Fragmented Thoughts Chapter 17 (ReaderxLoki)

"SEAL!"
"WORM!"
"WHALE!"
"...Walrus?"
"Dammit! You're not allowed to play this game anymore!"
A circle of laughter fills the air as Clint raises himself up off the floor where he had been making strange wiggling movements. You laugh with a sneer of triumph. Charades is easier for you, now that you can read the mind of the person performing the word and see just what they are attempting to convey. You try not to cheat too much, but the unfair advantage makes you feel more in control. For once you may actually win a game against Stark or Banner, the brains they are.
"Alright, Tony, your turn!" Banner says, smiling smally to the billionaire. Clint moves to sit beside Natasha. Tony chuckles and begins to raise himself from the couch when JARVIS interrupts.
"Sir, there is a call waiting for you."
"Put it on hold, JARVIS," Tony commands quickly.
JARVIS sounds slightly agitated as he informs, "Sir, it's from Professor Xavier. He wishes to speak about the recent investigation in Antarctica and has information on Dr. Doom."
Tony stops for a moment, then sighs, rising and stepping over Thor to his earpiece. "Alright, tell The Brain I'm coming."
"I will go," Thor says, pushing himself off the floor and moving to the card deck to see what he has to animate. Banner, without a word, moves over beside to Thor to help Thor understand what exactly he's performing in case he doesn't know what it is.
"Who's Professor Xavier?" you ask Loki, who is sitting beside you.
"He's a specialist in the field of genetic mutations and psychology," he tells you, "and a powerful psychic mutant."
"Mutant?" you ask. "You mean like the X-Men?"
"He is their leader, yes," he informs you.
Well, that makes things more interesting. You look to Tony, who is rummaging in the kitchen of his living quarters as his blue earpiece glows from his ear.
"Oh, a chair!" you turn and see Clint slapping his head as he tries to figure out what Thor is doing. The god is struggling it seems, with his back on the ground and his arms and legs straight up, and his knees bent.
"A cockroach?" you guess. "Something dead?"
"Roadkill?" Natasha asks.
Banner sits off in the corner, smiling and watching us wordlessly. He opts himself out of the game this round, since he helped Thor figure out what it is he's supposed to express. At least he plays fair. You close your eyes slightly, concentrating on Banner's mind. Maybe he can give you an answer as to what it is that Thor is trying to portray. Just as you begin to pick up an idea, Tony interrupts your train of thought.
"Game's over, guys, the Muties need us over at Westchester," he tells you all. Thor looks up with slight confusion, rolling onto his hands and knees.
"Westchester?" You ask. Ugh. It's a short drive for living in New York City, but it's still hectic, being cramped in a car with the rest of the gang, especially with how much space Thor and Steve take up.
Tony nodded. "Come on, grab your shoes, we're goin' in the jet."
Jet? Ooh. Maybe this won't be so bad.

-----

It isn't even fifteen minutes after the jet takes off with the eight of you that you arrive over the enormous school, where the mutants and X-Men congregate and live. You look out the window, curious. You, like Steve, don't know much about mutants outside what Tony and Banner exposed to you during the flight. Apparently there was a blue kid that teleports, and a girl with red hair that has telekinesis. There were others but you didn't really remember them. You hope you can meet all of them...they seem so interesting.
"Touchdown in 30 seconds, sir," Clint tells Tony, flicking some buttons on the control panel above him as he pulls up on the flight controls.
Below you, a man in a wheelchair and several others stand looking up from the concrete path beside the helipad. Who are they? One of them must be the guy Tony talked to earlier. As the jet touches down on the helipad, you jump from your seat and wait impatiently at the gate. The gate unlatches and slowly opens, and Tony and Steve walk out first, followed by Thor and Banner. You wait for Loki, who follows you, and go to meet the others. One is a white-haired African-American, another a tanned man with strange hair and muscular arms, another with long red curls and beautiful brown eyes, and a bald man in a high-tech wheelchair.
"It's good to see you, Mr. Stark," the bald man says. He reaches up and shakes Stark's and Banner's hand. You look to the redhead, who is smiling and speaking with Natasha. Clint heads over and holds out a fist to the tanned man, who returns the gesture. Thor moves over to the white-haired woman and they smile, and you notice Thor's eyes light up a little.
"Who are these people?" you ask Loki.
He points to the white-haired lady. "That is Storm. Her power, as her name suggests, is the same as Thor's."
No wonder they get along so well so soon, you reason.
Loki gestures to the tanned man. "That is Wolverine. His skeleton is made from a metal known as Adamantium, and cannot be destroyed. His body also regenerates and heals at an extremely past rate."
"So you can't kill him?" you ask.
Loki shrugs slightly. "It would be difficult." He points to the redhead. "That is Jean. She has incredible telepathic and telekinetic abilities."
Ooh, that's cool.
"And that," he gestures to the man in the wheelchair who is speaking with Banner, "is Professor X, or Charles Xavier. He is a telepath, and a talented one."
"Like me?" you ask.
"Yes, like you," he confirms. You walk over to Xavier, curious. You wonder...can he hear you? Can he pick up what your'e thinking?
The man smiles and nods as Banner speaks. Tony notices you and steps up, wrapping his arm around you.
"Oh, Brainy, this is her," he says, shaking you. "The anomaly we found not too long ago. Got half a mind like yours."
Xavier smiles kindly. He seems wise, like an old wizard, and you feel comfortable around him. You aren't sure if that's his power working, or just you.
"Hello," he says, his voice low, but proper. "I am Charles Xavier. I was looking forward to meeting you."
You don't know if you should bow, or shake his hand, or what. "Um. You too."
His smile widens and you hear his voice echo in your mind. "If it is more comfortable to you to speak this way, you only need to say."
You half-expected that, but it still felt weird to know you could communicate to him. Should you say it out loud...? Or just in your head?
"I'm not really used to my new...um...abilities, sir," you say out loud after a minute. "I've only had them for a while."
He nods. "Well, if you would like, after I speak with Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner, I can show you how to become more acquainted with your power."
You nod. That would help.
And almost as if he's reading your mind (which, again, kind of doesn't surprise you but still feels odd), he says, "and I can answer any questions you may have."
"That'd be great," you say. "Thanks."
He smiles more, and his chair turns and moves in the direction of the building, away from the helipad. "Let's go inside, where we can speak freely."
The team and the other mutants follow him wordlessly, Storm and Thor stuck together like glue and the two redheads making friends already. You follow slowly behind and Loki steps in beside you.
"He worries me," he tells you in a low whisper. You find that kinda useless, seeing as the guy is a mind reader. Then again maybe, like you, he doesn't pay attention to what others are thinking at all times.
"He's a little eerie, I'll admit," you tell him honestly.
Loki shakes his head. "He's too free, too open about his power than I am comfortable with." Loki's posture, you notice, is a little tight and forced. "I do not trust knowing that man can see into my mind."
"I can't, what makes you think he can?" I ask.
He looks at you. "That man has the power to influence others to do his bidding. And that is what makes me afraid."