Adventures with the Midgardian Fool

Chapter 7: Loki

We stood side by side, toe to toe with the front door to Morgan's house; a quaint little place similar to most Midgardian dwellings. In fact, I hadn't even noticed it on the drive here. It's green siding made it blend in with the surrounding trees, so I was thankful Elijah knew the route well, or we would have likely driven off the edge of the universe before we found it again.

It was Friday afternoon; weekend, as Eli called it, as he didn't have to go back to work again until Sunday night. It was warm and sunny, with a slight breeze still managing to cool the air some; a lovely day to be reintroduced to Ben and Morgan.

Admittedly, I was just as curious as Eli was to see how this would pan out. The last time his friends had seen me, they believed me to be completely mad. Then again, so had Elijah, and now we got along fairly well, though he found my tricks to be less amusing when he'd just come home from work or had just gotten out of bed. I'd found that out the hard way when he returned Tuesday morning to find Sif in the form of a throw pillow after I'd grown tired of her tearing through the apartment in the wee hours of the morning. Gods, Eli had looked like he wanted to throw me off the balcony, but instead politely asked me to turn her back to her natural, four-legged state. Needless to say Sif is terrified of me now.

"So you said you had an idea for a way to convince Ben and Morgan that you're a god?" Eli piped up.

"Indeed," I replied, "I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Eli smirk.

"This isn't going to be like the heart attack that you gave me yesterday morning, is it?"

I struggled to keep myself from laughing. I thought it a good idea to place an invisibility spell over myself and hide around the corner and wait for him to make his way up to the loft to shower. He was perplexed by my absence, but only figured that I had chosen to go out for a walk. I had lifted my spell at the last possible moment, just before Elijah could collide with me, and he jumped back a good ten feet, nearly tumbling down the stairs in the process. For a while, I was genuinely worried I'd actually given him a heart attack before he nervously laughed it off and asked me not to do it again.

"I make no promises," I stated, "Only that your friends will see the God of Mischief before the day's end."

Eli could only nod, "Okay, but if one of your pranks leads you to get punched in the face, don't come running to me."

I rolled my eyes, "I think I'll be all right."

With that, Elijah threw the door open and stepped inside. It baffled me that he hadn't even bothered to knock and wait to be granted permission in, and instead charged inside as if he owned this house. Perhaps I my understanding of Midgardian etiquette had been wrong all this time. Maybe entering a mortal's household unannounced was a way of establishing one's superiority to another, or, perhaps, Eli was always a welcome guest in this household and he needn't announce his presence with knocking. Yeah, that seemed like a more logical conclusion.

"Erai!" I could hear Ben's voice call from somewhere inside as I walked through the door.

"Ben!" Eli called back, and I couldn't help but shake my head as his voice broke from its somewhat gender neutral tones and raised in pitch momentarily. It wasn't all that hard to forget that he was biologically a female, but I would honour our agreement that we had made at the convention. Hel, I don't think I could know him as anything other than 'Eli' or 'Elijah' now.

The inside of the house differed from that of the apartment. There was so much more room. While the kitchen and living room were close to the same size, the dining area was larger, making the whole place feel just a bit roomier. I took a moment to admire the various items that decorated the wall from where I stood in the doorway. Family photos hung in frames, dream catchers and wind chimes dangled in front of walkways, and an assortment of statuettes were displayed on shelves. It all reminded me of the banquette hall at the palace; lined with the mounts of all the beasts the members of the royal family had slain over the years, each one striking up stories about how each beast was brought down. Of course, it was likely that with my banishment, all of my trophies had been removed, or they'd likely make for some awkward dinner conversations. 'Yeah, and that? Oh, that's a bear that Loki killed. Nobody really knows how he did it. He probably magically stopped its heart, or something...'

Yeah... that's how it would go...

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over me. Ben had stepped out of the kitchen, and now stood before me. He had a rather displeased look on his face as his eyes stared daggers into mine.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he growled, "I thought we ditched your ass back in Lansing!"

"Don't you just hate it when things don't turn out as you'd planned?" I countered sarcastically.

Ben turned to Eli, who was working on lighting up one of his Cheyennes, "You invited him here, didn't you?"

Eli snickered, "You know me too well, bruh, but he's cool. We've actually been living together this past week, now."

"At the apartment?"

"Yup."

