Author's Note: Hello everyone! Just a FYI - this story is not going to be very long, I actually wouldn't expect it to reach 10 (which was what I was hoping). This chapter has some insightful Loki, which was probably the most fun to write! I wish you could get the inner monologue of characters when watching a movie, I would think Loki would have some long soliloquies that would slowly get nuttier and nuttier XD.

Tell me what you think! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.


Maggie didn't miss much when it came to her shop, keeping an eye on the moods of her customers was her specialty - she always had to know how they felt over her bagels, coffee, or whatever other pastry they bought that morning before work. Very few New Yorkers stayed in her shop in the early morning, most running through on their way to their own nine to five, but the ones who did (mostly regulars) were watched closely whenever they took a bite or sip as they read their papers or typed in their laptops. Maggie prided herself on her customer service, most telling her she had the best smile in the city (though she didn't wear her low-cut tops for nothing). She ran a tight ship, keeping hold of the front counter and baking the night before for the bagel rush early in the morning, Gabe coming in to start up the fryers for the mid-morning bruncher's and the early luncher's. When she first opened her place, she kept up two servers for a long time, but after a while Chase became her main server, the second exchanging in and out as time went on. The shop really only needed one server so long as Chase was on, but the boy needed time off, like any other normal person, so Maggie tried her best to provide relief where it was needed.

All morning she kept an eye on Loki as he worked, finding that he and Chase had a very interesting rivalry going on, their shared glares and rough words that crossed between them a giant tip-off. Surprisingly he wasn't doing too badly for his first day, she caught a few things that she would've expected someone new to make, but other than that he dazzled everyone that sat down (especially the women). He was actually quite dapper as a waiter, his hands always clasped behind his back when he arrived at a table, his voice smooth and proper. Never once did he say thank you, but it was almost as if he never needed to and when he left every group would lean in and laugh together, sneaking glances at the man as he left. Maggie couldn't help but chuckle to herself at the next set of girls giggling after Loki left their table, slightly hushed voices wafting through the room of the hot waiter taking care of them. She grinned at him knowingly, but he simply scowled back and continued his duty.

When the afternoon hit, Maggie waltzed up to him, throwing a thumb over her shoulder.

"Time for lunch," She said with a tilt of her head, motioning for him to follow her. She led him into the back kitchen and passed the cook who nodded at Maggie with a grin on his face, his head bobbing to some type of music that came from a rectangular object above one of the fryers. They walked into a small room with a table and chairs, a pair of plates with food stacked on both laid there for the both of them, Maggie motioning for him to take a seat.

"You did a pretty damn good job out there this morning," She offered after sitting, grabbing a potato chip and crunching on it loudly.

A smug smirk spread proudly over the man's face, lifting his sandwich and taking a healthy bite as she did, his eyes widening slightly. "This is delicious," He admitted before he could stop himself, his mouth full of food and Maggie laughed.

"That's Gabe for you," She said with a smile. "Makes some of the best food in town. Try a potato chip, they always go best with a sandwich."

Loki did without a word, nodding quickly with his eyes cast down on his plate. Maggie chuckled again, punching him lightly in the shoulder. "You're allowed to enjoy something while you're here you know."

Without a word he glanced at her as she leaned down and took another bite of her food, munching quite happily without a care in the world.


That night Loki collapsed in his bed, a soft sigh erupting from his lips as his head hit the pillow. He had just experienced the life of a servant - he, a prince parading about serving food to these lowly humans! It disgusted him to no end and according to that blasted woman he was to do it again tomorrow. He tugged at his raven locks, a frustrated groan wracking his body. He would have given anything else, even to be locked in the dungeons, so long as he was on Asgard. Rolling onto his back, he stared up at the white ceiling, feeling the faded core of power deep inside of him that was out of reach. He wanted nothing more than to try and break Odin's suppressive spell that locked his only power within him, but from the day he had, he reserved no energy to attempt something so consuming. If only he was back in Asgard locked away, he would have been out of there in days with nothing else to do but bide his time, working within himself day in and out until he would be free. How much easier his revenge would be taken out that way. Now he was forced into something like this simply for the fact he needed a place to stay and food to eat - Maggie supplied him for every meal, his dinner waiting for him much like his lunch had that afternoon.

He growled lowly in frustration. That woman! That woman kept him here! He was a god, a prince, demoted to that of a lowly servant and it was all because of her. His anger smoldered from the thought, hating her from the very depths of his soul. She was probably laughing at his fate right now, the former god, leader of an army that would have wiped out the entire planet, reduced to a waiter to giggling human females. He sneered at the ceiling above him before huffing and rolling on his side. His green eyes scanned the empty room, silently wishing he had the Asgardian library at his disposal once more. He missed it the most, the musty smell of books and the silence. Oh, the solitude. How many countless hours did he spend there? Rising a few hours after dawn and not leaving until after dark - it was the best thing to look forward to when he awoke in the morning. Now he was truly stripped to nothing. No magic, no family, no crown and no books. Even his shoulders felt empty, the familiar weight of his cape leaving him unsure.

