#emsggbng

Summer break's almost over and I still wasn't a step closer to my goal weight.

My increasing appetite has been uncontrollable lately.

I was no better than Katniss at finding food in this bloody house.

A norse god has fallen out of nowhere.

Apparently, he was more cocky than I'd thought he'd be.

A few days ago, he force-fed me my mother's questionable pudding. I threw up in the couch (and made him clean the mess afterwards).

I still couldn't believe I agreed to my mom's request to go with her.

I also couldn't believe I agreed to wearing something hideous right now.

Yellow was definitely not my color. Ruffles were definitely not my thing too.

I can feel the dress rip out on me any moment now.

  I grumbled as a horrible reflection of me in a yellow ruffled dress send death glares not only to myself but to my poor choices in decision as well. I've gone from having an awfully shitty week down to a oh-god-what-am-I-even-doing shitty week. The fact that my mother had unknowingly came back without a week's worth of notice beforehand did not help with the situation at all. I had a hard time juggling my time, attention, and the number of fucks I gave to both my mom and my uninvited house guest who happens to be accompanying me right now.

    “Oh darling, you look gorgeous. Stop making that face, you’ll only give yourself some wrinkles if you do.” Mom told me as she rested both of her freshly manicured hands on my shoulders. “Now, we wouldn’t want those, would we ?” She continued.

  I groaned. “Ugh, you’re making me question my relation to you and the kind of dictionary you use to define the word, ‘gorgeous’.”

  “It’s a mutual feeling honey, I wonder if the hospital even gave me the right baby to raise with.”

    “Mom !”

  She laughed in a way that made me remember that she still was, indeed my mother. Vintage looking or not. “Just kidding honey.” She bundled and fixed my hair to let it fall down on one side of my face. I smiled and examined myself once again on the mirror. Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all, I could at least just do this for Mom.

    “I’m gonna let this one slide. Just this once. For you and Aunt Glenda.” I told her as I tilted my head to one side and lifted my arm to see if my figure looked okay without anything to cover it.

  I was wrong.

  The voracious summer treats had proved to be a hella lot worse than what I’d thought they’d be.

    “You’re going to look stunning when you walk down the aisle, hun.” She cooed.

    “Yeah right, and my walk of shame’s going to be witnessed by everyone. Thanks.”

    She ignored me and continued to fix the bride’s maid dress on me. God, I hated weddings.

  “I’ll be right back darling, I’ll just uh, go ask the lady outside for a size that’s more breathable  for you to wear.” She patted my arm before heading out of the fitting room cubicle.

  Did my mom just tell me that I was really fat in a euphemistic way ? My very own mother who possessed the same blood(questionable) and flesh as me ?

  It seemed that way.

  I huffed out another groan as the curtain of the cubicle was pushed through one side, revealing a raven-haired and voluptuous woman. Grinning in amusement, she arched one perfectly-shaped brow up.

  My eyes widened upon seeing her and I quickly threw arms to cover the slightly low cleavage that the dress had.

  “What the hell. You’re not supposed to be in here. Can’t you read ? This is supposed to be the women’s dressing room !” I  hissed at her.

    She crossed her arms over her chest. “That would seem to be likely true if it weren’t for the fact that I possesses the right physical qualities of a typical female body that you midgardian women seem to be so bothered and envious of.”

    I rolled my eyes but never forgot to continue covering myself up. “I’m not up for your games today, Loki.”

    She smiled mischievously, revealing those oh-so-perfectly white teeth behind her blood-red lips.

  “But you look like you could use some.” Female!Loki shifted and crossed her arms over her large chest. Clearly,  Loki was enjoying this.  “Ugh, what is it with you midgardians and tiny spaces.” He, no she, groaned in disgust.

    “It’s called industrialization and commercialism. Space is just as valuable as time here in Earth. ” I told him. “Now will please get out. I’m not supposed to be talking to you right now since you I’m mad at you. You must be forgetting about the fact that you lied to me.”

    She continued to grin wider. “Did I ? I never remembered doing such a thing.”

    “Says the patron of lies and mischief.”

  “If you thought about it more thoroughly midgardian, I did, for a fact, tell you that I was mortal but you never asked if I still possessed my abilities.” She explained but I still wasn’t buying that shit.

    I turned to face her and felt my blood boil up with anger. “So now, it’s my fault ? You could have saved me a lot of trouble if you said so earlier. I wouldn’t have to race my ass everyday to hide you !” I nearly shouted at her when I remembered that we weren’t the only ones present in the dressing rooms. I remembered about the vulnerability of Loki’s situation and of the information I was about to leak out and shout. I knew that for a fact, what I was doing was wrong in so many ways, but I just couldn’t stand the idea of handing him in, yet. And I couldn’t explain why.

    “It exhausts me.” She said calmly.

    I flinched in my place and blinked at her. “I’m sorry, what did you say ?”

    “As a mortal, I can only put up with the guise for so long. It wears me out.”

    I didn’t know what to say so I only took a step back and cleared my throat.

    “You could have said so again earlier.” Was all I could manage to say.

    She tilted to her head to one side, exposing the same pale flesh that Loki had even when he was still male. I should probably take him on more strolls, then again, the safety issue still lies on top all of it.

  “If you hadn’t bothered to keep striking me with those accusations of yours before everything else, I would have given you the privilege to know more of what I should say to you beforehand.” She told me in voice that was way far from Loki’s but still possessed the mocking accent he always had in him.

    I swallowed again, feeling undeniably foolish and selfish for my big mouth. I’ll remember to bring some handy duct tape next time. “I’m sorry… I didn’t know.”

    Loki raised again her (I’m slowly getting used to it) perfectly shaped brow at me again. She was about to give me her reply when mom popped up unexpectedly behind her. And that gave me a mini heart attack. Surprises—for a fact, were mother’s forte, apparently.

    “Oh hello there, Loqua.” My mother cooed to Loki. I’d introduced the name to my mom when I thought that I just couldn’t leave Loki alone at home. God knows what he could do in minutes, what more in hours ? And besides, mom and I were going to be out for the whole day. Yikes ! It was also before the introduction I learnt about Loki’s existing abilities, I was so fed up that I became angry at him for not telling me but now I felt awfully guilty about it. As I’ve observed, Loki wasn’t really keen on expressing others the real reasons or explanations for his actions.

    Upon hearing my mother’s voice, Loki gave me one last look before turning his attention to my mother. Mom insisted that I should go bring Loki with me today and it was the perfect reason to keep an eye on him too, except for times such as these when I was showing more skin than what  I was supposed to.

    Loki smiled sweetly. Mom liked him in an instant back home, whether it had been because of how Loki looked (he totally nailed the style) or of the thought that her daughter finally had a stylish friend to go with that wasn’t male (if only she knew), I didn’t know. But all the same,  my mother instantly lit up when she saw Female!Loki smile at her.

    “Hello Mrs. Page, pardon me for my intrusion, I was just about to end my conversation with Patricia and was just about to lea—” Mom immediately cut her off by waving a hand at her.

    “Oh darling, you don’t have to, I’m glad that you’ve decided to accompany us today. Tell me, doesn’t she look fabulous right now ? And no, I’m not letting you call me that again. Just call me Diana please.”

    You could see the admiration shimmer in my mother’s eyes. Loki played his part well. Which reminded me of Tom and thought how cool would it be if they both met.  Argh. My frustrations were working their way up to me again. I haven’t read any fanfiction lately so that must be it. I just couldn’t stand the thought of reading them when you had the real deal with you. It kinda gives me the weird vibes when I do like when I tried it once and it had been a Frost/Iron fic and oh man, the look on Loki’s face was priceless when I refused to meet his gaze afterwards. The smutty scenes kept on replaying in my head. It was hard not laugh and blush at him at the same time. I never realized that fanfictions could be this powerful.

  Still, the thought tempted me.

  I must confess. I was still a Hiddlestoner at heart, and no matter how much I tried to deny it, annoying as Loki was, his presence would often make my heart leap in joy when I wasn’t irritated at him. It was the closest thing I could ever get to being near Tom, and the fact the it was really Loki whom I was living with right now, made it better. This was my guilty pleasure.

    I was snapped back to reality when I heard Loki talk again.

    “How very generous of you, Diana.” Loki told mom in the sweetest manner any girl with a good set of acting skill would. “Though as much as I appreciate the look of Patricia right now, I think the colors, Green and Black, would suit her all the better.” Loki continued. And I gave a light chuckle. No matter what, Loki wasn’t just about to give up on the thought that all things around him should have the color scheme of Green and Black , and it definitely showed. Today, Loki wore loose green tank top that had been stylishly and loosely tucked in her skinny, tight, and form-fitting dark jeans. To top it all off, Loki wore heeled boots that stopped midway through her calf and a long scarf with black and green stripes that was wrapped around her neck. I had to admit. I was envious of the guise Loki took and as a woman, I felt intimidated even with the thought that it was still a man beneath all that guise. Dang it. My thoughts were drifting far again, wondering how Loki felt being inside a female body. Was this his kink ?

    Mom crossed her arms over her chest and pursed her lips in deep thought as she examined me  to which I only gave her a light shrug. She raised her index finger and waggled it at Loki, as if to emphasize her that Loki had a point. “You’re right. You have a point there. Black would suit Patricia more, give her hips more form, but…” Mom stopped and turned her attention back to Loki. “The fact that it’s a wedding that we’re going to attend, gives us the inability to choose the style and type we would wear.”

  Loki frowned, looking really disappointed at my mother’s words. It was true anyways, when you were an attendee, aside from being the guest, and that you had an important role to play to, you had no power or say on what the bride chooses to let her maids wear. If you thought about it, this was an unending cycle of torture for women. Bride lets her maids wear something hideous to make her stand out, maids hate her for that, so when it’s the maid’s turn to be the bride, she could finally plot her revenge by doing the same. It was a vicious cycle where a lot of drama is usually found. I mean, who would want her maids to outshine her on her special day ? I don’t.  

  “I see.” Loki nods but I knew that we wasn’t feeling rather joyous about how weddings on Earth worked. The real question lies on whether Loki has been able to attend a wedding while he was still on Asgard. I doubted that. Loki seemed to be not fond of crowded functions unless he was the main highlight.Or better yet, he be the bride and let him have his undivided attention from his speculators.

    He’s a full-scale diva.

    Oh Tony, you wouldn’t believe what I’m seeing right now.

    Mom pats Female!Loki on the shoulder once she noticed the disappointment showing on her face. “Don’t worry darling, we’ll all have our time to shine. Who knows, you’ll probably get a good catch and we’ll be the ones seeing you looking beautiful on the aisle.” She comforted Loki.

    The look on Loki’s face was priceless. He made a face of disgust at the very idea of wearing a bridal gown. He recoiled away from my mother’s touch and I just lost it.

  I laughed.

  Hard.

  I felt tears welling up in my eyes as I placed a hand on the cubicle’s wall for support.

    “Tricia !” Mom called out. “How very rude of you.” She accused.

    I threw my head back to laugh once more. Loki in a bridal gown ? Priceless ! I wondered who the lucky guy might be. And then flashes of vivid imagination filled my mind, Loki dancing in that sheen and ridiculously white bridal gown(take note, it was a strapless bridal gown) with her newly-wed husband, Loki scooping up some cake and feeding some of it sweetly to his new husband, and last but not the least, Loki being carried bridal-style by his husband as they leave the reception. God the idea was hilarious.

    Feeling the last wave of laughs die out, I raised my head up to look at them once again. Mom looked unhappy whereas Loki only raised her brow again. Clearly he thought that I was going mad. And I was.

    “Are you finished ?” My mom said icily while tapping her shoe on the floor.

    “I am. Thank you.” I told her as I wiped the tears in my eyes but in general truth, I was still stifling a laugh. Loki continued to eye me with an odd look.

  A tap on the cubicle caught all of our attention. The lady in charge for handling all the gowns at the shop cleared her throat.

“Hello Mrs. Page, here is the size  you asked for.” The sophisticated-looking lady with a blonde hair fixed into a bun told my mother as she handed the exact same replica of the dress I wore but was a little bit wider, all the while eyeing me while she handed it over.

  What. I eyed her back while I placed my hands on my non-existent waist and she excused herself after that.

  Mom handed(more like shoved) me the dress and I held to it a while longer before eyeing them both, most especially Loki who looked eager enough to watch me change. Uhuh. Like that was going to happen.

  Mom shrugged and left, leaving Loki and me alone inside the cubicle.

  “Aren’t you suppose to leave now ?” I told her as I hanged the dress on the wall.

  Loki chuckled. “We’re both women, there’s nothing to fret about.”

  “Unless you want this hanger shoved up into your ass, you better consider leaving now.” I told him with my brow raised to it’s maximum level.

  She flailed her arms in defeat and stepped out. I gave out a sigh of relief before spreading the dressing room’s curtain to isolate me once more again.

  I eyed my reflection before reaching out to my back to unzip the dress all the way down. Thank God I was still able to do that.

  When I was only left with nothing but my underwear on, I grabbed for the newer dress and looked for the its brand label and size.

  I gasped.

  Holy shit. Size 10.

  Well I think I might have to renew my membership to the gym again.

   -------------------------------------------------------------

“You’re low in spirits today.” Female!Loki told me as we strolled along the streets, eating vanilla ice-creams as we did. It was already late in the afternoon when we were finished with the whole dress drama. I fixed the glasses resting on my nose’s bridge and sighed. I licked my ice-cream before responding to him.

