The God and the Siren (Loki Romance)

Chapter Four

Saturdays are undoubtedly my favorite day of the week. This morning, Pepper and I cleaned up a bit after the night before, and set out to the city to do a little bit of shopping. And, always, the sounds of bustling people and honking cars overwhelmed the senses as the hours flew by—by midday, I was decidedly tired. And after about an hour of going in and out of boutiques, we finally settle at a small cafe just around the corner from Stark tower.

"God, I really hope it won't rain on the festival," I say, peering up into the cloudy sky.

"Why'd you guys decide to have it in the middle of November?" Pepper furrows a brow, sipping her coffee.

I shrug. "Who knows. James was the one in charge of planning it this year," I say his name with a pointed bitterness.

Pepper frowns, lowering the coffee down a bit as she peers over at me solemnly. "Has he... tried anything?"

"No," I shake my head. "Not since the one time. He's been careful since Daniel and I started dating." Heaviness sinks in my chest a bit as I think back to it—the almost-sexual-assault. I haven't spent a late night in the studio since.

"I can't believe they made you work with him after everything that happened," she says, casting her eyes down frustratedly.

"Well it's not like they believed me, and then paired us anyway," I say. "That's how it goes though, isn't it?"

"It shouldn't," she says emphatically. "They at least should've given you the courtesy of not pairing you two in the same year."

"We're both good at what we do, make them a lot of money together that way. It's all they care about—but it's fine," I lower my gaze. "I can take care of myself. I try not to leave the studio last, for one thing—some of the girls believe me too, they stick around to leave with me when I do."

"You know you can call me too, right?" Pepper nods. "If you ever feel unsafe."

"Thanks, Pep. I know that." I grin. "Maybe we can have Tony show up once or twice in his suit—scare the crap out of James."

She nods with a satisfied smile. "See, you're joking, but I can run it by him later." Realization suddenly flashes across her expression. "Oh, later—that reminds me," she says, turning in her chair to grab her purse. "Let's pop by the market for a sec, Tony asked me to pick up some stuff and bring it to Thor."

I arch a brow, lowering my cup to the table. "They can't do grocery shopping by themselves?"

Pepper rolls her eyes and groans. "They can, but they don't like going out on the weekends when there are tons of people around. Until the mess with the terrorists is dealt with entirely, they don't like to draw unnecessary attention out in public."

"Uhhh, Pep?" My voice drops solemnly as I rise from the chair with, purse hanging over my shoulder. "Aren't they coming to the festival?"

"Yeah, but you don't need to worry about that—Tony says the city's planned a lot of security for that day."

A nervous knot forms in my stomach at the idea. "Sure..." I mumble.

"Would it make you feel better if I had Tony wear the suit?" she grins, looking over at me as we leave the table with our coffees in hand.

"Why, so I can have two thin, glowing slits-for-eyes staring me down in the front row?" I say, thinking of Loki's perpetually dour face. "That's fine—I'm sure Tony wouldn't go to begin with, if he was worried about safety. He wouldn't let you go, either."

"That's true," she nods.

We turn the corner and walk a couple blocks down to the nearest plaza with a grocery outlet, where we start scanning the outer edges of the store for healthy options and whole foods. My eyes widen as I watch Pepper drop yet another bagful of tomatoes into the half-full cart. 

"Are they even paying for this themselves, or is it Tony?" I ask.

"It's Tony for now," she nods. "This is nothing, though. You should see the loft they're staying in—it's massive, and you can see the tower from it."

I pause for a moment, imagining the type of loft that Tony can afford. "Shit, I've gotta start being nicer to him..." I murmur.

Suddenly the wine isle catches my attention in the far corner, across the fresh foods section. I peer at it for a moment, feeling the coldness from the refrigerated vegetables nipping at my nose. "Think we should get some wine?" I turn to Pepper, as she plops a couple of sweet potatoes into a plastic bag.

"Wine?" she asks, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

"Yeah," I say. "For Thor's brother, I guess. It'd be a nice gesture, right?"

Her movement ceases. "Since when are you eager to be nice to him?" she leans against the cart and faces me.

"Well he apologized to me last night—out on the balcony, remember? I don't know, maybe it'd be nice as a last-ditch effort to be friendly."

Pepper raises a brow thoughtfully and tilts her head. "I don't know. I've been seeing him a lot these past couple of months, and he hasn't ever really been the 'friendly' type," she gestures to the isle. "But you can  try, if you want."

I purse my lips thoughtfully for a moment, before nodding my head decidedly. "What can it hurt to try, I guess? We can just put it in there with the rest of groceries and make it look like we thought of him too."

"I'm sorry, 'we?'" she says, smiling amusedly. "No, no—he might try to talk to me if he thinks I had any involvement in it. You're on your own with this one."

I roll my eyes.  "Wow, didn't think I'd ever fly solo with you around."

"Shut it, I'd kill for you—that's a favor you can call in any time," she nods, patting my arm. "But dealing with Loki? I'll just wish you some hearty good luck on that one and call it a day."

I roll my eyes. "Fine," I mumble, and turn to head toward the isle.

Once there, I start scanning the many rows of dark and light bottles towering on either side of me. Now standing closer to the beer section as well, I wrap my arms around me—over my coat—to keep warm as I turn to-and-fro, looking at the options.

Louis Jadot, Pinot Grigio, Chateau St. Jean... Damn, all these different types and brands to choose from, some more costly than others. I'm not prepared to spend a pretty penny—nor do I want to 'invest' my friendship with a four buck chuck—so I go for something in the middle. Beaujolais by Louis Jadot, at $15.99.

As far as red wines go, this one's always been my favorite. Not too dark, not too light... Let's hope I'm not the only one who likes it.