"Why wasn't I told about this?"

"I figured you guys needed a chance to be reintroduced first. Loki, Ben. Ben, Loki."

Ben turned back towards me, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Well, you're not all dressed up in your cosplay anymore," he stated, taking note of the plain black sweatpants and simple green tunic I wore, "You actually going to tell me who you are this time?"

I let a smile spread across my face as I stuck out my hand, "I am Loki of Asgard. Son of Odin, God of Mischief, what have you..."

"Yeah, no," Ben growled, throwing up his hands and backing away slowly, "I can't deal with your craziness. Nope."

"Ben," Eli piped up, "He really is the God of Mischief."

"Oh, don't tell me he's got you in on it, too!"

"Only because he was able to prove it to me."

Ben looked me up and down before crossing his arms, "Okay, then. Prove it."

I stared at him challengingly before my eyes shifted over to where Eli stood, still smoking, his mind clearly off in another world as he stared blankly into space.

"You see that cigar Elijah has?" I whispered to Ben.

"Yeah? What about it?"

With a wave of my hand, I watched as the cigar Eli was inhaling from morphed into a twig. Confusion settled on his face as he looked at it then to me.

"Really, dude?" he sighed, "That was my last Xotic Berry!"

"My deepest apologies," I said half-heartedly.

I waved my hand again, this time transforming the stick into an earthworm. Eli's face twisted in disgust as the creature writhed between his fingers, leaving traces of slime in its wake.

"Dude... come on!"

"Alright, alright, alright," I said, "You can have your cigar back..."

I waved my hand once more, and the worm straightened out and morphed back into the Cheyenne he'd been smoking; restored to its original, unlit state, but the suspicion remained in Elijah's features as he rolled it in his palm.

"I'm afraid it's going to be worm-flavored, now," he said eyeing it carefully.

"It won't be," I chuckled, "You have my word."

Eli stared at me for a long moment before taking the cigar in his fingers and lighting it once more. He took a long drag from it, and nodded in satisfaction. Before, he could take another drag, however, I waved my hand one last time. The orange glow dancing on the end of the cigar consumed it within seconds, and the silvery ashes fell to the floor. Admitting defeat, Eli flicked the remaining filter into a nearby ashtray.

Ben was long gone with laughter by this point, clearly satisfied with my little trick.

"How did you do that?" he asked me once he had recomposed himself.

"Magic," I stated simply.

"That was great, but I think I'm more convinced that you're Houdini more than a God of Mischief."

"Alright..."

Bowing my head slightly I stepped off to the side, leaving behind two duplicates of myself. This ability was always disorienting, as my sight basically tripled, giving me three different view points of the same room, and it took quite a bit of concentration to control each duplicate.

Ben stared in amazement as I made the copy of me that stood to the far right speak.

"Which me is the real me?"

Even Elijah seemed to be bewildered by the sight as his eyes shifted from illusion to illusion. It was clear that he was silently in on this game, as well.

The copy of me on the far right dissipated in a shimmer of green as Ben reached out to touch it.

"Wrong guess," I stated, forming yet another copy to my left, and two more that appeared behind him.

Ben lifted his hands up in defeat, chuckling "I give in, dude. I don't know!"

With a nod, my duplicates vanished, as well as myself as I casted an invisibility spell. I revelled in the shocked expression that came over his face. I struggled to hold in my laughter as he reached out and tried to feel the area where my copies and I had been standing. He turned to Elijah, clearly demanding answers, to which Eli only responded with a shrug.

As quietly as I could manage I walked over to what looked like a large cage in a nearby corner and peered inside. A large white bird with a curved grey beak sat on a bar, completely unaware of my presence.

"What a peculiar creature," I commented.

Both Eli and Ben jumped at the sound of my voice, and I lifted the spell. The bird let out a screech and flapped its wings frantically as a feathery hood lifted from atop its head. It made a few harsh hissing sounds as it opened its beak wide and backed away from me.

"Looks like you freaked Flo out a little bit, too," Eli remarked.

"What kind of bird is this?" I asked.

"She's an umbrella cockatoo, and she's a bit of a cunt."

I turned back towards Ben, who still seemed to be recovering from the initial shock of my sudden voice, "Now do you believe me?"

"Yeah, dude," Ben said, sticking out his hand, "That was fucking awesome!"

