A/N: You guys are seriously amazing. Thank you for reading, special thanks to those of you who leave reviews.. I never expected any kind of response to this story so to see such an overwhelmingly positive one is just.. you can't wipe the grin off my face! And I apologize if I didn't respond to your review... ff makes it so hard to keep track of which you've responded to but I *think* I got you all.
Also, if you're interested I created a floor plan to Darcy/Jane's apartment (I had my reasons!) and you can find the link to that in my profile here. :)
CHAPTER THREE
The next week had gone by in the typical manner. Darcy went to work and ended up staying way too late for her preference. She came home, had dinner with Jane when she wasn't staying at the tower with Thor and then promptly crashed. Lather, rinse, repeat: the one bright side being that, even though they didn't keep normal workings hours, it didn't stop them from keeping normal working days. Darcy lived for her weekends, her real talent laying in her ability to sleep in on Saturdays, completely dead to the world until she felt ready to face it.
That week she knew, of course, that she should be thinking about the fact that Thor and Loki would be moving in with them at some point in the near future. She should have been mentally preparing herself for their intrusion after becoming so accustom to it being just her and Jane. Or just her, since Jane had started spending nearly half of any given week with Thor. Whenever the thought came to the forefront of her mind, however, she squashed it back further with a note to think about it at a more appropriate time. The more 'appropriate' time never seemed to come.
Figuring that she'd have a bit of warning, that they would need some time and help to pack and move, Darcy went about her business as usual. So on Saturday afternoon, when she managed to part with her bed and trudge into the kitchen in search of caffeine, she was woefully unprepared for the scene she was greeted with. Thor, Loki, and their respective six foot plus masses of muscle and ego were busy making the normally large room seem strikingly small, sitting calmly at the kitchen table. The visual of two Gods sitting at the kitschy formica table she had pilfered from the pile of furniture on the curb her last day living in the dorms caused her brain to come to a screeching halt. Having entered the room midway through a yawn, it promptly died in her throat leaving her mouth still gaping while the gears shifted and strained in her head.
The two brothers sitting in stark opposition of one another, one dark and wiry, the other fair and substantial, turned their heads in perfect synchronization, mirroring each other in their movement if not in their appearance. For a very brief span of time a three way staring contest ensued. Thor grinned brightly at her, not caring he was in the middle of chewing his food. Loki did a once over, eyes sliding from toe to head in a way that made Darcy feel exposed, and then simply stared at her with a perfectly arched eyebrow and a slight lift to the corner of his mouth. Darcy stood there, waiting for her brain to complete it's reboot, unable to command her body to do anything besides shift her eyes from one face to another.
After a span of about six seconds, which seemed to last infinitely longer to Darcy, her brain finally- oh, dear god finally- caught up with the scene in front of her. Her mouth snapped shut, she did an about face and stalked quickly back to her bedroom. Of course, on the return journey through the living room she noticed a few things she had missed before. Like Thor's hammer- how on earth had she missed that- sitting on the floor next to the couch or Thor's favorite red hooded sweatshirt slung of the back of said couch. Now that she was consciously looking, there were many signs of Thor's arrival already strewn about the apartment. How had she slept through that? How did they manage to not only move but unpack so quickly and without waking Darcy? Thor's voice alone had the quality of being heard through walls even when he was doing his best efforts to stay quiet. She couldn't fathom how he and Loki- Oh. Loki. Of course Loki could just poof all of their belongings over in one fell swoop. He had no problems poof-ing himself into Darcy's room and she knew that he was touted to be an extremely powerful sorcerer.
She sighed as she entered her bedroom once more, closing the door behind her quietly and resting her back against it. She was not ready for this at all. Jane should have warned her that they were coming. Darcy glanced down and groaned, this was exactly why Jane should have warned her. She had just flounced in on them wearing an oversized Iron Man shirt- hey, Tony had had boxes of them laying around the labs one day- and no pants. She thanked her lucky stars that the shirt was long enough to cover all of her more provocative bits as she banged the back of her head against the door. She pressed her hands to her face as she stood there for a moment, her life readjusting around her.
Standing up straight she figured that what's done was done and all she could do now was try to be welcoming to their new house guests. First things first, though. She needed to put on pants.
