Chapter 4
“The mortal was just finishing my hair. Do you approve, Grandmaster?” Loki asked with a sly smirk. He still had his hand around your waist, pulling you to him. You pushed your hands against him.
“Snake,” you hissed at him. If he wasn’t so tall you would have yanked his hair again.
The Grandmaster came closer to both of you and he brushed his hand through Loki’s hair--in a sensual way. The Grandmaster does go both ways. I wonder if he’ll set his sights on Loki.
Loki didn’t recoil from the touch and the Grandmaster looked at his hands, “What’s in his hair? It’s so different from mine. My hair is silky and soft; while Loki’s feels greasy still.”
You were a bit nervous now. The Grandmaster didn’t need to approve Loki’s hair, but you knew that he would give you his opinion. If it wasn’t a positive review, then you might be punished. You didn’t know how.
Before the Grandmaster could speak, you jabbed Loki in the rib and got out from his grasp. “Grandmaster, it’s a new style I’ve come up with. I call it the, uh, depp!”
“The depp? Huh?” Everyone was staring at you now. Loki glaring, of course.
You walked closer toward the Grandmaster and pulled him toward the back of the salon. At this time, the sun was shining through the tall windows and it hit Loki’s hair perfectly. “Yes, the depp is a very popular trend on Earth. The goal is to make men’s hair greasy, worn-in. It gives off a sexy vibe. Doesn’t it work well for Loki? It fits well with his fine-lines.” Loki’s eye turned vengeful as they glanced at you.
“Excuse me, I don’t have ‘fine-lines!’ I am a god, you puny--” Before Loki could finish, the Grandmaster spoke.
“Hmm….yes, the depp. I like it! Y/n I want you to do the ‘depp’ for me from now on. I think it would look very well on me, don’t you think?” You turned toward the Grandmaster. His blue hair looked beautiful (thanks to you), but he had an infinite amount of fine-lines, revealing his life experience. He wore heavy amounts of eye-liner and a sadistic smile. His eyes had a hint of madness, akin to Loki’s, but worse.
You leaned into the Grandmaster and said, “I think you’d looked amazing.” Both of you turned to smile at Loki. Loki’s eyes flicked to you and you flipped him off.
His eye twitch promised hell later.
Each morning you made your way to the salon, as always. Every morning you saw the Grandmaster...and Loki. He loved to saunter into the salon and sit in the chair. Most days he wouldn’t even say a word to you, just wave his hand, commanding you to start his hair.
You were gruntled but didn’t speak to him. You just tried to finish your job ASAP.
You were washing your hands after finishing Loki’s hair, and you quickly made your escape. But Loki was right behind you. He towered over you and his shadow blocked out your own. You walked faster, trying to evade him.
“Where are you off to, mortal?” he asked, walking faster to keep you. If you could just make it around the corner…
“None of your business, snake. I’ve finished your hair, now leave me alone. Go suck up to the Grandmaster some more.” you were almost there…
“Hmm...I think I’ll follow you, especially because you want to get rid of me.” He grabbed your wrist and turned you to face him.
Whenever you did Loki’s hair, you didn’t look into his eyes. They were closed most of the time. Right now the morning sun was hitting Loki’s face. You saw his pure, green eyes. They held secrets and lies, but also wonder and mischief. Those eyes searched your own before they held a mocking gaze complimented with his trademark smirk. “Really mortal, didn’t you know it’s futile? You can’t outrun me. Now, tell me, where are you going?”
Your own eyes met Loki and you hoped that your (eye color) eyes portrayed the annoyance you felt. “If you must know, I’m going to the library.”
He looked a little shocked, “Library? They have one on this barbarous planet?”
You had a similar thought when you first arrived here. Granted, it was small compared to the rest of the Grandmaster’s palace. A lot of the books were old and run-down. Most of the time, the library was completely empty, which was why you had enjoyed it. There was one librarian there. She was an older alien (you didn’t know what species, didn’t ask either). She would often leave an array of books for you. Morning and evening were the best times to visit the library and you tried to make your way there twice a day.
Looking back at Loki, you nodded. “It does. There is a surprising amount of good material to read.” Loki looked curious and he released your wrist.
“Can you take me there?” He asked, quietly. It was the first time that Loki didn’t command you to do something. While you didn’t know much about Loki’s past, you did know he was incredibly intelligent--annoyingly so.
“I’ll take you there, if you leave me alone for the rest of the day and when we're there, don’t talk to me. I want to enjoy my solitude.” You said to him, forcefully.
He chuckled, “A woman after my own heart. I shall leave you alone, mortal.”
You rolled your eyes and led the way to the library.
The library was in the basement level of the palace. It acted like a storage room with stacks of junk scattered around, especially at the entrance.
“This doesn’t look like the library.” Loki muttered, looking in disdain at the junk.
You chuckled, “I thought the same thing when I first found this place. But it deters people from this place. The Grandmaster never comes down here. Also, I never told him that I come here, so don’t tell him about this.”
Loki looked at you before sighing, “Fine. I shall keep your secret.”
“Well, it’s your secret now too; since you’re here with me.” You bantered.
