Word of the mugging had spread quickly through the S.H.I.E.L.D. offices, and by that afternoon, Jane had wandered down into the dungeon to Darcy's cube. Darcy endured several moments of cooing and tsking from Jane as she examined her injuries from the night before. In addition to the cut along the top of her cheekbone, she had some bruising under her eye and scratches and cuts littered her hands and knees. Surprisingly enough, she really didn't feel that terrible, but she assumed her outward appearance said otherwise.
Before she realized what was happening, Jane was pulling from her desk and out to lunch.
Darcy carried her drink and sandwich to the table Jane had claimed for them and dropped down into the wire chair. Unwrapping her chicken salad sandwich, she took a bite, glancing up occasionally to meet Jane's gaze as she chattered on about the new lab and how Thor was acclimating to living with her here in the city. The conversation all kind of blurred together, blending into the background noise of the cafe. After a solid twenty minutes of Jane talking without pause, Darcy felt her eyes go unfocused as her mind drifted to other more interesting topics.
A dark head materialized in her mind's eye, the slightly shaky smile that had made more than once appearance last night following close behind. She couldn't quite remember what color his eyes had been. Green, or possibly blue, she couldn't be entirely sure. The pleasant lightness she'd felt as they'd walked back to her building arose again, triggering a soft smile. She couldn't pinpoint why she'd felt it or where the feeling had come from and before she could delve any further into contemplation she felt Jane's hand shaking her. Pulling out of her thoughts, Darcy looked across the table quickly, seeing that Jane had a vaguely concerned look on her face.
"Sorry, I was just lost thinking about everything that's happened lately. Last night kinda left an impact." She smiled apologetically and finished off the last of her sandwich.
"Oh, no, it's alright. I can imagine. I don't think anybody's going to get any kind of mugging ideas while I'm out. Not now that Thor is home, thank goodness." Jane's expression struck Darcy as a bit dopey as she once again pulled the focus of conversation to herself.
"So, like I was saying, Natasha suggested that we go out for dinner and drinks for my birthday and I had already figured you'd come, but I've just been so busy that I've completely forgotten to check and make sure that you'll be free, cause I really want you to come out with us and meet some of the other women from the research levels…"
Jane sucked in a large breath and looked as if she was going to continue. Cutting her off at the pass, Darcy nodded along.
"Yeah, of course. I wouldn't miss going out on your birthday for the world!"
Even as the words left her lips, she felt something twist inside, annoyance flaring up, reminding her that her own birthday celebration had been two months ago, but everyone invited had either flaked or couldn't make it due to pressing work in the labs. She'd spent her birthday dressed up, alone, and with a bottle of bourbon in her apartment.
'Of course everyone would remember Thor's girlfriend's birthday.' Taking a deep breath and pushing aside the burgeoning feeling of resentment, Darcy smiled back at Jane once more, grabbing her purse and standing.
"I should probably get back, I still have a mountain of notes to transcribe and I didn't really tell anyone I was stepping out for lunch."
Jane looked confused for a moment, obviously having very few administrative constraints on her time and presence in the S.H.I.E.L.D. offices. Darcy bent to collect her trash from their lunch. Jane hopped up immediately, grabbing her own papers and cup and walking with Darcy as she made her way to the bins by the exit.
Leaving the cafe, Jane threw an arm around Darcy's shoulders and leaned her head against Darcy's shoulder in an uncharacteristic display of affection. Unsure of what to do, Darcy simply patted Jane's hand and continued to walk back in the direction of the offices.
"I'm so glad I caught you today, Darc. It feels like it's been weeks since we've gone out and just gotten lunch and chatted." Jane beamed at her as she pulled away.
"Yeah, it does." Darcy agreed. 'Feels like you've been gone for weeks, or months even, but hell, who's keeping track?'
Loki stretched as he waited in Darcy's cubicle. He'd been following her since she'd entered her building the previous evening, observing.
He'd watched as she dropped her bag on the floor and shed layers of clothing as she walked through the darkened rooms. He had perched on her sink beside her as she let the bath fill, thick steam clinging to his skin. She had changed abruptly from the woman he'd encountered on the street. She seemed to have lost herself between his departure and her dwelling's door. He smiled thoughtfully, her emptiness just begging for someone to swoop in and fill it up.
Loki couldn't even begin to explore how pleased by this and last night's events. Not only had he caused a bit of chaos for his brother's companions while testing the returning strength of his magic, but he had also stumbled across this brilliantly unhappy girl with ties to Thor and his woman.
