It's been a week since the tense incident at Stark Tower. Agent Williams escorted me out of the building and I have not seen Thor since, or any of the other Asgardians.
I have been thinking about it a lot. Asgard is destroyed and the remaining people of that world all came here. Tony Stark gave them food and shelter, so to speak. Thor, Loki, Heimdall and Lady Eir live at Stark Tower, the rest of them somewhere else in the city. For some reason Loki is treated differently from the others. For him to be released from somewhere, he had to be locked up first, right? But why would he be locked up? What did he do?
Of course I read about him in the mythology books, according to those stories he has magical abilities. He is the God of Lies, the Trickster, the God of Mischief, all names he got because of his actions. And now his actions caused him to be locked up and then get released on the condition of letting Tony Stark inject him with something. I just couldn't wrap my head around it. And on top of that, I actually feel sorry for Loki. I'm sure there was no need to humiliate him like that.
Lisa joins me in the small corridor in the back of the coffee shop and waves her hand before my face. "Come on, honey. Snap out of it. You have been solemn all week. You don't want to talk about it, that's fine. But we've got a room full of guests. And they want coffee. I'm sorry, but you just have to fake a smile for the moment."
"I know, I know. I'm sorry. I just got lost in thoughts."
Lisa squeezes my hand and then shoves me through the door to the coffeeshop. "Go get 'm, girl!"
I pull my shoulders back and fake a smile. And you know what, faking a smile tricks your body into thinking you're really happy. So after a little while I don't have to fake it anymore. After all, I really like my job. And I'm working a lot this week, as Thomas is on vacation and I'm filling in for him.
I'm carrying a tray full of chocolate cake over to a table when a jingling sound announces the presence of another customer. It's Chad. He has slung a camera bag over his shoulder and one of his cameras is hanging around his neck. He waits by the counter for me to finish my chocolate errand.
"Hello beautiful!" he says, when I'm walking over to the counter. Then he takes his camera and takes a picture.
"Please don't do that. I'm working."
"Ah come on, Ylva. Who doesn't love a picture of a beautiful girl?"
"What are you doing here, Chad?" I put down the tray and sigh. I'm getting tired of him showing up here to see me.
"Well, I came to tell you about my new job. I'm a real photographer now! Freelance. I've already sold some pics to magazines. Cool, huh?"
I hold back the urge to roll my eyes at him. When we were dating, Chad was always talking about becoming a photographer for a living. It's great he has pulled it off, but what does it have to do with me? We've broken up, surely he can live his life without me.
"Really cool. But what are you doing here? I don't think you can photograph anything interesting in a coffee shop."
"Well... two reasons. One, I wanted to ask if you were free tonight. Maybe we can get something to eat, grab a movie?"
"And two?" I ask, not reacting to his first question on purpose.
"And two... I hear that Thor is coming here every now and then. I even heard you know him. Maybe you can introduce us? A few pictures of him would really pay the bills this month."
"Oh my god. So you're a paparazzi for real now?" There's no holding back to the eye roll this time. "What made you think I would do that?" I tell him in a firm voice. "We broke up, Chad, you cheated on me. No, I don't want to go out with you again. You cheated! And I'm certainly not gonna let you bother our guests!"
Okay, I have to calm down. We're attracting way to much attention here. My voice was louder than I wanted it to be. I can see people looking at us, we're making a scene. "Please leave, Chad." I tell him as calm as possible.
"Ah, Ylva, come on! Don't be like that!" Chad tries to take my hand, but I pull away from him.
"Please leave."
He frowns at me before he turns around quickly and heads for the door. He pulls it open and then turns to me again. "It's a free world, Ylva. I'll get those pictures anyway, with or without your help!"
And with that last remark he walks out the door, only to bump into the tall figure of Loki, who was just coming in through the door that Chad held open. The prince doesn't move an inch, which forces Chad to go around him, muttering something intelligible.
Chad leaves and I rush over to the door. "I'm sorry. That was..."
"A nuisance." Loki answers with a blank face.
"I guess you could say that." I reply with a small chuckle.
I'm actually relieved to see him here. I didn't think he would want anything to do with me after I was a witness to whatever it was Tony Stark did to him. I don't know Loki that well, if I know him at all, but I do know he is proud. You can tell that by just looking at him.
"Come on in. Can I get you anything?" I ask, now smiling for real.
"I only came to pick up some books."
"Oh, alright. Well, we've got plenty of books. You know where to find them." I try to hide the disappointment in my voice while giving him more room to come in.
Loki walks over to the bookstore and I see how he is welcomed by uncle Lars, who must have been expecting him. They talk for about fifteen minutes and then Loki returns to the coffee shop, a book in his hand. He takes a seat in the back - well away from other guests - and starts to read.
He is in Emilia's section, but when she spots him, she walks over to me and Lisa. "I'm not serving that guy. He is a jerk and he gives me the creeps."
"I'm sure he just had a bad day when you first met him," Lisa tries to soothe her. "He's just another customer. True, some are nicer than the others, but we serve them all coffee."
"Fine..." Emilia rolls her eyes and then turns around to walk over to Loki.
He is looking down at his book, ignoring all that happens around him. Emilia suddenly stops about six feet away from him, turns around and comes back to the counter. She looks a bit rattled. "Nope. Can't do it." she declares. "You do it, Ylva. Please?" She really means it, looking at me with a pleading look.
