Loki's living accommodations is inspired by how the author of the book "A Woman in Berlin", describes her own living space in the book. I can also recommend the book to all interested in a bit of German history. It's a diary written during the time straight after WW2, set in Berlin. The author's name was never published (it was her diary) and the book was only allowed out now after she died a couple of years ago, as there was much protest about the book after the first time she tried publishing it. Also. It'll break your heart.

It became a tradition. Every evening at the same time, Steve would grab his jacket and go to the harbor. Lori would be waiting for him, sitting at the edge in the exact same spot as she always had. It was always dark, but Steve could quickly recognize her tall and lean shape, even the first night.

Sometimes, they sat in silence, other times Steve spoke and Lori listened. He would talk about Bucky, who had now joined the military and was currently preparing for leaving to go to his training camp in a few weeks, about his family – or lack of thereof - , his art, the movies he saw, the war. Everything that filled Steve's days, also filled the silence between them as they sat there, staring into the darkness.

Once in a while Lori would make a comment, sometimes it was snarky and made laugh, sometimes it even made him blush, but mostly, she made observations and gave him advice. Steve quickly found that Lori was fiercely intelligent and took note of almost every word out of his mouth.

They quickly, but steadily, settled into a comfortable companionship, one might even say they were friends. Steve felt that he could confide in Lori, perhaps it was easier for him to do so, as he never had to look at her face, but simply the darkness instead, who in turn listened but never judged. However, she never spoke much of herself. During the first couple of weeks, Steve felt as if Lori knew all there was to know about him, yet all he knew about her was that she had just moved to America from somewhere in Scandinavia, to study she said, and now lived here with a landlady who was very strict about letting Lori go out alone, (she explained that she snuck out the window every night to go down here, and Steve was impressed), as she believed that the European women were more free spirited and needed supervision. Sometimes Steve couldn't help but wonder if she was right.

He was almost certain that none of the girls he and Bucky knew would sneak out and go and fit on the docks on their own at night. It would be far too dangerous for them. Yet, Steve never felt worried for Lori even though he knew she often stayed much longer, after he would excuse himself to go home. For some reason it felt as if nothing evil in the world could harm this girl.

She was very different. Like no other girl Steve had ever met. She would occasionally joke or taunt Steve with a sly smile that so much gleamed in the dark that it didn't really matter to him if her comments hurt a little bit. But even as she joked with him, listened to him and helped him with his issues, there was a distance between them. She seemed off, away, foreign to him. Some nights he wondered if it was simply how the Scandinavians acted, or if it was simply how Lori acted.

Yet still, he enjoyed his nights with her, and their companionship became something he treasured very high. Which was probably why Bucky one day decided to stop teasing Steve about the girl he had been meeting up with, and instead began demanding to meet the girl that was taking so much of his best friend's time away from him.

It felt wrong, Steve decided, for Bucky and Lori to meet. He didn't want to share her with Bucky, Lori was his friend, and what they had together was special and in some ways he felt as if it belonged on the docks, not somewhere else where Bucky would be as well. But Steve also knew that he couldn't deny either of his friends the wish to meet – although Lori had never expressed any interest in meeting Bucky at all – so he decided it was for the better. Bucky was his best friend, and best friend's didn't keep each other out of each others' lives like this.

So the next evening, when their meeting was coming to an end, and Steve had spoken for so long about a book he had read, that he throat felt soar and his voice was raw, Steve asked her.

"Perhaps tomorrow, we can meet somewhere else?"

He couldn't see the surprise on Lori's face, but he knew it was there, even without having to hear it clouding her voice as it did.

"Why?"

He was quiet for a while, contemplating in his head, how best to approach this. In the end, he settled for simply saying things as they were, rather than beating around the bush.

"My friend, Bucky, he wants to meet you, suggested that we could go to the fair together tomorrow eve. It's a Saturday so there'll be plenty for people there, and it will be open late so you won't have to bring your landlady. Just sneak out as you usually do."

Steve didn't actually like the fact that Lori snuck out. But without her doing so, he would never get to be with her, so in the end he settled for simply accepting the fact and moving on.

Lori was thinking. He could imagine that he could hear the wheels turning in her end, her trying to get an objective look at the situation, and make a sensible choice that would benefit her. He almost wished that she would decline and request meeting here again tomorrow, just the two of them.

But she didn't.

"Sure, I'll meet you here at the usual time tomorrow, we can walk there together."

It was a dismissal, Steve knew that much. He had become quite apt at picking up when Lori wanted him to leave, and let her sit in peace instead. He didn't mind too much, sure it felt odd leaving her behind, but he knew it wasn't because she didn't want to spend him with him, she simply also needed to spend time alone. And so he left, with a wave and a slight knot in his stomach when he thought about tomorrow.