* ˑ one on one—lol & dual suns .

[lol]

xxxxas soon as jane accepted his apology, it seemed as if she was already off to pointing in the direction of where her van was parked. nodding his head, he allowed the woman to get a steady head start seeing as she was so bold to waltz herself around the dead hunks of creatures, and then stride to take the lead. he was fine with her being the head of their group. scratching at himself absentmindedly, he followed suit, careful of not to step on the dead bodies as he felt a strong nerve of hardship whenever he neared the chitauri's. it was almost as if he couldn't quite pronounce them dead. it could be at any second one of those large creatures could attempt to grab at him. shaking his head, he crossed his arms, and huddled himself a little bit quicker.
xxxxusing one of his backhands to push his glasses back up from the stout of his nose, he turned his head to the side to hear loki faintly apologizing. raising his eyebrows almost in shock, he shook his head, and dismissed it. "it's okay! honestly. i mean, this isn't the first time jane has dragged me about through her crazy trips. just... this time, i was a little closer to death than normal." huffing, he allowed his eyes to fall on jane's figure for a brief moment. "you would think she would learn after every awful experience, but... she keeps going. i guess that's what makes jane, well, jane." shrugging his shoulders, he readjusted his grasp on his arms, and buzzed a soft smile.
xxxxit was true. most of jane's reporter type cases were usually based on astrophysicists, but this one.. was far out of both of their leagues. in a split second, he could've truly died. lost his life, and be sent to wherever he was supposed to go. jane could've died too, but, it was all thanks to loki that he was still breathing, and functioning. without the stronger being, he would've laid limp amongst one of the dead chitauri soldiers. so he had so much gratitude towards loki, and yet... felt so confused when jane kept pushing him away. shouldn't she be happy too? "i'm still really grateful you saved my life. i wouldn't think anybody else was out here. nobody else other than reporters, or crazy pushovers such as jane and i."

[dual suns.]

xxxxxxloki followed, one hand still splayed against his stomach. the flow of blood seemed to have lessened a bit, a result of his healing that’s already begun, as he’d already told ellis—but, mortals being stubborn as they usually were, he’d insistsd on helping him. he couldn’t quite understand why—there had been a flash of recognition in the boy’s eyes as jane spoke his name like it was a curse, so surely, he must know he was—allowing the chitauri he had just killed to flood into new york on some ridiculous plan to rule over midgard, attempting again and again to murder thor to get him out of his way, on top of everything else he’d done. so if he knew who he was—an asgardian prince, yes, but also a jotun and a frost giant, nevertheless laufey’s son—then why help him? why offer assistance, even if loki has indeed stepped in between him and death to protect him—which, he usually wouldn’t do in normal circumstances. to loki, it didn’t made any sense. then again, neither did his attachment to said boy. and the circumstances weren’t exactly normal.

xxxxxx”trust me.” loki sighs, his free and unbloodied hand reaching to rake through the locks of his long thick, ink black hair. ”i know how that feels, having thor for a brother—even an adoptive one, though we didn’t know that at the time.” he catches the wistful tone of his voice, but decides against dwelling on the fact—thinking of asgard always brought on so much pain and longing for the prince. ”he’d go on these crazy adventures. somehow, i always found myself a part of them.” he huffed a laugh at the memories. ”and he always got himself into trouble, in more ways than one. he never learns, like jane. that’s why they always got along so well. at least, that’s what i like to think.” he hums inaudibly, watching as ellis re-adjusts his grip on his arms, and smiles a little back at him. he shifts inconspicuously closer to jane’s fellow reporter, and after a moment of hesitation shifts to wrap his free arm around the boy’s waist, to comfort him. ”there’s no need to thank me, either. it wasn’t that hard to do.”

xxxxxxthey reach jane’s van, looking a little worse for wear, but thankfully not flattened into a pancake like loki had expected, and said woman whirls to face them, lips parting to speak—and then her eyes catch on the pair, her eyes flicking from the arm wound around ellis’ waist, to loki, and then to ellis and back to loki again. she splutters for a moment, before she visibly collects herself, and speaks, trying to act as nothing had happened, and like she hadn’t really seen what she thought she had. loki feels a rush of triumph—from what, he couldn’t quite figure out, but doesn’t quite dwell on the thought as jane speaks. ”please, loki, try not to get blood on the seats like you did last time.” is what she says, instead of something else, and she guestures for ellis to get in the passenger’s seat, and loki in the back, before she climbs into the driver’s seat. after a moment, loki draws his arm back, though reluctantly, and glances at the boy before doing as jane instructed, opening the door to the back seat and sliding inside with a wince as his wound pulls as he moves, and the door slides closed behind him.

xxxxxx”alright, where to?” jane questions, after ellis had taken his place in the passenger’s seat.

[lol]

xxxxellis caught himself drawing his head back up to look at the asgardian prince, and managed to raise an eyebrow to his actions. loki's unbloodied hand tangling back through his curly, alluring, and raven locks. chastising himself for a brief moment, he pushed at his glasses, and swallowed awkwardly. now everything was finally snapping back together. thor, loki, and jane's relatively short, on-and-off relationship between the gods. he suddenly felt tiny. jane hadn't instructed him to kneel, or bow before the prince, should he be doing so? would loki find it disrespectful that he hadn't? the demi-god even tried ruling over earth, so this put him at bigger risk. wallowing his orbs to rest on jane's stature, he shook the thoughts away, and suddenly tensed. loki's arm had wrapped around his waist, albeit protectively. this was something he wasn't used to, at all; although, ellis was growing on the strong, and cautious hold, and started to relax into it. he much preferred it than using his weak little arms to comfort himself.
xxxxblinking his eyes relatively slow, he almost couldn't help but break out into a smile. loki really didn't like his thanking, and praising. ellis would've thought his earnest gratitude would come across... kind, but maybe he was being too big of a pushover? nevertheless, they had arrived at jane's van. it wasn't too badly scratched up, and the male took notice of how they all abruptly stopped in front of the vehicle. it was then, jane's eyes had searched their position. loki's arm wrapped around him, and then her eyes adventuring to look the two male's over, and over again until she came to conclusion. ellis didn't like that sort of bugging attention, and he found his ears beating with warmth.
xxxxas gestured into the passenger seat, he watched as loki looked at him for a mere moment before reluctantly allowing his arm to slip away. gritting his teeth, he moved to open the van door, and then sit himself in the comfortable seat. when getting questioned to where they wanted to go, he looked over at the female with a raised brow. almost as if expecting jane to know where they really needed to go. "probably a gas station since your van is running on low fuel." ellis couldn't help but notice the van's meter when they were driving earlier. jane was running low, and he knew she wouldn't be able to make it back to his place without getting the van full with energy. "after that... probably fling loki and i back to my place?" he proposed, a small, childish grin flitting across his sunken cheeks as he looked the woman over.