A/N: I have been so excited to publish this! I wrote it two months ago and have managed to merge what was going to be four or five chapters into one. Enjoy and have a good Christmas!
Chapter 12, Parts One and Two: Chaos/Christmas Together and Hero
The snow was probably six inches high on Christmas Eve. Loki and Vidcund had spent the day buying presents and wrapping them up. Loki had bought Erin an expensive wall tapestry and a Hawaiian lamp.
Vidcund bought everyone a gift but Pascal. Not because he so obviously hated him at this moment, but because he coincidentally ran out of money. When he told Loki, he only laughed hysterically in the middle of the mall and gave Vidcund a big kiss on the cheek.
As they were leaving for Strangetown (they were staying over at Jenny's for the night like the majority of everyone else. They had three spare rooms) Loki became extremely anxious and Vidcund was worried greatly.
"Loki, you're not normally like this. What's up?" Vidcund took his hand. Loki shook his head.
"I can't ruin Christmas for you," He was terrified of Pascal starting a fight with him. "Vid, this is your family. Not mine."
"But Loki… Erin is a part of it too. You're my… I don't know what we are. But we're something."
"Vid, you're my soulmate," Loki told him genuinely. "Boyfriend or lover is too weak. You're someone I feel deeply about. Which is crazy seeing as I struggle with feelings and love. But you have a special place in this thing I call a heart."
"That's why I want you with me. You're my soulmate and you're in my heart. Forever, Loki. Jenny and Pol are sweethearts, they're not gonna be nasty to you. They know you. Or at least Jenny does. She works in the same field as Circe and she knows what's she's like."
"Vidcund, it's not that. It's the thought of me wrecking your Christmas because I accidentally made it look like I killed your brother's boyfriend."
"If anyone is going to ruin our Christmas, it's Pascal, not you. He starts shit. You don't."
Loki looked down and hugged himself uncomfortably. Vidcund embraced him: "Look. It's okay. We're gonna have a lovely time. Pascal might even stay home with the babies. I don't know. Just stay calm. It's gonna be okay."
"I just hate the—"
The taxi for them beeped outside. "Come on. We gotta go," Vidcund picked up their bags. Loki took them from him and the biologist blushed.
When the pair arrived in Strangetown at half six in the evening, Jenny was waiting outside for them.
"Vidcund!" She beamed and threw her arms around him. "Hi Loki!"
"Hey," Loki replied with an apprehensive tinge in the back of his throat. Vidcund took his hand and squeezed it. The taxi driver took the bags out of the back and placed them by Vidcund's feet. Pol swerved past Jenny and took their bags without hesitation.
"Oh, he's such a sweetheart," Jenny swooned, staring up at the dusk sky.
The trio walked into the traditional family home and Jill ran up to Vidcund, hugging him.
Loki smiled at the two and could only dream about him and Vidcund as parents.
They'd be fantastic, he thought. It had been fun growing up in Loki's eyes, with parents enthusiastic about his passion and him winning all the science fairs. Loki and Vidcund were the best at what they did. Loki knew that if they had children they would be geniuses.
Loki tuned back in to real life and was met with a pair of alien eyes looking into his midnight blues.
"Your coat. I'll hang it up."
"O-oh, Thanks," Loki nodded and slid the coat that was once Vidcund's off. Vidcund put an arm around Loki and held him close to him. He could feel the fear radiating off of his lover and he did his best to calm him down.
"He'll be okay once he sees Erin..." Vidcund reassured himself. He watched Pol hang up their coats in the hallway and the two sat down on the couch.
"Mom! When's Auntie Chloe coming?!" Jill bellowed through the house. Vidcund glanced at Loki who looked terrified.
"Do you wanna sit outside?" Vid whispered to him and Loki nodded. Vidcund stood up and took Loki's bony hand and sat outside with him on the pool loungers.
"He's not here yet, don't worry, Loki," Vidcund tried to help his lover. "Loki, it's alright. Pascal couldn't even do anything if he wanted to. Pol wouldn't let him cause a fuss in his home."
"I feel horrible, Vidcund. All these nice people here think they're in a room with a killer," Loki hugged himself, feeling sick.
"Jenny and Pol don't think you're a killer. Nobody does but Pascal. And maybe Lazlo. Pascal is manipulating, alright? He wants people to do what he wants so things roll out well for him. You just don't let him take over you, Loki."
"This is your family, I should be at home on my own—"
"I won't let you be alone on Christmas, alright? One more word about you feeling bad I'll push you in the pool. Got it?"
Loki let out a laugh. "Only I can threaten and intimidate you."
"Loki," Vidcund almost went into hysterics. "You are not a threat. In fact, you are actually starting to come across as nice, which is new for me."
"Well… that's because I love you, Vidcund," Loki looked up at him, a blush forming on his cheeks. "I think you're amazing."
Vidcund felt his heart beat tremendously. Loki loved him. Loki actually felt feelings for him. Loki was now able to love him and this was officially now the beginning of his life.
Loki stood up and planted a kiss on Vidcund's lips. Vidcund returned the kiss timidly before Loki rolled his eyes and kissed him forcefully.
"Loki, is that you I see over there?!" They both heard a Norwegian accent. The two turned and saw Erin standing there in a pink winter coat, red beret, a paisley scarf and fluffy white gloves. Loki grinned and ran up to her.
"You're back?!" Erin was delighted to see Loki in Strangetown after a long time. A few weeks maybe.
"Yeah, I wanted to make sure Vidcund had a good Christmas—"
"Or maybe Loki didn't wanna be alone," Vidcund came over to them and wrapped his arms around Loki. "Since you were coming here, I thought it'd be nice if I brought Loki. I didn't want him all alone up in Veronaville."
"Just to let you guys know, Pascal is coming and he's in a good mood. My advice is just to wreck it," Erin grinned evilly before disappearing inside the house.
"Uncle Lazlo! Uncle Pascal!" Jill squealed inside and Vidcund and Loki froze in position.
"Where the fuck do we hide?" Loki growled in Vidcund's ear. Vidcund shook his head. "We don't hide, we create chaos together."
Loki paused, smiled and looked back up at Vidcund. "I like that. That's us. We create chaos together."
The sliding door opened and Lazlo came out with Jill tugging on his hand. Lazlo paused and stared at the two in the backyard. "Vidcund, what the hell is wrong with you?"
Loki was beginning to feel a lot of anger in his body rise up. Nobody was gonna talk to Vidcund horribly.
"I'm perfectly fine, Lazlo. What about you?" Vidcund folded his arms, leaning to one side.
Lazlo stared at the two in hatred before disappearing inside the house with Jill.
