Title: Little White Lie
Characters: Loki, Thor
Pairings: none yet, but stay tuned.
Rating: T for imagery and themes
Summary: Deceit, after all, comes naturally to him.
Author's Notes: All chapter titles are taken from the Poetic Edda, a collection of old Norse poems in which Loki features quite prominently. Loki's Midgardian name is derived from "Luka" (Old Norse for "end" – Ragnarok, an event that Loki is closely tied to, is the end of the gods) and "Bruni" (Old Norse word for "fire" – Loki is thought to be a god of fire). Very sorry that this took so very long to update. Please read and review!
Disclaimer: I don't own it. Surprise, surprise.
When he finally falls against the hard rock of Midgard, he breathes a sigh of relief, for now, yet another lie is coming to a close.
Loki is widely known for his brilliant lies and intricate deceptions, but what few know is that keeping up these facades takes quite the toll upon his mental facilities. He loves lying and making mischief more than anything else; don't get him wrong on that. But there are times when he would rather let all of those misconceptions drift away from him like leaves on the pathways of the wind. There are times when he would like to be free of falsehoods.
And now he is. He sits up, running a hand through his mussed-up black hair in a futile attempt to straighten it out, to look presentable. With a wave of his hand, he is dressed in his typical Midgardian attire, and he is ready to go. He stands up and takes a look at his surroundings.
Loki is surprised to realize that he is standing in the center of a rune circle, not unlike the one that his false-brother Thor had landed in on that fateful night of his betrayal.
Well, then, he landed in New Mexico. He could rock New Mexico.
He walks away from the rune circle, kicking at the dust with his leather shoes. It is not very cold here, though it is wintertime. Still, he is dressed warmly, because he intends to go to New York as soon as possible. Of course, the best laid plans of mice and men do oft go astray, and, well…
On his way to find a diner in town and get something to eat, he just so manages to bump into none other than Jane Foster. Thor's Midgardian, mortal woman.
"Oh, hello, I didn't see you there!" she says, scooting around him. He realizes that she dropped some papers when their bodies collided, and like the good gentleman that he is, he bends down to pick them up for her. She grants him a shy smile, her eyes scanning over him, searching for an identifying feature.
"Are you new in town? I don't think I've ever seen you before," she says, accepting the papers that he gathered for her.
"Yes, I'm new here," he replies, instantly adjusting his diction to sound more like hers. He is certain that Thor must have stuck out like a sore thumb in this mortal town.
But at least she doesn't know who he is, at least not yet. That's a good sign. Perhaps Thor didn't tell her everything about everything and everyone, after all.
"Well, my name's Jane Foster," she says, awkwardly sticking out her hand for him to shake. He does, sveltely giving her a good impression. He intends to come across as the perfect model of a man, a stark contrast to the impression that he gave off in Asgard.
"And I am Luka," he says, "Luka Bruni." He had mediated long and hard on the subject of a name to use while on Midgard. He couldn't exactly introduce himself as Loki – they would either think him insane or a wild devotee of the trickster god. Not that he gets many devotees, anyway. But "Luka Bruni" had a foreign air to it, which could easily explain why he didn't look exactly Midgardian (traces of immortality, regardless if one is Aesir or Jotun, are rather difficult to remove). Most mortals, wherever they hail from, would simply think him from another country.
"Oh, wow, that's quite the name," Jane Foster laughs, and Loki smiles, for she has fallen for his trick.
"Like I said, Miss Foster, I'm not from around here," he replies.
"Oh, right, right." She blushes again, and Loki starts to see why Thor might have fallen for this girl. She is kind, sweet, and helpful, and she acts like every Aesir woman on Asgard. Oh, Thor. Always caught up in his old ways.
"I do have a question, Miss Foster," he says. "Could you possibly show me to somewhere I could get something to eat, and then maybe somewhere that I could stay the night?"
"Well, we don't have any hotels here," she says. "Small town, you know. There's a diner up the street; I was actually just heading there. I guess…well, you could join me for lunch? And as for tonight…well, I'm not sure what Erik will think of me, but we have an extra room."
"If I would not impose," he replies cordially. Oh, this is just perfect. He not only gets a free room, but he also gets to spy on Thor's little mortal woman for a day or two.
"Oh, no, of course not! We've had others stay over before, too," she says, and there is a touch of heartbreak and loss in her voice. Thor, then. He has stayed with her before.
"Well, if I'm not too much trouble," he says, "I suppose it's a done deal?"
"Yep!" she exclaims. "Now, let's go get some lunch. And I want to hear more about you!"
As they walk to the diner, stories and lies and false memories of family fill his head, and a smirk begins to show upon his face. Oh yes. This is going to get good.