"Let's play Twenty Questions."

"What?"

"It's a game. You get to ask twenty questions each, and the other must answer truthfully."

Loki rolled his eyes.

"Mortal, don't…"

"Ah come on? Please?"

Lori was lying in the bathtub, and she tried very much not to think about the fact she was technically lying naked in the bathtub with a man. The chocolate cake had been tasty, and Thank the Norns –whatever those were- her father hadn't come home already. A bath was exactly what she needed…

"Fine. But I get a right of veto."

"For one question only! You can use the privilege only once!"

"Fine! Now lets get it over with mortal!"

"Good. Tell me… about Asgard. What is it like?"

"The weather's always nice and the buildings are higher and more magnificent than anything in this mortal realm. And most of the people are either fighting or eating, or in Volstagg's case both at the same time. I believe fighting is our traditional pastime."

"I've seen that… you clearly had a lot of practice…"

"I'm not a fan of physical combat … but when your brother is Thor, you learn to fight. It's self-preservation."

Loki chuckled darkly. Thor… his not-brother… Once again that little mortal had made him think of something he didn't want to think about. How cunning she was, the little poison-tongue…

"My turn. Tell me about your mother."

Lori rolled her eyes.

"You just do that because I made you think of your family, no?"

"Just answer the question."

"My mom was called Fabienne. I never felt like calling her mom. She was almost as tall as you, thin and simply gorgeous. When I was little I thought she was a fairy tale princess. I adored her and she ignored me. I guess she had better things to do than to look after me. I can't say I missed her when she left."

Lori's voice was superficially cheerful, but Loki felt the sentiment his hostess was hiding, betrayal, pain and anger…

"She didn't leave because of you."

"I know that, Loki. I was a meaningless blip on the edge of her radar. Leaving because of me would require for her to pay attention to me first."

Loki felt clearly something was stirring inside Lori. He knows it's bad, but he couldn't control his curiosity.

"So she never gave you any approval?"

And Lori burst out.

"Seriously Loki! I… I know, I fucking KNOW you understand so WHY do you need to push me facedown on it? I wasn't even good enough for her to ACKNOWLEDGE MY EXISTENCE! "

"But you're not mad at her. You're mad at yourself. She's the fairy tale princess, she can't do anything wrong, so the fault must be with you. Any idea how childish THAT is?"

"Why do you always try to make me hate you, Loki?"

"You do the same to me."

Loki didn't know why he felt the need to prod at the mortal female's emotions. He had accepted that he liked her, and that he felt protective over her, but…

"It's my turn for a question now."

"Then ask one."

"Tell me about your brother."

It was a low blow, but Loki took it with relative grace.

"For one, the person you refer to is not my brother. Thor is an oaf of the worst kind. He is loud, with no regard for personal space, less tact and sensitivity than a rock and to add insult to injury he's dumb as a bilgesnipe's turd. I feel an extreme dislike for his person."

"But you miss him."

For a moment there, Loki didn't know what to say.

"What?"

"I said that you miss him."

"I do not."

"Yes you do."

Loki didn't answer, pouting. Lori giggled and got out of the now already cold bath water.

"You describe him as if you hate him, but you forget you live in my head. You're doing an enormous effort to convince yourself you hate him, mostly."

"You don't know anything."

"I shouldn't be surprised, since you're the God of Lies and all, but… you do a great job lying to yourself most of all."

"As if you have any right of speech there mortal! You tell yourself you weren't worth your mother's attention to stop yourself from realizing she probably was a self-absorbed bitch who wasn't worth YOUR attention! You tell yourself you hate your father but he's the only one who always cares for you and always tries to help, even if he's doing it wrong!"

Loki was angry with Lori, because it was all so clear to him and she didn't see… and suddenly Lori started to laugh. Not sarcastically, but really.

"Mortal!"

"Congratulations Puny. You did it again. You just described your own situation to the detail. And threw a heap of advice at my head that you could use very well yourself."

"WHAT?"

"Your dad's an asshole. If I ever get to talk to him I'm so going to bitch-slap him for treating you as he did. Your whole problem turns around how to get attention from him, respect and love and care and all that stuff… but he's a freaking asshole! He's the one unworthy of your attention, not the other way round! And then there's your brother. Okay, if what you say is true then he's not the brightest crayon in the box, but you wouldn't miss him as you do if he weren't a good brother too at times… You know I'm right."

Loki thought about it, and suddenly felt sick. The mortal female was right indeed… again. He didn't understand how it was possible that there were so many things alike in their lives. It was almost as if it was done on purpose… He felt Lori hug him internally. It wasn't unpleasant, although slightly awkward.

"You okay?"

"No."

"I'm sorry."

"I couldn't have expected anything else from you, little Poison-Tongue. I attacked you, and you retaliated. There is nothing to apologize for."

"Yes there is. I apologize for making you feel bad."

No one had ever, ever apologized to Loki for making him feel bad. They either did it on purpose, like Odin, or unconsciously, like Thor. In thousands of years of existence, it had never happened… It was an odd feeling that gave him.