Loki looked at Vidcund who was clearly angry. "How dare he speak to me like that? He acts as if it is so wrong of me to bring you—"
"Vid, he's technically under the orders of Pascal," Loki informed him. "It means nothing. He's your younger brother, what's he gonna do?"
"You goddamn idiot!" Pascal came running outside and up to the pair. "Vidcund, I can't believe you ran away with this disaster of a man! He murdered my goddamn boyfriend!"
Vidcund was trying to stay calm and trying to calm Pascal down. The more Pascal belittled Vidcund, the more Loki's fists clenched.
"…and I'm not willing to watch our Christmas fall apart thanks to a murderer who you ended up going gay for! You're a traitor and you don't feel like my brother anym—"
Loki threw a punch to Pascal's face and Vidcund grabbed his boyfriend by the shoulders, restraining him from hitting further.
Pascal clutched his jaw before cowering away slowly. Loki was enraged. He wanted to hit him more. Vidcund kept a tight grip on Loki's narrow frame before Jenny came outside.
"Pascal, leave them alone!" Jenny folded her arms. "You're lucky you're here after the outburst at Johnny's birthday!"
Loki and Vidcund walked away slowly and further into the garden whilst Jenny scolded Pascal. Loki tried to calm down naturally, but the one thing that eased him up was the scent of Vidcund's cologne. Loki rested his head in the crook of Vidcund's neck, tiredly.
"It's alright," Vidcund whispered to him. Loki sighed and glanced at his knuckles. They were bruising up on top of the fading cuts. "Well, at least Jenny is keeping an eye on Pascal. One wrong move and he's going home, Loki."
"Vid… I feel awkward. I can't show my face inside after being known as a killer. I can't. It's too—"
"Loki, it's gonna be okay. The only one who thinks you killed him is Pascal. And maybe Lazlo. Nobody else believes it," Vidcund reassured Loki. "My family aren't gonna hate you or make you feel uncomfortable. It's fine, alright?"
"But… I'm also worried about you..." the physicist spoke into quiet night. "I don't wanna be the reason your brothers hate you and wanna disown you."
"Loki, I love you way fucking more than them. I don't care. You're my love and if they've got a problem, that's on them. Not us."
"I'm just so sick and tired of it all!" Loki groaned, putting his head in his hands. "I want to be back in my own house going to work at the old place. I want to be able to see you everyday. I want to be happy with a family. But I can't because Pascal ruined my entire life!"
Vidcund pulled Loki back before he could storm off in agitation. "Come on. He hasn't ruined it all. If he had ruined it all, I wouldn't be standing next to you in my sister's back garden."
Loki stopped and thought about it. "I guess you're right."
"Let's go inside. It'll be alright, Loki. He's not that smart to yell at you in front of a crowd."
Vidcund held Loki's hand and they entered the house again. Pascal and Jenny were arguing in the kitchen. Johnny and Jill were sitting at the TV playing SSX3, Lazlo was watching them with Erin and Lola. Chloe was playing chess with Pol in the study.
"Come on. Let's go sit in the room we're supposed to be sleeping in," Vidcund spoke and the two walked up the stairs and into a room on the right. There was a double bed made for them and their bags were on the side. Vidcund turned on the light and shut the door.
"It's so warm," Loki smiled and fell down onto the bed, his eyes shut. Vidcund went over to the bags and picked out a present. It was one of the ones he had gotten for Loki.
"Do you ever think about what happened in college?" Vidcund started randomly. Loki stopped, not wanting to remember at all. "You know, I kinda forgot everything that happened. All I remember is that one time you got that Polaroid and you kept chasing me around with it."
Loki sighed in relief that he didn't remember the parts that pretty much made up college. The bad parts. "Remember when we got high that one time? And then for a few weeks on from that we both—
"I wanna give you an early present," Vidcund cut him off as he didn't really want to remember most of college. Loki opened his eyes, propping himself up on his elbows. Vidcund stood there holding a square shaped gift.
"You do not know how weird that sounded with my eyes closed."
"You're insane. Anyway, here," Vidcund handed it to Loki. "It's nothing big, nothing amazing. I just thought about it and—"
"You don't have to impress me, Vid. I'm sure anything you buy me is gonna be great."
"Just open it!"
Loki tore at the blue, shiny gift wrap and it was a photo frame. He slid the paper off and turned it over. The photo was of Loki and Vidcund when they were nine years old at the Science Fair, joint first. Loki felt a flame in his chest, keeping the cold heart of him warm, and he smiled, eyes watering. "You really did this?" He was overjoyed. He placed the photo to the side and stood up to embrace Vidcund. Vidcund blushed and Loki was seriously overcome with emotion. The biologist did not even know how much that moment in Loki's life meant to him.
Loki broke away and picked the photo up again. "I love it. Thank you so much," he looked up at Vidcund.
"Look in the back of the photo frame," Vidcund spoke, sitting next to him. Loki twisted the sides of the frame and popped out the photo. Behind it, was a 7inch record of Jerry Martin's 'Celestial Bungalow'.
Loki's eyes widened as he stared at the piece of art. "Vidcund… this must've cost you a fortune!"
"Yeah, well, you were so talented that night on the piano. So I bought it."
"You heard… you heard me play this?" Loki was nervous as hell. The last time he played piano, he had a breakdown. He couldn't look at Vidcund the same way if he had witnessed him.
"Yeah. I heard it on my way home. When I was leaving your place, I could hear the piano down the street. It felt like a movie to be honest."
"Vidcund, this is my favourite piece of music. Thank you so much, this all means so much to me," Loki wrapped his arms around Vidcund's waist. "I wanna give you an early present."
"Sure," Vidcund nodded and Loki jumped off of the bed to get it. He had bought Vidcund a fancy designer watch, a book on plants, a few shirts and some other little things. Loki picked up a medium-sized gift and handed it to his lover.
Vidcund opened it and found the watch. Vidcund raised an eyebrow as the light caught the watch, the prestigious gold twinkling.
"This is gorgeous, Loki," Vidcund grinned from ear to ear. "Thank you so much! Could you put it on for me?"
"Sure," Loki took it from him and wrapped it around Vidcund's wrist. Vidcund was in love with it.
"It must've cost you a fortune, Loki," he was in shock, peeling the protective sticker off of the glass. "I'm in love with it."
"I'm glad you like it," Loki was pleased, sitting next to him and looked at it too.
"We should go downstairs. I think everyone's here now," Vidcund told Loki. Loki was dreading to see Pascal again, and Vid could see that clearly. "Pascal isn't gonna say anything."