    Shrugging, I responded, “I went up two sizes.” And waited for her reaction. Loki squinted her eyes at me in confusion before licking her ice-cream in deep thought. And no, I will not tell you how that made me feel… (okay fine. I got turned on a bit. A BIT.). Loki, even as a female was still undeniably hot as she licked her third helping of the vanilla ice-cream. It was like having man-crush, only, like… it’s a female crush. Well, I have no other way of expressing it in words so yeah, there you have it. Apparently, Loki enjoyed the cold treat. Was this the effect of being a (former) frost giant ?

    “So, what are you trying to imply then ?” She asked me as she licked the ice-cream again.

    I stopped walking and looked at him seriously. He stopped all the same as he watched me eye him. “It means that I haven’t lost any weight. I just made it worse. Do you know how hard it is to lose weight ? Do you ?” I asked him like I was about to lose my groove.

    Loki shrugged. “No.” Lick. “Though I don’t understand why you female midgardians care so much about your sizes and the way you look.” Lick. “In the end, it all boils down to physical images no matter how much you try to see into it.”

  I pursed my lips and thought about it for a moment. He had a point though but I was going to start my senior year soon. As far as I knew, it was the closest thing to surviving the whole high-school drama if I kept myself in check with the norm, and the body size was a part of that too.

  “Easy for you to say. You have women waiting for you back home, eager to get down and dirty with you.” I told him as I licked my first helping of the cold treat, nearly finishing it as I did.

    “Like I said. It’s all about the physical aspects of the body we’re dealing with. I do not choose the women I bed through their physical sizes.”Lick. “As I’ve noticed, the midgardian sense of aesthetic beauty is highly appalling.”Lick. “ You make money through creating ideals for beauty and for what it’s worth, you are all blinded by your jealously that you forget what genuine beauty is really all about.” She finished as she ate the entire cone of what was left of the treat. “Ah, what a delicacy that was.” She continued by licking the remnants of the vanilla cream on her fingers.

  I did the same and finished my own. “And that is ?” I asked with piqued interest.

  Loki turned to me and smiled mischievously, flashing me, yet again, her perfect and white teeth through those blood-red lips. “It’s a secret.” 

  I groaned. “Oh come on. Tell me.”

  She clicked her tongue as she pointed out to another Ice-cream stall ahead of us. I groaned. Loki’s tongue could have caught a Gangrene any moment now, but he didn’t and I sighed in disappointment.

  We walked past a crowd of hipsters before reaching the stall. The male clerk with a horrible goatee kept his gaze on Loki (well on her jugs, actually) all the while I ordered. I cleared my throat to get his attention.

  “Will that be all ?” The clerk told me with a hint of an annoyance as he turned to face me. Really ?

  “Yes.” I told him through my gritted teeth. He told me the due total after that and I handed the money sloppily to him. He gave me my change back but in a manner that made me want to rip out his goatee and stick it to his forehead with a strong adhesive glue.

    “Here. Rocky road.” He said as he handed the poorly scooped ice-cream to me. I let out a low grunt. “And Vanilla Mint for the pretty lady.” He told Loki sweetly as he handed her a large scoop of ice-cream on a cone. What the hell ?Scratch the previous thought. I’ll rip out his goatee then feed it to him along with the shitty ice-cream he gave me.

  He winked at Loki before mouthing, ‘call me´ as he handed her a tissue with numbers scribbled onto it. Loki took the tissue and smirked at him. As Loki smirked, I already knew the thoughts running through his head. If it weren’t for Loki being mortal, Mr. Disgusting-Goatee would be on his knees, begging for his life to be spared right now.

  Much to my irritation, I decided to grab Loki by the arm and hauled him away from the stall before anything else happened. We stopped halfway when a familiar good-looking guy stood in our path. He smiled at us and I felt my knees wobble so I held onto Female!Loki’s arm for support. The good-looking stranger looked like an All-American cutie with his toothy smile that made me remember—

    Fuck.

    It’s Jules.

    My fifth-grade crush.

  Oh wow. This was the guy I cried over for Valentines day in fifth grade. I had my mother teach me how to make a chocolate and was already prepared to give it to him when I found out that someone had stolen it from my bag. I wasn’t able to give him anything that woeful day nor was I able to speak a single word to him after we all separated our ways. I was a loser and couldn’t utter a single word to my crushes before without fucking it up with some unexpected moves, like sneezing in front of them or choking my own saliva. My own saliva, for crying out loud ! My own saliva even had to revolt against me from having a normal relationship with a guy. Luckily though, I met Jake, and Jake, was well, uh, the closest thing I could have as a boy-friend. Like a guy friend. He’s the only human possessing a male’s family jewels that I’ve ever come in close contact with. Though the whole fifth grade chocolate drama wasn’t really the most pleasant of my memories but it did teach me to place knives and other sharp objects in my bag the next time I decided to bring chocolate to school. And hot damn though, the years have really caught up to Jules well. Bravo, puberty did him good.

    “Hi.” He said and I stood there, frozen, unable to form a logical reply for a while. “Katrina right ?”

    “Hello.” I said stiffly. I felt a bead sweat forming on my temple. “Actually it’s Patricia.” I told him quickly while I was still in a daze with his cerulean eyes.

  “Right. Sorry ‘bout that.” He chuckled right after apologizing and I felt my heart do a cartwheel inside my chest. At least he remembered a syllable from my name right ? That was probably a good sign.

  “So how are you ?” He asked me as his eyes ran past me then to Loki’s chest where it stayed glued there to her for a long time. Apparently, Loki wasn’t bothered even a bit when he did that.

  I let go of Loki and shoved my hands into the pockets of my jeans.

  Oh God. This could be my shot art finally having a boyfriend. Yay me !

  I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I, uh, uhm, okay…I guess. How about yo—”

  “And who’s this friend of yours ?” Jules interrupted before I could finish as he flashed that bedazzling smile at Loki.

  “Uhm yeah.” I gestured my hand to Loki then to Jules. “So uh, this is Lok— Loqua. A close friend of mine. Loqua, this is Jules…” The guy I fancied so much in fifth grade. “… an old friend.” I finished as I introduced them both.

  Loki, on the other hand didn’t look as joyous as Jules had.

  “Pleased to meet you.” Jules told Loki as he handed his hand for a shake. Loki’s lips thinned into a straight line before stretching wide into a sweet smile that looked forced to me but I doubt Jules had noticed it. He was too blinded by her boobs— err — smile, that he could care any less about it.

  Loki shook his hand and it took quite a while before Jules let go.

    “Ditto.”Loki replied.

    I watched Jules’ face light up with interest. I sighed. I mean, who wouldn’t be ? Loki’s guise was beautiful and he too had a body women would kill for while I, on the other hand, looked plain and geeky beside Loki’s beautiful guise. Especially now that I had my glasses on. Damn my astigmatism.

    Jules smiled his toothy smile but not to me but to Loki instead. “I know that we’ve just met but I was wondering if you’re free on Frida—”

  I gasped.

  What happened was an instant blur as Mint-tinted Vanilla Ice-cream came dripping down from Jules’ handsome face. Jules was able to close his eyes in time for the impact but Loki was quick enough to get my ice-cream and aim it for Jules’ face where it made some of the ice-cream get inside of Jules’ nose. It was really quite a horrid sight. Some of the ice-cream were able to get through Jules’ blonde and tousled hair. All in general truth, I could only do nothing but cover my mouth in surprise and laugh out loud before cupping it again.

  Jules’ eyes blinked open and they went big as saucers as he looked at Female!Loki with visible confusion, his mouth hanged open while he raised his hands, as if asking for an explanation. The scene was so unusual that people all around us gasped in surprise as well. Some even had their smart phones up to take a shot of the event. Straight to Youtube I bet.

  “Pardon me but my schedule’s not open for mewling pricks like you.” Loki told Jules’ with a grin and an attitude before grabbing me by the arm, and this time, it had been Loki who was hauling me away.

  Apart loud name-call of ‘bitch’ that I heard from my former crush as Loki and I walked past the crowd building up, all I was able to make out after the scene were the giggles and stifled laughter that the crowd held.

  As we left the scene, my mouth was still left to hang in awe as I watched Loki haul me away quickly. And when we’ve both reached a reasonable distance away from the mortifying scene, Loki slowed us both into a normal-paced walk before letting my arm go. We stopped at a nearby alley that was void of any people apart from us. Right then and there, before my very eyes, Loki shifted and returned to his normal appearance. And no, as much as I’d like to tempt you all to the idea of him looking naked, Loki wasn’t a werewolf so he still had his clothes on, and with that, he was now wearing the male version of his outfit earlier but with a leather jacket to cover his top. When he was aware that I’d been watching him the entire time he transformed, he only raised his dark brow at me. His typical and signature move when things were a mess.

  And at most times, those mess were caused by none other than (drum roll please), him.

  I watched the sun set over the sky and we both decided to leave the alley and continue the path we’d taken earlier so that we’d still be able to make it home, early. Still in wonder with what just had happened, I decided to ask him why he’d done such a thing to cause a scene.

  I watched him grin but didn’t face me when he did. “I believe you asked me what was genuine beauty earlier, right ?”

  I nodded.

  He stopped midway and I followed suit. He turned to face me before grinning wider.

  “Well, that man—”

  “Jules.” I interrupted.

  Loki ignored my interruption and continued. “— was a clear example of a person who’s truly  clueless about what genuine beauty is.”

    As a response, my brows only met in confusion. I wasn’t really following what he was saying.

    He tilted his head onto one side before chuckling.

    “You still don’t get do you ?”

    “Nope.” I said sternly.

    Grinning, he said, “Well it seems like I only possess the privilege and ability to see yours.”

    He laughed and continued to walk on, leaving me with nothing but more questions gushing and running through my mind like a flowing river.

    The only thing that bothered me was,

With a grunt, Romanoff had sent Stark flying with an uppercut, sending him flat on his bum. Stark had groaned in pain while Natasha smirked in feat. From Natasha’s vantage, a hand-to-hand combat with Stark was nothing more than her playing with her toys. Or even less, as long as Stark kept his tricks to himself.

"Remind me not to mess with redheads and PMS next time." Tony gave a small wheeze of air as Clint helped him up. As much as Clint had rooted for his co-assasin, there was still some sort of unspoken brotherhood bond to follow. No matter how much of an ass Tony was. Scratch that. Tony was never not an ass. Period.

"Well, you had it coming, you know." Clint said as he watched Tony brush off the remaining dust particles from his shoulder. Judging from Tony’s personal choice of top wear, Clint wondered if the man had other casual wear in his closet aside from the obvious set of Black Sabbath novelty shirts.

Tony only gave him a toothy grin that Clint had failed to understand why. “Oh yes, but take a look at that as—”

"Watch it Stark." Natasha warned before giving him a glare that could pierce through any metallic object and cut through any anatomical part a male wouldn’t be too fond of losing anytime.

"Best to put it in mind Mr. Stark." Coulson paused to receive an incoming message from his earpiece. He nodded—-particularly to no one and mumbled something along the words of ‘bird’ and ‘nest’.

He continued. “Ms. Potts wouldn’t like seeing you in the Medbay for the next couple of weeks.” Coulson told him in a matter-of-fact tone.

Tony clicked his tongue at him. The kind of which a billionaire would make. “Just don’t tell Peps and we’re all going to be fine.” He told him before shrugging Coulson’s warning off. He then started making his way to the exit, limping on the way as he did. Clint gave a chuckle whilst Nat gave a sneer before wiping the sweat already trickling down her temples.

"What is it that you weren’t going to tell me ?" An all too familiar voice had called out, one Tony would recognize all too well. He shuddered and only hoped there was a way out to this. There has to be, at least a possible one. Could he sweet talk his way out of this then ? It couldn’t hurt to try.

"Peps! Sugar, I didn’t know you were coming." Tony wrapped his arms around Pepper who looked less joyous and amused at the moment. Pepper wasn’t much of a giddy girl, nor did she have a cold exterior like Romanoff usually had, you could say that Pepper was somewhere in between. Heightened moments such as ones caused by Tony’s atypical choices in decision making only caused her show the vulnerability lurking within her. That is if Tony would only behave, and judging by the way Tony lived, Pepper can only hope he would.

She then only gave him a stern face before telling him her concern. “I came to know if it’s true.”

Tony’s eyes went wide. Was there a scandal he wasn’t aware of ? A woman he might have knocked up without his prior knowledge ? An unknown kid of his left alone to starve in the streets ? What ? These were all possible. Anything was but Stark’s honorable reputation.

“What is ?”

The woman only crossed her arms in response, but in a classy way. Tony loved that about her . Everything was classy. Even the kind of lingerie she wore at night. Oh how he love to te—

“You went dimension hopping.” She said icily. “Without telling me.”

Tony’s shoulders sagged in relief. The rest of Avengers who were present there did the same. Pepper noticed and wondered if they’d been expecting a matter worse than what she’d brought. What could be more worse than knowing your boyfriend has gone to another dimension without you knowing a single thing about it ? It worse than finding out that he has cheated on you ! With the recent events that have transpired between the both of them, Pepper just couldn’t bear to see Tony harmed again, moreover, almost lose him at that too.

Tony could see Pepper’s face soften and this made his insides stir in guilt. Pepper was best thing that has ever happened to him. There was no way he was going to let go of her. Ever. He’ll die trying before that’ll happen. And he wasn’t afraid to do so.

He took a step forward and closed the distance between them a bit. Pepper felt the rough texture of Tony’s hand as he encased hers in his. Tony smiled. A genuine one.

“I know. And I’m a total ass for not telling you beforehand.” Tony rubber her hand, trying to soothe her worries even if it was only for a while.

Pepper eyed him warily but in a way that still showed her longing affection for him.

“You should be. Always giving me headaches and—-”

Tony cut her off by kissing her quick, right on the spot. “Yeah. I should probably buy you more Tylenol then.”

