Stepbrothers

Stepbrothers Part 1

It had been a year since the death of Loki's mom. And it wasn't going to be any better for the child she left behind...

Some progress had been made. It was less hard for Loki to see the beautiful grand piano, black and shiny in the reception room, her most treasured instrument, now silenced forever. Loki's mother had been a well-known concert artist. Once upon a time, she had hoped her son would walk in her steps. Of course, Larry Laufeyson, her husband and Loki's father, was not that much enthusiastic about it, having planned for his son and heir to take the reins of his law firm. Before his mother's illness, Loki was fine either way, but had made no definite choice.
Then Francesca fell sick, very sick. And then she died and Loki's world collapsed. So being a pianist or a lawyer went to the far bottom of his list of priorities. His father shut down, heartbroken. Their relatives and friends were not much of any help, being as shocked as they were. Beauty, brains, talent, breeding, success, all gone to dust overnight... Who could blame them ?

Loki managed to carry on but barely. As a family, even as wealthy as they were, father and son still had the occasional issues. But the death of Francesca destroyed them both and life since then looked pointless.
Each morning, Loki had to go through the same routine. He got ready for his ridiculously expensive private school. His father still in his office, Loki took a breakfast prepared by their governess on his own. As good a cook and sweet a woman as Manuelita was, she wasn't Francesca. She wasn't his mother. As for his father, he kept himself to himself, lately... He and his son were now leading separate lives, barely meeting at supper time and not sharing much anyway.
Loki gritted his teeth a lot these times. Sometimes his jaws hurt at night. It happened less and less but it was still very painful.
But what more could he do except trying to keep his head out of the waters ?

***

Loki tolerated his high school. And again, "tolerated" was a fairly kind term.
Because of his father's money (Larry was one of the main sponsors), or rather thanks to it, he was left in a relative peace. No bullying for him. No one dared for the Laufeysons had a piece of every business pie in town. Attacking Loki Laufeyson meant trouble for you, especially if your Pa (or even your Ma), had a job even remotely connected with Larry Laufeyson.
Loki appreciated it. It gave him peace in an usually stressful environment. He was isolated, surely, but he didn't care. He had witnessed firsthand rich kids' bullyism towards kids with lesser means, on scholarship or otherwise. Before his mother's death, he frequently intervened and, as he had been put on a shelf by his father, he had been respected as a protector or a meddling busybody, considering either side's point of view.
After his mother died, he retired in his own head and chose not to care anymore.
From being a peculiar independent student, he became isolated and definitely creepy...

As class was starting, no one had spoken or even saluted Loki yet. Even his desk was slightly shifted away from the others. Loki preferred it to be so. No useless chitchat or teenage nonsense. Loki felt too old for this shit, to put it bluntly. At only seventeen, he felt decades old, actually. As he was getting his desk ready for the already long day, he heard a rumble throughout the room. Excited muffled squeaks from the usual mice, the stupid cheerleader gang. To Loki's eyes, they were nonexistent, as were their male partners, the sporty gang, but when they were being noisy they were a nuisance. They were running to a group of student to another, looking over their head. Loki couldn't guess what the commotion was. Probably the last Dolce bag or Louboutin shoes or whatever, he internally sneered. Yet, annoying voices made their way through his reluctant ears.
"... So handsome ! Came right from..."
"... Seen him ?! He's taller than Harry and..."
"... My god ! Blond and blue eyes like..."
Loki wanted to blow a loud raspberry but his mother would have considered it vulgar. A new jock ! A damn, stupid new jock was all that was about. Well, what else ? Loki hoped that it was not going to be another bother. He already had much on his plate without it...
Loki proceed to his usual business, hearing the teacher demanding orders and the ruffle of feet to take place at their seats. He didn't bother raising his head when he heard ridiculously girly gasps and an ominous silence.
" Class, this is your new classmate. Thor Odinson from Dallas. He will..."
Loki barely paid any attention. He deigned raising his head to avoid any comment from the teacher. He knew his indifference was an issue for her. So he forced himself into a good look at the stranger.
Not bad for a jock. Indeed, a tall blond with a light golden beard and sparkling blue eyes and a restrained but confident smile. He was obviously wearing the biggest size of the school jackets they could have found and still it was a little tight. He scanned the whole class, still smiling to everyone. Already, the girls were ready to swoon and the boys were already toughening up at the sight of the new threatening alpha male... Loki couldn't help but give a little sneer looking at his classmates. It was such an age-old scene, the pack reacting to the new challenging stranger. It could have been a laugh if it hadn't been such a cliché... Loki thought then that the up and coming days would be interesting, full of soap opera dramas. Great.
And then he felt the eyes of the stranger on him.
Loki had a bothersome chill in his back. The jock was giving him a weird look, as if Loki was something totally out of place in the scenery. That didn't bore good. Loki had a bad history with jocks, athletes and overall guys who thought they were the new sheriff in town. As usual, Loki's defined but slim silhouette, long black hair and cat-green eyes on a desperately pale skin challenged their definition of manly maleness and other societal rules. Loki was a bit impressed but refused to avert this eyes. New jock in town had to know you don't mess too much with Loki Laufeyson, not if your daddy wanted to keep his job safe...
Curiously, instead of the usual monkey-like gestures of defiance, the blond jock gave a strange lopsided smile, as if Loki had passed from UFO to something at least interesting. He turned his eyes first for the teacher was asking him to present himself.
He did, but Loki didn't hear much of it. Something about being a transfer from Dallas and a former football quarterback. Loki couldn't help but think that Josh Randall, current school's Johnny football hero, popular guy and of course star quarterback wouldn't be pleased to hear this. The incident was over, as far as Loki was concerned. He didn't need that kind of hassle in his life. As he saw the big blond being cheered and settling down to a nearby empty seat. Loki decided it was the last of any interaction or interest he was going to have with mister new guy...