He wondered suddenly what his brother did when he came to Midgard, stripped of his title and thrown away just as he had wished it. He met that woman of course and he found out soon enough that he no longer could wield Mjolnir, but what did he do? He saw the crushed face of his usually boisterous half-brother when he told him he was no longer allowed in Asgard, but never did he believe he would receive the same fate. How cruel his father was to cast both of his sons, one always needing to return, but the other... was no longer needed. No, the plans that were made for him as a child were broken after his attempt to destroy the planet in which he was taken. He supposed that his ability to bring the two races together burned to ash when he struck Odin's staff into the Bifrost. His chest felt hollow at the thought.

Suddenly Loki felt the exhaustion overtake him (which thoughts of his father always did) and with another glance around the room he rolled onto his back again. Sighing heavily, he punched the pillow underneath his head, grumbling lowly when it did nothing but flatten the object more. Bouncing heavily, he turned towards the wall, wrapping his arms around himself as he allowed his mind rest and sleep overtook him.


"You're gonna love it," Maggie called over her shoulder, a large grin on her face as she walked the city streets, a bounce in her step. A pouting Loki followed, his step purposefully slow, Chase walking next to him, laughing lightly at the happy woman in front of them.

It had been almost a week since Loki had been cast out and he had been working every day in the blasted shop. Unusually he had humans warming up to his cold demeanor and he even had regular customers (all females) asking for him to serve them. Not that it made him happy or pleased at all, it just was... surprising. He treated every human coldly, but like Maggie and now Chase, he couldn't shake them. Though he was consistently tired the first few days, he began to grow used to pacing the floors of the shop back and forth wielding plates of food and drinks. Grown so used to it in fact that the past few nights he even had the chance to begin his battle with the curse placed upon him. He got nowhere, of course, Odin was the all-father after all and his spells were not of some weak sorcerer, Loki had some work ahead of him.

Unfortunately on a day like today he would have been able to make some type of progress, but Maggie had showed up at his door with Chase in tow, claiming he needed to find some new clothes. He wasn't sure why he needed anymore, but he found after this woman made a decision it was difficult to sway her from it. So, tugging him from his room they walked the city streets, the god feeling quite exposed to the mass of humans walking around him, unsure if anyone would recognize him as the one who nearly overtook the world. He was a murderer here on Earth and like every civilization it was always... frowned upon.

"Here we go," Maggie said proudly, shaking Loki of his thoughts of torture and brutality, all with him at the center of the carnage. They stood in front of a large building with several glass windows showing off different pieces of clothing from dresses to suits. Pulling open the door Maggie headed inside, Chase and Loki following, eyeing the racks of clothes around them.

"Mens is back here," Maggie called, already at the back of the store, waving like a mad woman like they couldn't already see her.

"Hmm," The woman hummed as Loki walked up next to her. "I'm not sure what you're style would be like." She glanced at him, eyeing his body up and down before looking back at the rack in front of her. She grabbed a few things, holding them up to the slouching god (scolding him for doing so) and flipping them over her arm. She piled the clothes she chose into a tiny room with several mirrors, grinning at the clothes Chase brought over and adding them to the mix.

After Loki was shoved into the room, he was forced to show the now sitting Maggie and Chase every piece of clothing they picked, watching them react quite comically to their sneering or jeering faces at one piece of fabric after another. By the end of it all, he was more exhausted than he was at the end of a normal day acting as a servant. After leaving, all with bags in hand, they went to a small restaurant with an open patio, Maggie insisting to sit outside for the fresh air.

"Well that was fun," Maggie commented with a grin after they sat and ordered drinks, Loki finding it quite pleasant to be the one waited on again. "You got some really nice clothes there Lance."

He winced at the name, never truly growing used to it.

"Yea now people won't wonder why you're in the same shirt and pants every day," Chase laughed and Maggie hit him in the arm, sending him a stern glare. Loki watched this exchange with mild interest.

"Was that the reason for all of this?" He asked, gesturing at the bags that surrounded the trio.

Maggie glared at Chase a second more before turning to Loki. "I noticed some of your regulars were noticing," She said with a shrug. "I can't have employees turning my customers away because you wear the same thing every day."

Loki cocked an eyebrow at the woman beside him, wondering how it was that she noticed such a thing when she was always so busy tending to customers at the counter. Never once did he find the woman standing still unless she was sitting at a meal with him, even then leaving before him and slipping back out to take care of people that were waiting. Silently he asked her why she was watching out for him, but dismissed the thought when her words filtered back to him. Her customers, she said. If anything this woman was business savvy and if that meant getting her employee's wardrobe in shape, so be it. He was ridiculous for even attempting to think otherwise, not that he ever would. He was a god amongst mortals after all.