Approximately fifteen minutes later Darcy opened the door to her room, completely dressed and officially ready to face the day. The sounds of conversation drifting in from the kitchen, Thor's laughter mingling with Jane's soft voice, made Darcy smile. Her eyes swept through the living room once again, Thor's presence so obvious that it made her wonder about Loki and how none of the new items the space had acquired seem befitting of him. Maybe Thor was just messy. Darcy had a feeling she would be learning way more about the both of them in the near future than she had ever wanted to know.
She entered the kitchen once again, greeted by the smell of coffee and, noting Loki's absence, Jane sitting in the chair he had previously occupied. Thor smiled at her.
"Darcy! How are you faring this afternoon?" She grinned back at him, unable to help herself. Both his laughter and his smile were contagious.
"Better now that I'm presentable," she shot a look at Jane, "and wearing pants." She grabbed a mug from the cupboard and poured herself some coffee before taking the open seat next to Thor.
"I'm really sorry, Darcy," Jane reached over to pat the back of Darcy's hand, "we didn't really plan on this, though. There was a little incident late last night." Darcy's reaction to this was a brief flare of panic and concern until she saw Jane roll her eyes and smile at Thor who simply shook his head.
"It seems that Tony Stark and my brother are quite similar in disposition." He smiled. Darcy thought about that for a moment. She could definitely see it. Egotistical? Check. Qualifications to back up the egos? Check. Major Daddy issues? Those two had enough of those to fill up a library catalogue.
"They got into an argument in Tony's lab last night about some new project that Tony's been working on. Of course they're both so pig-headed that neither would back down," Jane said as she rolled her eyes again, "after we got them separated, Loki was stomping around upstairs insisting that they leave the penthouse right away but we calmed him down enough to wait until this morning. And since we didn't need your help or anything I just figured it'd be best to let you sleep. I know how much you love your Saturdays." Darcy nodded, unable to stay upset for too long. She had agreed to them living there, after all.
"So, speaking of, where is your shadow?" Darcy asked.
Thor's face darkened a bit, the particular expression that cropped up looked misplaced and just plain wrong on someone normally so cheerful.
"I would take care, Darcy, that you do not call him such in his presence. He is not as pleased with the situation as I am, though he has taken to it considerably more affably than I thought he would." Darcy raised her eyebrows at this and simply nodded. She'd already trodden on a couple of exposed nerves and didn't feel the urge to do so again.
She let herself sink back into the chair a little more as she sipped her coffee. Alright, so this wasn't the ideal situation. She thought she would've been able to prepare herself mentally for dealing with the two brothers on a daily bases but maybe this was better. No doubt she would have spent any 'warning' time over thinking everything, getting nervous and just giving herself a headache. This was a surprise certainly but at least it was over and done with now and she could deal with whatever consequences it wrought. As Darcy continued to burrow further into her own head, she slowly became aware of Jane and Thor staring at her, expectantly.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"We were wondering what you were doing tonight," Jane asked.
Darcy thought for a moment, the only solid plans she had for the day was to spend the day out in the world, maybe shop a little or see a movie. She felt like her life revolved around Jane's lab and their apartment, and she was itching to break free for a little while.
"I'll probably be out running errands or something most of the afternoon, but I'm free as a bird tonight. Why? What's up?"
"Wonderful! Then you will be able to accompany us to celebrate!" Darcy blinked at Thor.
"Wait. What are we celebrating? Ohmygod," her head swiveled to look at the scientist straight on, "Jane, are you pregnant? Do I hear the pitter patter of little feet wielding Fisher-Price hammers?" Jane sputtered into her drink a second before shaking her head violently. She coughed a few times before managing a response.
"Jesus, Darcy. No. Thor just wants us all to go out tonight to get to know each other a little better."
"Us all? Get to know each other better? Jane, I've known you for a couple of years and I've known Thor just as long as you have... maybe not intimately but that's only because you got there first." She threw a wink at Thor, who was used to her antics and just smiled in response, before turning her eyes back to Jane who looked a little more solemn.
"Yes, the three of us know each other pretty well." Jane said and the statement made a light bulb click on over Darcy's head.
"Oh."
"I do not wish for my brother to spend his days hiding in his room like he so often did before. I have hope that if he gets to know you and my dearest Jane he will not be so inclined. I worry for him spending so much time with only his own thoughts for company." Thor's voice was possibly as quiet as she had ever heard before. He looked at Darcy, completely earnest and pleading.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tonight should be fine. Just let me know when and where and I'll be there." Thor grinned at her again, all trace of negative emotion completely gone.