I reached out to shake his hand only to be pulled against his chest and roughly patted on the back. The gesture had me thrown, and my head was reeling from the amount of magic and power it had taken to do all I had done within the past ten minutes. At this rate, I would be out of magic long before my basnishment ended. Not that I couldn't live without it, but I loathed the mortal level of weakness that I was reduced to without it.

As I took a moment to let my head settle, a door from behind me opened.

"Did I hear a Erai?" a familiar voice asked.

I turned as Morgan emerged from a room down the hall, her blue hair blazing as she stepped into the light. She froze as she made eye contact with me, and the eager smile that'd been on her face instantly fell as her eyes widened.

"Morgan, you remember Loki, right?" Eli said, walking up to her.

"Yeah, I remember him," Morgan replied, "The question is what is he doing in my house?"

"It's okay, babe," Ben said, pulling her close to him, "He's cool."

Morgan shot me a skeptical smile as she let out a hum, "You aren't all crazy, and whatnot, still, are you?"

"It varies day to day," I responded, hoping I wouldn't have to go through the laborious task of repeating the stunts I'd just pulled for Ben.

"Apparently, Erai here invited Loki to be his roommate and didn't tell us," Ben said in a snarky tone as he whipped his head around towards Eli.

It was then that Eli explained everything; my stunt outside the hotel room, my worries over Thanos, and even my little murder attempt was mentioned briefly. I don't think anything he said up until that point made me look any better to his friends, but he did insist that I was mostly harmless, a bit of a trickster, great company, and that they would come to like me as he did. In a way his words were comforting. Nobody'd ever bothered to explain my presence, not even Thor to his friend, leaving me as somewhat of a mystery until they'd gotten to know me a bit better, and that was if they were lucky.

"M'kay..." Morgan eventually said cautiously, "But if he hurts one hair on my Erai's head, he's a dead man."

I held in my laughter. No way that would ever happen, and there was no way I was going to lose myself and try to harm Elijah again. Tricks were fine. Trying to murder him in his sleep was not.

As Ben, Morgan, and Eli moved into the living room, my eyes landed on a large black and white dog, I believe the Midgardians called it a pitbull, that had come trotting around the corner of an attached room.

"Oh, yeah, that's going to be confusing," Eli piped up, "We've got two Lokis now."

I looked down at the energetic canine as he jumped up onto his hind legs and tried to lick at my face.

"Your dog's name is Loki, as well?" I asked, trying to push him off.

"Yeah... looks like you've got some competition. God of Mischief, meet the Dog of Mischief."

I glanced back at the playful pup that seemed to be trying desperately to knock me over. I gently pushed him down, and Eli called for him, to which the Dog of Mischief whipped around and galloped over to him. He jumped up onto his lap, forcing a grunt out of him.

"So, do you have any plans for tomorrow?" Ben asked Elijah.

"Yeah," Eli replied, "My parents are taking me out. They plan on getting me seriously wasted this year."

"Aww..." Morgan whined, "And I wanted to be the one that got you drunk for your 21st birthday!"

"Morgie, I drink with you, what feels like, every month. Believe me, you'll get your chance."

"But it's not the same!"

"I'm sorry," I cut in, "But what am I missing here?"

"Tomorrow, it's the Erai's birthday," Ben explained, his grammatical errors characteristically intentional, "He'll finally be old enough to buy his own booze."

Midgard never ceased to perplex me. On Asgard, anyone of any age could help themselves to a bit of mead or wine. Obviously, young children weren't allowed to drink it, but aside from that there weren't any strict laws that said at what age you could or couldn't drink. Even I had helped myself to a glass or two of wine in my early youth, normally after a bad day of sparring with Thor or Lady Sif. It helped me unwind, and, surprisingly, kept my mischievous tendencies at bay.

Now, if I'd drunk an entire bottle of wine, that was another story...

Still the differences in the ways Midgardians and Asgardians aged made it difficult to wrap my head around Ben's words. At twenty-one, most Asgardians were still learning how to crawl, while most Midgardians were already a quarter of the way through their lives. All of it was a grim reminder that every life here was but a heartbeat; quick and easily snuffed out by the slightest attack. In a way, it saddened me, because all I could think is how none of these mortals had very long to live. Well, not very long in comparison to my own life span.

"You guys are more than welcome to come with," Eli piped up, "We can easily buy our own booze and party at my parent's."

