There were actually a lot of perks to working at the campus bookstore, even if it was a little hectic during the year. Ever since she started, she got a discount on all of her textbooks, which by the end of her school career would save her hundreds of dollars. Max adored all the people – well, most of them – who worked with her, even the new ones who were stuck trying to figure their shit out on the sales floor. Her inner nerd adored being surrounded by books all day, even if they were business or anatomy textbooks, and last year she had been bumped to a key holder position, which meant she made two dollars more than minimum wage.
Not great, but at least she wasn't flipping burgers for a pittance.
She genuinely liked the bookstore, even if her manager was a bit of an uptight cow sometimes; the pay wasn't great, but working as a graduate student paid enough to keep it all in balance. The salary she earned from there no longer paid her rent, but rather covered wants and necessities, and her paycheque from the college itself funded her rent and school fees. There were downsides to it, obviously. People expected her to know every single thing about every course offered at the college when they came by with their book lists, and they certainly didn't care that she was already helping someone – they were the most important person in the world at that moment. Being on her feet for hours on end sucked, but if she was put behind a register she had the chance to sit, and the shifts were short enough to keep her happy.
Since she had worked there for such a long time, and she was one of the oldest workers on staff, she had more responsibility than the rest of the sales associates. She helped with inventory, stock arrivals, merchandise placement, and even conducted a few interviews when her boss was sick during the hiring process last spring. Max felt comfortable there; it was her home away from home away from home. Therefore, when it came to asking her manager, Melissa, if Loki could get a job despite the fact they weren't hiring, she felt completely at ease doing it.
"He's British?" Melissa asked from behind her computer, arching a brown eyebrow at her before clacking away at something on the keyboard, "Can he work here?"
"He's on a student visa," Max assumed. "So… That means only certain hours, right?"
They were seated in her small office behind the cash registers. It was nearly ten-thirty on a Saturday night, the same Saturday night that Erica had ordered she and Loki attend her party so that he could educate her on being a Brit.
Vomit. In and around her mouth… vomit.
Neither had been interested in going, and when Max left for work at about five that afternoon, Loki was napping after a jog on the trails. The weather had been lousy all day, but he seemed to jump on the opportunity to go jogging in the rain. Hey, who was she to judge? He'd done weirder shit than that since he moved in, and Max let him sleep when she left. After all, he had no phone for Erica to contact him, and she was fairly sure the woman had never been over to Max's place for anything. Therefore, he ought to be there when she got back, and not in the clutches of Erica.
A little dramatic? Maybe, but she couldn't help it. There was no way she was going to bring Loki to some party where a girl who was way prettier than her could hit on him all night. Nope – not happening.
Her shift hadn't been anything too stressful. The bookstore was only open until nine on Saturday nights, and they maybe had a grand total of six people come strolling through. It was only herself and two other girls working, plus Melissa, and they could start their closing routine early in order to leave sooner. A lot of it involved counting down cash floats, general cleaning of the store, and returning all merchandise to their proper locations. The other two sales associates blitzed out of there sometime around ten, and Max remained behind to help Melissa with inventory for a half an hour. Technically, her shift ended at ten-fifteen, but after she moved up a position in the retail hierarchy, she found her start and stop times were more like guidelines: definitely not set in stone.
"Does he have any experience pulling stock?" Melissa droned as she squinted at her ancient monitor, wrinkling her nose at something. "Does he have any experience at all? An undergrad who is twenty-six? What's he doing with his life?"
"It's not really my place to judge that," Max replied, frowning a little at the woman. "But he has worked before, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work stock… He's not running it. We both know Patrick would just tell him where to put things and haul stuff off the truck. He's a really smooth talker… You could even have him on the floor in a pinch."
"All right, all right, stop trying to sell him to me," the older woman remarked dismissively. She glanced up from her computer and grinned, "He can come in on Tuesday night to give stock a try, but he's only getting minimum wage, and I won't hear anything else about it."
"Thank you," Max gushed, a smile stretching wide across her face. "If he fucks up, you can give me shit… but I think he's going to be a good asset to have on hand. We never have enough guys."
"You've made your sale, Max," Melissa chuckled. "Go home. It's a Saturday night… Don't you have somewhere to be?"
"Yeah, with all my course work and a cup of coffee," she sighed as she slid off the small bookcase she usually sat on and waved farewell.
That was actually a lot easier than she expected it to be. Even though she had endured a few part-time jobs since she was fifteen, Max hadn't ever gotten someone else a job because she had influence with the manager. It actually felt kind of good to know she had a little bit of pull around here.
After grabbing her bag and throwing a raincoat over her college sweatshirt, she slipped into her bright green rubber boots in the locker room and darted out the backdoor. It was still pouring once she got outside, and with her hood stuck firmly over her head, she made a mad dash for the back parking lot. On a day like today, it was perfectly acceptable to drive her car to work; besides, parking was free on the weekend, so she might as well take advantage of it.
