Who: Darcy, Loki What: meeting again...again. When: present Rating: Green
It was yet another day in the warehouse full of Asgardian refugees. The very short Monday meeting was over and done with. After Loki left the notes in Thor's map room, there were only two tasks left to see to. Putting the books back in order in the combination library-armory downstairs, and keeping bored children busy by chasing illusions. Netflix only went so far before it became boring, and the energetic children were too rambunctious and trouble-making to pass among mortals in the city. Not that any Asgardians seemed willing to mingle anyway.
Loki was never one for the rambunctious part of being a child, but trouble-making? Oh yes, that always put a smile on his face.
The small group of children were chasing bouncing fire imps around a large fountain, wielding practice swords and shields he conjured for them, so that the illusionary imps could have something to bounce off of.
As they played, Loki was very close to the warehouse's main doors, in that library. A very old book of tales was left open on the table and he picked it up, carefully turning the pages. It was tattered tome spared from Ragnarok, simply by virtue of being stuffed in his dimensional pocket with about a thousand years of belongings. It was a lucky fluke that he hadn't died in this universe, and so all of these books and relics weren't lost forever.
Adapting to new circumstances wasn’t terribly difficult for Darcy, it was something she’d been doing her entire life, so finding herself in this odd alternate dimension was pretty much just another Tuesday to her and she wasn’t having any trouble getting settled. Jane being here definitely helped with that, even though her best friend was ill and Darcy was worrying a lot about her. She knew that Banner and Stark were geniuses and if anyone could find a way to make Jane better, it was them, but worrying about Jane’s well being had literally been her job for years so it wasn’t going to just go away.
She decided to swing by the warehouse to check in with Jane before heading over to Stark Industries to figure out her job situation and, in true Darcy fashion, entered the space without a pause. It wasn’t her first visit there and everyone knew her, so she didn’t need any special permission to be on the premises.
As she headed towards Jane’s quarters, she passed by the library and stopped in her tracks when she spotted Loki there. It still baffled her that previous versions of her had dated him. What was the appeal? Like, sure, okay, he was kind of attractive, in a greasy, emo goth sort of way, but not really her type. Plus it was basically his fault that SHIELD stole her iPod all those years ago and that was an unforgivable offense in her book.
Still, she figured she ought to at least acknowledge him, so she awkwardly waved. “Hey, ‘sup?”
He washed his hair quite often these days! It wasn't his fault that his hair is unruly and needs an excessive amount of everything to keep it laying down, and not curling wildly or going frizzy all over the place. Asgard didn't have the plethora of hair care products that Midgard did. Sigh.
Regardless of hair drama encroaching on ongoing life drama, everyone's unfavorite not-a-hero was too engrossed in a book to see the awkward wave. That all changed when he overheard a familiar voice. He tensed, expression hovering somewhere between barely there heartbreak and a much more bitterly sarcastic 'Thank you ever so much for this, broken universe.'
Luckily, that was all directed down at the book and not at Darcy Lewis.
He drew in a breath before looking over, his expression settling on a practiced mask of polite indifference. His mother instilled good manners and etiquette upon him, after all.
"Hello, Miss Lewis," he said, measuring his words with the utmost care. "How wonderful it is to see you. Here to visit Doctor Foster or my brother, I presume?"
Translation: Hi. This is awkward. Allow me point you in the direction you need go, so we are as far apart as possible.
“I think you can call me Darcy,” she said. The stilted formality made this even more awkward. “I mean, Thor and Jane filled me in about your relationships with the past versions of me who were here.”
Darcy was not the type of person to beat around the bush and she figured it was easier to acknowledge the awkward if they were going to move past it. Not that she particularly felt the need to have any sort of relationship with Loki this time around, but it would be easier on Thor and Jane and everyone else around them if they could at least be cordial.
“I am here to check on Jane,” she said. “I’ve been here a few times.” She hadn’t run into him on any of those previous visits though. It was not really a surprise that her luck ran out on that front.
Of course she'd been there before. The blunt mention of both past relationships stung, but he should have expected it. Darcy was a blunt creature that lacked subtlety no matter what incarnation she turned up in.
"If it's all the same to you," Loki replied, "I'd rather things remain formal. I'd also hate deterring you from your visit, but I do appreciate the re-introduction. It's been a pleasure meeting you once more."
Well. That seemed diplomatic enough. He offered a small smile and turned his attention back down to the open book in his hands.
Darcy rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on,” she said. She probably shouldn’t poke the cranky god of mischief, but it wasn’t in her nature to just let something drop so easily. “That’s all you’re going to say? You can’t just pretend I don’t exist.” Even if she didn’t have good reason to be around here on occasion, Darcy wasn’t the kind of person who was going to let anyone forget she existed.
“Jane is my best friend, so I’m going to be around here. We should at least try to be friendly. It’s not like I’m suggesting we have sleepovers and braid each other’s hair, but a few minutes of conversation shouldn’t be that difficult.”
She walked into the library and looked at what he was holding in his hand. “Is that some Asgardian literature? What’s it like?” Somehow she was assuming it would be epic poetry like Beowolf or maybe some high quality erotica.
