Chapter 3

My alarm went off at eight as always but I was already up. Laying on my back, I listened for Loki. Other than the usual creaks of my old house and the noise of the woodpecker that lived in the back, there was nothing. I threw the covers off and slid some shorts on. Running a hand through my hair, I made myself more or less presentable before going into the living room.

Loki was sprawled out on the couch. I looked him over from across the room, still wary about being close to him. His mouth was open a bit and one hand rested behind his head. His lashes rested on his cheeks in perfect, impossibly long crescents. My eyes drifted down to his shirtless chest. His bruises were still an angry purple and his cuts hadn't changed much.

A chuckle brought my eyes back up to his face. He was smirking at me through sleepy green eyes. "Enjoying the view?" He rasped, his voice rough with sleep. I rolled my eyes and walked to the kitchen.

"Get up. I'm makin' breakfast."

"And why do I have to get up if it's not made yet?"

"'Cause you're helping me."

"I think not. I'll wait here, thank you."

I turned around and glared at him. "What do I have to do to get you to do a little work?" He smirked and raised one pale hand. He crooked one finger, beckoning me closer. I sighed and walked over, keeping the table between us. He leaned up, smiling crookedly.

"For a little work...I'll settle for a kiss."

I snorted. "You're a crap flirt."

"Not even on the cheek?" He patted his pale face with a laugh.

Rolling my eyes, I went back to the kitchen. "Get up. No touching." I was rummaging through my pantry when I felt him behind me. Looking over my shoulder, I found him blocking the doorway with a wolfish grin. I swore under my breath. My gun was on my bed.

I had known him for less than a day but at least I knew he wasn't serious. He might have a temper and I didn't want to bother him. But he had the air of a man that would rather seduce a woman than force her. I comforted myself with that. But I still had to suffer through his lewd comments.

"You woke me early." He murmured. "Don't think you'll get away with that without a punishment, pet." I opened my mouth to respond when the sound of the phone shot through the silence. He jumped, his head whipping around to where it sat on my desk. "What is that?"

I breathed in relief and pushed past him to get it. He beat me to it, picking it up and pressing the on button. There was silence as he stared at it, obviously glad the sound had stopped.

"Hello? Eb?"

His eyes widened and he put it to his ear. "Hello..." There was a pause. "I should ask who you are...How dare you!" He tensed up and his eyes narrowed as he gripped the phone tighter. I grinned and took it from him.

"Hi, Mom."

"Ebony! Who is that man and why is he so rude?!"

I laughed. "That's Loki. He's an old friend staying here for a while."

"Well whatever. Teach him some manners. Why'd he come to you?"

"Uhhh... He's a bit of a loner. Not many friends." I looked at Loki. He was leaning on the desk, watching curiously. "Anyway, what's up?"

"Oh I just wanted to check on you! Since you never call."

I smiled, heading back to the kitchen. Thinking quickly, I dipped back into my room and grabbed the gun. "I learned communication from the best." I quipped. Mom laughed a throaty laugh, one that used to sound like mine but cigarettes had taken that soft sound away. I set the gun down loudly on the counter, making sure Loki saw it. He smiled and raised his hands in defeat.

"You okay, though?" I frowned. Mom hummed.

"Sure. Just um... Last night was bad, you know?"

"Yeah." I set bread and eggs on the counter. "You call Liv?"

"Mhm. She talked me down. I just wanted to hear your voice before I go to work."

"Right." I nibbled the corner of my lip and turned on the fire. She always said that when she wanted help but I was crap at comforting people. Again, I learned from the best. "Well um... How's the job search?" Being a Walmart worker was slowly tearing her down. I didn't know why she took the job but I guess beggars can't be choosers.

"You know how it is." She sighed.

I nodded. "I'll see what I can do."

"Oh no, I'm not asking for money. I know you hate that."

Of course I did. She didn't always pay me back but then again, she couldn't. For a long while after we reconnected, the money was just going to drugs. But she had done her share of rehab and was trying to be a mother again so who was I to hold that against her? I mentally ran through my finances this month. Looking back to see Loki watching me scramble the eggs, I calculated him in. Sighing, I grabbed the tiny magnetic calculator down off the fridge. "Hang on."

"No, no, Eb. I promised Bakay I would be better. I'm not asking."

"I'm offering. Who's Bakay?" She got quiet. "Mom."

"A friend."

"You made a friend! Tell me!" I smiled. "Is he nice? Is he close by? Is he clean?"

She laughed. "I met him in my group. Clean for two years."

