Melody hated him. Honestly, she did. He'd done so much, some would say he deserved to die should that fate fall upon him. Yet, when given the chance 6 months ago, she somehow found a way to show this man mercy. It was a bit of a mistake, honestly, as now she was given the wonderful job of making sure he stayed out of trouble. Again, a mistake because not only was she not particularly fond of him, but she somehow got mixed up in the trouble he did end up causing.
The man she was more or less coping with was none other than the former god of mischief, Loki. He'd returned to Asgard, but had ended up getting banished with all powers stripped from him. Melody felt slightly smug, seeing as she was what some may call a sorceress, acting as the only one with the ability to use majik. She sometimes felt as though Loki hated her as well; not only because she was a mere mortal, but more likely that she was a mere mortal with the power to do things he'd formerly excelled at.
At the moment, the two were in Stark's Library, as they not only lived there but because reading was the only thing they did without being at each other's throats. Melody was reading Inkheart, an old favorite of hers, while Loki perused some of Shakespeare. The first day they'd been more or less shoved together, Loki had basically ordered that she not touch his books. She didn't listen, of course, and had deliberately stared him down and dragged her hand on almost all of them. Not like he could do anything about it, after all. If there were any reports of violence against Melody or the others unprovoked, he would get put in the glass cell again.
Turning a page, she wanted to throw her book at Loki's head when he let out a rather loud exasperated groan. Slowly looking up, she raised an eyebrow when she saw him staring at her with a perturbed look. "Can I help you?" She asked sarcastically, closing the novel and crossing her arms.
"Bored." Loki said simply, mirroring her actions of crossing his arms. The two stared the other down, icy blue eyes against piercing purple.
For once, Melody was the one who relented. With a groan, she slid down in her chair, massaging her temples. "What do you expect me to do about that?" She asked the infuriating man.
"Show me." Stopping all motions, she stared at him with confused violet eyes, about to blow up. He held up his hands to silence her before she started her ranting and raving. "I mean the city. I've been stuck in this blasted tower for god knows how long, and I honestly want to tour it." His expression was one of victory, seeing as Melody had lost the stare-off.
The ebony haired female had her eyes locked on him still. Letting out a tiny groan of her own, she stood from her chair, and nodded slightly. "Alright. But you've got to promise one thing; you won't start anything. I'm not in the mood to go traipsing after you because you piss somebody off. I've got to do something in my room right quick, so either you go get yourself ready or you stay here." Turning on her heels, she started towards her quarters with a quick pace.
Returning to her fortress of solitude, she shut and locked the door. Loki had a tendency to barge into her room at most inconvenient times. Placing her book on her bedside table, she started to scour her closet for her scarf and walking stick.
While most have items such as cell phones that they cannot leave without, Melody could never leave her walking stick at home. It was her staff, to put it simply. At the tip of the wooden cane sat a dark hued amethyst imbedded into it. Otherwise, it looked like a gnarled tree root that had been fashioned into a walking assistant. If the time called for it, it would grow to be about four inches above her head, the amethyst sharpening into a scythe of sorts and would glow a sickly purple color.
Unlocking her door, she wasn't surprised to find the tall trickster standing extremely close to where her door would have been had it been shut. "Miss me?" Melody asked, smirking.
Glaring at her, Loki would have growled and done something had it been someone else. However, seeing as she was the only one that was officially allowed to take him anywhere, it would be extremely poor in common sense to do so. Instead, he stepped aside, and Melody exited, the two moving as if in some death dance. Tapping her cane twice on the ground, the pole making a clacking sound, a bright light covered the two and they were outside the tower.
The reason Melody had teleported the two was to ensure that she wouldn't be hearing about this from Tony. While the man had taken her in and had more or less adopted her at a young age, he was known for relentlessly teasing her in the case of any male companions she picked up.
Loki glared at her again, and she glared right back. "If you don't like it, you can move your lazy ass back inside. If not, then come on." With that, she strutted down the sidewalk with the former god of mischief following close behind.
"Do you have anything planned for our expedition?" He asked curiously, hands clasped behind his back.
The cane tapped on the sidewalk as she continued on down the block, acting as any normal walking stick would. Her head turned slightly to glance back at him. "That is for me to know, you to find out." Melody replied, returning her gaze to be set before her.
