Ablaze (Loki x OC & Thor x Balder)

Part Three

Loki's stomach churned and his silver eyes became cold. He clenched his fist, his darkly-painted nails piercing his skin as blood dripped to the ground. He hadn't felt so alone since meeting Balder and Thor.

"Loki?" Eir's soft voice caught his attention. "What are you doing out so late?" The goddess held a stack of papers in her hand.

"Why are you out so late?" The fiery-haired god tried to sound sarcastic or playful, but his voice was low and monotonous.

"I needed to go to the school store to get more paper. I ran out when I was filling out reports about all the trouble you've caused." She laughed softly, but when the young man offered no response, she began to wonder what was going through his head. She took a step closer to him and narrowed her emerald eyes. "What is this? No sarcastic comment?"

While Loki's eyes seemed to focus on the girl, his eyes were still distant and dark. He grasped onto her wrist tightly, pulling her to him roughly and causing the paper that was in her arms to scatter across the grass.

He pressed his lips to her collarbone, holding her still with a strong grasp. He bit onto the thick flesh of her neck, causing Eir to whimper as tears pricked her eyes. "Loki..." Her voice cracked as she said his name, pushing against him with all of her strength.

Finally, she was able to pry him off of her. Her cheeks were reddened and tears dripped down her face. "Loki!" She yelled painfully, lifting her hand and slapping him with all the strength she had remaining. "You useless, hopeless, selfish, good-for-nothing, cruel, idiot!" She yelled, her voice echoing through the relatively vacant garden. Though she didn't understand what the heck was wrong with him, she couldn't excuse his actions.

Not bothering to pick up all the papers that fell, Eir rushed off to her own dorm, trying to stifle her tears. She knew he was mischievous, but she didn't think he would go so far as to do something so indecent. In reality, however, she didn't think she should be so upset about it.

Loki cursed under his breath, regaining his sanity despite how much his fellow Norse gods hurt him. He felt so alone, and that is why he felt himself latch onto Eir. But she, of course, didn't understand that. Per usual, he didn't consider the feelings of anyone besides himself.

~-<+>-~

The next day, Loki surprisingly attended class, though he didn't seem engaged. He either gazed through the window absent-mindedly or was lost in thought. However, what was really unusual was that he didn't tease or torment anyone, especially Eir, and didn't even try to perform a prank.

But Eir couldn't bear to look at him either. She awoke in the morning with a bruise on his neck which she tried her best to hide with makeup and the collar of her shirt.

In the days that followed, the fire god grew more distant and the darkness under his eyes grew even darker. His steps seemed to lag and his silvery eyes grew dull. People had begun to be concerned for the usually mischievous boy, though he seemed to avoid the other Norse gods and the goddess in particular.

A few days after the 'incident,' Balder pulled both Eir and Thor from the classroom after the scheduled class ended. His crystalline eyes displayed concern and sincere worry.

"I'm worried about Loki." The blonde stated honestly. "He hasn't been himself."

"I'm sure he'll be just fine." Eir rolled her green eyes and turned to leave, but Thor's strong grip on her shoulder prevented her from doing so.

"Seriously, though. I don't think he's getting any sleep and he hasn't even been coming to the dorms. He's not playing tricks or performing any pranks. Something is wrong with him." Balder looked like he was hurt by the fiery-haired god's action.