He had never noticed a midgardian woman before, at least not as someone beautiful or desirable. She was leading a group of young adults into the next exhibit, giving instructions on what they should be looking at and what they should be writing in their notebooks. She was tall and blonde which wasn't necessarily out of the ordinary, considering they were in Denver Colorado, but that wasn't what he noticed. She walked joyfully, and with purpose. Her long graceful legs seemed to float on the grey carpet of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Her eyes were full of wonderment and delight as she directed her students into the room. It seemed a luminosity was radiating from her, as if she were protected somehow from this mortal world. She had the most graceful hands and she was using them to illustrate her point. Loki had never seen such perfectly long and elegant fingers.
As she released the teens to discover the mummies of ancient Egypt she smiled. He was disturbed that her smile ensnared him so, her whole face transformed into something angelic. She did not hesitate or arrange her smile to flatter her face. Instead she allowed the mysterious delight from within her out into the open through a flash of her teeth and a stretch of her lips. Those lips, they were perfectly shaped, and they looked smooth and pink although she wore no lipstick. As he studied her more carefully he noticed that she wasn't beautiful per se, her nose was almost too long, and she had a bit of a weak chin. It was her spirit and soul that made her noticeable. She let everyone see the pureness and the enjoyment of her inner most self, and she wasn't embarrassed or ashamed. Most midgardian women were self-conscious or thought too much of their own ephemeral beauty, but this woman was different. She was enchanting him like some sort of woodland fairy, her smile and her movements were very sprite like.
As she walked into the room Lillia couldn't help but smile at what a wonderful day it had been so far. She was taking a group of her high school students to the museum, and most of them had never been there before. They were walking into one of her favorite exhibits when she noticed a tall man looking at the embalming tools. He had dark hair, a stoic jaw line and icy blue eyes. Those eyes bore into her and she almost forgot what she was saying as she spoke to her students. After finally finishing her sentence she walked around to see that everyone was on task. All of her students were viewing the exhibit and behaving so well that she decided to glance over and see if the man was still staring at her. Thankfully he wasn't, now she could peek at him more closely without looking like a creeper. He was very tall and very masculine even though his body moved with the grace of a trained dancer. He had fair skin, and he walked as if he owned the entire museum and every artifact in it. He looked as though he were reading the hieroglyphics, she wondered if he could. Suddenly he turned his head and his eyes locked with hers. She felt like someone knocked the breath out of her, even though he didn't smile at her she couldn't help herself, and she smiled back. He simply cocked his head slightly to the side and politely nodded in her direction. Her legs became wobbly and she blushed because this stranger made her feel so flustered. The blood was painting her cheeks a deep crimson color so she gave him a wave of her hand to return his greeting. She turned quickly to find one of her students so she could look like she was doing something other than staring at him.
Her students were learning the impractical yet fascinating way the Ancient Egyptians mummified their dead. She gathered them together to talk about how religion impacts the way we handle our deceased. After a brief but productive conversation with her students wherein she described how the Egyptians got the brains out through the noses during the process of mummification she heard the man chuckling softly to himself. She released her students to finish taking their notes, and turned to find the man standing just behind her, once again piercing her with his perfect eyes. "I wish to compliment you on your ability to turn something as banal as death into a topic of interest and entertainment." He said in a velvety smooth and cultured voice.
"Thank you, I find burial practices very interesting…I'm an anthropologist turned teacher." She surprised herself at how intelligent she was able to speak even though her heart was fluttering and she was imagining his smooth voice whispering poetry into her ear. "A most noble profession, a gifted mentor is difficult to find. I myself only had one instructor worthy of my time; but I'm sure you would have surpassed even his passion for teaching; Miss…?"
"Oh my name is Lillia; I'm pleased to meet you." She held out her hand so he could shake hers, but instead he took it, turned her palm downward and kissed the back of her hand like someone from the 18th century. It should have been odd, but it seemed to come naturally to him. As his smooth lips graced her hand his brows raised and those penetrating eyes were gazing into her face once more. His hand was warm and smooth, but it gripped hers almost too hard. "My name is Loki…the pleasure is all mine." He squeezed even harder, and she felt almost worried. She noticed some of her students were watching this exchange and she decided to keep things professional and move on to another exhibit.
"I'm very flattered at your compliment, but I should get back to my students, we have a lot to see." As she stepped away from him she imagined him asking her to tour the museum with him. She would give her students the day off, and this stranger would spend all afternoon with her. They would share a magical kiss during the sunset, and then her pumpkin carriage would show up to take her home. What a terribly syrupy imagination she had.
"Be well," said Loki as he straightened up and turned towards the hieroglyphics. She noticed that he carefully looked her up and down as if she were a sculpture he was admiring. Then he stepped back to continue reading the ancient scripts. His name sounded familiar, where did she know that name from?
"Mrs. Middleston, the worksheet asks about the book of the dead, but I can't find the translation; it's only in hieroglyphics in the diorama. Can you help me?" asked Yesenia, one of her more stressed out students. "Of course, let me have a look."
Lillia was told by the program description that the museum would have the entire book of the dead translated, but she saw only the hieroglyphics. "Oh Yesenia, no wonder you couldn't find it, they didn't translate this part of the book." Lillia was slightly irritated at the mistake of the museum, but she liked showing off for her students. She could read and understand hieroglyphics; it looked like she'd just have to translate for them. "Class, gather around; if you look at your worksheets on question 11, I'll have to translate the inscription for you so please listen carefully." She proceeded to translate the hieroglyphics, occasionally taking the time to explain some of the symbolism, as her students seemed genuinely interested in the writings. The man named Loki was once again staring at her; she wasn't sure whether to be flattered or frightened. He stared at her so brazenly. She glanced at her watch to discover that it was almost time for lunch. She gave her class the 5 minute warning and took the opportunity to sit down for a moment.
