Thor- Lokiday No. 11 P2

Day 71

‘Come on Eileen, oh I swear
At this moment, you mean everything!’

‘With you in that dress, oh my thoughts I confess
Verge on dirty
Ah come on Eileen.’

“Time to get up, Ms. Foster, there’s work to be done.  Do not make us wait for you.”

“Come on, Jane, get moving!  If you don’t hurry, you’ll miss breakfast.  And I swear, Hilda better not have taken all the coffee again, or I’m going to take that precious headband of hers and make her eat it!”

Once Jacobine is gone, promising, as always, to bring her some ibuprofen later, Jane has not a moment to plan out her ‘day’- whether she will go down to the basement lab and see if Loki will grace her with his presence, or if she’ll stay in and sleep on it, let him come to her. 

She backs away from the door after Jacobine’s footfalls disappear and runs right into his armored chest.  Unbreakable arms hold her flush to him, and Jane is more aware than she’s ever been of the cool air on her bare legs.  She turns beet red as he chuckles.

“Mmmm, you look especially ravishing this morning.”

She squirms in defiant protest, only for him to let go on his own and walk to her dresser, leaving Jane no choice but to cover herself with the bed sheet.  Once it’s secure, she’s treated to Loki rummaging through her many t-shirts and jeans, a disapproving frown curving his lips into an upside down U. 

“No, this won’t do at all,” he says, slamming it shut. 

“Loki, what are you doing?” Jane asks, though a part of her is wondering if he’s finally starting to crack under the pressure and if trying to run would give her a good chance.  All things considered, probably not.

His answer is to take her by the arm and pull her more into the light.  He examines every inch of her for well over a minute until Jane is ready throw caution (and basic common sense) to the wind and bolt.  She feels the pull of his magic, starting at her feet and moving upward.  It covers her from the neck down in tingly heat, and when it goes, it leaves her dressed in a layered, mid-length sun dress, bright red with spaghetti straps.  It clings to her body like it had been made for her and her alone.  Jane isn’t so above it all that she doesn’t stop to admire herself in the mirror once the shock has worn off.  She finds that it’s not just her clothes that he’s changed.  Her hair is shiny and in ringlets that cascade down to her mid back.  She thinks for a moment that he’s made her taller somehow too, until she sees the three inch red pumps on her feet.  They feel more comfortable than any other shoes of their kind ever have on her.  She takes a few steps back and forth and never once feels like she’s about to fall over.

“What is this all about?” she asks.  In the mirror, she sees that Loki has also undergone a wardrobe change.  Gone is the armor she has come to associate him with.  Instead, he wears a perfectly tailored suit jacket over a fitted white button down shirt.  A black tie and a green and gold scarf complete the look, and have Jane openly staring at him, her jaw unhinging at the sight.  He smirks.

“Please, try and control yourself long enough for us to reach our destination, my dear.”

He takes her by the hand, and Jane refuses to look at him again.  It just isn’t fair that he can look that good in human clothes when he’s not even human himself.  There are men who have spent half their lives in suit and tie, who could never pull it off like he can.  Bastard.

“Where are we going?” she spits out. 

He takes no heed of her ill will. 

“Away from here, first of all.”

Jane has some time to brace herself this time, but the journey still takes a lot out of her.  Upon arriving to whatever destination he has in mind, Jane’s mind registers a heavily wooded area in the distance and the sounds of a great party going on behind her, before she’s crouched down in the dirt trying not to lose her lunch all over an innocent ant hill.  There are dirt stains on her dress when she gets back up, but those are taken care of the moment Loki’s keen eye spots them.

“This is good enough,” he declares.

Jane looks around.  They appear to be in a park and, barring the loud music and cheering coming from somewhere down the road, there is not a hint of human life to be found.  All she sees are squirrels, and birds, and the occasional rabbit.  Wherever they are, they are ridiculously overdressed for it.

“Loki, what is this all about?” she demands, exasperation finally winning out.

This seems to be exactly what Loki wanted, because he’s happy as a clam when he takes her hand once more and starts leading her in the direction of the noise.

“Oh my, such a racket going on,” he’s saying, purely for her benefit.  “Shall we go see what the fuss is all about?”

