Hello, and welcome to my little story. As stated in the description, this idea came as a result of no sleep and lots of coffee. It is also my first fanfiction, so please forgive/offer tips for what mistakes i will make XD This story is based on "what would Loki listen to?/What song represents his character?" Suggestions are welcome and comments would be greatly appreciated :) with that being said, read away!
The sun was nearing its apex, casting one side of the street in shady darkness and the other in a glow, refracting beams to glare in the eye of the unfortunate passersby. The man with the long black hair squinted against the sun, ducked his head, and then somehow appeared in the cool shade before a simple coffee shop. Not a soul seemed to notice the sudden inexplicable movement of the sharp featured man. They all went about their business, choosing not to see what could not be explained. The smell of coffee permeated that side of the street, luring the occasional walker to step in. The man stood there for a moment, hand resting on his chin as though debating a matter of great importance. Then turned on his heel and entered the chipped red door.
The interior of the shop was not at all grand. An assortment of chairs littered the main walk way, every one of them in close proximity to an equally varied assortment of tables. More than half of them were occupied and a short line worked its way to a gleaming counter. An amicable looking red haired man took orders while a harried college student made coffee as fast as her hands could work. The noise level was surprisingly low and the faint thrum of a guitar could be heard over the conversations that swirled about the room. It was a welcoming place, but the first shock of entering the unexpected atmosphere almost sent the dark haired man back out the door.
He waited almost hesitantly on the threshold, his eyes taking stock of the entire room, when a flash of green caught his eye. A girl was staring at him, her arms crossed in front of her, a tiny smile poised on her lips. She straightened as he looked at her and waved a hand, as though asking him to sit. The man, instead of becoming more wary, exuded charm almost entirely disguising the predatory glint in his eyes and step. The girl leaned back in her chair as the man approached, and extended her hand to the empty seat in front of her.
"Care to join me?" she asked, just loud enough so he could hear. A grin was on her face and her plain green eyes held just bit of mischief. The man was seemingly intrigued, for he gracefully occupied the chair and commenced inspecting the order choices displayed quite prominently behind the counter. The girl did not follow his gaze; instead she occupied herself with tidying the table, folding shut the sketch pad, and stacking her books away. She evidently spent quite a lot of time in this shop, as shown by the various objects previously strewn across the surface and the two mugs, once filled with coffee resting on the edge of the table. The elegant man was beginning to look confused, the order board being a scruffy affair, somewhat smudged and written in a handwriting that was not at all neat. A soft chuckle caught the man's attention, a slightly mocking sound. He turned sharply, his eyes glaring and filled with irritation.
"Excuse me you uncouth…" The man's strangely accented voice, was abruptly cut off by two loud raps on the table and a low whistle, all of which were executed by the still smiling girl opposite of him, her eyes focused on the busy coffee bar. The ginger behind the counter called out a, "Be there in a minute." and she turned again to the irritated, though curious gentleman across the table.
"You're Loki aren't you? Why are you wandering around this corner of the world? If you don't mind me asking of course…" She winked at him, leaning back into her comfortable armchair as if she hadn't invited the god of mischief, and overall a very bad man, to share her table. Loki himself was somewhat shocked, but again his charisma jumped a level as he leaned forward, the light from the window glinting across his very hard eyes.
"So what if I am? I know it's terribly rude to answer a question with a question, but you must forgive me. My manners aren't what they used to be." Their gazes locked, both seemingly trying to decipher the other's intentions, the silence between them filled with the subtle sounds found in coffeeshops. At that moment the college student who had been helping behind the counter came up, setting two cups of strong tea on the table and whisking away the cold coffee mugs,
"My shift's done Grimm," she called over her shoulder as she walked away, "and I'll be leaving in a second, My class starts in 20 minutes." The girl, now found to be called 'Grimm' reached for sugar bowl, conveniently located in the center of the table.
"Gotcha," she replied, her gaze still directed to the tricksy man who now watched her in bemusement.
"Grimm?" he asked, momentarily distracted from the task of determining her possible threat to his plans by the unexpected nickname.