"I hate to interrupt you once again, but I overheard you reading those complex hieroglyphics." Loki was suddenly sitting next her, and she had no idea how she had failed to notice his presence. He was sitting close enough that she could smell his scent. He didn't smell of cologne, but he smelled clean and musky. It was like the smell of the first snowfall, where everything is fresh but freezing. There was also something warm to his smell, like hickory embers from a stone fireplace. She was feeling intoxicated with his scent, and noticed his eyes boring into her.
"Yes, my specialty was Egyptology. I love learning languages anyways, and I have always had a passion for Ancient Egypt." Her cheeks were blushing again, but that paled in comparison to the growling that emanated from her stomach. Loki blinked, and his gaze shifted to her midsection for a brief second. She couldn't help but laugh. "I'm sorry; I guess its lunch time. I really haven't eaten too much today, all the excitement of the museum you know." She hoped she wasn't behaving too silly.
"Of course; will you be leaving after lunch?" He inquired in such a way that she wanted to reassure him that she would be staying, even though it was almost inappropriate for a stranger to be asking that.
"Of course Mrs. Middleston will be here after lunch, we'll be at the 1:25 IMAX showing of Prehistoric Seas if you want to sit with her" said Yesenia with a knowing smile. Lillia gave Yesenia an exasperated glance, this stranger might be a psychopath and now her student had just invited him to sit with them in a darkened theater.
"I wouldn't impose on a class outing, just hoping Mrs. Middleston would be able to continue savoring one of her favorite places." Loki turned to Lillia and gave her a slow smile. "Enjoy the rest of your afternoon." He slid off the bench with grace, stood up and gave a little bow to both of them. "Ladies." With that he walked out of the exhibit. How did he know this was one of her favorite places?
"Yesenia! Don't do that with strangers, he could be dangerous!" Lillia scolded Yesenia and was embarrassed that her student recognized that she was distracted by this Loki character. Was it that obvious? She scolded herself for letting a strange man kiss her hand in front of her students.
"You let him kiss your hand Miss! I thought you looked interested, besides he's pretty cute for a gringo." She giggled, and gave her teacher a nudge. "No tienes un novio, correcto maestro?" Yesenia was enjoying this too much.
"Cuidado Yesenia, let's just get everyone and go to lunch." Great, even her students knew she was hopelessly single, but she wasn't about to let this incident ruin her day. She hoped she hadn't endangered her students in any way; but Loki didn't seem to notice anyone else in the museum, let alone her students.
The sun was shining and the sky was perfectly azure. Fall had set in, but today was warm and they were able to eat their lunches outside on the park benches. Some of the students were running around, and others were lying on the grass enjoying what was sure to be one of the last nice days of the year. Lillia reflected on her meeting with the stranger. He was so handsome, but she couldn't understand how he could affect her so deeply. Maybe she was just spending too much time with high school students, and that made him seem so cultured. It suddenly came to her; Loki was the name of the Norse god of mischief. Did his parents name him that on purpose? Was he perhaps Norwegian, where that's a common name? She couldn't get him out of her head. He was so mysterious, and was borderline scary by holding onto her hand when he kissed it. Come to think of it Ted Bundy was also a mysterious, good looking person, and he delighted in killing women. Lillia decided to text her best friend Katy about what happened. She needed another perspective.
They were sitting at the top of the IMAX Theater waiting for the show to start, the students buzzed with excitement as many of them had never seen an IMAX special. Lillia was sitting at the end of the row near the steps, this way she could monitor any students who felt like ditching. Everyone was getting settled in, the lights began to dim and Lillia felt a breeze of cool air brush her arm. This in and of itself was not strange as theaters are often drafty, but she caught a whiff of fire and ice. The same scent she smelled on the man Loki had just wafted past her nose at the same time the air grazed her arm. She shivered involuntarily, looked around and saw nothing; she decided that her mind was just playing tricks on her. She put on her sweater and settled in to enjoy the show.
Loki waited until almost everyone was admitted into the theater; then he used his magic and walked towards the entrance. He was invisible of course, and was able to stroll right passed the usher without even a hint of suspicion. Midgardians are not really very perceptive, and it was easy to waltz in and look around. He didn't know whether or not he'd be able to find her - but her blonde hair was so striking. She just happened to be sitting under one of the canned lights and he spotted her within moments. There was an empty seat just behind her, so he headed up the stairs. Taking a risk he walked so close by her that he almost touched her, he wanted to see how sensitive she was. Indeed, she sat up straight, looked around and seemed to shiver. She looked right at him as a matter of fact, but of course she couldn't see him.
Although Loki was sitting behind her he was able to study her quite carefully. She would occasionally whisper to one of her students, and she was obviously very engaged in the film. She was taking some notes in the dark, so Loki stood up and peered over her shoulder. She was writing in hieroglyphics. It was a grocery list, and a to-do list. How odd for someone to use hieroglyphics, did she need the practice? Was she bored? He was entirely intrigued and he became impatient to know whether or not she was knowledgeable enough to help him on his mission. He was burdened with a glorious purpose, and was stuck. It was possible this midgardian woman could help. Loki didn't wait for the end of the film, he left the auditorium early. He wanted to start formulating his plan, a grin forming on his chiseled face as he left the museum.