Cover Up The Sun

Chapter 4

Somehow, before he even quite realized it was happening, Loki's schedule slowly filled up. It was a jarring transition from the slow, patient pace of life in Asgard – which measured things by years or decades, or perhaps moons if they were in a particular hurry – to the hectic, jerky, seven-day cycle that Midgard for some reason favored. Mortals rushed from one day to the next, hurrying towards the end of the week – and then no sooner did the week-end arrive than it was over, and the whole carnival schedule started over again.

On Mondays and Wednesdays Loki gave his lecture on the cosmology of the Nine Realms to large classes of students at once. While his cosmology lectures were aimed at teaching the basics and interesting as many of the children as possible in what lay outside the borders of their Realm, it was more flash and spectacle than serious scholarship. But a smaller number of students showed genuine interest in a more serious, intensive study of the history of the Nine Realms in general and Asgard in particular, and so he felt obliged to meet with them twice a week after the initial lectures to fill in the details.

Then there were his defense classes, starting early in the mornings on Tuesdays and Thursdays and continuing on well past noon, as he broke up the class into their levels of ability and practiced with them more intensively.

He was not to be granted respite during the afternoons, however; as soon as word had gotten around the faculty about his easy displays of seidr in the classroom, the other teachers were all mad to find out how did it.

Somehow, what had started out as a casual 'little demonstration' as requested by Hank McCoy had devolved into a sort of unofficial metaphysics workshop, meeting on Thursdays and Saturdays to compare Loki's talents with various mutant powers and debate interminably about how similar or different their sources really were. (If he were being perfectly honest with himself, Loki did find the discussions fascinating, but by the time Saturday rolled around after a long week of wrangling with young mutants, Loki wanted nothing more than to rest. Retreat to his apartment, lock the door, draw the curtains, turn off all the lights, sit in the overstuffed armchair and just rest.)

He still met with Xavier three evenings out of the week to talk, about topics ranging from Asgard to Svartalfheim to Thanos to seidr to his students to anything else that was weighing on Loki's mind at the time.

Xavier had, as ever, an uncanny ability to perceive Loki's mood, and on the rawer days he kept the topics on far-ranging subjects of politics and war. Only on the good days, when Loki felt strong enough for it, did he press Loki about the topics that hurt him most: his father, his brother, his time with the Chitauri, home.

But not about Frigga. Never once in their sessions did they talk about Frigga; Loki found himself steadfastly avoiding all thoughts of her. He had been away from Asgard, he reasoned, for long periods of time before without being unduly plagued by thoughts of his mother – why should now be different? What had really changed in the day-to-day life of Loki, outcast of Asgard, whether his mother was gone or simply held out of his reach?

So he thought not on her. As long as he kept his mind on the tasks before him, he need not dwell on memories of her or the pain that they inevitably brought. And so long as he did not think on her, he didn't miss her.

Not at all.

Well, not much.

Not much at all.

†————†————†

One distinct advantage that the 'workshops' had over the classes with children, Loki could not deny, was that there was a great deal more drinking involved.