Questions and Truths

                                    

                                          


                          
CHAPTER TEN
                          
Loki coughed to give himself enough time to scrounge up enough courage to ask shyly, “So . . . how did you and sociopath . . . you know . . . ?”
                          
Tony caught on immediately and set his half-finished coffee on the floor beside him. He stared at the mug for so long that Loki was afraid that he had pushed too far. Then, Tony tilted his neck back and looked up at Loki. He felt tempted to stare at the way the boy at his feet’s neck muscles pulled and strained perfectly. He refocused himself as Tony began to speak, “Well . . . you see, it’s kind of complicated.”
                          
This piqued Loki’s interest and he quirked an eyebrow questioningly. Tony continued, “We met in middle school, about three years ago.She didn’t use to be like this. She was actually . . .” he paused, “nice. Really nice. Then some things happened and we just . . .” he waved a hand around as if he could catch the word that he was looking for out of thin air, “happened.”
                          
Loki couldn’t envision Piper ever being nice, the image just didn’t process in his brain.But that wasn’t the main object of his focus. Something Tony had said bounced around in his head, “What things,” he asked in a tone ridden with suspicion. Tony picked up his mug and took a sip, not answering. More forcefully now, Loki repeated, “What things, Tony?”
                          
“None of your damn business,” the boy snapped back. Loki wanted to drag the answer out of him any way he could, but he held his emotions in check. It won’t do any good to chase him away, he thought to himself. Loki forced his expression into one of disinterest and shrugged. He took a drink out of his own cup in an attempt to wash the bitter taste of regret and the distinct idea of what, exactly, those “things” had been.
                          
The two of them sat in silence for what seemed like infinite minutes before Loki decided he had overstayed his welcome. He drained the rest of the contents of his cup and stood up, his shins lightly knocking into Tony’s back. Tony didn’t look up. Loki said in a trial of fake cheer, as if everything in the world was right and his heart wasn’t gradually chipping off into a thousand pieces, “Well, it looks like the weather’s clearing up . . . ,” it was exactly the opposite, of course. He could still feel the roaring wind slamming against the building with the force of a rocket, “I guess I should head home.” He waited for Tony to voice some form of response, but the boy genius was silent. Loki sighed and put his empty cup next to Tony’s. He scooped up his coat from beside the remains of last night’s fire and headed towards the door. He didn’t stop or look back to see if Tony was watching, he already knew that he wasn’t. He just needs a few minutes to cool down, Loki reassured himself as he flipped his hood up and started his trek home through the snow.
                          
 
                          
The next day at school, the hallways buzzed with excitement.
                          
Loki looked around the halls, seeing that everyone seemed to be talking excitedly. He spotted Bruce heading towards their science class. Loki ran towards him, “Hey, Bruce, what’s everyone so excited about?”
Bruce looked at Loki with a bored look, “Probably about the winter dance on Christmas Eve this saturday, and the crowning of the Snow Queen and King.”
                          
Loki thought this over, “I didn't know this school had a winter dance. How interesting.” He turned his attentions back to Bruce's indifferent face, “What, you don't like school dances?”
                          
Bruce shrugged, “Pretty much. Plus it’s Christmas Eve. I can't go, my dad won’t let me, but I will be at Tony’s annual Stark Tower Christmas Party on Christmas.”
                          
Loki looked shocked at hearing about Tony’s party, feeling a bit upset that he was not told about it when he and Tony were together. It was then that Loki remembered that he had overstepped an invisible line of privacy at Tony’s house the other day, and he hadn't talked to him since, so it made sense he wasn't invited or hadn’t even heard about it. Loki walked inside the classroom with Bruce, now curious about this party and figured it was safe to ask questions, “So, who’s all invited to this big party?”