Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my OCs, and most of them are heavily inspired by mythology.
"Sometimes the slightest things change the directions of our lives, the merest breath of a circumstance, a random moment that connects like a meteorite striking the earth."
Bryce Courtenay
In the end, the nest of vampires didn't cause any trouble.
Mostly because they were burned alive the same night they came into Merlotte's by some riled up red-necks. From the point of view of a sympathetic third-party outsider, it was an awful act of hate against the un-dead. But Loki certainly isn't said outsider and, even if their deaths were for all the wrong reasons, she could hardly say she would mourn Liam, Diane and Malcolm.
To "turn the other cheek" is a pretty, passive notion; Loki is two-thousand years older than Jesus and very much a warrior at heart. The vampires would have caused a great deal of trouble in Bon Temps; she can't say their deaths were a bad thing.
The fact that a local kid had been caught in the fire, however, is enough to shake her pragmatic nature. Collateral damage, she muses, is often overlooked for the sake of the bigger picture. But having lived thousands of life-times, Loki knows without a doubt that such an attitude can result in atrocities in the name of the "greater good".
Not to mention that, on top of this, Tara's mother had gotten a five-hundred dollar voodoo exorcism. Loki does her best not to laugh outright when Lafayette tells her about it; Lettie-May Thornton needs help, certainly, but more of the "Alcoholics Anonymous" kind.
And don't even get her started on Jason's flavour of the week (who reeks of vampire blood and insanity and spiritual "Gaia" bullshit).
She should be annoyed – the whole point of moving to Bon Temps was to have a decade of peace and quiet – but Loki has always loved a bit of chaos, and she's had more fun in her months in Louisiana than all the years she lived in New York combined.
Nevertheless, she does at least attempt to stay out of the drama, working long shifts at the bar to distract herself. It's at the end of a twelve-to-ten run when Bill approaches her.
'Mr Compton,' she nods politely, 'glad to see you're not dead.'
To be honest, if it hadn't been for Sookie's honest despair at the rumours that Bill had been caught in the fire, Loki would have probably not given a damn. But as it was, she'd run a half-hearted scan with her magic, found him peacefully in the ground of the town cemetery and assured the telepath everything would be fine.
'...Thank you.' As perturbed as ever by her blunt manner, the vampire attempts a smile. 'Eric has requested your presence at Fangtasia tonight.'
'Pardon?'
Bill sighs. 'I'll explain on the way.'
xXx
'So, let me get this straight,' Loki comments, cramped into the backseat of Bill's car, 'Eric needs a favour...'
'Yes.'
'-and he needs Sookie's telepathy for it...'
'Indeed.'
'-and he wants me there because he thinks I have some sort of talent, too?'
'That is correct.' Bill confirms.
'Well,' Loki deadpans, 'that's just fantastic.'
She may enjoy Eric Northman, but she still wise enough to be a little wary of the Viking's attention.
In the front seat, Sookie huffs and adjusts her hold on the bunch of roses in her arms. 'Vick's right – this is ridiculous.'
'You said you wanted to go out tonight.' Bill cajoles his girlfriend.
'But not with Vick here!'
Loki's sarcastic "gee, thanks" is ignored.
'And not Fangtasia! I mean, really, all those pathetic people who come here looking for sex with vampires?'
The cars falls quiet as they pull into the parking lot of the bar, then:
'Oh, how awful.'
'I know. It's despicable.'
Loki catches Bill's eyes in the rear-view mirror, and they share a snicker.
Sookie shakes her head in frustration. 'You know what I mean!' She climbs smoothly from the car, peering up at the glowing Fangtasia sign a little anxiously. 'So, what, five, ten minutes?'
'As long as Eric requires us.' Bill informs them solemnly.
'You mean as long as he requires me.' The part-fae reminds her boyfriend, unimpressed. 'Didn't even have the decency to ask me himself.'
'You are mine. He didn't need to ask your permission.'
'Could have asked for mine.' Loki mutters. And is ignored. Again.
Once upon a time, heads would have rolled for such insolence, the Æsir mage thinks with a wistful hum, placidly following the couple across the tarmac towards the bar.
'He cannot check me out like a library book!' Sookie continues with a shriek, outraged by the idea and Bill can only sigh in the face of the infamous Stackhouse temper.
'Unfortunately, Sookie, he can. Eric is Sheriff of Area Five.'
'Sheriff?' She glances back at Loki. 'Is that what you meant when you warned Malcolm off the other night?'
The black-haired woman nods, and Bill throws her a wary look.
'How did you know Eric was Sheriff?'