It was neither poetry or erotica, which were hidden in his very locked and magically warded room, with a very well armed Valkyrie within.
The mere mention of braiding hair hit a nerve, since that had happened before when they braided locks of one another's hair into their own. There was the briefest glimpse of runes and a gold laden illustration of light elves moving in slow motion, right before the book snapped closed and he moved out of what he deemed to be uncomfortably close proximity.
Gratefully, he found it was much easier to speak when his back was turned, as it was when he put the book back on its rightful place on the shelf.
"It's an old book of tales," he explained. "Tales of the Light Elves. It's naught more than folklore, a precursor to more in depth history books. And I am pleased that Jane is receiving visitors. I fear her illness has isolated her and my brother in equal measure. Thus, I would not dare prevent any such visitations taking place."
He turned and clasped his hands together, so that he avoided any nervous fidgeting of his fingers. It appeared he was quietly waiting for her to depart. Including a pause before raising his eyebrows slightly like 'Well?'
His words and body language made it clear that he was expecting Darcy to leave him alone and go on with her visit to Jane. There was no way she was going to make it that easy though. Jane and Thor would probably yell at her if they knew what she was doing, but she was really curious about what had drawn the previous versions of her to him.
“That sounds interesting,” she said. “I studied history in college.” Before she’d had to change her major. “Do you think I could borrow some of the history books and learn more about Asgard?”
She knew that Thor would probably be the more appropriate person to ask, but Loki was right here in front of her.
"...before you studied what we called statecraft," he confirmed, which was what they once had in common. So he quickly shut up about that.
Loki's gaze flitted off as though looking for anyone around to interject. When that didn't happen, he unclasped his hands and gestured toward the rows of books interspersed with racks of weaponry. This was a speck, the meager remains of an entire civilization. Within there were general histories of the Nine Realms, children's tales, and records of many worlds and the people that inhabited them.
"If you can read the Asgardian language, you are free to read them," he offered, finding that to be a safer topic. Book nerd! "We would kindly ask you not take them off the premises. They are the last of their kind, and some are fragile. Any damage or inadvertent loss would be devastating for future generations."
Even this wasn't representative of what was available. All of the truly special books - about seiðr, lore, and relics - he either kept in his room or protected in his pocket space. Oh, there was the Pleasure Elf erotica. But that was a forbidden text anyway, and he stole it on a dare. If mother had ever found out, she would have berated him and some horrifying conversation might have ensued, likely starting with 'Your father and I once....' Shudder. No thank you.
What he was selectively leaving out was he knew how to cast All-speak, and that would cover how to read their runes. Runes which were a slightly more advanced form than the 'dumbed down' version once used in Scandinavia.
Well? Perhaps Darcy could look at the pictures.
"WE'VE SLAYED ALL OUR IMPS!" a little girl bellowed from way off in the common area.
Loki twitched an index finger in their direction. Several globules of green light came into being, erupting into tiny foxfire imps, all of which merrily bounced off in that direction. There was a rousing cheer, and Loki spied a perfect opportunity to excuse himself.
"Regretfully, I should focus on those imps. Lest they cause the children to break something."
“Do you know if Asgardian is an option on DuoLingo or the Rosetta Stone?” Darcy asked, though she was pretty sure she knew the answer.
It was weird seeing Loki interact with children, so when he excused himself this time, Darcy was off balance enough to let it happen. “Yeah, breaking things would be bad,” she agreed, her tone off handed. “I should find Jane anyway.”
She still didn’t get why the previous her had been into him, but maybe Loki wasn’t as evil as he’d seemed during their encounters back home.
Oh no, she wasn't using those was she?
"Ah. Well? If there was, there was but one Midgardian expert who knew rare variations of old Norse rune forms, and relic lore. But his forte was carrying a stick, not a quill. There's also Thor, whom I doubt lended his skills to translators. His favorite topics tend to be distractedly talking about things which have happened to him. And himself."
Loki couldn't help but let out a snort of amusement, eyes bright with merriment.
"Miss Lewis, I've seen these 'translations' on your internet, and the DuoLingo and Rosetta Stone. There are only two ways to describe either of them. Rudimentary...and wrong. Faulty is another word that comes to mind, but I've no time to correct them."
Or desire to, even using All-speak. Such things in their books should be kept to the Asgardians, who merely wished to hide under what Midgard called 'radar' as they recovered from their losses. They were historically opposed to polluting another realm with their knowledge or technology, and were doing a good job of remaining out of sight so far. Thanks in part to Stark's excuses about them being tech workers doing a live-in clean energy experiment. An 'experiment' that Loki would be all too happy to end, when they could go be in their own village. Away from a city that reminded him of one of the worst periods of his entire life.
There were children though, and the children were feeling more cooped up than the adults were. He kept having to come up with new games for them, or let them loose on the Stations of Play or Ex-boxes.
"Farewell." Loki inclined his head to her very politely, like royalty should when taking their leave of someone. "I hope that your visit with Jane is a glad one."
Loki began walking away to entertain the children with more games of smack-a-imp and miniature dragon tag.