"I know," Loki hugged himself nervously. "Vidcund, I have really bad paranoia with shit like this, okay?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You know like… anxiety?" Loki bounced his knee apprehensively. "Just thinking about what could have happened and what could happen. It's just difficult…"
"Loki… you don't talk about feelings much… do you?" Vidcund's tone was soft. He sat down next to Loki.
"Not really," Loki shook his head, staring at his shoes. "I mean.. Vidcund, you allowed me to open up. Well, partially. I keep a front on to everyone else but you."
Vidcund's heart broke: "Loki… it's okay," he wrapped an arm around him. "I know about anxiety. I dealt with it in high school. It can be managed with special coping mechanisms. Mine is playing chess, which is pretty ridiculous, but it aids towards maximising Logic and getting promotions."
"I worry a lot, Vidcund. I worry about you, me, Erin. I worry for the planet— I worry about everything. It's starting to impact badly on my job and it's gotten to the point where I'm too nervous to actually go to work. That's why I didn't attend much. Because I was paranoid on what was gonna happen that day."
Vidcund didn't really know what to say. He looked at his lover sadly before patting his back gently. "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault, don't worry about it," Loki shook his head stood up. "It's just me."
Vidcund felt really bad for Loki. "Do you wanna go back to Veronaville?"
Loki shook his head, "No. That wouldn't be fair on you or Erin."
"Yeah... but your mental health is more important—"
"Let's go downstairs. I'll face Pascal, even if it kills me," Loki stood up, not wanting to get into conversation about mental health. To Loki, it made him feel worse knowing there was an underlying problem. Vidcund knew deep down something wasn't right with him and he should probably see a doctor, but he couldn't face the humiliation of Loki proving him wrong somehow.
"I'll make sure he doesn't start anything," Vidcund took Loki's hand and they opened the bedroom door and went downstairs.
"Loki, this is Lola!" Erin bombarded her brother as soon as he got down the stairs.
"Hi," Loki waved to the dark haired alien. "I'm Loki."
"Hi," she smiled back and Erin and her ran off like children. Pascal glared at Loki in the corner of his eye. Vidcund held Loki's hand tighter noticing this.
"Johnny, TV off. This is a family event," Jenny turned off the games console and the two children groaned in annoyance.
"Uh, Lazlo?" Vidcund turned to his younger brother. "Where are the babies?"
"Oh, well, Pol contacted the pollinators and they're looking after them," Lazlo answered.
Vidcund was bewildered: "Cosmo is in space?"
"Yeah, we'll get 'em back tomorrow," Lazlo shrugged and before he walked off, he said: "Oh, and she's fine, by the way, thanks for asking."
"Hey, he asked where she was," Loki came to Vidcund's defence. "Just cause he spent some time at my place, it doesn't go to say he doesn't care."
"Shut up, Loki," Lazlo walked off and Loki bit his lip. Vidcund was getting angry now. His brothers weren't listening to a thing Jenny was saying.
"Be nice to him, Vidcund," Jenny spoke up, quietly.
"Do you know what he did?" Vidcund exclaimed, gesturing to his two brothers gossiping. "He practically told the entire neighbourhood that Loki killed his boyfriend! Loki didn't kill him!"
"I'll have a word. I've already spoken to Pascal. I said if he causes trouble, I have the right to ask him to leave. This is supposed to be a lovely family time."
"Yeah, well, I wouldn't exactly classify them two as family at this rate," Vidcund folded his arms. Jenny frowned.
Jenny resembled Kitty Curious at times with her motherly voice towards her younger brothers. "Vidcund, they're your brothers. It'll blow over soon."
Jenny walked off and Vidcund found Loki to have disappeared.
"Shit," he thought to himself and turned around, searching for him. He eventually found him outside in the garden standing and looking ahead of him longingly.
"Loki, are you alright?" Vidcund almost crept up to him at the volume he was at. "Loki?"
"Why does it have to be like this, Vid?" He spoke monotonously. "Why should I have to be put through something that some other piece of shit should be going through?"
Vidcund wrapped an arm around his lover. "It's alright, Loki. Just think about when everyone's settled down and it's just you and me. You and me always."
"Are we ever gonna talk about what we are?" Loki changed the subject drastically. Vidcund focused his attention fully on Loki, who was glowing celestially in the night by the glistening moon
"What do you mean?" He raised an eyebrow.
"I meant that… like… what are we? Are we together? Are we friends?"
"Loki, what do you think?" Vidcund folded his arms. "We almost woohooed the other—"
"Shhh!" Loki shushed him dramatically. "Why don't you go and tell the entire world?!"
"Oops, sorry," Vidcund sheepishly shrugged. "Anyhow, What the hell do you think we are?"
"I don't know whether I'm a fling or if I'm your boyfriend!"
"Why would you be a fling?! I spend each day with you—"
"So we're 'boyfriends'? Is that right?!" Loki exclaimed. This situation was getting awkward.
"Yes, if you want," Vidcund threw his hands up. "God, I never thought I'd be calling you my goddamn boyfriend," he rubbed his temple.
"It's cause I'm irresistible," Loki smirked, tracing a hand through his blond hair and faced Vidcund. "Are you going to tell your family?"
"You know what?" Vidcund raised an eyebrow, cocking a cheeky smile. "I think we should. Both of us. After all, we create chaos together."
Part Two: Hero
Loki and Vidcund sat in the backyard only seconds before they were going to tell everyone that were in a relationship. Loki was shy and he was worried that the Smith-Curious' would be angry with Vidcund for liking him, of all people.
"Are you sure you're alright with this?" Loki asked Vidcund for the third time in twenty minutes. Vidcund smiled at him: "Yes, I'm alright with it. Stop worrying, okay?"
Vidcund looked up and there stood Jenny. "We're gonna get Chinese for dinner. What do you guys want?"
"Oh, I'll have…" Vidcund spoke whilst Loki reached into his pocket for his wallet. Vidcund noticed this and he took Loki's hand away from his pocket and held it in his lap. "What do you want?" He turned to Loki.
"Whatever you have, I guess," Loki shrugged. Jenny walked off back inside the house and Vidcund gave his boyfriend a look.
"I'm paying for you, alright?" The biologist smiled. Loki felt guilty. And Loki was not adjusting well to these new emotions he'd never felt before.
Loki ran his fingers through his hair. "Thank you," he mumbled.
Vidcund raised an eyebrow. "Did Loki Beaker just use manners?! Shocker!"
Loki giggled and threatened to push him off of the small brick wall they were sitting at. "Vid, I can't believe we're sitting out in the freezing cold, with 6 inches of snow, all to avoid your stupid excuse of a brother."
