Hookie

A lokaneweek fic

Prompts: Sharing a Bed, Cabin Fever, Acquaintances, Strangers in a Public Place


"—and I told them, I said, that trying to achieve fission at any temperature lower would just be a waste everybody's time, but did they listen to me?" Jane knotted a scarf around her neck with a jerk and plowed ahead, "No. Of course they didn't. I'm just the consultant they hired to ensure that they wouldn't be wasting time or resources, but why should anyone listen to me?"

She jerked her arms through the sleeves of her jacket, blew her bangs out of her eyes with a puff of compressed hot air, and continued, "I mean, I'm just a specialist in portal mechanics who knows how to do this stuff in my sleep, but why should they trust me to know when a reactor's ready to go online? No, better to listen to Chad and his business degree."

Her throat ached and her eyes were sore; she could barely stand to meet her eyes in the mirror because she knew they were baggy and bloodshot. "So now I've got to spend the next three days at least untangling the mess in the lab before we can even think about trying again, which means there goes our goddamned weekend. Again. It's just ridiculous, you know?"

Loki, head propped against one languid hand, regarded her from their comfortable nest of blankets heaped on the bed. He blinked, surprised that she had left him a moment to reply.

"I do," he said, "You've spoken of nothing else for the past twelve hours."

Groaning, she leaned over and kissed his forehead. "I know, I'm sorry, it's just..." she jerked her fists through the air as though she were wringing an invisible neck, "I could kill them. And I just know that somehow, this is gonna end up being all my fault."

"Then why go?" he asked, rolling over. His muscles shifted deliciously as he stretched. Lying there against a bank of pillows, he was the perfect picture of luxurious indolence. Jane was torn between admiring and envying him.

She sighed, dragging her handbag up over her shoulder. "I have to," she said, fretful, "No one's more capable of getting this project done than I am, and I won't have anyone saying I don't know what I'm doing."

"All your capability matters not one bit if they refuse to listen. Teach them a lesson," he smirks, winking, "Stay here with me today, and let them reap the consequences of their own actions."

She bit her lip, considering. "I want to," she murmured, "I just—"

"Can't, I know," he finished for her, crossing his arms behind his head. "Then I suppose I should bid you a good day, and wish you good luck."

She smiled, ruefully. There was nothing she would love more than to shed all her clothes and jump right back into bed with him, but she had been hired to consult on this project and she intended to earn her truly ridiculous salary fair and square.

"Thanks for understanding. I just wouldn't feel right, you know?"

"I know," he replied, "You had better go. Sooner gone, sooner returned. Do try to save some of your strength. I have plans for you today."

Okay, now she had to go. Too much contemplation of Loki's plans was bound to make her weak in the knees and distracted, imagining...

Jane blew Loki a parting kiss, opened the door to their bedroom, and shrieked as she set one foot out into a boundless void.

She pulled her foot back and slammed the door.

"What the hell?"

"Oh," he said, eyes idly contemplating the ceiling, "Did I forget to mention that I moved this room into my pocket dimension?"

"No," she said, closing her eyes, "you didn't. Will you put us back in the real world, please?"

"Forgive me my love, but I can't. The effort it took, moving a room of this size out of reality, has drained my powers. I estimate it will be another twelve hours before I can return us to your dimension."

There was no sign of anything but remorse on his face. His voice, eyes, even the slight downturn of his lips at the thought he had done something to irritate her—all unknowingly, of course—were perfect in every detail. Jane was irritated, but she couldn't help laughing at his excellent act.

"You—you little—ah!" she gave up, throwing herself bodily across the bed, landing hard on his kidneys, "You ass. Thank you."

His clever fingers began undoing her scarf. "I will accept the thanks and attempt to forget the insults. What sort of husband would I be if I ignored by wife's exhaustion and let her hurt herself by overwork?"

"Oh, that would be inexcusable," Jane wiggled out of her coat and tossed it over the side of the bed, "But," she crawled up until they were lying nose-to-nose, "if you ever do something like this again—without telling me first—I will be very upset," she punctuated her threat with a sharp finger jabbed in his chest, "Deal?"

"Deal," he undercut his sincerity by stealing a kiss, but Jane found she didn't mind.

She didn't mind at all.