"No magic."
"I beg your pardon?"
"You heard me," Erin stated, avoiding the bodies that passed her, either rushing to work or out for their morning jog, whereas Loki barely flinched as people skirted around him, avoiding his path. "I won't be able to explain to anyone how you're causing objects to float or disappear out of thin air." His silence caused her to stop and face him, "Please," she asked, looking into his eyes, her breath clearly visible as it escaped her lips, "I need you to actually promise me that you'll refrain from using your magic where people can see you. It'll keep you safe."
Loki scoffed, his eyebrows raising incredulously, "What makes you think I need protecting?" He saw her eyes glisten slightly, her long black lashes gathering around the excess moisture and instantly regretted being the one to cause it. He turned his attention to a nearby tree, finding it much easier focus on the unimpressive plant. After a few moments his voice came out low, "If it pleases you, I'll do my best to keep from using my magic."
Erin smiled, "Great." Stepping out of his path, she continued on her way as Loki followed. He stole glances at her briefly, taking in her cheerful demeanor as she shuffled around the oncoming pedestrians. She was nearly skipping in her boots as she took in the crisp morning air, the wind blowing her crimson waves. It appeared as if a painter dipped his brush in the burning sun to paint the color of her locks.
They were stopped suddenly by an elderly woman wearing so much fur, Loki was surprised she wasn't mistaken for an old bear.
"Ms. Fillmore! What a pleasant surprise!" Erin exclaimed, stepping forward to stand in front of Loki. As if my 5'5" tall body could hide his 6'2 frame, she thought to herself.
The old woman took Erin's face in her hands and kissed her cheeks. "How are you, my dear? Off to work today?"
"Yes, ma'am," the young woman nodded sweetly, her cheeks pressing into her teeth. "Vince is back as well if you'd care to pop in for a visit."
"Lovely, I imagine his trip to Poland was a pleasant one." Her eyes strayed to the Loki, "Now I know you're going to introduce me to this devilishly handsome man behind you." Ms. Fillmore's eyes traveled over Loki's tall slender form behind Erin, batting her mascara-clumped eyelashes at him. He shifted his weight on his feet uncomfortably. Shit.
"Oh, um, Ms. Fillmore, th-this is," Erin hesitated, "Sam. Sameal Skarsgard."
"Sam-?" Loki halted when he felt the heel of Erin's boot digging into the toe of his shoe. He cleared his throat, steeping around her towards the older woman, "Call me Sam, a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He took her hand in his and kissed the back of it softly.
"Please, call me Beverly," she purred, "and the pleasure is all mine, stud."
Loki smiled weakly, noticing the stained lipstick on Ms. Fillmore's teeth.
"Well," Erin chimed in, "we should get going. I'll see you around Ms. Fillmore."
"Certainly, dear! Lovely to meet you as well, Mr. Skarsgard."
Erin pulled Loki along, quickening her pace as she tugged at his hand. Once they had made it a good distance away, Erin found it appropriate to slow down. She blew a gust of air from her lips and loosened her knit scarf.
"Sam? You couldn't think of a better name than what you would name a dog?"
She rolled her eyes at his fussy behavior, "I didn't really have time to run through a list of names for you in the three seconds I was given to answer her! Plus, Sameal is the archangel of death and is commonly referred to as both good and evil... which seemed like a good fit." Erin surveyed Loki's outfit, consisting entirely of black, from his scarf and coat all the way down to his shoes.
"And Skarsgard?" he inquired.
Erin murmured, her cheeks darkening from more than the wind.
"Excuse me?"
"Aleksander Skarsgard, he's an actor." Her voice was much smaller than the usual volume she held it at.
Loki smiled deviously, "A crush, no doubt. I'm quite honored that you'd consider me worthy of bearing his surname." He stepped closer to her, the difference in their heights suddenly much more noticeable.
"Yeah, well don't let it get to your head," she retorted, opening the door to the Rabbit Hole. She turned to face the god, stopping him from entering, "You know where I live. Go home and relax, there's a key for you under the welcome mat - not that you need it to get in," she looked at him pointedly, "I'll be done around 5 if you'd like to get groceries with me."
Loki appeared bored by the very thought, but with deflated shoulders he thought to appease her and accompany the young woman. With a warm smile, she turned gracefully on her heel and closed the door behind her, leaving him alone in the crisp morning air.
Loki turned on his heel and retraced his steps to make his way back to her home, fighting the slight tug of his lips. She was a strange creature no doubt, but he couldn't deny how entertaining she was. Loki had never known a woman - midgardian or not - to have such a pure and innocent smile, especially given the actions he'd seen her partake in the night that she had finally met him. The look in her eyes when he bit back at her about his protection put an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach, as if he had caused her a hurt that would last a lifetime. He couldn't let himself surrender to her, because that would make his idiotic brother right, and Loki would not let that happen especially after he was the reason that Loki ended up with ended up staying with this woman on this boring planet.
Eight hours later, Loki practically magicked his way back to the bookstore to meet Erin, his legs moving quick and silently as the wind. The empty rooms of her little home were near suffocating him after he read through nearly half her small library. He tucked his chin further into his scarf, the wind becoming slightly more blustery as he reached the decrepit looking building. He caught a glimpse of her through the window, retrieving her coat from the back of the chair behind the desk she occupied. She stretched her denim clad legs before leaving the store, meeting Loki with a sweet grin and a bit more hop in her step.
"Hey, you, fun day today?" she beamed up at him, the warmth of her body shielding him from the assaulting wind. Her hair was picked up by the rush of air and tickled the front of his coat, her scent reaching his nose.
