Complications

Chapter Four – Publicly Humiliated

It's a bright Wednesday morning at Sim State, and Loki is sitting in his signature seat at the front of his physics lecture auditorium intently rereading chapters one and two in his textbook, twenty minutes before class starts. Loki sighs as he closes his book, "Well, I should be prepared for anything now…" he states into the nearly-empty classroom.

"Of course. You got this, sweetheart!" a cheery voice beams next to him.

Loki shrieks and turns towards the source of the noise, locking eyes with his mother, who is sitting comfortably in the adjacent seat. "Mom! What the hell are you doing here?! Get out before you publicly embarrass me!"

"Now dear, when has that ever happened?" Gundrun replies, giving a small chuckle and shaking her head at the thought. "Besides, I had to come here. I heard you were having some trouble with your professor, and I wanted to help."

Loki tilts his forehead, unable to believe that this atrocity is actually happening, "Where did you hear that?" he asks.

Gundrun smiles, "Pascal told me."

"Why is Pascal talking to you on the phone?"

Loki's eyes widen as Circe approaches the front row. She stops next to Gundrun, who is completely oblivious to her presence. "Uh, excuse me? You're sitting in my spot," Circe remarks, impatiently tapping her finger on the wooden desk.

"Mom, move," Loki commands, staring at his mother.

Gundrun scans the young girl over, seemingly unfazed by Circe's request. "Nonsense, sweetheart," Gundrun states, turning back towards her son, "There are literally dozens of seats available. She can find another one."

"Unbelievable," Circe grumbles, throwing her hands up as she exits the row.

Loki leans towards his mother, his voice lowered to an angry whisper. "Mom, seriously, you've gone too far," he hisses, "Why don't you just go home and meddle in Erin's life?"

"I can't," Gundrun responds, her voice chiming at normal volume, "I've been banned from the school indefinitely. Besides, you know she likes your dad more than me."

Loki sighs and rolls his eyes, resting his chin against his knuckle as he turns away from her. "Probably because Dad understands the importance of personal boundaries," he mutters, staring at the front of the classroom.

"Um, Mrs. Beaker?" Vidcund states, the middle Curious brother approaching Loki's mother. "Do you mind if I have that seat? I can't see well if I'm not close to the board."

Gundrun smiles and glances up at him. "Of course, honey. Here you go," she says, immediately getting up from the chair and stepping aside. Loki cocks his forehead, shooting his mom a look of pure bewilderment. An older man clears his throat.

"Excuse me, miss, but you shouldn't terrorize my students," Professor Benjamin Irma states, tapping Gundrun on the back, "I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Listen buddy, I don't know who think you are," Gundrun begins, still facing Loki, "but I can talk to my son anytime I want-" Gundrun turns around, her stomach instantly dropping as she finds herself face-to-face with Ben.

Ben's face turns white with shock. "Well, this is a surprise!" Ben states, trying his best to sound enthusiastic.

"Yes…" Gundrun trails off slowly, "Excuse me for a moment." Gundrun quickly turns back around and leans towards her son, lowering her voice to a frantic whisper. "You didn't tell me Ben Irma was your professor!"

"I don't tell you anything," Loki shrugs, "Why are you surprised?"

"So…" Ben speaks up, sitting standing awkwardly behind them, "Is this your new boyfriend?"

Gundrun laughs and shakes her head. "No, this is my son!" Gundrun beams, placing her hands protectively over his shoulders. Loki groans into his hand.

"Oh," Ben squeaks, appearing rather surprised by this piece of information, "Loki's your son? He's quite brilliant," he states. Loki lifts his eyebrow at this news, Ben's instant change of demeanor causing his suspicion to rise.

"Isn't he?" Gundrun coos, "I gave birth to him myself! He's such a cutie, and he's available everyone!" she announces, her voice echoing off the walls.

Circe growls and stands up from her back row seat. "NO, HE'S NOT!" she cries, glaring daggers at his mother.