"Thank you, Darcy. I hope this will be most beneficial to all of us!" He grabbed his mug of coffee and for a brief moment Darcy had a flair of panic and nearly braced herself for flying ceramic before he simply brought it up to his lips and took a drink, still smiling. She shook her head, laughing.
"Don't worry about it Thor, I'm sure it'll be just great."
After she had grabbed something to eat and the caffeine had finally taken hold, Darcy spent her afternoon doing her best to contribute to the general congestion of New York City. She found herself window shopping, aimlessly wandering around the bustling streets. For lunch she stopped into a little bistro, indulging on rich foods and more coffee while enjoying the calm that surrounded her. A couple of hours after she had left the apartment she found herself meandering about in the aisles of a department store when something caught her eye.
"No way." She whispered, letting out a small chuckle as she went for a closer look.
Men's ties were lined up for display on a table, a few in familiar shades of red and gold. She grinned brightly, thinking that they really did go overboard with marketing these days. She wasn't aware of all the details but she knew that Tony, or Stark Industries, had some control over the profits from officially licensed merchandise. Her fingers ran along the silky ties as she contemplated where exactly these profits would go. There weren't just Iron Man ties, either. They had a few very classy options for Captain America and Thor as well and her smile grew even more when she spotted one in a muted green and purple.
"A bit ostentatious, are they not?" The voice caused Darcy's breath to hitch in her throat but otherwise she managed to keep herself collected. She turned to address the ubiquitous god.
"Can I help you?" She raised an eyebrow and he smirked in response.
"Are you employed here also?" His eyes widened innocently, "I would think SHIELD should compensate it's people well enough to make such things unnecessary."
"Oh, you just think you're so funny, don't you?" It was unfair how easily the man maintained his look of innocence. Really, if she didn't know better, she'd probably apologize for being snippy with him.
"I have been known to find humor in some situations."
"So are you stalking me or something?"
"No, Miss Lewis. My time is valuable. Wasting it by following you around doesn't seem very practical now, does it?" The implied 'duh' was clear in his tone.
"Oh. I see. So... you were just looking to buy yourself a new tie, then?" She grabbed the deep red one, printed with a blue arc reactor on the wide end, and calculated the probability of losing a limb. Deciding it was worth it, she held the tie up to his chest, against the dark green button up he currently wore.
"No, this one clashes just horribly," she tsked at him, "let's try a different one." She started to pull her arm back but his hand struck out and grabbed her wrist- at least the fact that she was buddy-buddy with Tony Stark should ensure the she'd get a pretty sweet prosthetic. It took her a moment to realize that his hold on her was gentle and surprisingly warm and, wow, was his hand large around her small wrist, his fingers easily wrapping all the way around. She looked up and saw a flicker of surprise pass over his face but his grip remained.
"I assume that was your attempt at humor?" He asked with a look Darcy could only classify as 'Bitch, please.' He lowered her arm, still holding onto her wrist. The warmth of his hand created a pinpoint of focus and for a moment Darcy had trouble remembering what it was they were discussing.
"Well, clearly your funny bone was broken or something because I am a riot, I'll have you know." She said after a few seconds, jutting her chin out as she looked up at him. He looked thoughtful for a moment before responding.
"I assure you everything about me is in more than satisfactory condition." His delivery was lower and his voice had gone impossibly smooth, but the expression on his face gave nothing away.
"Ah. I see. Well that's- that's good. For you. Good for you, I mean," she cleared her throat. "So are you going to tell me why you're here? Otherwise you're going to have to deal with more of my 'attempts at humor' and I'm sure you don't want that."
"I was simply sent to relay a message."
"You know these things would be much quicker if you'd just tell me what's up instead of making me pry it out of you," she said rolling her eyes at him. "What's the message?" And why was he still holding her wrist? The thought of what those large hands would be capable of was making her brain slow down and dealing with Loki was hard enough when it was at full capacity. She blamed the sudden sluggishness in her mind for why she didn't try to pull her arm away.
"My brother and Jane wished me to inform you that our... dinner tonight will be at nine. A place called Tenpenny?" He said the word as if it didn't quite fit his mouth.
