(Tom's P.O.V.)
The day of my departure came. I had to be at the airport quite early, so I was already up at 5 a.m. preparing the last things. As much as I hoped Caroline wouldn't wake up and I could go without having to say goodbye, I wanted to look at her beautiful face one last time.
Two months were a long lapse of time when one was in love. But I had no right to complain. At least I could leave remembering how much fun we had during the last days, we had spent every day and every night together.
My suitcases were neatly stored in the taxi as I wanted to leave her our car. She had to drive to work after all. Right when I was about to grab my hand baggage, I heard someone coming downstairs and hoped - for once - it was him and not Caroline.
Of course it was her, and she tried hard to hide her sadness. I dropped the bag instantly and embraced her tightly, enjoying this sensation of hers I would be denied for months. Who could blame me.
"I will quit. This is not right." I stated and tried to get my mobile phone out of my jacket. Caroline was faster, she grabbed and held it behind her back, giving me a disappointed look.
"Absolutely fucking not. For someone so intelligent, your mouth does spill bullshit from time to time." She mumbled with annoyance. It was so early, I could not blame her for the language.
"But I can see how much it hurts you! And you know it hurts me, too." I replied. Not that I thought it would change her mind. Nothing could change her mind... besides, Loki maybe. But his mind tricks were a whole different story.
"That's the price for a career, Tom. We can't get everything we want without something to sacrifice, remember?" Her expression was intense, her blue eyes shining with determination. She gave me my mobile phone back, apologizing for the bullshit-part.
I sighed and kissed her forehead. Then I remembered something important I wanted to give her. This would be so much fun. Not.
"Listen, Caroline. I need you to do one thing for me, it is a tad delicate."
"Delicate?" She raised her eyebrow at me.
"Yes." I swallowed. This was necessary. "Would you do me a favour and keep this with you?" I told her sheepishly and handed her a black, little gun that was inside my jacket. Her eyes widened with shock as I held it out to her. She pushed it away and gave me an angry look.
"Why are you giving me this?"
"I want to make sure you can defend youself if needed." No big deal, in my eyes.
"I can defend myself without a - without that! Where did you even get it, Tom? Tell me the truth." She insisted furiously. The thought of her shooting someone with it was... eerie.
She had to be thinking I was involved in some kind of mafia or something like that. When in fact, it was so easy to get into certain 'circles' here. What an ugly world.
"That's not the point. I have one with me and you have got the other one. Three bullets in your gun and one in mine, enough for the unlikely case that - " I shook my head slightly. "Please promise me you will carry it with you. Please." I pleaded and held it out to her again.
Caroline seemed to fight with herself, but eventually she groaned and took it. Sometimes, I couldn't read her. Loki did that much better.
"Fine, I will take it. But I will certainly not need it, especially with Loki around me." She agreed unwillingly.
I couldn't argue with that. No because Loki was such an overly powerful protector - which he surely could be - but it was also, partially, because of him. The trust we all shared, it wasn't endless. It was something I could never tell her. I might as well be spilling oil into the fire.
"Thank you, I will sleep better now. You know how to use it? Just release the safety catch and pull the trigger, that's all." I explained, relieved that this talk was finally over. But as it ended, my departure neared.
"Is this all you wanted to tell me?" Caroline asked after a few seconds. I pulled her into my arms and locked them tightly around her.
"I love you. Please, be safe." I whispered into her ear.
"Always. I love you, too. Good luck!" Then we kissed, a final but expressive and passionate kiss. Placing a light kiss on her hand, I stroke her hair and left the mansion. Getting into the taxi, I turned around a last time and saw her standing behind the window, trying not to be too emotional.
I never understood why. Emotions were a beautiful thing, who knows what would happen if we didn't have them. Violence is practiced in broad daylight, but God forbid a human showed feelings. What a distorted world.
(Caroline's P.O.V.)
He was gone. I tried hard not to cry over this, but it was damn hard. This pain in my chest wanted to come out, I'd either cry or scream. My heart beat fast - was I having a panic attack? I found it better to scream in that moment.