Pepper felt her mood lighten up a little and gave him a light chuckle. “In case you were forgetting, I could beat you in buying more, you know.” Masking the fact that she indeed could. After all, she was the CEO of the company of the guy she was dating. She could only but laugh at the thought. “Besides I don’t think they’ll have anything for a migraine caused by Tony Stark. I doubt it.”

Tony raised a brow and grinned at her choice of a comeback. Damn. To hell with trying. He’ll do anything.

“Is this your way of telling me I should do pharmaceuticals now ?”

This time, it was Pepper’s turn to arch her brow at him. “What’s next after that ? Stark Dietary Needs ? Stark Clothing Couture ? ”

Tony thought about it for a moment before earning a stomp on the foot from his feisty lover.

“Hey, the genius is weighing the odds.”

Pepper rolled her eyes at him but laughed all the same. “Oh shut your face.”

“Oi lovebirds !” Clint’s voice had called out to them. It was refreshing to have the archer talk once in awhile. And when he did, he probably told the most blunt but matter-of-a-fact things that needed to be heard. Even if others didn’t want to hear them specifically.

The said duo turned their heads to face him, looking as if their moment had been intentionally interrupted. Which it had been actually. But nevertheless, they were both pretty much at the end of it anyways.

“Fury wants you all in the briefing room now.” Coulson told Tony for Clint’s sake. You would wonder why Coulson was still alive and breathing right now. But that’s just the beauty of it. You’ll never know. Apparently though, it seemed that the matter was Top Secret and only Fury had the access to it. Tony knows but would rather keep it to himself. The perks of being the playboy billionaire and philanthropic genius were endless, as far as Tony had known. Some would say that the sky’s the only limit. But for Tony ? That’s only the beginning.

Tony turned to Pepper, pulled her close by the waist and gave her a brief peck on the lips before letting her go. “Sorry Peps, but I gotta go. Patch’s calling in all the guys now. I’ll talk to you once I get home.”

“Fine. But you tell me where you’re heading off to next time, okay ? I don’t care if it’s Top Secret. ” Pepper bit her lip before crossing her arms on her chest again. Damn, if it weren’t for Fury’s call, he’d be down on Pepper’s wonderful bumpers right now. He will. Eventually. When he gets home. He made sure of that.

He kissed her forehead to which Pepper didn’t complain. “I will. And I’ll text you. For now, I’ll let J.A.R.V.I.S. handle you.” Tony looked up and as if the non-existent A.I. was there in physical form and he nodded.

“Certainly Sir. Ms. Potts ?” A British voice had called out. Tony smiled knowing his buddy could be trusted anytime. Pepper gave Tony one last peck on the lips before turning away and to move on. J.A.R.V.I.S. directed her the correct path whilst Tony watched her walk away.

“Thanks buddy.” Tony called out before turning his attention back towards the rest of his team. Together, they walked out of the facility and headed for the briefing room.

Tony had the best people to live for. And that even included his best bud, J.A.R.V.I.S.

The best.

----------------

“I don’t think the first try was enough.” Fury told everyone as he set down the pile of S.H.E.I.L.D. records down with a loud ‘thud’.

Natasha was the first to speak. “Are you suggesting that we go for another round ?” Fury didn’t look her way but skimmed through the content of a specific record instead. From everyone’s vantage, the record had to be Top Secret as Fury wasn’t just about to let it go. Yet.

“That or we do something else.” Fury set the record folder down before diving for another.

Tony leaned back and watched them, he was not particularly in the mood to butt in. He would let it flow until something peaks his interest which is why he fished out his Stark Mobile and played while everyone tackled on the important matter.

This time, it was Banner who became interested in the matter. He leaned forward and fixed his glasses, letting it settle comfortably on the bridge of his nose. “Such as ?”

Fury huffed out a sigh before fixing his attention on Banner. “Sending out another of S.H.E.I.L.D.’s best agents. Apart from Romanoff and Barton of course.” He reassured both assassins just in case.

The said assassins only nodded in acknowledgement.

A hand was raised and it had belonged to Rogers who was presently trying his best to grasp the situation at hand. He was trying to create a tactic that would solve the matter. But first, he needed more information. “Sir, I don’t think that’s a really good idea. Why not send us again instead ? I’m sure that a lot of us would be utilized better. ”

“I agree with Capsicle. Why not send us ?” Tony supported Steve’s idea but never tore his gaze away on the device. Steve was flattered a bit on the inside that Tony had decided to side with him but took it back when he saw him focus on the little tiny glass that radiated light. Steve was worried that he was getting closer to sounding a lot more like Thor.

Natasha and the rest had waited for Fury’s response. It only came after a few minutes later when Fury had set the record down, not wanting to grab the others anymore for further examination.

With another sigh, Fury said, “I can’t.”

“Why not ?” They all responded in unison except for Tony who was still preoccupied with the device at hand.

Fury pushed each of the records to it’s responding recipient except for three which were Thor, who was still away in Asgard, busy fulfilling his duties, Fury himself and one who was better left unnamed. Everyone looked at him in confusion. They wondered what kept him so uptight today on giving out all of the infornation.

“You should know why when you open those.”

And they did.

At least they thought they did.

What stuck them all was the uncanny resemblance of each of the profile photos on the records they all held. Natasha, who was usually stern looking, eyed the picture of a woman closely resembling her, the said woman had a blonde hair and looked genuinely happy, a total opposite of what Romanoff was. This made her gut twist in an odd feeling. On the other hand, Steve, Barton and Banner looked stoned. It was as if they were seeing a doppelganger emulating the personalities way different than what they had.

The bulky-looking man who looked like Steve but at the same time, didn’t, made Steve shudder with fear. He swore that in that moment, he felt the hair on his neck rise up, whether in fear or fascination, he didn’t know. Examining it more closely now, the man in the picture wasn’t a natural blond like he was, and on top of that, he appeared to be scruffy looking too, once again, a total opposite of what Steve was.

Clint saw his identical opposite. As he read through the profile, he couldn’t believe that a man possessing the same face as he did, was actually existing. Never in his whole life would he thought of this to happen, let alone the thought cross his mind. For once, Barton felt like he didn’t know what to say or do. It was as if his ability to think rational thoughts was numbed, leaving him in ultimate confusion.

A low and dragging whistle filled the awkward silence of the room. Banner eyed the picture before him for a long time. Though he couldn’t quite point out the difference, only that the man who looked like him didn’t appear to be wearing any glasses, and that he appeared to be older than him, all in all, they both looked generally the same. Banner then decided to read through the rest of the man’s profile. It stated that he had children of his own and Banner suddenly felt a pang of jealousy strike his chest. The picture of the man who bore close resemblance to him had kids. It was something that Bruce had always wanted whenever he pictured himself living a normal life, if only it weren’t for the other guy, he could be very well living it right now.

The long stretch of silence that came after the whistle bothered Tony so he shut device off, pocketed it into his pants and watched everyone’s blank faces survey the records they each all held. Sighing, Tony grabbed his and flipped it open and sighed as well.

“So what it’s just another profile of u—” Tony stopped as he read the name of the man possessing the same face as he did. “Shit.” Tony cursed as flipped the remaining pages containing more and more information he couldn’t comprehend.

“I know.” Fury told him as he cleared his throat. In building anger, Tony looked up to him and threw the file carelessly on table, scattering its contents all over. Natasha was able to reach for the paper that contained the image of a man with a spitting image of Tony. She examined it just as she did with hers.

“Is this some sick joke ?” Tony huffed out in anger. Tony was like your any other average and funny guy, only with a lot more money but messing with him and his identity is another thing. A thing which Tony didn’t like.

“I wish it were Stark, but you know I don’t do jokes.” Fury replied calmly as he placed his hands on his back and watched everyone else set down the records slowly on the table.

“What is it then ?” Natasha asked, even with her head pounding, she remained looking calm all the same. Add in some stern looking face too.

Fury got another record and raised it for them to see. He flipped it open and it showed a man who resembled him only without the patch and the leather get-up.

“I know how it feels. I have one for myself too. Everyone here has.”

They all looked at him quizzically and it felt like Fury was lecturing some kids a topic they just couldn’t get.

This time, Tony brought the spotlight back to him. “What ? What do you mean ‘everyone has’ ?”

Fury pinched the bridge of his nose before setting the profile record down.

“Right after you all went into that portal to search for Loki, I had some agents sent out along with you to look for other useful information. But I didn’t expect they’d bring me this.” Fury stated as he gestured his hand over the pile of records before them.

Steve’s brow met in confusion. He thought he could form a tactic for this one, but he couldn’t. As if being the man out of time wasn’t enough, having another person look like you was just… something. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind. “So you’re saying that we all have look-a-likes ?”

Fury nodded. “In a way, yes. But these people aren’t just your look-a-likes. They well, uh, play…you.”

That just seemed to confuse him all the more.

Fury continued when he felt they all needed some more information to process.

“These— the people who look like you, are well… in fact, actors. They play us. Me. You. Widow. Hawkeye, Banner, the Captain, Thor, Stark, Agent Hill, Agent Coul—”

Tony held up a hand to stop Fury. “Wait wait. So you’re saying that our lives are just fucking words on paper brought to life through the movies, is that it?”

Fury pursed his lips at him before nodding. “Yes, but it’s not words but comics, Stark. We all went from those colored panels down to the movies. Apparently when the agents reviewed these so called ‘comics’, there were only some information that were kept true to us. And according to that dimension’s records, we are indeed, the cinematic universe as they would like to call it.”

Hearing all this made Tony’s stomach coil in disgust.

“Un-fucking-believable.” He cursed once again as he flopped himself back down the seat. Still in a daze with all the new information. His life was a fucking movie. He thought. And here he was, still a billionaire while a person out there made money out of his life story. Well that explained why.

As Tony was left to ponder by himself. Steve kept a lingering thought inside his head. If these information held any truth to them, then he might just have the chance to see Peggy once again, even if she wasn’t really Peggy herself. But that didn’t matter. He could touch her for the last time, even see her smile again. Steve shook his head. This was it. His closure. His peace. He’ll have to ask Fury about the woman bearing the same face as Peggy. Or better yet ask him for her profile record. He didn’t care that a man bore the same face as he did, he didn’t care that all he’d been through was just a result of a person’s extreme creativity. He stopped caring for all these and what mattered most to him right now was seeing the woman he yearned to see again in flesh.

Steve just couldn’t wait.

Banner watched them and tried his best to contain the other guy. He just couldn’t believe it. He was just as pissed as Tony but never showed it to everyone. His fist clenched in anger. Hulk mad. The other guy thought. And with that, he silently walked away without even excusing himself. He needed to be left alone. Needed to calm the other guy out.

Fury sighed. “We’ll just continue this later… when you’ve all cooled your minds.” Fury then spoke to his earpiece. After a while, Agent Maria Hill came. She looked around first before deciding not to pry her nose into the complicated situation. She gathered the rest of the records all strewn across the table and nodded to Fury before heading out.

All the while the information gave Natasha a headache, she took it all in calmly. But the anger was still there. She excused herself and went about to head on to her quarters when a strong hand stopped her midway. Barton looked at her with concern and she nodded, telling him that she was okay and that she needed to be alone. Barton took this as a sign, understood and left her to her own devices. Natasha continued to walk as the demons of her past took over her once more, only to realize that they were just figments of someone’s imagination and not the truth.

She shuddered.

That day, I decided to stash most of the Avengers stuff that I had carefully collected, tucked and hidden away behind a secret compartment underneath my drawer full of undies. After all, precaution was better than cure right ? Well, that’s what most people say anyway, but in my case, a drawer full of 21st century underpants with floral designs on them would serve as my best option as a last stand against prying, mischievous, and deliciously-long slender hands (Well, well, well, I wonder who this person might be ?).

  “What are you doing ?” I hear an oh-so-familiar voice  say.

  It was then I decided to stop staring at the ceiling and starting shutting my eyes close for the better good of my sanity, all the while hopping that I could also include shutting him out from my mind’s collective consciousness. And that wasn’t particularly the most easiest of tasks to do. God, sometimes, this man just gives me the creeps.

 “Exploring Newton’s first law.” I say as I shifted myself on the couch. My room had no air-conditioning contraption or whatsoever so the leather couch was only last resort to having some good downtime though if you’d ask me to rate how comfortable the old shabby thing was, I’d give it a fair negative 10; comfort was anything but.

Even with my eyes still shut, I could make out a visual imagery of him raising his black brow at me. Oh, the nerve.

   “And you think it’s wise to leave me all alone in a chamber with nothing to do ? Are you that confident and trusting of me mortal, that you do not feel threatened of my capabilities  anymore ?” With it, he used the same domineering tone again, but what caused me to open my eyes wide awake was not his usual arrogant ego but was the annoying noise his grinding teeth had made.

  I jolted up, sat upright in his direction and smirked before giving out a light sarcastic chuckle. “Oh, you mean, you shall impose your wrath at me by throwing burnt pancakes at every mewling quim you meet on the street, yes ?” I faked a terrified expression on my face before grinning and deciding to give him a fake yawn too.

Much to my surprise, he appeared to be wondering where I was getting at but I decided to just simply cross my arms over my chest anyways and ignore the odd looks he usually gave me at times like these.

“Give it a rest Loki, though the most conventional thing you should probably do right now is to at least learn how to wash your underpants. I live to wash my own stuff, thank you very much.”

Ignoring my last statement, he decided to cross over to my direction and when he got close enough, like really really close, he decided to lean down towards me, by all means filling out the distance and empty space in between us with his tall and intimidating physique.

