The drive back to Luna's apartment was quiet, albeit the faint tune of "Girls On Film" coming from her radio. The traffic was minimal, so the ride was smooth. She was a bit antsy if Loki approved of her music, but her fears were extinguished when she glanced over at him and saw that he had leaned back and closed his eyes. The sight calmed her a bit but only a bit. She was taking a stranger to her apartment and having them stay for an indefinite amount of time. She's never done that before in her life. Not only that, the said stranger is Loki, Norse god of mischief. This was as cool as it was terrifying.
The motion of her pulling into her parking spot prompted Loki to open his eyes and sit up. He didn't sleep, but he felt more rested than before. As Luna stepped out of the car, she scanned the parking lot for anyone that could be watching. When she saw no one, she quickly opened the passenger side door and beckoned for Loki to get out as soon as possible. They speed-walked to the entry door. Luna fumbled to get her key card and swiped to open the door when she got a good grip on it. Thankfully, the front desk manager wasn't paying much attention, deciding to monitor any action from their periphery.
Luna had her hand on Loki's forearm, practically dragging him to the elevators. She looked very shifty at the moment and was not keeping calm. Luna tapped her foot and pressed the up button a few more times than necessary. She was scared, but it was too late to back out now. So close to home. Only a little more.
When the elevator doors did open, they came face-to-face with an elderly lady. Loki kept a better poker face than Luna. She looked downright petrified for a split second. In any other situation, Loki would have laughed. Instead, he kept as quiet as he had been and flashed a friendly smirk at the other woman, stepping out of the way to let her pass. Luna then moved into the elevator with Loki and pressed the button for the fourth floor. She relaxed a bit when the doors closed.
Upon arriving at their destination, Luna walked out first and looked around for a few seconds. No one in sight. She gestured for Loki to follow her and began to make her way to her door, not bothering to look at any of the apartment numbers. She had the muscle memory down. Once they were both at the door, she unlocked it effortlessly and moved inside as fast as she could, closing it back when Loki had crossed the threshold behind her. Upon locking it back, she leaned against the door, closed her eyes, and let out a breath she had been holding since she had smuggled him into her car. She opened her eyes to look at him while he surveyed the new environment.
"Well, uh, welcome to...here," she said, taking off her shoes. "My only request is no shoes go past the entryway. Other than that, make yourself right at home." Loki did the same, placing his boots beside hers and stepping further into the room. It was modest and spacious: a couch, a couple of armchairs, a coffee table, television, bookshelves, a kitchen, and a hallway leading to other small rooms. Loki's observation of the area halted when Luna crossed into his path of vision.
"Alright, I'm gonna go change and start dinner so just sit wherever," she said before turning to go down the hall and into a room, shutting the door behind her. As soon as she was alone, she loudly exhaled. "I have a stranger in my apartment. I have a stranger in my living room right now. Loki, the god of mischief, is in my living room. Oh, what have I done?" She ran her hands through her short hair, grabbing it harshly and making it stick up everywhere. She leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor, breathing heavily. "Ok, what I'm not gonna do is panic. This is Loki we're talking about. Don't show any weakness." She took deep breathes in and out in an attempt to calm herself. After a couple of minutes, she felt like she could function once more and was able to change her clothes as she had planned. She took a look around her bedroom before stepping out into the hallway, ready to ask Loki something, but the words died on her tongue when she laid eyes on him.
He was fast asleep in one of the armchairs, head tilted to one side, his hands resting in his lap. Her heart warmed at the sight. She turned into her kitchen and prepared two cups of hot chocolate. Regardless of whoever was in her home, he was her guest, and her mother taught her always to offer refreshments to your guests. The silence was slightly unbearable. She missed her music. As the milk boiled, she fetched her phone and connected it to her stereo, starting the song over so once again, she was listening to "Starman."
How ironic it was that she had this song playing while there was an actual alien on her couch. A real Starman, no longer waiting in the sky. David Bowie would be proud, probably. She nodded her head and tapped her foot along to the soft tune playing through the air. There needed to be a sense of calm to even out the slightly chaotic day she had.
As she placed his mug on the side table beside him, she decided to take a good look at him. He was indeed just as handsome as he was when she first laid eyes on him. There was no doubt that he would look even better when he was all cleaned up and properly rested. She retrieved her mug and blew on its contents as she went about gathering any extra items for Loki to use. She took sips sparingly and grabbed a few towels from the hallway closet, Bowie's cheery voice fading out to a second of silence until very familiar plucky piano notes graced her ears.
