V.

"You've been avoiding me," Loki said to Odile's astral form in the dead of the night. She was returning books to the library while her body slept.

"I have?"

"Yes." He watched her fly from shelf to shelf. "Sneaking in and out of the library when I'm not here. Like…a ghost."

Odile went about her business unperturbed. Loki followed her closely, eager to get a reaction out of her.

"The…Internet says the Hulk killed your parents," he blurted out. Odile stopped and faced him. "Is it true?"

"Who taught you how to use the Internet?" she asked.

"I taught myself. So tell me, is it true?"

"How did you even get a computer?" Odile continued her task, switching to picking out books.

"See," Loki retorted, "you are avoiding me. If you weren't, you'd just answer my questions."

She floated up to him, crossed her legs under her and hovered on his eye level with a few books in her arms. "Whether I'm avoiding you or not is absolutely irrelevant. And either way, I am in no way obligated to answer your questions."

His eyebrows rose in surprise, then he began to clap. "You've been reading. Bravo!"

"Oh, don't you mock me!" She returned to the bookshelves to conclude her search.

"I meant no such thing," he assured her. "I am merely curious."

"Well, you know what they say. Curiosity killed the cat."

"I'm not a cat."

That made her smile. "Fair enough. Yes, my parents did die when Hulk and that Abomination wrecked Harlem." She had all her books now. "But there's no telling which one squashed them."

"I'm sorry," Loki said simply.

"Sure you are." She headed for the exit and allowed him to tag along.

"I am, truly. I've seen firsthand what that…monstrous creature is capable of—"

"Said the man who let an alien army loose on New York."

He stopped. "I thought you didn't cling onto the past."

"I'm not, you're the one who's bringing it up."

Loki gave up and let her carry on by herself. "I…I missed you!" he shouted after her.

"Bullshit!" Odile shouted back.

"That's exactly why," he chuckled to himself and walked away.

The following night, they encountered each other under the same circumstances.

"Revenge," he began this time, "has it never crossed your mind?"

"If it had," Odile replied, flipping through a book, "you wouldn't be sitting there right now."

"Oh? Is that a challenge?"

"No." She slammed the book shut. "Just a statement."

Night after night, she ignored his blatant attempts at irritating her, which irritated him, until he made a last-ditch effort to get her attention. Due to the increased supervision he'd been put under lately, Loki had to devise a scheme more cautious than the last one for a night out on the town.

This time around, he also had no ticket to the show so he bypassed the front entrance, circled around to the back and sneaked inside when one of the theater attendants stepped out for a smoke break.

Salomé was still running strong but the house wasn't full anymore. Disguised, Loki easily managed to find an available seat in one of the exclusive VIP boxes. Nobody saw him there, not even Odile. He went as far as to mask his presence from her and she jolted when she found him perched on the small bed in her dressing room.

"Loved the show," was the first thing he said, barely visible. The only source of light in the room were the white bulbs around Odile's makeup mirror.

"Thanks," she muttered, sitting down at her vanity table. "Though I thought I told you not to sneak up on me."

"Not sure you've noticed, love, but I'm hardly one to listen." He stood up.

Odile didn't give in. "You must be pretty desperate to have come all the way here to see me. What do you want?"

His hand fell on her shoulder. His fingers tugged at the silk of her robe. "You," he whispered, bringing his mouth to her ear.

She looked at him in her mirror, craned her neck to let him kiss it. Vivid, intense flashbacks of all the things he'd made her feel gave her goosebumps. Her body seemed to melt and he scooped her up in his arms.

"Try to say no now," he teased her.

"Oh, I would," she breathed over his lips, "but I fear it would devastate you."

She pecked the tip of his nose and back-flipped out of his grasp to retrieve her sling ring. Then at the very last moment, she changed her mind.

"Actually, you know what?" She smirked. "If you want it so bad, you know where to find me. I'd rather not pull another unexplainable vanishing act."

Loki didn't look very happy with her decision. "You dare mock me, human?"

"Ooh, are we getting feisty?"

"Don't play with fire, Odile, I would hate to hurt you."

"Oh, don't work yourself up, love." She approached him enough to sweep imaginary dust off his shoulder. "You'll get wrinkles." Her right forefinger smoothed out his forehead. "So. I'll see you later or," she brought her hand down to trace her thumb along his bottom lip, "not?"

He continued to glower at her, seizing her wrist.

"Will you stop glaring?" She snatched her hand from his grip. "I'm not a toy, Loki. You don't get to use me whenever you feel like it. I thought you were fun but you're being downright ridiculous."

"Ridiculous? I am Loki of Asgard—"

"Burdened with glorious purpose, yeah, yeah, I know the drill. We're all beneath you, yadda, yadda, yadda." Odile yawned. "Although, to be honest, I did enjoy lying beneath you so please don't ruin it with your tough-guy tantrum."

The anger dissipated from his features and he laughed, a deep, hearty laugh. "Oh, I have missed you, Odile."

She raised her eyebrows at him.

"My sincere apologies," he added. "I'll wait. Maybe we can walk together."

"Huh." She regarded him with suspicious eyes. "Fine. Wait outside. I'll try not to take long."

Odile emerged from her dressing room donning a trenchcoat over a simple sapphire dress. It brought out her eyes and, falling a few inches short of her knees, just about enough of her legs. She topped it off with a fedora and strapped a navy handbag on her shoulder.

"I must say," Loki began as she locked her dressing room, "it's always impressive to see you wearing something other than those dull white robes."

"Aww, thanks, mate." She took the arm he offered and put her free hand in her pocket. "Though it's actually a relief not to have to worry as much about what I wear."

They headed towards the back exit, with Odile stopping to say good-night to Samir. "Girl, who dis?" he asked in a whisper as they hugged.

Odile smiled. "A friend."

Samir raised an eyebrow. "A friend, huh?"

Loki gave her a questioning glance.

"Yes, Sami. A friend."

"With all kinds of benefits, I suppose."

Odile shook her head. "See you, Sami."

"Who was that?" Loki inquired as they crossed the street.

She grinned. "Don't worry, he's gay—unless, perhaps, you might like to…," she trailed off suggestively.

"No, thanks, I'd rather have you all to myself."

"Samir is my friend," Odile said. "My only friend. We went to dance school together, in London, and stayed so close, we ended up in the same dancing company."

They stopped and turned left into a dark alley. Here, Odile got her sling ring out and opened a gateway into her apartment.

As soon as they stepped foot on the tiled floor, a lazy jazz tune started up in the background. Odile dropped her handbag in the hall and swayed to shed her coat. Humming, she proceeded to make herself a smoothie for dinner but she never got around to drinking it.

Loki could only take so much of her swinging hips. Her half-sleeved dress had a low round neckline, which exposed her collarbones and the tops of her shoulder blades. Again he disregarded her request and stealthily came up behind her. She sensed him approach, however, and didn't resist him.

His hot breath scalded her skin. His palms burned her waist through the linen of her dress. Her hips continued to sway until he stilled them to unzip her. When he pushed it off her shoulders, the dress fell in a puddle at her feet.