“Silence.” Loki hissed. But you knew that he was more annoyed than mad, which made you laugh.
As you both made your way around the junk, the room expanded into a large room. The ceilings were very high and the windows were old and dirty. Metal surrounded the room. It had intricate carvings that didn’t reflect other areas of the palace. While most of the palace was colorful, this room presented neutral colors. It felt much older than the other areas on Sakaar as well.
Your stack of books from the librarian was sitting on the counter. You happily picked them up and made your way to your favorite section of the library. It was surrounded by windows and let in a lot of natural light. While the library was in the basement, it still offered natural light. It was also near a fire, which you could turn on and off. You sat in the large chair and began to read, completely forgetting Loki’s presence until you felt him standing behind you.
You felt him over your shoulder. “What is that?” he asked, curious.
You shut the book and turned around to glare at him. “Remember our promise. You will leave me alone.” you said.
He looked at you, before rolling his eyes. “Fine. I’ll leave you to your own devices.” He sauntered into the library stacks. Once you heard his footsteps disappear, you opened your book again and began to read.
True to his word, Loki didn’t bother you yesterday. It was a new morning and you had just finished the Grandmaster’s hair, before turning to Loki.
He was surprisingly quiet, as you ran your fingers through his hair. He sighed pleasantly. Ugh. Sometimes he makes sounds when you’re rubbing his head. You knew he did it to make you uncomfortable, so you ignored them--ignored him.
“So, what did you read yesterday?” he asked. He opened one eye to peak at you.
You rolled your eyes, “I don’t have to answer you.” You hoped he would give up.
“Why not? I’m just curious how a mortal could possibly comprehend the language in that book, given the fact that it is Asgardian.” Your eyes widened at his response. Asgardian? You had thought that the language was Sakaar. Interesting.
“I didn’t know that was Asgardian. The librarian taught me how to read and all of my books have been in that language.” It was filled with runes and over the past few years, you had learned the language. While you didn’t understand everything, you knew enough to comprehend the material.
“The librarian? Interesting. I didn’t know that Asgardians inhabited Sakaar, but then again I never thought I would be here in this wretched place.” He mused in his thoughts as you began washing his hair. There was a lot of buildup, since you smothered it with conditioner for the past week. As if reading your mind, Loki said, “I’m not in the mood for greasy hair today. It was nice for a week--especially since I got to foil your plan--but I want a normal hair washing.”
“Can you ask nicely?” you grumbled. He looked up at you from his seat. You stopped washing his hair, removing your hands, waiting.
He sighed before saying, “Can you please wash my hair, mortal?”
You smiled, victoriously, “Thank you for asking nicely, but next time use my name.” You put your hands back into his hair.
“I don’t know your name, mortal. Besides, ‘mortal’ fits accordingly.” He closed his eyes again, thinking the conversation was over.
“Really? You’re a highly intelligent god, who seems to be so observant, and yet you can’t remember my name? Interesting.” He opened his eyes to glare once more. “But fine. I will wash your hair. But do not ever roll around in garbage again.”
He chuckled as you rinsed his hair.
By the time you were finished--after washing, conditioning, and styling his hair--you were amazed at the result. While greasy-haired Loki was certainly a look, cleaned and styled hair Loki was princely. His hair had an amazing bounce and shine that made him look like the Prince of Asgard he claimed to be. He also had on an all-black outfit with leather pants and some hints of green. This was the god of mischief, Loki.
He saw your stare and did a saunter over to the full-length mirror. “What do you think? Morta--darling?” He flashed a smile at you.
You were a bit starstruck and in-awe, but you quickly snapped out of it. “Nice catch there. Not sure that ‘darling’ is a bit higher than ‘mortal,’ but I’ll take it. As for your hair…” You came over and fussed with his side part a bit, not realizing how close you were to him; nor how he was staring at you. “...I did an amazing job. But I will admit, it does look good.” You gave him a small smile. He returned it.
You noticed a small piece of hair too long, so you went to grab your shears. You raised them close to Loki’s face, not realizing that he was glaring at you. Before you could bring them closer to his face, he grabbed your wrist and squeezed--hard--making you drop the shears. You cried out in pain.
“What are you doing, mortal?” He hissed, kicking the shears away from him.
“Ah! Loki--let go of me!” You yelled. He pulled you closer to him, crushing you against his body.
“You were going to stab me with those, weren’t you? I thought you had learned, mortal. You can’t fool me.” You kicked his knee, but to no avail. He wouldn’t let go of you.
Looking up into his eyes, your own glaring back at him, you said, “Loki, I was going to trim your excess hair! It’s uneven! I wasn’t going to stab you, you fucking psycho. I hardly doubt those shears would work anyway, since they’re dull. They are meant for cutting hair, not skin.” His eyes seemed to widen at your words. “If anything, I’m the one in danger here, from a damn snake like you. Let go of me. Now.” You growled the last word.
Loki let go of you like he had been burned. You stepped back and quickly cleaned your work station. “Just when I thought we were getting somewhere, you go and ruin everything. Stay the fuck away from me.” You quickly ran out of the salon, tears coming to your eyes. You stubbornly wiped them away.
No way in hell am I going to let Loki make me upset.