Loki sat at his dining room table. He had not been looking forward to today. In fact, he had been dreading today, but it had to come eventually. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Loki couldn't pay the rent of this decently sized Midgardian apartment alone. He needed a roommate. Loki scoffed in disgust at the word. It was pathetic. He should be ruling the world by now!
When he had tried taking New York weeks before, things had not gone to plan, and now… Now he was going to be stuck living with some petty human. Again, Loki shuttered at the idea. He delicately sipped his coffee, treasuring the last few moments of silence that he was going to have for who knows how long.
The doorbell rang, and Loki stayed where he was for a few minutes. Finally, he rose from the table, and drudged to the entrance. He swung open the door, and stared in amazement at his new flatmate.
It was like looking into a mirror. A very peculiar, outlandish mirror. The man outside was the spitting image of Loki, with a few obvious exceptions. Loki tended to be a very dark, mysterious character that kept to himself. This doppelganger, however, seemed like the complete opposite. He had curly, blonde hair, as opposed to Loki's black, straight, gelled back hair. Also, while Loki was dressed in his usual attire of green Asgardian robes, this stranger was dressed in blue jeans and a red and white plaid shirt with his sleeves rolled up. He had at his side a single suitcase. He greeted the god with a grin, and an outstretched hand with a strong handshake. The handshake became a bit weaker when the man outside got a better look at Loki. It took the man only seconds to recollect himself. Finally, he laughed.
"I'm Tom! I guess I'm going to be living with you from now on," announced the man, in a clear, British accent. "You're quite an attractive young man, now aren't you," Tom joked, laughing again. Loki simply stared at Tom, refusing to let him be on top around here. Loki was a god! He would not be overruled by some Midgardian peasant. He smirked and thought quickly, taking control in the way he was best at.
"Yes, well. I am Loki, of Asgard. This is my apartment. There are some simple rules that must be followed, if you are to stay here. Hopefully, they won't be too much for your puny mind to comprehend. First of all, we do not mention what happened in this city a few weeks ago. I'm assuming you've heard about it. Secondly, you will make as little noise as possible. I don't want to hear any yelling, singing, instruments, or the like, unless I approve of it. That leads right into my third and last rule, which is, this is, like I said before, my apartment. My kingdom. I, as you would say, 'run the show around here'. You are simply a…" Loki thought for a moment, trying to find the correct term. Eventually, he got it. "A pet. Yes. You are a pet that is here to help me pay the rent, as Midgardian money is harder to come by than I might have first though. Is that too difficult to understand?" Loki looked expectantly at the bewildered, blue-eyed Tom.
"Uh, yeah. Of course," Tom eventually got out. "Maybe he's just having a bad day. It is always hard meeting new people," Tom thought, always the optimist. He smiled again, not quite so steadily this time, and wandered, with his suitcase in stow, into the building. Loki beamed, pleased to have gotten his point across, and gestured encouragingly for his new acquaintance to come in.