. Some people looked at him but did a double take, staring at his arm with mouths open.
Only three people of note seemed to look at him without distaste or stared at his arm.
Natasha glanced his way and lifted her beer ever so slightly in greeting before looking toward Clint again and continued her conversation.
Tony glanced his way, his eyes roaming up and down Loki's form with an expressionless face.
Last was Bruce, who glanced at first Luna and then towards Loki. Loki met eyes with Banner and for a second neither moved. Until Bruce stood from his seat across the lawn and casually walked over with his tall glass of soda in hand.
Loki moved halfway to meet him, walking along the edge of the main group of people with Bruce doing the same. When they reached each other the two turned and stood to face the group. Loki's eyes followed Luna as she walked around saying hello to all the new people that showed up.
Bruce spoke first.
"That looks pretty bad." He looked over at his arm for a second. "What happened?" He asked in a polite, casually calm voice.
Loki glanced down at his own arm and lifted it a centimeter. "These bulky bandages make it look worse then it is. It was barely second degree burn." He paused before adding, "I spilled boiling water." Loki's voice was equally as casual if not a little weary.
They watched Luna for a minute or two before she slipped away in the house only to return a few moments later and make a straight bee line for him. She had one hand curled in a light first and the neck of her guitar in the other.
Luna turned and smiled at Bruce beside Loki. "Hi Bruce, I didn't see you here when I first walked in."
Bruce raised his glass slightly before taking a sip. "I tend to be invisible sometimes."
Loki glared slightly at the boy from the corner of his eye. "Do you ever cease to not be annoying?"
Bruce smiled kindly. "Do you ever cease to not be an ass?"
Instead of bristling in anger, Loki felt his lips pull of his teeth in a grin that Bruce returned slyly.
"You two sure have bonded." Luna said dryly before holding her cupped hand out to Loki. "Take these. I don't know how drugs effect you so I brought two. "
Loki let her drop two white pills in his palm. He stared at them for a long moment and turned them with his index finger. "What are these?"
"Hydrocodone." Luna said simply. Loki frowned and shared a wary glance with Bruce.
"Where did you get this?" He asked, very aware of the throb of his burns.
Luna cocked her hip to the side like he knew she did when she felt the need to defend herself. "I basicly have a meth lab in my bedroom and you are wondering how I got these?"
"Pretty much." Bruce spoke up with a chuckle.
Loki quirked a brow. "In any case, is it even legal for you to have most of the things in that room?"
"Well I don't plan on telling anyone and my father sure doesn't care." Luna shrugged one shoulder. "It's all in the name of science. I don't actually make meth you do realize. " She sighed and shook her head, slightly frustrated. "I had a legal prescription for these when I got my wisdom teeth removed five months ago. They haven't expired yet and I have had no use for them until now."
Loki frowned slightly but popped the two pills in his mouth, deciding to hell with it. His arm hurt and he was going to take both. Bruce handed him his soda without a word and Loki accepted it just as silent and took a sip.
Luna smiled in satisfaction. "There. Those should make you feel better."
"Thanks." Loki smiled at his girlfriend. "Next time I need a fix I'll make sure to call you."
Luna laughed once and punched his good arm softly before handing her guitar to Loki and looking at Bruce. She grabbed their wrists in each of her hands. "Come on, sit at one of the tables with me."
Luna led both of them to one of the farthest glass tables that littered her huge patio. Currently there was only two people sitting there; Kurt Wagner and Jessica Drew.
Luna sat down, efficiently pulling Bruce and Loki down with her. She leaned back in her chair and began engaging Bruce and Kurt in conversation. Jessica stood and walked away briefly before asking if they wanted a beer while she was up.
Kurt smiled at Loki and spoke a greeting in German. Loki responded the greeting, also in German, which seemed to please the boy greatly. Kurt turned back to Luna and Loki remained silent, listening to them talk.
He eventually sat back in his seat for a few moments before he decided to just ignore everyone and begin strumming idly on his guitar. He curled his hand a little more then necessary while plucking, just so he didn't touch the wood with the burnt bottom on his palm. After he got used to the awkward position of his palm the notes came easier.
He began with random notes or fragments of various melodies before he started playing an old song by memory he'd been working on learning.
Loki bent his head and closed his eyes, trying to remember the notes of this song. He efficiently ignored and blocked out all the people and voices around him while focusing on the music.
That was until he felt Luna's knee bump into his slightly jarring the guitar. Loki looked up slowly, his fingers not stopping while he stared at her.
Luna smiled at him warmly and put her hands in her lap, leaning forward. She still wore her beanie and her hair down. It framed her face in long waves that spilled down her shoulders.
Loki briefly looked away to notice Jessica and Kurt were talking once more and that Natasha and Peter Parker had pulled chairs to currently talk to Bruce.
"What are you playing?" Luna asked, her voice soft and sweet. Loki was glad Bruce was facing away because he could not stop himself as he leaned forward and lifted his chin to give Luna a kiss.
He backed away, his nose bumping hers and smiled. "You look too deliciously innocent." He commented. Luna smiled broadly back at him and Loki sat back in his chair again. "Eagles. I'm playing Eagles."
"Eagles?" Luna asked, cocking her head to the side. "What song?"
Loki told her and watched silently as Luna dug her phone out of her pocket. She patted her pant pockets before moving to search the pockets of her leather jacket. She gave a little "aha!" when she found the rolled up head phone plugs in her left pocket.