"Do you think they'll mind?" Ben asked.

Eli scoffed at the question, "They're going to have to deal with a drunken Erai either way. No harm in bringing a few friends and having a little fun. What about you, Loki?"

I raised my head at the mention of my name, "I beg your pardon?"

"Did you want to come along tomorrow? If not, you can always have the apartment to yourself. Just don't turn Sif into a throw pillow again while I'm gone."

Again, I found myself bewildered by his words. Eli was actually inviting me to go along with him; I actually had a choice in the matter. I thought about all the times I had just been volunteered for the most inconvenient of excursions and events over the years. I'd practically been guilted into charging into Jotunheim with Thor, despite how mad I thought his plan was. I was pretty much pushed onto the thone when Odin fell into the Odinsleep, never bothered being asked if I wanted to take the throne until Odin awakened; not to mention that was right after I'd discovered my true parentage and was struggling with myself at the time. I had been turned into a tool for Thanos's own devices; battered, broken, brainwashed, and overflowing with seething hatred and greed.

Now...

Now there was no force. I could say yes and go drink with all of them, or I could say no and spend the day as I pleased back at the apartment. When I met their gazes, there was no pleading, or kneeling, or threatening. There was no pressure. It was just yes, or no; whichever I pleased.

"Will there be wine?" I inquired.

"Do you like wine?" Eli asked.

"Oh, I very much like wine."

"Then we can get wine."

I thought it over a moment before shrugging, "Why not? Sounds like it'll be a grand time."

"Alrighty, then. I'll let my parents know there'll be three more coming with me tomorrow, then."

"Wait!" Morgan squeaked, changing the conversation, "Loki turned Sif into a pillow?! Why?!"

"Earth to Morgan," Eli said, rolling his eyes, "You're lagging by a few conversations. How many hits of your bong did you have today?"

Hits? Bong? What was Elijah even talking about? Was it a form of sparring that caused damage to one's head?

A nervous smile froze on Morgan's face as her eyes seemed to search her memory for the answer.

"Five," Morgan tried to say matter-of-factly, "I think..."

Eli laughed, shaking his head, "Five? It was probably three, and your brain is so high it likes to think it was five!"

And thus began the series of stories about my various tricks that I had pulled within the past week. There was the incident with Sif, and scaring Elijah out of his wits with an invisibility spell.

Earlier in the week, I had also discovered that Elijah was also the proud owner three royal pythons and a large constrictor. Imagine his surprise, one morning, to find the constrictor free from it's glass enclosure and coiled around the sink in the loft bathroom, drinking from the tap. Within the following hour, he had found one of his pythons in a box of cereal, one in the cushions of the blue couch, and one under the refrigerator; though that one hadn't been me, and the two of us struggled for a good ten minutes trying to get that snake out from under there. That snake was supposed to have been slithering about in the downstairs bathroom. How he snuck under the refrigerator without me noticing was a mystery to me.

"He can be a raging jerkolohic sometimes," Eli stated, "But he's the God of Mischief. What am I supposed to expect?"

"That's still pretty douche-y, man," Ben commented before breaking out into a fit of chuckles, "But it's kinda funny too."

I shrugged, "It's what I do..."

Ben eyed me for a moment before sliding over on the dark green couch in the living room and opening up a space.

"You don't have to keep standing there, dude," he said. He patted the open space roughly, "Come on. Sit."

And again... I was bewildered. It wasn't Elijah that was inviting me to sit, as he was busying himself with a new pack of Cheyennes. No. It was his friend. His friend...

All these years...

All these years, it was never Lady Sif and the Warriors Three who invited me to anything; fools that merely claimed to be my friends. It was always Thor who made sure I came along, and even then it was still always about him.

"I remember a shadow. Living in the shade of your greatness..."

For once, there were no shadows. There was nobody up on a pedestal. Nobody showing someone more attention, or giving and receiving more praises, and taking more jests than anyone else.

Everyone here was equal.

Was this what acceptance felt like?

000

"Eli..."

Nothing.

"Oh, Eli..."

Still nothing.

It had to be the twentieth time I'd called out to Elijah over the course of the past five minutes. It was midday, and we were due at his parent's house any time. Had this been a work day for him, Eli would have been up hours ago. Ordinarily, he wasn't such a heavy sleeper. Then again, Ben and Morgan had kept him up most of the day yesterday, and I was able to sense that he was bitterly exhausted by the time we left. It came as no surprise to me when he immediately went up to the loft and curled up in bed, forcing us to share it for a time before he rolled out of bed sometime in the middle of the night.

