Author's note: I am glad that everyone is enjoying this so far and thank you to everyone who reviewed and favourited! In this chapter Loki and Ofelia finally meet face to face and The God of Mischief continues to scheme and plot. Once again a tad slow on the update sorry! I've been totally bogged down with college graduation stuff! Hope you all enjoy!
The soft tinks of metal against metal stirred him from his light sleep and the God of Mischief slowly opened his eyes, eyelids feeling heavy. While the remnants of sleep flitted through his mind making his thought process slow and hazy he certainly felt more rested than the night before and he could already feel his powers growing in strength.
After a few moments of dazed thoughts he collected himself and finally took in his new environment. He noticed that the facility was still dark, save for the dull light filtering through from the outside. He glanced out the panoramic windows that lined the walls and could see the rosy golden line that spanned the horizon signaling the coming dawn.
A sudden gurgling and sputtering caught his attention; his head whipped around, now very much alert to the world around him. Scanning the room he quickly spotted his prey; on the other side of the room's open expanse in the light of a dim lamp stood one of the woman tinkering away in the small kitchenette.
Carefully he watched her work as she moved from the cupboards to a large metal press pot. He soon recognized that it was the woman whom hadn't been there on his past visit to the Realm. A moment later a soft sound caught him off guard, she was humming.
Curious, he stood up and cautiously began to cross the room, footsteps making nary a sound as he crept up on the completely oblivious woman. As he closed the distance he quietly listened to the soft sound coming from the woman and although it was a bit off key and a tune he was unfamiliar with, it was not unpleasant and he found himself slowly relaxing.
As he reached the small fold-up table she still had not noticed his presence and he soundlessly pulled out a chair and sat down.
A minute later she turned around and startled as she saw him.
"Oh my god!" she screeched, jumping back slightly, the cup she held flew out of her hand, falling to the floor sending steaming liquid across the linoleum and concrete.
"Good morning." he said, with the quirk of his lips, watching as she stumbled back resting against the side of the counter, hand on her heaving chest.
"God! You scared me half to death." she finally said shakily, glaring at him behind her glasses.
Despite having heard her converse with the other two woman the night before, this was the first time he had took notice to the odd accent she had. At this he found himself slightly angry with himself for missing such a thing, no matter how small, unimportant...insignificant it was.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to." he lied, putting on a good show to sound sincere.
She continued to glare at him, her grey eyes watching him carefully as she moved to pick up the tin cup that had clattered to the floor.
"Here let me help you with that, after all it was partially my fault." he said and rose from his seat, walking over to the counter and grabbing a roll of half used paper towels before kneeling beside her on the floor.
"...Who are you any way?" she questioned as she adjusted her glasses and grabbed the paper towel he offered her.
"Oh! I'm the new S.H.I.E.L.D agent assigned to this facility." he replied smoothly, taking the cup from her though it hadn't been offered and placed it in the sink.
"Thank you..." he heard her mumble as she mopped up the mess on the floor.
He watched her work, hastily and somewhat sloppily trying to clean up the mess she had made. Though after a moment she paused and looked up at him, and he was a tad surprised to see a sheepish look crossing her features...she had freckles.
"I'm sorry, I must have come off very rude." she said, giving him a rather guilty smile.
"No." he said shaking his head and laughed lightly. "No, it's understandable I assure you." at this he saw her blush lightly, and he felt somewhat uneasy at why it pleased him to see the flush in her freckled cheeks.
"I'm Ofelia, Ofelia Lawson." she chirped and raised her hand to him.
"Lloyd Newton." he replied and took her offered hand.
He knew back in Asgard the proper way to greet a young woman was to kiss her hand; however, after observing the behaviours of mortals on his last visit he had found that this action had long since died out in Midgard. So instead he opted for the less formal greeting and the one she was most likely been anticipating, a simple handshake.
"Pleased to meet you mister Newton." she said as he released her
"Lloyd, please." He already hated the name.
"Then, Ofelia to you." she smiled and stood up, tossing the soddened paper towels into the trash bin besides the counter.
"Very well then, Ofelia." he purred holding out the her cup and she grabbed it clumsily, looking rather red again. He could tell she was now avoiding his gaze.
"Would you like any coffee Lloyd?" she asked finally, looking back up to him, gaze once again unflustered and bright.
"That would be wonderful."
She felt utterly absurd as she poured herself a fresh cup of coffee before reaching for another cup hoping that her wonderful poise and grace wouldn't further make a fool of her. She was acting like a idiot, grumbling to herself she cursed at the heat that crept into her cheeks. She had know the man for five minutes and she was acting like a petty school girl with her first crush...Stupid, stupid...dumb, stupid...
"Cream? sugar?" she called out over her shoulder, pleased that her voice at least hadn't betrayed her as well.
"Just sugar." came the reply after a short pause.
She shuffled over to the table, careful not to spill any of their coffee, though she was now regretting filling the cups to the brim.
"Thank you." he said as she slid the very full cup over to him and sat down across from him.
"You're welcome..." she mumbled into her cup as she blew on the steaming liquid before taking a tentative sip.
She was happy for the silence that filled the kitchenette as they sipped on their coffee. Though the feeling of comfort soon waned and she felt rather unnerved by the quietness; cautiously she glanced up over the rim of her glasses to the man across from her.
"What division do you come from?" she asked and set her cup down on the table. "You don't seem like you would be from security." she added.
"And why would that be?" he questioned arching his eyebrows, and for a moment she was sure she saw a twinkle of playfulness in his eyes...his eyes. She hadn't noticed before and was taken back by their intensity, they looked as though they were emeralds. She quickly decided they complimented his features very well, his high cheekbones, proud angular face and dark slicked back hair.