"Alright, then," she paused, "but why didn't they just call me? Hell, why not just text? Press a few buttons instead of sending you halfway across Midtown to track me down?" There was some irony there in the fact that Loki's presence certainly ended up pressing a few buttons anyway.
"It was no inconvenience," he waved his free hand, "I do feel as if they were hoping to get rid of me for awhile. They just happened to catch me in a well-enough mood to comply."
"Oh," Then the realization of why Thor and Jane would want to get rid of him sunk in, "Oh. Well.. that's just wrong. I don't- that's just wrong. Thanks for the mental image," she cringed.
"It was my pleasure," he grinned at her, "I think I have been away just long enough to make a most inconvenient return... of course, that's only if you are quite done attempting to charm me with your scintillating wit." She glared at him.
"Yes, I'm done. You'll have to give me my arm back first, though." Loki looked down and she saw the surprise flicker across his face before he dropped her arm like he had been burned.
"Have a good afternoon, Miss Lewis." He was gone before Darcy had a chance to reply.
Darcy managed to make her way back to the apartment shortly after eight thirty. She had continued to spend the rest of the day shopping, managing to pick up a beautiful black silk dress that she was likely never to have occasion to wear, but unable to resist and figuring herself in need of a little 'treat' she had purchased it anyway. She barged in the darkened apartment, bags rustling and hitting the door frame as she struggled through. She was running late and still needed to change and somehow find a way to get there in under half an hour.
Tossing all the bags on her bed, she rushed around her room shedding her clothes, her feet catching in her jeans when she forgot to take off her shoes beforehand and nearly doing a face plant before catching herself on the bed.
"Smooth, Darcy. Real smooth." She shook her head, untangled herself from the traitor denim and went to look for something a little nicer than the overlarge sweater she had worn most of the day. Settling on black slacks with some muted gold heels and a nice bottle-green button-up, she fixed her hair and saw that it was already a little past nine. She swore to herself and threw open her door to find her purse, instead finding herself running smack dab into a hard and all too familiar chest.
"Mmph." Hands came down on her shoulders, steadying her before she over-corrected herself and tipped too far in the other direction. She managed to peek up, the light from the windows illuminating his face, "Well at least this time you weren't actually inside my bedroom. It's an improvement, at least." The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, his eyes giving way a hint of devilry and she remembered that the majority of the time she had just spent in her bedroom was in her underwear. Her eyes narrowed slightly. He released her shoulders and took a step back, appraising her. Amusement flickered across his face and she suddenly felt self-conscious.
"What? Is there a stain on my shirt or something?" Her hands smoothed down the green fabric, frantically looking for spots. He chuckled lightly.
"No, not at all. I was merely thinking that you look... fair when you aren't wearing that brown monstrosity."
"Hey-," she was about to complain about the insult to her favorite sweater when the fact that he had actually complimented her registered. "Oh. Thanks." He nodded shortly at her.
"Shouldn't you be with Thor and Jane? It's after nine and I know I'm running late but there was this dress I couldn't resist and then my clothes attacked me and it's just been a whole... thing." She waved her hand around as if it would give her excuse more validity.
"I was. I have come to collect you."
"Collect me?"
"I tire of waiting while my brother makes insipid attempts at conversation. The sooner you are to arrive, the sooner the night can end."
"I see. So... what? You're just going to poof us into the restaurant? Is that a bright idea? I'm not too sure how much people would appreciate us just appearing out of thin air."
"No one will notice unless I wish for them to notice. You forget to whom it is you're speaking."
"Right, right," she nodded. "Uh. Let's go then, I guess. What do I need to do here? Piggy-back ride? You going to carry me bridal style or something?" She thought for a moment and cringed, "is it going to hurt? If it's going to hurt I'd rather just walk. I'm really not one for pain, I've got a really low toler-" she cut herself off when she saw the impatient look on his face.
"It have been informed it is not painful, merely slightly uncomfortable. As a mortal it would be best if you held your breath." He looked at her expectantly as she inhaled and held her breath, cheeks puffed out like a little girl. He took hold of her left arm and before she knew it she was sucked into a vacuum and everything went black.