  I should be thankful actually. I’ve never actually had the pleasure of having a representative of the opposite sex come close to me before, much less a god at that. Jake was hardly an exception, he was more of brother figure than the boyfriend material to me. In general truth, I was already open to the thought of leaving this world as an old spinster with a handful number of cats  I’d probably picked up on the long walk home in our neighborhood. I guess I just wasn’t that interesting enough to grab a guy’s attention, let alone take part in the long haul too.

“Now now, kitten…” Kitten ?!

He grinned in a way that was not the least bit normal. At least to me it was not.

“Where is the woman I’d met earlier who was too shaken out of fear, now ? ” He asked in that chocolate-vanilla-hotsauce-nutella-jalapeno-rich-deep voice that had me mentally debating if I was still in control of my body or not. The latter of which I should be panicking for.

  I swallowed a lump that was stuck in my throat. He knows I’m weak at this kind of play and will do everything in  his power to take an advantage of that weakness. Loki might be the most irritating man I’ve ever met, but I still couldn’t deny the fact that he was still— a man. God forbid I do any perverse act now or else I’ll have to weep in a puddle of tears ‘till the day I give out my last breath as an old hag and a spinster. I should really start investing in chastity belts now.

  “The one with a steel bar ?” I asked, slowly backing away.

  He grinned again, and this time, it had reminded me of the Cheshire cat’s grin from the movie, Alice in Wonderland. Okay, I think I’m getting a connection here. If you think about it, Loki equals a cat which equals his grin’s to Cheshire’s which equals me to my early premonition of me being an old spinster, with a love for cats. Great.  I mentally face palmed myself, wishing it would stick all the way out from the other side of my head. Way to go, Patricia, way to go.

  “Yes.” It was more of a hiss when he’d said it, but nevertheless, it hadn’t changed the fact that I was losing my mental reserve over him. God, I’d even lost count of times I’d stated the word, “mental”, and it was all because of him. Bugger.

  I tried with all that I could to put up a mean-bitch wall that would hopefully, get my fighting spirit going. I had a chanting mantra playing in a loop in my head all the while he stared at me with those beautiful green eyes—

Wait a minute.

Beautiful ? I shook my head and reminded myself that green was not a creative color… or a sexy color or a hot color.

Be a mean bitch machine. Be a mean bitch machine Be a mean bitch machine…

“She’s probably on her way now to make steel bullets to load up her gun with.” Hah! How’s that for some action ? I leaned in closer to him, feeling my inner Michelle Rodriguez rev up with power.

“So don’t you worry sweet—” I told him as I caressed his cheek before whispering into his ear :

“She’ll save up some bullets for you, if incase you were wondering.” I told him in a breathy way before leaning back and giving him my most badass half-smile and grin.

  Loki had this unknowing look plastered on his face and I loved the way how I got to him like that. Feels like I’ve leveled up or something, which reminds me, I was still stuck in the same level in Candy Crush Saga but I’ll deal with that later.

  He raised a brow again that might as well be his signature move, if anyone even bothered to remember.

“And your point is ?” He asked calmly, all the while sternly breaking my inner Michelle Rodriguez to tiny shards of Miley Cyruses singing every lyric of the Wrecking Ball song that threatened to break my sanity too.

  I thought…

  I pushed him over the couch and started walking back towards my room, not caring whether he was able to stand back up straight or fall flat on his butt, the latter which I hoped had happened to at least  make me feel better. Where were the empowering female superheroes when you needed them the most ? I hope they’re not too busy screwing their male superhero comrades to hear me wail out my woes.

Wow. That rhymed.

  “Argh.” I heard him groan from behind me and heard him mumble a curse or something in language I was not familiar nor knowledgeable of.

  Which reminded me, why were the Avengers present here too ? Even if they did got rid of those skin-tight spandex clothes and wore casual clothes instead, there was no doubt that people would still recognize them even from afar. I pondered about the possibilities of how they got here and wondered if they all had some connection that I hadn’t been aware of in the first place. Did the streak of blue light I’d thought I was hallucinating last night had anything to do with it ? Well, it was indeed quite unbelievable, I mean a blue light, scanning the whole city as if it were just some paper with scribbles on in but if you looked through the other side of it, wasn’t Loki’s presence here right now was unbelievable too ? I sighed and continued to think more of the possibilities, they were endless but I had to trim it down to ones closest to the matter as much as possible. Were they able to get here the same way Loki did ? When I came to think of it, I still hadn’t asked Loki how he got here or how he was able to get inside my house too. Or how he would explain the missing ice-cream I was supposed to eat that night we both first met.

I stopped walking halfway down the hall when I decided to turn around and ask him about the matter. It was then I’d found him replacing my recent occupancy on the couch with his newfound presence, and to be precise, he was sprawled on the couch with his arms resting just beneath his head to elevate it a little bit.

  As I stepped closer, I found him serenely sleeping. His face bore none of harshness he usually shows me most of the time. And I found the sharpness of his cheekbones and the angular shape of his face to be appealing in some ways I’d never imagined I would ever feel about him. The way his dark brows rested calmly on his face made me forget his usual demeanor towards me. It seemed as if he were a prince sleeping soundly, like the ones we usually see on Disney, Loki looked like a real prince, in which he truly was still, though the only difference was, this prince sleeping before me looked innocent, and devoid of any madness . I had the urge to suddenly kiss him right there, at that very moment. I wondered what it would feel like to kiss him with my own will. I wondered how his lips would feel again against mine. The thought though, was enough to have me red as a newborn baby’s bum.

  Though I hate to admit it, I was beginning to have some feelings for this man, whether they were voluntary or not. There was this pull that he had of me that I couldn’t escape not that I wanted to. It could have been just my hormones talking to me, trying to fill my brain with nasty things I shouldn’t do to a sleeping and unconscious man but really ? It hadn’t mattered anyways. Genuinely, this was the first time I ever felt attracted to someone this intense. Whether it was by chance or by evil design, I was falling fast. And hard. For a man I’d momentarily known. For a man not known to exist in my world. And for man I wasn’t supposed to fall for in the first place.

  A slight movement of his eyes moving from behind those shut lids caught my attention, making me lose track of the train of thought running through my head earlier.   I watched his face convey emotions I’ll ever rarely see in person in my whole life. For what it seemed, Loki must be having a bad dream right now. I pondered whether I should wake him up or not. I was too afraid that I might get caught up in his pool of mixed emotions when I decided to wake him up. 

  I fought with my inner doubts and won inevitably. I sat right next to him slowly, just enough not to wake him up just yet. Mustering up all the courage I had in me, I started lifting my right hand, only to be stopped midway by a strong grip that was all to familiar to me.

  “What do you think you’re doing ?” His oil-velvety-smooth-honey-custard-nutella-chocolate-vanilla-with-a-cherry-on-the-top voice echoed throughout the quiet room. His sudden jolt of a movement made me panic and with it, I quickly withdrew my hand away but much to my smooth moves, I fell down flat on the floor with my aching bum. I guess the joke was on me then.

  With his mile-long legs, Loki started to settle them down the floor and helped me up as he did. I blushed just in time as I was able to look away, letting my hair fall down as a curtain to hide my heated cheeks.

  “Are you ill, Patricia ?” He asked, and that caught me off guard. Loki, never called out to me by my given name like that.

  “Err, no… I’m not…” I told him right away as I tried to tug my arm free from his hold.

  “Hmmm, if you say so. What is it that you require of me that would need you to disturb my peaceful slumber ?” Peaceful ?  Wow, I never knew having bad dreams would count as peaceful for this guy, let alone what nightmares would mean to him then.

  “I tried to wake you up, you… you looked as if you were troubled.” I told him in the softest manner of tone that I could manage to do.

  “And you deemed it was wise to touch me, yes ?” Oh, you wouldn’t know what other things I could do to you mister.

  “I haven’t even touched you yet. What about the time I tended to your wounds then ? Did that not count as a touch ?”

  “That…that was an exception, and a slip on my defenses on my part, but still, I wish not to be touched.”

  “Why ?”

  “It is none of your pathetic business.”

  I felt my cheeks heat up again, only this time, with anger. “Hey ! You live under my roof, doesn’t that count as you being a part of my business, then ?”

  “No.”

  Argh ! This man was impossible to deal with ! Worse than dealing with a five year old !

  “Why ?!”

  He sighed and rubbed his temples. Oh, now I’m the one who’s being a problem here then ?

  He leaned in, making our faces only a few inches away from colliding with one another.

  “Simply because… you’re not worthy of doing so.”

    Okay, that’s it. Time to throw this bum’s things out in the street.

  “Worthy ?! I’ll show you worthy you piece of ass !” I stood upright and started making my way upstairs when I heard a loud roar of engine die out in our house’s garage. Crap. Mom was back. Mary Poppins was back.

  “Oh no. No. No. No. No.” I started to mumble out, frantically searching for something I didn’t even know.

  “Have you lost your mind ?” Loki asked from the sofa, aware of the fact that he too, heard the engine but chose not to lose his shit over it like me.

  I eyed him warily before ignoring him completely. I had to find a way to hide him before mom sees him or else I’d be in a heap of shit. Literally.  

  I ran towards him, grabbed him by the arm and quickly dragged him upstairs. My safest option of hideout right now was only my room, whether I liked it or not.

We were already a few feet away from my bedroom when I heard our main front door click open. And because I cared for my life, I shoved Loki right into my bedroom, onto my bed and pulled the covers over him. It was only natural that he complained, but I had him bend his knees while he lied down the bed because my bed was made exclusively for my height and not for tall frost giants.

  “Tricia ? Tricia ? Where are you darling ?” I heard my mom’s high-pitched tone call out into the whole house. I’m surprised she hasn’t signed up for the opera yet.  She should really consider the potential.

  I cursed under my breath just as I tucked Loki’s head into the covers.

  “What is th—  ” I cut him off before he could continue any further.

  “Just stay put. My mother’s here. Unless you want to have your ass kicked out, you behave, okay ?”

  “I don’t follo—” I shushed him again, this time, using my index finger.

  “I don’t have time to exercise your godly shit with you. Now, face the direction opposite to the door and stay low as much as possible, this way you—”

  “Tricia !” I flinched and turned around. My mom was standing on the doorway, with her hand on her hip. There was a bit of a scowl forming on her slowly aging face. Oh boy.

  Say your prayers now Tricia.

“Mom !” I choked out as I stood upright. “You’re back.” I gestured my hands to her. “A little bit early than I expected…”I trailed off in the end. I was slowly losing my groove over here.

  Mom raised a brow at me before puckering her red lipstick stained lips. Mom had this slightly retro look if I’m not mistaken. She’s a hardcore wannabe and all. Can’t believe dad managed to fish this one out.

  With a suspicious tone she said, “That I am.” She then started making her way towards the bed until I decided to stop her with my arms spread eagle wide. Dashing through the room was quite the exercise I needed.

  “Mom you can’t—”

  “Who’s that ?” She motioned her head towards the bed where Loki laid concealed under my floral sheet.

  “Uh… that’s… Rhovine !” I suddenly blurted out. That was probably the most random thing I’ve ever said in this entire week.

  Mom had this confused look etched on her face, the kind of which you would make when your friend was babbling nonsense and you had no idea what it was.

  “Rhovine ! You remember her ? From fifth grade ? Hello ? Does it ring a bell to you ?” I asked her in the most dramatic way I could. Who knew I could do this ? I’m on a roll today.

  Mom shook her head. “No, I don’t remember anyone by the name—”

  “Mom ! God, stop, you’re gonna’ wake her up.” I cut her off but lowering down my voice and shushing her mouth like I did with Loki earlier.

 Mom did as I told her and started talking to me in the same manner of tone too. “Then what is she doing here ?” She asked, unaware of the fact that it was a full grown two-thousand year old male lying down on the bed.

  “She’s sick, down with some flu or something. Said she needed a place to crash for a while.”

  Mom raised another well-plucked brow at me. “And she decided not to ‘crash’ at her own parent’s house ?”

  Mom wasn’t going to back down at any rate now.

  I leaned in towards her ear and whispered, “Family issues.”

  Mom seemed to understood my point because she gave me a knowing nod before heading out towards the door.

  “Just make sure she’s kept warm, honey. Wouldn’t want to upset her parents.” Mom finished off as she left through the door, shutting it out as she  did.

  I felt all tension and fear leave me and gave the most loudest sigh of relief I could ever make. I started walking backwards and threw myself back down to the bed when my back hit something hard.

  “This is the second time, you’ve disgraced me mortal. First, I became your senile, old ‘uncle’ and now, your friend, ‘Rhovine’. Just how long do you plan to keep doing this to me ?”

  I sat upright found him doing the same too, only, his back was leaning against the headboard, clearly, my bed wasn’t that long enough to suffice his height.

  I shrugged. “For as long as it saves me from any trouble, and by trouble, I mean you.” And gave him a wide grin.

  He pursed his lips, not saying anything else and by the time he was able to, a shuffle of footsteps could be heard right outside my room.

  Mom opened the door slowly and poked her head in, only to find me caressing Loki—no, ‘Rhovine’s’ hip with soft touches.

  “It’s okay, I know, cramps is a hard thing to deal with, but you shouldn’t be worrying about it.” I told the fully-sheathed Loki.

  “Is she okay ? Is she having her period too ?” Mom asked through her poking head in the door.

  I nodded sincerely at her. “She’s also bleeding the hell outta her vagina.” I continued to stroke Loki’s hips. Clearly, his twitching was a sign of irritation. That meant that he was listening. Good.

  Mom clicked her tongue.“Oh dear, have you given her any Midol yet ? “She asked through a concerned voice.

  I shook my head. “No, not yet.”

