Day 100

Jane Foster

Yesterday was a fun day with an… eventful end to the evening. So much so that Jane is relieved when the next day comes and she's too exhausted to get up. Loki waits by her vanity, but if he thinks she's indulging him in whatever game he's cooked up, he'll have to get used to disappointment.

"Mmm…" she moans, pulling the covers higher over her neck. "Did you do something to my bed again?"

"Not recently," he says. "Nothing I've wanted to…"

"Then why's it so comfy?" She doesn't even feel the broken spring when she snuggles in.

"I would not know." He watches out the window with a look of distaste. "There are still places on this planet with proper sunlight. I don't know why you'd rather stay here when we could be anywhere else."

"We were here non-stop for weeks," she replies. "Why are you just now getting picky?"

"Call me what you will, but my point stands." He parts the curtains with his mind. It doesn't make the room any brighter. "We could be out enjoying the warmth. Perhaps on a beach or a cruise ship. I believe the weather is agreeable on the west coast today."

"Wow, when did you become the weatherman?"

"The what?"

Of course, he wouldn't know what she meant. His patchwork of knowledge on all things Midgard was gradually filling out, but there was still so much for him to learn. The weather never changed here, even before the time loop. Overcast and chilly Springs were the reality in this part of the world. What kind of weather did they get on Asgard, she wondered.

She would've asked, but as Loki mutters to himself like a child without candy, her mind wanders.

Loki Laufeyson is the best weatherman money can buy, or so the network says. To newbie producer Jane Foster, he is the worst sort of thorn in her side. A thorn would be preferable to him actually. At least she can remove a thorn and forget about it once the stinging dies down. She's stucks with this asshole.

"Today, all of Punxsutawney waits for the arrival of the world's most beloved rodent." He sounds like he hasn't slept and doesn't give a damn that he's live. "Fools in their winter coats freeze their arseholes off all so they can pretend that mindless rat knows anything about seasonal change. Why is such nonsense still allowed in the modern age? We stopped bleeding people dry to cure a fever, why keep doing this? IDIOTS!" Loki shouts at the crowd behind him. "All complete idiots. It's a miracle this town hasn't burned to the ground, but I suppose the groundhog can predict that, too."

At the end of his, ahem, report, Loki drops the microphone in the snow and stomps off through a gaggle of teenagers. Jane glances at the cameraman, who shrugs and goes to get some hot cocoa. Jane would've happily joined him, but unfortunately, she was responsible for Loki. Assuming his little tirade didn't cost him his job, keeping him in line was more or less her job.

She finds him at the town diner. It was a nice place with good coffee, but Jane has yet to try anything else. Now might be a good time. Loki doesn't object when she sits with him. He doesn't acknowledge her at all. Like she's turned invisible and just hasn't realized yet. That theory is thrown out when the waitress arrives to take her order.

"An egg white omelette and a decaf coffee with two sugars, please."

"Got it." The waitress writes it down. "And for you, sir?"

"Tomorrow," Loki says. He has bags under his eyes Jane somehow missed earlier.

"Er… okay. I mean, tomorrow's my day off but there will be another waitress!"

Loki pretends to laugh, which is probably the nicest thing he's ever done for anyone. The waitress leaves and Jane stares at him until he's forced to stare back.

"Problem?" she asks. She has a whole list of problems, but better to hear his side of the story first.

"Many," he says. "Though one does rise above the rest."

'Like your career that you just killed?' "Care to elaborate?"

She gets her coffee and the waitress is kind enough to bring a fresh glass of water for Loki.

"On the house," she says, then chuckles. "Just kidding, hon. We don't charge for water."

"Thank you, Diane," Loki says.

The waitress blinks. She looks down at her shirt, but she isn't wearing a nametag. She gives Loki a weird look and quickly departs.

"You have to tell me eventually," Jane says.

"Do I?" Loki runs his finger around the glass, collecting condensation. He rubs the moisture between his fingers. "I've had this conversation with you already. It never goes anywhere."

"What conversation?" She thinks back to the last two days, all the time she's known him in person. They've spoken several times, mostly about travel expenses and where he should stand when giving his report. Nothing memorable about that.

"This," he says, gesturing at the restaurant. "I come in, you follow me, I tell you I've lived this day several hundred times with no end in sight, and then you look at me like I'm insane the way you're doing right now."

Jane breaks her gaze long enough to mold her features from incredulous to blase. She nods at him like a therapist. "Uh huh. So... you're living the same day over again."

"Yes, that was the gist of it."

"Like a time loop."

"If you want to get technical with the terminology."

Jane nods. It's not the worst thing she's ever heard a man say. At least he's not trying to pick her up. She thinks.

"Did you get enough-"

"Sleep last night? Unfortunately yes. My endeavors to remain in bed for the fourteen hours I am usually awake have so far been fruitless."

Jane opens her mouth.

"I have also not partaken in alcohol recently. Nor do I take any medication. The latter wouldn't help me anyway. What I'm going through is very real."

Jane slowly closes her mouth. She knows she should say something, but nothing good is coming to mind.

"Are you high?"

He laughs hysterically. People stare and Jane's cheeks flame up. "Oh, dearest Jane. I can always count on you to liven up my day."

He gets up and moves toward the door. Figures he'd leave her with the check. "Where are you going?"

"For a walk," he says.

That walk ends in him kidnapping Punxsutawney Phil, leading the police on a high-speed chase, and eventually crashing into a ditch where his car explodes. Though he's very much dead at that point and Jane is very much in shock, she has the strangest feeling she'll see him again.

"What's so funny?"

Jane doesn't realize she's laughing until Loki snaps her out of her thoughts. She all but bites her tongue in half trying to stop, but it's no use.

"Nothing," she says, "nothing at all."

She rolls over and enjoys her fantasies in silence while Loki continues to pout.