Her vision came back with startling clarity. Colors flashing brightly and more vividly than she thought possible. The wind whipped around her like a tornado but her fear of falling was stayed by the sensation of Loki's hand on her arm. He was barely gripping her but at the moment she felt like her entire life was anchored down by that touch and she felt, she knew, that their connection would remain unbroken until Loki broke it himself. It was over quickly, however. She had only but a brief moment to lament the fact that her hair would likely be a rats nest before everything went black again. This time when her vision came back it was accompanied by the din of people talking and silverware clattering against ceramic dishes. It was like turning the radio on, not realizing it had been left on the highest volume setting. She cringed as the sounds roared in her ears, giving her a slight case of vertigo before someone finally adjusted the volume knob and it petered out to a normal level.
She stumbled sideways slightly, Loki's other hand reaching out to her to keep her steady as she let out the breath she had been holding.
"Whoa." She looked around and saw that they were standing right inside the entryway and yet no one seemed to have looked twice at their rather unusual entrance. She shook her head and blinked slowly a few times before she felt stable enough to take a step back. Loki let his hands drop to his sides.
"That was.. pretty cool actually," she nodded slowly, "so does it take the same amount of time no matter where you go? Like, if you were to poof yourself from here to Asgard would it take longer?" He looked at her curiously, like he couldn't believe someone would actually want to know about his particular way of travel.
"Slightly longer, yes, but ultimately negligible."
"Huh. Neat." She smiled at him until another thought passed through her mind, "Oh, shit!" Her hands shot up to her hair, checking out the damage the space tornado had done- and found it exactly as it had been in her apartment.
"You arrive in the same condition as you were when you left," Loki provided, noticing Darcy's confusion.
"Wow. Just... wow. Can I hire you? I mean, I wouldn't be able to pay you much but man that would be amazing. I could sleep in so much later if I had you around just to poof," she made a fist and then spread her fingers in the air, "me everywhere." The look Loki gave her very clearly indicated he was tired of this particular line of thought and Darcy was sure she was only saved a scathing retort by Thor's voice calling their attention.
"Brother! Darcy!" Their heads turned in unison to where Thor was sitting, dressed very un-Thor like in black dress pants, a deep crimson shirt and a very well tailored vest. Darcy's eyebrows shot up to her forehead and she walked over to the table.
"Wow," she gave a low whistle. "Looking good, Thor! Who got their mitts on you? I know that's not Jane's doing, I don't think she even knows what she's wearing half the time." Thor grinned at her and his eyes flickered over to Loki briefly. "Speaking of, where is our little star-gazer?"
"Right here!" Jane said sliding into the seat next to Thor. Darcy took the seat next to her at the round table, sitting across from Thor and forcing Loki to sit next to him. She noted Jane had cleaned up rather nicely for the night as well, wearing black leggings with a long sweater matching the color of Thor's shirt. Sometimes they were absolutely gag-worthy, Darcy thought.
"Man, we are one good looking group tonight," Darcy said, grabbing up a menu, "who knew we had it in us?" Jane laughed.
"For that, you must thank Loki! He's much more adept at... fitting in than I." Thor's expression could hardly be more proud if he tried. Darcy turned to look at the brother in question, noticing what he was wearing for the first time. He was dressed similarly to Thor but in all black save for the dark green silk back of the vest he wore. Darcy nodded approvingly.
"You've got all sorts of skills, huh?" Loki looked up from his own menu and considered her for a moment.
"I have been informed that I am exceedingly talented at anything I find worth my time." His expression was innocent but the look in his eyes definitely wasn't. Darcy found herself having a hard time looking away until Jane cleared her throat delicately. Darcy let out the breath she wasn't aware she was holding.
"Right, well," she sucked in another breath, "what's good in this place?" She promptly buried her head in the menu.
The night was surprisingly not as uncomfortable as it could have been. Conversation flowed freely between Thor, Jane, and Darcy. Even more so after the wine was poured. Loki pitched in comments every once in awhile and answered questions when asked directly. Outside of that he stayed to himself, never impolite but simply disengaged.
When their food arrived the conversation almost died down completely. Thor was surprisingly well-mannered, having come a long way from smashing coffee mugs and shoveling food into his mouth with reckless abandon. Well, he still did the second bit, but he managed to save it for when they weren't in polite company at least. Loki seemed to have a healthy appetite as well but he, as always, remained much more graceful than Thor could ever hope to be. Jane's hand rested on the table and when Thor covered it with his own and smiled with all his heart at her, Darcy rolled her eyes and caught Loki smirking at her from the corner of her eye. She returned the expression.