  “Then you better do. I could prepare her something, ask her what does she want. ”

  “No, mom. It’s okay.” I pretended to drop my head down toward Loki’s and faked a knowing nod to show mom that ‘Rhovine’ was telling me something.

  “She says that she thanks you for your generosity.” I told mom.

  Mom smiled a toothy smile. I swear, those pearl-white teeth could’ve blinded anyone who dared to look through them.

  “Aww, how sweet. I’ll be right down the kitchen when you need me.” With that, mom left us in peace.

  I rubbed my neck in exhaustion. “See ? That wasn’t so bad, was it ?” I told him as I unsheathed the covers off him, exposing his godly beauty.

  He raised a brow that said, ‘oh really ?’ .

I sighed and started standing up. I better go see what mom’s up to downstairs, might want to hide some evidences of Loki’s presence on the way.

  “Do you adore the color, pink ?” He asked out of nowhere, startling me.

  I felt my eyebrows meet in confusion. “Why ?”

  With that, he raised, what seemed like an underwear up through the air before grinning at me nonstop.  

  Oh God. It was pink.

EMSGGBNG Entry #5 : Keeping your God with you at all times.

Having a hard time taming the egotistical beast ? Well then, try putting him on a leash next time, it’ll probably help.

  Probably.

  I sprinted out from the mart and into the dim streets as fast as my feet would take me. I was quite relieved when I spun my head around and caught a glimpse of the Avengers running into the opposite direction, away from me. It was good thing because it would probably buy me some more time to look for Loki before they decided to search in my direction later.

The things around me became a hazy blur as I huffed and panted for air. The rush of adrenaline kicking in my nerves was enough to get me running non-stop for a while. I didn’t care whether my feet would feel sore later, there was a priority I needed to finish and before I had even realized it, my body had stopped into a  full halt. Amidst the dark street, faintly illuminated by the old street lamps, I could barely make out a silhouette standing a few feet ahead from me. I immediately took a defensive stance, keeping my body and mind alert for any kind of unusual movement. In a slow pace, I walked towards it, hoping in my mind and to whatever deity that was above, watching me, that the thing before me wouldn’t attack me or worse, bite off my head or something.

It only took me a few careful steps before realizing that I was a complete nut job for acting so scared and nervous.

A familiar scene played before me. Loki stood and faced the same bookshop we passed by before, only this time he was eerily quiet. I tilted my head to my side as I slowly approached him. It might be possible that this was just a trap to lure me in. For all I could know, somebody must have been trying to pose as Loki to get me.

“Loki ?” I say, still keeping a good distance from him.

The said man stood for awhile before turning his head to me. His hands were in the pockets of his jeans. He then gave me a wary expression that I didn’t like. “What are you doing here ?” He asks, annoyed. Oh wow, the nerve.

I arched a brow at him.

“What are you doing here ?” I shot back. He was supposed to be at home. He was supposed to be behaving like a good frosty baby waiting for mommy Patty to come home.

When he didn’t answer, I continued, “Aren’t you supposed to be at home right now ? Don’t you know how risky it is to—“

I stopped when I heard familiar voices echo throughout the silent street.

“Any signs of him ?”

“No.”

“Then  split up, we will rendezvous at the park.”

“What ? You can’t be serious.”

“Do you see me laughing Tony ? Steve, you’re sticking with me. Clint, you’re with Tony. Alert me once you’ve found something suspicious, now go.”

A shuffling of footsteps could be heard from afar.

“Hey, stop channeling your inner pigeon. Come on, what’s next Legolas?”

“We move forward.”

I spun my head slowly, only to find the familiar shadowy figures of the archer and the Iron Man approach us. I panicked for a moment and then quickly brought my attention back to Loki who was now frowning at me.

Should we make a run for it ? No, probably not, that’ll only make us more suspicious. If only Loki had not lost his powers then I wouldn’t be having a hard time right now coming up with a brilliant plan, but you see, that wasn’t the case right now, he was mortal, like me and he couldn’t even cook a single shit without setting the house on fire or poisoning me with it. Glancing around, I looked for other ways to save our asses off.  Something crossed my mind and I wanted to bash my head for it but it was worth the try anyway though I was definitely sure that I was going nuts for coming up with a silly and uncomfortable idea.

“Kiss me.” I blurted out at Loki. God, what was I doing ? I haven’t even had my first kiss yet ! Much less, be the first one to initiate it.

Loki’s eyes widened in horror and surprise. 

“Excuse m—“

Without wasting any second anymore, I leaned in, stared at his emerald green eyes for a moment before  cupping his face between my hands and then slamming my lips against his.

At first, Loki didn’t respond with the kiss but eventually, he gave in. I closed my eyes and he quickly took control over my mouth. And by Gods, he tasted delicious and heavenly. I gripped his face harder, leaning in and asking for more. Tremor ran down my spine as he kissed me deeper this time, playing with my tongue. New sensations ran inside my body. I felt a spark ignite between the two of us when I let go of his face and placed my arms around his neck. It was his turn to cup my face this time, his grip wasn’t gentle but neither was it rough. I was afraid that my first kiss would turn out to be sloppy but with Loki, it turned out that I had craved for more.

Loki ran his slender hands from my face down to my neck. His touch was cool but I felt incredibly hot inside and then I ran my fingers around his hair, the silky smooth feel of them beneath my touch sent me shivering down my spine. Loki bit my bottom lip and I flinched. Who knew kissing somebody could feel this good ?

“Get a room you two ! ” Someone called out and it was then I realized that it was Tony’s voice who’d called  it.  And then I heard a pair of shuffled footsteps walk away from us, leaving me and Loki to enjoy our impromptu lip-lock match.

Loki stopped nibbling on my lower lip and started to continue kissing me senselessly as he slid down his long and slender hands to my back, making me arch deliciously towards him. I felt hunger overcome me as I rested my arms over his broad shoulder, tiptoeing in order for me to reach his height. I felt his hands slide under the back of my shirt. I gasped when I felt his cool hands on my bare skin. My eyes quickly opened I slowly pushed him away with what little strength I had, breaking our kiss.

Loki pulled away and I jerked my head down and panted breath while I ducked I placed my hands over my knees for support. The kiss took up most of my oxygen supply and I was to blame Loki for that. When I looked up, I saw a bead of sweat form on top of his eyebrows. He stared for a moment before grinning at me.

“My, my, did I overwhelm you too much, mortal ? Was I really that good ?”  Bastard. He was getting cheeky now that he was able to see my vulnerable side. Damn it ! If only the Avengers hadn’t come here in the first place then this wouldn’t have happened !

I jerked my head back up, meeting him in the eyes. “Don’t get too cheeky yourself, asshole. And F.Y.I.,  only did it because I didn’t have any other choice.” I spat out at him as I rubbed my swollen lips furiously, wanting to erase the traces he’d left behind. I winced since they felt awfully tender.  I felt the heat between my thighs cool off managed to get a hold of myself. God, was I freaking horny when he’d kissed me ? Dammit !

Loki  flashed me a bright smile. “And what a choice it was indeed.”  To protect me from the Avengers, how nice of you.” Damn him, why couldn’t he just stop ? Couldn’t he leave a post-horny woman alone ? As if I’ve had enough problems to deal with, this asshole was just adding up to the pile.

“You knew they were coming? ” I asked him, gaping. This son-of-a-bi—

He smiled. “I maybe mortal but my senses are still heightened.”

Oh my God ! I can’t believe that I fucking kissed this—this asshole! Argh, why didn’t he just warn me in the first place anyway ?

I slowly stood up straight and walked my way towards him, my eyes never leaving his. I snarled at him when our faces were only inches apart.

“Then, why didn’t you fucking tell me in the first place, you ass !” I yelled, just enough for him to get my point and not to wake up the entire neighborhood around us. The last thing I wanted to do was attract some public attention and then the entire Avengers would eventually find us.

“I find it amusing, seeing you get flustered and worked up. Honestly, you can’t blame me, mortal, it’s in my nature to make things harder for  people like you.” He gives me a slight wink.

 Feeling really infuriated, I brought my hand up to slap it against his cheek but he was quick enough to grab it and  hold it in place. I growled at him.

He leaned in closer and a tilted my chin up to his. His eyes traveled down from mine and onto my red, swollen and abused mouth. He grinned.

In a sexy but thick voice he said, “Tsk tsk tsk, I wouldn’t do that if I were you, mortal.” God, It felt like honey was dripping down from his voice. Thick and sweet. I lost all of my rational thinking by just imagining myself kissing him again, wanting to taste that heavenly mouth again. I couldn’t help but lose control  for a moment as my knees wobbled, I placed my other free hand on his chest and leaned on for support.

He started to lean in closer, labored breaths started to arise. He stared at me one last time before moving back to my lips. He licked his and I felt my knees wobble again at the sight. Slowly, he leaned down, my  hand still encased in his tight grip as his lips started to brush against mine. The sensations were back again but I quickly pulled away when I heard a voice call out to my name.

“Trisha ?”

I  immediately kicked Loki in the knee, telling him to let me go and he did. I spun around, wandering who it was.

It was the least person I did not expect to see.

“Jake ?”  I say as he started making his way towards me. He smiled when we were only but a feet away and then his smile quickly fell when he saw Loki eye him suspiciously.

“Hey, so uh, is this guy bothering you ?” He asks while nodding towards Loki. Loki gave a low growl at the young man and Jake flinched for a moment.

“No !” I hastily blurted out and Jake raised a brow at me that said, ‘Oh-kay’. Gah, I needed to compose myself.

 “N-No. I mean, he may look like a psychotic axe-wielding maniac who probably wants to take over the world again  b-but he isn’t. Trust me.” I stuttered at the few parts, earning not only another eyebrow raise again from Jake but from Loki as well.

Jake placed his hands in the pockets of his pants and whistled. “So, if he isn’t a ‘psycho axe-wielding maniac’, who’s he then ?” Jake asked while he nodded again to Loki’s direction. I exchanged glances with Loki for a moment before finally replying to Jake.

Help me. “Oh, uh, sorry about that. T-This— This is—“ I paused, thinking of a good alibi to say to Jake.  “Uncle Lo !” I stammered. Well, at least that was something, I mean basically, Loki’s probably a thousand years older than me, it wouldn’t hurt to him uncle, wouldn’t it ?

I faced Loki for a moment, wanting to see his reaction and he only gave me a raised eyebrow. I turned my  attention back to Jake who seemed like he was busy studying us. He didn’t probably buy it, but hey, at least I tried.

Jake eyed Loki suspiciously before extending his hand to him. “So uh, you’re family eh ? You sure don’t look alike. Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you sir, the name’s Jake. Jake Adamsworth.”

Loki eyed him back suspiciously for a moment before taking his hand and shaking it (in which I nudged him to do by the way.)

Loki finally grinned. “No, Jake. The pleasure’s all mine.” He says as he nods at Jake.

After a while, I felt the male testosterone tension fill the air and they quickly broke off the awkward handshake, and Jake place his hands back in the pockets of his worn out jeans. He then turned to face me, earning my attention as he did so.

“So, uh, what are you guys doing here ? Isn’t it a little bit too late to take a stroll outside ?” Jake asked as he huffed a breath between his hands and rubbed them.

I laughed awkwardly. “Ah, you see, my uncle’s getting really senile, he goes on nightly walks because he needs some fresh air. You know, old age.” I scoffed. “ It isn’t working too well for him.” I shrugged as I patted Loki on the shoulder, earning a death glare from him and I quickly shoved it away.

Jake nods slowly. “I see.” Out of nowhere, a ring starts to echo from him. Jake quickly fishes out his phone and answers it. We all stood for awhile, waiting for Jake to finish his call. Loki had his eyes still set on Jake and I elbowed him, making him divert his attention to me as I rolled my eyes at him.

 “Will you please stop that ? You’re giving him the creep feels.” I leaned sideways as I told Loki in a hushed whisper so that Jake couldn’t hear me.

Instead of following me, he chose to ignore me. Oh wow, what a pain in the ass. Jake was already finished talking to the phone when he turned his attention back to us, and I stiffened in my place abruptly, trying not to look suspicious but I don’t think I nailed it.

“Sorry about that, mom called. I need to go back now.” Jake tilted his head and gave us an apologetic smile and I nodded. Well, technically, Loki practically beamed up when he knew Jake was leaving.

I shrugged and patted Jake on the shoulder before hugging him. “Okay then, take care you geek.” I say to him while I smiled. Jake returned back the smile and hug me back too before patting me on the shoulder, leaving me and Loki alone to ourselves as he walked away, hands in his pockets as he did so.

I turned around to face Loki right after Jake had left. Loki had that brooding look on him and I can’t help but laugh over his child-like attitude.

I punched his shoulder playfully. “Why the long face chump ?”

Loki only glared at me and crossed his arms over his chest. “Senile ? Old ? Was that really necessary ? Tell me mortal, do you even know who you are messing with ? And what is your true relationship with this—this Jake ? ” He asked looking very unhappy.

“Woah there, chill your Asgardian soul dude. I was only messing with ‘ya, besides, what is it with you about me and Jake anyway ? It’s not like you control my life or anything.” I asked while I held my arms up in the air and he quickly held them right away.

“Tell me.” He says with a hiss still not letting go of my arms. I tried to wiggle away but his tight grip was hard to compete with.

“Fuck ! Fine, Fine ! We’re just friends ! Best friends !  Now will you please let me go ? You’re fucking squeezing my arm, Christ !” I exclaimed at him and he immediately let go. The tension on his face eased up a little and I wondered why. I rubbed the wrists of my hands where he’d had a tight grip earlier.

I looked backed up to him and grinned. “Wait, are you jelly ? ”I asked and Loki stared at in me confusion while his brows furrowed.

