Loki and Linn had fallen into a peculiar Monday afternoon habit. Ever since his encounter with Blaze in the alley, Loki didn't trust Linn to walk home by herself. Or, perhaps he didn't trust others to leave her alone when she walked home by herself. He knew that Maisy had spent much time in the city and knew how to handle situations and get help when she needed it so he generally let her take the subway home. But Linn was young, happy, and unaware of the dangers of Midgard.

So, Loki insisted that he walk her home from school every day that she didn't walk home with friends or he wasn't gone on some mission. On Mondays they always went grocery shopping at the supermarket on their street. They'd designated Monday as grocery day because the start of the week was usually depressing and it lifted the duo's spirits to investigate earth's grocery store. They always found something intriguing or had an interesting conversation.

Maisy often complained about the weird items that they brought home, but she hated doing the shopping so she left them to it. As long as they didn't get anything that she had to cook then she was fine.

So, just like every Monday, Loki put on some Midgardian clothes (jeans, a black T-shirt that said "in my defense I was left unsupervised", boots, a jacket, and the scarf Maisy had given him) and took the envelope of carefully budgeted grocery money from where Maisy left it on the counter (she also always left him notes telling him to have a good day and reminding him that she loved him or specifying a certain food she would like him to get). With his Midgardian disguise and the money he set out for Linn's school.

He walked with his hands shoved in his pockets and a scowl on his face as he usually did, to deter people, but that day he was inwardly smiling. He loved Mondays, though he would never admit it to anyone. Though Maisy got home later on that day of the week (she and her boss discussed new designs) Loki still had fun with Linn at the store. And Stark rarely pestered him on Mondays.

Once he arrived at Linn's school he waited out front for her and patiently pretended he had something to check on his phone while she finished her conversations with her friends. When she gleefully skipped down to him, he put his phone away and nodded to her friends.

"How was school?"

"The cafeteria had a sauce made out of apples today. We oughta get the recipe and see if Idunn'll make some," Linn said, hooking her thumbs through her backpack straps.

"Was that truly the most exciting part of your day?"

"Nope," she chirped and stopped suddenly, bending to tie her shoe. Loki stopped with her, scanning the sidewalk for potential threats.

"So what was?"

She straightened up and grinned.

"I found a book in da library."

"Given that libraries are specifically designed to hold books, I would have been more surprised if you couldn't find a book in the library."

"It was a book about Norse myffs."

"Oh Norns," he rolled his eyes, "It's not true. None of it."

"Not even the horse-"

"No."

She laughed and would not stop laughing as they walked. Every once in a while she would halt and point out something they hadn't noticed on their walks before. An unusual bird. A rat ducking into the sewer. A sign had lights out and she had to try to pronounce what the new neon lettering spelled out. A child had drawn with chalk on the sidewalk. That cloud looked like a rabbit. The man across the street had pink hair the same shade as hers.

Every walk with Linn was an observation of life. Though he continued to frown, Loki enjoyed every moment. It wasn't that he didn't notice these things on his own, but when he observed things it was so that he could use the information to further his potential plans later. When Linn noticed things she only did so to enjoy the fact of them.

"Wonder why people draw dese squares wif numbers on the sidewalk," she said, pointing to a drawing on the ground, "I've seen it a few times. Looks like a game."

"I'm sure it is."

When they'd passed a child started playing on the very squares they had spoken of, hoping along the numbers in a sort of pattern. Linn watched, fascinated, but didn't stop walking until they arrived at the supermarket.

"Any special requests from the boss lady today?" She asked.

"Maisy has only requested that we purchase a salad mix. We have free reign otherwise," Loki said, "Do you have your heart set on anything?"

"I fink we should get stuffs to make a real nice dinner tonight. What do ya fink?"

"We don't know how to cook."

"I heard of dis food called pa-sketti and it's just noodles and sauce. I fink we can manage dat. Maybe we get some bread stuffs to go wif it?"

"I suppose," Loki replied, "It would be a nice surprise for Maisy if we had something for dinner ready when she gets home."

"Yeah!"

They entered the grocery store and set to the task of buying the essentials and ingredients for dinner. They always stopped at the produce section first to see if there were any fruits or vegetables that they didn't recognize. Today they came across something called a kiwano. Intrigued by the spikey yellow-orange exterior, they added one to their basket. Then they picked up a salad mix for Maisy and moved onto the bread section.