Many of the residents of the city stared and moved cautiously as they saw the man trailing close behind her. Loki wasn't popular still, but as news came out somehow that his powers were gone, some had come to not fear him as much. Not to say he wasn't capable of murdering them still, as he had his strength still, but most everyone knew that if the mysterious woman with a cane was there, they had no reason to worry. Still, they feared him all the less.
Eyes grazing the signs on the buildings across the street, she pinpointed one place in particular. Reaching out behind her, she roughly grabbed the collar of the infuriating man and dragged him across the street. Loki let out an indignant sound, but followed at a relatively quick pace. Normally, one would expect said man to snap or say something, but he was curious as to where they were going. After all, he was the one being dragged around for once.
Melody stopped in front of a shop, straightening her jacket before turning to look at her companion. He looked rather peeved about the previous occurrence, but what could one do, when they were being literally dragged around an unknown city? Otherwise, he looked fine with the exception of his jacket being out of alignment. Instead of his normal Asgardian armor and attire, he wore a green tee-shirt and a leather jacket and jeans. He looked like a normal man, if one did not account for his hair and permanent resting bitch face. That and he was one of the most known men in New York.
Straightening his jacket, Loki peered up at the sign ahead of him. It was a coffee shop, it read. "Why have you brought me here?" He asked, voice low as he leaned over to speak to Melody.
"Because. You're British and you obviously like tea." Melody retorted. "And I didn't bring you here. You accompanied me on my daily coffee run. Get with the program, Mr. Mischief." With that, she entered the shop with Loki hesitantly following suit.
It was a cozy little place, not as large as a Starbucks would be around here, but it was quiet and smelled of, well, Coffee. This was Melody's second, no, third favorite place. Her second favorite was the bookstore. At any rate. The coffee shop had a see-through counter, much like a candy shop would, showing off the kinds of things you could buy to accompany your drink.
Melody had the shadow of a smile on her face as an older woman stepped forward to take their order.
"How may I help you two?" She smiled kindly, her grinning face slightly tan. Her tone accented her blonde hair nicely, one might add if you are so freaking interested in the description of the filler characters. But I digress..
The female of the two answered. "I'll get the… Coffee frappichino, and he'll take the earl grey. A tinge of milk in the earl grey, please." Her ebony hair fell in her face as she shifted her weight from foot to foot. Loki simply glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, wondering how she knew what he wanted. Yes, it was what he wanted, but just the fact she knew baffled him. Especially considering the fact the two had spent weeks avoiding each other.
"Comin' right up, Melody… Oh, and who's your friend?" The woman asked, turning her back as she prepared the drinks for the two.
Casting a look over to Loki, Melody pursed her lips a bit as a bit of a thought process habit. "He's Loki. Don't mind him." Out of all the disrespectful things to say, and she decided to say that.
Loki now stared at her full on, a glare rising within his eyes as she rebelliously glared back. With a warning tap of her cane, she went onto her tiptoes to lean on the wooden stick. "It would seem, however, that he would beg to differ. Pay him mind sometimes, but mostly not. He's a bit loony." Melody concocted her own fake British accent, which made the barista chortle, Loki begin to fume, and even one American man to wince at it.
"Honestly though, he's alright." Melody's voice was back to normal again. "Just thought I'd give him a tour of the city kind of thing. Y'know. Gotta start somewhere. I told you about him, remember Jace?"
The barista, Jace, paused to look at the two, then nodded with a bright grin on her face. "This fella? Well, if you say so, Melody. Here, y'go. That'll be 6.60."
Melody paid, nodding her thanks before exiting with a surprisingly silent Loki. A bit confused as to why he was so quite, she looked back to see him glaring at her with the fury of a thousand suns. It almost frightened her, considering he'd been so calm for so long. "What?"
"…I cannot believe you." He nearly growled, following her. "Embarrass me in front of somebody."
She snorted in amusement. "Honey, that's my job. M'kay?" Melody grinned, continuing down the block. She'd secured a grip on Loki once more, his wrist this time. Ain't got time for no tall-ass gods to be wandering around without her permission.
Loki allowed her to once again drag him along, pointing places out. "I swear, you're as bad as Thor."
Melody glanced at Loki, quietly laughing. "I know."