They enter a clearing, which appears to be the main portion of the park.  A parking lot packed with cars is off to one side, but the real action takes place in the center of a crowded dance floor, where people in formal wear and cowboy hats dance to country music or gather around one of the many round tables to partake in hor dourves and talk amongst themselves.  Jane is saved from asking what kind of party this is when a woman in a puffy white dress and a veil walks hand in hand with a suited young man to the head table.  Her bouquet rests on it, and she strokes the flowers with loving gestures as her groom whispers in her ear.  Whatever he’s saying has her in stitches. 

Jane turns to Loki.  “So what is this?  We’re wedding crashers now?”

Loki pretends to be surprised.  “Don’t look at me, Jane.  I just wanted to take a leisurely stroll through the park.  I never expected to find a festive event such as this taking place so close by.”

Once more, Jane eyes his formal wear.  If he thinks she’s going to buy that, he’s either stupid or he thinks she’s stupid.  Or he’s just playing games with her again. 

“Where are we exactly?” she asks.

“I believe your people have dubbed this place, ‘Texas.’”

Yeah, he’s definitely playing games.

“Loki, why the hell are we in Texas?”

“You mean you’ve never desired to see the majestic plains and rich forestry Texas has to offer?”

“Not really.”

He keeps pushing them in the direction of the party.  Any second, she thinks, someone will see them, realize they’re not guests, and throw them out, assuming Loki lets them.  This is a private affair, after all.  Jane knows she wouldn’t want any strangers traipsing about her wedding party.  

And yet, they make it to the floor without a hint of trouble.  All eyes seem to slide right by them.  Not even Loki is getting any attention, and Jane knows that’s wrong.  A few small children run by their feet.  Some of them have icing all over their mouths.  The bride and groom have returned to the dance floor and are moving in time to some upbeat banjo-y music that filters through massive stereo speakers.  The DJ sits behind them, a woman around Jane’s age with boy cut dirty blonde hair and her nose in a magazine.  Heavy strobe lights provide all that she needs to read in the dark, though Jane can see beads of sweat giving the woman’s face an unnatural sheen.

“Hmmm, that’s odd.”  Loki brings a hand to his chin.  “Am I wrong, or is there something familiar about that woman?”

Jane is going to tell him that she doesn’t care and she wants to leave now.  She really does, but now he has her looking closer at the DJ, and she has to admit that woman does ring a bell.  The DJ, sensing she is being watched, drops the magazine.  Mismatched eyes- one brown and one green- lock on Janes.  There is a long moment where both women try to make sense of what they are seeing.  The DJ gets there first, her jaw dropping and a joyful scream ripping from her throat.  Jane is frozen in place.  She can’t stop the woman and she can’t get more than the first letter of her name out before she’s tackled, and Loki has the time of his life watching the spectacle.

“Surprise!”

**

Seeing Nancy Keller again- and being on the receiving end of a spine-crushing hug from the woman- has brought up a lot more memories that should have been lost to Jane forever.  She remembers now that Nancy has the most obnoxious laugh in the known universe, the kind that had everyone hesitant to tell a joke with her nearby, and Nancy loves jokes.

Things don’t seem to have changed much now that Nancy is grown up.  If anything, it’s gotten worse.

“HahahHAAAAHAAAA- Jane, this is incredible.  I mean, who woulda thunk that of all places for you to be hangin’ out with your boyfriend, ya’ll would come here?  And on the day I’m doin’ the Darlton wedding!”

She lets out a whoop and hugs Jane one more time.

 The only consolation is that Loki is no less bothered by the sound of her than anyone else.  He stays off to the side, enjoying the fruits of his labors and taking small bites of a piece of cake he got from… somewhere.  Jane didn’t care where; at least he isn’t spitting it out.  Or laughing at her.

“You look great, Nancy,” Jane says, and it’s not a lie.  From the looks of her, Nancy’s done very well for herself.  Her hair is coifed, her clothes fashionable, and Jane hasn’t missed the enormous diamond ring on her finger.

“Yep.  Best decision of my life, moving here,” Nancy said.  She places her hands the pockets of her overcoat and looks out at the starry sky.  “I found myself a hell of a man- wedding’s in July, but the way- and I got this great gig DJing for special events.”

