In Exile

Chapter Ten

It was a relief when Thursday evening finally rolled around.

All week you had been fretting and stressing about every little detail possible, your mind constantly jumping to the biggest what if's over the smallest of situations.

This had led you to being a lot more thorough on things than you initially intended to be, which was both a good and a bad thing.

Good because it meant that your home was surprisingly spotless for when Loki arrived, almost to the point where it almost felt brand new and unlived in.

Bad because the constant racing of your mind was affecting you physically, with shakes, headaches and an unhealthy loss of appetite, to the point where even thinking of forcing yourself to eat for health benefits made you feel ill.

But that stress seemed to have dissipated a mere few hours before he was due to arrive, in fact you felt much lighter and care-free than you had in days and your stomach growled loudly in the hopes that you would finally give it some much needed sustenance.

It was a surprising change considering that just the night before you had struggled to sleep and instead found yourself lying in bed, your thoughts bouncing this way and then that way with no cohesion or order, just anything and everything all at once.

You worked on getting yourself some food and relaxing for those final hours, finally allowing your body a chance to settle and ease out the tension as you stared at some random show that made no sense to you all the while shoveling in the much needed food.

Time sped by once again until the final half an hour of freedom arrived, then everything slowed and your nerves began to spike up once again.

You would find yourself staring at the clock, willing the hands to move faster and daring the time to bring in the tornado that was to uplift everything you once knew.

There was an uncomfortable spike in your heartbeat and your nerves started to get a little jittery, making your stomach flutter each time you glanced up and noted it was gradually drawing closer.

A few times you had made rounds to distract yourself, attempting to find something to adjust just to keep your hands and mind busy, but with everything already being cleaned immaculately due to the nerves you'd faced all week, there was nothing left to do but stand in the middle of the room and wait.

Wait for that dreaded knock on the door.

Which caused you to jump and stare towards the door like you were waiting for a horror movie slasher to crash through when the rapid, hard knocks reverberated against the wood.

You took one more supposed nerve calming breath then walked to the door, pulling it open with the slightest bit of hesitance.

Stood behind the door, dressed in the same get up as the men who came to pick you up before you had signed your privacy away, were two indistinguishable beasts in suits, their hands were clasped behind their backs as they stared down at you unnervingly.

"He has arrived," the tallest one stated, his voice booming and shaking your bones uncomfortably.

"I guessed," you somehow managed to blurt out, despite the fact that your mouth and tongue felt both numb and like lead at the same time.

"Where'd you want his stuff?" The second balding man asked in a softer but still gruff voice.

"Um, I have the guest room ready."

They both nodded at each other and turned to leave.

As they left, three other men approached, seemingly appearing out of nowhere as the other two side stepped to allow them free passage between them.

Two of the three were instantly recognizable, the third you could easily hazard a guess to the identity of due to descriptions you had heard.

"Wow, Tony Stark?"

Tony, who was stood on Loki's left and your right, looked at you with a smirk and a shrug that was probably meant to be uncaring but held the typical hot shot attitude he was known for.

"That'd be me."

"How awesome," you smiled.

"A fan, I take it?"

"Not particularly, but it's still an honour to have someone like you at my house whether I'm a fan or not."

Loki rolled his eyes and looked even more displeased than he had before, if that were possible.

"We're not here to stroke your ego," he drawled, his face set in stone.

"You're right, we're here to drop off a burden who over stayed their welcome."

Loki opened his mouth to reply, whether it be a snide remark or a protest, but his voice was quietened by a harsh pat on his shoulder and a laugh by the man who stood on Loki's right.

"You know Stark only jests, Loki, no need for such a sour look."

It was evident from the look in his blue eyes that he was more trying to convince Loki not to start something than believing it was truly a joke, but that pleading look clearly sent a message as Loki rolled his eyes after glaring at the blond man.

"Now allow me to introduce myself," he continued, his friendly smile being contagious, "I am Thor of Asgard, son of Odin and brother of Loki."

"Really?" You asked, glancing between the two and being unable to suppress the wry smile at the glaring differences, "I wouldn't have guessed."

"We're not biologically related," Loki grumbled, looking off to the side as if he was ashamed to be in Thor's presence.

"Not that that has meant anything before," Thor chuckled, giving his brother's shoulder a rub that almost threw Loki off balance, "we are like blood."

"Now we're done with formalities," Tony interrupted, "want to show him around while we bring his stuff in? Hope you're ready for loads of books."

"Sounds like home already," you laughed.

Tony and Thor stepped away from Loki, after giving him a gentle push forward, and headed back to a large SUV that was parked behind the one they had obviously been riding in.

You glanced at Loki, chewing on your lip a little and stepped aside, indicating for him to enter and shatter your privacy.

"Welcome to your new home."