'Lucky guess,' she shrugs, 'and the throne kind of gave it away.'
'It's a position of great power among our kind.' He explains, shrugging off Loki's knowledge for the moment. 'We do not want to anger him! As long as the requests are reasonable, we should accede to his wishes.'
The telepath seethes silently, but the taller woman can't really help herself.
'You're a bit of a suck-up, you know that?'
Sookie giggles, even as Bill shoots Loki a glare. She smiles serenely in response.
The three of them are welcomed into the club by a smirking Pam, a stoic Longshadow and a pale, sweaty human man. Loki observes the chilly atmosphere with twinkling eyes.
'Friendly atmospherehere, huh?' She mutters to her fellow waitress, and her words are gunshot loud in the near-empty bar. Even so, Loki ignores the looks she receives and strides purposefully towards the bar, shooting Longshadow a blinding smile. 'Can I get a rum and coke?'
He stares at her blankly for a moment, then obliges grudgingly.
There's a whoosh of displaced air, and Eric is suddenly beside her, dressed in a black wife-beater and tight black jeans and looking just as delicious as last time.
'Such a pleasure to see you again, Ms Storm.' He damn near purrs, looming over her despite her not-insignificant height.
'Mr Northman,' Loki raises her glass in greeting, 'I wish I could say the same, but you've taken over my Friday night.'
His lips purse minutely at the blatant disrespect, but he doesn't move to reprimand her for it and instead leers down at her. 'Believe me, I can think of things I'd rather be doing with you tonight, also.'
Despite her act of annoyance, Loki can't help but smirk at Eric's persistence. 'You're a regular Casanova, aren't you?'
Leant against the far wall, Pam chuckles; The Sheriff ignores both his progeny and her comment, but his own amusement shimmers of his skin like steam.
'Unfortunately, I didn't ask you here for a drink,' he leans closer, reaching out a large hand of run a cool finger down the column of her throat, 'though, that could be arranged...'
Loki ignores the deliberate invasion of personal space, taking a defiant sip of her drink as she meets his eyes. 'What did you ask me here for?'
Seemingly remembering himself, Eric straightens, mask of professionalism settling over his handsome face.
'Pam, Longshadow and I are partners in this club.' He tells the room at large, moving to circle the table at which Sookie has settled. 'And we recently noticed that sixty-thousand dollars has gone missing from our books. And Bruce...'
He comes to a halt before the telepath, standing directly behind the sweaty man who sits across from her.
'...is our accountant. Perhaps you can start by listening to him.'
The telepath plays dumb, tilting her head innocently. 'He's not saying anything.'
'Don't be coy.' Eric reprimands sharply, an edge of impatience to his tone. 'It's humbling enough to turn to a human for assistance. We know what you can do.'
'And I know what you can do, too.' Sookie counters – the girl has quite the backbone. 'Why don't you just glamour him?'
'Now, don't you think we might have tried everything before summoning you?' He stares down at the blonde. 'So...it would be a great favour to me – and to Mr Compton – if you help us.'
Sookie considers the Viking seriously. 'If I find out who did it, then what?'
'We'll turn that person over to police and let the authorities handle it from there.' Longshadow tells her from behind the bar, and Loki cocks a disbelieving eyebrow.
'You're a terrible liar,' she tells him in a stage-whisper. The bartender drops-fang to hiss at her – Loki doesn't flinch.
'Vick's right,' Sookie agrees, looking at Eric intently. 'I'll make you a deal: If you promise to hand over the person who did this to the police, I'll agree to help you any time you want.'
Bill opens his mouth to protest, but Eric speaks quickly. 'All right. Why not?'
Loki has the feeling that the part-fae will end up regretting that particular deal, but chooses not to comment for now. However...
'And why am I here?'
The vampires all turn their attention to her, expressions ranging from irritated to amused, but it's Pam who answers, zipping to Loki's side with a condescending smirk.
'Oh, doll face,' the vampire tugs at a stray lock of raven hair, 'can't you just be the eye-candy?'
'Funny,' Loki murmurs, voice brimming with faux-suprise, 'I thought that was your job.'
Bill tenses as though he expects Loki's neck to be snapped, but Pam's answering smile is all fang.
If there's anything Loki knows, it's people – and women like Pam respect a little daring.
But Eric shoots his second-in-command a warning look before they can continue their banter, and Sookie grabs Bruce's hand, staring toward him with unfocussed eyes. 'Bruce, it's okay. Take a deep breath. Did you steal their money?'
