"Gold don't come off. What's good stays good no matter how much of a beating it takes." –Joe Hill
"It is called a what, again?" Loki asked me. My foot slowly pressed down on the brake as we came to a stop at the light. I wish the traffic would hurry up. Because we got a late start, I thought we may be a little late. With the amount of traffic though, it was going to take forever. "Soup kitchen." I explained. "It's where people who are out of work or others in poverty come to get food." Loki gave a nod.
It was not particularly hard to find good things to do. I was actually surprised when I googled it. I had worked the soup kitchen before, only a few months ago. It was nearing November now, actually. It seemed like they always needed more help in the winter than during the rest of the year. It was easier to find a job around Christmas time, even if it was just part time, but I think it was because people saved more money to get others gifts. I couldn't imagine the pain that they must feel for not being able to afford something for their child or their wife or husband. You work all of these hours and yet you still can't even get them anything. That would surely make me upset. At least we were going to help do something about it.
"What is poverty?" Loki asked. He never looked at me while we drove. It was strange. I was just use to people looking at you while they talked. They must not do that in Asguard or something. "Poverty is the people who are poor. They don't have money or a house or most of the time both of those things." He gave another nod. "Peasants." He muttered. I gave him a glare as we turned off the freeway and onto a regular road. "I did not mean to insult them. That is what we would probably call them back…in Asguard."
"Well, don't call people that when were in the kitchen, okay?" I said. "Alright." He replied. We sat there quietly for a bit. The kitchen was not too far from here. "What will we do?" Loki asked. I laughed a bit. "You're really curious, aren't you?" I said. He shrugged. "Sorry, I shall be quiet now."
"No, I don't mind! It's just that people usually don't care, that's all." I said. Loki raised his eyebrows. "Curiosity is looked down upon in Asguard too." I tried to think of a way to explain this to him. "It's not looked down here, it's actually encouraged. People just don't care though. Or that's what it feels like." There was an awkward pause before I realized I never answered his question. "Oh, right! Well, most likely you will get a job handing out food to people. Like some hand out the bread and other soup or the sandwiches, or whatever they are serving really! You most likely won't have to help cook."
Loki didn't say anything after my explanation. I snuck another look at his face. He had a rather blank expression that didn't tell me anything. I wondered if he was really loathing this or if he was going to enjoy it. I couldn't tell at this point. I just prayed that everything would go well. But when dealing with the god of lies and chaos, I could only hope.
We arrived at the kitchen only a little bit later than we had hoped for. I turned off the car and opened the door to step out. It wasn't near freezing out, but it was cold enough for jeans and long sleeves. Loki refused to buy clothing though. The only thing he would wear are the clothes he created with magic. I reminded him that he wasn't suppose to use a lot of magic, but he said it was so simple that it would not tire him out. The first time though, he tried to step out the door in leather. It took a lot of convincing and a few minutes on google images to get him to realize that full leather was not a practical look for Earth.
Today he chose to wear jeans and a t-shirt. I told him it would be cold outside, but he didn't really seem to care. After waking up last week to my living room covered in ice, it didn't really surprise me. I still didn't know how that happened either. Every time I was about to ask, he would all of the sudden say something or ask me a question. It was weird. But anyways, whatever he wearing always looked nice. I was not complaining about the t-shirt either. What? He had nice arms.
Loki turned to look at me, his brows slightly raised, arms across his chest. The corner of his mouth was turned up ever so little into a small smile. "What are you smiling at?" I asked, smiling myself. "Absolutely nothing, mortal." He replied. "Now, shall we go? I believe people are awaiting our help." I stepped up onto the sidewalk and headed towards the door. "You're exactly right."
The aroma of fresh bread and other baking foods filled my nose as I opened the door. It smelt wonderful and hopefully would taste that way for all the people here. The unemployment rate wasn't terribly low, but there were still a lot of poorer people in the area. Many of the people at the tables were dressed in older clothing, some of which had visible tears or was frayed near their knees or feet. Some looked to be dressed alright, but that might have been their best outfit. It all made me feel sick to my stomach. I just felt so bad for these people and I never thought that whatever work I do made a huge difference. At least it made a little.
"Don't stare." I told Loki as he followed me towards the kitchen. "Am I not allowed to?" He asked. "Well, it's considered rude here." I pulled open the door to enter into the back room. This is where the kitchen actually was. People were going back and forth between pots on the stove and things in the oven. It was slightly chaotic, but it always seemed to work out well.
"I could have gotten that door for you, you know." Loki said as the two of us walked across the kitchen area. "Really?" I said sarcastically. I stopped in front of the shelves with the hair nets and gloved. "I am not totally heartless." He replied. I pulled a pair of gloves from the container and handed them to him. "Totally? So you're just a little heartless?" I pulled a pair of gloved out for myself and put them on. "Just a little." He said with a smirk. "Now what do we do?"
From the top box on the shelf I pulled out two hairnets. "Put these on." I said. Loki rolled his eyes. "I thought you would understand that I meant after we put these on. Apparently your mortal stupidity is still quite present." I glared up at him as I shoved the hairnet over my bun. I opened my mouth as to reply to him, but how was I suppose to? Yeah, I am probably more stupid than a thousand year old god, but whatever. I decided to ignore him and walk towards the supervisor. He could catch up, since he was so smart.
"Hey Chrissy!" She said, giving me a hug. "Glad to see you! And you brought a…friend along!" She didn't seem too happy about that last part. Lilly was always nice, but a little eccentric. Her hair was light blonde, almost white, and with teeth even whiter than that. She had these big blue eyes that would entrance you. Lilly was very pretty. Sure, she was the organizer of a really great thing that helped people, but she didn't exactly have a heart of gold here. She was extremely nosy and a little judgmental if you asked me. Just goes to show that people who do good things aren't always good people. And maybe people who do bad things aren't always bad. My stare flickered up at Loki before I returned Lilly's comment.