It was a loud and deafening cry, which must've scared the crap out of Loki. The moment I thought of him, I noticed a dark silhouette in the corner of my eye. I gasped and spun around. Here on the Asgardian looking couch sat Loki, silent and quiet as a shadow, sipping on a cup of tea.
"What the actual - "
He looked up to me, raised his eyebrow at me. I couldn't read him.
"Know what? I'm not even surprised." I facepalmed. "Stop that. It's creepy."
"I did not know you despise tea so much." He replied smugly and sipped once more. I wanted to spill that cup over his pants. "How long have you been here?" I sat down and crossed my arms.
"You screamed. What happened, darling?" He asked with concerned and rose from his seating position, only to come and sit down next to me. I turned away from him, still affected from the last time he was so close, I was ashamed of crying in front of him.
"No, don't. Caroline, look at me." Gently touching my chin, Loki turned my face. As unpleasant as crying 'with audience' was, there was no use in hiding my tears. None of us was an idiot. I surrendered and looked into his green, sparkling eyes.
"He left." It was a statement, not a reproach.
I nodded with a lump in my throat. Loki pulled me closer to him, pressed my head to his chest. I resisted at first, but gave in quickly. He wiped away my tears, and gosh, he needed to warm those hands... I had goosebumps on my face! His soothing, whispering were only slightly consoling me.
"Everything will be alright, darling. Do not fret, he will return for you, you know that."
Of course he would, but goodbye was never easy. I didn't feel like I could contradict him now, so I silently accepted what he told me and ruined his clothing with salty tears.
"Caroline. I think it is only appropriate if I ask for apology. I am truly sorry for this unpleasant scenario I caused you. Can you forgive me this time?"
Wow. That was... unexpected. After his withdrawal and the constant moodiness. But it sounded sincere. He meant it, I felt it. I nodded again, distrusting my voice, but that apparently wasn't enough for Loki.
"Come on. Give us a smile.
I didn't.
"Alright, how about half a smile." He offered and poked my sides.
I refused to laugh now, it wasn't right, but Loki didn't accept a 'no'. I felt the corners of my mouth twitching against my will.
"Just show you teeth, you know how beautiful you look when you do!"
Now he began tickling me and that was when my resistance had no chance. I laughed unwillingly and tried to push away his hands. Not that it worked. I couldn't have been pushing a tank. I had to settle for wriggling like a fish.
"Loki! Okay, okay, I'm smiling! Stop, now!" Once he saw my smile he withdrew his hands from my body and grinned with satisfaction. Not that satisfaction was really his thing, but, you know what I mean.
"What did I tell you? Smiling cures everything."
"Even a broken heart?" I asked and mentally slapped myself for that question. I knew what he was thinking then. Loki sighed, looked down and swallowed. He stared, stared into a something far, far away. It took him a while to answer, and his answer was as sore as I had expected.
"I do not know. I think it is not that simple with love."
I bit my lip and glanced at the clock in an attempt to change the subject. Thank God I had hid the gun under a pillow as Loki would definitely be angry upon seeing I was playing with weapons. He'd take it away from me, which for me wasn't so much a problem, but I had promised Tom. Plus, he would want to know who gave it to me.
"Seriously, why do you sleep in this?" I questioned and tugged at his sleeve.
"Why not?" He retorted mischievously. I didn't know why he was looking at me like that, maybe it was an inside joke?
"Dude, where's the cotton? The elastane? Isn't it extremely uncomfortable?"
"As I already mentioned, I am used to such clothing and I... am not overly fond of Midgardian attire." He said with a disgusted face. I decided to tease him a little.
"So you're saying I look ugly because I wear 'Midgardian attire'?" I accused him and tried to copy his accent.
"Of course not!"
"You finding me unsightly is the direct consequence of your previous statement."
"I was merely trying to say - "
"No, no, save your breath! It's okay, it's not like I need my heart anyway." I went on ranting. "I thought you were my best friend, Loki!"
"But I am! Listen, you look beautiful! Baggy but beautiful!" He tried to save himself, but I was enjoying this. My revenge.