“What ? ”

 “Don’t worry.” I chuckled and patted his cheek with my hand. “It’s totally okay to be jealous. It’s normal for men with gushing testosterones like you.”

Loki gripped my hand again. What is it with him and gripping my hands ?

“How dare you accuse me of being ‘jealous’.” He snarled at me as he let go of my poor hand. I whimpered in pain, rubbing my the wrists of my hands again.  

  “Ugh, jeez, fine, I’ll stop. Why do you keep hurting me anyway, first you abused my li—“ I cut off as heat filled my cheeks. I remembered the intense kiss we had earlier, it bothered me just how incredibly good he was at it, and to think, it had been my first too. Seriously, I had my  first kiss done with Loki. Freaking Gorgeous, drop dead sexy Loki ! Take that bitches !

I jerked my head up, wanting to know if he’d heard what I just said. And it seemed like he did, he looked at me intently from above. His height advance taking most of the pros in the situation.

“You were saying, mortal ?” He asked, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

His playfulness reminded me of how irritated I was supposed to be, so I rolled my eyes at him. “Oh nothing, just shut it Loki.” And then I crossed my arms over my chest. Loki laughed for awhile before asking a new question.

“So, did you get the ‘take-outs´ and ingredients today ?” He asked.

 Oh shit. I totally forgot about them ! Uh hello ?  I was busy running my ass off awhile ago, trying to keep you safe, you ass.

“Dang it! I forgot them at the mart !  I didn’t even buy the take-outs yet ! Well, if you hadn’t been an ass earlier, then I could have bought them. Jerk.”I say with a strong tone of voice. It was true anyway, if he had just told me earlier that he knew about what was going to happen next, then I could have saved myself the shame of losing my first kiss to an ass of a God like him, not that I was complaining or anything, okay fine,  yes, he was a great kisser, but still ! Gah, my head hurts again.

Loki chuckled. “So now, you are blaming me now for your carelessness, mortal ?”

I frowned. “Yeah, because you deserve it, asshole. And stop calling me mortal, it’s pretty darn annoying when you do that.” I poked his chest.

He grabbed my finger smiled creepily. Yikes.  “I do what I want.”

I slapped my other free hand onto his hand, causing him to let go of my finger. “And the same goes for me too, I can kick you out whenever I want, now tell me your almighty sassiness, do you want me to sell you out to the Avengers tor not ? ” I asked him with my arms crossed over my chest.

He didn’t reply instead, he gave me a low scowl which meant I probably won this round.

“Thought so.” I smiled in victory.

For the rest of the evening, I took Loki out to eat at a diner instead. We finished about an hour without arguing and walked back to the house, enjoying each other’s silent company. I often caught him gazing at the stars at night. Curious, I decided to follow his gaze and then I found myself admiring the starry sky too.  But I knew one thing for sure that Loki wasn’t just simply admiring the skies, he was thinking deeply about something. Perhaps he missed his family then ?

I sighed and let the cool breeze of the wind blow my worries and troubles away.  

When we’d reached the house, I found the main door unlocked, and thank goodness nothing was taken. (I would have to lecture Loki about the importance of locking doors later). I told Loki to close the door right after me once he’d gotten in and quickly made my way towards to kitchen to inspect his work.

I found the sink empty and the whole kitchen clean. I sighed in relief. It was refreshing to know that Loki had done his job after all. I started walking around when I heard a ‘squish’ come from underneath the carpet on the floor. I ducked down and lifted the carpet to check what had caused the odd sound.

I gasped. What. The. Hell.

  Burnt pancakes were lying all over the floor, just underneath the carpet that hid them.

Just then, I felt my nerves pop with anger.

“Loki ! You son-of-a-bitch ! Come here !”

Chapter  5 : You’ve got to be kidding me.

EMSGGBNG Entry #4 : Teaching Your  God How to Cook.

Don’t. Just don’t. Trust me. Been there. Done that. The result ? You wouldn’t even want to know.

  Next time, just stick to the take-outs, okay ?

    “No—“

    Thump.

   “Wait. Loki—“

Bam. Thump. Crash

“Loki ! For the fifth time ! I told you to flip it ! Not throw  it !” I exclaimed in exasperation. Flailing my arms up in the air in desperation. Sigh, this was probably going to take all night before we could  even cook a proper one. We were still here trying to get one damn pancake to look edible and we even started cooking an hour ago. What time was it already ?

I sighed. Maybe teaching him to cook wasn’t the most greatest idea I had in mind. Still, it had be done. If he still plans on crashing here a little bit longer, then he’ll have to make do with it. Take it or leave it, that was the deal. “Must I really do this ? “ He sighed in frustration as he turned to look at me. “Back in Asga—“

I raised an  eyebrow stopping him before he could even continue while I crossed my arms over my chest.

“Well, lookey here Mr. ‘I was made to rule’, look around, you’re not in Asgard right ?,You’re here—“ I pointed a finger on the ground. “—on Earth—on my planet and in my  home. So I’m now asking you kindly to please just shut the hell up and do what I say, okay ? ‘Take it or leave it’, that was the deal  remember ?” I snapped a finger at him, emphasizing my point.

Loki frowned before letting out a heavy sigh. It has been a week already since Loki came to our house. Weirder things have happened aside from Loki magically appearing from nowhere. The day after I found Loki, I woke up, finding  my Avengers blanket and my Captain America mug missing from the house. I’d even called and accused my mother and my brother of taking them away from me, but neither of them claimed to have done so. I kept looking for them for days and to which no avail, I found nothing. I’d even suspected my brother of being the culprit since he’d been eyeing them for quite some time before, though I’d still have to wait for him to come home yet, so by then I’ll have to sleep without the comfort of my Avengers blanky and Captain America mug protecting me from psycho maniacs of the night, like uh—let say—Loki ?  

Loki turned his attention back onto than pan before throwing the spatula onto it. I watched him do so and he looked really pissed off .“Fine—“ He pauses as he faces back at me. “—but when the day comes that I shall regain my immortality and magic again, I’ll make sure that you and your pathetic species will kneel and—“

I stomped his foot.

Loki’s eyes went wide with shock. “Argh ! H-how dare yo—“

  Again, I stomped his foot, though this time, it was harder.

  Loki immediately brought his poor foot into the air, hopping with his other free leg, up and down. Well, I think he was trying to do this to alleviate the pain.“ARGH ! THAT WAS HIGHLY UNCALLED FOR !” Loki shouted as he rubbed the sore foot. His brows were furrowed as his emerald green eyes glared at me with anger.

I gave him a pissed off look. “For every time you say those ‘kneel before me’ crap, I will give you the benefit of having your foot squished like an ant and you sleeping outside of the house without any blanket or pillow to sleep on, do you understand ?” 

Loki now stopped hopping. He looked up to me and glared. “And what makes  you so sure that I will adhere to your pathetic threat, mortal ?” He spat out, still eyeing me with anger. I liked seeing Loki getting tied up in knots. Just the thought of it entertains me. I mean, it’s not like you get to see Loki getting all worked up like this everyday.

My response ? Well, I just gave his other foot another stomp. See ? They’re now a happily-stomped pair.

“ARGHHH !” Loki now let go of rubbing his  foot, and quickly diverted his attention to the other. “Fine then ! What is it with you mortals and bullying me!”  Loki’s glare intensified a hundred fold. I shuddered a little.  He just said mortals, with an ‘s’. Was he pertaining to the scene in Avengers where he gets beat up into a pulp by Hulk ? Daaamn, I’ll have to rewatch that part again.  

I didn’t answer him, instead, I turned my attention onto the ‘hot mess’ before me. I was talking about the burnt pancakes if in case you were wondering, you naughty reader.“You know what ? It’s really funny actually.” I started to chuckle while I started fixing the mess. I took a mental note to never let Loki get near the kitchen ever again.

“What is ?” Loki asked in a menacing tone, he still wasn’t clearly happy about what I did earlier. Well, it was worth it anyway.

I tore my attention from the task  at hand at looked at him. He stopped hopping now, but he still had that annoyed look plastered onto his face as he eyed me up and down.

I placed my hands on my hips as I leaned on the counter top to support my weight. I raised a hand and pointed a finger at him. Just as I pointed at him, he raised that magnificent brow of his as I spoke. “Well, for someone like you—a God—who tries to take over Earth, you really suck at cooking, I mean, really really suck at it.  I don’t know whether I should still be threatened by your presence or your horrible talent at cooking.” I chuckled as I told him. It was true though anyway. Loki seemed to have a special talent at burning pancakes. Then again, should I still risk myself teaching him other things ? The thought sent shivers down my spine.

Loki crossed his arms over his chest and grinned. Talk about creepy.

“You see mortal, A true King—like me—“ He emphasizes on the last word. Well, of course, I should have seen that coming. “—never cooks for himself, why do so when I can have my servants do it for me ?”

Still grinning, Loki approached me carefully. He stopped when our faces where only a few inches away. He seemed to be having a hard time though. He was so tall that he needed to bend over so that he could be in the same eye level with me.

“That is, if you do not want to live your whole pathetic mortal  life as a lowly servant—I could always spare you the chance of being with me—“ He paused and stared at with those mischievous green eyes before playing with a loose strand of my hair that fell onto my face as I slowly backed away from him a little. “—as my Queen.”

 I froze in place as he tucked the loose strand behind my ears. And then, he gave me the most sexiest grin I ever saw in my entire life. “You’d make a lovely one, I assure you.”He continues. Oh Loki, you sly creeper. Be his Queen ?  Is he fucking out of his mind ?

 Loki eyed me with anticipation written in his emerald green eyes. He stayed quiet as he waited for a response—or any form of reaction coming from me. 

When I didn’t say anything, he started first.“A tempting offer , is it not ?”He says as he stepped back a few inches before me while his eyes never left mine as he did so.

 “Can you not imagine it mortal ? To be with the most powerful God ? All that power­—and control. And to deny all of that would be the most foolish and unwise decision you’ll ever make.” Loki did some gestures to emphasize his point. And seeing him do those stuff made me think that Loki would definitely pass as a good professor someday. Just imagine those slender and sexy hands. Wait, do I smell a fanfiction coming ?

  With Loki away from me now, I was able to regain my lost composure and train of thought. I stopped leaning from counter and stood up straight. I grinned playfully, earning another lifted dark brow from him. God, he had to stop that or else, sooner or later, I might lose control over myself and do other awkward things to him. It’d be  horrific nightmare for me.

Grinning, I opened my mouth to give him my reply. “Why Loki, of course—“

His eyes started to lit up.

“—not.” I continued, still grinning as his face fell. Hah ! Did you see his reaction ? Take that you wanna-be-king. ‘Uh-huh, you’re owned—you—you—are—so—ownneeeed’. I sang inside my head with a happy tune, I also did some mental dancing too.

My mental victory came to a halt when I noticed his eyes look back up to me and a frown started to form on his beautifully sculpted face. It felt good messing with him.

“You dare deny my  offer to  you ?” He asked in a low and hushed voice. It was cute seeing him have that look so equally cute and confusing at the same time.

“Yes.”  I say casually. I didn’t bother to continue anymore, knowing that Loki would obviously ask me why. I wanted him to initiate it first. Plus, I enjoyed toying with his reactions. It was still too early to stop now. “B-but why ? I do not understand ! It was a tempting and good offer—“He paused and looked back down. He looked so worked up. He must have been looking for answers himself in his mind.

“—was it not ?”  He continued as looked back up, his brows furrowing. I remembered that it was the same expression he had when he’d found out the truth about his true heritage from his adoptive father— Odin. I pitied him, but only for a moment, he could be acting it all out for all I could know.

Completely forgetting about the mess in the kitchen, I told him my answer. “Yes and no. Yes because it was indeed, a tempting offer and no, because I do not want it.”

He looked baffled his expression immediately changed from a sad puppy into a slightly infuriated one. See? I knew he was acting. He was the God of Mischief and Lies after all.

 “Why in Odin’s name would you refuse my offer ? You know that I do not give second chances to mewling quims like you. So if you would, I demand to hear a reasonable answer from you. ” Loki now had his arms crossed over his chest again.

I sighed. This is why you don’t ever associate with stray Gods, especially when they go by the name of Loki. This God sure has some mentality  issues.

“Thank you for you most generous and kind offer, but I would like to tell you that—“ I raised my middle  finger in the air for him to see. “—one,  you mister, are a creepy ass shit, I do not know how you are doing it but you are scaring the shit outta me—“ I paused and raised my index finger along with my middle finger in the air. “—two, I like my men  with a stable mentality, thank you, and just you’d know, I hate dealing with your Godly shit, Loki, it’s driving me nuts—”I raised my other ring finger in the air. “—third, just hearing the word, immortality, sounds boring already to me, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life following you like a love-sick puppy, I like being a mortal—being human, knowing that there is death awaiting me, pushes me to strive harder to protect those I love, it’s not that I’m not afraid to die, it’s just that I’m willing to learn to accept it when my time comes to an end and I would like to leave this world knowing that I’ve done something good for myself and for the people I love—“ I raised my pinky up in the air. “—fourth, I don’t know what’s up with you ‘Asgardians’ and your ways of wooing women, but as far as I know— well, for the love of God, Loki ! You’re married, and you even gave  birth to an eight legged horse for fuck’s sake! How am I supposed to stay sane if I am to be with you ? Hell, I don’t want to be there, seeing you give birth to— I don’t even know what it’s going to be next, but I don’t want to be scarred for life, especially if it’s going to be a long one at that !” I huffed, and slightly panted for breath. I realized that I’d been talking non-stop for quite some time now since Loki hasn’t even uttered a single word to me. God, the silence in the air was totally creeping me out. Loki frowned and glared at me. If I wasn’t imagining it, then I could have sworn that smoke came out from his flared nostrils.“Look here you filthy plebian—“  He pauses while he points a slender finger at me. I cringed.He continues.“—first things first, I am not trying to scare you, mortal, if you feel threatened by my presence then you should have stopped arguing with me, you are truly making a mistake by denying what I have offered you. We Gods are known for being true to our words, when I say that you are not to be given any chance again, then what I say is none other than pure truth itself, no amends can be done to reverse what I have just said— second,  I. Am. Not. A. Man.—“Loki hissed as he said the last five words.

