My Best Friend's the God of Mischief // Peter x Loki

far from home

Loki fled when the sky was still dark and the moon still shone. He slipped out through the window. He didn't want to. He was tried of running, tried of letting people down. He wanted to stay with Peter and May, and he wanted to see his brother again, but that was simply impossible because Loki was too broken to face Thor, too broken to call Peter and May his family. It was only a matter of time until the kind mortals, who rendered him a shelter, realized how damaged he was. The second they realized Loki knew they wouldn't want him with them. Thor wouldn't want him either. So it was only for everyone's best that he did them a favor by leaving.

The temperature was extremely low, yet he couldn't be touched by the cold. For some reason Loki wished he could feel it; the chilling wind biting into his skin. Here walking down the street feeling nothing, not the cold everyone was supposed to feel, it felt as though he was an outcast, in which he was, having no place to belong to.

His throat felt tight and he, with quite an effort, swallowed down the lump. Loki hugged himself, not because he was cold, but because he kind of needed someone to hug him right now. He thought of his mother's warm hug. Thought of May's comforting embrace when he cried for Frigga. It would be nice to have someone, but now he was all on his own. Again. For a moment Loki was tempted to turn around and run back to the apartment he once called home, then he realized he couldn't. He was doing them a favor; they were better off without him.

Loki looked left and right. A place to sleep would be brilliant, yet every door he saw was closed and locked. And who would invite him in, if he were to go knocking? Because the first face they would see would be a monster who was responsible for New York massacre. They would scream and they would chase him away, curse him to burn in hell. So Loki decided against asking for maybe a warm blanket and a cup of warm tea, and continued walking down the long lonely road.

He was all by himself in a strange world he knew nothing about. He had nowhere to go.

Loki considered shapeshifting into something else... something that wasn't the face of a beast he was wearing, but he was tried of pretending. How ironic of it all since this - in his Asgardian skin he wore so often - was also a false skin for his Jotun form, his true blood, remained hidden.

Norns, he felt dirty and low. And tried. He just wanted to curl into a ball and sleep (and never having to wake up again)

Thor deserved better than him. Peter deserved better than him. May deserved better than him. They were all too kind, Loki couldn't be so selfish as to hold them back from achieving something bigger, from doing something great. He would just be a burden, and that couldn't stand.

He walked barefoot, until his feet hurt, when he saw a small bar with neon sign flickering at the entrance. The place was quiet. He, in fact, did not see anyone waiting in line to get inside. Beside the bar was an alleyway. Maybe he could sleep there since there was no one around to see him anyway, Loki thought hopefully.

The Trickster looked left and right again, just to be sure; he only saw one old man drinking there alone, and a bartender who seemed like he couldn't care less about the world. Thus he carefully made his way to the alley just next to the bar.
(Loki wouldn't go inside. He was smarter than to risk drawing any attention at all)

The ground was dirty, everything smelled of cheap alcohol and trash and all the filth that Loki unconsciously scrunched up his face. Though he couldn't effort being picky right now. He sank down to the floor next to the dumpster, his back against the brick wall. Then he closed his eyes and curled into himself.

As if thing wasn't bad enough it started to rain. First lightly, but soon enough it was pouring down on him. Loki hugged himself tighter as he shivered. Even if he couldn't feel the cold it didn't mean it wasn't there.

Just sleep, he told himself, sleep and stop longing for the safety and the warmth of May's apartment. Stop thinking about Thor. Just stop. It's only you now.

It must be the exhaustion because, eventually, Loki was starting to drift off. At first the light tap on his shoulder went unnoticed since the heavy raindrops assaulting his skin made it all numb. It took another couple tap or three for him to realize there was someone here.

Loki opened his eyes. When he looked up he saw someone, a man, hovering over him. His face hidden in the dark, the positions made Loki appear smaller than he really was.

"I'm - I'm sorry," Loki murmured, voice shook, he guessed the man must be the bar's owner or a security guard and here was also the bar's property. He mustn't be welcomed here. "I'm sorry. I'll go now."

He tried to stand up, the hand on his shoulder helped him on his feet in a surprisingly gentle manner. Loki had expected a look of disgust or some harsh words, but as he was standing face to face with the man, the stranger simply gave him a soft smile.
(Loki could see his face now; he looked in his 30s, his hair dark brown, his eyes blue and, with the beard, he looked kind)

"Shhh," said the stranger, hand still on Loki's shoulder. (Suddenly Loki looked even more vulnerable)
"It's okay," he added, "you're not in any trouble here."

Loki stayed quiet. He wondered if this man knew who he was. It was almost impossible to think there would be people in this world who had no idea who the monster, who once tried to enslave mankind, was. But this... mysterious man didn't look alarmed. If anything he was calm. Too calm. Still offering Loki that genuine smile and squeezing his shoulder like he was a harmless little child who got lost in the woods.

When Loki didn't say a word the man continued speaking, "how about we go in there instead of freezing to death here?" The mysterious man nodded at the bar. "Keep you warm. Let me buy you a drink."

Loki opened his mouth, there was no words leaving his throat for he was at a loss for what to say. The man, the stranger - took his silence as a yes.

Loki didn't protest as the good-looking stranger, with his hand now around Loki's shoulders, took him inside the bar.

As they walked past the entrance the man gave Loki's shoulder another squeeze as he said, "anyway I'm Quentin Beck. But some call me Mysterio."