They wore a yellow cardigan.
Walking up to the school roof, Tony lit his cigarette. He inhaled some of the smoke, and blew it out again, the simplicity of the action calming him. He made his way to the top of the staircase, the old metal steps creaking under him. With a bit of difficulty, he opened the exit door, the lock being even older and rustier than those downstairs. For a top school, it sure as hell needed a big renovation, he wasn’t entirely sure some of the support beams wouldn’t collapse any moment. When the door finally gave in, he was instantly met with the chilly autumn air hitting his face, blowing all the smoke into his eyes. He held his hands in front of his cigarette so it couldn’t be blown out.
Tony walked a bit more, the concrete of the building feeling cold to his feet, stinging through the worn down soles of his converse. He needed some new shoes, but his current pair were comfortable, plus they were a gift from Rhodey, so it’d be rude to throw them away. Walking a bit further, he noticed that he wasn’t alone on the rooftop, someone was sitting near the edge of the building. They had medium long black hair, and a yellow cardigan, the rest he couldn’t see, the setting sun shining in his eyes. Tony was curious as to who had discovered his spot, and started making his way to them.
Jogging the last part a bit, he gained the attention of the person sitting on the ledge. They turned around to look at him, and Tony recognised them as Loki Odinson, Thor’s brother. They weren’t as well known as their golden retriever brother, but it was hard not to recognise them. They attended MIT, like their brother, and we’re the son of Odin, a famous business man. Tony supposed they were quite similar to him. Loki’s brows furrowed at the sight of him, and they stared at him with a puzzled look. “Hello…?” The dark haired boy said, clearly not happy to see Tony. “Uh hi, sorry if I’m intruding, didn’t know you would be here” he replied quickly, although it was pretty obvious he wouldn’t know Loki would be here.
“Yeah. Same.” They answered, turning back to the sunset again. Was he supposed to keep talking to Loki? Or did he need to go, come back later, when the rooftop was free of other people. Tony hesitated, and studied the boy in front of him a bit more. He now noticed their bandaged arm, sleeve rolled up and a bit of blood soaking through it. They also clearly had foundation on their face, and although they could just be wearing makeup, without anything else visible, Tony had his suspicions.
“Seems like a nasty injury on your arm” he tried, pointing at the bandaged arm for extra measure. “Hm? Oh yeah i suppose.” Loki hummed, seemingly having forgotten about his bleeding arm. Strange. “Sooo, what are you doing up here?” Tony asked, curious as to why the mysterious Loki Odinson would be on the rooftop of their school, to his knowledge, he was the only one who occasionally came up here. “I dont know, why are you here?” they shot back, deflecting his question with another.
“Gotta take a breather sometimes, ya know? I’m Tony by the way” he introduced himself, remembering that he had forgotten to do so earlier. “He’s, really?” Loki retorted sarcastically, clearly very annoyed at his presence. Well, tell ya what, Mister Mysterious. You’re not the first person to be annoyed by me, so I’m not leaving. “Yeah yeah, keep brooding, but seriously, I’ve never seen you up here and I come here pretty often.” He continued, refusing to let the subject be changed.
Loki’s mood shifted, from annoyance to being downright pissed. Their attitude changing to more closed off. “None of your business Stark.” They snarked at him, and Tony flinched back a bit. He quickly regained himself though, and kept pushing, trying to figure out what they were doing at his spot. “Oh so you’re just watching the sunset then?” he joked, but it had no affect on the other boy. “Yeah, obviously.” They replied, sighing. “Listen man, I’m just curious, just tell me, I won’t judge!” he promised, getting a bit desperate to find out now. Sue him, but he’s a sucker for knowing the truth, he’s always been one to try and pry every little detail out of anything.
“’S not like you’d get it anyway” Loki muttered, barely loud enough for him to hear. “Try me” he replied, now moving to sitting down next to the other. “Hm, why should i?” they said, sitting a bit more relaxed now, but tending up again as Tony said next to them. “Because…Why shouldn’t you?” He responded intelligently, and it actually drew a chuckle out of the other boy. Bingo. “Hmm, fine, but only if I get to ask you a question too” they looked at him, and Tony agreed. “Sure, I’m an open book anyways.” He answered dryly. Sure, he pretended to be one, but there are things he’d never told anyone, not even his best friend.