Now I stood over him, looking down at his sleeping form; eyes closed, mouth agape, blissfully unaware of my presence as steady, shallow breaths stirred in his chest, possibly the only indication that he was even alive. It baffled me when I thought back to a few days ago when Elijah had had that nightmare. The differences were boggling. To see him there, tossing and writhing and sweating and whimpering... it had been as if he were being tortured. It didn't help ease my nerves that I'd been watching the movie called 'Nightmare on Elm Street' mere minutes before I'd heard the commotion. I suppose I let my fear from that movie and my concern fuel my desperation to wake him up that day. Now he just slept, possibly caught up in more pleasant dreams.

Even so, I'd been told to wake him if he wasn't already up by 3pm... which he definitely was not.

"Come now, Elijah," I called out again, "You need to get ready."

I got a slight reaction from him. He rolled over, possibly plunging himself deeper into his sleep. Hopeless...

I thought of all the ways I used to wake up Thor in the past; whether it was to attend an important meeting, or just to tease him a bit. There was a time where I conjured up an illusion of beetles crawling about under his covers, a trick that still makes me chuckle to this day, but seeing how Elijah owned a tarantula and a scorpion amongst his collection of pets, I could only take a guess and think that tactic ineffective. I remembered how one time, when Thor had been drinking, I had him wake to the illusion of his bed floating in the middle of a lake. That may work, but I wasn't sure I had the magic to conjure up such a convincing projection.

As I stood there thinking of other ways to wake Elijah, Sif ran up from downstairs and jumped up onto the bed. She padded over to him and began kneading at his shoulder with her tiny grey paws, a sensation that I had woken up to numerous times since I started staying here. Still, Eli remained fast asleep.

And that's when it hit me.

I looked over to a nearby nightstand where a full spray bottle of water sat. Elijah normally used this to correct Sif's behavior, and I'll admit that even I had fallen victim to the mortal contraption a few times when Eli had stumbled upon one of my tricks. At least this wouldn't require any magic.

Swifty, I grabbed the bottle and aimed at Eli's face. I'd only squeezed it a couple of times before he squirmed beneath the covers. He let out a frustrated groan as he wiped his face with his hands.

"What the hell, man?" he growled as he looked up at me, beads of water dripping from his bangs, "I was sleeping!"

"I could see that," I countered sarcastically, "The only problem with that is it's already past three o'clock. I've been trying to wake you up for about five minutes."

Eli continued to wipe water away from his eyes as he shook his head, "Damn... I had no idea I was asleep for that long."

Throwing the covers off of himself, Elijah rolled out of bed and shuffled his way into the attached washroom as I made my way back downstairs. It wasn't a couple of minutes before I heard the shower turn on, a confusing contraption that took me a few attempts to master, scalding and freezing myself a few times in the process.

I was about to pick up the book I'd been reading, when a particular sound caught my attention, a sort of whining coming from the washroom. At first, I thought maybe Elijah had been a bit too groggy when he started the water, and had stepped into a broiling downpour. As I listened, however, I realized this whining was less a whine and more of a rhythmical noise. I followed it up the stairs and to the washroom door. Listening closely, I was able to make out words over the sound of running water.

I'm sorry for everything, no everything I've done.

From the second that I was born, it seems I had a loaded gun,

And then I shot, shot, shot a hole through everything I loved.

Oh, I shot, shot, shot a hole through every single thing that I loved.

Singing. Something I'd never heard Elijah do in the car while the radio blared, no matter how catchy the song was. Eli was taking the opportunity in his time of privacy, blissfully believing that nobody was listening, to sing his heart out in the shower. I could only think of the embarrassment that would overcome him if he found out I was just on the other side of the door listening, hand clamped over my mouth to try to avoid laughing, for fear of being heard.

I listened until he finished the song, fumbling over the less well-versed lyrics, most likely skipping over some until he was done. He wasn't bad, but I definitely wouldn't consider him a God of Song or anything of the like. Listening him just amused me, to an extent.

