L Ф К Ї (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} punygod) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} madisonvalley,@ 2023-02-18 19:03:00 |
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What: Awkward run in
When: Late January
Where: Outside David’s bedroom to start
Warning: Low, allusions to Loki and David’s relationship
Status: Completed via Gdoc
It was rare that Madison was up so early on a Sunday. Normally, she took every chance she had to sleep in, especially in winter when it was a form of torture to step outside her blankets. Unfortunately, on this particular Sunday, Madison had a paper to finish for English class and she hadn’t started it yet. With less than twenty-four hours until school, Madison knew the sooner she planted herself in front of her computer, the better. For all her bragging about how she didn’t care about school, she didn’t want to have to repeat it again.
Tugging off her noise-canceling headphones, Madison forced herself out of bed and opened her door. She wasn’t sure if Loki spent the night, but she always wore them just in case he happened to. As happy as she was for David, the less she knew about what they did behind closed doors, the better for her sanity…or what was left of it.
Wrapping her arms around herself, Madison started down the hall and was just about to pass David’s door when she heard movement behind it. The blond froze, listening, but she wouldn’t have to wait long to see who it was. In seconds, the door was open and the familiar face of one Asgardian king appeared, like a ghost materializing from the darkness.
Madison’s blue eyes widened and a blush burned her pale cheeks. Oh shit. Normally, Madison was already out somewhere when Loki emerged from David’s bedroom. She’d honestly never run into him before and, in that moment, she desperately wished she’d kept that streak going. Too fucking late now.
“Well, who needs coffee to wake up when you have the misfortune of running into your guardian’s friend leaving his bedroom in the morning?” Madison said, keeping her voice down. She could hear David’s soft, even breathing from within the bedroom and knew he was still sleeping, blissfully unaware she was in one of the most awkward situations of her life.
Loki didn’t often sneak out of a person’s bedroom the following morning. Especially not someone that he slept with regularly--someone who he was actually quite fond of. But this morning he had an appointment to meet with a realtor--he was exploring his different options in the area, looking for a house to move into. He’d been staying in the apartment given to him by the Dome for long enough. It was time to “grow up” so to speak. Something where his mother could have half of the home, and he could take the other half. Perhaps they could find a large enough place for Thor to reside in as well. Of course, that would take a considerable amount of research, and perhaps some magic from both the trickster god and his mother.
Anyway, he was sneaking out, letting David sleep in this morning, so he could grab something to eat and drink (perhaps the midgardian coffee he was so fond of?) before meeting the realtor. He hadn’t been expecting to come face to face with the somewhat mortified ward of his lover.
There was a beat as Loki tried to figure out how to respond to that. He cleared his throat, pulling David’s bedroom door closed behind him. “I think you could still go for a cup of coffee, regardless.”
“With some much needed alcohol because this?” Madison gestured between the two of them. “This is fucking awkward.” And the images this entire situation was threatening to convey in her brain needed to be stopped before they had time to fester into something much worse than a possibility.
Wrapping her arms around herself once more, the blond let out a sigh and nodded towards the kitchen. “Let’s go before we wake David and the level of weirdness threatens to blow the roof off this house.” Madison continued her way to the kitchen, flipping on the lights, and heading to the cabinet to pull out two mugs. They had long ago invested in a Keurig so there was plenty of variety of coffee flavors for Loki to choose from and no doubt he had at some point when Madison wasn’t present.
“So, why are you up so early anyway?” Madison turned back towards the dark haired man and handed him one of the mugs. “You and David are clearly past the ‘leave before you love me’ stage of your relationship.”
As she waited for his answer, Madison chose one of the K-cups, set her mug down beneath the opening, and placed the cup inside. After closing the lid, the coffee started to brew, the smell permeating the kitchen and blond inhaled deeply. Was there anything better than the smell of coffee this early in the morning? Not catching your guardian’s lover leaving his room might give it decent competition.
“Far be it from me to instruct you on how to take your coffee,” Loki mused. He’d seen enough media in this world to know that Midgardians started being sexually active when they were in their teenage years, which Madison appeared to be.
He followed her down the hall and to the kitchen, then leaned against the doorway with his hands in his pockets, watching her putter about making the coffee. At her question, he glanced back down the hallway. It was amazing that so many people were fond of him in this world. So many people wanted to be with him. Back where he’d come from, he could count on zero hands the number of people who cared about him as much as the people here seemed to.
“I have an appointment with a realtor,” he finally responded, turning his attention back to her. “I’ll be making a purchase soon.”
“Oh. I’m guessing it isn’t for you and David.” Madison shot him an inquisitive look as she picked up her now full mug and discarded the used K-cup in the trash. The blond’s next stop was the liquor cabinet where she withdrew the Bailey’s and proceeded to pour a generous amount into her steaming mug before capping the bottle. Tucking it back inside the cabinet, Madison closed the door and padded her way over to the counter, taking a seat on one of the stools.
