Of Bets and Men!
I never thought I could have this much fun with a Norse God of old! And all we were doing was hanging out on a bench in Time Square, doing small pranks and such to quit a lot of rude and fowl mouthed people today! Well, I can get most of why they would have an attitude because of what Loki had done to the city, but there was no excuse in taking your anger on the innocent newspaper boy or a restaurant owner! So, a small bird to the face, or Loki's magic making a small mess to their outfits was just the kicks and giggles we needed. I even had a magpie steal a guy's wig after he cussed out his nice son! That made the God laugh up a storm next to me. Of course, all good things come to an end.
"Oh, damn," I frowned at the clock on a nearby TV board. It was ten minutes till five. "Come on." I stood up and stretched as he stood silently beside me. "Before they start to call the SWAT team on us." He also looked unhappy but not as much as before. We returned to the Avengers tower in well under a minute. As we entered through the doors we were greeted by the Black Widow herself.
"Close call," She replied in regards of the time. It had just turned five, yet I kept my cool demeanor.
"I know, but hey, we needed a day out of this place," I smiled calmly. Natasha nodded her head at me but gave Loki a suspicious glare before turning around and telling the others on her pager that we were back.
"Yep," I huffed and Loki looked at me oddly. "Back in Dullsville." He smirked and followed me to our shared room. Marching in the elevator with Natasha, we stayed silent until we arrived on the highest of floors; FYI: where Stark has his privet bar. Though as the Agent woman stepped out she was surprised on how we didn't join her.
"If you don't mind, we will be in our room," I said coolly and Loki didn't argue, yet the rest of the Avengers looked disappointed.
"Oh, come on, Crystal! At least have a drink!" Stark said as he was pouring something light red in his glass cup. Yet I blinked at him with a stern frown on my face. What did he just call me. "Crystal?" I asked as my tone darkened in dislike.
"I told you not to!" Hawkeye warned the host coolly.
"Oh, was I wrong?" Stark said, his voice not missing a beat with his casual attitude towards myself. "Sorry. We are all just taking bets on what your name could be. I'm guessing between Clair and Cherie."
"And this is what you guys were spending your time on?" I shook my head at them in disapproval.
"Not as exciting as your date with the Greenhorn God, I mean am I right?" Stark wiggled his eyebrows at me and smiled at us.
"You're such a pre-teen stuck in a man's body," I drawled out without apology. Dr. Banner and Clint smirked and tried to hide their amusement as Thor and Natasha looked between us with interest.
"So says the Black Diva stuck with the God of Childish Behavior," Stark countered back with a smug smirk.
"Tech! To be honest with you, Stark," I huffed with a smirk as I went around the bar towards with him. He took a few steps back from me, "I'd rather deal with his behavior than yours any day of the year." I smirked and swiped a bottle of brandy from his shelf before returning to my bounty's side. He just stayed in the elevator, waiting for me. "Let us know when you have dinner ready." Were my final words before the doors closed and started to bring us higher towards our room.
"What?" Stark asked the inhabitance in his room in wonder, "I'd rather her take the bottle than a bite of me anyway!"
Natasha just smiled as Clint rubbed his forehead but had his own smile on. The rest just asked what was going to be tonight's dinner.
Apparently, for our dinner I got a nice stake dinner while Loki had received a salad with smoked salmon on the side. Both were given to us by a woman called Pepper who I guessed was a close friend to Stark. That and apparently is his right-hand woman; Argo his Secretary. She seemed nice though as we chatted for a few minutes. Apparently, I wasn't the only one tired of hanging around with so-called heroes.
She kept giving Loki a nervous glance as he stayed in his room, but she seemed to be calm around me on the sofa. She didn't even seem to mind that I was half-vampire either; saying the supernatural was a nice change from aliens and Gods. I wanted to laugh but I kept the 'nice' act while I ate my stake.
"How do you live with that idiot?" I asked her as I drank some of that brandy I took earlier. She partook in a cup along with Loki, but he stayed away from our feminine talks in his room.
