The Raven

She's A Punk - Chapter Seven

After Edith had brought their plates to the sink, she went to her room. She grabbed her acoustic, black guitar, and slung it over her shoulder.
She stopped in front of her bookshelf. She had known Loki was a major bookworm, just as she was, thanks to a tip from Thor. She pulled out a few books she thought he might enjoy - Faust by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, The Complete Works Of Edgar Allan Poe, and Hamlet by William Shakespeare. These were some of her favorites. With them in her arms, she marched back upstairs. She figured he needed some sort of entertainment. There sat Loki, awaiting her. Edith punched in the code, and slipped quickly into the room. Loki immediately stood, staring at the books she carried.
"Yes, I brought them for you, if you're wondering," She explained.
Loki's icy blue eyes seemed to sparkle at this. Edith huffed as she placed the books upon his dresser.
"Do any damage to them, and I'll have your ass. We clear?"
Loki merely nodded, and approached the books.
"Shakespeare...?" He couldn't help but smile.
"You've heard of him?"
"Actually, I've read a few of his works. Mother got them for me a while before I found out I was adopted," He finished with a bit of a hurt look in his eyes. He was surprised that Edith had nothing to say on the manner. It seemed she understood his pain. Truly, he had only announced this for her reaction. But never mind it...
He turned his attention to the book, and flipped through a few pages, examining it.
"Which ones have you read, then? I pretty much have all of them. Massive literature geek," Edith said.
"If it's any consolation, I don't think you are. - And I've read Romeo & Juliet, Othello, The Merchant of Venice, and Cymbeline. All marvelous," replied the dark god.
He sat the book down and picked up Faust.
Edith smiled. Finally someone who gets how cool literature is! She excitedly thought.
"What-...What is this?" He asked.
She set her guitar down, leaning against his bed.
"That's 'Faust', my favorite non-Shakespearean play," Edith replied, all too giddy. Loki opened it, and examined it's pages. He found an illustration of Mephistopheles soaring. "Interesting..." He commented. He raised his eyes from the book, and turned his gaze to a smiling Edith. He raised a brow at her grin.
"May I ask why you're grinning as if you've just murdered your foe?" asked Loki.
"I like literature. Sorry, I suppose."
Loki suppressed a smile.
"It's alright...I was only curious. Frankly, this is the first time I've met someone who shares the same interests as I. My mother was the only one that shared them...That was before I put Odin into Odinsleep, of course," He told her, watching her carefully, as if he were reading her.
Again, she seemed to not care about his crimes...
Funny how he still calls Frigga his mother, but Odin is just Odin. Edith thought, staring back at Loki.
Edith broke the odd silence with a chuckle.
"You've got me now, then. Probably the biggest freakazoid in the entire universe,"
Loki wanted to say something, but swallowed down his feelings.
"Moving on...I heard Agent Barton say you were a talented muse..." said the god.
Edith shrugged, "I wouldn't say I'm incredibly talented, but yeah. I have my own musical band," She'd added 'musical', just in case he thought she meant just a group of people, like the warriors three.
"I see..." Loki gestured for her to take a seat on his bed. He didn't want her to fall over, as he'd already noticed the dark circles around her green-brown eyes ,that she'd so horribly attempted to hide.
She did so, and he after pulled the chair from the table over. He sat down, and crossed his long legs. Edith wondered why he was so short for a frost giant, but figured it would unnerve him to ask.
"Soooo....What did you do on Asgard?" Edith inquired instead.
"I read, mostly."
"Psht. I probably would too if I lived there. From what my Father told me, there's not much to do except read and train for battle,"
Loki chuckled at her response.
"Well, he surely wasn't wrong," The god ran his hand over his dark hair. Edith finally noticed that he'd changed it's style.
She gestured to his hair, "Now, that's a better look for you. Should have never done the emo christmas tree looking thing." Edith commented. Loki raised a brow, leaning back into his seat.
"You mean that idiotic holiday mortals celebrate?"
"Indeed. Except I'm talking about the tree, here..." She quickly pulled out her phone, and looked up 'Christmas Tree' on Google Images. She showed him a drawing of one, with it's odd curves. "That's what your hair looked like, just black and without decorations. Henceforth, 'emo christmas tree'."
Loki examined it, then nodded. He hid his annoyance well.
"I see your point...But what in Odin's name does 'emo' mean? Is that some sort of animal you have here?" He questioned.
Edith snorted as she put her phone away.
"Emo is sort of a fashion thing, or whatever. People who are into that are complete whine-bags, and dress in black with some horribly placed colors to it." She replied.
"Is that what you are, then?"
"Do not insult me. I'm punk. Punk is like the older, far more sophisticated sibling of emo. In other words, emo sort of copied us punks, and they want to be like us. Punk started in the United Kingdom, where they called it 'The Punk Rock Revolution', pretty cool, right?" Edith flashed a proud grin.
Loki's expression remained blank.
"Anyways, it's a fashion style started by the music. It's very avant-garde. The fashion is really edgy, with a lot of people wearing tons of ripped up, messy things. Leather, studs, spikes, heavy boots, shaved heads, little girls with chainsaws, messy and spikey hair, parents thinking their kid was possessed. Wild stuff. When I was younger, I saw a group of punks, and thought they were absolutely amazing,"
Loki didn't dare stop her; Not only was he fascinated, but he could tell this was something she was passionate about.
"I think I was about twelve. I asked this chick about it, and she dragged me into this store in the mall. It was loaded, and I mean, loaded with everything that could be even remotely considered punk. That's how I learned about some of my favorite bands; Black Sabbath, Sex Pistols,"
Loki refrained from laughing at that second name. What idiot named their musical group that?
"The Clash, Misfits, Black Flag, Blondie...The list goes on." She huffed, then realizingshe was rambling.
"Shit- Sorry." Edith quickly spat.
Loki chuckled once again.
"It's alright...I find it fascinating, on occasion, mortal ways..." He explained.
He offered a small half-smile.
Wow, that's new. I don't think he's been so genuinely happy since we met...Has he? No idea. Not like I pay attention to anything half the time. Edith sniggered.
"Oh, does that mean you're gonna get a mohawk and get some tattoos?" She teased. "You'd be a hot 'Rocker."
He looked entirely unamused.
"No."
There was a moment of silence for a while.
"It's quite fascinating how you can be so....cultivated and so vulgar at the same time," Loki spoke, staring blankly to the side. As much as he disliked being honest, he found it useless to lie to her.
"Is that a compliment?" Edith teasingly asked.
"If you wish it to be one, I suppose so..." He didn't risk saying more about his fascination with her. No, that would expose him...He would never want to do such a ludicrous thing. Why would anyone?