“More than weddings?”

Nancy snorts.  “Please, I’ve done everything under the sun.  Mostly weddings, yeah, but also proms, parties, bar mitzvahs, even a funeral once.  Remind me to tell you that story one day.  It’s a hoot and a holler.”

Jane is so busy listening and nodding along that she fails to feel her feet moving.  She’s all the way away from Loki by the time she does, but he doesn’t seem to mind.  He’s taken off whatever spell he had keeping them unseen, and now there are a dozen or so girls grouped together at a table, watching him like hungry jackals on the prowl.  Jane can’t be sure they are all single either, and at least two are roughly twice her age.  But really, what does she care?

“If I had to find a downside to it all, it’s that everyone down here is obsessed with country music,” Nancy goes on.  “Sometimes, it’s all I ever get to play.  I can’t even listen to Johnny Cash anymore without getting a headache, but I guess it could be worse.  You wouldn’t believe the wedding I had to work last week.  The couple was nice enough, but they had the worst taste in music imaginable.  Their wedding song was an Eddie Murphy song.  Freaking Eddie Murphy!  They told me it was playing at the party where they first met, which means they probably met in some strange parallel universe where it’s acceptable to play Eddie Murphy music at parties.  Or anywhere.”

Jane laughs and almost means it.  She’s pretty sure she missed about a quarter of what Nancy just said.   One of those girls has gotten up the courage to ask Loki for a dance.  That he accepts is a surprise, only because Jane was so sure all humans were lower than trash to him, and that the only reason he so much as touched her was because she was the only other person around half the time.  It doesn’t explain the odd burning sensation that takes up her gut when the girl- who’s really just some flighty, giggly thing who barely knows the world and will probably forget all about Loki once the next hot guy comes along- hooks her arms around his neck and rests her head on his chest, letting him the lead.

“…so I said to this guy, ‘look, take back my retainer fee if you must, but I will not play Dancing Queen five times in a row just because it’s your mother-in-law’s favorite.’  And he… Jane?”

“What?”  Jane looks to Nancy, who has been standing next to her and talking all this time with her totally unaware.  Hadn’t she gone back to her post ages ago?  Surely Jane would’ve heard some of what she’s been saying, if nothing else.

Nancy glanced onto the dance floor, in the direction of Loki and his dance partner, and a look of understanding dawns over her.  She bumps Jane’s shoulder.

“Well, if you’re so pissed that your guy has a fan, go and get him!”

It doesn’t hurt, but Jane rubs her shoulder anyway.

“He’s not ‘my guy,’” she says.  “He’s barely even a friend, much less a boyfriend.”

Nancy blinks.  “You guys aren’t together?  Because I could’ve sworn…”

“We have an… agreement, of sorts,” Jane says with great stress on the final three words.  She’d really like to drop this now and let Nancy go back to complaining about people listening to ABBA around her.  “It’s a long story.”

“So it’s just a casual thing right now, huh?” she says with lewd smile.  “Well, Jane, ya’ll have certainly done well for yourself.  That is one fine piece of ass right there.  He must give you a real good time, huh?”

“I don’t discuss that in public,” Jane says.  It comes out harsher than she intended, and Nancy looks taken aback for a moment.  She recovers fast enough to spare Jane any actual guilt.

“Say no more, I know just how you feel.”  Nancy starts back to her post as the pre-played song winds to a close, promising to return as soon as she’s done.  Jane hadn’t known what it was or who sang it, but she has no interest whatsoever in finding out.  Something about that song Loki had chosen for his dance makes her hate it. 

She stands by as Nancy chats with the guests over the microphone, announcing just a few more songs as the party winds down and the bride and groom leave for their honeymoon.  The next song she plays is another one for dancing, something sappy that Jane’s also never heard before.  Whatever it is, that girl isn’t ready to give Loki up yet.  She stops him when he tries to leave her.  Her free hand travels little by little up Loki’s chest-

“I’m gonna go dance.”

Jane leaves Nancy to her work and makes a beeline for Loki.  She turns a couple of heads, but no one dares ask her for a dance. 

