Author's note: The letter ð (eth) is pronounced like the th in the word them
"You…?!" Loki gasped as soon as the light of Heimdall's portal dissipated, leaving their eyes to adjust to the darkness of the evening. "You what…?"
He must've wanted to immediately respond to Ada's sudden statement, but was unable to while traveling through the wormhole. Ada was glad; she wasn't entirely sure how the words had escaped her lips in the first place. After two weeks of surreptitious evening visits in the palace of Asgard, learning things she never thought she would know about language and history, a dash of intimacy, and too much Ragnarok for her liking, she supposed the sentiment was true.
But there was no way she was going to say "I love you" a second time that day, even if the mixture of joy and relief in Loki's eyes made the prospect tempting.
She was saved from further awkwardness by Jane clutching her arm. She turned to face her, expecting her to be wearing the ecstatic expression of an astrophysicist who had just taken her second Einstein-Rosen Bridge ride, but instead found her casting her eyes around nervously. "Ada," Jane said through her teeth, "I think we have company."
Sure enough, three extremely unsavory (and extremely drunk) men were closing in on them. Ada stared at them with blank confusion; this was the same wooded area near University College London that she had first met Loki and Thor- not exactly a hangout for drunken ne'er-do-wells.
"What's this, then?" one of the men slurred as he approached. "A bloody light show, you three, and all your…" he looked over Loki's collection of sizeable trunks, his eyes coming to rest on the one that contained Ada's "payment", "luggage? Don't you know it ain't safe in London after midnight?"
One of the other two men lunged for Jane, who squealed and flinched. The man never laid a hand on her, however; in a swift motion, Loki swept in front of Jane and grabbed the man by the neck, leaving his feet kicking a good distance from the ground. The man that had spoken gawked at him in surprise.
"I should kill this dull creature for even presuming to threaten me," Loki said cooly, cocking his head lazily to look at the other men. "I am genuinely curious- can you supply me with a good reason not to?"
"Threating you?!" Jane scoffed, "I've been lunged at and grabbed enough times to know when I'm being threatened, this guy certainly-"
"Jane, not the time," Ada hissed, her mind racing trying to find a way to diffuse this situation. Of course the first thing Loki would do on a diplomatic mission is kill a citizen… she thought grimly.
"Y-you…" the apparent leader of the men stammered, "you're the one off the telly, with them aliens flying about, blowing up New York!"
The other man, who hadn't said a word the whole time, simply turned and ran after hearing his friend's observation. Loki gracefully flung his captive into the escapee, bowling them over and rendering them temporarily immobile.
Loki advanced on the only man left standing and adopted his most intimidating power stance. "If any of you breathe one word of my presence to anyone, I will hunt you down and cause you such pain that you will wish you had never been born into this pitiful realm." His eyes burned green in the darkness. "After all, I am a god, am I not?"
That was enough for the lone standing man. He lept over his struggling comrades and disappeared into the trees. Once the other two men got to their feet, they were right behind him, Loki's laughter hot on their heels.
"A god?" Jane said incredulously. "Just because our ancestors were confused about your origin thousands of years ago doesn't mean-"
"Well they didn't deny it, did they?" Loki chuckled, nodding at the figures of the men fading into the trees.
Jane narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to argue her point further when Ada cut her off. "Thank you for not killing that man, Loki," she said somewhat weakly through her teeth. "You showed…tremendous restraint. Right, Jane?"
"Restraint?! How hard is it to not-" At the sight of Loki's proud smile, Jane stopped short and groaned. "Good going, Loki, way to be a model citizen," she grumbled. "Can we go now? I am freezing."
A shiver ran through Ada's core at Jane's words, goosebumps prickling her skin. She had been so preoccupied by the altercation that she hadn't even registered how cold it was. "God, it is cold… welcome back to fall in England, I guess," she said, rubbing her hands on her arms as she watched the cloud generated by her breath dissipate. She plucked her bundle of Halloween costume off of one of Loki's trunks. "Do you want to borrow my cape?"
