Chapter Text
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Verity was tired of watching the news for super-battles featuring anyone in green and gold, or even green and white, like during the inversion spell. For the past few days, everything on Fox News, CNN, even the Daily Show … it was all about the sky turning red. The end of days. Of course, Fox News claimed it was because of the Supreme Court "marriage equality" decision … the gays and lesbians had finally done their part. The world was ending.
And then the Daily Show claimed that God had finally washed his hands of humans … America had decided to actually consider Jeb Bush as a presidential candidate. Best to just put them out of their misery. Humans simply could not be trusted. Even with the help of superheroes. Rand Paul. Ted Cruz. Marco Rubio. Better to just let us go down in flames. Because in the case of legitimate stupidity, the Earth has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. They were like, "great job America!" ... THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS.
Not even Captain America could help with that mess.
Verity could see through those lies, however. She could see through the satire. But then she turned on CNN. Anderson Cooper, the smooth silver fox himself ... he looked worried, and that was the cold hard truth. Anderson Cooper was scared, his calm facade an act. So she turned the TV off and picked up yet another book.
She'd spent the past several months scouring libraries and dusty second-hand shops for books … any type of books. Books about myths and legends … even looking past the fiction, the lies, for any scrap of truth … for anything that might lead her to a clue about her best friend. About Loki, Norse God of Mischief. She'd put down her non-fiction, and her math and science books for a little while, the ones where she knew she'd find truth in the words … and instead, picked up the stories, the lore, parables, hero's journeys, and villain's falls … for an inkling of a hope. A lead. A bit of mystery revealed. But so far … nothing.
As Verity leafed through a rather large tome about the ancient Picts, she walked into the kitchen for a nice big glass of wine, ignoring the empty bottles collecting in the recycling bin. Her only friend, "The God of Lies", who actually didn't lie to her, couldn't lie to her ... had vanished. Her new friend, and the only current one who never lied? Well, that friend was now in liquid form. Always reliable. Always there.
As she walked back into the living room, she heard a knock.
Verity's brows knitted together. "Who?"
She padded over to the door, her slippers sinking comfortably into the carpet … and she opened it.
She stared in disbelief.
Him. It's him.
But it's not him.
"Hi," he said, nonchalantly. "I only just got here, but I need help with the world ending and apparently we're friends. Mind if I come in?"
It isn't him ... but it's his voice. His smooth-as-silk voice.
Her face froze into one of those expressions that her mother always said would become permanent, if left long enough (lies) … and she could only say the first thing that came to her mind.
"Who the hell are you?"
The feral-looking version of her best friend brushed past her, ignoring the look of shock on her features. "Me? I'm the God of Stories. I'm Loki," he said, very matter of fact, as if she should have known. As if anyone should have known.
Like a zombie, Verity shut the door and faced the filthy creature before her ... the one standing on her nice clean carpet, barefoot. "Where have you been?" she whispered. "I've been looking everywhere for you."
Snapping out of the spell, out of the state of shock, she walked over to the big pile of old books on her coffee table. "I'VE BEEN READING FICTION FOR YOU, FUCKASS!" she yelled, as her voice broke on the final word.
He squinted at her. "Verity?" he asked, saying the word as if he was unused to the sound. For the first time since entering her apartment, he looked confused. Perplexed. Unsure of himself.
She sunk down onto the floor, spilling her nice glass of cabernet all over the rug. "You're not Loki. I don't know who you are." She knocked a pile of books on her table over as well, to pair nicely with the wine. Spill everything. Knock everything down. The world was ending anyway. And her friend was gone.
He blinked and walked up beside her. He was drawn, looked like he hadn't eaten in weeks. His hair was dirty, spikey, like it hadn't been washed in months. His clothes were filthy, the fur lining of his coat so dingy, that the usual soft white looked like a nasty brownish grey ... and he was without shoes for whatever reason. He had a tooth missing, and his helm was broken, one of the horns gone.
Who is this person?
He gingerly sat down on the floor next to her, reached into the pocket of his grungy trousers, and took out a phone.
"Loki", or whoever he was, seemed to study her for a second, perhaps trying to remember. "Verity. Call me?"
She shrugged. "Why?"
He inclined his head. "Trust me?"
Verity rolled her eyes. Why the fuck not?
She reached over to her iPhone, which was sitting on the coffee table next to an undisturbed piled of books. She looked up the number that she'd nearly erased a hundred times, and pressed the call button.
Almost immediately, the screen on his phone lit up … bright blue. At the very least, she thought, it was her Loki's phone. So perhaps this was Loki? Familiar music began to play … it began to sing.
"I didn't want to be the one to forget
I thought of everything I'd never regret
A little time with you is all that I get
That's all we need because it's all we can take"
Verity squinted at the phone. "Daft Punk?"
He raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Daft Punk. Is that who it is? A delinquent who is idiotic?"
She shook her head and laughed in spite of herself. "It's just the name of a band … you don't remember?"
Loki looked down in answer … he didn't remember.
She leaned over to get a better look at him. His face was grimy and he had dark circles under his eyes.
What has he been through?
"So that's the song you have in your phone for me? Instant Crush?"
He looked up and grinned, the missing tooth apparent, and it broke her heart a little. "Is that what it's called?"
Verity couldn't help but smile back. "Yeah."
Sadness suddenly washed across his face. "I was in the in-between. I could hear you call me on this device, but I couldn't answer it … no mobile reception there apparently … but I heard. And the song would eventually sing ... 'all I hear is the last thing that you said'. It beckoned me back, you see."
Loki set the phone down on the floor next to hers. "It's all that played. Over and over. Just your song. No one else's. But then you called less and less … yet I still remembered that passage … 'all I hear is the last thing that you said'. It made me desperate to find you."
He looked her in the eyes. "That I do remember. The last thing that you said to me was … 'see you later, please.' And I know what I told you ... that you would see me later. I knew there was a friend who believed in me." He looked away. "But that's all I knew."
With tears in her eyes, Verity reached over and touched his hand … but it shocked her. "Loki, you're freezing! Where have you been? Is the 'in-between', or whatever, on planet Hoth?"
He shrugged. "I was in the space that is not a space … a space between the ten realms. I had to walk alone. I had to atone."
She raised a brow. "Have you?"
Loki grinned. "Enough to refuse to be put in a box that anyone has constructed for me. Not my brother, not my mother, not my father … not even the phantom Lokis that came before me, or he who came after me. I am my own."
Verity reached up and touched his cheek. "What happened to your tooth?"
"Oh, you know," he started to shiver. "I got into a few fights."
"With who?"
"With myself."
He was telling the truth, but she wasn't going to ask. She didn't want some kind of convoluted Fight Club-esque explanation ... she just wanted to get him warm. Verity stood up and held her hands out to him. "Come on, Loki. Let's get you a bath."
He blinked. "But … the world out there. Did you not notice the red sky? The strange planet floating above the city? I need your help."
Verity shrugged. "It can wait for a night. It'll still be there in the morning. Anderson Cooper said so. He never lies."
Loki looked confused but nodded ... and let her lead him into her bathroom. He stood motionless as she began to run the bath water.
"You can leave your trousers on dude … they need cleaned anyway," she said, feeling as if her humor was finally coming back to her. Maybe her friend was finally here after all. Maybe.
Little by little, he peeled off his filthy clothes and rags, until he was left only in his pants. He stepped into the hot water, wincing at the heat.
Verity sat beside the tub, pulled up her sleeves, and took her time, washing off layers of dirt with a sponge, while he closed his eyes … slowly coming back down to Earth.
"What happened to you?" she asked, softly.
Loki sank into the water, soaking his hair. "Ego death," he said quietly, as he came back up.
Verity wasn't sure what to say to that.
As she began to smooth shampoo into his locks, she noticed the water turning brown, so she drained it and filled it back up with even warmer water … and bit by bit, the Loki she remembered began to reappear. His silky smooth jet-black hair, his pale broad shoulders, his high cheekbones and strong jawline. But his eyes were still closed, his body slowly warming up, getting used to being comfortable again. Getting used to not being in constant pain.
Verity leaned over and brushed his hair back from his forehead. He opened his preternaturally green eyes. It was as if they could almost glow in the dark. "Oh, there you are," she whispered. "Do you remember me yet?"
Loki sat up a bit, the water sloshing gently around him. He reached over to touch her maroon hair, undid the tie to one of her braided pigtails, and watched as it unraveled into long waves. "Brave heart, Verity," he said, as a flicker of light came back to his irises. He recognized her. He remembered. It's what he said to her the first day they met.
As she smiled a wide toothy grin, he brought his knee up fast, splashing her in the face.
She took her wet glasses off, wiping at the water that had gotten into her eyes. "What's wrong?"
Loki shook his head. "Nothing."
"Liar."
"I'm fine."
She opened her eyes and peered down at him. She began to understand what was wrong, when she noticed that his knee was strategically placed over his other leg, so you couldn't see his crotch.
Ah.
Verity quickly stood. "Now that you seem to be warmed up, I'll let you finish your bath. Towels are in the cupboard. I have a few t-shirts that will fit you … I'll throw a few on the bed."
Loki nodded his head quickly. "Thank you, Verity," he said.
She turned around and softly shut the door behind her, leaving him to the memories that were slowly coming back.
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