It was about halfway through the meal when Darcy started noticing some of the people around them quieting down slightly. Trying not to be obvious she glanced around and saw how people were staring at them. How they were staring at Loki. Their hands covering whispered thoughts to one another, confused eyebrows joining together, obviously aware of who the man looked like but unwilling to believe it. Why would Loki, the man who had previously tried to tear this very city down, be sitting quietly in the middle of this restaurant enjoying -or rather, not hating- a meal with what looked to be friends? Darcy looked down at his hand having formed a fist on the table. The lines of his knuckles shocking and dark against the white skin from how tightly he must be clenching it. Were it not for that one thing, however, she never would've guessed Loki was uncomfortable or even aware that people were starting to take notice of his presence.
When the meal was winding down and Darcy started to become more concerned about the state of Loki's hand, she decided to take some sort of action.
"I'm going to get something from the bar. You guys want anything? My treat!" She stood up and grabbed her purse. When both Jane and Thor asked her to bring something back with her she looked over at Loki who was clearly zoning out in his own little world this time.
"Hey. You with the magic fingers," she really should've thought that particular phrase through before speaking it. "I can't carry everything by myself, come help so I don't have to tear the lovebirds apart." She jerked her head towards the couple in question, Thor running his fingers lightly down the side of Jane's face who smiled in a way that made even Darcy's heart give a little squeeze. Surprising her by not making a snide remark or refusing to be reduced to a waiter, Loki stood up swiftly and followed her to the bar. She hopped up on a stool, noting that they were the only two currently up there, bartender nowhere in sight.
"You okay?" She asked and Loki's eyes snapped up to hers in surprise.
"I am fine," he responded slowly, eyes slightly narrowed.
"And I... I think you're lying." She responded. Loki gave her a long look and she rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah. God of Lies. Whatever. I noticed the attention you're getting," she jerked her thumb to the rest of the patrons, "I'm getting the feeling you don't like that very much."
His only response was to perch on the barstool next to her, hands folding together on the bar, back stiff as a board. The -only slightly- awkward silence was broken by the appearance of the bartender. She gave a sidelong look at Loki, considered for a moment, and then placed her order. As the man proceeded to make their drinks Darcy busied herself by staring at the god next to her, trying to break the shell around him with her mind.
"I believe I've heard the phrase, 'take a picture, it would last longer' being touted in response to people staring so rudely." He spoke while looking down and picking at his nails. Darcy grinned and dug around in her purse, whipping out her phone.
"Smile!" She took the picture as quickly as she could and when she saw her handiwork she laughed. Loki had failed to smile but the confused look on his face was more than compensation enough.
"Don't worry, no one will see it," she said, still chuckling to herself and tucking the phone away. "Trust me, I got reamed after they found out I put a picture of Thor up on Facebook."
"I am hardly concerned."
"See now, that? That I believe." She nodded while the bartender set up a line of six shots in front of them. She grabbed one from the end and held it up. She raised her eyebrows and looked at Loki. He simply stared at her, bored expression firmly in place.
"Just drink one, please?" she huffed. He raised an eyebrow at her but did as she asked and picked up a shot from the other end.
"Cheers!" She downed the drink, set it on the bar and did the next two in rapid succession. She saw Loki tip his own drink back gracefully, saw the long column of his throat as it bobbed up and down when he swallowed, his tongue running along his lips when he set the glass back down on the bar. She waved her hand at the remaining two and she was able to enjoy the show twice more as the combination of wine from dinner and the newly imbibed alcohol settled her brain into a comfortable haze.
"That's probably not going to do anything to you is it, huh?"
"Not likely. The alcohol on Asgard is much stronger than can be found here." He looked over at Darcy, noticing the pink flush to her cheeks and the slightly glassy look in her eyes. "Clearly I can't say the same for you."
Darcy laughed and turned in her seat so she was facing him, side against the bar with her arm laying on the surface. She looked behind him and saw people still glancing over at him, nervous enough to be aware of his location at all times but not yet nervous enough to end their nights earlier than planned.
"You kind of stick out, you know." She looked back to him as his eyes flickered over to hers before he took in their would be audience "Couldn't you, you know, cast some sort of spell or something so people wouldn't notice you like you did when we got here?"