However, as she strolled across the parking lot, squinting through the rain, she spotted what appeared to be the same dark SUV Loki had been eyeing the previous night lurking around the handicap parking space near her sedan. It was noticeable enough, and almost no one in this town actually tinted their windows that dark, so it had to be the same one she had seen before. It put Loki in a bit of a quiet mood once they got home – not upset or angry, but simply quiet, and she wondered if there was any relation between the pair.
Well, she wasn't going to have some creep follow her or her roommate around, hiding behind dark windows and a big shiny car. So, even though it probably wasn't one of the smartest decisions of her life, she threw her purse in the car, stuffed a bottle of airplane-sized hairspray in her jacket pocket, and slammed the car door noisily. From there, she threw her shoulders back and stalked across the parking lot, marching right of to the driver's side of the SUV and tapping on the window. It was so tinted that she couldn't even see if there was anyone inside, but she waited and hoped for the best anyway.
A moment or so later, the dark window rolled down, and the nearby light revealed two dark-haired men, one staring at her with his eyebrows up, and the other in the passenger's seat stopping mid-bite of a sugary donut, eyes wide as he stared at her. Max stared blankly back at both of them for a moment; the one in the driver's seat had dark hair, dark eyes, and a bit of facial hair – he looked oddly familiar, but she couldn't place him – and the other man was clean-shaven, a mat of curly hair on his head.
There were empty cups and crumbled bags of fast food scattered between them.
"Hi," the driver said briskly. She pursed her lips.
"Hi," Max managed after a second or so. "Are you following me?"
"No," the man replied, shaking his head a little. He then started to roll up the window, which forced Max to stand on her toes in order to continue seeing him.
"So I won't find you parked outside my apartment, or my job, or the yogurt shop that I like anymore?" she asked. The window paused, and he rolled it down a little.
"No."
"Cool," she managed, adrenaline suddenly pounding throughout her body. "Bye then."
"Bye."
Max continued to stare at the black window as it rolled up completely, and then awkwardly turned away to go back to her car. Did she actually just do that? Her actions went against every rule she had, ever code that a college girl should follow. What if there had been two psychopaths in the car waiting to make a drug deal and they shot her? Mind you, this was Masonville, so that seemed a little farfetched. However, she still retrieved her phone and snapped a picture of their front bumper as she was leaving, hoping that she would be able to see the numbers of the plate through the rain. If she saw them again, it was straight to the police.
Tony watched the dark sedan roll out of the parking lot, and then rolled his eyes as Banner mumbled something incoherently at him.
"I really love it when you talk with your mouth full."
His friend chewed for a few seconds, and then swallowed what appeared to be half of a donut in one go.
"I can't believe she actually came up to the car," Banner chuckled, reaching for a napkin and hastily wiping his fingers clean. "I mean, stupid, but… she's got a pair down there."
"No, I think just a whole lot of stupid," he said, noting which way the car turned as it sped down the small street.
"Did you get it?"
Tony reached out and pressed a small button on his elaborate dashboard, "Jarvis?"
"Yes, sir," the A.I. responded through the speakers. "We have voice recognition software running now, as well as a digital copy of her face. Shall I send them through to S.H.I.E.L.D?"
"No, we're going to play this one close to the chest for now," Tony insisted, Banner nodding in his peripherals. "As long as the Big Guy keeps his cool, we'll stick to surveillance."
"Big Guy?" Bruce chuckled, "I wasn't aware I was being watched too."
Tony shot him a look and then grinned, "Why do you think I keep you with me all the time?"
"My genius intellect."
"Glad you're enjoying second best," the billionaire laughed as he turned his key in the ignition. "Let's get back to civilization, shall we?"
Bruce had already retrieved his custom laptop, modified with Tony's specifications, and then sighed, "The Captain's back in New York…"
"Yeah, and Thor's in Arizona," Tony remarked.
"You already read my emails, didn't you?"
"I may have peeked while you were taking your time at that gas station bathroom-"
"There was a line!"
"I was thinking we could bring that gang in for a reunion," Tony suggested as they veered away from the academic buildings behind him. "Maybe see if Thor can explain why baby brother is back on Earth and at college…"
"Might want to ask that after he's got some shawarma in him..."
Still a little rattled from her sudden spout of boldness, Max ended up sitting in her car for a couple of minutes when she arrived back at her apartment complex. What was she thinking? Ugh. Thankfully, there were no headlights in her mirror on the way home, and so far no black SUV in sight. So, when she was sure that she was alone, she hurried out of her car and sprinted back to her front door, wrinkling her nose as rain splattered across her face. She shoved her key in the door and quickly tumbled inside, quick to lock the door behind her.