"A lot of coffee and patients – and some aspirin," She smiled at me and we shared a laugh. "Especially after he gets drunk."
"I can imagine, especially if he's been drinking around Thor!" I smirked at the ginger haired woman.
"Oh! My God! They make such a mess!" She spat out in a hysteric laugh. "Especially on Thursday! You remember how the day Thursday was made! Right?"
"Oh God," I shook my head in shame, but with a grin on my face. It is historically recorded that Thursday became a day, made by the Vikings, to celebrate their God of Thunder! Thor's-day. Converted into Thursday for the modern calendar thanks to the English settlers. No doubt Stark told the big blond this history on him and the two declared it a drinking contest day! "Oi vey!"
"Exactly!" She said and shook her head as well before taking another sip of brandy. "What I wish is he would just slow down and get some control in his life!"
"And that's the modern-day problem with business men," I sighed after finishing my plate. "Egos. They remain on this pedestal for so long that until they get knocked down on their face, they will keep playing this game of theirs."
"It feels worse than a game," She sighed in worry. I can tell she was really worried for that fool, but until he gets a grip on reality; sad to say, she'll have to ride whatever storm he jumps into. Now that's a relationship problem! Thank God I'm not a couple's councilor!
"Ms. Potts?" The calm voice of Jarvis replied from an above speaker. "Mr. Rogers has asked me to inform you and Dampire C that he and the Avengers are leaving for a meeting with Director Fury. Except for Thor and Mr. Stark."
"Don't tell me their passed out at the bar again," Pepper sighed and rubbed her forehead.
"I'm afraid they are, Ms. Potts," The AI replied in his cool tone.
"Oh, I wanna see this!" I grinned and stood up with her. "Come on, Mischief Maker! Let's go see the horror!"
"For your inquisitive mind; I have already seen said horror before," He said without looking at us on his bed. "Too many times in fact."
"And I get that, and so I'll let you draw on Thor's face with markers," I smirked at him. Wining his interest with a raised brow, he huffed out an amused snort and stood up to follow us.
"I may just let you after how many times I've had to clean up after them!" Pepper said as we followed her out of our room.
"I 'am' the Ghost of Revenge after all," I bounced my eyebrows at her with a fanged grin. "Just name it and I'll even shave their heads for ya."
She couldn't help but snort out a laugh, despite trying to hide it behind her right hand. Even Loki found the thought enticing to even 'mess' with his big brother's girly blond hair. Turning to him I smirked and said, "How'd you feel if I colored his hair neon pink?"
"Perhaps you should add a few native beads while you're at it," He lightly chuckled and I full out laughed at the mental image as we headed to the elevator.
"Let's – not do anything too drastic just yet," Pepper said calmly, for she feared we would actually do harm to those two. But I just shrugged as we road down the elevator a few floors before it stopped. Once the doors opened to Stark's bar, the scene reminded me of something I saw in my collage days, but a bit cleaner! Honestly, the only mess I saw were the glass bottles and glasses on the bar and the two drunk-heads passed out on the floor.
"Damn," I heard Loki mutter in annoyance at his step-brothers loud snoring with Stark lying just opposite of him. It was only seven pm! But I guess these guys find 'Happy Hour' at any time of the day!
"Nice," I grinned while Pepper and the God gave me an annoyed glare. "What? It's not that bad!"
"Oh, God!" Pepper stressed as she looked at the time on her phone. "I got a meeting to go to in half an hour! And he's supposed to go as well!" She sighed and shook her head at the sight. "One of these days I am seriously gonna stop covering his tin can when it comes to important business meetings!"
"Why don't you go and we'll take care of this mess," I turned to face her with a smug smile.
"Really?" She stared at me as Loki glared behind her at me, but I ignored him. "Because you don't have too –."
"Ooooh! Your talking to someone who has also spent years in a collage!" I waved a hand at her and then lightly guided her back to the elevator. "I can handle a couple of drunks! You go get ready and do what you can in that meeting. I'll make sure Stark has learned his lesson along with this guy's idiot blond bro." I jabbed a thumb at Loki as he continued to stare at me in loathing.