"Yes," he nodded, "but it would both be unnecessarily tiring and Thor would not approve. The mort- the humans are supposed to get used to my presence on your planet." Darcy nodded and waved at the bartender.
"You do a better job at fitting in than Thor ever did, though. It's just your face is hard to miss. And your hair."
"Thor has never cared for the art of subtlety," Darcy's snort interrupted him and he looked her over. "My... hair?"
"Yeah, dude. Not a lot of guys out there rockin' the Professor Snape these days." There was that damned eyebrow again. "Don't get me wrong, you can pull it off. But it's just one of those things that people are more likely to notice. I mean, if you decide to get rid of it, just don't go full Voldemort. That's just no bueno."
"You are very strange, Miss Lewis."
The bartender set two more shots down in front of them and Darcy drank hers quickly, smacking her lips and making a face when she set it back down. Loki followed suit. Though, as always, he managed to be graceful and refined about everything while Darcy just sat there staring.
"If you want," she hiccupped, "I could totally cut it for you. I used to cut my dad's. I'm pretty badass with a pair of clippers if I do say so myself."
At that point she finally gave into temptation and leaned forward, her hand came up and twining a strand of his hair through her fingers- just as silky as she thought it would be- she looked over into his eyes. They sat there for a moment, appraising each other until Darcy's weight shifted a bit too forward and the stool started to tilt. Her first reaction was to put her feet on the ground but the heels of her shoes caught on the crossbar and she was a bit too tipsy to do much about it. Forward she went, straight into Loki's chest for the second time that night. He placed his hands lightly on her arms and she felt a vibration in his chest. Was he actually laughing? It was a low and wonderful sound.
"I will consider your offer, however I think putting any sharp objects in your possession tonight would be remiss, Miss Lewis." He straightened her back out and she carefully untangled her shoes from the barstool.
"Right you are. And please, stop with the Miss Lewis shtick. We're living together now. One big happy family, yeah? I think that qualifies for a first name basis."
"Alright... Darcy." He looked on the verge of saying something more when they were interrupted.
"Darcy, did you forget your way back?" Jane said with a smirk on her face that faded into something more akin to curiosity as she observed how close the two were sitting to one another. Thor stood behind her, slightly more contemplative.
"Totally, dude. Sorry about that. I wanted to see what a few drinks would do to this guy. Not much apparently." Thor nodded in agreement.
"This is true. The alcohol on Earth is considerably weaker than that in the halls of Asgard. Many fond memories have been made through the consumption-"
"We were just going to head out in search of a coffee shop," Jane interjected before Thor could start in on any more tales of him and the Warriors Three. They'd already endured more than their share. "You interested?"
"Nah," Darcy shook her head and yawned. "You guys go. I'm just gonna head back and get some sleep. Long day of fighting gravity and whatnot." Thor was still looking at Loki, thoughtfully.
"Will you come, Brother, or will you accompany Darcy home?" Thor asked out of politeness, knowing Loki would rather not be left alone with the happy couple.
"It would be ill-conceived of me if I did not make sure she got home safely in her... condition, I would think." Thor nodded in response and stepped forward, clasping Loki's shoulder as he smiled, "Then I will see you in the morning!"
The four of them finished saying their farewells, Darcy settled her bill at the bar and she followed Loki out of the restaurant. When they got out into the cool, crisp air he turned to her and extended his hand, she held her breath as she took it and was once again pulled into the space tornado. This time when her senses came back to her on the other end, there was only the ticking of the clock and the shadows splaying across her bedroom walls. She looked up at Loki and shook her head.
"You know, you could've at least brought us back into the living room. Pretty soon I'm going to think you're pulling an Edward Cullen on me."
She walked over to her bed and sat down on the corner, planning on removing her shoes but as soon as she made contact with the padded surface she couldn't help but let herself drop completely backwards, arms out like angel wings, shutting her eyes. She sighed as she realized just how tired she was, hearing the rustling of fabric as Loki moved around.
"You are a strange being, Darcy." She could only smile half-heartedly in response, already halfway to unconsciousness but she thought she might have heard him say, in a voice so quiet she couldn't be sure it wasn't just her imagination, "I can see why it is my brother is so fond of you," before she drifted completely away.
And if, in the middle of the night, she woke up and found herself shoe-less and tucked under her covers, her head on her pillow, well... that was just something she would have to think about, wasn't it?