Loki sinks into his seat, bright red in embarrassment. "Oh God, please stop!" he moans, covering his face in shame as Vidcund watches the scene unfold around him with intrigue.

"Wait, I'm confused," Vidcund states, "How do you two even know each other anyway?"

"Stay out of this, Vidcund!" Loki barks.

"Well," Ben begins, clasping his hands together and turning to his student, "Gundrun and I were…friends and colleagues at Sim State back in the day," he answers, stepping backward towards his desk. He gestures Gundrun beside him and turns to the rest of the crowd. "Class, I would like to introduce all of you to one of the most prestigious students in Sim State history…Gundrun Halfdanarson!"

"-Beaker," Gundrun quietly corrects, clasping her hands together as she stands next to him.

"Oh," Ben squeaks, "You actually married Bjorn?"

Gundrun nods, "Yes."

"Oh good God," Ben mumbles, giving his head a shake, "He's not here, is he?"

"No," Gundrun answers genuinely, "Do you want me to call him?"

"No," Ben immediately replies, "No, I would not," he repeats, before shaking himself out of it, "Anyway, you came here at a great time, Gun, cause we're about to have our first quiz on String Theory!"

"Ooh, I remember learning about that when we were in college," Gundrun responds, clapping her hands together in excitement, "Did you teach them about the theory involving the consequences of biting a string that contains all of the pinpoints that lead up to the Industrial Revolution yet?"

"Yes, thank you!" Pascal cries, springing up from his chair in recognition, "See? She knows what she's talking about!" he tells his discussion section. Loki rolls his eyes.

"Uh, no. That's next week's lesson," Ben says, grabbing a stack of papers from his desk and stopping in front of the first row, "Okay, everyone, take one and pass them back," he instructs, handing a stack of quizzes to Vidcund.

Gundrun nudges Ben in the side. "Can I take one, too?" she asks.

"Sure," Ben smiles, handing her a quiz, "I bet you'll get the highest grade in the class."

…

"Mom, never come to my class again! That was positively mortifying!" Loki cries, the pair exiting out of Waterford Hall following the longest three hours of Loki's life.

"Oh, Loki," Gundrun states, waving the incident off with her hand, "there was nothing mortifying about it."

"Really?" Loki remarks, stopping in place to glare at her, "You jumping on Craig's desk and doing cabbage thrusts when you finished your quiz first doesn't fall under that category?"

"Back in my day, that was the only way to finish an exam," she explains, holding her finger up in point.

"Uh-huh," Loki says, rolling his eyes at the clouds, "So…in the hopes of forgetting that whole monstrosity ever happened, let's change the subject, shall we?" Loki begins, taking a deep breath to calm his anger before turning back to his mother, "So, you knew my professor in college, huh?"

Gundrun nods, "Oh, yes. Ben and I were good friends. We both studied physics in undergrad."

"So why did you not go for your PhD?" Loki wonders, "I mean, you obviously love physics and your friend went, so there must've been a pretty good reason why you didn't go back to school."

"Oh," Gundrun squeaks, not expecting her son to ask this question, "Well…it was because I wanted to get my hands in the workforce, of course!" Gundrun lies, her overenthusiastic state causing Loki to get suspicious, "It's important to get your career started early and gain job experience!"

"Right…" Loki says, cocking his eyebrows at her response, "Somehow I don't believe that's the real reason."

"I hate to disappoint you, sweetheart, but that's it," Gundrun states firmly, "Now let's never talk about this again," she concludes, the pair stopping in front of Loki's house.

Loki sighs, "Well, I have to do my homework now, so please get off of Sim State's campus," Loki asserts as he walks up his front lawn. He stops halfway through and looks back at his mother. "Oh, and Mom?"

"Yes, dear?" Gundrun states, stepping forward in interest.

"I hope you enjoyed your victory today," Loki smirks, "cause pretty soon I'm going to beat your score."

Gundrun grins, raising her eyebrow skeptically. "We'll see, honey, we'll see."