Following her to the S.H.I.E.L.D. offices this morning, he'd expected for her to connect with Thor's woman or at least come in contact with someone of importance. It had then, been a disappointment when he followed her into the depths of the building, deep beneath the street level, only to find that she was hidden away in a sea of containers, each one housing an equally unhappy looking drones.
He'd kept a casual eye on Darcy as he strolled through the level, causing little mishaps every so often. Several of the box dwellers had seen Darcy's injuries when she arrived and were busily gossiping with each other, some even using the communications systems on the desks to speak to other floors in the building. Loki had plagued them the most, making bottoms of mugs shatter and spill hot beverages on laps, bursting pens in pockets, breaking a heel on two different ladies' shoes. Subtle waves of anger and frustration were rising from his end of the floor, the workers growing more and more irritable as their mornings filled with petty annoyances.
He was waiting for a buxom woman who had been particularly scathing when stating her hypothesis behind Darcy's cut to return to her desk, where he had sealed all of her metal cabinets shut and melted the screws in her swiveling chair. Spotting her near the lift that had carried him and Darcy to the floor earlier, he teleported himself to just beside her, intending to badger her the entire walk back to her seat. She was bent over whispering to another woman with a larger tabletop than the rest of the workers. He grew impatient waiting for her to return and was contemplating how to best get her attention when the lift's doors dinged and slid open, revealing Thor's woman inside.
Loki's eyes lit up in excitement, busty bully forgotten. He sent himself back to Darcy's desk, knowing it to be the woman's destination. Darcy was quietly tapping away at her machine, little white and black cords leading from her ears to the green device in her lap. As Thor's woman rounded a corner, approaching, Loki reached out and gently brushed the nape of Darcy's neck, sending images from last evening through the contact. Smirking when he saw Darcy's shoulders relax ever so slightly, her hands stilling and her gaze drifting from the screen.
Thor's woman reached the desk to find Darcy quiet and staring off into the distance. She called Darcy's name as she entered the enclosed space, gently touching her shoulder as she did. A frown furrowed her brow as she called Darcy once more, this time shaking her shoulder. With a gasp, Darcy pulled out of the daydream, yanking the wires from her ears and spinning around to see who was there. Upon seeing the woman, the tension in Darcy's body drained fractionally.
'Strange that. She's hesitant with someone I'd presumed a close friend.' Loki reclined on the small desk as he watched the women.
"Oh, Jane, it's you. Sorry, I'm a bit jumpy. Guess I kind of zoned out there." Darcy apologized and wrapped the wires around her device, laying it aside.
'So it's Jane. Jane and Thor. How incredibly dull the pairing sounds.' Loki listened as Jane prattled on about the story she'd heard about Darcy's attack. She cooed and scowled as she examined the wound, Darcy enduring it, for the most part, silently. Her succinct and strained answers to Jane's questioning swallowed up in Jane's excitement. It was as if the woman had never seen the victim of a simple mugging before. Loki rolled his eyes as the woman dominated the conversation, barely leaving time for Darcy to reply. He barely contained sighs of exasperation as things dragged on. He could see Darcy beginning to lose interest and drift off as well.
Suddenly, Jane tugged Darcy up and out of the cube, marching her toward the lift, talks of lunch and "catching up" drifting back as they left. Loki followed the women as they left the building and purchased food and sat. For the next hour, Jane talked about her research on the BiFrost and wormholes, helping with the "you know whos" initiative and gushed disgustingly about her newly renewed relationship with Thor.
'How can she listen to this incessant prattling? I would have sewn her lips shut ages ago' Glancing beside him, he took in Darcy's almost lifeless stare and Jane's complete obliviousness. He leaned over and brushed his lips along the shell of Darcy's ear, whispering her name, triggering another series of images, and sending a shiver through her.
Content to derail any of Jane's discussion, he watched as the people passed through with their food. Out of boredom, he spoiled the egg mixture they were spreading on bread as he waited for the meeting to end.
His ears perked when Jane once more called Darcy out of her daydream, and described plans to celebrate her birth soon. He saw a slight scowl twist Darcy's mouth and laid his hand on her neck, listening to her thoughts. A scene of Darcy sitting alone in a short dress in her apartment filled his mind. She was watching some kind of play on her machine and nursing a bottle of dark liquid, a defeated slump in her shoulders as she flicked through messages on her... phone she'd called it last night... phone, all expressing regrets and providing excuses for absences. Loki could feel the sadness and resentment welling up with these images. Taking his hand away, Loki stood and left the women; sure that nothing of import would occur.
Leaving the shop, he set out to learn more about his city and Midgardian courting customs. If he was going to fill this disenchantment and tie Darcy to him, he was determined to do it correctly.