“You’re welcome to the coffee machine by the way. I’m sure you’ve used it before given how many nights you do spend over here.”
“I’m sure that David will come and visit me in my house as he does in my apartment,” Loki mused. He wasn’t about to move in with a romantic partner. Loki enjoyed his freedom far too much to jump into something more serious and committed. David wasn’t his only lover, and Loki was completely honest with his lovers about who he was seeing.
He watched the young woman dump a good portion of alcohol into her coffee and nodded his approval. “Thank you,” he said, smirking, as he moved past her to make himself a cup of coffee.
“I haven’t seen you bring anyone home,” he said as he plugged the K-Cup into the machine.
“Maybe he can visit you more often then,” Madison mused, a playful smirk visible behind the rim of her cup before she took a sip of her dirty coffee. She knew that David wasn’t Loki’s only choice when it came to partners, but surely with all that extra space he could afford to have David around more. Which would mean Madison could have the house to herself more too. It would be a win-win for everyone.
Madison swallowed her sip of coffee, savoring the burn, and shrugged her shoulders at Loki’s response. “Of course. Like I said, it’s not your first rodeo, spending the night over here.”
He didn’t see Madison bring anyone home because Madison preferred to spend the night at Rhy’s whenever they were intimate. It kept awkward run-ins like this one from happening. “Because I don’t,” the witch replied bluntly, taking another sip from her coffee.
"Mmm." Loki responded with a gentle nod as the machine started to brew his cup of coffee. He didn't want to give away too much. He liked David a lot--cared about him fairly deeply, actually--but he wasn't looking for anything more serious than what they had. What he had with all of his romantic entanglements. (Something he never thought he would have, let alone on Midgard.)
"Ah, I see." He picked up the finished cup of coffee to smell it before blowing across the top and sipping. It was still too hot for the Jotunn, so he lowered it again. "Why do they not let you take care of yourself? Obviously, you are fully capable. Is there a reason that you have been assigned to live with David?"
Madison could respect keeping your romantic conquests close to your chest. Plus, she didn’t want too many intimate details concerning her guardian and the man he was sleeping with. She liked David and Loki was cool, but that was information she’d be perfectly happy never knowing more about than she absolutely had to.
At the question, Madison rolled her eyes. “Because they had a stupid law that says I’m not legally allowed to do that until I’m eighteen. Hence, David was the unlucky one who received me as a ward. I guess the Dome and Google had it out for him.” Madison had decided on her choice of guardian by rolling a die in Google. David had ended up winning and the two had been together ever since.
“Believe me. I wish I could live on my own, but fucking society won’t allow it.”
Loki had no idea what the Google had to do with Madison’s being assigned to David’s care. He didn’t want to ask, though. Either he didn’t want to seem ignorant, or he didn’t care. Maybe a little of both. Madison seemed like a nice Midgardian, though he found it somewhat hard to believe that she was considered a child of this world. He responded with a gentle, “I see.”
Then Loki lifted the hot coffee and blew across the top again. “How long will it be until fucking society will allow it?”
“Another year.” Madison took a sip from her mug again. Honestly, she was already counting down the days until she’d be able to walk out the door and into her own place. Of course, that would require a job, but details, right? She was just looking forward to turning eighteen.
“Another year too long in my opinion, but whatever,” Madison continued, shrugging her shoulders. “The important thing is that it is happening.”
“It is. That is one thing that we cannot prevent, no matter how hard we try,” Loki mused, thinking about his time at the TVA. How much he missed his friend. He didn’t like dwelling on the past, and things that no one can change. He had a selfish hope that Mobius would show up in this place, but he conceded that it was, indeed, selfish. Mobius would probably be almost as miserable here as he was. At least, in the beginning.
“I do hope that the year goes by quickly for you,” he added, then lifted the coffee mug for a sip. He lowered it once more. “I should probably leave you to it.” He had a realtor to meet with, after all.
The witch nodded sullenly. “No. There is no magic that exists that can fix it.” Time was impenetrable. It did as it wished and Madison knew she couldn’t make it go faster…no matter how much she wished for it.
His words pulled her from her thoughts and she nodded again. “Thanks. And yeah, you should probably meet that realtor and start house hunting before all the good ones are taken.” Not that she thought for a second people were clamoring to move to this town.
Loki had raged against this place, had done everything in his power to get back to the TVA. Get back to Sylvie. Get back to the place where they could control time. He’d come to accept this place and its limitations, even if it took some time.
“Thank you for the coffee,” Loki said without another sip. He set the mug in the sink. “I appreciate the luck.” Not that he would need it. Any house he found could be adjusted by his powers. But having a good one to begin with would be a good idea.
Loki gave her one last nod of his head before leaving the kitchen and heading out of their place.