"Eat, Brother." Thor commanded.
Loki glared at him.
"Eat, Loki." Thor corrected himself.
Loki glanced down at his evening meal. It was pathetic mortal fare; extremely meager and limited.
"What is this?" he asked distastefully.
"It is spaghetti. It is food that the Midgardians call 'Italian'." Thor said, seeming proud to know so much about Midgardian culture.
Loki tentatively swirled his fork in this, "spaghetti". He frowned down at this plate. Serving this to a god? He picked up his fork, sliding the Midgardian fare into his mouth. He chewed twice, then swallowed. His eyes went wide. Immediately he shoved the plate away from him.
"This is… disgusting! Are you trying to kill me Thor?" He exclaimed. "Is that even food? How can even the mortalspossibly bear eating that?!"
Thor shrugged. "Loki does not like Italian." He said, as if making a mental not to himself. "I'll get you something else." He said, "American food."
"American? We are eating Steve Rogers?" Loki asked incredulously.
"This is… not bad…" Loki said, as he took a bite into his burger. "Nothing, not even a speck of dust, compared to Asgardian fare, but far better than that vile, foul spaghetti."
Suddenly, the door opened and Darcy strode in. "You don't like spaghetti?" She asked, seeming amazed.
Loki glared at her, debating whether or not to answer. Finally, he gave up and sighed, "No. It is disgusting. How do you mortals eat it?" He looked back down to his burger and took another bite.
"Two things…" Darcy began, "First of all, it's not 'you mortal', or 'woman' or 'insolent fool' or whatever, it's Darcy. Secondly, it's freaking Italian, what's not to love?"
Loki shuddered, averting his eyes to the untouched plate of spaghetti off to his right. Darcy followed his gaze.
"Hey, can I have that?" She suddenly asked.
Loki looked at her, curious. "I will not eat any more of it." He said. "But I have already eaten from that plate." He added, eyebrows down.
Darcy shrugged, "It's not like I care, hello, it's spaghetti." She reached over and grabbed the plate, pulling it towards her. She grinned, then got up and walked out of the room, taking the plate with her.
Loki stared at the door. This Darcy. She was a strange one…
"Where am I to rest for nightfall, Thor?" Loki asked, half-sarcastic.
Thor shifted nervously. "Um… That has not been decided yet…"
Loki looked at him, wondering if he was actually serious.
"I do not wish to leave you here, Broth- Loki." Thor finally said. "You may come stay in the living complex Jane Foster and I share." He added, slightly hesitant.
Loki stared for a minute. "You dare to insult me in such a way?" He began, starting to sound angry. "I am a god!"
"And so am I!" Thor responded firmly. "If you wish to stay here and sleep on the table, then by all means, do!"
Loki turned away, arms crossed; hands still in cuffs. He set his jaw. "Fine."
Darcy knocked on Jane's door, her sleeping bag, a pillow, and a medium sized handbag tucked under one arm. "JANE?! THOR?!" She called out.
Finally, she heard footsteps running to the door. Jane opened it a few inches, sticking her head through.
"Oh, it's you, Darcy." She opened the door fully and let her step in.
"Darcy, what are you doing here after 8 pm?" she said, "And why do you look like you're spending the night?"
Darcy shrugged, and set her stuff down. "Okay, so there are these annoying like, constructor dudes. And they're building this huge thing across the street from my apartment. And their construction noises are so loud and annoying, I couldn't sleep. The noises were seriously like bam bam bam bam bzrrrrrg-"
"Darcy!" Jane cut off. Darcy shrugged and grinned.
"So anyways yeah, that's why I brought my stuff so I could stay here." She said.
Jane looked at Darcy and made an awkward expression. "Er… If you don't mind the other… uh… guest…"
She stepped back fully. Darcy peeked through past her.
From the couch, Loki glared dully back.
Jane grabbed Darcy's arm and practically dragged her to a separate room.
"Wait, so I have to share a room with him?!" Darcy shrieked for like the eighth time.
"Sorry Darcy. It's either that or you have to go home…" Jane said, looking sincerely sorry.
"So it's either a psychopathic god or bam bam bam bzrrrrrg all night long?"
"He's not dangerous!" Jane protested.
"Yeah totally, he just destroyed all of New York, of course he's not dangerous, Jane." Darcy said, her tone dripping sarcasm.
"He only has a little magic left. Not enough to harm anyone. Besides it's not like you have to share a bed or anything. And Thor will know immediately if there's wrong." Jane said, attempting to sound consoling.
"Wait does Thor have like some mischief-detector built into his head or something?" Darcy asked, suddenly curious.
Jane sighed. "Besides, Loki has handcuffs on, Darcy."
Darcy debated internally for a minute, then sighed.
"Fine."
Darcy walked tentatively into Jane's living room. Loki was standing up, staring out the window.
"So I guess we're roomies for tonight…" She started, inching farther into the room.
Loki didn't move at all, ignoring her.
"Fine. Be that way." She muttered underneath her breath. Suddenly, she brightened. "But I get the couch!"
Loki turned around at that, just in time to see Darcy make a dive for the couch, and his eyes widened as he started to lunge for it too.
Darcy landed on the couch first, but it was too late, Loki was already in mid-leap. He landed half on top of her, clonking heads, then immediately jumped back. Darcy rubbed her head. "Ow!" She exclaimed.