Just as Elijah was about to start up another song, a loud blaring sound rang out from down in the kitchen, nearly scaring me out of my skin. It paused for a few seconds before it rang out again, and a third time a few more seconds after that. I'd heard a lot of unpleasant sounds over the centuries, but this had to be the worst by far. Loud, persistent, gravelly almost, and it was part of the apartment? How irritating!

After the noise blared a sixth time, Elijah called out from inside the washroom.

"Loki! Can you please get the door?"

That horrid noise was the door? In what universe was it perfectly acceptable for a door to make such a racket?! It almost sounded like the sirens that would go off whenever there was trouble in the Asgardian dungeons, only worse!

I quickly went to the door and peeked through the little hole in it that looked out into the hallway. Nobody was there, so who could be making that racket, and how?! The blaring was unbearably loud now, making cringe as it rang out. It was then that I glanced to the wall to my right and saw a panel with three bottons labeled "Door", "Listen", and "Talk". Curiously, I pressed the one that read, "Listen".

"What's taking him so long?!" I could hear Morgan's voice whine through the speaker.

"Knowing Erai, he's probably passed out in bed." Ben's voice replied.

"Okay, but Loki should be up by now, right? Why not just use your keys and let ourselves in like normal?"

"I'm trying to pick on Eli, babe."

"Well, I don't think it's working..."

I pressed the button that read "Talk".

"No," I stated, "but your noise is certainly driving me insane."

As I pressed the Listen button again, I could hear Ben and Morgan laugh.

"Oh my God, dude!" Ben said, "You were listening the entire time?"

"For a few brief moments, actually," I growled.

"Well, can you let us in?"

"You've got the key... do it yourself."

With that, I released my hold on the button and walked off into the living room. I heard the complex door open and two sets of feet thunder up the stairs leading to our door. Seconds later, the lock clicked and the apartment door swung open.

"I get that you were trying to make a point," Ben said as he stepped into the kitchen, "but that was kinda shitty."

"Forgive me for not being fond of sirens blaring in my ear," I retorted.

"Where's my Erai at?" Morgan inqired, "Don't tell me he's still in bed."

"He was. He just woke up and is now taking a shower."

The three of us sat down in the living room making conversation until we finally heard Eli come out of the bathroom.

"Nobody come up here!" he called out, "I'm indecent!"

I couldn't help but laugh, "We already know this, Elijah."

Eli's head popped out from over the railing that overlooked the downstairs, revealing him to be sopping wet.

"Oh, ha, ha, ha. Very funny, coming from the one who used the last of the conditioner and didn't tell me!"

"Well, you live down the road from the marketplace, right? You can always pick up some more."

"And you can come with me and see how much of a pain grocery shopping can be."

Ben laughed at out half-hearted giggle, "You guys already sound like an old married couple."

Eli and I exchanged an awkward glance before he looked over to Ben and pointed a finger at him.

"No." he said firmly before disappearing back into the loft.

I was utterly thrown by Ben's words. I honestly hadn't given two thoughts to the idea of that sort of companionship. In the past, I'd normally been too caught up in my studies or practicing magic to even think about courting one of Asgard's fine maidens. The only people I'd ever really needed were Frigga and Thor, and nobody trusted the God of Mischief enough to court him, even if he was considered to be a prince of Asgard.

My mind went back to the discussion Elijah and I had just before we'd set off to the hotel room from Shuto Con.

"You speak as though you don't have a lover, yourself."

"Maybe that's because I don't."

No lover. Nobody to call his own. Nobody that completed him.

"Nor I. Frankly, I believe it's better that way."

And my words had rung true. If Odin was right, war, ruin, and death would not only follow me, but those I loved, as well. The last thing I wanted was to get Elijah wrapped up in aftermath upon aftermath of my tricks and lies, and that was the last thing he needed.

"Same. For a while, at least."

A while. How long was a while to him? A month? A year? A decade? He'd just turned twenty one, now. He didn't have the five thousand year lifespan of an Asgardian. We were encouraged to take our time in choosing our partners. Our lives were long, and separation was highly frowned upon. It wasn't like Eli could dawdle with his decision...

Was Ben encouraging him to choose me?

Unwise.