"I g-g-g-g-gotta say honestly," Luna sang out softly as she moved around briskly on her toes and into her room. She couldn't help herself. With every sway and turn, the tension of the day rolled off of her. Music was like magic. The right song at the right time always did the trick, no matter what. She almost forgot what she was supposed to be doing until she saw Loki leaning against her doorframe, passively watching her.
"Oh, you're up," she said a little breathlessly. "I'm just getting some clean clothes for you." She turned back to search through her drawers, moving as quickly as she could now that she had a pair of eyes on her. It didn't take too long for her to find a large long-sleeved shirt, spare pajama pants, and a pair of large socks. She placed them on top of the small stack of towels and handed them to Loki. "These should fit. If not, we'll go shopping tomorrow." She moved past him and showed him to her bathroom. "You can use whatever you need. The shower knobs aren't too hard to figure out. You can, uh... you can take as long as you need to." There were an awkward three seconds until Loki nodded his head, thanking her silently, and closed the door behind him.
Loki appreciated how tidy Luna kept her bathroom. All her various odds and ends were arranged neatly on each surface and shelf. Finding an unoccupied area, Loki placed his stack of clothes and towels onto the counter to test the shower knobs. As Luna said, they weren't hard to get the hang of. He desperately needed a shower, but first things first, he had to undress. It felt like it took forever. He let out low groans as he shed each item of clothing. Everything rubbed against his skin in all the wrong ways, and he was glad to be rid of them in privacy.
The water added a new discomfort as he stepped into it, but only for a brief moment. He stood underneath the water with his eyes closed to let it do its job before using the array of soaps at his disposal. All the blood, sweat, tears, and dust that had accumulated on his skin and hair washed off, making him look like nothing had ever happened. Like Thanos hadn't found him after all those years and make him suffer for not completing his mission. Like he didn't have to trade the Tesseract for Thor's life. Like his home wasn't destroyed and the only pieces left of it were Thor and his memories. He could only hope that his brother had found sanctuary somewhere.
The water was long past freezing when Loki got out, not that he noticed or cared. He proceeded to dry himself off with the towels Luna had so graciously provided. The clothes she picked for him felt good against his pained skin. The shirt was a comfortable size, but the pants were too short for his liking. How perceptive she was to provide socks to make up for the ill-fitted clothing. He took a good look at himself in the mirror. His hair was a tangled, damp mess and his face has lost some of its luster but at least he was clean. Laying a towel on his shoulders and wrapping his leather armor in his cape, he made his way out into the hall.
The atmosphere still rang with soft music. However, the sound and smell of something cooking were present as well. Whatever it was, it peaked his interest. After placing his clothes on the floor by the couch, he quietly moved over to the island table that helped to separate the kitchen from the living room area. Luna had her back to him, swaying and bopping to the beat of the song that was playing while cooking whatever it was she had on the stove. When he sat down on the bar stool, she glanced over her shoulder at him.
"Hi, how was it? I'm almost finished with dinner," she said, gesturing to the pan in her hand. "It's nothing fancy, but at least it's healthy." Loki didn't say anything, just settling on observing her. She took the mug of hot chocolate that he didn't touch and placed it in front of him. "If you think I'm gonna try and poison you in any way, I'm not. I wouldn't do that to the food or you." He shifted his eyes from the mug to her a couple of times before taking a sip. It was rather good. He drank from it slowly and watched Luna warily. To say she was kind for providing him shelter in her home would be an understatement but this wasn't like his time on Sakaar. She knew who he was so he couldn't lie to sway her, at least not now. In the moment, the truth had made her choose his side, but it could also be his immediate demise. He had to keep his guard up.
"Are you one of Stark's Avengers?" he said when he finished off his drink. That was the only possible explanation as to why she was so confident in having him here.
"Me, one of the superfriends? Never in my life," she said with a smirk, amused that he would think such a thought. She served up two bowls of the dish she prepared and leaned across the counter to place one in front of him. She kept her own in front of her, deciding to stay standing.
"Then what is your role with them?" Loki asked, holding his gaze on her. She was quiet for a moment, pondering her answer.
"I'm a genomic scientist," she said, glancing at him before eating a bit of food from her bowl. "While they do the fighting, I look at what they're made of." Loki copied her and ate his portion. As he did, he began to feel his strength coming back.
"Then why bring me to your home? Surely you know the dangers of that," he said with a slight grin and an edge to his voice. Whatever her motive is, he'll get it out of her, even if he has to scare her a little. She didn't speak for a moment.
