Chapter Foour
This time I only had to wait three days before Loki called me. It was on Sunday morning, and I had been sitting in the bathroom, styling and re-styling my hair (though I still had several hours before our date). I almost didn't grab the phone in time, but when I recognized the "Sexy Back" ringtone, I made an effort to leap across the room before the final ring. "Hey, Loki. What's up?" He must've noticed how breathless I sounded, and his snickered a little before answering. "Just confirming that you're still wanting to go out tonight." Is that even a question? God, for a smart, sexy, perfect human being you're a little dumb. "Totally. Though I do have on question." He prompted, "Go on." "Right yes so. Where exactly are where we going? I mean, I'm all for surprises, I just don't know what to wear." I said. "Ah, I see. Well I'm 'all for surprises' as well, so just make sure to dress semi-formal. Nothing too different from your usual attire." I nodded quickly, then replied with "Alright, thanks Loki." when I realized he couldn't see me. "It's not a problem. I'll see you at seven."
By the time six fifty-five came around, I was a nervous wreck. I had probably called Jane at least sixteen times to confirm that my outfit was alright, but her reassurances weren't helping much. With a groan, I flopped backwards onto my bed. Shit. How in the hell am I supposed to look anything other than plain next to that gorgeous fucker? God damnit. The doorbell rang. I jumped up and ran to the mirror, making sure my bed-flopping hadn't fucked up my hair or anything. Feeling as satisfied as I could, I flattened down my skirt with my hands and flounced down the stairs and pulled open the door.
Loki was standing at my door with a bouquet of white lotuses, looking positively eadible in a navy blue Henley shirt and dark jeans. His eyes skimmed down my belted, cinched-waist, sleveless dress that I had went out and bought just for this evening. The blacks, reds, and hints of white and tan accented my eyes and hair excellently. If I was worried before, that completely melted away when I saw the spark of admiration in his eyes. "You look quite ravishing, Darcy." He purred, still drinking in my outfit. I felt my face heat up, and quickly offered to take the flowers and put them in a vase. The moment I was back, he extended a hand and beckoned me away.
We ended up walking to our destination, and the fact that he held my hand the entire way did nothing to soothe my nerves. Fuck I hope I don't fuck up. What if I fuck up? What if I fuck up and Loki decides not to fuck me? Like ever? Oh shit that would be fuckin awful. Fuck. "So you and Thor still doing well?" I implored. He turned and smiled down at me. "Yes, Darcy. Thor and I are fine. He actually called me this morning." I cocked my head slightly, wordlessly asking him to elaborate. "He wanted to instruct me that if I hurt a single hair on your head, he would 'tear me limb from limb and then light my disembodied corpse on fire'."
I laughed pretty hard at that, and he turned inquisitive eyes on me. "Oh sorry, I'm not laughing at the prospect of you dying. That would be a damn shame, trust me. I'm just laughing at the whole 'big brother' thing Thor's got with me." He still looked a bit lost, so I kept going. "You see, once he started dating Jane, Thor started to get a little protective of not only her, but her friends as well. And since I'm Jane's closest friend, it's kind of evolved into him morphing from golden retriever to un-trained rottweiler whenever my well-being is threatened. It's adorable, really." Loki seemed oddly silent after that, so I let the conversation drop as we continued walking.
When we reached our destination, I laughed a bit at myself for not guessing it earlier. It was an art museum that had just opened up a few weeks ago. I had been dying to visit, but hadn't found the time, what with the whole Loki-is-life thought track my mind had been on recently. I sequeezed his hand and grinned up at him, ecstatic. He smiled tightly back at me, and my thought immediately launched into dARCY WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO YOU FUCKING IDIOT GOD DAMNIT FIX YOUR MISTAKE U LITTLE SHIT. I turned my puppy dog eyes on full force and looked into his. "Are you alright, Loki?" He waited until after he handed in our tickets to answer. "Yes, Darcy. I just… don't really feel like spending an evening with a woman who's interested in my brother."
It took me about five minutes to stop gut laughing at his I was finished, he had this adorable kicked-puppy look on his face. "Loki, you've gotta have a severely skewed view of yourself if you think I could find anyone other than you even remotely attractive since meeting you. Sure, Thor is handsome, but I referred to him as a puppy dog for a reason. He really is like a brother to me. Trust me, you couldn't get me to be interested in anyone but you if I tried, least of all Thor." He seemed placated by my words, and adorably flustered, so I took his hand and lead us into the nearest exhibit.
