Cover Up The Sun

Chapter 9

Loki walked into Charles' office and stopped in his tracks, because someone else was already in there. Charles sat behind his desk, as usual, but in a chair in front of the desk was another person – one of the students, Bobby Drake, Loki remembered from the winter training trip.

Had he misjudged the time? But no, Charles had sent him a message earlier that day, specifically asking him to come at eight-thirty. Perhaps Charles was involved in another session of training or discipline and it had run long. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," he said, his mouth automatically providing the pleasantry he didn't particularly feel.

"Not at all. You are right on time," Charles said. He waved a hand in front of his desk, and Loki saw to his confusion that a second chair had been pulled up beside Bobby's. "Go ahead and sit down."

Slowly Loki approached the chair, his mind racing over possibilities. Up until now it had always been just the two of them for their sessions; he wasn't sure what to make of this break in routine. Bobby was not in any of his classes, and he had had no notable interaction with the boy since their return from the ski trip. They were passing acquaintances, nothing more.

Once he was seated, Charles started speaking. "Loki, I know you and Bobby have met a few times before," he said. "As you are perhaps aware, his particular mutation has to do with ice and cold – the creation, manipulation and shaping of such forces according to his will."

"That's why they call me the Iceman," Bobby said with a little laugh.

"Now, while his skillset may not completely overlap with yours – insofar as we even know yet what you are capable of in your natural form – I believe you have enough common ground to do some good," Charles continued.

"Bobby is also an auxiliary X-Men, meaning that he has used his powers in combat on occasions before and almost certainly will again."

"I see. You wish for me to teach Bobby how to better wield his ice in battle." Loki gritted his teeth against a rising surge of mortification. Was this how it was to be, then? That because of his unfortunate accident of birth, they could make use of him for any ice or snow-related matters? Did they just assume that because he was a Frost Giant, he would know such things?

He forced himself to lift his chin and say, cold and regal: "I am afraid to say that I will not be much help whatsoever. My 'natural form,' as you call it, is still an enigma to me – I have little to no control over its elemental abilities. From what I've seen, Mister Drake's control over ice far surpasses anything I would be able to teach him."

"Yes." Xavier's gaze bore into him, calm and steady. "Which is precisely why I want him to teach you."

Loki sat back slightly, barely managing to keep a smooth poker face over his initial reaction of shocked indignation. I, to be taught by a mortal child? I, a warrior of Asgard, a Prince of the Nine Realms, to be schooled by some human stripling? Did you truly expect me to submit myself to such a humiliation?

Charles shook his head. "It does not make you less to admit that you still have things yet to learn," he said. "The only embarrassment is to stop learning, whether out of misplaced pride or out of fear. By doing so we become smaller. Only by constantly pushing our boundaries can we hope to grow."

Bobby spoke up. "I'm really looking forward to working with you, Mr. Loki," he said. "I don't meet many people who have the same powers as me. I'm sure it's gonna be a lot of fun practicing with ice together, and see what new things we come up with."

The boy was so earnest. Loki looked at him with distaste, not so much for the child himself as for the shining eagerness that spilled off his face in every direction. Bobby tried a bright smile on Loki, and when he saw he had Loki's attention, he held out his hand with the palm up. The skin of his hand frosted over, turning hard-white and shining-blue, and a seed of ice began to grow in his palm.