000

The engine of Elijah's car roared as it struggled to make it's way up the driveway leading to his parent's house. Mud spattered the windows and parts of the windshield as his tires spun, and all the effort Eli was giving only managed to get us up the hill inches at a time. Every so often, he would throw the car in reverse, back up all the way to the bottom of the driveway, and floor it all the way back up to where we'd been, buying himself a few more muddy feet, but still winding up stuck once more. The fact that we were mere feet away from the top of the hill tormented us all the more.

"Elijah," I piped up, "I don't think we're going to make it."

"You underestimate my mad driving skills," he countered, "We'll get up there. I promise."

He threw the car into reverse once more, this time backing out into the road. The car let out another enraged roar as he stepped on the gas and charged up the hill. It shook as it flew over the steepest slope of the driveway and rolled to a stop beside a smaller black car that appeared to be in no better condition than Eli's.

Ben, Morgan, and I clung to, what Eli referred to as, the "'Oh, Shit!' Handle" for our lives. Mad, indeed!

We took a moment to collect ourselves as the car died with a quick turn of the key.

"Well, that was fun..." Eli commented as he turned to the rest of us.

"Oh, is that what it was?" Ben questioned sarcastically.

"What? You don't like a little mud boggin'?"

"Not in your crappy little Taurus, I don't!"

"Hey, if we woulda taken your shitty ass truck, we'd probably still be stuck!"

Ben opened his mouth to say something, but clamped it shut again, "Fair enough..."

The four of us stepped out of the vehicle, feet sinking slightly into the soft, muddy ground slightly as we did. We stood before a fair-sized yellow house that had two levels to it. At first, I believed us to be on a farm as my eyes laid upon sets of wooden fencing just beyond a couple of garden beds, but with the lack of animals in sight perhaps all that was just in the property's past. It was still a lovely place, however, surrounded by oak and wallnut trees with a few tall pines placed here and there. I could only imagine what this place looked like in the summer, with it's trees full of crisp, green leaves and flowers in full bloom.

"Just a warning," Eli piped up as we approached the front door of the house, "My parents don't call me 'Eli'."

"Oh?" I asked, "Then what do they call you?"

Elijah rolled his eyes, as if the answer was one he'd given a million times before.

"Tina..." was his response, "but they won't care if you call me Eli. Heck, between the three of you, it might actually get the fact I'm trans through their thick heads."

There was no venom or bitterness in his words; only annoyance, but I couldn't imagine what feelings could be plaguing him deep down. It must be difficult for him to have his parents never acknowledge him for who he truly felt he was deep down. Then again, I would know.

I would know...

"There they are!" a voice of a cheerful woman chimed as Elijah opened the door.

I made my way in behind Ben, entering into a large, open kitchen that put that of Eli's and Morgan's to shame. Smooth tile spanned the floor, and an island sat in the middle. Orange countertops lined the far wall, parted by a large metal sink. Cabinets worn and faded with age made the room feel older than it likely was, and the smell of something sweet baking came from the oven beside a nearby window.

In comparison to the kitchen, the dining room appeared to be freshly renovated with crisp white paint covering the walls, a large, clean dining table that looked like it could seat half an army, and a rug that spanned more than half of the room sitting beneath it that looked to be brand new.

Beyond the dining table, a tall, broad woman with short blonde hair stepped out of a back room, and I immediately knew she was Elijah's mother. She looked just like him, with the same crystal blue eyes and the same shape of face. Older, of course, but the resemblances were still uncanny, in a way.

"You're late," she stated, coming around the table to greet us, "I figured you guys would've been here an hour ago."

"My fault," Elijah spoke, raising his hand, "I overslept."

"Ah, the trials..." Eli's mother came up to him and wrapped him in a hug, "Happy birthday, kiddo."

As she pulled back, his mother's gaze veered to me, "And who is this?"

"This is Loki," Eli replied, "He's kinda new around here. Loki, this is my mom, Christine."

Christine shot me a smile and stuck out her hand, "You can just call me Chris. So you're the new roommate I've been hearing about."

I looked over to Elijah as we shook hands, "You told your mother about me?"

"Kinda had to when I said you were coming," Eli responded, "I'll be the first to tell you I'm a terrible liar, and this woman can pick up on lies in a flash."

I raised a brow quizzically. Was this a challenge? Of course, rules still applied; keep the mischief to a minimum, but such a statement made it all the more tempting to see what kind of charade I could keep up. However, I knew doing such a thing could cause some unnecessary trouble, especially for myself. Best to stick to the plan, for now.

