Hello again! Chapter twelve is here! Hope you enjoy it ^^
I don't own the Avengers, only Emma and the alterations made to the original story.
Distractions before a Confrontation
Twelfth day
Getting woken up at 7AM by a text isn't really the ideal way of starting the day, in my opinion. I don't mind waking up at 7AM, I'm kind of used to that. But getting woken up is a whole other thing. I dislike being woken up in general, and if I had to choose what or who to wake me up, my phone with its annoying beeping noise is definitely on the bottom of my list.
But now I'm up and awake, and I know I'm not going to be able to go back to sleep, so I reach over and grab my phone to check the message. It's from Samantha.
"Hey Em! Aww, that's ok sweetie 3 I just promised him I would ask ;) Are you doing ok wherever you are? Miss you! See ya, when you get back 3"
I frown confused. What does she mean "that's ok"? What's okay? I haven't answered yet. I scroll up to check if I overlooked something in her former message, like "if you don't answer today, I will assume you don't want to" or something like that. Instead, I'm faced with a message sent from my own phone, which I know for a fact that I didn't sent.
Even though it seems like something I could have written, it's not from me. I pause to think. Who knows about Samantha's message, and has had access to my phone? Loki! He's the only one who knows about the text, and he did look at my phone yesterday. He even had it for himself for hours, because I forgot it with him. How stupid can you get?!
The question is why would he write back to my friend? And why would he write that? It's just weird. But strangely enough I don't feel angry, instead I feel kind of relieved. Relieved that I don't have to think anymore about it. And I don't regret not getting to meet the guy; it's not like I couldn't have changed my mind if I wanted to, but I don't. For some reason, I actually agree with what Loki replied her. It's weird to think that he knows me better, than I do. At least in this case.
I open a new textbox and start writing.
"You woke me up, hon! It's only 7.30AM here. I get it, I just didn't feel like it :( Yeah, I'm doing fine, I'm working on something with my dad, so that's cool 3 You know me :P Miss you too, Sam, can't wait to see you 3"
I push "send", and look over at my father's bed. He's still sleeping, fortunately he didn't wake up by the noise. So I decide to lie back down and read for a while. I can't go back to sleep, but I can still relax.
"You know, Steve, I never got to see your drawings," I mention as I walk next to him down the Helicarrier.
He looks pondering at me. "Oh, you're right, I had forgotten about that." He seems to think for a while, before adding, "Do you want to see them now?"
I smile. Success! "Sure, if you have the time."
He nods and we turn down the hallway that leads to his room.
"They're really good! How do you make them seem so realistic?" I say as I look through the pages of his book of drawings. They're in black and white, but really detailed with shadows and lighting at the perfect places, as far as I can see anyway.
Steve just shrugs somewhat embarrassed. "They're not that good. I've just practiced. You could do it too, if you wanted to." He doesn't seem like he's just being modest, it seems like he really believes what he's saying.
I shake my head. "No, Steve, they are that good. I could never do this, even with practice. I think it takes talent, not just practice." I hurriedly continues, before he can answer. "So is this Peggy? I think I recognize her." I point at a picture of a young woman with dark hair. She has a glint in her eyes, that says kind but stern.
"Yeah, that's her. She was so beautiful." I flip to the next page and the next page and the next page, and I see her on every single page. I see her portrait, I see her full figure and I see her from the front, I see her profile and I even see a picture of her silhouette.
I look up at Steve's face, and give him a small smile. "You seem to really love her." Looking at his face, the proof is evident. There's no point of denying it, so he nods.
"How could I not? She was so perfect. And she liked me for me, even before I was this," he gestures down himself.
I clear my throat. "So what did you do back in the days when you went on dates?" I ask with a glint in my eye, refusing to let him swell in his sadness. I certainly won't.
He laughs startled. "You know, Emma, there's just something about you. You make my mood rise with one single line."
I chuckle. "I've been told that before," I wink. It's nice to be joking around like this, I've missed this. This is what you have friends for. I wonder if this is what it's like to have siblings; to always have someone to laugh with.
"Well, I would have taken her dancing," he finally answers my question.
"Really? You can dance?" I ask excited.
"Of course I can," he laughs.
I laugh, too. "Show me!"
Instead of answering, he turns to the old gramophone on his dresser and turns it on. Gentle music is pouring out of it, and he grabs my hand before swinging me around to the right position.