“You know” Loki started, looking back at the sun, which was now even lower, the sky turning a deeper orange every moment. “This used to be my mum’s cardigan” they plucked at a loose strand on the yellow fabric, intricate patterns weaved into the soft wool. Tony thinks he remembers something about Loki’s mom, but he’s not entirely sure. He thinks her name was Frigga, and she died under mysterious circumstances about 6 years ago. Loki would’ve been 10. Tony was about to say something, anything along the lines of ‘im sorry for your loss’, but they continued talking. “She didn’t actually die because of ‘unknown circumstances’. She killed herself.” Oh. He admitted that he had not expected that to be the direction where this was going.
“Father covered her death up, would look bad for the press innit? Why would Odin’s wife commit suicide, when she had everything she could possibly need right at her command?” Loki sounded bitter, and he couldn’t blame them. He couldn’t imagine his mom every killing herself, and even if she did, it being covered up as a secret would be horrible. Altough he wouldn’t put it past Howard if it would help with the press. “I’m sorry, that’s terrible” Tony said, and he genuinely ment it. “’S alright, just thought it’d be poetic if I wore one of the last things I had of her for this moment you know?” they laughed a bit, but there was no realy joy behind it.
“What…?” tony looked puzzled, mulling over the words in his head a few times. He suddenly came to a bad conclusion. Instinctively, he grabbed Loki’s non injured arm, not missing the way the boy flinched, and pulled them away from the edge. “Dont do it, please” he begged, because despite knowing them for about 5 minutes, he wouldn’t wish that upon anyone. Almost anyone. Loki just laughed again, shaking his head. “I appreciate it, I truly do, but please just let me go.” They made eyecontact with him, and their ice-like blue eyes were filled with sorrows.
Tony couldn’t let the boy do this, he’d never forgive himself if he stood by and watched them just jump off the building in front of him. “If you jump I’ll jump after you” he blurted out, the words out of his mouth before he even considered them. Not that he cared either way, they were true. “What?” Loki asked exasperated, staring at him in utter confusion. “What? I’ve got nothing left anyways, no one who’d miss me” except maybe one person. He’d get over it. “Plus, I’d never forgive myself for the rest of my life if I let you throw away your life like that” he added.
The other teen hesitated for a moment, and Tony actually thought they were going to jump, not caring that he’d follow. Just when he was about to tell them that it wasn’t worth it, Loki burst out into laughter. Doubled over, tears sprung into their eyes and they kept laughing. He just looked at them a bit confused, but glad that at least they hadn’t taken a leap of the building yet. “Oh my gods.” They exclaimed, continueing with laughing as soon as they could. “Oh my god. The one time I actually have the courage to finally fucking end it, you come along and find me.”
Tony sighed, and let his head fall back with a chuckle. “I’ve got a habit of thwarting plans, sorry dude” he apologised, but he didn’t mean it. He wasn’t sorry for finding Loki, he wasn’t sorry for preparing to throw himself of a building in ‘solidarity’. “Its alright I suppose” they were still laughing, but they’d calmed down more now. Sitting back with a sigh, they both looked at the sky, the sun having almost fully disappeared now, the inky darkness of nightfall slowly creeping in. Tony just hummed. “In all seriousness though, what happened to your arm? Do you need it checked out?” he asked a bit concerned, and Loki’s mood went down a bit again. He kept holding their other arm, still not entirely sure they weren’t going to jump.
“It’s…Nevermind, you wouldn’t get it.” they muttered, sadness very evident in their voice. It’s strange, Loki always seems so stoic and numb in the hallways, class, and during lunch, but in the time spent with them on the rooftop, Tony had seen so much emotion from the boy. Then again, the numbness was probably an act, a mask he himself was very familiar with. Something else he thought they were similar in. He thought they’d have a few more things in common, so he went and took a risk. “Let me guess, your father?” he whispered, like someone was going to appear behind them to eavesdrop. Loki stiffened, looking down, and Tony knew he was right.
Pulling down the collar of his turtleneck, an ugly purple, handshaped bruise on his throat revealed itself, the cold air stinging against the sensitive skin. Loki looked up at him with wide eyes, and he just gave them a sad smile. “Me too.” He told them, and the shocked expression on their face was quickly replaced with an upset one. “I guess you do understand…” Loki said, and Tony pulled his collar back up.
“Yeah.”
“Sorry”
“Its not your fault. I try to keep it a secret.”
“Still, I shouldn’t have assumed”
“Dude, it’s okay, I wouldn’t have suspected anything with you either”
“I guess…”
“Now, should we get off this rooftop? It’s getting pretty cold out here.”
He stood up, and offered Loki a hand, who gratefully took it. Together, they walked back to the exit door, walked down the old rusty stairs, and left the building on the ground floor, instead of the top one.