InsaneJournal

Who: Darcy, Loki
What: talking about the time skip!
When: backdated! prior to July 4th
Rating: Green

Thanks to Jane storing the things that belonged to previous versions of her, Darcy’s apartment was delightfully chaotic and absolutely reflected her personal style, such as it was. The furniture was mismatched, chosen for comfort and functionality over appearance, and there were colorful prints all over the walls, along with an overstuffed bookshelf and a mantle full of knick knacks.

She loved the place, even if she hadn’t exactly picked out everything, and had gotten rid of a few things that were equally as questionable as her previous selves’ dating choices. There were still a few things she wanted to buy, but she was waiting until she had a few more paychecks in her bank account.

At the moment, she was curled up in her overstuffed armchair, feet tucked up underneath her, reading a good book and drinking a cup of tea. It was very much the opposite of the public persona she typically cultivated, but it was her preferred way to spend an evening most of the time.

After cleaning up and donning his armor, Loki was on a mission.

Well, not an actual mission, but more like a meandering. Such things were the providence of a God of Mischief, Cunning, Trickery, Mayhem, Chaos, Lies, and basically the Norse version of the Devil thanks to Midgardian books...which was very unflattering, indeed. Granted, no one earned the name "Sly One" from not pulling a few fast ones now and then.....

However, since the movement of time forward happened, he became almost disconnected from the events leading up to that moment. Almost as though one of his doubles went and lived a life where he died at Thanos' hands - supposedly - and then ended up in another universe. As though the double merged with himself, and he gained the bare minimum of those memories but did not feel as though he experienced them. It was a struggle to remember clearly, and since he was left with bits and pieces, it was better to follow the breadcrumbs and see where they lead.

They led him right into his supposed ex-girlfriend's apartment — her kitchen, to be precise. There were no qualms about using a teleportation spell of that magnitude to get there, but it did leave him with some cravings afterward. It was a pity then that Darcy's kitchen was...as eclectic as the rest of the apartment looked to be when he peeked around at it.

It was rude to poke around and make coffee without permission. So Loki poked his head out of the kitchen and smiled at the mortal woman reading a book and sipping tea.

"Ahhhh, Darcy Lewis," he said in a voice that was a rasp wrapped in dark velvet. "Have you any pastries, by chance? Preferably of the toaster variety."

Darcy let out a yelp of surprise when she heard a voice speak and nearly threw her book at him when she realized that Loki was somehow in her apartment.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded, standing up and grabbing both the taser that Tony tricked out for her shortly after her arrival and her phone in case she needed to call in the cavalry. She didn’t think he’d do anything stupid, well no stupider than infiltrating her apartment, but it was better to be prepared.

Intruders did not get offered refreshments. Especially not intruders that some other versions of her had history with that she did not care to remember.

Loki looked at the taser and then back at her face, but didn't seem very fazed by the weaponry. There were reasons for that, but it's not as though he's about to disclose them. That wouldn't be fun. Or sporting. Besides, why not give her the semblance of safety if it made her feel better about talking?

Instead, he looked apologetic as he explained, "I do apologize for interrupting? I was passing through and wanted to pop in and say hello, perhaps sit down and speak with you. You see, that time business disconnected a quite a few memories. Removing one's self from an earlier point in a predestined timeline tends to do that, I'd imagine. Thus, I'm following some of those unraveled threads. One of which suddenly led me to you, Miss Lewis."

He pointed back at the kitchen. "May I make some coffee, at the very least? Would you care for some?"

“Uh… sure,” Darcy said blankly, trying to process what he said. Maybe coffee would help any of this make sense.

She had heard that time travel was somehow involved in bringing back the people who were dusted by Thanos, but she was largely unaware of the specifics of how that worked and could not imagine what part Loki might have played in that whole thing. Or what the ‘unraveled thread’ that led to her was. The only thing she could think was that it had to do with his relationship with one or both of the past versions of her here.

