Blood and Knifes

2:3

"Girls only room is in the office, okay?" Megan said. "I'll point it out when we go inside." They opened the front door, and the women shuffled inside behind them like a herd of scolded puppies. "This one here." They tapped the office door. A good number of women went in the office, while the rest of them scattered across the living room, hovering in corners or behind chairs.

"Er... hello," the teen offered, receiving only a few general nods, or hoarse 'hello's.

"Hi," Megan said, crossing the room. "I'm Megan."

"Peter- er, um-" he glanced at Hawkeye. "Yeah. Peter. Peter Parker."

"So what do you do for the Avengers?"

Peter blinked. "Oh! Um, well I have an internship at Stark Enterprises. I do science and build some stuff. Sorry-" He wrung his hands together. "It's just, you're one of my favorite speakers, I mean, you're my favorite activist."

"Oh!" They blushed. "Thanks! You're into activism?"

"Yeah!" He smiled widely. "I'm in this knitting club where we donate all the stuff we make to different homeless shelters, and I'm in my school's GSA!"

"That's pretty sweet!" They high-fived him.

"What else is pretty sweet?" Loki appeared at their side, back to a masculine form.

"Else?" Their brow furrowed.

"You, dear." he smiled down at them, pressing a kiss to their rapidly reddening cheek.

"Oh!" They smiled back, leaning into him. "Er, Peter and I were talking about activism. Pronouns?" They asked him, then directed the question over to Peter too.

"He/him."

"Ditto." Peter looked up at Loki, picking at his nails. "Hi, Mr. Loki. I'm Peter. Um, it's nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet..." He cleared his throat. "It's nice to meet you as well, Peter. You were talking about... activism?"

"Remember how I told you that Midgard isn't good with people from SAGA?" A nod prompted them to continue. "Well activism is when some people stand up and do something about it. Peter donates to the homeless and is in a gay-straight alliance club. I do fundraisers, petitions. and public speaking."

"Sexuality is that controversial on Midgard?" Loki quirked an eyebrow.

"Oh, no, it's far worse!" They let out a bitter laugh. "But it's not just sexuality. Pretty much anything that you can judge a person on- race, gender, sex, religion, clothing, skin, hair, age- anything and everything has been discriminated against."

"We joke about it to mask our fear of society's imminent destruction for the profit of the elderly white heteropatriarchy!" Peter quoted.

"Hey, that's my quote!" They grinned. "When we get home, I'll show you what we're talking about." They looked up at Loki, but bit of movement caught their eye, and they turned. "Hawkeye! That's a women only room!"

He withdrew his hand from the doorknob. "Oh. Uh, where's the bathroom?"

"Down the hallway, second door on the right," Loki answered.

Hawkeye looked to Megan, and they raised an eyebrow. "What? He's not wrong." Hawkeye successfully located the bathroom, and Megan went back to Loki. "What's the matter with him?"

"Er-" Loki glanced at Peter, who took the hint and joined Thor scarfing down pop tarts in the kitchen. Loki led them into their bedroom, sitting down on the bed. He picked at the palm of his hand.

"When I first showed you my... other form, I told you I had killed people. Do you remember the Attack on New York?"

"Yeah. I mean, I was there..."

He winced. "I... That was me. I led the army."

Megan's brow furrowed. "Oh! Okay..." They paused, waiting for him to continue. "And?"

"And?"

"There's something else, isn't there? Someone else?" They prodded.

He dropped his chin to his chest. "I- well- can I... can I show you?" They nodded, and he looked up, still avoiding their eyes, and pressed two fingers to their forehead.