Chapter 3

"Loki," Jane called cheerily as she dropped her keys on the table by the door one sunny afternoon. "Good news, or at least I think you'll see it as good news. I just got a call from Tony. Thor's alive!" She kicked off her ankle boots and finally looked up.

"And no one is surprised," Loki commented boredly from his armchair. He unfurled his long legs and folded up the Tribune. "Nothing will kill him. He should have been dead dozens of times and he prances in uninjured time after time." He saw her expression and immediately softened. "Are you relieved, Miss Foster?"

Jane chewed at her lip. "I guess. I mean I don't care. I don't want anything bad to happen to him. But I just thought you'd care. He's your brother." She lingered by the table, wringing her hands.

"My apologies." Loki shrugged. "Any other word from Stark?"

"None," Jane replied. "And I kept your secret. You're welcome." She raised an eyebrow. "No one else knows you're here. He doesn't expect anything. Again, you're welcome."

"I appreciate that," Loki replied, truly grateful. "I seem to owe you a great debt, and ever mounting." He tossed the newspaper aside. "What's happening this evening?"

"Nothing, uh, wait? You don't owe me anything." She looked away for a moment, confused. When she met his gaze again, she was blushing. "I know what we did on Svatralfheim was just an act, but thank you for saving my life. I think we're probably even. You're just crashing here. Hardly anything heroic on my part. No debts to be paid."

Loki was surprised to see her big doe eyes fixed on his face so intently. "Thor loved you. I'd have done it for anyone he held so dear."

Stomping from the stairwell prematurely announced Darcy's arrival home. "It's Cinco de Mayo, bitches!" she announced as she burst through the door with a giant jug of yellow liquid and several grocery bags in her hands.

Her oversized sombrero made Jane's face contort into a horrified mask. "You didn't walk through the city like that," she breathed. "Did you?"

"I walked through the city like this!" Darcy exclaimed. "Since we can't go out thanks to Space Prince here, I thought I'd bring the party here!" She shimmied her way to the kitchen. "Tequila. Margarita mix. Chips and salsa and queso. Now stand back 'cause I'm makin' tacos."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Cinco de Mayo? A Midgardian custom, I take it?"

"It's a holiday to mark the-" Jane began to explain, but Darcy waved her hands in her face.

"It's a Mexican party day! That's all that matters. Now you are going to eat my dinner and love it because I want a party!" Mariachi music blared from her phone speaker as she bounced back and forth. "Arriba! Ole! C'mon Jane, you know you want to party."

Cringing still, Jane shook her head at the Asgardian. "She's minimizing this. A lot. She's the worst."

"I'm no stranger to a party," Loki added slyly. "You don't need to talk me into it. I'm quite interested to see what this tacos is all about."

Several margaritas after dinner, Darcey was convinced she knew how to samba. She swiveled her hips and stumbled back and forth, waving her hands in the air with flourishes here and there. "It's a sexy dance. Jane, why don't you ever samba with me?" She took off her glasses and flung them onto the counter.

"Darce," Jane scoffed. "It's only eight o'clock. I think that's enough marga-"

"Yes! Margaritas!" The brunette danced over to the counter and poured herself another. Half of the slushy drink slopped onto the counter, and another good portion down the outside of her glass. "Just a little more." She squinted, stuck her tongue out in concentration, and successfully got some of it into the glass. "Come to mamacita."

Loki and Jane exchanged a glance as Darcey stumbled a few steps. "Perhaps you should heed Miss Foster's advice," he cautioned. "You seem quite inebriated." He, on the other hand, was on his fourth margarita and entirely unaffected.

Darcey steadied herself on the counter and narrowed her eyes. "Maybe you're not knee-brated enough, fun killer."

"Ineb- you know what, nevermind." Loki deftly snatched the glass from her hand and drained it in one long gulp. "Come, back to your dancing. Show me this Midgardian dance." He took her by the hand and led her back to the empty space of the living room. "What's the first step? Instruct me."

"Um," Darcey mumbled, putting a finger to her lips. "I don't know. You just feel it. Move that skinny ass." She shook her own ass and twirled around. "Like this. Yeah!" The dancing gave way to jumping and fist pumping.

Shaking his head and chuckling, the prince turned back to Jane. "Miss Foster? Do you know this Cinco de Mayo dance?"

"Oh, I took some classes as a kid, but I'm not a dancer. And I don't know what she's trying to do." Jane sipped at her margarita and dipped a chip in queso, taking care to wipe the dripping excess on the side of the bowl before crunching the nacho. "Samba? Salsa? That's something of her own creation."

"I think you know more than you're letting on. I'd be charmed if you'd show me." He held out his hand. "I quite enjoy dancing. When you attend as many balls as a prince, you learn to appreciate it."

Behind him, the fist pumping and jumping continued. Darcey's eyes were closed and she was mumbling along to the Spanish music playing from her phone.

"Well, I guess if you're on Earth- Midgard – you should learn some of our culture." Jane cleared her throat, carefully wiped the crumbs from her hands, and pushed the chair in. "I can't believe I'm doing this. You tried to destroy New York City."

"But I didn't," Loki quickly interrupted. "And now I'm trying to learn your culture. Go ahead. I'm a fantastic student."

Half an hour later, Darcey watched with half-lidded eyes as the prince deftly moved about the room with Jane. "That's not how you do it," she groaned. "Jane. You ruin everything."

Jane giggled and tossed a glance her way. "Go to bed, Darce."

"No! That's not the Cinco de Mayo way!" Though she slumped against the couch and struggled to keep her eyes open. "Ole."

When the song ended, Jane gasped for breath and sat back down at her seat at the table. "That's hard after a margarita. I need some water."

"I like that," Loki said, slightly winded. He moved toward the kitchen and poured a glass of water for her. "So fast. So fun. Much better than our dances. They're much more regal. Stiff."

From the couch Darcey groaned, then leaned forward and retched onto the carpet.

"Guess the party's over," Jane sighed. "That's a pretty typical Cinco de Mayo in America," she grumbled. "The one in the sombrero is usually the first one to go."

"Fascinating," Loki grinned. "This is going to be an interesting stay on Midgard, indeed."

Author's Note: Yeah wow I definitely didn't this one posted on May 5th like I'd planned that morning.