"Just – promise me it won't be anything too dangerous!" She stared from me to her drunk sweetheart/hero in armor.
"I'll send you a picture when I'm done," I smiled and showed her my phone. "What's your number?"
After getting her number and once again reassuring her boyfriend is in good hands along with the state of the bar, she left us alone with the passed-out duo.
"Remind me again why we are here?" Loki asked me as he sat in a small chair, staring down at his muscular, hammered, step brother. For a moment, I wondered if this magic wielding dude was going to lung at the sleeping Thor and choke the life out of him. His green eyes sure told me that much!
"Like you said earlier; this is just for a bit of fun," I said as I came around the bar, tossed a few empty bottles in a nearby trash bin. I found something useful too in my scheming brain. Thick, black duct tape. Unused and just sitting on the inside of the bar's shelf. How convenient. I picked it up and set it on top of the counter for Loki to see. I smiled and wiggled my eyebrows a bit.
He smiled and let out a short, breathy laugh. "And what do you indent to do with that?" Looking interested now.
"You'll see," I grinned and cracked my knuckles. This prank is gonna take a bit of my skill! "I just wanna know if your magic can handle this kind of fun."
His eyes seemed to shine at the challenge I offered as those lips of his stretched over white teeth. "Madam, you've only seen a fraction of what I can do!"
"Good," I smiled and stared down at the snoring pair. "After this I'll teach you a card game I learned from a modern-day gypsy."
After a whole lot of cleanup of the empty bottles and even Loki opened a window to get rid of much of the stink, we were finally ready for our prank on these two. My plan was simple. Tap the idiots onto the ceiling. My ability to walk on the walls came in handy as Loki helped me by levitating each drunk up to me, making their backs lean against the ceiling and using the duct tape to stick their legs, torsos, arms and heads to the ceiling. Also, Loki made sure the tap would keep Thor and Stark up there; with a few mutters of magical words, for a considerable amount of time. Once we were done I jumped back down to admire the work we did.
"Not quite what I had imagined," Loki said as he turned to me with a mostly satisfied smile, "But it will do."
"Ya well, you always want to go simple and easy on someone first!" I pointed out and he chuckled at me. "But believe me, if he pushes my buttons enough, then I'll turn up the heat."
"Let me know if you ever need an extra hand," He grinned at me and I let out a laugh as well.
"Okay!" I clapped my hands together and rubbed them eagerly, yet I knew that wouldn't wake them anytime soon. "Now where does he hide a deck of cards. Jarvis?"
"Top drawer above the Vodka I believe," He replied calmly above my head.
"Thank you." Smirking, I found the simple deck and also grabbed another bottle of raspberry brandy. "Ah, the good stuff," I smiled and Loki shared the same look. "Now all I need is some pretzels and we'll have a simple game while we wait for them to wake up."
"And what game is that?" He asked as I walked over to the 'snack' section of the bar. I'm glad Stark wasn't a complete idiot when it comes to drinking alcohol. You always need to snack on something while drinking, or your stomach will hate you in the morning! Settling with a bag of pretzel sticks, I grabbed them and pointed to the bar for him to sit at. Grabbing a stool so I could sit behind and opposite of the God, I pulled out two glasses for him to poor our drinks as I pulled the cards out of their box and started to shuffle them.
"This little game is called; Intuition," I smiled and he raised an eyebrow at me. "It's really not as tricky as it sounds. You simply pair up the matching numbers you have and predict whoever is around you, to what they're doing next in their day to day lives." I gestured in the room we were in. "You make the wrong prediction and your opponent takes a pair of your matching cards."
"So, a game of predications on individual's actions?" He asked as I stuck a salty pretzel in my mouth and nodded. "Wouldn't this game be better in a more populated section?"
"Yes," I drawled out coolly but shrugged at him. "But we'll start out easy." I smiled as I looked up at the two drunks still asleep on the ceiling. "It's like a tricky game of Go Fish, but instead your fishing for people's reactions before they make them. That's why I'm teaching you Go Fish first."