"Baggy? How dare you!" I shouted and grabbed his collar forcefully. Wow, here was I, frightening the mighty God of Mischief and Lies. Haha, life was so funny sometimes.
"Do not presume to touch me again." He suddenly replied furiously and ripped my hand off from his clothes. I flew back onto the couch, intimidated. I was just having some fun!
"If all the men who criticized a woman's attire would be punished with attacks of rage - " He yelled at me. I swallowed and put my hands on my ears, refusing to listen to his poisonous words a second longer.
Loki's face was hard and his eyes intense. He glowed, way to violently for me. This Loki frightened me. This was not my sweet, beloved friend but the other side of the medal. His dark side.
"L-Loki - I'm sorry, it was just a joke. Calm down." I said quietly and put my shaky hand cautiously on his elbow. He didn't shook my hand off, but I shivered. It was as if the temperature dropped in this room.
"I'll be showering." I stated and ran upstairs, relieved to be away from this situation. Halfway upstairs, it dawned on me.
Shit. I forgot the gun.
Praying that he wouldn't find it, I showered quickly and relaxed from this awful morning filled with goodbyes and emotional outbursts.
An ivory dress was already on the bed, once again an Asgardian one. But it had long sleeves, which was good. I donned it fast and combed my hair. I was finally fresh and presentable. Still afraid of his possible discovery of my gun, I made my way to the kitchen and began preparing our breakfast. I was hungry for scrambled eggs, and nearly hypoglycaemic. For the non-meds: low blood sugar. I needed food, immediately.
Sneaking a peek at the living room, I saw no Loki in there. Maybe he had gone upstairs to freshen up, too, and hopefully this shower would cool him a little.
The food was ready now and I impatiently waited for him to come down because I'm usually very hungry after I wake up. After 15 minutes, exactly when I was literally about to starve, Loki made his appearance. He did change his 'attire', wearing some kind of Asgardian shit that flattered him but that no one else would wear here.
He stepped into the kitchen, light-footed and graceful. Damn, despite all, one couldn't deny, this dude was stunnig. In a knife-sharp, lethal kind of way. A whole individual beauty.
"Dressed to digress?" I asked as he sat down on the opposite chair. He didn't look at me.
"You know, I truly despise your Midgardian slang."
"Nevermind." I said beginning to eat, and so did he. I was already used to the way he ate, but everytime it was just freaking hilarious. So royal, in an equally beautiful way. I felt like a peasant next to him.
Note: Never ask Loki to have a tea party with you, because he will do it. He will do it well. Seriously.
By the time I was almost finished and he had eaten only half of his food. I pondered whether I should start a conversation with him or not since he still didn't seem too pleased with me. Given that he would probably still be mad at me, I decided to talk about a more inoffensive issue.
"Um, Loki..." I began shyly and noticed that he was ignoring me. This diva-like attitude, despite having something weirdly attractive to it, was starting to bother me.
"I need a particular book and I thought you might have it in your library. Can I go in and look?"
He almost choked on his breakfast, and I feared I had to take that peace of bread out of this pharynx. He was taken aback by my question. Staring at me, he replied with a constrained voice:
"Which book is it?"
"It's 'The Perfume'. Do you happen to... have it?" I said a bit intimidated by his reaction. He nodded his head and continued eating.
"Can I get it myself?"
"No." His answer was short, decisive, authoritarian. This tone of voice meant no argueing. And he would - quite literally - freeze me to my chair before I even got the chance to go there myself.
"Alright." I murmured and cleaned my plate. When I saw that he had finished as well, I went over to take his plate. He stopped me.
"No, I want to do it." Loki said, much friendlier now. He offered me a smile, I believed to see a 'sorry for being such an ass' behind it. His hand on mine seemed warmed now, and gentler.
"As you like." I responded. I took the opportunity to grab the gun and hide it my and Tom's room. Loki didn't hear me over the sound of the water, which was nice. Putting it into our wardrobe, I felt the tears once again in my eyes. Tom was omnipresent in our room, basically everywhere, and Loki throwing mood swings at me wasn't exactly productive either.
These next few months would be tiring.