A/N: Here's this (kind of short) chapter for you! Once again I should be doing AP Lang homework but once again I don't want to. Also, I'd like to say that I know that the Raven's Eye is a thing in the comics and I honestly don't know if it has any significance in mythology. I really just needed a name for my artifact thingy, and that seemed pretty fitting. Anyways, thanks for overlooking that. Enjoy!

"Where did you get this?" Loki repeated, his grip tightening on Marley's arms until his knuckles turned white.

"I...inherited it. From my grandfather. And I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't get your grubby fingerprints all over it, it's very valuable to me." As Marley feebly struggled against Loki's grasp, she felt an unexplainable urge to protect this gold coin, or at the very least make sure that it didn't fall into Loki's hands.

"I won't ask you again." Loki's voice had maintained a deadly quiet, and Marley almost wished he would yell at her; at least then she would have some semblance of normality. For now, she tried to maintain the image of being indignant. She could see Thor struggling with himself, clearly uncertain about the way Loki was treating her, but the woman was holding him back. The way Marley saw it, she just had to survive Loki's interrogation long enough for Thor to get sick of it and intervene somehow.

"And I won't tell you again; I got that from my grandfather. I'm sorry I followed you, but in my defense, you weren't exactly blending in."

As soon as the words left her mouth, a wicked grin spread across Loki's face, and out of the corner of her eye Marley could see that Thor looked extremely wary. "I was hoping it would come to this."

"Come to what, exac-" Before she could say anything else, Loki's cool palm was pressed against her temple. Immediately, Loki, Thor, and the woman faded away, and she was looking down on herself.

What the hell…

Somewhere in the back of her mind it registered that this was her own memory. She saw Odin come into her office, request the drawings, and leave the coin like it was happening all over again, only in third person. As soon as her hand touched the token on the desk, she felt a surging rush of energy, and when she opened her eyes, Loki was back, looking confused as ever despite his smirk.

Marley was left with a slight throbbing in her head and the feeling that she had been violated in a strange way. The fact that this god had gotten into her head so easily made her extremely uneasy. "What the fuck was that?! I don't know how Asgard works, but here you can't just go around invading people's-"

"Well? Was it him?" The leather-clad woman uncrossed her arms and put her hands on her hips, leaning forward eagerly.

Loki rolled his eyes. "Patience, Val. I have a few more questions for our guest."

"Guest?" Marley snorted. "You treat all your guests like this?"

A hint of amusion crossed Loki's face, but it was gone soon as he spoke again. "Only the ones who think it wise to lie to me. Now, why-"

"Why did Odin give this to you?" Loki narrowed his eyes as Thor interrupted him. Marley was beginning to understand that this was typical.

"I have no idea, I was kind of hoping you all would know. Suppose you want it back, right?"

"It would probably be for the best. The Raven's Eye contains power that no mortal has ever successfully possessed-"

"You're just going to let her walk away when there is even the slightest chance she could wield it?" Loki whipped around to face his brother, his face reflecting disbelief. Marley rubbed her arms, thankful for the distraction and having half the mind to run. She knew that she should, but she wanted some damn answers. "Think of what this could do for us. I don't know why in Hel Odin left it to her, but it might have been for us to find."

"It's too dangerous; we don't know if she can handle-"

"Hande what, exactly? This 'raven eye thing'- what sort of power does it have that's dangerous enough for me to give up? Oh my god, I've been keeping this thing in my dresser this whole time! I thought it was just a coin, what in the world does it actually do? Was that old man actually Odin?"

"Maybe if you stopped talking long enough for one of us to speak, you would get some explanation." Loki suggested with raised eyebrows. Marley glowered at him.

"Alright, I'm shutting up." she held up her hands in mock defense. "Explain away."

"Look, er..." It was a moment before Marley realized that Thor was waiting for her name.

"Marley." After a slight pause, she added, "Ferguson."

"Look, Marley; We can't answer all of your questions here and it just so happens that we need a place to stay. If you grant us maybe a night or two in your apartment, we'll answer all of your questions. I can't promise we'll let you keep the Eye when it's all said and done, though-"

"Why not?"

"Because it doesn't belong to you." Loki snapped, and Marley could tell that Odin giving this 'Raven's Eye' to her was stinging him. Hmm.

"Technically, it does. Odin left it to me, you saw so yourself." Marley let herself grin smugly when she saw Loki's eye twitch.

Thor must have taken notice too, because he hastily put a hand on his brother's shoulder and turned to Marley. "All will be explained later if you grant us a place to stay."

This left Marley a bit at war with herself. On one hand, these people were complete strangers, strangers that she would have to manage to fit into her studio apartment. And for all she knew, this could be a very elaborate murder plot. For the love of god- or gods, in this case- one was an actual known murderer. As her eyes shifted from the bit of gold in Loki's hand to his face, Marley saw that his eyes still looked bitter, but he was still sizing her up for something that she didn't understand. And Marley was dying to know what. Everything inside her head was screaming at her to say no and to run as far away as possible, and she wanted so desperately to listen to her own intuition. But there was a part of her that she didn't completely recognize that urged her to take this chance.

And the simple truth was she wanted answers bad enough to do something stupid.

"Alright, fine. One or two nights, then you're out. Okay?"

"Good choice, kid." Val nodded, smiling in a way that looked closer to smirking.

Thor grinned widely, grasping her hand and shaking it enthusiastically. "Thank you, Marley. You won't regret this." She offered him a small smile, then caught sight of Loki, who wore an expression that she could not quite place.

"I'd better not."

Loki watched as the mortal woman struggled to jam her key into the door's lock. For something so trivial, she was making it look extremely difficult. Once she got the door open, he was the last inside.

"Home sweet home." Marley deadpanned, throwing her keys onto the counter. Loki looked around, taking in the very messy sight. There was a mountain of dirty clothes spilling out of the laundry basket next to her bed and half-done sketches flooding the coffee table in the middle of the apartment. The walls were covered in paintings, which Loki assumed that Marley had done herself given the eisel next to the fridge. It wasn't entirely hideous; it looked messy in a graceful sort of way.

"This place is a dump." Loki commented, picking up one of the sketches on the table to examine.

"Thank you, I decorated it myself. I can get you all something to drink- if you're into that sort of thing."

"Finally." Val had taken a seat on the sofa, but she shot up at the mention of drinks. "I knew I liked you."

Marley laughed a bit, and Loki caught himself staring once more. Her laugh was deeper and clearer than most of the women he knew, and despite her eyes being dark instead of blue, the way that they crinkled reminded him of Frigga when she had laughed.

"It's probably not as strong as what you all are used to, from what I hear."

"Anything is better than nothing." The Valkyrie said resolutely. Marley pulled out four brown bottles and handed them out in turn. Loki watched Val eye hers with disdain, and he could tell she was wishing for something a bit larger. They all drank in silence for a moment, until it was broken by Val finishing her drink. "Are you sure this contains alcohol?"

"Last time I checked." Marley smiled. "I don't drink much at my place; I can't afford the good stuff."

"Shame. Where does one get something stronger?"

"There's a place down on Fifth that has flaming shots, but I can't take you there unless Paul invites me- shit." Marley smacked her palm to her forehead, cursing herself. In all of this madness, she had completely forgotten her night out with Paul, and she had the feeling that ignoring him twice in one day, however intentional or unintentional, would not go over well. The three Asgardians shared looks between themselves, and Marley rushed to change the subject. "Anyways, we're in the apartment I promised-"

"Yes, it's very nice." Thor said pleasantly.

"Thank you. Now," Marley sat forward in her seat slightly, "someone start explaining."