After shedding her raincoat and kicking off her boots and slightly wet socks, she ran her hand through her hair to shake out a bit of the dampness. Loki, as usual, was watching the eleven o'clock news, feet up on the coffee table; Max scoffed noisily.
"Boring," she moaned as she sauntered toward the couch. "Let's switch to something less depressing."
"It just started," Loki argued, holding the remote hostage on his lap as she plunked down next to him. "Besides, you can watch people compete to be a chef but you can't stand keeping up to date on national news? Your priorities are a little weak, Max."
"Hey," she snapped, pointing an accusatory finger at him. "Don't judge Hell's Kitchen…" She trailed off, picking at her nails, "Ramsay would make me piss myself."
"What?"
"Nothing, nothing," Max sighed, waving it off as she tucked her legs beneath her. "Oh! So, good news from work!"
"Hmm?"
He continued to stare at the screen, clearly more interested in what was happening on the news than what she had to say.
"I talked with my manager," she explained, poking his arm with her pinky in order to get his attention, "at work."
"Yes, I assumed she'd be at work," Loki remarked. "Carry on."
"Well, she said you could work stock Tuesday night," she continued, bouncing a little, and then frowning when he didn't share her excitement. "Why don't you look happy? You need to work…"
"I know, I know," Loki sighed, running his hands through his loose black hair. "I don't quite think I'm ready to start this soon. I have a lot of work to do elsewhere."
"Yeah, so does everyone," Max reasoned with a nod, "but we all also have to pay rent and tuition and everything else. I've got you covered this month, but what are you going to do next month? Go into debt because you can't be bothered to multitask right now?"
"All right, all right, tone it down a level," Loki groaned, rolling his eyes a little when he finally looked away from the TV, and she assumed it was only because the commercials were on. "I'll obviously do it, but you can't expect me to be ecstatic."
"No, but you could be a little more grateful," she argued. "I did just find you a job and you didn't even have to do anything…"
He turned toward her fully, and then grabbed her hand, holding it between both of his, and his eyes stared directly into hers.
"I owe you for so many things," Loki admitted. "Thank you."
The colour flushed to her face, just as she anticipated, and he grinned a little. Cocky asshole probably knew exactly what he was doing that that shit. She smirked in return, and then shrugged her shoulders.
"I'm sure you'll find a way to pay me back one day," she said coolly, and then tugged her hand back. Awkward. "Uhm, so I have a shift Tuesday night and we'll go together."
"My, my," Loki chuckled. "Living together, working together, classes together-"
"Class together," she corrected, leaning her head against the back of the couch. "What? Getting sick of me already?"
"Quite the contrary, actually," he mused, his gaze returning to the TV once it signalled the news' return. "I'm shockingly accepting of you."
She frowned, "Thanks?"
"You're welcome," he laughed as he folded his arms across his chest.
Max rolled her eyes a little; he actually was a little arrogant sometimes, which was a rare unattractive quality in him. Good – she needed to notice those types of things more often if she wanted her little crush to go away. Arrogant, occasionally randomly emotional, and had yet to offer to clean the bathroom – none of those things ought to be in the guy she's crushing on.
"Did you feed the bird today?" Loki inquired, and she quickly blinked after realizing she had been staring at him again. Hopefully he hadn't noticed with his eyes glued to the segment about a canine parade in the next town over.
"Oh, shit, no," Max grumbled, pushing herself off the couch and strolling back toward the island.
The bird cage had been in the same spot that she dumped it the night before, and the parrot had been relentless that morning about waking them up to be fed. Loki may not have put up much of a fight when she first brought that thing into the house, but the death glare he shot her when he came out of his room that morning said it all; the sooner it was out of here, the better.
The creature made a great deal of noise when she retrieved her small bag of birdseed, and she gingerly opened the cage door to pour it in the holder. However, two seconds after the bird spotted freedom, she went for it, shooting out beside Max's face. She screamed and ducked out of the way, birdseed flying everywhere as her hands quickly covered her head for protection. Loki gave a similar shout, and when she glanced back, she saw that the parrot had landed on top of the television.
"Quick, grab her!"
"You grab her!" Loki snapped, peering out from the side of the couch, eyes narrowed, "You let her out!"
"You're closer!"
"Not a strong enough argument, I'm afraid-"
Max shrieked again as the large bird took off and circled around the kitchen, finally taking up a spot on the top of the fridge, feathers completely fluffed.
"Okay, okay," Max reasoned as she stood up a little, still crouched down enough to hit the deck in case their feathered friend took flight again. "Let's try to get her back in together."
"Max," Loki moaned, "I'm watching the news…"
"Yeah, and it'll be on tomorrow morning and tomorrow night too," she snapped. "Can you just… help me, please?"
She heard him sigh irritably, and then finally turn the television off – apparently all attention now needed to go toward this bird.