What ? So was he implying that he’s a woman then ? Well, that explains his bitchy tantrums, well, don’t tell me that it’s also the time of his month too ? No wait, WAIT, does this also imply that I’m also sexually and emotionally attracted to a woman ? And a psycho at that too ? Oh God I just can’t—

“— I. Am. A. God.” He continues, still hissing at every word. Whew, I felt relief wash over me, thank goodness that he’s male and not a—I don’t even know what to call it— but that just makes my head hurt even more, like, what the actual fuck, Loki’s a man—excuse me, I meant a God, pardon me for my irresponsible specie labeling— but he just gave birth to horse—with eight legs ! Ah well, you know what ? Fuck it. I don’t want to have additional homework anymore, I’ve had enough with that shit.

“—do I always have to remind you that ? What would it take me to keep that etched to that puny midgardian brain of yours ?” He stopped me with a hand before I could give him a witty response. “third, you are far more the most interesting mortal I have ever met to refuse an offer of immortality, though I do like the idea you’re giving me, turning you into a ‘love-sick puppy’ seems like a pretty amusing idea after all—“

Patricia Page, what have you done to stir the psycho back to life.

“And no, pathetic as it sounds and already is, being a mortal will serve you no good.  Your species will always be the weakest, easily crushed upon by those who are stronger , better and far more powerful. Can you not see the truth ? Your kind is blinded by the hopes and dreams that—in the end, worthless as they already are, will never—ever come true.”Loki spat out as he paused before pacing in the kitchen for a few moments but his eyes never tore away from mine. And then suddenly, he stopped and grinned at me.

“Darling, there is no such thing as ‘love’.”His velvety voice had a tint of mockery into it. “You see, this what they call, ‘love’ is none other than a useless emotion you petty female mortals created to play with instead of learning how to gain  power and control .” Loki started walking towards me again, halting when I flinched and backed away a little, he smirked at my sudden reaction.

“Just so you’d also know, mortal. I do not make an effort to woo women for them to come to me, why should I when they could easily succumb and give themselves freely without any constraint to me? Let me remind you that females like you—that it’s already in your nature to crave for subjugation—”He stops a breath for a while before resuming. “—and last but not the least, you have no business with me and my personal affairs and I find myself wondering dear mortal, how were you able to obtain this knowledge? You are always full of surprises, aren’t you ?” He says while he gives that Cheshire cat-like grin. Oh could this guy get anymore creepier than that ?

I panicked for a moment. What should I tell him ? Uh, fanfictions and tumblr and some slight knowledge from a teacher ? Wow that rhymed.

“Uh… Norse mythology ? ” I say, barely coming out as a whisper. Well, that could pass, I mean it’s basically the same right? 

 “Look here Loki, I’m not illiterate, okay ? I can read and write, just as well as you do, even for once, don’t be an asshat, will ‘ya ?” I continued, hopefully that was enough to support my previous answer.  

I saw a small grin toy at the edges of his mouth. “Oh, really ? He says. Oh you sexy sexy bastard. I sighed. “Yes, really. You know what Loki ? I could have accepted your offer but I am currently losing the least bit respect that I have for you. I mean seriously Loki, a horse ? Are you shitting me ? And don’t tell me that you have more Loki, because I swear to God I will never ever ever  talk to you again.” I shot at him. The mental image of him giving birth sent shivers down my spine.Technically, Loki is—indeed— a mother. Mama Loki. I snickered at the thought. Loki frowned before glaring at me and holding his fists tightly. “How dare you ! A mortal at that too ! Speak of my children like that ! I’ll have you know, mortal that I will not tolerate su­—“

Did  just hear him correctly ? Are my ears also shitting me ? He just said ‘children’ . Am I supposed to be scared shitless or happy for him ?

“… Hold it right there. Did you just say ‘children’—you mean, there are—“I paused and gulped.” — ‘more’ ? ” I asked. Oh, they  could be anything, they could be a giant ass spider or a scary-ass furby or even a freaking platypus. Well, you never know.

Loki cooled down before raising his eyebrow. Okay, what is it with him and raising eyebrows, can he not just say, ‘excuse me’ for a change ? I mean, hello, I know that you’re a really really  hot God but please, stop it with all the eyebrow porn. I’m trying my best to be a really good and decent (hah) person over here.

“Did you not just say a moment ago that you’ve read the Norse Mythology, yes ? ” He asks me with suspicion. Oh shit. He found out. Damn me and my big mouth. Well, I only saw a post in tumblr about him giving birth (ew) to an eight-legged horse before, well, I never knew that he still had more. Dude, talk about using contraceptives. Ever heard of abstinence, buddy? I’ll give him an earful of lectures when I get the free time to do so. 

I needed to hurry up and come up with something. An alibi would do. Even if I was bad at it.

“Well.” I say in a small voice, prolonging the word as much as I can. “I may or may not have dozed off in class about that part.” I try say in my most casual tone. I shrugged. “You know me, I’m a busy person after all !” I gave out a squeaked laugh at the end, trying to sound playful. Loki didn’t seem to buy any of my act at all. Well, what do you expect ? Lying to the God of Lies would be like telling a four-year old kid that Santa doesn’t exist. But whatever distracted him, he didn’t dare pay any attention to my bad talent of telling alibis , instead I found him telling more about his ‘children’. God help me. Loki and I sat at the living room couches, completely forgetting about the mess that still needed to be cleaned.  He sat beside me and I grabbed a couch pillow as I listened to him speak.

After a few more minutes, hearing Loki talk about the tales of his children had me pitching in for more. Gone was now the disgust and uninterested feeling I had before for him and his baby-making adventures. It felt like listening to a good audiobook, the only difference was, he was here, live in flesh, narrating it all to me in that soothing, sexy, and sensual voice, before I’d even noticed it, I’d forgot about the stories and focused into his beautiful features instead. The way Loki’s mouth opened and closed sent chills down to my bones. Half-way through the stories, I learned that he had more kids other than Sleipnir (the eight legged horse) himself. He told that he had an eldest son named, Fenrir who happened to be taking the form of a wolf (don’t ask me why), a younger son named, Jormungand who also takes the form of a sea serpent (nope, you still can’t ask me why) and an only daughter named, Hel, who also happenes to be the Goddess of the Underworld too (talk about an odd family, his should have been made a sitcom, I’m so watching it if it does become one). Though whenever Loki would retell a good memory about him and his children, his eyes would light up with joy. It was nice seeing him like this, and I preferred this kind of persona over his brooding and temperamental one. Hot damn, he has some nice cheekbones. I wonder how they would feel under my touch, would they be as razor-sharp as they were told to be ? Wait. What was I thinking ? Stop it Patricia. You’re just frustrated, yes, that’s all, frustrated. And maybe a little kind of lonely too. Did he also feel the same way back in Asgard too ? I wondered.

“Patricia !” A voice called out, snapping me awake from my daze. “I’m sorry, what did you say ?” I asked still readjusting to the surroundings before me as I found Loki, standing up and heading back into the kitchen. I watched him as he examined the mess he’d caused earlier. It would take a while to clean it up but since I had Loki with me, it wouldn’t be a problem anymore. His wound had already healed when the fourth day came, but it was still slightly tender to touch but nevertheless, he could still do some tasks without any delay. I also happened to control him sometimes  from venting out his angertoo much by threatening him that I would go and poke the hell out of his newly-healed wound. And to my surprise, it kind of  worked actually. “I apologize for interrupting your daydreaming about me but I’d like to ask you about what we should do now ? I do believe that we’ve consumed much of the ingredients earlier. “He says as pokes the burnt batch of pancakes lying on top of a ceramic platter. I flushed in embarrassment. Does he even read minds too ?

“I-I wasn’t even daydrea—bah, whatever, I’ll head out and go buy some take-out and some ingredients too, we need to replace the used ones.“ I called out to him as I checked my watch, indicating that it was still six in the evening which means I still had time to go out.

I started grabbing my phone and purse when Loki started to follow suit as well (except for the purse part, only females like me have those—but since he was a full-pledged mother now, it wouldn’t hurt to buy him one, would it ?) . I spun to face him before placing a hand on his chest to stop him . “Woah there, mister, and where do you think you’re going ? hmm? ” I asked him as I used my other free hand to clutch the purse and phone I had. Loki raised a brow at me. “Is it not obvious ? I’m coming, with you of course.” He says casually as  he watches me let go of my hand from his chest and put the phone inside the purse along with the money in it. When I finished placing them all inside, I jerked my head up to Loki to give him my reply.

“Nuh-uh, you mister are going to stay here—“ I pointed to mess back in the kitchen and his eyes followed for awhile before looking back at me with confused expression on his face. “and clean all of the mess you’ve made.” I say to him as I adjusted the sneakers to my feet. Loki’s eyebrows furrowed. “Mortal, are you making me—the God of Mischief and Lies—clean your little midgardian kitchen ?”   He asks, surprised.

I nodded. “ Yes, and now that you’ve got it, I’ll leave you here now, nice and cozy.” I spun around from him and started making my way towards the main door. When I heard Loki starting to protest, I turned around and looked at him, stopping whatever he had to say as I called out. “Be a good little God, and stay away from things that will get you in trouble. I want the kitchen clean when I come back , I also expect you to behave yourself. And oh, spare me the trouble of having you knocked up in my living room, okay? I don’t want to see baby horses or tarantulas or whatever you want to have, running in my living room. Remember, Loki, I run a house, and not a brothel here. So, cheerio !”

I call out to him, before shutting the door behind and hearing whatever witty response he had for me.

So I guess this means, it’ll be a Chinese take-out again for tonight, huh ? Oh well. Sigh.

—-

Walking down the dimly lit streets at night felt awfully cold and scary at the same time. I’d decided to buy the take-outs right after I was able to get the ingredients.

I was already half-way down street to Walmart when I felt a huge gush of wind hit me. I stopped on my tracks and closed my eyes for while as my wild hair hits my face mercilessly. When the wind has stopped, I jerked my head back up as I fixed my messy hair with my free hands. Whether it was because of my weariness or my imagination, I could have sworn that for a moment, I saw a glowingand bright blue streak of light coming from the same direction where the wind had hit me, My eyes slowly followed it as it passed through the whole dimly-lit street and city. It looked like it was scanning everything from above, just like how a photocopying machine would scan the paper they would replicate.  I rubbed my eyes , and when I opened them, I noticed that the streak of light had already disappeared and I ogled for moment if it was just because I was really too damn hungry and that the hunger made me see weird things. Ignoring what had happened earlier, and resuming my walk, I was able to reach Walmart earlier than I’d expected, roughly about around five minutes or so only. When I was already in, I grabbed a cart and started hunting for the things I needed.

I had finished gathering the rest of the ingredients and was now  in the baking section of the mart, gazing at the rows and rows of products in the shelves, looking for a good quality of flour when I heard a very familiar stream of voices booming from the other side of the aisle.

“I suggest that you stop being childish and start taking things seriously, Tony.” A strong but gentle voice said.

 Tony ? Did I just hear—

“Chill there Capsicle. Do you want me to go over the frozen section area and go get you some ice ? No, wait, I’ve got a better idea,  how about we take you back to the Arctic Ocean and get you all nice and chilled up in a block of ice?” The voice paused for a moment before resuming. “J.A.R.V.I.S. I need a temperature check on the Artic.”It was a voice that I was able to quickly recognize and I just knew exactly to whom it belonged too.

“Certainly Sir. The temperature of the surface of the Arctic Ocean is fairly constant. Almost near the freezing point of seawater and just slightly below zero degrees Celsius.” The some-what English-accented robotic voice paused. “Would that be all Mr. Stark ?”It continued.

“Yes that’ll be all,  J.A.R.V.I.S.”

“Very well, Mr. Stark.”

“See Cap ? The temperature’s not so bad, right ? Considering that you’ve been inside a block of ice for almost seventy yea—“

OMG. ARE YOU SHITTING ME. ARE YOU REALLY REALLY SHITTING ME. DID I JUST  HEAR TONY SPEAK TO J.A.R.V.I.S. . Shit ! I must be really really hungryto be hallucinating right now. I better go hurry up and get all these stuff done before I could even see a flying fish hover over me.

“Stark. Cut it out and stop acting like a kid. “Another familiar female voice echoed throughout the aisle.

Holy hell, was this happening for real ?

I couldn’t help myself anymore so I spun myself around—only to find Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlett Johansson standing at least five meters—in the middle of the aisle— away from me.

I found Scarlett wearing a pair of skinny black pants, a fitting black  tank top and an open khaki-colored leather jacket to finish off her look. Her usually blonde hair was replaced with short tresses of fiery reddish-orange curls that fell beyond past her chin but never fully reached her shoulders. On the other hand, Chris was wearing a pair of brown slacks, a blue button-down plaid polo shirt and a brown leather jacket to top it all off. His dirty-blonde hair was neatly parted and arranged whereas Robert, who was busy getting into a heated argument with him earlier, was wearing a black shirt with an ACDC logo in front of it, paired with a casual pair of denim jeans and as usual, his hair was short, but in a sexy-short kind of way. I noticed that something glowed in his chest. Oh no, wait. Don’t tell me it’s the—‘cause if it is, I swear I’ll shit bricks right now.