Since he didn’t seem to be remotely threatening, she put down her taser and phone. Now she was more curious than anything else, though she still did not appreciate the sudden intrusion. “What do you mean that you removed yourself from an earlier point in the timeline?”

There certainly was a lack of uptight platitudes and aloofness from last time. Loki idly waved one hand in the direction of the coffee maker, which turned itself on and began making what smelled reminiscent of overpriced mochas from coffee shops.

"I believe it means," he said while looking around the kitchen for cups, "that my other self obtained the Tesseract at an earlier point in the timeline, as a means of escape. Therefore, everything that transpired after that is now murky. In regards to timeline branches, it did happen, and yet it did not. In an odd, roundabout way. Much as things did, and yet did not, ever happen between us."

It was very much like his memories were a freshly painted mural, and some art-hating heathen came along and smeared wide swaths into nonsensical smears. What was also nonsensical was that nothing about Darcy made sense (including her belongings or kitchen item placement), and waited for her to get the cups. Casting a spell for those might cause any number of things to crash down. He's not rude.

Well. Not entirely.

"I believe that is what led me here. I'm attempting to mend what I can by using my spells, but it's proven...problematic. Have you any cups?"

That was a little difficult to follow, but Darcy thought that it made sense. As much has anything else did in her life since the day Jane hit Thor with her van in the desert. “Yeah, cupboard right above the coffee pot.” She was pointedly not paying attention to the fact that he was using magic to make coffee in her kitchen. It was surreal enough that he was in her kitchen.

“I’m not sure how I can help,” Darcy said. “Because whatever happened between us wasn’t me.” She wasn’t sure if it would ever stop being weird to say that kind of thing either.

She should probably make an effort to do something. Maybe go see if she had a package of cookies that weren’t stale or something. Did she have to be a good hostess when he’d barged in without warning? Probably not, but maybe sugar would help.

"You need not have a solution." He got the cups out and began pouring. "I am only wondering what was so alluring about you since you are mortal. It's out of pure curiosity I'm here pouring coffee like some underpaid minion, and I gather aside from your pleasing countenance, you must be a good confidant or conversationalist. After all, you are no scientist. And yet I recall Jane Foster is your friend, despite having no scientific background between you."

He began opening things on the counter.

"Is this sugar?" he asked. "I do hate to be a bother, but I require sugar. Oh, and the cream from brightly colored bottles, in various flavors. Do you have any in your refrigerator, perchance?"

Darcy finally moved to the kitchen at that point and opened the fridge, pulling out bottles of French Vanilla, Hazelnut, and Peanut Butter Cup creamer, setting them on the counter so he could use whichever he preferred. “Yeah, that one is sugar,” she said, pointing to the correct container.

This was by far one of the most odd experiences of her life, which was saying something. “Honestly, I have no idea what you found appealing,” she said. “I also don’t know what I found appealing.” She saw no reason to sugarcoat her thoughts and feelings about the whole thing.

“From what Jane said, we were terrible for each other. Lot of fighting and drama.” The whole reason that Darcy tended to avoid relationships.

Loki proceeded to put five teaspoons of sugar into his coffee before he looked over at the creamers. The first two were judged worthy, but peanut butter was one of the things that a past her (and now himself) had bickered over. Which was the reason he wrinkled his nose and pushed it away with a finger.

"Peanut butter has the consistency of plaster," he said. "You can have that. The only tolerable part of a peanut butter cup is the chocolate."

He poured in some of the hazelnut creamer and began stirring, all while giving her an appraising look.

"Don't be rude," he primly added, about her not seeing his appeal. Of which, deep down, he thought he had no appeal at all. Who in their right mind would want a runt monster left to die on a frozen rock? Besides a Valkyrie that drank a lot to cope with her own tormented memories. "You are quite pretty for a mortal when you're not wearing those things over your eyes. And from what memories I do recall, it seems Jane Foster was only privy to the tumultuous parts. You made me laugh and helped me to see things from a different perspective. Thus losing you was grievous, indeed. Something about consuming copious amounts of brownies, and binging net flicks with Thor...?"