It had been hours, Edith realized when she checked the time. She didn't have anything to do, but she was trying to get proper sleep for once, so she made sure to check the time once in a while. At her surprised look, Loki raised a brow,
"Something troubling...you?" He took a brief moment to decide whether or not it was an appropriate to use her first name, before he finished. Edith shoved her phone back in her pocket.
"No. Just noted that we've been talking for a few hours."
"Hours..?"
"Three hours." Now, it was Loki's turn to raise his eyebrows in surprise.
"Me too. You want to me to leave now, or..?" At this, Loki shone his devilish grin.
"Do you know what I've just noticed?" said the eerie god.
Edith immediately became suspicious, and sighed, "What?"
"You've brought your instrument, and you've yet to play it,"
Edith chuckled while Loki's grin widened. She picked up her guitar, and placed it in her lap.
"Want me to play you a song?" She asked, gazing up at him.
"If you'd like...I just think it's preposterous to carry it up a flight of stairs, then do nothing with it,"
Edith rolled her eyes.
"So, translation is," She squished up her cheeks, and did her best 'in love eyes'. "'Yes, Edith! Seduce me with your beautiful song!'"
While Loki looked unamused and almost disgusted, Edith laughed. He sat there, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched her. It seemed like centuries to him, waiting for her to calm herself. When she finally did, she wiped a nonexistent tear from her eye, and placed her fingers on certain frets of her guitar.
"This isn't my song, just so you know. It's 'Dreamer' by Ozzy Osbourne." And with this, she started strumming her guitar.

" Gazing through the window at the world outside. Wondering will Mother Earth survive?  Hoping that mankind will stop abusing her, sometime. "

Edith sang, her true singing voice sweet like honey. There she went again, surprising Loki. He seemed to enter some sort of trance, unblinking as he watched her. He could have sworn on his own life that he had never heard something so beautiful.

" After all, there's only just the two of us. And here we are still fighting for our lives. Watching all of history repeat itself, time after time. "

" I'm just a dreamer, I dream my life away. I'm just a dreamer, who dreams of better days. "

The god's mouth had fallen agape, though he quickly closed it. Edith seemed to be in her own little world. Time seemed to be a frozen as Loki's heart. But it seemed, that the ice barrier he'd built around his heart, was starting to crack and melt.

" I watch the sun go down like every one of us. I'm hoping that the dawn will bring a sign. A better place for those who will come after us, this time. "

" I'm just a dreamer, I dream my life away. Oh, yeah. I'm just a dreamer, who dreams of better days. "

" Your higher power may be God or Jesus Christ. It doesn't  really matter much to me. Without each others help there ain't no hope for us. I'm living in a dream of fantasy. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. "

Was the God of Lies feeling...truthful? Was he feeling for once since the day he'd discovered his true heritage? It seemed he just couldn't remove his eyes from her - Like nothing else in the room was important but her. Was this...love? Was this was his Mother had described to him when he was young? No, it couldn't be. He pushed the thought from his mind, or he at least did his best to. This surely, could never be love. He'd sworn it off. But there was his heart, bursting and blooming into life once again. It felt as if he were being reborn; Into a new life, into a new era, into a new...love..? He was growing angry with himself. That could, and will never be. He thought to himself.  How could someone be so bewitching...? Perhaps she was half-siren or something of the sort?

" If only we could all just find serenity. It would be nice if we could live as one. When will all this anger, hate, and bigotry..be gone? "

" I'm just a dreamer, I dream my life away, today. I'm just a dreamer, who dreams of better days, okay. I'm just a dreamer, who's searching for the way, today. I'm just a dreamer, dreaming my life away. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah... "