"Sounds invigorating," He grumbled as he drank down a sizable amount of the brandy. "But as you say; basics are important. Let's begin."
Five, boring hours passed by and we just played around with the cards. The other Avengers did not come back yet and the two drunk-tards on the ceiling have yet to waken up too. Pepper was still at her meeting, but I was able to send a picture of these two still tapped to the ceiling. She had yet to respond to the photo, so I bet I had sent it during a 'group talk' with those V.I.P. people. Anyway, back to playing cards with Loki… ya, the game of Intuition is boring without a group of people around us. We would have been better off in Time Square for this! But hey, I did teach him other forms of games with these cards. Like me, he seemed pretty adapted at any game I mentioned with cards. He was even a challenge in Five Hundred Rummy!
Finally, after several more hours of yawning, talking, drinking and snacking, the morning sun was showing through the windows. BUT, more importantly; our two drunk-tards finally woke up! Stark was the first, I won the first bet from our first game; gaining Loki's pair of eights. Course it was also classic of how he woke up and saw how he was looking down at his bar room!
"Umm... Hello?" His groggy voice called out, obviously not noticing us yet. "What the Hell is this!?"
"It's called a prank, Sunshine," My mild, happy tone drew his blinking eyes to myself and Loki at his bar. "Morning."
"You – gotta be shitting me!" He heaved out, his stomach and senses obviously tanked by the alcohol. It would be nasty if he blew his stomach right now. Despite the sight being somewhat funny; cleaning up human puke is not. I should know. Had to teach my roomy a very good lesson on not to ever, EVER, return to our dorm blasted drunk again! So, I consider Stark, and Thor's punishment rather mild.
Then he started chuckling a bit. Both Loki and I raised a curious eyebrow at him and turned to each other in question. "Should have known this would happen when you invite two, Supervillains under your roof!"
"S'cuse me?" I growled at him as Loki grinned, "I am a rouge, Sir! More or less a mercenary in 'your' tongue!" Shuffling the cards in my hand I then said. "Bet you your hearts Thor reacts the same way."
"Then I want your pair of threes if he reacts another way," He smirked at me and I just shrugged. This game can be quite fun IF you have enough people to react around you. So far, it's just us three.
"Are you two – taking bets – with playing cards!?" He asked as his voice still strained from being tapped on his ceiling and looking down at us.
"More or less," I smirked and took a sip of water. Yes; even I get tired of drinking for a while. "Hmmmm, who will return first to see this little trick?"
"I'd rather it be his woman," Loki smirked and I let out a few laughs.
"Ya, even though I already sent her a picture," I then turned to Stark and showed him the pic on my phone, to which he just huffed out in his sad predicament. "I'd still be nice to see her reaction in full."
"Not to mention a warning to the other Avengers," Loki said as he took a bite from a sandwich he just took from the refrigerator. Not caring who it belonged to.
"Mh! I'll take your fives if they say it's the greatest show they've seen!" I said after taking a sip of water. He just let out a hollow laugh, just as his so called Godly brother started to moan and wake up.
"Odin's beard," He groaned as he blinked those blue eyes of his into focused. "I – don't thing a Midgardian brew has ever done this to me before." He moaned out in question of why he was looking down at us and the bar room.
"Damn it!" I hissed out and handed Loki the pair of cards he wanted while the cheeky God just chuckled at my disappointment.
"What – is going on? Stark?" Thor looked at his partner in the ceiling party.
"We – are being played – my thunder friend," Stark closed his eyes and shook his head – or what he could shake since his head was also duck tapped.
"Just relax, boys," I said as I shuffled my hand and the remaining deck between us. "I'll let you down when I feel like you've been punished enough."
"Punished!? For what!?" Stark spat out in exasperation.
"For putting your nice girlfriend through such bullshit ever Thursday!" I countered coolly without looking at the hungover pair. Ha, hung-over. Get it?
