Loki

Chapter 14

After several minutes of struggling, Loki walked out of Darcy's tent dressed as a lowly mortal. He had temporarily worn human clothes once before, but they had been his typical clothes charmed to appear as they would have if they had been designed by humans; this was something else entirely, and Loki was very uncomfortable.

How is this my life? he wondered again as he walked to the space where he had spoken with Erik and Jane the previous night.

As he had anticipated, the mortals were eating. The meal was rather small - a far cry from the feasts so commonly held on Asgard, but also far better than what he'd had to endure in Jotunheim. Resignedly, and also strangely nervously, Loki joined them.

"There you are!" Darcy said, smiling at him. "You look good."

Loki gave no response to this patronizing comment, sitting down beside her silently.

There was an awkward pause. Erik glowered at Loki but said nothing; Jane seemed like she didn't even notice him, or anything else around her.

Resigned to the inevitable, Loki took a plate and helped himself.

"Um…Are you gonna eat, like, ten tons of food in one sitting?" Darcy asked.

Loki chuckled. "I am not my brother," he said. "My brother is a warrior and a show-off, and does everything in excess."

"Aren't you a warrior?" Darcy asked, sounding confused.

"Nay," Loki said; "I am a spellcaster - I have much more appreciation for subtlety."

"A spellcaster?" Darcy asked. "You mean you can do magic?"

"Yes," Loki said, raising an eyebrow at her. "Why does that surprise you? By the standards of your kind, Mjolnir is magical, yes?"

"'Magic is just science we don't understand yet'," Jane quoted softly, sounding distant.

Everyone turned to her.

"Thor said that on Asgard, science and magic are one and the same," Jane added, even more softly and sadly, still not looking up at any of them.

Loki sighed. "For what it's worth, my brother did care for you - probably still does," he told Jane. "I know he would return to you if he could." He smiled slightly. "He's probably watching you from the throne of Asgard right now…praying that I don't harm you."

Jane gave something between a sob and a laugh, and Loki felt oddly better. He turned to Erik, whose glare had grown lethal, and added firmly, "Though he need not worry; I mean you no harm."

Erik said nothing.

Loki met Erik's eyes for a few moments, then turned to his food when it was clear Erik wasn't going respond. He sighed resignedly, picked up his fork, and took a bite of eggs.