"While that question shouldn't sound weird after spending two weeks in Asgard, it still kind of does," Jane chuckled. "Anyway, I think I'm alright, though I wouldn't mind some company walking back to my apartment. Lord knows I don't want to run into any more drunks tonight, and I wouldn't doubt that somebody's probably broken into my place and taken all of my scientific equipment and sold it on eBay- hey, did you notice it's night time? It was day when we left Asgard, probably around 10 in the morning. I wonder what the time difference is between galaxies? Is that even an issue? Given the duration of our time in the Einstein-Rosen Bridge…"
"Easy there, professor," Ada interrupted. "You can write all your theories down in your notebooks, which I'm sure haven't been stolen, when you get home. Anyway-"
She lost her train of thought after a thump and a growl of frustration sounded to her left. Turning to find the source of the noise, she found a rather exasperated-looking Loki resting his fist on one of the trunks. When he noticed her gaze, his expression morphed into one of indifference. He crossed his arms and cast his eyes toward the trees, avoiding hers. "It appears Odin's binding of my magic applies even to simple levitation spells," he half-mumbled, half-growled.
Jane snorted as Ada's face scrunched up with concern. "So, er… how are we going to get these trunks back to my place, then?" she asked with a sigh that she hoped didn't sound patronizing. There was no way the three of them could ever hope to lug all this stuff all the way back to her flat, even if it was only a few blocks away.
In response, Loki kicked the corner of the trunk he had previously punched. To Ada and Jane's surprise, this triggered a high-pitched whirring sound and the glow of flames at each of the four corners of the trunk, which proceeded to lift off the ground several inches. "Do you think Asgardians are so ill-prepared that our luggage does not have its own transport mechanisms?" he asked with some surprise.
"Well why didn't you use those in the first place?" Ada said, rolling her eyes. "You don't have to do everything with magic."
Jane's eyes had grown large and round as she watched the trunk hover evenly. As Loki kicked the second trunk and its tiny engines whizzed to life, she gripped Ada's sleeve and whispered urgently, "I want one!"
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"So this is your abode?" Loki asked with a smirk, looking up at the five stories of windows that made up Ada's flat building. "It doesn't look nearly as modest as you would have me believe!"
Ada looked up at the grey stone building with him and couldn't help but laugh at his question. "I wish all this was my abode. I make do with a bathroom and a bedroom-living room-kitchen amalgamation that I really don't think you'll appreciate," she said, the humor that was in her laugh noticeably absent from her voice. "Let's get this over with."
It was a miracle that somehow her keys had made it to Asgard and back in the pocket of her woolen dress, and Ada thanked the stars that they had. It was no use thanking gods, she thought, when she was in the presence of one who would probably rejoice more in the loss of her keys than their recovery.
Loki's trunks were not difficult to lift up onto the narrow stairwell that led to her third floor apartment, but they were difficult to maneuver once they were there- they were, not surprisingly, too wide to fit normally. However, Loki turned them onto their corners with one finger, and more little engines began to whir on previously dormant corners, allowing the luggage to be very carefully transported to just outside Ada's door.
Ada fumbled with her keys and giggled nervously as Loki waited. "Look, Loki, I really think you might be better in a hotel, I mean, at least you would have a reliable shower and a bed that's not older than the founding of the United States," she babbled, pleading with him once more before she opened the door.
Her nerves were slightly calmed by the feeling of his cool hand on her already cold shoulder. "My place is with you," he said matter-of-factly. "Besides, though I often hesitate to say it, how bad can it be?"
"You should've kept hesitating," Ada grumbled as she turned her key in the lock and opened her door.
Though the room was clean, there wasn't much to it; a small, shabby couch butted up to the end of a small, slightly less shabby bed, with a window to the left. To the right was a door to the bathroom, in front of the couch was a tiny television on a rickety black table, and beyond that was what barely could be called a kitchen- a stove, a sink, and a small cabinet.
And every inch of wall space was taken up by books upon books, stacked upon shelves of questionable integrity.