Both Linn and Loki loved the fact that bread on Midgard came pre-sliced. They thought it was incredibly lazy of people to buy such a thing, but they agreed that it was convenient for making sandwiches. So they always got a loaf. Today they also added a bag of small, long, thin, breads labeled "hot dog buns" because they liked the look of them.

Moving on to the frozen section, they added many microwavable meals to their basket. Then they stared at the frozen dairy items that they'd never tried, but liked to look at. They had no idea why anyone would freeze milk and flavor it, but the Midgardians seemed to like it. But, once more, Linn and Loki passed it up, promising that one day they would get it.

They picked up a few more items that Linn said they would need to make the "pa-sketti" and then started to leave. They picked the fuller of the two check out lines because it had their favorite cashier in it. An old man who always waved to them and smiled at them and was there every Monday at the same time they were. His name tag read "Manuel" but that was the extent of what they knew about him.

The man had a thick accent that neither Loki nor Linn understood, but Linn was fairly confident that the man's first (and perhaps only) language was Spanish. She said he sounded like her Spanish 1 teacher. The man couldn't seem to make out Loki or Linn's accents either because any time they tried to carry out a conversation there were lots of mutterings of "what?" "¿qué?" "huh?" and "uhhh" from both parties involved. Still, Loki and Linn would allow for no other cashier to ring up their purchases. They liked Manuel and he was as much a part of their Monday routine as anything else.

"Hello!" Linn greeted when it was their turn in line.

"Hello," he nodded with a smile as he rang up their purchases. Then he said something they couldn't understand and they smiled and nodded and said something he couldn't understand. Once the transaction was complete they thanked each other and Loki and Linn left the shop and headed home. Before they got far Loki had an idea.

"Wine!"

"Wine?"

"What fine dinner would be complete without wine?"

"Yeah, but we ain't got the funds for wine," Linn pointed at the envelope in his hand. It only held coins now. Loki shook the envelope and heard the pitiful clanking.

"Hmm," he grinned and took the coins out, putting them in his pocket. He held the envelope up and it turned into a fifty dollar bill. Linn raised a brow.

"Ain't dat wrong?"

"Perhaps a little bit."

"You're making fake money, Loki. Sounds illegal to me."

"As long as the Avengers don't find out then I do not see a problem. Oh, we probably shouldn't tell Maisy either."

"But what about whatever poor guy we buy wine from? Won't he get in trouble for not having all the money he's supposed to when dat turns back into an envelope?"

"That is none of our concern."

"And how are we supposed to splain to Maisy how we got a bottle of wine even dough we spent all our money on groceries?"

"We'll just tell her we found the money on the ground and thought we could all do with a glass of wine. She'll never know unless you tell her," he narrowed his eyes, "You won't tell her, will you?"

"I ain't a snitch, but I don't fink we oughta do it."

"I'm going to whether you approve or not."

"Fine," Linn sighed and they stopped in the liquor store. Loki picked out a bottle of wine and brought it to the counter. The man there rang it up and then asked to see ID.

"I beg your pardon?" Loki asked, a stiff smile on his face.

"I know you're probably over twenty-one, but rules are rules. Can I see your identification please?"

"Of course!" Loki patted his pockets, looking for something that he could glamor into looking like the driver's license Maisy had. He needed something that was roughly the size of the object he was trying to fake so he finally decided on the library card in his back pocket (he spent many lonesome afternoons in the New York Public Library). He hoped he glamored all of the appropriate information (using the name Lawrence Arrington as he had when pretending to be Linn's father) onto the card. He wasn't exactly sure how old he looked by Midgardian standards but he didn't think it could be that much older than Maisy's twenty-four years. He'd settled on thirty-four just to be safe.

"Thank you, sir," the cashier checked the information on the card and gave it back. He bagged their wine and sent them on their way. Loki was quite proud of the ruse, but Linn sulked about it all the way home. She would have sulked about it longer, but Loki suggested that they try out the new fruit they'd purchased.

Both of them were astonished at the bright green color inside of the yellow kiwano and Linn forgot to pout about their less than legal activities. Once they'd tried it (neither particularly cared for the taste, though they wouldn't admit it since they thought it was so incredible in appearance) and put away the groceries, Linn set to work on her school.