"Oh, fine. Whatever. I don't see what the problem is."
I take up my notepad and walk over to where Loki's sitting. When I get to about the same point where Emilia stopped, I suddenly feel the urge to turn back too. I don't know exactly what it is, but something makes me want to turn back the other way. I even have to force myself to take another step, a hot tingle running up and down my spine. And then I take another step and the feeling is gone. Loki notices me standing next to his chair and looks up. I get the impression he is surprised, but I wouldn't know why.
"Hello!" I say in a cheerful voice. "Since you are staying here a little longer, can I get you anything? Tea, coffee? A muffin? Our carrot cake is really good too!"
Loki doesn't say anything and just looks at me curiously, almost studying me. I feel a bit silly, standing there with my notepad ready.
"Look... uhm... about last week..." I say softly, breaking the silence after a moment. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to intrude on personal affairs. I just... Well, I had not expected to be there at all, and then mr. Stark showed up and..." My voice trails off, I really don't know what else to say.
Loki keeps looking at me, his face unreadable. He sucks in his lower lip, biting it and then suddenly decides to speak. "Tea, please. Earl grey."
I take it as apology accepted. When I return with his tea I still feel a little tingle in my spine when I come near his seat, but just like that it's gone again.
That week, Loki becomes a regular patron of Coffee & Books. He comes in every day, sometimes he gets a new book from my uncle, sometimes he brings his own. He always wants tea - Earl Grey - so at the end of the week I don't even ask him what he wants, I just bring him his tea as soon as he sits down. He always takes a seat in the back of the room and somehow nobody comes near. No matter how many guests there are in the coffee shop, there always seems to be a clear circle around Loki.
We have our own little routine and I kind of like it. After a day or two, he also starts talking to me. Just little things, mostly answering to my remarks about his book, the weather, other guests. I like talking to him, he gives me the feeling he really listens to what I say, no matter how trivial it is.
It's a quiet morning at the coffee shop, so when I bring Loki his tea, I perch down on the armrest of our old Chesterfield couch. He is dressed sharp like always, this time black trousers combined with a dark green shirt, thin black tie and black patent leather shoes. His jacket is hanging from his chair. He always wears black and green, I guess they're his go to colours. It looks good on him, especially with the tailor made suits he wears.
"I read a big piece about you and Thor in the New York Times yesterday. I didn't know you got interviewed?"
Loki gives a small sigh before he answers. "Tony Stark's idea. He thinks the people should know more about us, about Asgard, now we're staying on Earth for a longer period of time."
"Ah... so it's to charm the people? Well, I guess you guys are technically aliens, real out-of-space aliens. Maybe it's not such a bad idea to let the people get to know you a little better."
"Maybe," Loki says. "Or maybe it just draws unwanted attention."
I look around me. Just like every other day Loki visits, the other guests give him a wide berth. "Yeah, I can see you don't like attention," I say with a wave of my hand at the room around us.
Loki shrugs with a little smile on his face. "I like my peace."
I notice a little sparkle in his eyes and then it dawns on me. I lower myself onto the couch, lean over the coffee table between us and hiss at him: "You did this, right? You use magic to keep the other people at a distance."
For a second Loki looks caught, but then he gives me a smirk and winks at me. "Shhh... our little secret."
I just stare at him, my eyes big. At first I am a little mad, because he is purposely keeping people at bay, just for his own amusement. But then I start laughing and I can't stop. It is too ridiculous: magic in New York! I actually double over on the couch, tears in my eyes.
Loki just looks at me with a little smile on his face, waiting until I recover myself. I wipe the tears from my eyes, still chuckling. "I guess I should have known. Loki the Trickster. What else can you do? Make this table disappear? Transform me into a mouse? Oh! Can you make this carpet fly?!"
I'm still full of merriment, but Loki's smile disappears. He looks away from me and his right hand touches a metal bracelet on his left wrist. He wears one on both of his wrists. I've seen glimpses of them before, but they're mostly covered up by the sleeves of his shirt. I give them a better look. They're no fashion accessory, they remind me more of handcuffs. I think back to the scene at Stark Tower last week.
"Are those made by Stark?" I ask, nodding at the bracelet he is turning slowly around his wrist.
He doesn't answer, purposely looking away from me, which I take for a yes. Why is Loki wearing metal bracelets made by Tony Stark? By the looks of Loki, he doesn't like them very much. His lips form a thin line and there's a frown on his face. Thinking back to Tony and the big syringe, my stomach clenches. I feel the sudden urge to comfort Loki, who is clearly not feeling too good about those bracelets, my spine getting all warm. I get up, walk around the coffee table and take a seat on the edge of it. I'm now right in front of Loki, who still has his gaze fixed to a point somewhere behind me.
"What do they do?" My voice is barely more than a whisper, but I know he can hear me. When he doesn't react, I reach out my hand, meaning to touch his. But he moves his hand away from mine, shifting in his seat. "Loki, what do they do? Can you please tell me?"
"Go back to work, Ylva." Loki says suddenly, getting up from his chair. He takes his jacket and is out of the door in a few long strides, leaving me speechless.
Author's notes:
So, what do you think up until now? I'd love to hear from you! I made a bookcover with the picture that inspired me to write a story about Loki living a 'normal' life in New York. But of course this is a Marvel universe, so normal is not quite the right description. :-)