JARVIS and the Real Girl

Nine: Stolen

I cried myself to sleep again that night, still hugging JARVIS. When I awoke the next morning, he was still there, much to my surprise. I blinked groggily up at him, surprised to find that my eyes actually hurt from crying so much.

“Do you ever sleep?” I asked softly, and he shook his head with a smile.

“No, I don’t sleep. There’s no need to, I’m simply mechanics.” He said, and I finally remembered. He seemed so human.

“Mr. Stark will be returning today, what would you like to do?” JARVIS asked,and I sat up, setting a hand on my tender cheek. The bruise was painful, and I didn’t know how dark it really was. JARVIS gently pulled my hand away and set it back at my side.

“Don’t touch it Miss, it will only make it worse.” He said, and I sighed. It bothered me that he could see how bad the bruise really was, and the fact that he could see through my cracked armor.

“Can we watch movies? We were gonna do that yesterday, but I sorta messed that up.” I said, flushing crimson. He smiled sympathetically and nodded.

“We can watch whatever you wish, Lexi.” JARVIS said and for a while, it was silent. Neither of us moved, I just lay there with my head set on his chest. He didn’t seem to mind, and I didn’t either, it was perfectly comfortable. Eventually though, we both got up and made our way into the movie room. I picked out a few movies, including The Notebook. JARVIS didn’t object, and so we sat down and watched it. I sank back into the comfy chair, prepared for one of the best romance movies to ever exist, with my knees drawn up to my chest. This was how I usually sat, and it made me feel protected. The movie started and I fell silent, though not in the mood to say much at all. About halfway through, my hand snuck up to his and we clasped them together, but then we morphed it into a sort of awkward sideways hug. I had my head on his shoulder and he kept his arms around me, and we were perfectly comfortable in what looked to be the most uncomfortable arrangment known to man. I began to wonder if JARVIS was doing this simply because he wanted me to feel safe, or because he actually cared. I cut off that thought, because second guessing myself was never good. The movie ended shortly after, and we stayed in the uncomfortably comfortable position until I finally decided to move. From the hallway I heard Tony’s voice, and that finally told us he was home. It had been a while, so we both left the room to go say hello.

“Good afternoon Mr. Stark.” JARVIS said, nodding in his direction. Tony smiled and glanced over at me, seeing the dark mark I was sporting on my face.

“What happened to you, Lockwood? Get cornered in an alleyway?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. I tucked my hair behind my ear and shook my head, smiling sheepishly.

“No, no, just a mishap in a coffee shop. I’m alright.” I explained, hoping he’d just drop the subject. I didn’t really want to tell Tony that my ex boyfriend had hit me in a cafe. He glanced at me warily but nodded. I excused myself from the room and hurried down the hall into my bedroom to put makeup on that horrible bruise. I wanted the memory of it gone for good, but even the makeup wouldn’t mask the hurt that it caused. I rummaged through my makeup bag and found concealer, putting it gently on the tender spot, hissing at the pain. There was a rather odd sound, and I stood up a little straighter, the hairs on the back of my neck prickling up. I glanced behind me and saw a man with raven black hair and creepily blue eyes standing at the foot of my bed. I jumped a little and the bottle of concealer fell to the floor with a clink, rolling away under the dresser.

“Uh, hello.” I said, incredibly confused and a tad bit scared, “I’m Lexi. And you are?” I crossed my arms, and silently prayed that this man wasn’t here to kill me.

“I am Loki of Asgard. I don’t believe we’ve met.” He smiled, but it was the most menacing smile I’d ever seen. I instinctively took a step back, and he matched it with a step forward.

“Yeah, I don’t think we have. How.. How did you get in here?” I asked with a slightly wavering voice.

“I ask the questions. Now, you know the whereabouts of something that belongs to me. You’re coming with me.” He said, and I shook my head.

“I’m not going anywhere with you.” I said as firmly as possible, and he just laughed. It was an icy sound that sent a chill down my spine, and I didn’t like it.

“I don’t believe it was a question.” He snarled, and closed the space between us before grabbing my arm, and everything blurred away.