"Yes, he's my friend from out of town." I said happily. "Out of country, actually." Loki corrected me, and stepped forward. In one quick motion he captured one of Lilly's hand and brought it to his lips. "I'm Loki." Gently he kissed it before releasing her. "Oh my, how charmin'!" She said, a light flush over her cheeks. I rolled my eyes again. "It is nice to meet you Loki! Now, how can I help y'all out?"
You could start by not being completely charmed by him. What am I talking about? It's not like I cared. "We came by to help pass out dinner." I replied, cutting Loki off before he could say some overly lovely comment or something. "Is okay if we just work the assembly line like usual?" The assembly line was just like it sounded. One person on soup, the other on bread, et cetera. "That would be just fantastic of you two! Not unless you wana work back here in the kitchen with me?" Lilly asked, looking at Loki. Oh, fine. I couldn't hold down the rush of emotions that I felt, majorly anger. Look lady, I was the one suppose to be helping him out, and I'm not a perfect person myself, but you definitely fake like 80% of your niceness.
Get a grip I told myself. Forcing smile, I finally spoke up. "Okay, well you too have fun back here, okay?" I turned on my heels and headed towards the door outside the kitchen, where the long tables were waiting for me. "I think, actually," Loki said, loud enough for me to hear him. "I would like to work out there."
I almost stopped dead in my tracks. "I would like to see the people I am helping, you know?" He added. I turned around in shock. Loki actually wanted to do this? He sounded so…sincere about the whole thing. Lilly looked up at him like he just uttered the best words someone could say. "Why, God bless your heart." She said at last. "You go out there then and help those people!" Loki's hand came and rested across his chest. "I will. Thank you." Who the heck was this, and what had they done with Loki?
Lilly became distracted with a new matter at hand and Loki left her side to follow me. He strutted across the kitchen and out the door. Slowly, he peeked his head back though. "What are you doing just standing there? We are here to work, are we not?" I shook my head slightly and followed him out there. "What the heck was that?" I whispered. "It was like you were an angel all of the sudden!" Loki looked quite amused. "It is called lying, and I so happen to be very good at it." You could say that again! "She completely believed you! I almost believed you!" He began to walk away, but I followed after him. "You sounded like you were telling the truth!" I heard him laugh. "Where you?" I asked. Loki turned to face me again. "No, I was not, okay?" He said in a voice as cool as ice. "Okay." I squeaked out.
I backed up and found a kitchen worker placing a large stock pot of soup on the counter. "You stay back there," I said to the kitchen worker. "I'll put it on the table out here for you!" They shot me a grateful glance before returning to the chaos of the kitchen. I grabbed one handle but another hand beat me to the other one. Loki. I didn't say anything, but he helped me lift if and set it down on the table. He mumbled something before standing beside me. I still wouldn't look at him.
"Did you say something?" I asked. I could hear him swallow beside me. "I said that I'msorry." The last part was run together. "What?" I asked again. "I said, I am sorry." He enunciated the words this time, but it was still quiet. "Oh, and is that a lie too?" I could have sworn he slightly flinched, but I could have been seeing things. "No, that is not a lie. I am sorry…and you're also my ride, so…" I couldn't help but smile. "That's a good reason too." I said at last. "But you never know. I could leave you here if I was still feeling angry." Loki smiled now. "You would not do such a thing." He said with certainty. "Oh?" I mused, turning to face him. "You are the nicest person I have ever met." He said. I felt like I was going to melt into a puddle on the floor. "Well, for a mortal that is." He added with a shrug. Still, I couldn't believe my ears.
The dinner crowd created quite a commotion between the kitchen and the workers out here. We had enough people, but more would have helped. Around 8:00, the crowd was thinning out. Some of the food that could be saved and reheated was brought back into the kitchen. I had just finished taking a container of fruit back when I came back out of the kitchen. It was then when I saw something very weird.
A tall man walked through the doors. I saw him from a glance, but Loki, who was helping me bring stuff back, set his things back down on the table and gawked at the man. An old brown coat covered his upper half while he wore a simple pair of jeans and raggedy boots. He had light blonde hair and electric blue eyes, and looked vaguely familiar. "It's rude to stare." I reminded him. Loki raised a hand to shush me as the man neared the table.
"Can I serve you some food, sir?" Loki asked. The whole two and a half hours we were here, he didn't say much to the people he was serving. "Yes, that would be nice." The blonde replied. "I am rather hungry." Loki smiled. Like actually smiled. Like a full smile! "I know." He replied. Was I missing something here? Loki poured soup into a bowl for the man. They only broke eye contact once, and that was when Loki almost overfilled the bowl. "Anything else? Would you care for some bread?" He offered to the taller one. "It does not appear that-" Loki was already under the table though. "We store the extra down here." He said.
The man on the other side could not see him due to the tablecloth. But we most definitely did not store extra food under there. Loki appeared with a roll not a moment later though. Magic. We truly were out. That was nice of him to do that. "And to drink?" He asked. "Water is fine." The blonde replied. Loki picked up a glass and gave it to him. "Is there anything else?" The other man shook his head. "No. Thank you, and have a nice night. Both of you." I was taken aback for a second. He noticed me? The blonde walked away and Loki closed his eyes tightly, as if in pain. I stood there with my mouth open again, fumbling for words. "Explain." I demanded.
Loki leaned against the table and faced me. "He looks familiar." I added. "Do you know him?" Loki nodded slowly. "I grew up with him." He whispered. What? He must have seen the confusion on my face. "He is my brother."