The Scientist (Loki x OC)

Pt. 11: Four's Company

"Ok, now do-."

"Don't touch anything. I got it." Luna fiddles with her glasses as Loki takes a seat.

"Good. Now, which arm do you want me to poke at?"

"Does it matter?"

"Alright, fine, I'll pick one." She held her hand out and gestured for his right arm. He lifted it up for her to grab hold of his wrist. As she pulled his sleeve up, she did her best not to stare at the scarring scattered about his skin. "Make a fist. It'll help the vein become more visible." Loki did as she asked, maintaining his clenched hand as she cleaned the crook of his arm and prepped a needle. But she couldn't bring herself to stick him.

"Why do you hesitate?" He asked, keeping eye contact with her. Luna lifted her eyes to meet his.

"I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't hurt me, I give you my word." Loki gave her his typical knowing smile, similar to one she'd seen in the old S.H.I.E.L.D. videos. She let out a sigh and pushed the needle the rest of the way, but no matter how hard she struggled, his skin did not give one bit. Instead, the needle gave way, breaking in half. Luna looked up at him in disbelief.

"Did you know that was going to happen?" Loki continued to display that smile of his. "You did, didn't you?" Loki choked back a laugh. "Well, I guess we'll have to do this the slightly harder way. Sit tight. I'll be right back." Tossing out the needle in the biohazard box, Luna left out the back and walked in the opposite direction of the lounge.

As he waited, Loki sat in semi-silence, save for the whirring of a few nearby machines. He idled the time away, trying to guess where the sounds came from and what purpose the device served. The door clicked open behind him, startling him from his thoughts, making him frantically push his sleeve down.

"Oh hey, Mr. Loki! You're here! Awesome!" Peter's voice resounded, his excitement evident.

"Well, of course. I've upheld my promise. I expect you've upheld yours." Loki's eyes followed Peter as he circled around to put his bag in the cupboard.

"Oh yeah, yeah, I got the things. Just one second." Peter opened his bag and pulled out two worn comic books. Loki eyed him suspiciously.

"You said they were comic books. These aren't books, they're magazines."

"Well, comic books usually look like this, unless you get the big omnibus collection but whatever." Peter stood right next to Loki. "See, this is Superman," Peter flipped to a page inside, "and this is his alter ego, Clark Kent."

"People really can't tell that he's Superman? All he's wearing as a disguise are glasses. He hardly looks any different."

"That's true, but you see, I have this hypothesis. It's not just the glasses that help with the disguise. He plays off of other people's expectations of where Superman would be and what he would be doing. Clark Kent is a journalist, working for a local newspaper company. No one would expect Superman to be doing that."

"I see. Very clever." The sound of Luna's footfalls diverted their attention away from the pictures.

"Hey, Peter! I'm gonna need to borrow Loki real quick, but you can stick around if you like." From her hand, she produced several individually wrapped long cotton swabs. She set them down and reached into a cabinet to grab a box full of microscope slides, removing four and labeling each one. She moved all the supplies over to where Loki sat. "Now open up."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Your mouth. Open, so I can...you know." Loki let his jaw drop, a tad reluctantly at first. Luna held him steady with her free hand under his chin and gently rolled the cotton along the insides of his cheeks. Whatever had collected on the tip, she spread out onto the designated slide. By the last swab, he had relaxed to where he felt like putty in her hands. She released her loose grip on him. "All done. Not so bad, right?"