"Are you cold?" Vidcund looked at Loki. "We can go inside. We should tell everyone. We should create chaos!"
"Alright," Loki shrugged, smirking and they both jumped down from the wall and entered the house through the sliding door.
"Everyone, I'd like to announce something," Vidcund got everybody's attention. Pascal sat in the armchair, arms crossed, looking pissed as hell.
"What is it?" Jenny asked him, curious. Vidcund smiled, his heart warming inside which stemmed from the presence of Loki by his side.
"Loki and I are in a relationship and I would really love it if everyone here welcomed him, and Erin, into this family," Vidcund beamed, as did Erin, Jenny and Loki.
"Woohoo! My brother finally has a partner!" Jenny cheered, along with Pol, Chloe, Lola and Erin. Lazlo made an effort to clap with the others, meanwhile Pascal remained seated, his face unimpressed.
"This is ridiculous," Pascal shook his head in disgust, walking off. "That should be me standing up there with Nick!" He exclaimed in distress. "Not them two, especially you, Loki!"
"Get a god damn grip, Pascal. Just accept that things can't always be the way you want them to. Loki didn't kill Nick, regardless of how much you wanna frame him as the killer," Vidcund folded his arms, sternly.
"Pascal, if you don't agree with Vidcund and I being together, you might as well get up and leave," Loki added. "You look ignorant."
"Yeah, and you look fucking horrible, Loki!" Pascal yelled, knowing an insult to Loki's appearance would punch the latter in the guts.
"Hey, Pascal! There are children here!" Jenny snapped, giving the first born brother a cold look.
Loki could not handle hearing that comment about himself. He wanted to hide and not look at anybody. Vidcund held his hand in aid and thought about what to say next.
"How shallow is it of you to argue with someone and mention their appearance? Your argument isn't valid, Pascal," Vidcund retorted. Pascal snorted: "Vid, you look identical to your boytoy. You have no room to talk—"
"Yeah, and you look no different to Lazlo!" Erin interrupted, upset that her girlfriend's half-brother was starting on her family. "Go home, Pascal! We're not gonna let you ruin Christmas!"
"Yeah!" Chloe crossed her arms, in agreement. "Neither am I!"
"Pascal, we had an agreement earlier that if you were to cause trouble, you're on your way home. So run along now," Jenny waved bye-bye to him and he sighed heavily before storming out of the family home.
"We're really happy for you both," Pol grinned to the pair. "Ooh, that's a nice watch!"
Everybody looked at the shining piece of designer gear on Vidcund's wrist. Lazlo furrowed his eyebrows. "So he's already buying you expensive— wow, okay."
"As if you didn't take Crystal out to the poshest restaurant in SIMNation," Vidcund rolled his eyes before the conversation across the room between the two ended.
Everybody returned to the usual chatter and after Pascal left, the room had a kind aura to it. Loki kissed Vidcund's cheek and Vidcund looked at the taller man. "What was that for?"
"For being a hero."
The families both ate together that night whilst Pascal gloomily lazed about in the observatory. Adjacent to the Observatory was the Beaker castle.
Behind the castle, was the crater. Pol's spaceship that crashed upon his arrival to earth was there and so was the renewed body of Nick Muenda. He stood up on top of where he'd been buried. He outstretched his hands and saw he was back, a dead, wilted rose besides his feet.
In front of him stood his father, wearing his signature flower garland. He folded his arms, nodding his head at his son. "Well, you're good as new. I told you you weren't going too soon. Now, let's find you some clothes."
The Reaper teleported the two inside the dark Beaker Castle. They were in Loki and Circe's bedroom. Grim opened the closet doors with the end of his scythe. Nick flicked through and found a t-shirt and jeans. He changed into it and looked at himself in the mirror. "How did I die again?"
"You died due to heart failure. Some crazy woman thought it was okay to cut you open. Not to worry, though. I've enabled a way for you to never die. Reason being, you're the next Reaper if I retire."
"Right…" Nick wondered.
His father teleported them outside of the observatory. Pascal was weeping under the covers of his bed.
"Wish him a merry Christmas," the Grim Reaper hushed hoarsely and vanished into thin air.
Loki woke up in the middle of the night to Vidcund talking on his cell. He pretended to be asleep and listened closely to the hushed voice of his lover.
"So now you believe me?" Vidcund let out a chuckle. "Pascal, I told you it wasn't true."
Loki laid there confused as to why Pascal was calling so late. Loki listened again:
"He just turned up? Just like that? What did he say?" Vidcund sounded surprised. "I can't believe it. It must be great having Death as a dad."
Loki froze. They were talking about Nick.
"Listen, if you can smooth things over with Loki now that he's back, then spend Christmas with us."
The conversation soon ended and Loki sat up. Vidcund looked at him.
"What happened?" Loki questioned him. Vidcund furrowed his eyebrows: "What?"
"I heard something about Nick."
Vidcund nodded, smiling. "Nick is alive! His Dad brought him back to life! Pascal says it's like his Christmas present."
Loki was baffled: "Sorry— the man I buried in the crater is now alive?"
"Yeah. Anyway, it's great since Pascal is now happy and Nick told him the truth."
"That's crazy," Loki was astonished.
"Mhm," Vidcund nodded. "Go back to sleep, Loki."
"I can't sleep," Loki laid his head down on the pillow. Vidcund moved up and wrapped an arm around him.
Loki did the same and closed his eyes. He wanted to stay in this moment forever.
"Why did you get that lyric tattooed?" Loki wondered. "Did it resonate with you?"
"I knew what it meant, Loki," Vidcund closed his eyes, exhausted. "And it really is good knowing that even though you can't love properly, you'll try."
"I don't exactly have emotions… well, up until recently. You made me feel real, Vid."
Loki slipped his hand inside Vidcund's before drifting off to sleep. Vidcund looked at the sleeping man before getting up and leaving the room. He saw Lazlo leaving the bathroom, shutting the door quietly. They locked eyes and it was awkward for a moment.
"Did you hear from Pascal?" Vidcund asked and Lazlo shook his head. "Nick is alive. The Grim Reaper reinstated him. And guess what? Nick has told the truth. The truth being that Loki did not kill him."
"Really?" Lazlo raised an eyebrow. "Well… that's great. And listen, Vid: I know that Loki didn't kill Nick. I just rolled along with because Pascal would have ended up hating me. Us three, we're like this," he crossed two pinkies. "We're close, none of us wanna hurt each other."
"Yeah…" Vidcund nodded slowly. "Everything's good with Pascal… but I still can't believe he accused Loki of killing Nick."
"He was misled. I'm sure if you were Pascal, you'd have instantly thought Loki killed him considering he was covered in blood."