Luna untangled them and plugged them into her phone while only putting in one ear bud. She pulled up the song on the internet and listened to it all the way through twice silently with her eyes closed intently. She smiled softly and opened her eyes for just a second and she took out one ear bud.
"Oh, I know this song." Luna smiled before putting her ear bud back in.
When she was done she turned the volume down slightly and turned toward Loki with a smile.
"Okay, play it now." Luna stated. She pulled up the lyrics and stared at the screen.
Loki raised a brow but looked down while his fingers began playing the beginning notes while Luna closed her eyes again while she began to slightly sway with the rhythm.
And then she began to sing, her voice soft and alluring.
.
"On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair.
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air.
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light.
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim, I had to stop for the night."
.
She continued singing and Loki glanced up briefly to look at her face. Luna had her eyes closed, her head moving with the rhythm. Her cheeks and the very tip of her nose red from the slight cold that the heat lamps didn't ward away. Luna's lashes brushed against her cheeks while her hair lay around her face in gentle waves.
.
She looked so beautiful.
"Welcome to the Hotel California.
Such a lovely place; such a lovely face.
Plenty of room at the Hotel California.
Any time of year, any time of year..."
.
Loki didn't notice himself that he was swaying not too, the burnt skin starting to fade with the pills Luna gave him and the light feeling in his skull.
All Loki could concentrate on was Luna's voice in melody with his playing. He liked the way they sounded together and was convinced she could be singing pretty much anything and still sound good.
.
Her voice was so beautiful.
"They livin' it up at the Hotel California.
What a nice surprise; Bring your alibis.
Mirrors on the ceiling, the pink champagne on ice.
And she said, 'We are all just prisoners here of our own device.'.
.
He felt his lips part in a smile when there was a break in the singing portion of the song and it was just him playing. He heard Luna give a breathless laugh that sounded so incredibly happy. He loved how happy she sounded from such a simple thing like singing along with his playing.
.
Her laugh was so beautiful.
"Last thing I remember, I was running for the door.
I had to find the passage back to the place I was before.
'Relax,' said the night man, 'We are programmed to receive.
You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave!'"
.
Too soon for his liking the song ended. Luna stopped singing and Loki continued playing the end part until it finally stopped. The last note rang in silence and Loki took a deep sigh, not looking up right away.
When he finally did he noticed two things.
First off, Luna was staring at him. Her eyes were bright and full of wonder, a big smile on her lips.
The second thing he noticed was that every one was staring at them.
Several people gave a tiny applause and Luna finally looked around, noticing the small crowd of friends that surrounded them. At least half of the people there migrated over to that one table over the course of the song.
Luna looked toward Loki again and the two met gazes. Her cheeks flushed slightly and fingers clasped tightly together in her lap.
Loki met her gaze silently, his eyes remembering every feature of her face.
Luna Stark was so beautiful.
"Holy shit, Luna I didn't know you could sing!" Jessica Campbell stepped forward and grinned at Luna. "Have you thought of joining theater next semester? We're supposed to be doing a musical for the end of the year play."
The moment was broken.
Luna looked away, her attention taken away. Loki payed no attention to any one around him and instead continued to stare at Luna unabashed.
Someone lightly hit his shoulder and Loki glanced up to see Tony smirking at him. "Of course you had to be that ass hole at the party to play guitar." Tony snorted once before continuing, "Too bad you didn't suck more. It was actually sort of good."
Loki stared at him for a fraction of a second before he spoke. "I suppose that's the nicest thing you'll ever say to me." He responded with a grin of his own.
Tony smiled, raising both brows before bringing his lips to his beer and turning away. Pepper smiled apologize at him, surprising Loki, before turning to follow her boyfriend.
Kurt walked up and offered his hand in a high five. "Zat was awesome man!"
Loki shook his head while reaching up to rub his chin briefly with one hand while returning Kurt's high five softly. The crowd around him began talking amongst themselves or to Luna. Kurt sat down next to him and Loki soon found himself idly strumming random notes on the guitar while talking to Kurt in German. Natasha eventually came over and confessed she knew a little German as well. The two sat around catching up on their German skills with Kurt and soon Loki found himself smiling more often then not.
Natasha ended up trying to teach Kurt some Russian (much to her amusement) which caused Roberto da Costa to bring a chair over and start speaking a bit of Portuguese, soon followed by the recently arrived Remy LeBeau. Luna greeted Remy at the door and brought him over while sitting next to Loki. Bruce then shyly came over and confessed to knowing a bit of Latin.
All languages caused a fierce but playful debate between all of them about which language was hardest to learn. In the end Latin won with being the hardest as not even Natasha could form the words just right.
Loki found himself laughing with the rest of them, sitting next to Luna and feeling light.
It might have been the medication, or her warm palm gently resting over his but for the first time in a long time Loki felt like he belonged somewhere.
He felt less like a lone wolf in that moment and more like a part of the pack.
His world was glowing, if only for that instant.
For the record, you really shouldn't give someone your prescription drugs. I actually did EXACTLY what Luna did when I got my wisdom teeth removed. My sister got a really bad cold so I gave her a left of vicodin I had in my cabinet. I know it's bad but if it's to keep away pain and not abusive use I don't see it being TOO bad.
To tell you the truth it didn't work with me at all. I took three all at once and didn't feel a thing (except the pain of a dry socket) but apparently that's just me as I have a high tolerance to medication.