Just a quick note. None of the characters are mine. I'm just playing with them :o)

"So Loki, why are you here?"

It's a simple question and that is exactly the reason why it irks him. Given the choice he wouldn't be here. But he had promised his family and that still means something to him.

"I'm here because I promised I would try. Because they were worried about me." It's not much over a whisper but the therapist hears him. "Don't you know all this already? I mean I must have a file or something."

"You do," agrees the therapist, "but I like to see if you know why you're here. I mean, you've promised your family but that doesn't mean you actually have to be here." He looks down at his notes and then fixes Loki with a very direct look. "Ok, here is how we're going to work these sessions. You need to come here once a week. Doesn't have to be the same time or day but the appointments must be within 7 days of each other. I expect you to work with me as much as you can and I will do my best to help you. I'd like to try and keep them as informal as possible so you can call me Adam, ok?"

"Ok," mumbles Loki.

"Right then, I guess we'd best begin. You were right that I have a file on you. You've been referred to me after a failed suicide attempt. I'm not going to dodge around that fact, that's what we are here to deal with. I appreciate that it's a hard subject to start with but why don't we start with that day?"

Loki looks at Adam is if he is insane. Why don't we start with that day? It's like he's been asked to run a marathon before he's even taken his first step. How is he supposed to tell this complete stranger what he was thinking that day? Does he even know what he was thinking that day? Shaking his head and getting up to pace to the window Loki tries to do as he is asked.

"It was a Tuesday," he begins.

It was a Tuesday and he didn't work on Tuesdays. The bookshop was closed all day and he usually took this opportunity to catch up on the housework, refill the cupboards and all the other mundane tasks that needed to be done by him since he lived alone. It was right in the middle of cleaning the bathroom when he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror. Pale skin catching the light, black hair such a contrast. The raised lines of various scars making shadows on his thin frame. For one brief moment Loki felt clarity. He felt alone and tired and could not face another second of feeling this way. He went and made myself a coffee. He'd been feeling like that on and off for about 10 years and been mostly coping with it. Of course his coping was carving lines into his body til he felt better but it worked.

Loki turned to Adam and said, "I kept it hidden for so long. It's amazing how little my parents and brother noticed. Once I moved out it was even easier to hide. Thor pretty much stopped noticing anything I did once we went to university. He was busy getting drunk and laid and I was busy losing my mind." He sighed and turned back to the window, drifting back into storyteller mode.

The coffee didn't do much to make him feel better and neither did the beer he had after it. Or the vodka. Or the absinthe. Suddenly he was drunk, alone, depressed and reaching for a blade. "To be honest I'm not even sure if I meant to dig in so hard or if I just misjudged." Loki ran his hands through his hair, his green eyes going dark. "But the next thing I knew there was blood everywhere and I realised that it was serious. To this day I have no idea why I rang Thor. Maybe my inner 12 year old wanted my older brother to look after me. Either way he showed up, got me to the hospital and they fixed me up. The psych nurse recommended therapy and that is why I am here."

Loki returned to the couch and looked at a patch of wall just to the left of Adam's head. He'd spoken more there than he could remember speaking to another human being in quite a while. That thought depressed him even more.

"Well Loki, that was a good start." Adam made a couple of notes in his file and then reached into a box on the floor. "This is for you," he said as he passed a thick book over to Loki. "It's diary which I would like you to try and write in every day until our next session. Do you think you can do that?"

Loki shrugged and nodded his head. "Excellent. Ok then do you have any questions for me before we end the session?" Again Loki shrugged but shook his head in the negative this time. "Right then you are free to go. Don't forget to make your next appointment on your way out."

Adam shook his hand and gently ushered Loki to the door and into the reception. He invited his next client in and closed the door quietly. Loki stood there for a couple of moments and then strode to the reception desk to make his next appointment.