"You… you're forgiven."

The hug tightened a bit.

"I won't ask after your family again."

"You know that's a promise you can't keep. You're way too curious for your own good."

"Oh you."

"You, little mortal, are lucky I have to share a head with you. Otherwise you would have lost it already with your insolences."

"At least I didn't bet it."

"Oh shut up."

(Pagebreak)

The next day Lori walked to school with a confidence she had never felt before. It wasn't just because she did look very nice in the green blouse and black trousers Loki had chosen for her, but because deep inside she knew no one would insult her that day. Loki found the newfound self-esteem a pleasant change; he hadn't realized how constricting a slightly depressed mind could be to live in…

In school it turned out to be more than just not insulting her. People fell silent and stepped aside when she passed by, and the only looks in her direction were either admiration or fear. Loki enjoyed it greatly.

"I am quite certain if you would command them to kneel before you now, they would."

Lori chortled.

"It must be the scarf. Didn't you say you wore it in a situation that involved kneeling people?"

"Ah yes. In that case, better not go there. It didn't end too well…"

The day passed, even quicker than usual because of Loki's continuous comments on everything. It made Lori smile inside. She remembered how much Loki's voice had scared and annoyed her in the beginning… Now it was almost a reassurance to hear him make sarcastic remarks about "mortals" and "Midgardian technology"… In the lunch break she made her way to the old teacher's toilet, so she could have a face-to-face chat with him. She just wanted to say something to the god in the mirror, when she heard a sob. And another one.

"It appears that you're not the only mortal drama queen in this facility…"

"As if you have any right of speech there…"

"I did specify 'mortal'."

"So you admit to being a drama queen?"

Another sob sounded through the toilet before Loki could answer. Lori realized the sound was coming from one of the toilet stalls.

"Err… hello? Are you okay?"

Lori would have sworn she could feel Loki roll his eyes. The sobbing only became worse.

"If you tell me what's wrong perhaps I can help?"

Now the sobbing turned into a broken but still very recognizable voice.

"What do you want? H-Haven't you d-done enough already!?"

Liz Harrison. Liz Harrison was scooped up in a dirty toilet stall, crying her eyes out apparently. Loki grinned, and Lori felt a bit of triumph too, but the crying was… well, it sounded too familiar. Loki suddenly felt something coming from Lori's mind that he hadn't expected… Empathy.

"Err…"

"Everyone avoids me like I have Herpes, Francis broke up with me, I'm a worldwide Internet joke, and thanks to your curse my hair will remain like this for EVER! Are you happy now?"

Lori didn't answer, and the silence was simply filled with more crying.

"Liz. Will you listen to me?"

The sobbing silenced a bit, so Lori continued.

"You made my life hell for two years. Ever since you're in our class you've made fun of me and insulted me. And I know you never did anything really drastic, I know I can't complain, but do you have any idea what it does with a person, hearing time after time how ugly you are?"

Liz sobbed, but didn't say anything. Loki observed everything with both interest and incomprehension…

"It hurts. So yes, I know what I did hurt you. But it was payback really."

"B-but… but… THIS? H-How could you? M-My life is r-ruined!" Liz cries out. "Every time I look into the mirror I HATE MYSELF!"

"You think you didn't bring the same on me? Don't you think years of being called ugly haven't made me hate my own reflection?"

Liz just cried, and Loki didn't understand what Lori was up to. He couldn't make sense of the mess of emotions he perceived from his hostess… Anger, annoyance, pity, empathy, sadness and happiness… it was all utterly confusing.

"Let me see how bad it is."

"What? So you can poke even more fun at me?"

"No, to see if there's anything we can do to help you."

"W-Why would you help me?"

That, Loki thought, was a good question indeed.

"Because I've had my payback. You can either go on hating me and try to retaliate, or you can call it even and let me help you."

"Even?"

"Yes. Even. You hurt me, I hurt you, and I'd say we're even."

There was a silence, not even broken by sobs and whimpering, and the door of the stall opened, showing Liz with puffy red eyes and a horrible haircut looking like someone haphazardly cut off large chunks of hair and then treated the remainder with a potent mixture of peroxide, perm product and mouse-grey hair dye. It was without a doubt the ugliest haircut Lori and Loki and ever laid eyes on.

"Oh. Wow."

Liz started crying once more, but Lori stopped her before she could get into a full drama again.

"Have you tried…?"

"Dying, straightening, I've tried everything. Your… curse… whatever it is... is just too strong, it keeps going back to THIS!"

"Have you tried cutting off more?"

"H-How do you mean?"

"I mean a buzz cut. No offence, but it would be an improvement."

Liz looked at her with big eyes from under her ruined hair.

"I… I d-don't have a hair clipper."

