The doorbell rings and startles me to consciousness. Mystic scrambles to his feet, back arched and fur bristled, while Tregul lifts his head wearily and flicks his tail in annoyance.

I curse and sit up out of bed, pulling my robe on while I stumble downstairs. I yank open the front door, blinking blindly in the sunlight and rubbing my eyes into focus.

"Hey, Avery…"

I stop rubbing my eyes and attempt to get over the brightness to see Ruby. "What are you doing here?" I ask bitterly.

"I wanted to apologize about last night. I was drunk and jealous because Loki was giving you more attention than me."

I lean against the door from, finally able to see Ruby. She's wearing the same clothes from last night, her makeup smeared, her hair frizzy and sticking up in strange places. She hasn't been home all night. "What happened to you?"

She looks down at the concrete porch and chews her lips. "I went home with some guy last night…"

"What was his name?"

"Andy? Alex? Hell, I don't know."

"And yet I'm the whore? At least I know the names of all my clients."

Ruby stares at me in disbelief. "I call bullshit. You do not."

I arch an eyebrow. "Michael, Josh, Chris, David, another Chris, Peter, Steve, Juan, Jamel, Tom, and Mark. Come. At. Me. Bro.

"How the hell do you remember that?"

I shrug. "It's kind of a buzz kill when you say someone else's name right in the middle."

Ruby closes her eyes and shakes her head. "Stop. Too much info. I get you."

I smirk smugly and cross my arms over my chest. "Anyway, it wasn't my fault that Loki was interested in me, so why'd you blow up on me and call me a bitch?"

"I told you, I was drunk. I say stupid things when I'm drunk."

"Yeah, no shit."

"Avery, I'm trying to fix things, but you're making it difficult."

I try to fight my smile back, but it breaks through anyway. "I'm totally kidding. I'm not even mad."

Ruby smiles. "I fucking knew it. You asshole."

"All day, er'ryday." I step to the side and gesture into the house. "Care to come in? I'll cook you breakfast."

"Tempting, but I should probably get home. I feel like I need a shower. What are you doing tonight?"

"Um… I've got a date."

Ruby smiles slyly. "Promise you'll tell me all about it later?"

"Of course, Rue. I'll see you around."

"Later, Avery."

Ruby turns to leave, and I close the door, the shadow of a smile upon my face.

Talking about the date has, of course, made me think about Loki again. I should probably do a little research on him… Make sure he's not some psycho or anything. I mean, what guy goes to a club in a suit? Definitely can't hurt to do a bit of a background check.

I head back upstairs and through the first door on the right, my office. My office that I never really use… But an office nonetheless. I open and boot up the laptop that sits on top of the desk. Once I'm logged in, I pull up Google. I may not find a whole lot of info here, but hey, at least I tried. I sit down at my desk, fingers on keys, ready to go, and begin typing.

Loki… Loki… Shit, Loki what? How did I manage to go the entire night without figuring out his last name? Geez, I can be dumb sometimes.

Since I don't know his last name, I add Las Vegas after his name in the hopes that it will narrow down the search.

The search results do nothing to help me. Most of the links are to Norse mythology sites that I'm not sure have anything to do with my search. But considering I can't find anything on Loki, I click on the first link out of curiosity.

I scan the article that pops up absentmindedly. Asgard… Odin… Frigga… Thor… Heilmdell… Freya… Loki… Volstagg…

Wait, what?

I scroll back up some. Sure enough, the name "Loki" captions a section of the page. It's accompanied by a cartoon drawing of a scrawny man with black hair dressed in a weird, green uniform with a golden, horned helmet. He's hunched over, hands close together, a sly, knowing smile on his lips. His face linear and sharp, his eyes black. Aside from the eyes and clothes, it's almost a perfect caricature of Loki.

I sit back in my chair, brow furrowed, and chew my lip. So he's crazy. He has to be. He dyed his hair and changed his name to match the god. I wouldn't be surprised if he had this costume in his closet. God, why do the weird ones always find me?

Wait a minute. If he wanted to be this guy, why wouldn't he go all the way and buy black contacts? And Loki's not that similar to the picture. Maybe his parents had a thing for Norse mythology. I need to chill out about this. I'm overreacting. Besides, who gives a fuck about his obsessions? He's a great guy.

Out of boredom, I read the passage on the god of mischief. Frost giant. Son of Odin. Brother of Thor. Father of… a wolf, a half-dead woman, a snake, and… Wait, mother of an eight-legged horse? Norse mythology's weird as fuck. The trickster, shape-shifter, part-time lover of the Valkyrie, Freya. Loki the god sounds fun, but I like my Loki. A gentleman is always better than a trickster. Besides, there's always the fact that my Loki's real unlike the other.

I smile. My Loki. I love the sound of that…

A few articles later on Norse mythology, and I'm completely intrigued. The stories of the princes of Asgard make me giggle. The Warriors Three – Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun – impress me. The Bifrost makes me curious. Freya makes me… Weird.

I don't know why she does. There's just something about her that seems… I don't know, familiar? Other than the fact that one of the cats that pulls her chariot is named Tregul, there's no similarity to anything I know. I shrug it off. Who knows? Maybe I heard about her once, and I just can't pinpoint when I heard it.

When I've sufficiently killed time, I get up and start getting ready for the date. I wish I knew where we're going exactly so I knew what to wear, but since I don't… What am I going to wear?