“May I cut in?” she asks of Loki.  His eyebrows go all the way up at the bold request.  Jane just knows he’s going to give her hell for this later.  Fine, let him.  The girl on his arm glares at her.  She looks ready to tell Jane exactly where she can stick it before Loki unceremoniously removes himself from her grip and takes Jane by the hand, leading her to the center of the dance floor.  The poor, gobsmacked girl is long forgotten.

“Thank you for that,” he says to her with no attempt at keeping his voice down.  “That girl was absolutely insufferable.”

“I bet.” Jane’s arm goes around Loki’s waist, the other stretched out, hand clasped in his.  The ten or so couples around them copy the routine.  Jane catches sight of Loki’s former dance partner sulking at a far off table. Jane’s spirits rise considerably at the sight of her, for reasons she probably could explain, but doesn’t want to.

“So, Jane,” Loki says in her ear.  “Are you having fun?”

She’s kind of pressed for an answer.  She could lie and have him call her on it, or she could tell the truth and give boost his already bloated ego.

“Well, you… certainly caught be by surprise,” she says lamely.

“That tends to be the logic behind surprises.”

He spins her, a little faster than the rest, reminding Jane that she is in heels and really shouldn’t be dancing like this.  Any second her heel could snap off, and she’ll have a one way ticket to both the floor and a broken ankle.  Loki has things quick in hand before than can happen.  He moves fluidly to catch her, and bend her into a low dip.  Her hair is touching the floor, and then he lifts her. 

Of course, he would be a good dancer in addition to everything else.  He might as well be the physical embodiment of some kind of cosmic punishment. 

‘Haha here, Jane, have this ridiculously hot and intelligent demi-god with magic powers who is amazing at sex- oh, but he’s also a total psychopath one step away from tearing your spine out at any given moment, so you’d better watch your step.  Haha.’

It makes her think what she could have done in a past life to deserve this.

“Why did you even bring me here?” she whispers after a long moment. 

“Can’t I do something nice for you after all that you’ve given me?”

Whatever she’s given him, he returns ten-fold, and usually not in ways she wants him to.  When it is in a way she wants him too… she’s not going to think about that right now.  Not while they’re dancing and his hands are so low around her waist that he’s grazing her behind.

“How did you even find Nancy?”

“Oh, so you’d like to hear all about my methods of infiltrating SHIELD under the guise of one of their own and stealing classified information they’ve been keeping on all your known associates?”

Jane gawks.  “Known associates?  I haven’t seen the woman in twenty years, I... you’re lying.”

She doesn’t know why she even fell for that.  That stupid, shit-eating grin should have been a dead giveaway.  Of course, the question of how he really found Nancy remains on the table, but Jane finds her curiosity to be waning.  Why bother questioning it, when she could be savoring the moment with a friend she thought lost.

The song’s end was met with cheers and requests for an encore.  Nancy bobs her head to their shouts, cupping her ear to hear them better.

“Wow, we’ve got a great crowd here tonight, haven’t we?”  Nancy claps, careful of the microphone in her hands.  “I hope you’ve all thanked the bride and groom for giving you all such a good time tonight!  Come on let’s hear it for Bob and Sandy!  Three cheers for the happy couple!”

The guests raise a storm of applause.  The bride and groom wave to the crowd, their pearly whites on full display.  The bride blows a few kisses.  Jane is convinced one of them is aimed at Loki, or it could be the bespectacled old man directly behind Loki, who looks like he’s somebody’s grandfather.  She doesn’t care either way, or so she tells herself.

“I’m gonna go talk to Nancy more,” she says, eyes down and back turned.  “Thanks for the dance.”

**

Loki Laufeyson

As she’s walking away, Loki thinks he should have asked her to stay, maybe had another dance.  Barring that, he could have just brought them back to her room and away from all this noise and these unbearable Midgardians.  A blissful night in with the one mortal he could stand would be a gift after the last few hours.  He so much preferred yesterday’s trip, even if the food here was markedly better (though that’s still not saying much).  Even the women fawning over him are worse here.  It could be that they are, on average, less attractive than the waitresses and store clerks of her little desert town.  More likely, it’s just that new problem of his rearing its ugly head. 