"Well?" and she knew she had been caught staring, but quickly brushed it off refusing to let the heat creep back up into her face and make her look like even more of a fool.
"I simply have come to observe that security usually doesn't dress as nice-" oh...she had forgot how she was dressed. With a t-shirt that was two sizes to large and a pair of shorts that she had stolen from her brother before she left for college that nearly reached her knees, she felt extremely undressed and suddenly very self conscious.
Upon realizing her less than appealing attire her mind trailed off to how the rest of her must look; thick rimmed glasses she hadn't worn since junior high. Her hair was most likely behaving in it's usual manner, completely untamed and frizzed due to the early summer heat...At that moment she wanted to shrink away, and she briefly wondered if her huge shirt would accommodate the rest of her.
She decided she must have looked like a complete wild child.
He watched as the woman's before him face fell in look of mild horror and her gaze averted to her coffee cup, looking at it as if it had become the most interesting thing in the world.
At her distraction he looked her over, watching as the steam from her drink rose up and fogged the framed glass shielding her dark grey eyes. As he continued his inspection he could see the freckles on her face travelled down and dusted her upper arms lightly; and her coppery-blonde hair that fell past her shoulders was wild and unkempt...it was charming.
And it irked him that he found himself taking note that she was indeed quite beautiful; not the dangerous beauty that Sif held or the regal beauty his stepmother Frigga had...no, it was something far more profound.
"No, I don't work for security." he said finally and her head snapped up in surprise. "I'm... in the intelligence division." he said after a moment allowing a small quirk of the lips to grace his features.
At this he saw her face light up and she leaned closer, as he expected; she was curious.
"Really? what sort of intelligence? I can only imagine the technology S.H.I.E.L.D has, probably some of the best in the world, can you imagine-" he would have let her babble on but he decided that this was not how he wanted to play his game; after all he was in charge.
"Ah,ah,ah." he tutted her and gave her a sly smirk. "That's not how it works?"
her brows furrowed in confusion and she sat back slightly in her seat.
"Hmm...Then how does it work?" she questioned pushing her glasses up and then crossed her arms on the table.
"If you get to ask me a question,- then it is only fair that I receive the same boon." he replied, mimicking her action and rested his arms on the table.
"That seems fair enough." she said after a moment and then flashed him a small smile. "Alright, ask away."
"Where are you from? I don't recognize that accent." the question had been waring at him like water upon the pebbles of a riverbank, and though it was a stupid question he decided it was good small talk.
"Really? I'm surprised." she said looking rather smug and he had to keep himself from growling in annoyance at her sudden smarmy behaviour.
"Really." he replied in a clipped tone.
"I'm from Australia, born and raised, I came to the United States for this job." she said, eyes glazing over as if in remembrance. "This area's not much different than the Outback back home, it's...nice."
He merely hummed in response, his curiosity of her origins sated for the moment.
"So now it's my turn?" she stated with a keen smile.
"That's how I said the game was played, yes." he replied leaning back in his seat nonchalantly.
"Alright, as I asked before what sort of intelligence are you in?" he could see she was skipping right over the small talk and going right to the heart of the matter, and he had to admit he admired that. Someone who knew what they wanted and was not easily deterred from their objective.
"Very well, I'm actually interested in your department, well yours and your companions." he replied smoothly; eager to put his plan in motion and plant the seeds of misguided trust.
"So S.H.I.E.L.D actually sent us someone that could be useful!" she grinned; and he noticed her nose crinkled when she did that.
"You could say that, however I doubt I have the amount of knowledge you and your partners have." a compliment, and only time would tell if she actually earned it.
"You flatter me, but Jane... she's a genius. The research she's done, the sheer amount of man hours she's put into the project, that alone is incredible." Ofelia replied, resting her chin atop her hand.
"I've read the reports, do you believe it? Do you believe she can accomplish what she is setting out to do?"
"From her notes, everything is sound enough...certainly!" she paused. "It really all comes down to finding the right energy and the proper amount, though that itself seems nearly impossible and that's half the research right there." she sounded disappointed.
Once again he merely hummed and sat quietly, allowing what she had told him to mull around in his thoughts for a while.
"I'm sorry I'm probably boring you." she said with a sheepish smile.
"No, no, it's all rather interesting." he replied and gifted her with a small smirk.
"Well it's good to know I'm not a total bore." she laughed and stood up. "I'm starving, would you like some breakfast?"
"That would be nice."
Loki gazed down at the questionable food staring back up at him from his plate, he turned and watched the woman scurrying a'bout the kitchen and briefly wondered if she was trying to poison him.
As if sensing his uncertainty about her cooking she called out over her shoulder with a chuckle.
"Don't worry, it's a lot better than it looks, I promise."
deciding to take her word for it, as she had no reason to lie to him he carefully took a bit and found himself pleasantly surprised. He imaged that Volstagg himself would have been very pleased as well.
"My dad's a chef back home." she said as she took her seat opposite him. "Wanted to be one myself when I was small...but as you can see my presentation is less then...well less then pleasing."
"So from mere chef to scholar of the stars? An odd leap." he commented and she laughed and shook her head.
"Yes it does sound rather strange, though I do find interest in many things." she grinned.
Heavy footsteps and what sounded like someone running into a piece of furniture broke the pleasant ambience of room and he and Ofelia looked over to see Darcy stumbling half awake over to the table.
"Mmm, do I smell pancakes...and coffee?" she said said and slumped down into one of the unoccupied chairs.
Ofelia gave him a quick glance before rolling her eyes and turning back to the other woman nodding with good natured yet exasperated "yes."