"Well, I would have instantly thought it was Circe considering I know what she's like."
"Goodnight," Lazlo spoke and went into Johnny's room, where he was sleeping in.
Vidcund sighed and went to the balcony. He sat down on the lounger and looked over the horizon of Strangetown. He could see Tesla Court from here.
The door opened beside him and he saw Jill in her pyjamas. She was startled seeing Vidcund and held a hand to her heart.
"What are you doing up at 1am, Jill?" Vidcund asked her. She shrugged.
"I like sitting out here at night," she sat in the other lounger. "And Chloe snores."
"Loki snores too," Vidcund chuckled. As if on cue, the door opened and Loki came out.
"Vid, your phones ringing," He tiredly rubbed his eyes. "It's Cassandra."
"What?!" Vid almost yelled. "Jesus, it's 1am."
"Yeah. Here," Loki handed the phone to Vidcund. Vidcund answered and listened to whatever Cassandra had to say.
"Please come over! I'm so bored!" She exclaimed. Vidcund could only sigh in annoyance quietly.
"Cass, I really can't. I'm busy with family—"
"Pleasantview is twenty minutes away! Please! You know you love me…"
"I'm sorry, I'm with family."
"Is that really how it's gonna be?" She sighed. "The least you could've done was invite me."
"Cass, I'm with Loki," Vidcund stood up to find some privacy. He went downstairs and out to the front porch. "I've been staying with Loki in Veronaville and we're spending Christmas with—"
"Jesus christ! You're such a jerk, Vidcund!"
"Excuse me, I'm not the one cheating on my husband," Vidcund retorted. "Cassandra, I love Loki. And that's that. I'm gay, and I can't do anything about it."
Vidcund hung up, storming back inside. Little did he know, Loki was only listening in on the conversation from the bathroom window, confused out of his mind.
Vidcund went back upstairs and out on the balcony. Jill was holding a doll and looking over the desert skyline.
"You should go back to sleep otherwise Santa won't come," he told her. She gave him a strange look.
"Santa isn't real," she laughed at him. "Ha ha! You think Santa is real!! Ha ha!"
Jill ran off to her bedroom and Vidcund remained standing there, dumbfounded. He returned to the bedroom and Loki was sitting up looking at the photograph. He smiled at Vidcund's entrance.
"I just got bullied by a kid," Vidcund closed the door. Loki furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "I said to Jill that she should go to sleep otherwise Santa won't come and she bullied me because I apparently think Santa is real. I know he isn't, I just would've expected her to of—"
"Vid, calm down," Loki chuckled. "It's okay."
"No, it's just funny," Vid say down next to him. "You look tense. What's up?"
"What was Cassandra talking about on the phone?"
"What do you mean? Were you listening in on the conversation?" Vidcund would be a little heartbroken if he did. They'd been together for under twenty four hours and Loki didn't trust him.
"No… I just, I heard that you said that you loved me and you yelled at her a bit. That's all. I wasn't trying to eevesdrop," Loki shook his head. "Vid, if this is you thinking I think you're cheating or whatever, I don't think you are."
"That's right, I'm not. Cassandra was just with me because she hates her husband and because I was vulnerable. She made her way into me. I don't like girls so that's that."
"I mean, my looks have gotta turn you gay of course," Loki muttered, smiling. He put the photo on the nightstand next to him and laid down. "Please come to bed now. I'm exhausted and sleeping alone reminds me of bad times."
Circe Beaker laid in her bed in the spare room of her mother's house. She was looking at her photo of Loki in her wallet. She felt awful.
She should have loved him the way he loved her. Yet… she loved him at first for his money. And that was the sad part.
She then realised later in their marriage that he was easy to manipulate. What was funnier, was that she was much the same, only Circe didn't let it happen to her.
However, Circe felt awful because Loki was going to have to face the charges that should've been laid on Circe herself and suffer in jail. It was very rare the redhead felt remorse.
Circe regret her actions the moment she came to her mom's house; having to reveal to her that she was no longer married to her long-term husband. Grainne could only tear up at the thought of her daughter being alone as she once was when Circe's father, Xanthos, left when she was six years old.
But the good thing that mattered was that the two ladies were both together for their Christmas of 2004 together.
Christmas morning, everyone else was awake but the two blond scientists. They were curled up next to each other tangled in the warmth of each other and the pale blue duvet.
Loki woke up first and brushed his teeth, being the neat freak. Vidcund slowly made his way to the bathroom and did the same before lazing off back to bed. Seven AM was too early for Christmas.
"Come on, Vid. They're waiting for us," Loki leant over him. Vidcund opened his eyes and rolled over on his side to sleep. Loki chuckled and ripped the blanket off of him. "C'mon, wake up!"
"I need a coffee," Vidcund mumbled. Loki pulled him up. "I'll make you one, just get up," Loki spoke. "Let's go."
The two walked downstairs and to the living room in front of the tree where Jill was already ripping open a gift. Pascal and Nervous were there too, and Loki felt extremely awkward. Vidcund held his hand and kissed his cheek. "Don't worry about it, alright?" Vidcund whispered to him, half-awake.
"Jill, look at the tag and see who it's from," Jenny spoke up and Jill turned the gift tag around. "It's from you, Mom!"
"What do you say?" Jenny asked her and Johnny looked for his presents under the tree.
Jill thanked her family for her gifts before Johnny got to open his presents.
He got a new skateboard, spray paints from Lazlo.
"Uh, who got these?" Jenny picked up the cans of paint. Lazlo raised a hand. "Johnny, these are for home use only. No graffitiing in the street.
"Like a teenager is gonna listen to that," Vidcund chuckled to himself, quiet enough for only Loki to hear.
PT9 passed some gifts down to Lola and Chloe and Jenny opened a gift from Vidcund. It was a green shirt with a cartoon alien on it. Jenny was in love with it from the minute she saw it.
Loki leaned forward and picked up a gift for Vidcund. Vidcund took it and unwrapped it carefully. He saw a Smashing Pumpkins album and immediately got excited.
"Thank you, thank you!" He grinned from ear to ear and wrapped his arms around his lover. Pascal watched them from the corner. He still hated Loki.
He knew what Loki was like. And he knew very well that the only reason Loki is with his little brother is because he's easy to manipulate and abuse.
Nick looked at Pascal confused. "I told you he didn't do it, Pascal. Why are you still angry?"
Pascal turned around, facing Nick. "Because Loki's gonna hurt Vidcund. He's in it to abuse him."
"He's not abusive," Nick kept his voice quiet from the family. "I lived with him. I know what he's like."
