"Listen, I know that you are still bumming that your big blond god dumped you for Sif, but this is the perfect opportunity for awesome rebound sex. It's a masquerade ball so you don't even have to see the guy's face and it will help you get over the dumb Labrador retriever."
"Darcy! He was not dumb!" Jane objected, looking up from her microscope to give the other woman a reprimanding glance. She looked back down, "Besides, I have work to do." She heard Darcy's snort and suddenly her chair was being rolled backwards.
"Darcy! I just said that I have work to do!" Jane attempted to slide back to the microscope, but Darcy just continued to pull her away.
"I don't care Jane! I already bought you a dress! And it was expensive so you can't not wear it!" Darcy knew just how to guilt her.
"Wow, this is beautiful Darcy…it must have cost you a fortune…" Jane frowned. The dress was dark, emerald green, tight around the bodice down to her hips where it expanded and fell to her feet. The top portion was all green lace, while the expanded bottom was emerald of a different, lighter fabric.
Darcy shook her head.
"Nah, it was my Grandma's and she didn't want it anymore. It seemed like just the old fashioned thing that you'd like, and you look hot in it, which is impressive for something from the 1920's." Darcy declared. Jane sighed. She should have known Darcy was lying.
"Really Darcy?" She was ignored.
"Here, I did buy this though." Darcy handed her a mask. It was a simple matching green lace mask that covered her eyes and the bridge of her nose.
"Shoes?" Jane questioned and Darcy groaned, clapping herself on the forehead.
"Crap. I forgot that you only own converse and other sneaker crap…I wonder if I have a heel in your size…" Darcy headed to her closet and Jane's frown deepened.
"Darcy, you are two sizes smaller than me." She pointed out.
"Yeah, but these will work. They are like two sizes big on me." Darcy handed her plain black heels, then forcing her to wear them.
Jane decided she was going to hate this night.
"Jane! The only way you will have fun is if you dance or at the very least interact with people! Come on, I won't even make you have rebound sex with any…" Darcy trailed off, "Actually, unless the guy beelining to our table is for me, then yes, I will in fact make you have rebound sex. With him. You can see how hot he is, even with a mask on…god I hope he isn't coming for you." Darcy sat up straighter, perky. Darcy glanced up and could tell immediately who Darcy was talking about.
Black hair, pale as snow, tall, lithe, and sophisticated. Thor's polar opposite. He was wearing an outfit that almost seemed to match hers, an emerald scarf replacing any sort of tie. And when she glanced up to his mask covered face, she saw the scarf matched his eyes shockingly well.
"Hello. May I have this dance milady?" Jane shook herself as she realized that he was, in fact, talking to her.
"I'm sor-"
"Of course you can." Darcy tugged her to her feet, shoving her forward. She almost went tumbling to the ground in her unfamiliar heels, but a steadying arm caught her. She shot a glare over her shoulder that promised Darcy that there would be retribution for doing this to her.
She awkwardly attempted to place her hands for the slow song that came on. He calmly, smoothly slipped one hand on her waist and took one of her hands. Then with a genuine smile, he placed her other hand on his shoulder, before returning his to her waist. She swallowed tightly.
"I'm sorry. I don't usually do things like this…dancing and fancy things like that." She laughed nervously, "I'm usually in my lab. I'm an astrobiologist." She explained, babbling on.
"The stars…" he hummed, "Unexpected." He declared. She raised an eyebrow. He smirked, not answering her question. "I like the sky. It is always interesting." She nodded. "A little bit different every night."
"Yeah." She agreed. They fell into silence that was not in any way awkward, but tense. There was a tension between them and Jane didn't know what it was. She hadn't felt anything like it before. It was…different. Jane was curious now.
The song ended and Jane became aware that they had in fact been dancing. She hadn't even noticed, watching him. They broke apart, yet Jane was oddly reluctant to part from him.
"Would you like to outside?" he questioned, reading her mind. She paused.
"Oh…" Looking around, she saw no sign of Darcy. "Sure." She agreed. He took her hand in his cool one again, leading her out the side door and on to the balcony. They looked up, hands still intertwined.
"The stars here are beautiful." He said softly. Jane glanced at their locked hands, before looking back up. She ignored her face heating up.
"Yeah, they are. It's part of the reason I decided to become an astrobiologist. The opportunity to have an excuse to look at them whenever I want." She shared. He released a breathy laugh and she smiled.
"They are not like the ones where I'm from." He informed her. She nodded. That would explain the accent she could hear.
"Oh, are you from a different country?" She didn't know why he chuckled at this, but didn't comment.
"You could say that, Jane Foster." She froze.
"How do you know my name?" she asked quietly, pulling her hand from his. She knew that she had not shared that with him. He turned towards her, eyes shadowed in the night, but mouth frowning.
"How could I not? Unfortunately enough, I cannot seem to take my retaliation against you…I feel for you, something that I have not experience before. I never expected my brother to be interested in a woman like you…I expected someone like Sif."
Her blood turned to ice. The realization hit her across the face and it was so obvious now.
"…Loki?" she didn't need it to sound like a question, because she didn't need an answer. She already knew. She turned towards him, stepping backwards away from him. She knew that she should be scared, but the feeling was missing, even if the instinct to get away was there.
He smirked, following her movement and stepping closer, boxing her between his arms and the railing of the balcony. Jane glanced backwards, eyeing the drop to the ground. He spoke, returning her attention to him.
"So intelligent. I admire that about you." He leaned close, icy cold breath hitting her face, "Perhaps I'll pay you another visit sometime soon…" She blinked and suddenly he was gone, only the slight scent of him remaining.
"Jane? Are you out there?"
She didn't know why she had a smile on her face when Darcy saw her. That was not the reaction she should have when seeing Loki, Thor's supposedly evil little brother. But she knew he wasn't evil. Perhaps he was just masquerading that way.