"That's great!" Turning off the fire, I leaned on the counter. "But why is that his name?"

"Childhood nickname? Long story, weird family."

"Alrighty then. Well I'm proud of you." She was grinning, I could feel it in the silence. "Anyway, you're gonna be late and Loki's looking at me like he'll eat me in place of bacon so I gotta go. Love you."

"Love you too!"

I hung up and immediately transferred two hundred to her account. Consider it a gift for being good. I could afford it... Sort of. Okay I wouldn't be going out much for a bit but it wouldn't eat into my necessities. Loki came to sit on the edge of the counter, watching me get the bacon out. He had put his shirt on, thankfully.

"You get along well with your family..." He muttered.

I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. We've made it work."

"Made what work?"

"No family's perfect, you know. The usual issues." If one called a druggie mother and a neighbor raising us "usual." Mom kind of let us grow up on our own, my sis and I. Then Reggie, our neighbor, took us in. We lived with Mom but ate with his family and went out with them. But now she's been trying to make up for it so I did my best to help and forgive.

"I see," he crossed one leg over his knee and sat back. "Tell me."

"About what?" I turned off the fire and leaned away so I could face him. He tilted his head, his brows furrowed in curiosity.

"Your family. How was she a bad mother?"

I frowned. "I never said that." He raised his brows. "Okay she was. But she's good now. And it's none of your business, mister I-won't-go-home." Why did he want to know anyway? Loki gazed steadily at me, his green eyes full of questions. I blinked. "What?" It was an odd look on him.

"You seem so content. As though this doesn't affect you. And yet, I hear the anger of years in that voice. You resent your past. I know because I see the same look in my own eyes. How are you happy?"

Jesus, it was too early for this. Right on cue, the coffee pot beeped and I started to get myself a cup. I frowned at him. "I don't know, I just got used to it. I try to not think about it. Besides, she's trying to make it better. I'm not one to hold a grudge. It takes too much effort."

He shook his head and leaned back against the wall, still sitting on my counter. "I wish life could be so kind as to allow me such peace of mind."

I sat back as well, wondering if I should ask. "You okay?"

"Of course."

"So no." I smirked when he slit his eyes open to look at me. "We've all got our problems. No sense worrying over what we can't change."

"I tried to change it." He muttered. "It's why I'm here."

"Ah." I nodded and put the food on a plate. Sitting at the table, I crossed my ankles under me. "You wanna tell me why you're here, then?" I sipped my coffee, hoping it would kick in before he started a total sob story.

"No."

"Mmkay." I stabbed an egg and turned to my

phone. He sighed before taking his plate and joining me. A few minutes of silence passed before he spoke.

"My brother, Thor is next in line for the throne." He said softly. I gulped the scaling coffee. Maybe if I drank it faster, it would kick in sooner. "We were raised as though we both had an equal chance but all that time I knew. I would never get the throne. Odin loved him above all else. He cared little for me truly. No matter what I did, I was the trouble-maker, the liar. I was the second son. The dark one who looked nothing like anyone else." He opened his eyes. The usually callous green had darkened. He clenched his hand into a fist and huffed in resentment.

I sighed and mentally prepared myself to comfort him without the benefit of caffeine to help me. The poor guy looked like he really needed a listening ear.

"On the day of Thor's coronation I snuck our enemy, the Frost Giants, into the realm. They went after the Casket of Ancient Winters. They were defeated and Odin refused to allow Thor to retaliate. I more or less persuaded him to do so anyway. We went and nearly got ourselves killed with his arrogance, which I was counting on. Odin took his power and banished him to Midgard-"

"To what?" I spoke around a mouthful of eggs.

"Earth. Some place you call New Mexico."

"Oh, crazy giant guy!" I nodded. "Read the stories. Didn't believe them. Why would you do all this?"

His mouth stretched into a thin line. "Consider if you were treated like I was. Respected only because of your title, in the company of others only because you could be useful for a joke. And the golden child? The mighty Thor, an arrogant beast who was not fit to rule? He was loved by everyone, no matter what he did."

I opened my mouth to tell him that didn't exactly justify anything but closed it. He needed to get this one out; I could see the anger practically rushing through him. "Okay."