"I grew up with him and saw him inside out. I know what he's like, Nick."
"Oh, Johnny!" Jenny spoke over the chatter. "Where's Ophelia?"
"Oh, she had some family on her dad's side that she went to for Christmas," Johnny replied, sorting through wrapped presents, as was Jill. "I got her a present though."
Loki and Vidcund sat together in the living room with Pascal and Nick sitting on the couch to their left. Johnny was playing a new video game he got with Jill whilst Pol got the dinner ready by preheating the oven.
Jenny was talking to Lazlo near the bar and Erin and Lola were outside with Chloe while she smoked a cigarette.
"How's Veronaville?" Pascal asked Vidcund, wanting to grill him with questions.
"It's good. It's really nice there," he nodded whilst Loki messed around with his long hair, twirling it around his finger and making plaits here and there.
"You planning to live there?" Pascal folded his arms. Nick knew what he was doing and he couldn't be asked to go through it. He contemplated getting up and helping with the dinner but he chose not to, for he loved the company of his lover.
"Well, Strangetown is our home, so, I don't think so. But it would be nice."
"We're going back to the castle," Loki said to him, poking him in the eye by accident.
"Ow!" Vidcund exclaimed, clutching his eye. "Sharp fingernails!"
"Sorry! I didn't mean it!" Loki was in between laughing and panicking. "It's okay," Vidcund chuckled and kissed his cheek. Pascal wanted to throw up.
"Loki, what do you intend to do with Vidcund?" Pascal folded his arms, leaning back into the couch. Loki turned to face him and gave him a weird look.
"What are you, his dad?" He chuckled, finding Pascal extremely childish. "I intend to love him, Pascal. What else would—"
"Just asking," Pascal shrugged and Nick gave him a look. He waited until Loki turned back around before whispering: "Stop."
Loki knew what he was doing and that was stressing him out. He stood up and told them he'd be right back before stepping outside and finding his sister in deep conversation with the Curious twins.
"And then I met these girls named Samantha and Kimberly— oh hey Loki," Erin smiled at his appearance. He gave a small wave before turning to Chloe.
"Can I have one?" He gestured to the box of cigarettes in her hand. She nodded and handed him one. "Thanks."
He took her lighter and lit it, listening to the crazy conversation taking place.
"They're witches! They're super cool! And I was thinking that…" Loki zoned out, the conversation drowning and his thoughts became louder.
Through the smoke he breathed out, he saw Pascal sabotaging his and Vidcund's relationship. He blew it away hoping it wouldn't happen.
His thoughts were interrupted by Lazlo running through the door and down the steps to Crystal, who stood at the gate. He threw his arms around her and they were both extremely happy to see each other.
"Hey, stranger!" Crystal waved to Loki, chuckling. She walked up the path with Lazlo, who had gone inside for it was freezing. "Where you been?!"
Crystal was blonde with hair flowing down her back. She had geeky black frames with ashy blue eyes. Her complexion was medium and occasionally wore an article of clothing that was pink with jeans.
"I moved to another town," Loki answered, bringing the cigarette away from his mouth. "I'm coming back though."
"Oh cool. How's Vidcund? I haven't seen much of him since Lazlo told me he ran away with you," she folded her arms, smirking. "It sounds romantic."
"No, he just wanted to see me. And he slept over a few nights," Loki informed her. "His brothers will make up anything to make us sound horrible."
"You are horrible, Loki," she laughed and so did he. "You're an evil scientist," she pulled him into a hug and placed a kiss on his cheek.
"Yeah, well, you know," he shrugged, laughing too. Crystal went inside and Loki wanted to smoke another cigarette.
Going inside, he found Pascal interrogating Vidcund. He walked back to the couch and sat down, staring at Lazlo and Crystal.
"Just because you're not as happy as us, doesn't mean you need to ruin it for us," Loki taunted at Pascal, watching Crystal, and Pascal got up and stormed off upstairs. Nick sighed before going after him.
"What'd he say to you?" Loki asked Vidcund, pretty angry.
"I can't remember now. I zoned out," Vidcund lied, not wanting to get into it. Loki nodded, then in came Crystal and Lazlo who sat on the empty couch Pascal and Nervous were sitting on just a moment ago.
A few years back, 1998
"Loki, you alright?" Crystal, the newest employee of the Strangetown Science Facility asked the genius as he laid his head on his desk tiredly.
"I am so lonely," he spoke, sighing and tired. "Circe is gone, she has been for months and she'll be back in even more months."
"Damn, where did she go?" Crystal put her hands in the pockets of her lab coat. Both of the Lab Assistants were the only ones in the lab.
"She went to Belladonna Cove for work. It'll get her a promotion or something."
"Ah, right," Crystal came over to his desk. "It's cause it's Valentines Day and Circe isn't here, right?"
"Yeah," he sat up, facing her. He rubbed his eyes tiredly: "I see everyone having the time of their lives with their wives and husbands. I can't even call Circe 'cause she's in the middle of an operation!"
"Well, why don't you spend it with me instead? Even though we don't love each other that way, maybe it'll be fun to goof around and go out or something. All I've been seeing of you lately is you researching cloning and typing away on the computer."
Loki sat there and thought about it. "You want me to be your valentine?"
Crystal shrugged. "Yeah, but, not like that if you get what I mean." He nodded in agreement, though he loved her truly.
"Okay, sure."
/
The Curious-Smith-Beaker family sat at the table for dinner in a cheery atmosphere, despite the tensions between Loki and Pascal.
Pascal was glaring at him across the table. If you had asked Nick, he'd tell you Pascal has ruined his Christmas. All he wanted was a nice day with him, his first proper Christmas, but all Pascal could do was ignore him for silly insults and to indirect Loki every now and then.
Lazlo was telling a story about psychic powers and Vidcund could only roll his eyes. "He expects me to believe this crap?"
"The same with Erin, Vid," Loki muttered to him, eating his food.
"This is delicious, Dad!" Chloe grinned, Lola agreeing too well as everyone else.
"It's a secret recipe," Pol chuckled. Jill's eyes widened: "What is it, what is it?!"
Jenny let out a hearty laugh: "If he told you, it wouldn't be a secret, would it?"
"Well, maybe you'll know one day, Jill," Pol nodded to her. "To continue the tradition."
"So, Crystal," Pascal started from across the table. Loki looked up at him; he wasn't going to interrogate her now, was he? "What do you intend on doing with my brother?"
Vidcund snorted and quickly grabbed his serviette and held it to his nose to make it look like he sneezed. Loki held in a laugh and covered his face.
"What's funny?" Pascal stared at him and Loki in ridicule. Vidcund shook his head and muttered "Nothing" under his breath.