It was all a blur, though. He took one sip of coffee and sighed happily, holding the cup in both hands like the warmth was nice.

"Oh!" He suddenly looked delighted, as though a memory became more clear to him. "We donned comical masks and robbed a jewelry store somewhere on this planet...but it was your idea. I was trying to be good, and you ruined it."

“Wait… WHAT?”

Darcy dropped the mug of coffee she was holding, spilling it all over the counter. It was only a miracle that the mug itself didn’t shatter. “Fuck,” she swore, grabbing a dish towel from the door of the fridge and trying to mop up the mess.

They robbed a jewelry store? And it was her idea? What in the actual fuck was wrong with her? Had she been high? Drunk? Mind controlled? That could actually explain why she’d decided to date a guy who tried to destroy her planet.

“Can you run that by me again?”

Not high, drunk, or mind controlled...although the first Darcy did insist on smoking a weed that smelled like the rotting corpse of a skunk, and the second had a rather significant drinking problem. At least this third Darcy seemed to arrive in a more charmed existence. Likely from finding him as unsavory as he believed everyone else did, save for his brother and the Valkyrie.

As far as mind control went, he wouldn't bother with the time nor the effort. Both prior Darcy were highly resistant. There was trouble even getting the suggestion of sleep to stick on the second Darcy after bad nightmares.

"What? It's not as though anyone knew it was us, or that we were caught. Besides, you suggested it and helped pawn the ill-begotten goods," Loki said, watching every so helpfully as she tried to mop up spilled coffee. "That's not necessary. Please, allow me."

He reached out one hand and snapped his fingers, and the liquid disappeared, leaving a pristine clean countertop underneath.

"All better," he said, before taking another sedate sip of hazelnut mocha.

Maybe this was really some elaborate nightmare. That would make more sense than it being real. Except Darcy didn’t think that her mind was nearly creative enough to make this up though. “Uh, thanks,” she said, pouring herself another cup of coffee and opening a cabinet to pull out a bottle of whiskey and add a healthy slug. She needed something stronger than caffeine.

“Okay, so, you remember that,” she said. “What else do you remember?” Did she really want to know? Probably not, but she did want to know what compelled him to come here so maybe if he shared more of his memories, it would eventually make some kind of sense.

She doubted that highly. “Let’s sit down though.” Because she didn’t know if she could handle any more surprises.

There was a frown on his face that quickly gave way to a sly smile. One that spoke volumes about the other few things he was able to recall. But that was gone in the blink of an eye.

"Sitting down might be advisable," Loki told her, on the verge of laughing. "Although by your demeanor, you truly do find me repulsive. In which case, I shouldn't bother you further. Not if it's so disconcerting a thought that it's driving you to imbibe."

Seeing her pull out the bottle like that left him with a vague feeling of self-blame that he quickly shoved aside. Rather than giving voice to that, he took a long, slow drink of coffee while watching her, and one eyebrow arched slightly higher than the other.

“No, I mean, you’re not like… entirely repulsive,” Darcy said. She didn’t want to offend the trickster god or anything. “I just… can’t wrap my head around me being in any relationship at all.” She enjoyed having fun. Relationships, in her experience, were not fun.

She shook her head and went to sit back in her chair, tucking her legs up underneath her. “The booze is more because of the criminal thing.”

It wasn’t like Darcy was the most law abiding citizen or afraid to break the rules when it suited her. She had hacked SHIELD. Bank robbery was a lot different though and it just didn’t sound anything like her. “I just can’t see me doing something like that.” Maybe he couldn’t understand that, given his history, but it was just weird to her.

Well, it wasn't a bank. They hadn't gone that far. A jewelry store heist was more of a smash and grab, but not using magic would make it tedious and far more trouble than it was worth.

