Clubs, Reindeer, and the Icy Problem
It has been three days since the incident with Loki, and he refused to come out of his cell or talk to anyone. Yesterday, Thor tried to give him some food, but when he arrived Loki had locked himself in his bathroom and only came out when Thor left. Everyone felt bad for the trickster, especially Thor.
At dinner, Tony finally said, "Screw it I'm talking to him. He can't stay in there forever." With that, he strode out of the room and went down to Loki's "room". He barged in to find a surprised Loki with earbuds in and his old iPhone. Loki quickly took the earbuds out and stuffed the iPhone under his pillow.
"Loki, why are you avoiding us?" Tony calmly asked. There was no response."Loki, we're trying to help you. We WANT to."
After a long silence, Loki whispered," I have never opened up about ANYTHING to anyone. I was embarrassed that I did, even if it was in a song."
"Songs tend to do that to people," Tony remarked. Loki nodded in understanding.
Tony had an idea and told Loki, "I know exactly what you need! Come with me." Loki followed him out and to the kitchen, where the rest of the Avengers were waiting. "We are going on a quick road trip, guys! Meet Loki and me in the garage."
Tony was met with many confused stares, which of course he ignored, practically dragging Loki down to the garage.
15 minutes later, everyone crowded in a minivan and set off into the streets of New York. They drove for a while until they parked at a club at the other end of the city. Everyone looked really confused until Tony said," Loki needs to lighten up a bit, so, I brought us to a karaoke club! Oh, by the way, Lokes, you should probably shapeshift a bit. You can still do that right?"
He nodded hesitantly and changed his form so that a few features were changed. He wouldn't be recognized.
They went inside and saw a small stage and small tables surrounding it. There was a good amount of people there and once they found some tables Tony left for a few minutes. When he came back he said," I signed us all up for karaoke! And before you ask, no, there is no getting out of this."Loki raised an eyebrow as he still had no idea what karaoke was. Thankfully, he didn't have to ask because Thor said," What is this care-E-oke-E you speak of?"
Tony explained," You pick a song you like and the lyrics will pop up on a screen and you sing the song to the instrumental track." Loki stared at him wide-eyed before trying to get up from the table to leave. Tony pushed him back down on his chair and said sternly," You are DEFINITELY doing this. This will help you get over your stage fright." Loki glared at him and mumbled something about stupid midgardians and not having stage fright. Tony sat down and told them that Natasha would go, then Steve, Thor, himself, Clint, Bruce, ending with Loki.
Then there was a voice on the speakers, "Would Natasha please come to the station to pick her song?"
Natasha went on stage and sang, "Shatter me". His voice was soft, yet clear, and everyone clapped and cheered when she finished. Steve sang, "It's been a long, long time," and was very emotional when he got back to the rest of the group. Tony awkwardly gave him a pat on the back. Thor ended up becoming too invested in his drink to sing. Tony, Clint, and Bruce decided to do a group song. Tony smirked at Loki when the music for "Grandma got run over by a reindeer," started to play, which left the entire club laughing, even Loki gave a bit of a smirk. They got off the stage and the speaker man said," Would Lucas please come to the station to pick a song?"
Lucas? Oh.
Tony looked at him and nodded.
Loki slowly got up and went over to pick his song. He got onto the stage very timidly and the music started to play.
Loki's angelic voice started to sing to the music that had begun to play.
When the days are old
And the cards all fold
And the saints we see
Are all made of gold
When your dreams all fail
And the ones we hail
Are the worst of all
And the blood runs stale
At this point, everyone in the club was looking at the Loki, who was now looking at Thor.
I wanna hide the truth
I wanna shelter you
But with the beast inside
There's nowhere we can hide
Thor sat there, looking at his brother with sad eyes as he sang those lines.
No matter what we breed
We still are made of greed
This is my kingdom come
This is my kingdom come
When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
Don't get too close
It's dark inside
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
The music faded out and there was a brief silence before everyone started cheering and clapping. He had a standing ovation. Loki stood there, shocked, to hear such a good reception of something he did. He got off the stage and went over to the avengers. When he got to the table, Thor immediately hugged him.
-------------------------------------------------------
Loki got up and looked at his bedside clock. 6:27 AM. He tried to go back to sleep, to no avail. He finally got up and went upstairs to the kitchen to make himself some breakfast, to realize he wasn't the only one up. Tony sat at the counter, sleep-deprived.
Loki asked, "Why are you up so early Stark?"
"Couldn't sleep."
Loki poured himself some cereal and sat next to Tony. They sat there in silence while Loki ate his breakfast. When he was done, he got up and went to the sink to wash his bowl when Tony broke the silence."When you were singing the song last night, what did you mean by 'But with the beast inside, there's nowhere we can hide'?"
Loki said, a little too quickly, "They're just song lyrics."
Tony turned to look at the god before stating, "You were looking at Thor while you sang it and I could see by the way your brother looked, it wasn't just 'lyrics'."
Loki looked shocked at how observant the man sitting in front of him was. He quietly said, "For one, He is NOT my brother. How many times do I have to tell you this? And two, yes there is a different meaning behind it."
"What is it?"
"None of your business."
"Come onnnnn! I took you to a damn karaoke club!"
Loki stood there for a minute, closed his eyes, and sighed."I am a frost giant."
"What are Frost Giants?"
"They are a race of monsters that live on Jotunheim. From a very young age, all Asgardians are taught to fear them." Loki said, trying to calm himself. Frost giants don't hold the most pleasant memories for him.
Tony was shocked, to say the least. Thor had told them that Loki was adopted, but they always assumed that he meant from another Asgardian. No wonder he was so screwed up when he came here. Though one thing didn't add up. "Why do you look Asgardian then?"
"Odin placed a spell on me that changed my appearance to one of an Asgardian. I can still change back if I want to though." Loki said.
"Could you?"
"Could I, what?
"Could you change into your Jotun form for me?"
Loki contemplated for a while. He was the one to give me the little freedom I have now. He reluctantly decided to show him.
Blue started to creep up his fingers and onto his arms, and settled his face. He looked up and Tony was amazed. He had ruby eyes and his skin was blue with raised symmetrical markings all over. He was beautiful.
Tony said quietly," You are not a monster."
Loki gave a small, sad smile before returning to his original form. Tony tried to say something more, but Loki was already walking out of the room.