"I should've kept hesitating," Loki said quietly, in awe for all the wrong reasons.
"London is an expensive place," Ada said in her own defense, though she had anticipated his reaction. She stepped through the door and into a small hill of mail that had piled up in her absence. Wincing, she gingerly flipped the switch nearest to the door, her face lighting up at the same time as the lamp on the ceiling did. "Yay, they haven't cut off my electricity yet!" she said, mostly to herself.
"They? Who are they, and why would they turn off your electricity?" Loki demanded. "What kind of barbarous, primitive-"
Ada gently held up a hand to silence him. "I can explain the nuances of capitalism sometime later," she said. "For now… let's see if we can fit your trunks in here without creating a violation of the fire code."
She saw Loki mouth the words "fire code" with a confused look on his face, before shaking his head and turning to retrieve his luggage. Ada swept up her mail into what could pass as a stack. Sure is a lot of mail for just two weeks of being away… she thought, her stomach churning. What day even…?
"Do excuse me, sweetling," Loki whispered seductively into her ear. Goosebumps raced up her back and she quickly stepped to the side, out of the way, watching quietly as Loki skillfully arranged his floating trunks. With a wave of his hand, they banged to the floor, causing Ada to jump and wince.
"Oh god, my downstairs neighbors are gonna murder me…" she groaned, placing a hand to her head.
"Let them come," Loki said with a sarcastic grin. "I shall defend you to the last." He snaked his hand up Ada's back beneath her cape, and she quivered, finding herself suddenly feeling slightly bashful.
She skipped away from his touch with a nervous laugh, glancing around the room. "So, er, about sleeping arrangements…" she stammered, avoiding his eyes. "You can have the bed, and I'll sleep on the sofa. I think that's the first thing I'll buy with my gold, a new, big bed…" she trailed off.
Loki took a step towards her. "Why are you so coy now, my dear? Have we not shared the same bed many times before?" he said, his voice implying a bit more than "sharing".
"Well, yeah, but…" Ada fumbled for words. "Your bed was so much bigger, and I don't want you to be cramped and uncomfortable with me next to you, and…" She was at a loss. Why was she being so hesitant? There was just something that did not sit well with her on a basic level about sleeping next to Loki in such a… modest piece of furniture.
Loki, taking note of her confused discomfort, shrugged. "Suit yourself then, my dear," he said, turning on his heal and walking the rest of the short distance to the bed. He patted it in an effort to look nonchalant, but was unable to conceal a sneer at the feel of it. Nonetheless, he sat down. "Have you extra blankets? It appears your couch is open to the elements, and I would hate for you to get cold."
"Have I…?" Ada's eyebrows slowly raised in realization. "That's it? You're just taking my bed then?"
Loki's eyebrows raised in turn. "Well, you offered it to me, didn't you?"
"Well, yes!" Ada said indignantly, placing her hands on her hips. "I was just- kind of thinking-"
"You were utilizing that infernal Midgardian practice of offering me something in expectation of me refusing it, correct?" Loki said smoothly. "I have seen Jane take advantage of my br- Thor- in this way several times, and he, being the honorable oaf he is, played along. But I assure you, sweetling, that I am not that easy to fool." He grinned triumphantly, proud to have outsmarted Ada at her own game.
Ada placed a hand to her forehead, and tried unsuccessfully to stifle a smile. "No, you're not, I suppose," she chuckled, crossing to the bed and sitting next to him. "I think the issue here isn't your quick thinking, but your consideration for others."
"Oh, but I have certainly considered you," Loki purred.
He performed some series of arm motions and Ada suddenly found herself on her back, staring up at a very smug god. "And now you're in bed, aren't you? And much more comfortable than you would've been had I not intervened."
"Oh yes, thank you," Ada guffawed. "My knight in shining armor."
Loki's expression immediately became clouded with confusion and a hint of annoyance, which Ada dispelled with a brief kiss. She patted him on the cheek in an exaggerated manner. "I'll explain tomorrow," she said softly, her eyes twinkling.
Loki smirked and lowered his lips to hers.