'No, no.' He cries, desperate. 'You gotta believe me. I didn't do it. I swear to...'
'Shhhh.' Sookie soothes. 'Do you know who did?'
'No.'
'He's tellin' the truth.' Loki nods absentmindedly in agreement, stirring her drink with a straw and completely missing Eric's scrutiny of the gesture.
But Longshadow scoffs. 'You trust the skinny human to clear the fat one?'
The Viking ignores him. 'Bring the next one in.'
The terrified accountant cries tears of relief as he scurries out – Loki catches sight of a gleaming wedding band and shoots a light protection spell his way out of pure sympathy.
It is a tedious process after that – there are a fair few humans working at Fangtasia, and the majority of them are either fangbangers (who glance at everyone present lustily) or just plain terrified.
Loki, uninterested with the proceedings, had moved to sit beside Sookie around the fourth "interview". She hums a tune unselfconsciously as Pam leads an older, skinny blonde woman in.
'This is the last of our humans.' She announces, and said human leers at the two seated women.
'Hmm. Yummy.'
Eric gives a long-suffering sigh. 'Ginger. This woman has some questions for you. Now, be a good girl and answer them, will you?'
"Ginger" grins dazedly up at the Viking. 'Aye, aye, master.'
Loki rolls her eyes in unknowing unison with Pam.
Sookie reaches out for Ginger's hand, but the older blonde pulls back, scowling unattractively. 'Don't you touch me.'
'Hold her still.' Eric orders, and Pam moves over, pinning Ginger to the chair and the telepath grabs her hand.
'Ginger, someone's been stealin' money from the bar.'
'Really? Huh.'
Loki has a bad feeling.
'Sook...'
The silly fairy ignores her, though none of the vampires miss her suddenly serious tone. 'She didn't do it... but she knows who did.'
'What? Fuck you!'
'Sook.'
'Who? Who's gonna kill you? Ginger honey, what's his name?'
The room is tense and silent, the two blonde mortals staring at one another.
It's blank,' Sookie breathes in epiphany, 'like her memory's been erased.'
'I don't know anything,' Ginger cries, frantic, 'I swear!'
'She's been glamoured.' Pam notes.
'Sookie!' Loki almost-shouts, hoping she won't voice what they're all thinking.
'It's a vampire.'
Well, now she's done it.
Longshadow leaps over the bar and lunges at Sookie, growling fiercely, hands curling around her fragile neck. Loki's chair is knocked backwards by the motion, and she rolls into a backwards roll instinctively, bringing herself back to her feet. Green eyes dart about the scene before her, fighting with herself on what to do.
On one hand, intervening would mean exposure – most humans would be screaming like Ginger was – and revealing that she could take down a vampire to the Sheriff of the area was a Very Bad Idea™. But on the other hand, Sookie is... well, she's not a bad person. Naive, nosy and a little thick, maybe, but not bad, and she's always been kind to Loki.
Centuries of self-preservation fight against a relatively new human conscious, and Loki is unsure.
But then Bill snaps a barstool over his knee and stabs it through Longshadow's back, and the bartender explodes in a spray of gore worthy of a slasher movie, and Loki's decision is made for her.
Phew.
Ginger's screams rise a notch before the waitress vomits on the floor. Loki doesn't bother to hide her wince – the first time she'd seen a vampire staked, she'd had a similar reaction.
Eric Northman, suddenly at her side, gives her a side-a-long glance. 'Do not throw up.'
Loki makes her hands shake a little to maintain the illusion of humanity, but glances up at him with strong green eyes. 'I'm not the one covered in vampire Slushie.'
His eyebrows rise in honest surprise before he can cover it, and she suppresses a smug grin.
It's not every day you surprise a vampire Sheriff.
Loki turns her attention to the part-fae who looks like something from a Halloween party, covered almost completely in splatters of red. 'Sook,' she moves closer, stepping unflinchingly through the thick entrails on the floor, 'you okay?'
The blonde coughs a little, but gives a wide-eyed nod. Loki gently lays a hand on her reddening neck, wincing at the sight.
If you'd done something, she would be completely fine, her conscious informs her snootily, and she pushes a tiny healing spell into the bruised skin to appease it.
'We need a bathroom,' she tells the room at large forcefully, 'and a change of clothes, please.'
Pam quirks an eyebrow, glances at Eric for approval, and points wordlessly to a door in the corner of the room.
Loki leads her co-worker across the room by the elbow, and settles against the filthy wall of the ladies toilets as Sookie cleans herself up. Once it becomes clear that the telepath won't have some sort of break-down, Loki twitches her pinkie finger and eavesdrops.