And then we dance. I must admit, never in my life have I danced a dance like that. It has always been dancing like you do at a party; club dancing not couple dancing. Therefore, it probably doesn't look very good, but that doesn't really matter to either of us. It's fun and we're laughing the entire time, until the song stops.
We sit back down slightly out of breath from laughing so much, well I am anyway. "That was fun!" I exclaim. Steve just nods smiling at me.
I direct my eyes back at his book of drawings and flip the page to a picture that isn't Peggy. Instead it's a man around Steve's age.
"Who's that?" I gesture to the picture.
He looks surprised at me. "That's Howard Stark. Your grandfather," he says.
Oh, I didn't see that coming.
"You can't recognize him? I've seen pictures of him from when he was older, he doesn't look that different." He doesn't sound judging or anything, but I still feel like I should be ashamed.
"Well, I've never seen him," I say in a small voice. "I don't have any pictures of him." I keep my gaze at the picture, instead of looking him in the eyes.
A silence follows my answer, before Steve clears his throat awkwardly. "I'm sorry, I didn't know it was that bad between him and your father." When I keep my head bent down, he gently places his hand under my chin and lifts my head so I end up looking him in the eyes. "No worries, it's not your fault."
I smile back at him. "I know. And it's fine. All I know is that he wasn't a very good dad, and in a way I can only be thankful for that." At this he looks confused at me. "The way he was being neglected and not feeling loved, has made my dad a very good dad, I believe. He is very careful with doing the same thing to me, 'cause he knows what it's like. He has told me so many times that he will never stop loving me and he will never become his father. So I guess my dad learned at least one thing from his father."
Steve is just looking at me with this unreadable look in his eyes. Strangely, it doesn't feel uncomfortable. Then he smiles. "That was what I was talking about before, Emma. You always manage to raise the mood."
I laugh. "When I was younger my father used to call me sunshine, because I would always make him laugh when he was sad or tired."
Steve laughs too. "I'd believe it."
Now it's time to confront Loki. But I don't really know how to approach this, to be honest. Do I just ask him, or what? I don't know. One thing I do know though is that I want to know why he wrote Sam back; it's kind of a weird thing to do without a good reason. And I'm going to find out what his reason was.
I think I'll just take it as it comes. It is his day to ask the questions today and it wouldn't be fair of me to ambush him. Even though he did start it by pretending to be me. Anyways, I shouldn't sink to his level.
As I'm thinking of ways to approach the subject, I carry the tray of food down the hallway to the door of his room. I hesitate slightly, not having come up with the right way to handle this, before pushing the door open and walking further on into his cage.
Loki stands up to greet me from his place on the bench, but he soon sits back down after accepting the food. This has kind of become our daily ritual; he greets me, takes the food, sits down and wait for me to sit next to him, before speaking. Today is no different.
"This looks delicious," he says, after we're both sitting down, gesturing to the food. I smile at him to thank him and he starts eating.
I still don't know what to do, but I'm just going to let him start the conversation. We did make a promise.
"Tell me about yourself," he says casually, while eating.
"Hmm, what do you want to know?" I ask surprised.
He just shrugs. "Just tell me about your life; your childhood, your interests, your school, your friends. You can tell me anything really." He keeps eating, while I just stare at him. He seriously wants to know about me? I can't quite understand it, but of course he had a reason to ask for turns. I smile slightly.
"Well as you know I grew up with my father. We just recently moved to New York, because of his company, Stark Industries. I have been to New York before, but only on vacations. We used to live in Malibu." I pause to think about what to say.
He saves me from coming up with something. "What was it like there?"
"Well, it's hot for one. The beach was nearby our house, so I often went swimming. I remember many times from when I was younger, where my father would take me to the beach; the private beach mind you, not the public one. He would often take time off to be with me, which annoyed the board directors greatly, but made me really happy." I laugh. My father still does this, and it still makes me just as happy. For one, I wouldn't be here if he didn't.
"It sounds like he likes to spend time with you," he comments. I look up at him and notice him smiling almost as much as myself. I can't help but love his smiles. His genuine smile could light up a whole room; I wish he would do it more often.
I nod at his comment. "He does. We're very close. You should think that I would get tired of him always being around, but I don't. Sure he can be annoying, but I guess that's just a father's job. And he's always been accepting of what I want to do. He doesn't just expect me to follow him; he lets me be my own."
The questions I wanted to ask him is completely forgotten, but I'm enjoying myself so who cares? "And what is it that you want to do?"