"Yes," Grimm replied, picking up the warm mug and carefully sipping the now sweetened tea, "that's what they like to call me."
"And who exactly are you? You seem to have realized my identity, mere mortal though you are." Loki said smoothly, turning his attention to the identical cup of tea before him. Though he seemed fully absorbed in doctoring his brew, he was keenly intent on the girl across from him. She settled the cup with a dull thump on the wood and leaned on one hand,
"I guess you could call me a people watcher of sorts, you know being a psychology student and all." Grimm absent mindedly tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear and continued, "I simply have a knack for figuring out certain things from them." Loki looked at her, one brow perfectly arched, and asked with a wry twist in his voice,
"what kind of things? Please tell me it's not the state of some one's childhood, that would be so terribly mundane." He smirked as Grimm let loose a laugh at his comment, the sound drawing a smile from some of the other patrons as well. Still chuckling, she took a drink from her mug then answered,
"No, nothing that in depth. But I can bet you ten bucks that I know your soon-to-be-favorite song." Grimm grinned, the mischief in her eyes flaring to life again, challenging the god of the aforesaid mischief to take the wager.
"Oh really?" he queried, affecting a sophisticated pose in his chair, "and what makes you think you can possibly know a thing? I am notoriously… difficult to read." Loki took a drink of his tea, waiting to see if this Grimm would reveal her trick. She just grinned again and tapped the side of her nose,
"Instinct and guesswork, they get lucky every once in a while, even against the master of lies." Grimm tilted her head, her hair narrowly missing getting dunked in the rapidly cooling mug that still sat before her, "Aren't you curious to know what I've guessed?" Loki pretended to be disinterested, then in a tone he would have used to humor an infant replied,
"Fire away mortal." and he drank again of that uncommonly good cup of tea. She smiled and pointed a finger at him, and said in a mockingly official tone,
"I predict that you, Loki Layfaurson, would greatly enjoy 'Tainted Love' by Soft Cell." Her announcement made, she dropped her hand and drained the last of her tea, shrewdly watching the god's reaction. Loki simply looked at her with eyebrows raised, his expression saying, 'is that all?' He opened his mouth and scoffed,
"That is your 'prediction'? How terribly boring, I must have overestimated your cunning." His voice dripping in derision, he moved to stand but caught the amused look in Grimm's eyes, somehow unaffected by his dismissal.
"You've never even heard of them have you?" she said, the corner of her mouth pulled up in a smirk. Loki tossed his head,
"I have no time to invest trying to make sense of what little barbaric culture this realm has." He looked warily at the still grinning girl. "But I suppose I could bother to find this particular tune, if it means only winning a silly bet." His voice deepened to a dangerous tone as he mentioned winning, reminding Grimm of the blatantly risky practice of challenging a god. But she only stuck out her hand and said,
"Ten bucks says that next week you'll walk in here with a new appreciation of our 'barbaric' culture, at least in the realm of 80's techno." She winked at Loki, seemingly ignoring his ambiguous threats. The god stood there, staring at this strange girl, her hand unwaveringly waiting, for a long moment. Then he allowed himself a smirk and shook on it, before walking gracefully toward the door.
"See you next week Grimm," He paused on his way out and turned looking back at her, "'Tainted Love' was it?" Loki bared his teeth in a semblance of smile and vanished in the blink of an eye, firmly resolved to prove her wrong.
Behind him, the girl let loose a long sigh, willing the adrenaline in her bloodstream to disappear, her rapid heartbeat the only indication of her rash decision. "That idiot thinks I'm in love with him." She scoffed, shaking her head sagely at the impudence of some distinctly handsome tricksters. "He's not half as observant as he thinks he is," She said, directing this comment to the red haired man, who settled into Loki's recently vacated seat, the counter now quiet as the midmorning crowd trickled out the door.
"I bet," he replied with a smile as he gently held her hand and listened to the thump of Soft Cell as it reverberated round the coffee shop.
Thank you for reading and please share what you think! What do you think Loki would enjoy listening to? -GGG