The God of Mischief took a small step back, placing some distance between them, "It was adequate enough, I suppose." He watched her lips flicker downward slightly at his retreat from her, her eyes dimming for the briefest of moments.
"Glad to hear it. Ready to get going then?" she stepped past him, starting for the direction of the supermarket. With a grunt, he settled into step beside her, his arm brushing her shoulder in the very slightest.
They strolled in silence, Erin pulling her beanie further down her head to block the wind. She bristled as the wind pulled at her scarf in every direction before whipping around to smack her face. She angrily pulled the material from her face and caught the god chuckling silently to himself as watched her struggle.
"I swear to whatever gods there are out there, that if you had anything to do with that…" she glared at him before they both burst into a fit of laughter, the tense silence between them long forgotten.
Erin wandered down aisle after aisle, grabbing items off shelves and tossing them into them into the basket hanging on her arm. She moved confidently, knowing the small store like the back of her hand.
"Is there anything you want?" Erin asked Loki as she kept searching the shelves.
Loki looked at all the packaged food, taking in the bright colors and bubbly lettering on the boxes when one in particular caught his eye. He picked it up and presented it to the redhead, his expression inquisitive.
"Pop-tarts?" she informed him simply.
His face, if possible, grew even more confused.
She chuckled, taking the box from it and opening it carefully so she could show him, already committed to buying them. As she was pulling of the individual silver packaging, she stole glances at the man watching her, "Have you ever had s'mores before?"
"More what?"
She giggled, this intimidating god sounding like a curious child, "It's chocolate, marshmallow, and graham crackers… You know what, just try it." She broke off a piece and held it out to him, watching as he took it from her and gingerly popped it into his mouth. He chewed it silently, his cheeks becoming flush as he tried to hide how thoroughly he enjoyed the flavors on his tongue.
Erin laughed aloud and grabbed a few more boxes to add to her basket, "Good, I like them too."
"Excuse me?"
The pair turned around and was greeted with a woman appearing apologetic as she glanced towards Loki. "Hi, I'm sorry to bother you, but I can't seem to reach the top shelf. Do you mind?" she batted her lashes at Loki, taking her overly plump lip in between her teeth.
Loki nodded, unimpressed by her flirtatious manner. He followed her over to the end of the aisle and followed the direction of her slender fingers as she pointed up towards a box of cereal on the highest shelf.
Erin stayed by her spot next to the pop tarts, watching as Loki reached the desired box with ease and brought it down to the woman's level. She took it from his grasp, placing a well manicured hand on his arm, "Thank you so much," Erin heard her say, noticing how the woman straightened her back, slightly pressing her chest into the arm her talons were wrapped around, "It'd be nice to have a guy like you around for times like these."
Erin rolled her eyes, biting into her pop tart. She knew he wasn't interested in her, or was he? She didn't know. She didn't know anything about the god-man that was staying with her. Maybe he did find this woman attractive, or maybe he had a woman waiting for him at home. The thought that frustrated her the most though was that she couldn't tell why she even cared. She credited to how ridiculous this other woman was making herself look. Loki's eyes glanced up and met hers before they returned to the woman in front of him, suddenly smirking and placing his hand on the small of her back. How ridiculous they are both making themselves look.
Finally Loki returned to Erin, smirking down at her arrogantly.
"Okay lover boy, let's get a move on before you distract any more desperate women," Erin remarked, biting into the second opened package of pop tarts.
Loki eyed her as she bit into the treat, his eyes laughing silently at her apparent jealousy.
She rolled her eyes in response, "Just shut up and carry the basket."
Finishing their shopping, they walked home together in silence, each of them wrapped in their own thoughts. Loki's lips tugged at the corners as he thought back to his companion's heated glare under furrowed brow as he talked to the deeply annoying woman in the grocery store. He was happy that he could elicit such a reaction from her. Sneaking a glance at her, he noticed that her brow still remained furrowed, but her eyes had a distant look to them as if lost in a world of thoughts.
"Is that what you usually go for?" she asked him suddenly.
"I beg your pardon?"
"That girl. Does she look like the women where you are from?"
His lips curled upward slightly. "No, she couldn't hold a candle to the women in Asgard."
"What do the women in Asgard look like?" she looked up at him, genuinely interested in hearing about the unknown place he came from.
He contemplated for a few moments, "Nothing special."
Erin looked at him incredulously. "What do you mean by that? Aren't they supposed to be goddesses? That's like the epitome of beauty!"
He chuckled slightly at her, "Yes, well, I never really took much notice of them, nor they me; Thor was who all the women wanted, and I didn't care enough to convince them otherwise."
"Well surely you've, you know… done it, right?" Erin couldn't help the color filling her cheeks.
Loki coughed, his own cheeks mimicking hers, "Of course I have. I'm not ignorant of women." He couldn't help but sound disappointed that she thought he didn't know of a woman's body - he had desires like any man.
"Yeah, yeah, of course - I mean, obviously," she stuttered over her words, "I'm sure you were popular amongst the ladies."
They walked on in silence once again, only a few blocks from their destination.
"The women - in Asgard - they would all look tragically mundane next to you."
Loki's voice was a low murmur, so low that Erin thought perhaps the words weren't meant to reach her ears, but they did. So she fought the small smile tugging at her lips, and blamed her reddening cheeks on the wind.
Long time no see friendos! Sorry for the hiatus - there's no good excuse. But I'm back! I'll be coming in hot too!
Let me know how you all feel about the story and the characters. Your reviews keep me going!
Love you all! xoxo