She drove down the Tenth Avenue, turned into Fifty Fourth West and pulled into an empty parking spot. Finding one was getting difficult as normal life had returned to the city, but somehow she got lucky again.
The façade of the building was newly plastered and painted in a non-descript tan color, all the windows were brand new too. She entered the code, went into the lobby and headed for the stairs. She wasn't too keen on using the elevator. The lower floors of the building were still undergoing renovation and there was too many power outages. She really wasn't looking forward to getting herself out of the ratchety cage for the second time this week.
She stopped in front of the apartment door. There were noises coming from inside. She stopped, listening for a moment. Her magic floated to the surface, ready to scout for her, but she calmed it down. Running her hand over her chest where the pendant rested, safely hidden underneath her clothes, she turned the key and opened the door.
"What did I tell you about letting yourself in?!" she yelled from the entrance as she took off her coat, kicked off her shoes and tossed her handbag onto a side table.
"That I should do so whenever I please?" Loki said, stepping out of the kitchen area into the hallway. The sleeves of his plain white shirt were rolled up and he was holding a wooden spoon.
"I'm pretty sure this is not how I put it," she said with a smirk and gestured toward the kitchen and at whatever it was that he was cooking. "That smells delicious by the way."
"It's a famous Vanir spicy stew. I had to get creative with the meager choice of ingredients your provincial world offers though," he explained with a smirk, "so I make no promises it's any good."
There were bags from the street corner deli on the counter.
"I hope you haven't given the poor old Luis a heart attack," she said, "I like shopping there. They are open late."
"Oh please, who do you take me for?" he said with feigned indignation. "I love the new place by the way. Very… minimalistic."
Besides the kitchenette corner that came with the flat, the living area was only furnished with an oversized couch, a TV and a stack of cardboard boxes by the window she didn't have time to unpack yet.
"Stark actually pays decent wages to his employees if you're convincing enough," she said. Loki turned back to the stove. His hair was pulled into a low, loose bun, adding a "Brooklyn hipster" flair to his guise. It looked like he'd been working on his facial hair too, although that one might have been just an illusion or a new shapeshifting perk he'd discovered. There were quite a few of those as of late. "Turns out that little downtown remodeling you pulled off two years ago did wonders to the real estate prices in New York,"
"You want me to do that again?" he asked and stirred the contents of the pan. "I can think of a couple of factions that could be persuaded to cooperate."
"Thanks, I think I'll pass," she said, "but if you feel another sparring with the Hulk is overdue, I can arrange that. I'm sure Bruce would be overjoyed to see you again."
"That won't be necessary," he said lightly. "Bruce is better as a conversation partner anyway."
He stirred the food one last time and flipped off the gas switch.
She came over and hugged him from behind. "You've been gone for three weeks this time. I was worried. And I had to move those boxes all by myself."
He turned around and brushed her hair away from her face. She hadn't dyed it, just like she'd promised. It had also grown out a bit. "Well, the transition wasn't going as smoothly as I expected. For as much as the Council hates having me as their king, they seem way too resentful to the idea of me being around less."
"You're really going with the parliamentary monarchy plan?"
Loki shrugged. "And why not? It's brilliant. It might be the next best thing humanity came up with, right after showers. I get to keep all my privileges as king and none of the responsibilities. Asgard will get to solve their own problems for me, while I can stay back and take time off whenever I want."
She laughed. She knew that wasn't his only motivation, far from it, but it was such a Loki thing to say and she didn't even point it out.
"How long do you have this time?"
"I have to be back by…" he paused, calculating the time difference. Loki and Stark seemed to be the only ones capable of doing that without a calculator and two calendars. "Next Monday. There's a vote I need to oversee."
"That's something."
He chuckled then untangled himself from her arms. "The food is getting cold."
"I thought you like it cold."
"There's a difference between 'not scorching' and 'cold', you know."
He rummaged through the cupboards and drawers until he found some cutlery and two plates. He scooped some stew onto each one and placed the dishes on the counter. There was no table in the apartment, so they'd have to use the bar stools "Enjoy."
She sat down across from him. "How did you find me anyway? Heimdall?
He shook his head. "I went to the tower first. Tony mentioned having some issues with the bridge project and wanted my input. He told me where to find you."
"How would he know?"
"Employee records?"
"That's confidential! He shouldn't be giving it out to anyone who asks. Also, you could have called," she said, pointing at his phone on the counter.
"I'm not anyone," he laughed, "and my phone's out of battery. There's still no way to charge it on Asgard until Tony finishes the generator he promised me and I fried three of those goddamned things trying to do it with magic."
"Why don't you just turn it off?"
"I was playing a game," he admitted.
She imagined Loki, wearing his ridiculous armor and the horned helmet, lounging on the enormous golden throne in Asgard's royal hall and playing Angry Birds. It made her burst out laughing.
"That was uncalled for," Loki scoffed, then waved his hand at her plate. "Are you not hungry?"
"I am." She took a spoonful. "Mmm, it's good. You weren't joking about the spicy part though."
"I never joke about such things," he said, bit into his food and stood up to pour himself a glass of water, "but I think I might have outdone myself this time."
"Loki, the god of mischief and spicy food. That has a nice ring to it."
"It's also a god of fire, although I can't really fathom where that part came from," he said, his mouth full. "It was Thor who did most of the arson. Inadvertently, usually."
"How is he?"
"No idea. I haven't seen him in weeks."
"Foster still hasn't kicked him out?"
"Apparently not," Loki said with a sneer.
"We have some time, we could pop down for a visit. I can talk Tony into lending us one of his planes."
"So that Foster's friend can threaten me with a taser again? No, thank you."
"It was a joke."
"She had a taser! At a social gathering! And she hates me."
"Nah," Natasha judged. "She is just jealous she gets to hang out with the less cool brother."
Loki glowered at her but the compliment worked.
"Besides, isn't that like an Asgard thing to carry a weapon everywhere? I'm pretty sure Thor sleeps with his hammer since he got it back."
"That's different."
"That's very Aesir of you."
"Are you trying to offend me?"
She chortled. "So, what do you want to do?" she asked.
"I don't know, any suggestions? Other suggestions?"
"Tony messaged me like an hour ago that he is throwing a party in his home in Malibu tomorrow. He said he wanted to keep it 'low profile and only among friends', so I'm guessing no more than two hundred people? We could go and mingle."
"Yes, he told me, but wouldn't tell me what the occasion was."
She crooked her head. "Oooh. He was waiting for you to show up! This might be something big then."
"Big how?"
"No idea, but if I had to guess, I'd say he and Pepper are either getting married or are having a baby. Or he just discovered time travel and wants us to go back in time to kill Hitler."
"Both sound equally plausible," Loki said with a perfectly neutral face and she laughed again.
"What did you say?"
"That I'll give him an answer later. I wanted to talk to you first."
"I'm in! So, we're going?"
"Yes," he said and scooped the rest of the stew into his mouth, directly from the plate in an inherently undignified manner, "but I'm driving."
THE END