He should go ahead and find another woman to dance with.  A sweep of the area tells him there are plenty willing to be his partner.  He should sweep them off their feet and revel in the fact that they’re not Jane Foster and that she is not eating away at him like he thinks she is.  How can she?  She’s just a mortal.  There’s nothing special about her at all.  He’s seen the whole of her enough times to know that there are countless women in this galaxy who make her look like a dirty beggar in comparison.  Certainly none of these women are any better, but they are no worse either.  They’re all more or less the same, these Midgardians.

That’s what makes it so strange that he’s been standing alone on the dance floor like a fool all this time, thinking instead of doing something.

A deep chuckle rings in his ears, one that he knows on a baser level is directed at him.  A man and a woman- both large in body and red faced from alcohol intake- are watching him with dopey, happy grins on their faces, the kind that makes Loki want to burn the flesh from their bones and see if they’re still so cheery.

“May I help you?” he asks in place of this.

 “Sorry, partner,” he says, in a thick drawl Loki has been hearing a lot of today.  “The Missus and I couldn’t help but notice you and yer’ lady friend.”

The woman raises a meaty, well-manicured hand, displaying it for him.  “You two.  Look.  Adorable.  ‘Minds me ‘o me and Harvey here when we were youngins’.”

The husband puckers his lips and mimes kisses all over his wife’s ear and cheek.  She shrieks with laughter and playfully swats at him.

“Oh, don’t mind him.  He’s a big kid sometimes.”

“What can I say?”  The husband somehow manages to wraps his arms all the way around the round woman’s girth.  “Twenty five years of marriage, and I still cannot get enough of this woman.”

“That’s the kind of thing you have to look for in a relationship,” says the woman, like she’s imparting some universal wisdom upon him, and he should feel blessed to hear it. 

When he takes this world, these two will be the first to go.

“You do make a lovely couple,” he says tonelessly, not that they can see it.

“Well thank you, Sugar,” says the woman.  “But you’d know all about that, wouldn’t you?”

Loki puts his hands in his pockets.  “I don’t see why I would.”

The man laughs so hard now that spittle flies from his mouth.  That it doesn’t quite hit Loki is the only reason he’s still breathing. 

“Come on, boy.  Now don’t be telling me you and your lady there haven’t figured it out yet!”

“Figured what out?”

The man glances at his wife, and together they roll their eyes, like this is all some big inside joke of theirs that he’s being left out of.

“Okay, let me spell it out for you.”  The man runs his index finger over the wide brim of his hat, and then points at Loki and Jane in the background in sequence.  “You’re Johnny, and that pretty little thing there?  That’s your June.”

The wife nods along with her husband.  Now Loki knows they’re both mental.  The alcohol has clearly devolved them into a pair of giggling buffoons he should have known better than to engage.  This is why these mortals need him to rule them.  They’re complete rubbish on their own, babbling nonsense at complete strangers like it actually means something.

“Thank you,” he says, stepping back.  “I understand perfectly what you are trying to say.”

He finds Jane with her friend, and isn’t terribly polite about ‘cutting in’ and bringing her back to the dance floor.  Though Jane wants to protest and go back, she doesn’t try to escape.  She even lets him lead when the next song starts playing, something about love being a ‘burning thing’ and making ‘fiery rings.’  The guests are happy to hear it, in any case.  He’s unfortunate enough to spot that couple again, the wife bobbing up and down in her seat as she claps her hands at them; the husband raising his drink for a toast.

“I swear,” he says out the corner of his mouth.  “I do not understand you people at all.”

He spins them away from the sidelines where no one can see them.  Meanwhile, Jane is rolling her eyes.

“Have you ever tried?”

**

Jane Foster

They don’t stay longer than that.  Her parting words to Nancy are much too brief to satisfy either of them, and a lead balloon settles in Jane’s stomach when they trade phone numbers, and Nancy makes her promise that they’ll keep in touch.

“Don’t be shocked if you get a wedding invite in the mail!” she’d said.  “Be sure to bring a ‘plus one!’”

But Jane’s ‘plus one’ has no desire to let her linger.  Jane will never know if Nancy had turned all the way around before Loki whisks them back to Norway.  She can’t even ask.  Loki’s needful kiss the second they’re alone wipes that thought out of existence, along with the rest of her higher brainpower. 

To Jane’s utter dismay, it’s an amazing night.