"A pleasure to meet you," I said, turning back to Chris.

A loud buzzer went off over by the oven, nowhere near as loud and obnoxious as the door to the apartment, but still loud and sudden enough to catch me off guard. Chris immediately moved over to the oven and silenced it with the turn of a small knob.

"I made a rotweinkuchen, like you asked," she said, opening the door and flooding the kitchen in the sweet smell that had been toiling inside the appliance.

My ears perked up at the bit of German that rolled off of Chris's tongue. I'd thought I detected a slight accent in her voice. In fact, Elijah carried the same accent in his tongue whenever he heavily emphisized his words. At first, I thought I was merely hearing things, then I thought he was doing it intentionally to prove a point. Now I see it was likely from living in a bilingual household; one that spoke both English and German.

Ben, Morgan, Elijah, and I sat around the dining table, talking casually about this and that whilst Chris made dinner preparations. The sweet smell of the rotweinkuchen was replaced with the savory scent of meat sizzling away on a skillet. As mouthwatering as it all smelled, I was holding onto the brief hope that this dinner would be nothing like those held in the banquet hall on Asgard, with the table piled high with so much meat, my bird-sized stomach could hardly take it. I'd never known Midgardians to engage in such dining habits, but I'll admit that I was stunned as as watched Ben consume four whole plates of food while Eli and I were at Morgan's yesterday.

"So what do we want to do first?" Chris asked us, "Dinner, or cake and ice cream?"

Eli planted his hands firmly against the table, almost as if he were grounding himself, his lips pursing together but stretching slightly into a sarcastic smirk.

"You can't do that!" he said in a raised tone, "You can't make me choose between steak and cake! It's not right!"

Morgan laughed so hard at the comment, she snorted, causing Elijah and Ben to break out into fits of laughter, as well. As they say, laughter is contagious, and i found myself chuckling a bit as Morgan struggled to reign in her snorting.

"I firmly believe that dessert should come after a meal," I piped up, "Not to rain on Elijah's parade, or anything..."

"No, no, you're good," Eli said, patting my back as his laughter began to settle, "Besides, if I eat cake now, I might not have enough room for the steak."

"Oh, that would be a tragedy!" Ben commented, rolling his eyes, "But yeah, steak sounds good."

"Especially with the way the smell's sort of flooding the kitchen," Morgan added.

Indeed, it was, and it was enough to actually make me anticipate dinner. Ordinarily, it was something I only looked forward to getting out of the way, either dining alone or stuffed into a crowded, noisy banquet hall. But here, it was a lot nicer; plenty of elbow room, but still in good company with Elijah sitting to my right and Ben and Morgan sitting across. There were two more sets that sat across from each other, which I assumed were for Eli's parents.

"Hey, Tina, can you wake up your father, and tell him the food's ready?" Chris asked Eli.

Now I knew why he had warned me before we'd stepped inside. The name was so foreign when applied to Elijah that it bore no familiarity. The dots wouldn't connect. The name didn't align with the face. Had I not known, I would have asked Chris whom she'd been referring to. But the annoyance that played on Eli's features made it obvious, and for a moment I pitied him.

Eli nodded as he rose from the table and disappeared into the living room; a space that was much larger than that at the apartment. My eyes were drawn to a peculiar glass box filled with water that was illuminated by a bright light. Inside it, a number of tiny, colorful fish swam about. While I didn't quite see the purpose of this glass box, it was quite entertaining.

Midgard certainly had no shortage of amusements.

000

DISCLAIMER

This chapter is loaded with a lot more parallels to my every day life. So yes, I sing in the shower, (the example given in this story is the chorus of 'Shots' by Imagine Dragons.) and my apartment pager is really that annoying. It's actually a standing rule that nobody is allowed to use it, because literally scares me half to death. If it does go off, it's usually maintenance.

Secondly, yes my mom's side of the family is German and we are a bilingual household. The word in this story, rotweinkuchen, literally translates into "red wine cake", and yes actual red wine is put in the batter. No worries, though, as the alcohol evaporates out of it.

Thirdly, no I do not go by Eli when I'm over at my parent's house. My deadname is used quite a bit in that sense.

And fourthly, seriously NEVER try to make me choose between steak and cake. I will take and happily eat both.

A special thanks to my good friend Baphy for designing a cover for this story on Wattpad.

BlueRaven 666