The bewildering series of events leading up to the swapped bodies of Loke and Alcina had only left him with a sparse amount of time to make it to the restaurant for his date. In his excitement he forgot about putting his shoes back on when he rushed to leave Alcina's home. He just hoped that his date wouldn't notice his lack of foot ware. Anxiously he greeted the doorman who let him in without even checking the reservations list since Loke was a regular in the high class restaurant.
Quickly Loke found his regular table, next to the large bay window the overlooked the lights of Magnolia, the best table out of them all with a perfect view for his romantic date. Sitting down at the table he waited for her while ordering a bottle of wine that he thought she would enjoy. As Loke calmed down he took note of the time, it was ten minutes past now when they were supposed to meet. Taking a sip of his wine he looked out over the town as twilight began to sat in.
'I hope Alcina's arm is doing better' he mused as he waited.
Glancing through the menu to occupy himself he noted they had grilled fish 'Alcina would like those I bet.'
Shaking his head Loke tried to clear his thoughts of Alcina, he was waiting for his date who was now 15 minutes late. He passed the thought, it was a close call for him almost being late anyways so he didn't fuse over it. Finishing his first glass of wine he noticed a smudge of sand still on his sleeve, wiping it off he thought of Alcina laying in the sand out in the desert.
She was breathtaking, her skin rosy from the heat of the sun, breathing hard her top seemed ready to burst from the strain. Even the sweat that quivered in the shadow of her searing skin modestly had set his heart racing. The way the light glistened in her eyes making them incendiary seemed potent to him, when he leaned closer as she reached out to him the temptation was unbearable. Then she shoved him and the slam of a chair jerked him from his day dream.
A beautiful red head sat down across from him with a hard glare "I thought men were supposed to pull chairs out for women."
"I'm so sorry Ali. It seems I became distracted while waiting for you to grace me with your gorgeous self." Loke apologized as he straightened in his chair.
Taking the wine Ali filled her glass and drank almost all of it in one swallow. "Hnng this is a terrible wine. I guess it will have to do." She stated filling her cup again.
"I apologize I thought you would have enjoyed that kind its actually fro-"
"Well I don't." Ali chided with a frump.
"Oh would you like to see the menu, their grilled fish are wonderf-" "Ew fish are dis-cust-ing! I would never eat them. Just a salad, I thought you know that." Ali cut him off abruptly.
"I'm sorry I must have forgotten." Loke grumbled. 'Why is she so disgruntled'
As the waiter came over to take their order Ali began belittling him "Why did it take you so long to get to us? We had a reservation for almost 30 minutes ago. Ugh this place has horrible, I can't believe you picked this place out. The view is just as bad, all I can is the city from here with those lights glaring."
"Oh I'm so sorry ma'am we were waiting for you to join your party before we took your order." The waiter explained.
"This is just terrible service." Ali exclaimed.
Trying to think of a way to calm her frazzled state Loke inquired " We can go to another restaurant. There is a nice cafe down the street."
"Fine lets just go, I'm already sick of this place." Ali huffed as she stood up abruptly and turned straight into a waiter carrying a platter of drinks.
"Alcin-ah! Ali! Are you OK?" Loke corrected as he rushed to Ali's side.
Drenched in the drink, Ali's make up started to run and her red curls clung to her face. She stuck her nose in the air as she crinkled her nose "Did you just call me another women's name!?" She shrieked.
"Uh... I'm so sorry Ali I didn-"
"This is the worst date every!" Ali yakked as she pushed Loke out of her way in a huff.
Standing there dazed for a moment Loke was confused. His never had a date go so horrible before like that. After helping the waiter to pick up the broken glass he went to pay for at least the wine that was mostly drunk before leaving the restaurant.
The night air was crisp and filled with a cool breeze. Drifting over the water of the cooling water way with warm scents floating on the air, cinnamon, goldenrod's and alcohol? Pausing Loke looked around, after a bust with his date he decided he would check back in with Alcina and see if her arm was feeling any better.
Farther ahead of him he saw someone standing at the ledge of the water way with a large clear bottle in their hand. Wavering slightly they adjusted their stances and stepped a little closer to the edge. Loke figured that's where the smell of alcohol was coming from since they seemed unsteady on their feet. A boat was passing by with its lights on and a blue light shined up the side of the water way illuminating the person by the side.
As they took another step towards it Loke realized it was Alcina stepping very drunkenly near the edge. Too close for comfort. "Hey Alcina!" He called out.
Turning towards him Alcina began smiling back at him and raised a hand in greeting before stumbling backwards, her foot slipped over the edge dropping the bottle. Loke bolted towards her, she was pulling her leg back up when he reached her. Loke pulled her up the rest of the way till she was standing on very shaky legs, she leaned forward and picked the half spilled bottle back up almost falling over again. "Come on lets sit down." Loke offered, helping her sit back on the ledge of the water way with her bare feet dangling over the edge as the light from the passing boat faded.
"You're sooo helpful Loke, ah my hero" Alcina claimed as she took a swig of the drink, puckering as she gulped it down.
"Alcina what are you drinking? That's not beer I can tell." Loke asked her.
Looking at the bottle and then back at him she answered "This is vodka. I don't like it though."
Concerned Loke questioned her " Then why are you drinking it?"
" So I can sleep." She stated while running her hand through her hair, Loke noticed she wasn't wearing her goggles.
Still not getting a clear answer he drew nearer and he asked her again "Alcina? Why would you need vodka to sleep?"
Looking away from him and back down at the water she wilted under his gaze. Then stiffening she furrowed her brows like she was concentrating before answering him " So I don't have to remember why I can't sleep."
Reaching out Loke touched her arm, jerking back slightly he said " You're freezing." He began to pull his outer dress jacket off of him and slipped it over her shoulders.
"So sweet Loke, such a sweet heart aren't you!" Alcina accused him, her nostrils flared, she leered at him as her face turned crimson.
"Alcina why are you mad at me? I'm just trying to help." Loke questioned.
"Well how did your date go?!" Alcina huffed as she turned and pushed herself further down away from him on the ledge.
"It was horrible, that's why I came back here to check on you." Loke stated.
Alcina's eyelids drooped as she continued to keep her gaze locked on the water, clenching her hand around the bottle she tipped it back and began taking large gulps from it. Reaching out Loke tried to grab it " Alcina stop! You're just gonna get worse."
"No you stop it!" Alcina shouted , screwing up her face and pushed him away chugging the drink. "Maybe I'll get bad enough you'll leave me alone!"
Loke stopped reaching for the bottle and stared at her, as another boat passed by light illuminated off the water and Loke could see tears were shimmering in her eyes. He reached out for her face, she stiffened at his touch as he brushed away her tears. "Stop it..." Alcina whispered as she brushed his hand away limply.
"No. I'm not the kind of man to make women cry Alcina. I'm sorry that I left like that." Loke apologized to her as he wiped the last of her tears away.
"I'm sorry that I yelled at you." Alcina murmured as she trembled, leaning into him she rested her head on his shoulder.
"Thank you for coming back Loke. I was afraid you weren't going to." She admitted.
"I would have came back even if my date had gone well, you're an important person to me Alcina." Loke stated as he wrapped his arm around her.
"Now come on, its cold outside. We should go get you warmed up." Loke smiled at her while he pulled her to a standing position.
"Only if you'll come inside with me." Alcina requested.
Smiling Loke answered "Of course I will, if I don't you may fall in the bath tub again ha ha."
Giggling Alcina and Loke both walked or stumbled back towards her apartment. The bottle of vodka left next to the waters edge with bright lights shining through its almost empty contents.