Loki grimaced, then turned away slightly.
And then, Darcy shot up from the couch and ran over to Loki, placing her hands on either side of his head and bringing her head up, clonking his forehead with hers again.
Loki pulled back almost instantaneously, glaring at her. "What was that for?"
"So I don't grow horns." Darcy replied simply.
Loki continued to stare. Wait. What?
"It's a superstition. If you bonk heads once, do it again or you'll grow horns." Darcy explained
Loki ground his teeth together. This mortal… He shook his head in disbelief, then strode away, back to stand by the window.
Darcy shrugged, then fully unzipped her sleeping bad, turning it into a blanket, and then pulling it over her as she settled down onto the couch.
"I am a god. I will have the couch. Hand over the precedence, mortal." Loki said, still staring out the window, his voice firm.
No answer. "Do you not hear me?" He asked again. Still no answer.
He abruptly whirled around, his eyes flashing. "Insolen-" he began, but stopped mid-sentence.
Oh. Darcy's breath was steadily moving in and out, her eyes closed and her expression peaceful. She was asleep. The fire in his eyes quelled. But he still was wrought with annoyance, as he was now forced to sleep on the floor. A god. On the floor.
Groaning, he lay down a couple feet away from the couch. He was extremely tired and exhausted, the majority of his powers gone; otherwise he would not have slept in such disgrace at all.
He settled down, his hands struggling a little against the handcuffs until they adjusted.
Slowly, he let his eyelids fall shut as he drifted off…
Loki's eyes shot open as something heavy thudded onto his chest. It was warm, moving a little.. Something soft cascaded lightly onto his face, that smelled a little deliciously of strawberries. Was that… Hair?
The mortal. She'd rolled off the couch. He cursed under his breath, and used his half-capable hands to roll her off of him and to the side. His chest felt a little cold, missing the warmth that had been there a second ago. Wait. NO. She was a mortal, just a mortal. He looked to her.
She was still asleep. The indolence! After ruining his own sleep, she dared to sleep so soundly?!
Wait. Now she was off the couch. So he could sleep there. He got up, ready to go walk to the couch, then stopped, looking back at her. She was still where he had rolled her. He debated for a moment, then sighed. He couldn't leave her there. As much as he wanted to.
Maybe they could… Share? His insides wrenched at the thought and he visibly flinched. But grinding his teeth together, and cursing again, he walked over to her, and slid his hands, still in handcuffs, under her, lifting her, with a little difficulty in his reduced state. He deposited her onto the couch. Something that looked like a black box fell out of one of her hands.
Curious, Loki bent down over it. Oh. It was her "taser". She slept with the weapon? Loki fought back waves of both bad memories and amusement at her impartibility with it. He kicked the weapon aside, then looked back at the couch.
Hmm… The couch was fairly big… He moved her feet, swinging them over to the floor, so she was kind of sitting. She snored lightly. Loki shook his head. She was a horribly sound sleeper…
He settled himself into the other end, falling asleep again.
Darcy shifted uncomfortably in her sleep. She was dreaming. Especially vivdly. It involved a pair of eyes that seemed to immediately pierce through her soul, making her feel things she was uncomfortable with. Eyes that were green. So green…
Darcy's eyes fluttered open groggily as sunlight brightened the room. She was still so sleepy. She snuggled closer into her pillow. Suddenly she realized something. Her pillow was not as soft as usual and it was colder. The fabric felt different too. She opened her eyes fully, turning to look at it.
Loki's eyes were closed; he was still asleep. Her head was resting on his chest, using it as a pillow. His arm was thrown casually over her. Darcy shrieked, eyes wide in surprise, and Loki woke up just as she backed away in surprise, but there was nowhere to go. She fell backwards instead off the couch, arms flailing and eyes squeezed shut for impact.
But she didn't feel it. She opened her eyes. Something was supporting her. Thor held her up.
"I heard your shout, Darcy." He said. He glanced to Loki, with a worried expression.
"Thanks." Darcy mumbled. "He didn't do anything." She added, with a sidelong glance at Loki, daring him to say anything otherwise. "Not even try to help me…" She half-whispered, more to herself than anyone else.
Thor grimaced and nodded, setting Darcy gingerly down on the floor. Darcy flashed a half-smile at him, then grabbed her bag. "I'm going to go… er… brush…" she finished lamely, then darted off towards the bathroom.
Thor looked once more at Loki, eyebrows furrowed, then walked away, hearing Jane call out his name.
Loki got up from the couch and walked to the window again.
He breathed in the air, still scented with her heady scent. He exhaled all at once, abruptly. He hated that scent for how it muddled his senses…
He clenched his jaw. Had she not noticed? He had reached forward to stop her from falling, his own eyes opened wide. His hands had shot out and he had leaned forward, going to catch her. Damn these handcuffs! Thor had come in instead and saved her. He hadn't been able to. She didn't even know he was going to. Loki cursed under his breath.
What was he doing? Why did it even matter? It didn't matter she thought he was cruel enough to not do anything as she fell. He was cruel.What was she to him anyway? No one special… She was just a woman. A mortal on top of that. She did not matter to him. IT DIDN'T MATTER. Now if only he could convince himself of that...