Every Villain is a Hero

Chapter Six

Norse proverb: There is naught so vile as a fickle tongue.

Chapter Six

Lisa awoke the next morning to find her face laying in a puddle of drool on the carpet but it was hard to care too much about the inelegance of her situation, especially given the pounding in her head. Loki was gone, which she was glad of, but Darcy was lying half on and half off the couch, snoring occasionally. Lisa decided to let her sleep and with eyes half closed against the light, stumbled from the room, back to her own.

She brushed her teeth, drank cool water directly from the tap, downed more ibuprofen than was probably healthy and took a quick, almost scalding hot shower.

She felt marginally better when she emerged but that was probably more psychological from being clean, than any actual improvement in her condition. At least she didn’t smell like a brewery any more.

Clad in her dressing gown with a towel wrapped around her hair, she lay on her bed to give the painkillers a chance to work, and ended up being shaken awake.

“Go away.”

“Lisa!”

Her eyes snapped open. “Loki?”

“In the flesh.” He looked entirely too healthy for her liking.

“Leave me alone.”

‘We have to train, remember? Your telepathy?’

‘Train tomorrow.’ Huh, speaking telepathically was easier than verbally.

‘No, now. Remember your goal, total control.’

‘My goal will still be there in a few hours.’

‘But I won’t. It’s now or never.’

‘Ugh, I hate you.’ She sat up, one hand going to her head. ‘God, how much did we drink last night?’

‘A bottle of whiskey, half a bottle of vodka, most of a small bottle of lemmoncello, who knows how much tequila and Tia Maria.’

‘Why are you so chipper?’ She hated that he wasn’t feeling the effects.

‘Because I have the metabolism of a warrior.’

‘Or it could just be because you’re an alien. There used to be a TV show where aliens landed but sour milk got them drunk, not regular alcohol.’

‘Sounds riveting,’ he deadpanned.

‘Oh, leave me alone you snarky, sarcastic… jerk face.’

‘Such eloquence.’

‘Bugger off.’

Loki gave a long suffering sigh. ‘Fine.’

The surge of hope in her, that he might leave her along, quickly vanished. Instead he placed a hand to her forehead and one behind her head and squeezed.

‘Hey!’ She stopped protesting when she realised that the pressure actually helped the pain in her head. Maybe Tony had a vice she could stick her head in for the rest of the day.

‘That won’t be necessary.’ He removed his hands and the pain didn’t return.

‘Wow, what did you do to me?’

‘Your electrolytes and fluids were unbalanced. I corrected their levels.’

‘You can do that?’