An hour or so later they looked up how to make pa-sketti (and found that it was actually "spaghetti") and set to work. By the time Maisy came home they were covered in red sauce and noodles, but they had three servings ready of a fine spaghetti.

"Whoa," Maisy said, entering the kitchen slowly, "You guys… cooked?"

"Yup! It was my idea!" Linn said, "We got your salad too if ya want some of dat."

"Oh. Thanks," Maisy laughed and wiped sauce off of her friend's nose, "This smells great, thank you so much for making it!"

"We also have..." Loki pulled the bottle of wine from behind his back, "Something to drink with it. Though, it would not seem that we possess any wine glasses so I hope coffee mugs will suffice."

"Wine in coffee mugs," Maisy giggled, "Works for me."

"Loki says I gotta drink milk though," Linn grumbled.

"Yeah, that's probably for the best."

They all sat down and began to eat before it dawned on her that they shouldn't have had the funds to purchase their special beverage for the evening.

"Hey…" she said, "How did you get the wine? I don't think I budgeted enough grocery money for that."

"We found it!" Linn piped up.

Maisy, thinking that they'd picked up a bottle of wine off the street, quietly spit her wine back into her mug and coughed.

"You found it?"

"The money," Loki corrected, "We found a fifty dollar bill on the sidewalk outside of the grocery store and decided to celebrate."

"Really? That's awesome!"

"It cost us twenty dollars so there's thirty extra on the counter."

"Wow!" Maisy grinned, "We should get a treat or something this weekend with the extra money!"

"Maybe we could try the frozen milk!" Linn exclaimed.

"The what?"

"I believe they call it 'ice cream'," Loki responded.

"You guys haven't tried ice cream yet?!" Maisy said, "Well, that settles it. We're going to my favorite ice cream parlor this Saturday. Sound good?"

"Yeah!" Linn pumped her fist excitedly, "Good plan with the magic money, Loki."

Loki winced and Maisy turned to him, arms crossed.

"Magic money?"

"I've no idea what she's rambling about."

"Whoops," Linn quickly looked down and slurped up more spaghetti.

"Loki, what did you do?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all."

Maisy got up and looked at the money on the counter. Nothing appeared to be wrong with it. She set it back down and came up from behind Loki, putting her hands on his shoulders. He tensed.

"Did you make a fake fifty dollar bill?"

"Of course not!" He laughed, "That would be forgery and I am not a common criminal."

"Linn, did he forge a fifty?"

"Mmm, nff, guh, mm," Linn replied, stuffing more spaghetti in her mouth.

Maisy leaned down by Loki's ear.

"You think you're the only one who's a good lie detector? Think again," she whispered. He only chuckled.

"You are mistaken, for I am not lying."

"Fine then," Maisy shrugged and quickly moved away from him, going back to her seat and looking at her food, "Don't tell me. I just won't tell you about the big thing that happened at work today."

"Ha! Nothing happened at work today. You are simply trying to get me to admit to something I did not do."

Linn looked up curiously.

"What happened at work today?"

"I'm sorry, Linn. I can't tell you. Someone isn't confessing to his crimes."

"Can I at least have a hint?" Linn asked.

"One hint," Maisy agreed and smirked, "It involves a very nice man."

"Do not try to make me jealous," Loki narrowed his eyes, "It won't work and you'll only annoy me."

"Who said I was trying to make you jealous?" She replied innocently.

"Who is dis man?!" Linn demanded.

"My lips are sealed," Maisy laughed, "That means my lips are also off limits for kissing, Loki."

"Oh please," he rolled his eyes. Quietly wondering if he ought to give up. No. She wouldn't be able to refuse him kisses forever.

"One more hint!" Linn begged.

"I'll only say that he was a nice, handsome, kind man and I spent a great deal of time talking to him today," Maisy smiled and continued to eat.

Linn looked at Loki to see if he was close to cracking, but his face was like a stone. The teenager groaned and looked back to Maisy.

"Fine, if he won't tell ya, den I can tell ya. He-"

"One more word and I'll watch the season finale of the Great British Bake Off without you, little Linn," Loki warned.

Linn gasped in indignation.