"Uh, well, I don't exactly believe you have the right to ask me that question, Pascal," Crystal responded. "Considering you're not his dad and he's a grown man."
Loki smirked at Pascal before turning the Vidcund. "He's getting roasted by Crystal! Roasted! Do you get it—"
"I hate you, Loki," Vidcund shook his head at the awful pun. "Just kidding."
Loki smiled at him and laughed a little before listening to the conversation with Pascal and Crystal.
"—how would you like it if I asked what you intend on doing with him?" Crystal pointed to Nick. "Everyone knows somebody ran cruel experiments on him. And you even said to me once you had the hots for her still."
"That's enough," Pascal shook his head. "End of conversation."
Luckily, the Curious brothers, Loki, Crystal and Nick were the only ones able to hear the conversation, being further down the table.
"Sorry, you what now?" Loki turned back to Pascal. "You still liked Circe even when I was married to her?!"
"Loki, leave it," Vidcund pushed him back into his seat.
"This is ridiculous," Pascal sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. "Loki, Vidcund shouldn't have to tell you to calm down. What is he, your mother? Your mother was always telling you to calm down, and when you didn't listen to her one day, she—"
The room fell silent upon the mention of Gundrun Beaker. Erin sat there in shock before putting her head in her hands. Loki was beyond angry.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Vidcund was the one who got angry explicitly. "Pascal, what is wrong with you? You're not who I thought you were!"
"You didn't have to mention their mom, Pascal," Crystal sighed in her seat. Lazlo sat in crippling embarrassment and tried to distract himself with his food.
Loki got up from his seat. The entire family was watching the argument go down. He regretted coming here now. He walked over to Erin and she stood up, following him outside.
She let out a sob the minute they got outside and he was not good at expressing sympathy or empathy.
"It's okay," he attempted and put his arms around her. "He's a dick. Don't worry."
The subtle mention of Gundrun's death had carved grief in both of their hearts. Before she had died of a lung problem, she had tried to calm down a twenty-two year old Loki, who was angry as his wife had cheated on him with a guy out in the city. After he lashed out on her and told her he never wanted to speak to her again, within days she was dead.
Erin was only fifteen when she died, which probably anyone could understand, was tragic.
"I just want to be happy, I want you to be happy. I'm sick of him standing in the way all the time!"
"I know, I know," he nodded. Erin was so upset, she didn't even want to go back inside.
"Please stop smoking cigarettes too," she added. "The thought of what happened to mom happening to you haunts me at night."
Loki nodded, though he just wouldn't smoke in front of her. "Sure."
It took a while for Erin to calm down, but they went back inside and she sat next to Lola, who put an arm around her.
"Pascal, next time you upset Erin, I'm fully obligated to punch you in the face," Chloe muttered to him so the rest of the family couldn't hear. Even though Chloe and Erin clashed a lot, she wasn't gonna let Pascal get away with reducing her to tears.
"Just do it already," Loki muttered and resumed eating his dinner.
"Hey-hey, no violence!" Pol spoke to his eldest daughter, wanting to keep it all peaceful.
"Yeah, yeah, John Lennon," the wild redhead rolled her eyes.
"Is everyone okay now?" Jenny asked. Everyone nodded in agreement. "Good! Now we can get the Christmas crackers out!"
Before they knew it, Loki and Vidcund had a Christmas cracker in their hand and were eyeing each other competitively.
"I wonder who's stronger," Loki raised his eyebrows and Vidcund yanked one end unexpectedly, pulling Loki forward.
"You just almost dislocated my arm!" He yelled, laughing and sitting back down. Vidcund giggled, picking up the Christmas hat that come out of it and a few little toys.
"You're so weak," Vidcund chuckled to his lover and put the red paper hat on his head.
"Yeah, but, it was unexpected," Loki folded his arms. "I could totally throw you across a room."
"Do it then," Vidcund smirked and Loki looked around. He shrugged, "Okay—"
"Loki, you want this?" Crystal chuckled, handing a pink paper hat to him. He furrowed his eyebrows and she placed it on his head. "I gotta talk to you outside a sec."
"Yeah… I'll be right back, Vid," Loki stated before walking away with someone he had quite a lot of history with. Lazlo watched them go outside and turned to Vidcund.
"Where are they going?" He asked him worriedly. Vidcund shrugged, "I'm not sure. You wanna pull a cracker?"
"Well, since I'm now the boss, I want you back on the team and I'm giving you a raise," Crystal explained to Loki, them both sitting outside on the pool loungers, a drink in her hand and a cigarette in his. "You see, when Ed told us to vote for a new boss, everybody of course voted me, considering I have the economics degree —"
"I can come back?!" Loki grinned enthusiastically. She nodded and he made a dramatic fist pump. "Well, I'll be moving back here soon, so I'll just resume what I'm doing up in Veronaville here."
Vidcund came outside and Loki looked at him, smiling. "I got my job back!"
"Yeah?" He raised an eyebrow. "How come?"
"Crystal's the new boss," he explained. "And she's cool, so, she let me come back—"
"You're not cool, Loki," Crystal face palmed at the man who had made up most of her life in the past seven years. "You're quite annoying for one thing. But you are good at what you do and that is what we need at work. Anyway, I better go back in before Lazlo tried bending forks with his mind again."
Crystal stood up and walked back inside. Vidcund sat where Crystal was sitting and furrowed his eyebrows at Loki.
"Are you wearing my sweater?" Vidcund asked, pretty confused.
"Yeah, cause you're wearing mine, I thought we were being cute… or was it just a case of…"
"Loki, if you say that word one more time, I will kill you," he sighed, facepalming.
"Hmm… that's silly coming from you," Loki smirked, folding his arms and leaning to the left.
"Fine. Chloe will do it," Vidcund retorted and Loki winced, "That's brutal."
Loki put his cigarette out in the ashtray before the two stood up. "I wonder what Circe is doing for Christmas."
"Probably not much."
"Yeah, we never used to do much. We just used to drive off to Three Lakes and stay in the cabin. I'll have to take you there one day. It's lovely."
"So… are we moving back here?" Vidcund asked him, changing the subject. Loki nodded: "I want you to stay with me in the castle, I mean— it's fine if you don't want to, I just—"
"Of course I will, don't be silly," he chuckled and they both went inside, enjoying the rest of the late afternoon.
After a long day, Loki and Vidcund found themselves back in the warmth of the Veronaville cabin. The fireplace crackled in the background of the two studious scientists. They were both doing puzzles on the back of cereal boxes in their pyjamas on the soft, crimson rug.