"Right, why don't you grab a towel," he suggested, "and we'll see if we can… guide it back into its cage."
"Fuck," she groaned. "Why did I agree to watching this thing?"
"You can explain that to me later," Loki told her as he marched round the island and cautiously snatched up the two dish towels that were hanging in front of the oven. "Here."
She caught the one he tossed at her, and they both approached the fridge from opposite sides of the kitchen. He gestured for her to wait, and she watched as he stood on the tips of his toes. However, before either of them could do anything, the parrot shrieked and fluttered off the fridge, wings and feathers everywhere as Max cried and ducked down.
Things with wings sucked. They just… They sucked.
"Max, you really need to stop being so noisy," Loki ordered as he too ducked down to avoid being hit, "because you're upsetting the bird, and you're throwing me off!"
"Sorry, Steve Irwin," Max snapped, throwing her towel down dramatically and taking a seat on the floor, "didn't mean to spoil your concentration!"
He scoffed noisily, and Max flinched when the parrot landed on the island nearby. It was probably shitting everywhere. She glared at it, but quickly shrunk away against the cupboard behind her when it flapped its wings once more. Loki crouched down a little, like a feline stalking its prey, and Max watched him take a step forward in his socked feet, only to catch himself on her discarded towel and plummet down to the ground. Max giggled a little, and he managed to catch himself on the counter just in time, but the parrot was long gone into the bowels of their apartment, hopefully not shitting on her bed.
"Maybe," he sighed, sliding down to sit opposite of her, "it can just be a free-range bird until your friend comes to get it?"
"Not in my room," Max snorted.
Her eyes traveled along his long legs, bent at the knee, arms resting at his side. Ugh, stop it, Max. Much to her surprise, he seemed to be doing the same thing, and suddenly leaned down to examine her foot, which was currently slightly brushing his side.
"Is there a ring on your toe?"
"Oh, yeah," she said quickly, leaning forward to touch the small toe ring. "I usually wear them in the summer… I keep forgetting to take it off."
Lie. Her toes and feet got swollen from summer shoes and summer heat, and currently her little baby toe was too fat to get the ring off.
"You're a strange creature, did you know?"
She hugged her knees, nibbling at her lower lip as she glanced up at him. The fridge hummed softly beside them, but otherwise it felt like all her other senses had dulled. Ugh. The crush might actually have gotten worse within the last minute or so.
"I do what I can," Max finally managed, shrugging her shoulders in an attempt to appear nonchalant. He smiled mischievously, and then wrapped a hand around her ankle. She stilled, her eyes cast down to the spot of contact.
Suddenly, her phone buzzed noisily from the other side of the island, and Max almost jumped up to grab it. She answered without even bothering to check her caller I.D., and then immediately regretted it.
"Why aren't you here?" Erica demanded through the hum of background music. "It's after eleven!"
"Oh, I just got home from work," she insisted a little breathlessly. Out of her peripherals, she spotted Loki rise and disappear down the hallway out of sight, and for a moment she was relieved. "Look, the weather's really shitty, and I'm tired, and Loki's… not really up for a party tonight."
"Bullshit," she slurred. "I live two blocks away from school… Get over here and have a great time-"
"What?" Max asked, rolling her eyes, "Oh, you're cutting out. What? Sorry, can't hear you! My phone battery's dying, Erica… Why don't you-"
And she hung up. Nope, not dealing with that tonight. Moments later, Loki returned with that fucking parrot resting on his hand. He ran a finger down its back, and it appeared Max wasn't the only female being in this apartment that enjoyed his attentions.
Max gripped her cell phone tightly as she watched him set the bird back in the cage, but instead of saying anything, she decided it was best to call it a night; go to bed before it gets any worse.
"I'm going to shower quickly," she said. "Do you need the bathroom?"
She heard the TV come back to life behind her, and she assumed that he was fine.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
So a lot of times with my stories I actually research things and try to make them super realistic. However, I can't even begin to understand the American Visa system for international students and where they can work and whatnot… so I'm going with rules that will allow me to make the story work. Deal with it –slides on sunglasses- .
So, Tony and Bruce made me ENDLESSLY HAPPY WITH THEIR BRO-LOVE in the movie. Actually, everyone did. I fucking loved the Avengers. There, I said it. Loved them all, not just our devilish villain, but I'm a bit nervous to actually attempt to write Tony Stark - hence the lack of detail and very small snippet of dialogue. It's a daunting task... gotta work up to that.
I'm going away on vacation at the end of this week. It's only to go home, which isn't a huge deal, but the updates may be a little slow for the next few weeks because of it. I'm going to try to keep up with my usual pace, but we'll see how that goes.
I also think Max is in a deep denial about her crush. Like. Hard denial. And Loki… Well, he'll get a chance to explain himself whenever he has his next POV chapter, which should be soon. Stick around, lovelies!