"You wouldn't!"

"And I'll tell you who wins."

"You guys watch the Great British Bake Off?" Maisy laughed.

"Yes."

"Well, if you tell me, Linn, then you can watch the show while I scold Loki and you can find out the ending first. I won't let him watch it before you."

"Loki made an envelope look like fifty dollars and he bought a bottle of wine and he made his library card look like a driver's license!"

"I thought you said you weren't a snitch," Loki grumbled.

"The stakes were too high," Linn shrugged, "Now tell me what happened at work wif the handsome man!"

"He was a young, popular designer who is having a fashion show in two weeks. He wants me to design a few things for his show so he can see what I've got. He said he might be able to help me find some sort of mentor in the fashion world once he sees what my style is like!"

"Dat's fantastic!"

"Truly great news!" Loki agreed, raising his wine filled mug, "We ought to toast to it."

"Ha," Maisy took another sip of her wine and then nodded at Linn, "Why don't you go watch the Great British Bake Off. I have some scolding to do."

"Don't hafta tell me twice," the girl cleared her plate and dashed off to her room, swiping Maisy's computer as she went.

"That little traitor," Loki grumbled.

"She just likes me better than you," Maisy remarked, sticking out her tongue.

"Just because I may have said I'd kill her one time."

"What?!"

"Back before she became so dear to us, obviously. It was more of a bluff to show Egil that I was not to be trifled with."

"And it was definitely a bluff?" Maisy asked skeptically.

"You think I would kill our nearly adopted teenage friend?"

"No. You like her too much to do that," Maisy reached across the table and patted his hand, "But we're getting off topic."

"Alright, wife of mine, how mad are you about the wine?"

"Not too mad, actually."

"Oh?"

"You left the receipt for the wine on the counter with the money."

"And?"

"You bought it from a liquor store that I am ninety percent sure is laundering money."

"How would you know that?"

"The lady who works at the flower shop next to it told me. She also said that the manager of the liquor store keeps stealing her peonies."

"Then I've done a good deed!" He raised his mug, "Another thing to toast to!"

"Yeah, but you didn't know that you were ripping off criminals so I'm still annoyed with you," there was no irritation in her tone, though, and she clinked her mug against his.

Loki couldn't help but think of his life back in Asgard. In the Realm Eternal he would have never had to forge money just to buy a sub par bottle of wine. And he certainly never would have sipped said wine from a cheap porcelain mug with the logo of Maisy's Alma Mater on the side. For a moment he missed the rich Asgardian wine and the golden goblets from which he used to drink, but then Maisy quirked a small smile and he felt his heart give an absurd flutter. All thoughts of Asgard flew from his mind and he could only think that, with that smile to greet him every day, he could live in Muspelheim and drink grape juice from paper cups and still be happy.

A note from the author: Am I bribing you with fluff so that you won't hate me when the angst comes? Maybe... Hopefully you don't mind all the fluff or else this plan with be for naught. ;)

I don't have much to say otherwise except that you should totally look up a kiwano fruit (the special fruit Linn and Loki get from their favorite grocery store) because they are super cool looking. I have no idea what they taste like because I literally Googled "weird fruits" for this chapter and chose my favorite. That was the entirety of my research. Does anyone else know what they taste like?

Thank you so much for reading/following/favoriting!

Special thanks to my reviewers:

Ceres Friggadottir: Ooof, I think we need to clean out the PFoD if there's still old comfort food in there lol. *waves magic authorial wand* There we go! All clean, with a fresh supply of chocolate!

Ninja Squirrel: Loki vs. baby proofing stuff would be really fun to write lol. You ever had to use one of those baby proof doorknob things? Those are the worst. And baby gates? And... carseats! Dun dun duuuuun!

nina del carmen: I think he should tell her too, but he's kind of bad about that sort of thing lol

CheetahLover: I hope you wanted more fluff because you got it! ;)

ferbette: Maisy having her own dress shop on Asgard would be so fun! She could sell Midgardian styles and all of the ladies of Asgard would be suspicious, but then they'd see Sif buying stuff there and they'd totally start buying stuff too. Except, you're right, Odin is a notorious party pooper and probably wouldn't let that happen. :P

Thanks for being patient with me and for your support! You guys are awesome! :)