The first exhibit turned out to be impressionist artists, which made me infeasibly happy. "Loki, look, it's The Boulevard Montmartre at Night! Oh god, is that… Loki I'm pretty sure that's a Degas. Loki I fucking love Degas. This place is incredible!" The other patrons seemed quite scandalized at my rambling, but Loki merely twitched his lips and gave my hand a fond squeeze. "I was hoping you'd like it. I've been wanting to take you since you recognized Odin's Wild Hunt in my bedroom." I beamed at him for what had to be the tenth time that night, and he surprised me by leaning down and pressing his lips against mine, turning the grin into something much sweeter.
As we swept through the rest of the exhibits, I tried to remember if I'd ever been this happy before. Of course there were times that had certainly come close, like the day I got accepted into the University of New Mexico, the day Jane and I moved to New York, the month I dated an Abercrombie model. But none of them had made me quite as happy as how I've felt since meeting Loki. Calm down, Darcy. You're starting to sound a little too attached. Keep it in your pants, woman. I thought, making a slight pout at my inner-voice.
When we left the museum, I felt like I was on cloud nine. Right before we had made our way to the exit, Loki stopped by the gift shop and came out with a print of The Rehearsal, which I had briefly mentioned was one of the first paintings I ever fell in love with. I had let out a tiny squeak and thrown my arms around him, kissing him soundly for a minute or so. Thankfully, he had seemed pleased by my public show of affection, and hadn't let go of my hand since then. He hailed a cab over, and we quickly got inside. Once seated, I had a thought. "You know, I'm a bit surprised you don't have your own personal chauffeur or something." I said with a giggle. "I do, he's just out sick tonight." He deadpanned, and for a moment I was a bit taken aback, but then he winked at me and I giggled once more.
We ended up eating at The Cheesecake Factory, which I hadn't been to in a while due to my low income. Dinner passed by pretty quickly, but dessert was the best part anyway. Watching Loki make foodgasm faces while eating a strawberry cheesecake was quite possibly the most amazing thing I'd seen all night. I was actually pretty sure he was doing it on purpose, though I wasn't complaining. It should be illegal to make sounds like that in public. Woah, hey lady across the room, don't think I don't see you sneakin peeks at my property. Back the fuck off. "You're a big fan of strawberry cheesecake, huh?" I said with a grin, leaning towards him a little. He cocked his head slightly, smirked, and offered me a bite from his fork. Looking pointedly at the aforementioned skank right before I did, I slowly closed my mouth around the cake, shutting my eyes as I did. When I finished the bite and opened them, I found Loki enrapturedly gazing at me, his eyes dark. Across the room, the skank dejetctedly looked away. Killed two birds with one stone, I thought, mentally pumping my fist.
The night ended far too quickly for my liking. When we ended up at my apartment door, I found myself slightly wistful. I was pleased when he leaned in and gave me the third kiss of the night. It was just as perfect as the first two had been, though it was a bit less chaste – not that I was complaining in the least. Every time our lips met, it was like an explosion of color and sensation that left me reeling and haunted by the need for more. When we parted, even in the dim light I could tell that Loki's pupils were nearly eclipsing his jade irises. The sight of him, hair disheveled, clothes unkempt, made it nearly impossible to pull away. But Darcy Lewis is no easy slut, as much as she'd really love to jump Loki Laufeyson's bones right now.
I forced myself to let go of my death grip on the back of his shirt, and sank back slightly into my apartment. "Tonight was amazing Loki. Thank you so much. Seriously. I'm pretty sure you just topped every first date in history." His smirk returned with full force, and he leaned in once more to place a light kiss on my lips that sent my heart through the roof. Damn, woman. Pull it together. "I'm glad to hear it. Admittedly, I'm going to be out of town again for the next several days, but I'd love to continue this when I get back." I took no time in agreeing, and he looked contented with my excitement. Right before he left, he took my hand in his and kissed it gently. "Be well, Darcy."
The minute I closed the door behind me, I raced into my room and pulled out my cellphone. Jane, bless her soul, answered on the first ring. "Hey, Darce! How'd the first date go?" I wasted no time with launching into a story. "Oh, Jane. It was fantastic. I mean, I thought I'd been on great first dates before, but none of them even came close. He took me to that new art museum – he's an art nerd too, Jane. Its fantastic. And then we went to dinner and we kissed three hole times! I can't even handle how happy I am, Jane. It's gonna be so hard to wait til the third date before tappin that."
Jane and I spent the better part of an hour rehashing the details of my date, what certain things he said or did meant or didn't mean. It was so nice to finally have some cutesy stories of my own for once. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for gossiping about Thor, but sometimes I felt a little left behind. Now I just had to try my best not to scare Loki off, that way I don't have to deal with that again for a while.
It took me a while to fall asleep that night, as I couldn't stop trying to breathe in all of the leftover scent of Loki that still lingered on my skin. When I finally did succumb to exhaustion, the bliss of sleep was accompanied by sweet dreams of long fingers and soft lips.