'Let's cut to the chase, shall we?' Bill's voice rings in Loki's ears as clearly as if he was beside her, his voice resigned.
'You killed a vampire, Bill. For a human. What are we gonna do about this?' Eric questions, casual as if he were discussing the weather.
'What do you have in mind?'
'I'll take the girl.' Is the immediate reply, and Loki can almost hear Bill's hackles raise.
'No. You can have anyone. Why do you want her?'
'Why do you want her? You're not... in love with her, are you?'
Bill's silence is telling. 'Sookie must be protected.'
Loki blinks, surprised, and Eric unknowingly mirrors her thoughts. 'That sounds like an edict. But it couldn't be, because I would know about that. Admit it. You love her.'
Eric makes it sound as if Bill had just insinuated that he drinks molten silver for fun.
'If I hadn't done what I did, would you have let his disloyalty stand?' The deflections are weak, but Loki understands that vampires need to appear to be without weakness in front of other vampires.
Things are the same amongst the people of Asgard, although Loki never gave much thought to such posturing. Maybe it was a male thing.
'Whatever I did to Longshadow, I would not have done in front of witnesses. Especially not vampire witnesses. Not smart, Bill. Not smart at all.'
'And what of Ms Storm? She is something more than an average human, also. You could have her.'
If Loki had had even a passing affection to Bill Compton, she would be hurt. As it is, she kind of wants to curb-stomp the man.
'Ms Storm is not yours to offer,' Eric reminds him blandly, 'but you are correct. She sensed the danger approaching – either she is naturally perceptive or possibly empathetic. It is... something to consider.'
Loki twitches a little at the Viking's tone – a cocktail of intrigue and confusion and delight – but can't hold back a lop-sided smirk.
"Possibly empathetic" he'd called her; Eric doesn't know the half of it.
Her magic snaps back when the tap of heeled shoes crossing the floor moves towards the bathroom, giving a nod of thanks and accepting the shirt Pam holds when the female vampire appears in the doorway.
'Here, Sookie,' Loki hands the shirt over – the telepath seems to have snapped out of her shock, and waves her off.
'Oh, thank you, but I'm fine, really.' She turns to Pam. 'I just wanna dry out my hair and be on my way.'
'You're not going anywhere. Eric and your boyfriend aren't nearly done talking just yet.'
Sookie gulps. 'Is Bill in some kind of trouble?'
'That's for the boys to figure out.' Pam deflects carelessly.
Loki nods. 'You should change – you'll probably need to throw out that dress.'
All three of them look her over; she really is soaked in blood. Loki squints, and her hand darts out to scoop a chunk of flesh out of the blonde's cleavage. Sookie gapes at her, and the black-haired woman tosses the chunk into the wastepaper basket with a careless shrug.
'You had vampire in your cleavage.'
'Uh... Thank you.'
Pam's eyes flick between both women, smirking. 'You know, I'm beginning to understand the fuss everyone's making over you two.'
'Fuss?' Loki enquires with faked confusion, but Ginger comes in, perky and glamoured out of her mind, before the vampire can elaborate.
'Hey there, Pam. Oh, who're your new friends?' They're introduced once more to the skinny women, this time under much better circumstances, and she takes in their blank stares with a manic smile. 'Oh, you don't have to be so scared. They're really very nice here.'
Loki's sardonic smirk is a mirror image of the one Pam wears. Nice is not how she would describe the owners of Fangtasia.
They all leave the bathroom to allow Sookie to change – although Pam does so reluctantly – and Ginger scurries off. Loki sighs, coming to sit on a bar-stool.
'It's too bad your bartender's dead,' she murmurs without turning round, 'coz I could use a drink.'
Pam actually laughs at the blasé comment. 'You are a strange human.'
'Thanks,' Loki replies dryly, and a cold, pale hand grasps her chin firmly. She blinks up at the vampire, allowing her to study her face intently.
'And quite beautiful, too,' Pam observes, running a surprising gentle thumb over Loki's cheekbone and catching her eyes. A glamour taps fruitlessly at her mental barriers. 'Kiss me.'
Loki knows that she should comply purely for the sake of appearing unremarkable, but the pride that comes with being a child of Odin is practically encoded in her DNA – and it refuses to allow her to be manipulated.
So she smirks. 'Will you respect me in the morning?'
Pam's eyes widen in surprise, but Eric and Bill re-enter the room before she can reply.
'Ms Storm,' The Viking speeds to her side in an attempt to startle her – she jumps minutely for show, 'there's blood on your shoes.'
