Chapter 4: Chemistry 1

Once again, Loki had found his way into my apartment this morning. I heard him meowing and scratching my door at six in the morning. Lucky for him, I don't have class until eleven so he can chill by my place. As soon as I opened it, he ran inside and jumped on a stool by my kitchen's counter table. He eyes the breakfast food I've prepared for myself since I actually have time and I've woken up in a good mood. Loki did not hesitate to steal a bacon. I don't even know if cats can eat bacon, but he devoured it before I could even search on Google. Oh well. Orion should really lock his door if he doesn't want Loki wandering elsewhere and eating their food. 

As I took a bite from my bread, the cat let out a noise and opened his mouth. 

"What do you want?" He looked at me expectantly. Somehow, this cat's expressions are more human that cat. His eyes flickered from my plate, then to me, and parted his lips wider. "If you want me to feed you, I'm not going to do it." 

Loki hissed and moved closer to me. Raising a brow, I scooted my plate away from him. He opened his mouth again and waited. 

Orion must spoil his cats. 

Grunting, I took a small piece of my bread and dropped it in his mouth. And Loki has never looked so pleased. He's practically grinning at me. Smug little shit. I finished the rest of the bread, glaring at him while doing so. He grabbed another bacon, a big one, all for himself, while I finished my breakfast. 

Then, I sat on my couch in front of the TV and flipped through the channels. Loki took a spot beside me, but making sure that he's settled under my left hand. I chuckled flickered his ears, causing him to twitch them and hiss at me angrily. I was caught off guard as he moved his head and slightly dug his teeth in my thigh, giving it a small bite. 

"Ow! Hey!" 

Loki acted as if he did nothing wrong and rested his whole head on my thigh. His name really does suit him, no matter how much he dislikes it. A mischievous feline. Clinging my tongue, I continued to flip through the channels and stopped at Rick and Morty. Leaning my head back, my hand rested on the cat's soft fur and ran my fingers across his body. 

In the middle of the episode, my phone rang. Stretching my body to reach the other side of the couch, Loki fell to the floor. Snickering, I picked up my phone and saw that Roman is calling me. 

"Hello?" 

"Hey Astoria." Roman's voice sounds even lower on the phone. "You're a science expert, right? Because I need your help with something."

"Well, I'm no Rick Sanchez but I'm alright." The sound of the scientist's 'Pickle Rick!' rang loudly from the TV that I'm sure Roman heard it. "What can I do for you?" 

Roman laughed briefly before replying, ""I need help with Chemistry. Introduction. What the fuck is Stoichiometry?" 

"That is a big problem. I don't know if I can help you." I teased. "But basically, it's calculations of reactants and products in a chemical equation. It's difficult to explain it with words." 

"How about you show me?"

"Hmm?" 

"Can we go to the library? If you're not busy! I have a homework due today at 11 and it includes 10 of those problems." 

My eyes darted to the clock on the wall behind the TV. It is seven thirty-five. I guess I can do it. It's for a good cause, I suppose. "Alright. I'll meet you - " 

"I'll pick you up!" He cuts off. "It's the least I can do." 

Before I could answer, I felt a bite in my stomach, causing me to curse out loud enough for Roman to ear. "You okay?"

"Y-yeah! I was just - stop it!" Loki had gotten under my oversize shirt and had given me a second bite. The cat let out an angry hiss, letting out his claws and attempting to scratch the phone. I underestimated how far he could reach, but Loki ended up touching the phone's screen and the phone call ended. "Oh my god. Why would you do that!" 

I quickly texted Roman that my neighbor's cat hanged up on him. When I finished typing it out, I realized it sounded ridiculous, but that's exactly what happened. Standing up, I glared at Loki on the couch. He's giving me a glare in return.

"What." 

He meowed a few times. 

"I don't know what you're saying but I feel like you're scolding me." I admitted. He just let out more cat noises, and I could only laugh at how funny he sounds. It only made the cat even more mad. I dug through my fridge and found diced baked chicken left over that's still good, so I let Loki have it to make him feel better.

Leaving him in the living room, I rushed to the bathroom and took a quick shower. Afterwards, I brushed my teeth and did all my morning routine, which included putting on sunscreen, then went to my room wearing nothing but a towel. As I walked towards my closet, I stumbled onto something and fell to the carpeted floor with my back against it. 

Not a second later, the asshole cat jumped on top of me and licked my face. 

"Urgh! Get off me." The cat stood up and stared up at me, moving his tail. He didn't move as I searched through my closet for what I'll be wearing. It's supposed to be a hundred ten today. It's getting hotter and hotter every year. Thank goodness for the government for not doing anything about global warming. How will we ever die without them? 

I threw my chosen clothes on my bed: black shorts, a black tank top, and a red and blue flannel, along with black socks and sneakers. Beside the clothes, my phone buzzed and the screen lit up with the message, 'Coming in ten minutes.' 

"Shit." 

I threw the towel off me and almost fell to the floor for the second time trying to put on my underwear and shorts. While putting on my bra, I noticed the cat watching. "Get out of my room, creep." 

The cat, being a cat, did not move away. I put on the rest of my clothes and then pick up my backpack and ran out of the door. I did some last minute check to see if the stoves are off and nothing that should be unplugged is plugged, then cleaned my living room just in case Roman decides to drop in. Loki continued to meow while I moved around the house. If only I could understand cats. I'll need to talk to Orion about Loki later. Where did he even find him? I wouldn't be surprised if Orion just stumbled upon Loki in the streets and decided to take him home. 

Soon enough, Roman texted me that he's outside waiting, so I grabbed the cat with me, locked the door and shut it. Then, I opened Orion's door and threw Loki in. I made sure to lock it from the inside before closing the door, since the cat is an evil genius little shit. I then ran downstairs and reached the outside of the building, where Roman and his vehicle is waiting for me. 

"Wow." 

It's a very rad black motorcycle. Harley-Davidson kind. 

Roman, dressed in all black as I expected, sent me an innocent smile with one helmet under his arm and another resting on the extra seating space of the motorcycle. "I hope you don't mind. You can sit in front of me. It'll be safer and you won't have to worry about anything." 

"Yeah okay." I grabbed the helmet and eagerly sat down. Celeste owns a motorcycle similar to this and she used to let me use it sometimes. I smiled widely, thinking of the times she freaked out when I would go faster than she let me. However, my smile turned into a shy and nervous one when Roman sat behind me.

Our legs touched and my back was against his chest. "Scared?" He asked, cold breath hitting my neck and making me shiver. I felt him rest his chin on my shoulder and whispered, "This will be a fun ride." 

He stayed like that for a bit longer, and I could feel his breath tickling my neck. It was making me feel weird, so I put on the helmet, forcing him to move his face away. He followed my move before starting the vehicle, and soon enough, we sped off to the roads of Jupiter.