"You know, I didn't think Christmas would turn out well but it actually did, minus everything that happened with Pascal," Loki spoke up, solving a bunch of questions within seconds. Vidcund sat there trying to figure it out.
"Why are you so clever?" He groaned and threw the box off of him. "It's not fair!"
"You're clever too, Vid," Loki told him truthfully, though he knew he himself was the best. "I mean, I don't know a thing about biology."
"I guess… but still. You know everything. You did well in Maths and English too."
"They're easy," he shrugged and Vidcund sighed. "Goddamn it!"
"What?" Loki questioned him, confused. Vidcund walked off and into the bedroom, slamming the door.
Loki looked down and tidied away the puzzle before getting up and going to the bedroom.
"Vidcund, what's up?" He sat on the end of the bed. Vidcund buried himself under the covers. "Vid, did I upset you or something?"
"No! It's me, not you! Leave me alone!" He cried and Loki stood up. He could just leave him alone, but that hint of compassion was back and he couldn't just let him suffer on his own.
Vidcund had gotten most of what Loki had inside of him out, so why not do the same back?
"I don't wanna leave you alone upset," Loki hugged himself, feeling pretty awkward in the situation. "I feel like it's something I did, so please, just tell me."
"It's not you, okay?!" Vidcund snapped. "Go away!"
Loki sighed, "I tried," and then he walked out of the room, closing the door gently. He laid down on the couch and stared up at the ceiling.
The phone on the wall rang and the physicist stood up and put the phone to his ear. "Hello?"
"Hey," Crystal's voice came from the other end. Loki furrowed his eyebrows. "How'd you get this number?"
"Oh, I looked in the phone book," she said as if it were blatantly obvious.
Loki could hear Vidcund crying from the kitchen and he couldn't let him be like this with nobody there for him. "Oh. Right. Well, hi?"
"It was funny seeing you today on Christmas. It reminded me of that year when we spent all the holidays together. That was fun."
"It was," Loki thought back. He was a fresh Uni graduate, and had only just started a job at the Strangetown Science Facility. He was Mortimer Goth's favourite employee until the elderly man retired four years ago.
"Anyway. I was calling just to tell you that we go back to work on the seventh of January," Crystal explained. "You were meant to go back on the third but I pushed it forward 'cause I'm nice."
"Thanks," he smiled. "I'm gonna have to go now, it was lovely seeing you today."
"You too, Loki. Take care," she said through her warm-honey voice and the call ended.
Loki placed the phone back on the cream handset before standing by the bedroom door. Vidcund seemed extremely upset. He placed his hand on the door handle, debating whether or not to go in there.
A decent person would.
Loki opened the door again and almost ran to Vidcund. He put his arms around him tightly and sat right next to him.
"When you're ready, tell me what's wrong. Because I don't see you like this often."
Vidcund nodded and Loki sat there waiting for him to open up. Vidcund continued to cry and cry before Loki passed him a box of tissues.
The front door knocked and Loki sighed, rolling his eyes. "I don't need this right now."
Loki stood up and went to the door, opening it. In front of him stood Circe.
"Merry Christmas, Loki," she smiled and handed him a gift. He took it from her confused and placed it on the side.
"Merry Christmas, Circe," he didn't really know what to say. It was awkward and unexpected.
"I don't want to end it on a bad note, Loki," Circe shook her head. "I don't want us to end on a bad note at all. Because some parts of us were good."
Circe handed him a stack of paper. "Fill these out and then post them to me. I'm staying with my mom."
Loki's eyes scanned over the sheets in his hands, "Divorce papers..." he spoke to himself. "I thought we already did that—"
"Loki, just because we don't live together, it doesn't mean we're automatically divorced," she chuckled at his stupidity. "Is Vidcund okay? I heard from Jenny at work that you two were together or something."
"He's… well, right now he isn't okay. I'm going to find out what's going on. But yeah, he's okay."
"Is that you?" Circe's eyes met the photograph of Loki and Vidcund as kids on the sideboard.
"Come in, if you want," Loki invited her in out of the snow. He quickly went to the bedroom for a second. "I'll be back in a second, Vid. There's a box of chocolates I was going to give to you in the second draw on your side."
He closed the door and returned to Circe. "Yeah, that's me and Vidcund. It was the best moment in my life."
"How so?"
"Well, we both won joint first in the Science fair. Even though we... we went against each other and we were slightly jealous at each other's submissions, we still had time for this photo and I… It's got a deeper meaning than that, I can't get into it properly."
"You both look so happy."
"Yeah…" he chuckled nervously. "Yeah. We were. I'm gonna have to get back to Vidcund. He's not doing great."
"What happened?" She asked curiously. Loki shrugged, "Hope you had a good Christmas. Goodbye."
Circe nodded and left the house. Picking up the divorce papers, Loki sighed before placing them on the table.
Loki entered the bedroom and Vidcund was still upset. "Vid, what's wrong? Honestly. This has come out of nowhere—"
"I'm nothing! I'm worthless, I'm useless, I suck at everything! It's always Pascal this, Pascal that! When will it be Vidcund?! When will it be me?" Vidcund ranted, pouring his heart out.
"Don't talk like that," Loki shook his head. "Pascal is big-headed. He's not really good at—"
"He is higher than me at work because he's clever, Loki!" Vidcund sobbed. "I suck!"
"He's higher than you because he's a cheater, Vid. Besides, he's not as high as me, so don't worry about it. He's only a Project Leader."
"He's actually clever!"
"Vidcund you don't suck, okay? You're remarkable. Even if I don't show it sometimes, I think you're incredible and talented."
"He's so good at everything. He plays piano like a—"
"Vid, shut up," Loki put a finger to his lips and said, "Stay here a moment."
Loki stood up and went out to the hallway. He took the photograph of the two in the science fair and presented it to Vidcund.
"You say you suck, yet, this happened in our lives?" Loki murmured, wrapping an arm around him comfortingly.
Vidcund stared at the photo intently and wiped his eyes with his palms. "Thank you."
"It's okay," Loki placed the frame on the cabinet next to the bed. "So, you still think he's better than you? You should seen his face when his weird potato machines didn't go through or his other things that I don't remember because they sucked."
Vidcund let out a laugh and Loki smiled at him. "What was my project again?" Vidcund thought for a moment.
"The supernova thing. Where you had that piñata thing and when you pulled something, a big yellow sun thing combusted—""
"That's right, and yours was the robot you made."
Loki smiled at the fond memory. "Yeah. That thing."
The two laid down next to each other, ready to go to sleep as it was near enough 10pm. "So, was Christmas good?"
Loki shrugged. "I guess, considering I didn't kill Pascal."