"My dad does. I can help you if you like…"

Liz bit her lip, then nodded softly. That was enough for Lori. Sneaking out of school had never been much of an effort before, and now even the teachers didn't dare to stop her. With Liz trailing behind her, her hair hidden under a grey hoodie, she made her way home. On the street though she noticed something that made her feel uncomfortable. Mentally she asked.

"Loki?"

"Yes?"

"Is… Is that car following us?"

Loki peaked at the car she meant. It was a relatively inconspicuous family car.

"It's not moving, therefor not following us."

"I saw it this morning in our street too. I… It just gives me the creeps."

Loki wanted to say very badly Lori was being paranoid, but the car… it was just a little too inconspicuous, a little too shiny for a family car, and what family car has tinted glass on all sides? He didn't like it.

"We can test it. When we go through the alley, if they're actually following us, they'll have to drive around and they'll end up in our street after we've arrived there. If the car turns up in the street, we know it."

Lori didn't particularly like that answer. Secretly she had hoped for one of Loki's dismissive "Oh Mortal" answers, because… well, the feeling of being followed wasn't a pleasant one…

(Pagebreak)

Lori went to get her father's hair clipper and told Liz to make herself comfortable. Not surprising though, when she returned the girl was still standing in the middle of the room, looking around anxiously. Lori pointed her to the kitchen, wrapped a towel around Liz' shoulders and started trimming the curls to a blondish buzz cut. The ugly colour wasn't so clear anymore when the hair was very short, and luckily for Liz she didn't have an egghead. Lori held up a mirror for her, and even Loki had to admit the result of the quick beauty intervention wasn't so awful. It was definitely better than before…

"See? It's much better."

"I… I look like a boy."

Strangely enough, Liz didn't cry at that indeed not entirely untrue realization. She blinked at her reflection.

"I really look like a boy."

"It's really better, trust me."

"I…" Suddenly she blurted out. "I always wanted to look like a boy when I was younger… But when I became older my parents said it wasn't becoming of me. They said people would get the wrong idea about me if I dressed like a boy."

Lori had a little problem imagining the ultra-feminine Liz as a tomboyish type… Although she did look like one now, with her shaved head and baggy clothes…

"It suits you."

"Thank you… I guess."

There was a bit of uncomfortable silence… Liz suddenly remarked.

"This doesn't mean we're friends."

Lori shook her head. She couldn't imagine ever being friends with Liz. There was just too much history between them.

"No. We're not. But we're even."

"Even… I think I like that."

"So do I."

There was a little awkward moment at the front door, when Liz didn't know how to say goodbye properly, but then she left, and Loki and Lori were left once more to their own devices. Loki had had the chance to observe Lori, and he truly meant what he said when he spoke again.

"Little Poison-Tongue… I am proud of you."

Lori's heart skipped a beat.

"What?"

"You… You did something I was never able to do. You called it quits, even, with your enemy. Even though I know very well you still dislike her. I… You carry more wisdom than your mortality would let believe on."

Lori thought for a moment, and then dropped on the couch.

"Maybe, Loki… Maybe it's because I am mortal, not despite of it."

"What do you…?"

"You told me you are old, that you lived for ages and aren't likely to die any time soon, if ever… So that means you have all the time in the universe to make up with your enemies. There will never be a moment it's to late to reconcile, that you'll be stuck wit regret. That makes it a lot easier to stay mad at someone forever. When you realize that any day could be the last day… Then you're more motivated to clean up your shit instead of piling it up, if you know what I mean."

Loki knew what she meant. The moment she spoke out those words the realization flooded him completely. He sounded uncharacteristically meek when he softly said.

"I don't think I will be able to use mortal in a derisive way anymore now…"

Lori smiled to herself and mentally patted Loki.

"It's not because you are immortal that you can't make up with your family you know."

Loki shook her off, feeling a little… uncomfortable.

"I have many enemies, little poison-tongue. Why do you suggest…"

Lori interrupted him before he could say anything else.

"Your family is important to you. It's quite futile to deny it, you do live in my head you know."

Loki scowled, but knew Lori was right, for the who-knew-how-manieth time already. But he would be damned before he would tell her. He supposed she already knew anyway; in their shared time she had become exceptionally good at reading him. He decided to change the subject.

"Wonder if that car…"

"Great. I had just managed to forget about that."

"It's probably nothing anyway…"

But when Lori looked out of her window, the first thing that caught her eye was the inconspicuous grey family car with its tinted windows.

"Oh shit."

(Author's Notes)

I know you were all waiting for some Avengers action... but they're still on a stake-out for the moment, and this was a fairly important scene for the plot. I really hope you liked it! Loki and Lori are the best therapists for each other, don't you agree?

PLEASE REVIEW! The more reviews I get, the faster I write and upload. So REVIEW! There will be cookies (or pie)!

My lovely reviewers... GirlofRainbows, no-MY name's Anonymous, Ryle Culler, srgthamy, Tiryn, AvengersGirl-LokisSpy, Rubi Yuki, TheSillyKitten and lilirox187... *has Loki hand you all Celebration Chocolate Pie* I LOVE YOU GUYS!