"It's like Tony said, I'm a bit of a bleeding heart. You're in need, and I can help. I'm not a fighter, so if you're looking for a fight, you won't find one with me." Luna shifted her posture a little, so she was resting on her forearms and looking at Loki defensively. She wasn't going to hurt him but damn it if he tried anything. She diverted her attention back to her meal. It needed to be finished before it got cold. Loki did the same when he figured she had nothing else to say to him.
"What's in this? It's good," he asked.
"A menagerie of things: rice, frozen vegetables, eggs, spices, what have you. My mother's go-to recipe when she couldn't think of anything else to make," she said, stirring what was left in her bowl.
"Well, my compliments," Loki said warmly. Luna smiled a little. Though she didn't show it much, she was thrilled that he liked it.
They proceeded to finish their meals in silence. Loki observed Luna as she did the dishes. He had to make sure she kept her word that she wouldn't attack him. So far, so good. In turn, Luna held him in her periphery. Couldn't have her guest stabbing her in the back or however he would choose to harm her. Just because he had had plenty of opportunities to hurt her so far didn't mean that he wasn't still waiting for one. When she finished the dishes and wiped down the counter, she went into the living room, turned off her music and switched on the TV. The voice of a news anchor filled the space.
"Ugh, disgusting," she said with complete disdain. Loki walked over to see what could have elicited such a reaction.
They stood together and watched until Luna went to get some extra sheets and cushions so Loki could put himself up on the couch. She left the television on when she saw that he was still paying attention to it. He loved drama and chaos that he wasn't in the middle of. For a brief moment, he felt genuinely glad that he came back to Earth by himself. Infidelity, swindling, and lots and lots of lying. To miss out on this would be a crime.
Luna went back to her room to get ready for her bath, but as she started to pull up her shirt, she remembered that she had a guest. She couldn't walk around unclothed like usual. Instead, she gathered up her sleep clothes, towels, and phone and made her way into the bathroom.
It still smelled fresh from Loki's shower. She hung the items in her hands on the towel bars that were currently bare. She watched her reflection as she disrobed. Sometimes she felt pretty, most times she didn't. She studied her skin and all its imperfections, specifically the scars that it was sporting. Her dirty secrets. Signs of weakness. She couldn't show this kind of weakness in front of Loki. She knew his type very well. He would wield it like a sword and destroy her without breaking a sweat or feeling guilty. Keep a smile on and quick words at the ready. Everything would be fine. She will survive this and think of it as an unusual life experience.
She rinsed the tub out and filled it with warm water. It soothed her tense muscles. As she warmed up, she decided to scroll through her social media. She smiled when she saw a boomerang of Peter and Ned in a hotel room jumping up and down on one of the beds. Oh right, it was decathlon weekend. On Peter's stories, there was a video of Ned looking at his laptop and describing someone as a 'delicious yeehaw man' and Peter proceeding to laugh hysterically behind the camera. Luna giggled along with him. The rest of Peter's posts were pictures of him and his friends at the hotel and of the banner indicating the event that was being held the next day. Switching her music back on, she grabbed her body wash and proceeded to finish her bath.
"Candy, she's sweet like candy in my veins," she began to sing along. It was a song that always made her smile. As tempting as it was to dance, she settled on just moving her head and shoulders. She got a little more into it, belting out the chorus "All I need is to be struck by your electric love," perhaps a little too loud but that didn't matter. It was a good song. The words brought to life the feelings she felt whenever she thought of her crush. Well, former crush, but those feelings were real. It was a little bittersweet when the song ended and the next one began. She still swayed along but with not as much passion. Whatever the song was, she didn't bother to think about it as she rinsed off. Best to get out before the water got too cold. As she dried off, she looked at her reflection once again. The color of her skin was a little darker than usual. The sun at lunch did her good.
She dressed quickly and walked back into the living room to see if Loki needed anything else, only to find him on the couch in a deep sleep. Luna nodded in approval of him figuring out the remote, but he seemed like an astute person, so it wasn't too surprising. After turning most of the lights off, she took one last look at him. He looked comfortable and at peace. She let her gaze linger on him a bit longer than usual. Was it a good thing to have him here? Should she bring him back to Tony in the morning? Just watching him sleep confirmed to her that the decision to open her home to him was the best one. As she tip-toed to her room, she smiled to herself. She did well today, but just to be safe, she locked her bedroom door.