"Oh! Come on!" He breathed out and tried to wiggle in his sticky restraints, but with no luck. When he realized that neither were getting out of a simple duct tape trap, he turned his hard gaze to Loki. "You helped her by casting a spell on these, didn't you?"
"Can't necessarily argue with the one person guarding my life now, can I?" He answered back rather smugly.
"Well you can…," Stark replied but didn't finish as my gaze turned to him in a warning glare. "You know, vampire lady! If you wanted to humiliate me, you could have just stripped me naked and placed a bow on me in Time Square!"
"Like I want that image burned into the minds of thousands of innocence!" I huffed out and shivered at the image and added, "Let alone my own!"
"I believe I had that occur to me one time," Thor replied in a soft voice and sent a glare at his younger sibling. "Though not in Time Square."
At this piece of information, Loki just flat out laughed as I stared between the two beings in question. When he saw my face he raised a hand up in apology and began to speak, "He was really asking for it! The fool kept questioning he modesty vs an entire brothel of feminine species."
He didn't need to finish that story as I stared from Loki to Thor in horror. "You sick – twisted – bastards!" Loki just laughed and Thor hung his head in shame, while Stark was still trying to think of a way out of his bindings. "And you dare call yourself Gods! I'm absolute offended to be in the same room as you two!"
Suddenly, I heard a group of heartbeats coming towards us from the elevator; hence, the rest of the team was back. Stark was struggling even more as their humiliation was growing. Clint was the first to come in, followed by the others.
"Whoa!" He stared up at his two Avenger pales and looked at Loki and myself just calmly playing cards at the bar. "Umm, do I want to know?"
"Now that's hilarious," Dr. Banner said with a grin as Natasha immediately let out a short laugh, before trying to contain herself. Captain America just shook his head and muttered out "Oh my God."
"Definitely a treat to come home to!" Clint grinned up at the pair of the now shammed members of his posse.
"Pay up," I grinned to Loki and coaxed him with my hand to give me the cards I wanted from him. He just laughed inwardly with his shoulders shaking a bit as he handed me his cards.
"Quick! Defeat the evil sorcerer and his fiendish ghoul to set us both free!" Stark begged from above them as Thor was also unable to pull and wiggle free.
"Your still into that D and D shit?" I asked in slight annoyance as the others were still laughing amongst themselves.
"What? It's still the greatest roll playing game even after forty years!" Stark countered back as if I had just insulted him.
"Wonder of wonders," Loki smirked as the other four Avengers where wondering what to do next.
"Its punishment wished for by Pepper; made possible by the two of us," I smirked at them as I answered their unasked question of why. "And believe me, though it was tempting, we did not hurt them."
"Thank goodness for that," Natasha grinned at me and walked over to stand directly under them. "My next question would be; how long should they remained like this?"
"Until Pepper comes home to see her new ceiling decorations?" Clint chuckled beside Banner as the Captain just looked plain tired of it all.
"Not funny!" Stark said as he and Thor were still struggling to get free. "I might as well be a spider's meal! And said spider is sitting right there!"
"I happen to like spiders," I gave him a lazy smile and took another sip of water. "They tend to get rid of the bad bugs. But lucky for you; I'm not all that into canned food."
Clint and Banner couldn't contain themselves from laughter. Even Loki shared in the amusement as Natasha just smiled up at them. "And I thought I was known as the Sneaky Spider."
"If all of you are done enjoying yourself we very much would like it if we got down!" Stark yelled angrily at all of them.
"Sooner than later if you please," Thor said, for he was beginning to look sick. I blinked up at him in wonder. He can't handle being like this? Maybe it was just his uncomfortable face. Hell, they have been up there for hours; unconscious like.
Giving Loki a debatable yet dull look, he returned it with a raised brow. It was like we were having a silent conversation of do or do not. But after a minute of this, I finally shrugged and said; "Eh. I got the picture, so whatever."
"Very well then," Loki smirked and without looking at the two idiots on the ceiling, raised his left hand and snapped his fingers. Almost immediately, the tap lost its remaining strength, save for the strips on their legs, letting them hang upside-down for a few seconds before the others helped them down. The sounds of their sudden panic as they fell left me satisfied as Loki and I continued to play our game.