"I...While fighting on Jotunheim, a Frost Giant grabbed me and my hand turned to the same blue as theirs. It faded but I...I could not understand what it meant. I later found," His voice was like a cold, sharp knife, stabbing through the silence as he told me this. "Odin had stolen me from Laufey, King of the Frost Giants. I was taken as an infant and raised as an Odinson." He shook with anger, his green eyes gleaming with the promise of vengeance. "Odin fell into an Odinsleep conveniently and I took the throne. I offered Laufey a chance into Asgard to kill Odin and take the Casket. Meanwhile, the Warriors Three and lady Sif decided to go to Midgard and bring Thor back. I sent the Destroyer after them, a great automaton that was nearly unbeatable."

"Saw the pictures." I nodded.

"Thor was without his powers and so it should have been a simple task to destroy them. It almost did until Thor proved himself worthy and Mjolnir returned to him."

"The magic hammer?"

"The magic hammer." He grumbled. "On Asgard, I was busy disposing of Laufey."

I interrupted again, going to get more coffee. This was a heavy one. "Why? He's your father!"

"He's a monster!" Loki spat. "A creature to be feared! I killed him to get rid of our enemy and prove to Odin that I was worthy of the throne. I was going to destroy Jotunheim using the Bifrost, our transport between worlds, when Thor returned and broke the Rainbow Bridge. Odin woke and stopped us from tumbling over the edge but...I tried to tell him. I could have done it for us. I could have been a good king, a worthy king who could take care of the realm. I could have made him proud."

He looked at me now, his eyes swimming in tears. He looked so hurt, betrayed. I understood now. He only wanted someone to be proud of him. He wanted to be noticed. I sighed and sat back down. Part of me wanted to take him in my arms and tell him it was okay. But it really wasn't. He'd killed people just to prove a point.

"You realize this makes you a murderer?" The gun was a quick movement away, I made sure of it as I said this.

"I do. Yet I did no different than Thor would have and Odin had already done." He smiled strangely, like he saw absolutely nothing wrong with his actions. I wondered if his culture taught him to think like that.

His crimes were probably a little less shocking to them. But it was still wrong, I could tell by his words. "If you return..." I started.

"I'll be imprisoned." His smile fell and his face hardened into a mask of resentment again.

"And if you don't?"

"I will remain here until they fix the Bifrost and find me." He looked out the window and into the sky. I wondered if they knew or cared that he was alive.

"You could start over." I tried. "Try to be a good man here. And when they come-"

"If." He muttered.

"If," I continued, "they come then you can prove that you've become the good man you said you could be. Odin might be willing to try and forgive you. To make this right."

"He stood there, looked me in the eye and said no. He said no!" He slid off his chair and glared at me. "No, I could not have done it. No, I could not have been the king he wanted. I was a fool. A delusional child who would never fit into his father's shoes."

I bit my lip. This was more than anger and hurt. He was devastated. He held on to this callous mask and yet it was so easy to see through the cracks and glimpse the boy underneath. "What happened?" I asked.

"I let go." His voice fell to a whisper. ""I fell. What was there left for me? I expected to die but here I woke up." He shook his head slowly and laughed. "I can't even kill myself properly! Here I woke with you running your hands over me, you curious little mortal."

I smiled slightly. "Come here." I stood as he came to stand in front of me. I took his face in my hands. "You're crazy, but I think you know that. I don't like what you've done. It was wrong. Families were destroyed, Loki." He looked away. "But I understand why you did it. And I will help you because I see a man who wants to be loved, not feared."

He frowned. "I'm a murderer. A monster."

"Even monsters love their mothers." He frowned. "A man who loves his mother is a man who can be redeemed. You're not a lost cause." It was true, every word of it. But seeing him angry also made me nervous. I had to calm him down before I could help him. And he was between me and the gun so I really wasn't trying to let him get upset while I was defenseless. With an inward sigh, I realized that the weapon I had bought as a redundant precaution had become a necessity in less than a day.

Loki seemed surprised to find a tear trickling down his cheek. I brushed it away. "You don't hate me." He murmured. It was statement and not a question, a statement filled with wonder and hope.

I shook my head. "I'm teaching myself to understand and forgive. You need it. Just start over. Make it right." He nodded slowly. The wrinkle between his brows told me he wasn't sure he could or even wanted to. This was the kind of conversation that couldn't go on too long and needed to end on a soft note. So I kissed his cheek, smiling at the look of shock he gave me. His eyes stretched wide and his mouth fell open a little. I couldn't help but laugh and hug him.

"Have you decided to repay me after waking me?"

I laughed again and shook my head as he pulled away. He chuckled and sat down. "Thank you, Lady Gray."

"Oh Lady now!" I laughed. "Just Eb. And you're welcome." We paused as a click resounded through the room. The door opened suddenly.

"Oh Eebonyyyy!! I-Oh..."