He rolled his eyes a little that he wasn't entirely repulsive. It was also for that claim that she couldn't be in a relationship since he thought much the same of himself. And yet there he was, already in an arranged marriage that he didn't remember arranging but seemed rather beneficial. Despite that, he imagined most former ex-paramours weren't exactly going to find one another very appealing. Even if they didn't remember one another entirely, and most of his memories were ephemeral at best.

"At least I am only partially repulsive," he sarcastically joked, still clasping the cup in both hands. "Darcy, none of this is the norm for me. Not the romantic relations, nor the blatant criminal act. Honestly, the royal coffers were full of gold and jewels of far more worth. I have some of them stashed away. For what it's worth, I feel as though it was...perhaps...a dare that went too far."

He motioned for her to lead the way so they could sit down if she wanted to.

A dare that went too far might actually make a little sense. That sounded like the kind of trouble Darcy could see herself getting into.

She gestured for him to make himself comfortable on the sofa as she listened to his explanation. “So, what now?” she asked. “Obviously neither of us is interested in picking up that type of relationship. Do we go for friends?” That would be tough for her given the havoc he wreaked in her life years ago, but she could do it for Thor and Jane’s sake.

"Such a relationship would be a bit difficult, considering that I'm betrothed to another," was Loki's reply, after he paused to think it through.

He also considered the prospect of being friends and looked appropriately cautious. He hadn't had a lot of friends throughout his life, having always been too busy trying to impress the All-father and earn his favor. It was inevitable that they would cross paths again, given how close Jane and Darcy seemed. There was much to consider, but first and foremost, he knew that he put this woman and his brother's paramour in danger, and attacked their world. Speaking of which...

"I am sorry for any harm I caused," he said, looking troubled as he stared down into the cup of coffee in his hands. "I was deeply troubled and not truly myself. The gods are ill-tempered at times, but more so when under duress. So if you would find it acceptable, and accept such an apology? Yes. I should like to be friends with you if it is possible."

Darcy wasn’t expecting an apology and she was caught off guard for a long moment. “Yeah, I can do friends,” she said with a nod of acceptance.

This was not what she was expecting to happen this evening. Or ever. She’d taken it though. “You’re engaged? To who? When’s the wedding? Am I invited?” She liked weddings. They were a lot of fun and a great place for hookups.

Even before meeting literal gods from other planets, Darcy had an uncanny ability to roll with things.

"I'm to wed the last of the Valkyries," Loki said proudly, as though it was a major accomplishment. It was a stroke of luck after a lifetime of being passed over by Asgardian standards, with the lone exception being his mother's confidence and care toward him. "The wedding will be toward the end of Sólmánuður, which coincides with...your July, I believe?"

In other words, time was short to prepare. Loki realized there was still more to do, and an appropriate weapon for his bride must be finished in time for the ceremony. He also had to carefully consider that the Valkyrie was not overly fond of the past Darcy and the ceremony was meant to be a more intimate affair meant for Asgardians, to bolster their people's wounded spirits. Or so they all hoped.

"I'm afraid that the ceremony itself is meant for Asgard," he said, after finishing his coffee. "The only likely exception would be for Jane, as she is akin to close family. However, if you wish to attend one, or several, of the feasting days? That would be most welcome."

As he stood up, Loki smiled mischievously while magicking his cup into the sink. It was clean by the time it reappeared, of course.

"I'm afraid there is one more stop that I must make, and then I am off to finish the preparations. You've been most kind, Darcy Lewis. I would be honored if you would count me amongst your friends."

“I’ll definitely be there.” She’d have to figure out what was an appropriate Asgardian wedding gift. Jane or Thor should be able to help there.

Darcy smiled, standing when he did. “I’m glad you stopped by,” she said, surprised to realize she actually meant it. Maybe Loki wasn’t as bad as she’d thought.