"Ow! OW! Jesus! Easy there, partner!" Stark cried out as Banner ripped off a piece of tap from the side of his head.
"Sorry," Banner said but could not hide the smile on his face.
"That was indeed unpleasant," Thor huffed out as he combed out his hair with his thick fingers as well as ripping off the remaining tap.
"Don't be a couple of Drunk-tards then by leaving a stinky mess!" I growled out to them. "Since we're still stuck here, this will be my only warning!"
"God! Damn! I really do pity the fool who roomed with you in collage!" Stark coughed at me with a wild look in his eyes.
"I saved her life more than once," I said and gave him my lazy eye. "That includes over indulgence of alcohol consumptions." Captain Rogers just eyed at me in suspicion as he sat down in a far corner from us. Just silently eyeing me closely. "What are you looking at?" I finally asked him, fed up with that look on his face.
"Is that how you became Dampire C?" He asked and I frowned at the direct question as now everyone's attention was once again drawn between the two of us. "You saved her from a vampire that turned you instead?"
I pressed my black lips together in slight irritation as I also noticed Loki's curious gaze at me. This guy should have been a detective since he likes to jab his big nose into another person's past! "It's none of your fucking business."
I then dropped the cards on the table, stood up and stretched my back before walking out of the room. Now I was mad. Why is there always someone to sour my mood once more! I mean really?! What a stupid question to ask me!
Seeing that the Dampire was leaving now, Loki; despite not winning their unfinished game, also dropped the cards he had and walked off to follow silently behind her out of the room.
"Loki?" Thor's curious voice made him stop for a second. The God of Mischief only regarded him for a second with a silent glance, before leaving the room. Intending to follow his latest bodyguard.
"What a way of hitting the nail on the head, Steve," Stark sighed and went around his bar for a drink of clear soda water.
"I guess she's still not ready to talk about that part of her life," Clint said as he and Natasha finished scraping the duck tap off the floor.
"Can you really blame her?" Natasha said with a stern look. "She doesn't trust us enough to do so."
"Still, her lone-wolf trait is going to get her killed one day," Steve said coolly.
"Lone-vamp actually," Stark corrected Steven calmly and the Captain only gave him a look of really? "Sad to say, that's most Gothic chicks these days. More dark, less of a people person."
"Is there a way to bring some light to her life?" Thor asked in simple wonder. Natasha smiled sadly at his childish-like understanding, but shrugged at him. "Only time will tell, big guy. We can't force her to trust us right away."
As the Avengers wondered where the dastardly duo went off too; and from Stark's security camera's they saw that they were on the roof, the rest just decided to call it a morning and find time to relax in their own way. Though Captain Steve Rogers still worried about the next alien attack that would soon be coming for them, he wanted more answers on the history of Dampire C. Or what Shield could provide him.
While the Avengers did their own thing, Loki just leaned against the wall as he watched the strange woman sitting on the edge of the building, and staring off into the city below them. Her hazel eyes shining in the rising sun. With the wind blowing around them at such a high vantage point, he too wondered about this creature's past and why she refused to talk about it.
Perhaps learning more about this woman, before I leave, could be a worthwhile endeavor, He pondered to himself yet careful as to not broadcast his thoughts to her. Yes. Something would indeed be worthwhile if he could just gain her trust now. Smirking to himself, he began to think of how he could even begin to do that.
Sorry again for the long updates. Since Fall is here and Winter is closing in fast in the Northern States, my family and I have been working tirelessly on gathering enough fire wood and supplies! Not to mention it's the busy season again! School events, Holidays, sports and a whole lot more!
Well, I hope you guys are enjoying this so far and I promise to update again soon! I wanted to come up with some good jokes this time, but my next chapter is going to be a bit more serious now. Wops! Spoilers!
Anyway, REVIEW and REVIEW, for I always look forward on hearing all your awesome and encouraging words!
Love you all and have a happy Fall! BR2