"Not work with anything science related," I laugh. "No seriously, I don't know exactly what I want to be or do. But I know it's going to be something with languages and cultures, and not science. And he has always been understanding of that; he has never pushed me into his line of work." I pause shortly. "I do enjoy solving scientific problems with my father, and I understand the theories and all that. It's interesting, but it's not what I want to do." I look searching at him. "Do you understand what I mean?"
He nods. "Yes. You like it, but you like languages more." He smirks, "It's not that difficult to understand. I find science fascinating myself, but I've never bothered to learn how to use it on a more advanced level. It didn't seem important; the study of people is much more interesting."
"Well, I do think science is very important, but I get what you're saying. To me, science will always be something to do with my father. Not that that's a bad thing. But it means much more to him than it does to me." I shrug; it's not a big deal.
"What about school then?" I should have guessed he would ask me that next.
"Well, I'm starting college after the summer holiday. That is if I'm home by that. I was supposed to be finishing high school now, but due to the move I finished it before time. I didn't want to be left alone in Malibu for two months, so my father and I agreed that I could just take the exams early and move with him."
"If it's that easy, why doesn't everyone do it?" Sometimes I forget he's not from Earth, but then he asks a question like this that makes me remember.
"Because it's not easy, and you're not supposed to. School doesn't end till the end of May and then there's the exams, so of course if you drop out before time you will miss something and you may not pass the exams."
"So how did you do it?"
I blush. "Well, let's just say there's benefits with being the daughter of Tony Stark." At this he laughs. "Besides I've always been a good student, so with the help of my father I managed to read up on the subjects I'd miss and pass the exams. And getting the permission to do so was only due to my last name." Of course the only ones who know that is myself, my father and the school principal.
He hums slightly. "A princess of Midgard then."
I blush. "What? I'm not a princess."
He smirks. "No, but your name grants you access to places otherwise forbidden. I'm guessing you've used that to your advantage many times?"
"No! No one really knows who I am, so I have not! This is an exception," I hurriedly explains. I would never do something like that!
He frowns. "No one knows who you are?"
I realize I accidently said something I didn't want him to know. "Samantha and Rachel, my friends, are the only ones who know. My father wanted me to hide it, because he wanted to protect me. It's not really a big deal."
"You're not angry?" he asks. I shake my head; why would I be? I understand perfectly.
"It makes sense, so I have no reason to be." I shrug, "A lot of things could have happened to me, if the world knew. Besides, I like to have a private life. I don't want to be a public person."
He thinks it over in his mind, before smiling. "Well then, if you don't have a problem, then I don't either."
"Great," I smile back.
He's done eating, and I've been in here for a while, so I stand and take the tray from him. "I better get back, before anyone comes looking."
"I guess yeah, I will see you tomorrow then."
As I reach the door, I remember I had to ask him a question. "Wait." He looks back up at me. "I have to ask you something."
He must have sensed the nervous tone to my voice, because he suddenly gets serious. "What is it?"
"Samantha sent me a text this morning." I notice him glancing guiltily at the floor, and that proves my suspicion. "You sent her a text saying I wasn't interested." I don't bother phrasing it as a question. "Why?"
He seems like he's thinking about what to answer for a while. But when he finally does, it doesn't make me any smarter. "I don't know." I can hear the honesty in his voice, so I don't doubt him, but it's not exactly an answer I can use.
I sigh. "What do you mean you don't know? You must have done it for some reason."
He stands and steps closer. "I honestly don't know why I did it. It just sort of happened. I'm… sorry." I frown, did he just apologize? That's something I never thought I'd hear.
Well, it doesn't sound like I'll get a useful answer out of him. "Okay then. No harm done. See you tomorrow." I turn around again, and face the door.
"You're not angry?" He sounds surprised, like he expected me to yell at him. Is it weird that I didn't? It probably is. It is a violation of my privacy, but strangely I don't mind. It's weird, because I definitely would have if it was my father or someone else.
"No, I'm not angry." I then exit the door and the room. All the way back to the kitchen where I drop off the tray and to my own room, I think about how I'm not angry with him for violating my privacy. The most upsetting thing for me is that he doesn't have a reason for doing so. And that's odd, 'cause it shouldn't be.
So how did you like it? I don't know anything about the American school system, I'm basically just making stuff up that fits with the story. Hope you don't mind too much. Thank you for all reviews, favourites and followers ^^ I'll see you next monday with day 13 ;)