Loki can't help but look down with a touch of irritation – white Keds (1) are going to be impossible to clean.
'She can't be glamoured,' Pam tells her Maker in Swedish, pout audible, 'what do we do with her?'
'Leave her – she is clearly familiar with our kind. She won't tell.' He leans closer, switching smoothly back to English and addressing Loki with a raised eyebrow. 'You won't be mentioning tonight's events to any of your human friends, will you?'
'Of course not.' Is her immediate reply – even someone like Jason Stackhouse would know better than to blab Eric Northman's business. 'Is Mr Compton allowed to leave now?'
It is a little hilarious that self-righteous, stick-in-the-mud Bill needs permission to go places, and the amusement tinges her voice subtly. Eric catches it, even though Bill does not, and the Viking smirks. 'Indeed.'
The youngest vampire in the room zips away to retrieve his girlfriend, and Loki is once more left alone with the owners of Fangtasia.
Bill is a terrible chaperone.
'Tell me of your abilities.' Eric demands, and Loki blinks up at him innocently.
'Abilities?'
'Playing dumb does not suit you.' He reprimands, eyes boring into hers. 'You knew Longshadow would attack before we did.'
Loki gives a noncommittal shrug, studying him unabashedly.
'You have a fighter's reflexes – you've been trained.'
She knew that backwards hand-spring would come back to haunt her.
'And, I hadn't noticed before, but,' he inhales deeply, 'I cannot smell your blood at all.'
She doesn't reply – doesn't even react - even though Loki kind of wants to see his face if she told him that she kept her scent cloaked at all times because it would give her status as "supernatural" away completely.
Despite what the legends say, Loki is not a Jotunn (2) – she doesn't know what a Frost Giants blood might do if one were to drink it, and honestly she suspects she doesn't want to find out, but the blood of the Æsir has been known to have an extraordinary effect on vampires.
But Loki is a shape shifter, and her current form is human down to the very core, blood included. (3)
The problem lies in the fact that she has been using magic for roughly three-and-a-half thousand years, and that sort of prolonged exposure changes you. Loki's blood is literally soaked in her power – to a vampire, even the scent of it would be nigh impossible to resist.
'Maybe you have anosmia (4).' Loki offers with a completely serious expression; Eric's jaw clenches even as Pam coughs to cover a snicker.
But she is saved from the inquisition when Sookie and Bill emerge and gesture that they want to leave, so Loki gives Eric an enigmatic smirk, ducking nimbly round his large form and trotting to join her companions.
'Nice seeing you.' Loki calls, waving a hand and not looking back. The telepath shoots her an incredulous look, and a grin splits her face as the trio step out into the warm night air.
Despite all worry and caution, she gets the feeling that her acquaintance with Eric Northman is going to be fun.
xXx
It's an average night in Merlotte's – meaning it is packed and understaffed – and Loki is rushing around like a headless chicken. Working as a waitress, she thinks, is sometimes more exhausting than a day of negotiations with Alfheim (5).
Loki's people are prideful, and the Fae are haughty – it makes for some very tiresome clashes (6).
She stacks plates into her arms, balancing five full plates precariously. It makes Lafayette laugh.
'Hooka, if you drop that shit, I ain't cookin' no more,' he chides.
'Fuck off,' she shoots straight back, grinning to show she doesn't really mean it. The workers of Merlotte's are forever in awe of her insane balancing skills – Loki tells them it's "magic", and laughs whenever they rebuke her words.
She moves into the dining area, distributing the plates quickly. The sudden hush of the patrons registers slowly, but she glances up from her order pad with a minute frown.
Eric Northman stares at her from the doorway, eyeing her bare legs with a smirk. 'This place is even more depressing than I thought it'd be.' He comments. 'But I love the uniform.'
Loki sighs.
Bold text = Glamouring
(1) I don't own this brand of shoes, but I do love them.
(2) Jotunn, or Frost Giants, are mythological beings that inhabit Jotunheim (one of the Nine Realms). In many accounts from Norse Mythology - and The Avengers movie - Loki is a Jotunn by birth. My OFC!Loki is not.
(3) This will be explained further in later chapters, but Loki spends the majority of this fic shifted into a human form - though, her magic gives her strength and endurance.
(4) Anosmia is the loss of the sense of smell.
(5) Alfheim is one of the nine realms and home of the Light Elves.
(6) The residents of Alfheim are sometimes said to be fairies. In this fic, Fae and Light Elves are one and the same. It's why Loki knew immediately that Sookie was a fairy.
