Chapter 19: Do You Believe in Magic… in an Elf King's Heart?
The strange group walked down the center of Bourbon Street after disentangling themselves from the lovely ladies of the evening.
"'Scuse me just a sec," Walter said, taking off towards a shop. "Gotta get me some smokes."
"Smokes?" Thranduil asked, watching as the elderly man darted into a store. "As in pipes?"
Loki shrugged. "Possible. I am not too certain of all the customs of this place."
"Interesting, the hobbits are rather fond of pipeweed…" Thranduil glanced curiously at Loki. "As are the wizards."
Loki held his hands up. "Not me."
Loud music blared out of the building they were passing, and crowds of people were staring through the windows and doors. A man at the door kept repeating, "Cover is only $5, come on in boys. We got topless and bottomless!"
Tauriel stared at the man, clearly confused. She cocked her head to one side. "Topless and bottomless?"
"Hey, sister!" The man shouted at her. "You can come in for free. See something you've not seen since you took a shower this morning!" He leered at her.
Tauriel, being taller than most of the humans, was able to peer into the darkened room. She backed off, shaking her head. "No, thank you."
Thranduil looked curiously at her. "Well?"
"He meant naked women," she replied.
Thranduil frowned. "Who would wish to see naked humans? They are bad enough as it is."
Loki laughed. "I agree completely. Let us continue walking. Walter can catch up with us. I am certain we shall not be too difficult to find in this crowd." His gaze swept up at the tall Heimdall.
They hadn't walked more than ten feet before another man accosted them. "Hey! Welcome to Naw'lins! Bet I can tell you somethin' you didn't know. I'm a magic man."
"Magic man?" Thranduil looked at him skeptically, then shot a look at Loki.
Loki grinned in reply. "This might be interesting."
"Yep! It shore will be interestin'!" The man replied. His gaze swept down to the ground, staring at their feet. He looked up at Loki. "I'll bet I can tell ya where ya got yer boots at!"
"Really? A bet?" Loki smiled, certain the man had never even heard of Asgard. "And if you do?"
"Well, let's say five dollars says I can tell ya where you got yer boots," the man said with a grin.
"Five dollars? Hmmm, that seems fair," Loki replied. "So tell me, where did I get my boots?"
The man cackled with glee. "Hee hee… not get yer boots, got yer boots. You got yer boots on Bourbon Street!" He pointed down towards Loki feet. "Get it?"
Loki threw back his head and laughed, enjoying the play on words. "Well, it seems I owe you five dollars…" He thought quickly. All he had was the plastic card… the what was it called… Credit card, yes that was it. He doubted that the man would want that. A sly grin appeared on his face. He bent down and picked up an empty plastic cup someone had discarded in the streets. He handed it to the man. "Here you go."
The man frowned. "Is this some kinda trick?"
"No, you shall find your money in there," Loki replied.
The man peered in the cup, his eyes widening in surprise as he extracted not one five-dollar bill, but several!
"How…?" the man's jaw dropped as he stared at his newfound wealth.
"Magic," Loki replied.
"Charlie!" Walter scurried up to them. "You ain't been conning my new friends, have you?"
Mouth still open, Charlie turned to Walter. "Did ya see this?" He held out the cup filled with bills. "He picked up a piece of garbage an' there was money in it!"
"What did you do?" Walter stared hard at his friend.
"I just asked him where he got his boots at," Charlie admitted. "He accepted the bet. Didn't do no conning."
"Walter, it is fine, really," Loki interjected.
"These are my new friends, don't you go spoiling it for me. They done bought me a drink at Pat's and dinner at Antoine's!" Walter boasted.
"Dinner at Antoine's? Damn!" Charlie stared up at Loki and Thranduil. "Nice friends you found. Can I tag along?"
"Git! They're mine!" Walter shooed him away. "Sides, you got enough money there to buy you a few meals, don'tcha?"
Charlie peered at the money. "Yeah, I guess."
"He appears rather sad, do you think we might be able to let him join us?" Tauriel asked.
Thranduil sighed. "Why not?"
Charlie's eyes brightened. "You mean I can come along?"
"Certainly, we were going to meet Ben Gay I believe," Thranduil replied.
"Ben Gay?" Walter frowned. "You didn't tell me you needed that. I coulda bought ya some back there when I got these," he held up a pack of cigarettes. "Come on, let's go get some."
Loki and Thranduil exchanged a confused glance. "You purchase this person? This Ben Gay?" Loki finally asked.
"No, it's not a person, it's a thing you use for sore muscles." Charlie's gaze swiveled towards Heimdall. "Is it for him? He's got lots of muscles!"
"No, Walter. You said you were taking us to get Ben Gay," Loki reminded him.
"Get Ben Gay?" Walter's eyes clouded over in confusion, then he started laughing. "No… no… beignets! They're a doughnut, sort of, not a person."
"Beignets?" Charlie's eyes lit up. "Haven't had one in days!"
"Then let us go in search of these do-nuts. What exactly is a do-nut?" Tauriel asked.
"Follow me!" Walter took off, explaining as he walked. "They're not exactly a regular kind of doughnut. Most doughnuts are round with a hole in the center-like. These are more like fluffy square pillows of dough, covered in powdered sugar. And ya gotta try the café au lait! It'll put hair on your chest!" He glanced over at Heimdall. "Although I don't think you need it, dude."
Author's Notes: I make no apologies for the craziness of this story. This particular chapter is based on real events that have happened to me on various trip to New Orleans. I could just see these two strolling down Bourbon Street with their "guards" in tow!
Please review, and if you'd like a more serious Loki story, check out my Infinity Series (starts with Alliance – current story is Deception but there are currently six stories in the series along with multiple one-shots).