“Tasha !” Robert’s voice called out within the aisle.  I watched as Scarlett —no— ‘Tasha’ comes to them.

Wait a minute. Tasha ?

“Ma’am.” Chris nods at her.

“Rogers.” ‘Tasha’ nods back to him. “Do you know where Clint is ? I’ve been looking for him half-an hour ago.” She says as she looks around and her eyes catches me watching them. Panic filled me and I quickly looked away.

Was it possible ? Could they be really the Avengers themselves ? Wait, or were they filming right now ? I whipped my head and looked around for some cameras poking out.

But it wasn’t it still too early to be shooting for the next installment of Avengers now ? If  it is so, then where were the cameras ? The film crew ? God, my head was hurting so bad now.

I mean it’s not that it isn’t possible for them not to be real since Loki is practically at home, cleaning the kitchen right now and waiting for me. Oh wait. I forgot about Loki. If the Avengers were indeed truly here, then I’d better go home and make sure that Loki does not come out and do something stupid or else he’ll be dead meat—and I’ll be dead meat too.

Grabbing the nearest and most suitable flour as fast as I could, I quickly tossed it in the cart and started making my way back to the check-out counters when I heard another male voice come right through my direction. Jeremy Lee  Renner was running towards the Avengers. With a box of tampons in his hand.

Really ? Are you shitting me ? Oh God, I’m dying right now.

I spun around, my eyes following Clint’s movements as he starts to approach them.   

“Hey Nat !I found the—oh” He pauses as he quickly realizes how deep was the shit he was already in for.

Jeremy—no— Clint, was raising the box of tampons into the air, catching the attention of Tony, Steve and last but not the least, Natasha herself. Natasha’s face immediately turned the same color as her fiery red hair as Clint slowly approached them was now already few feet away from them. Clint stopped at his tracks when he saw Natasha eye him menacingly. Natasha quickly swiped the box of tampons away from Clint’s grasp and kneed him in his crotch. She quickly tossed the box away into an open shelf, leaving a poorly injured-crotch Clint agonizing in pain.

Well, whaddaya know ? It does suck to have some balls.

All the while Steve patted Clint on his shoulder, sympathizing with him, Tony only laughed so hard that it echoed throughout the whole mart, he even took a picture of it. I couldn’t help but give a little giggle of my own too. Clint only gave Tony a death glare that didn’t even stop Tony from laughing his ass off before thanking Steve for helping him get up. A beep interrupted their moment and Natasha quickly fished out her cell phone and stared at the screen for a moment. Even from afar, I could make out her face shift a little.

Without looking at trio, Natasha spoke.“Fury says that Loki has been recently  spotted somewhere in this area. We need to spread out and search and report back to Fury before midnight.” Natasha quickly stashes the phone back into the pocket of her pants before heading out of the mart along with the Avengers in full speed, well except for Clint, who—uh had some minor injuries.

Needless to say, I sprinted out the mart like a maniac, leaving my cart —and the gathered ingredients behind, completely forgetting my original purpose for going out.

I only hoped that Loki has already gone home quick before any of them spots him first.

  Though as much as Loki annoyed me to death.

Still.

  I needed to get home.

I needed to get home. Fast.

I knew I had to protect Loki.

And I didn’t even know why.  

  I just simply…

Chapter 4 : S.O.S.

EMSGGBNG Entry #3 : Manners.

Always remember that teaching your God some manners will definitely test your patience. And there will always be a case in which you’re going to be fed up with his/her shit that you’ll  just want to choke them so bad, their ancestors would feel it But if you still love having your head attached to your body, then it would be best to just simply endure their shitty attitude. Even if it means that you’re going to have to pay for the damages after.

-Patricia’s  P.O.V.-

Note to self: Never take Loki out to see movies in public. Especially if they’re showing those romantic-comedy ones that have some sexual innuendos in them.

The morning before the movie night came, Jake called and bailed out, saying that he had to attend some ‘family gathering’ or something, though I knew that he’d been making a bad excuse since I could recognize his voice when he’d tried to make one, but I let it slide anyway. And so, I decided that it’d be fun to take Loki out. Loki didn’t refuse but he kept on complaining how watching a movie was a ‘pathetic midgardian past-time’ and that he’d much more preferred it if we both stayed at home at read some books. Hah, like that would happen. ‘Reading books’  was Loki’s excuse to order me around at home and I knew for a fact that he was a sadist too. Well, this was one thing I wouldn’t slide.

I also made Loki wear a temporary disguise. By then, I had already dragged Loki to the bathroom (in which he terribly squealed like a girl, no kidding), I styled and trimmed his raven black hair and tousled it, giving him that sexy and dangerous look and gave him a blue-pair of colored contacts too. I’d also let him wear a plain v-necked-collared white shirt, a black jacket to layer it nicely and a pair of black skinny jeans too (all borrowed from my bro). Fortunately, it was a good thing that Loki had the same shoe size as my brother, and so I let him wear my brother’s (still borrowed) leather loafers. Loki complained at first about wearing the contacts but nevertheless I was still able to persuade him to wear them. When Loki was finished, I tried to mentally compose myself. He looked so utterly gorgeous and sexy at the same time. I was still worried though that someone might still recognize him, and so, finding a pair of black sunglasses, I offered it to him to wear it. He didn’t like the idea of wearing sunglasses but still, it was necessary for precautionary measures, I also told him that he could take them off once we were finally inside the movie house. The darkness will help him hide his identity, somehow.

Throughout the movie, Loki kept on bugging and asking me questions about the sexual innuendos found within the movie’s conversations. I pretty much tried to keep a straight face while explaining most of them. But before that, Loki also had the nerve to threaten the snack bar clerk to give him a popcorn, I was away from that time, buying the tickets for us. Still, I was able to get Loki out of trouble when I’d explained to the clerk that Loki was mentally unstable, which was still true anyway. In the end, the clerk refused Loki’s demands and that made him furious which led to him breaking the glass that had popcorn in it. We were lucky that there hadn’t been a large crowd to witness it happen, and if there was, I’d really kick Loki out of my house, the minute we get back, and I wasn’t even afraid to do it. The manager let it slide by letting me pay  fifty dollars (what a rip-off ! Thank God I still had some money in me.) and let me and Loki carry on with our own business. Luckily, the manager too had given us a free popcorn to eat, and Loki’s mood lightened up a little. I handed the popcorn to Loki before we left the bar.

Here’s a recap of what had happened inside the cinema earlier.

From beside me, I felt a slight tug of my shirt sleeve. I whipped my head to see Loki slightly leaning towards me, but still had his eyes on the large screen. People around us were now laughing their heads off, and I did the same too, except for Loki, who found the movie scenario and  conversation, confusing.

In a small and hushed tone, he asked. “Tell me mortal, what is it with visiting Uranus, and why do the people in here, find that so amusing ?” Loki’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. I tried so hard not laugh at his ignorance. This was his fifth question for the night, I only wondered how much more he still had in store for me.

When I could no longer hold it, I laughed lightly at him. “Loki, it’s still just a sexual innuendo.”I grabbed the popcorn from him and took a few. Loki glared at me when I took it from him but he didn’t complain anyway. “Tell me, do you know what an anus is ?” Well,  I can’t believe that I’m asking him this. This is so messed up. Loki then gave me a mischievous look before grinning. “Do tell.”

Okay what the actual fuck. I will not explain that to him. My dignity is all that I have now, I can’t just ruin it now. This is just so wrong on so many levels. “Don’t fuck with me Loki, I know that you know stuff, you’re a God, remember?” I handed back the popcorn to him before crossing my arms over my chest.  

Loki grinned this time.  “Yes, I am, do tell mortal, I find this “anus” thing interesting.” Okay, that settles it, not only Loki was a mental psycho but he was a perverted maniac too. I should have known. It also seems that Loki has a gift for making people really uncomfortable.

I sighed and rubbed my temples. I thought of a good way to explain this… madness to him.

Well here it goes. God help me.  “Y-you know… when we take a dump… it’s the… p-part of the body…” I trailed off in a small voice, thinking of other possible ways to explain it to him without sounding really stupid and awkward at all. Loki shifts in his seat and is now facing me. He’s smirking. “Carry on.” He says, clearly enjoying my uneasiness. What an ass.

“I-it’s the p-part where the poop comes out-t.” I continued but didn’t look at his eyes when I said it. I mean, who talks about shitting to someone ? Even describing how it is done too ?

Loki laughs heartily but lightly. His oil-smooth voice, flooding my ears. They sounded so heavenly. Oh God, am I daydreaming ? All of the places ? Now ? With him ?

“You midgardians are really amusing. It’s no wonder why your species are the most apt kind to have as pets.” He takes a few of the popcorn in his hands. “Now, would you kindly elaborate further this ‘anus’ thing you speak of ? I still cannot understand what you are trying to point here, mortal.” Grinning, Loki takes another shot of popcorn before looking at me again with those mischievous green eyes. I felt my annoyance grew in me. Loki was a stubborn God. No, he was a five-year old kid trapped in a beautiful man’s body. Damn him !  He’s just so frustrating to deal with!

“It’s…it’s. . ah fuck it !” I exclaim right at him. “It’s the asshole goddammit !” I blurted right at him, not realizing that I’ve now made a scene right inside the dimly lit cinema. Really. Wonderful. Just what I needed. Another embarrassing memory to cherish. Thanks a lot Loki. You ass.

A lot of people looked right our direction. Most of them wide-eyed. Some were eyeing us with annoyance, others shushed us with their fingers and hisses.

Oh God. Why ?. I know that I’ve been so good this year. Again, I repeat, WHY ?

A couple seated right in front us, whisked their head to our direction and eyed us with disgust as they started to get up and move. Gosh, I just wanted to curl up in a ball of shame at that moment. I just wanted to go home now. And it was all thanks to Loki. The God of Mischief and complete assery.

Thinking that this might be a good opportunity to make a run for it and escape the shame, I stood up and grabbed  Loki’s hand, causing him to almost drop the popcorn on the floor. Fuck the movie, I’ll just wait for the  DVD. Right now, nothing else mattered except for my dignity.

Loki made a face. “What in Odin’s name are you doing !” He exclaims as I dragged him away from the cinema and into the street, just outside the movie house. It was still probably seven in the evening, judging from how crowded the streets were filled with busy people, rushing to get back to their homes.   When we made it outside, I panted for air, where as Loki did the same, he glared at me when he did so too. “Are you out of your mi—“

“Can you just please shut up your fucking mouth for once ? I’ll fucking sew it back if you speak single goddamn word right now.” I told him as I removed the scarf from neck. I needed the cold air to soothe me. I needed to clear my head for a little while.

“How dare you speak foul—“

“I fucking mean it.”I shot back at him. He looked at me calmly before silencing himself. I’m glad it worked.

For a couple of minutes, we just stood there, the night air engulfing us as we watched the busy streets hum with life. Loki didn’t speak nor budge a move for a long while. Even with the fast-paced life on the streets, I was able to blur them all out from my mind and I was finally able admire the pretty lights that spread across before us. Peace. Finally.

Feeling rather cooled down, I faced Loki. “Okay then, how would like to go for a walk ?” I asked him while wrapping the scarf back around my neck.

Loki didn’t reply but instead, he only gave me slight nod. His lips, pursed into thin line.

Now, Loki and I were beside one another, walking  our way back home. Really, I don’t usually do this, I always take a cab whenever I want to go back home, but knowing that Loki was with me, I felt safe being with him.  Odd.

This man infuriated me to the core. Other than playing mischief and lying, annoying people to death was probably another of his talented gifts.

Sighing, I placed my hands into pockets of my cardigan. Loki looked at me before shoving his into the pockets of his jeans.

There was no way that this deal was going to work. I mean, every time that Loki and I were together, we’d be pulling each other’s wits. He was a God, and a cunning one at that too. How am I supposed to deal with this Godly—excuse me— shit ?

At one point, Loki was ahead of me with a few steps when he’d stopped walking and gazed right into the still display of a shop. I caught up with him, wondering why he’d halted in his tracks. I looked at him, examining him as he stared into the display. I whisked my head to look at the direction his eyes were laid on. There was a small book about monsters displayed on a display shelf and it had a cover of a creature that slightly had bluish tint of hue to it, it also had enormous hands could cut anything with it’s razor-sharp claws. It was then I’d realized that we’d stopped over at a small bookshop.

The small book reminded me of something awfully familiar.

Something…

About Loki.

So I am no more than another stolen relic, locked up here until you might have use of me?

Oh. I tore my gaze away from the book and looked at Loki. His eyes looked liked they were staring into the void. His face held no significant emotion but deep down I knew, his nightmares had come to haunt him again. Although I hated Loki and his annoying antics but looking at him right now, made my heart…sink. Loki had thought of himself as a monster, torn by lies and emptiness. God, the man was even taught to hate his own kind. He’d even hoped a hopeless dream. I felt a pang of sadness as I continued to study his face.  

Another memory came up in my head.

What, because I… I… I am the monster parents tell their children about at night?  

I blocked the memory quickly. I placed a palm on his broad shoulder, he winced slightly, not from the pain I guess, but from the sudden touch. Even with some clothes on, he felt cool. Well, I guess it was another perk of being a Frost Giant.

I tapped his shoulder, telling him to face me but he only ignored me, refusing to look at me.

“Loki.” I say. Still nothing.

“Loki.” I say again, and this time he looked down. His emerald green pools radiated of emptiness. His face, a hollow and empty expression and his lips had been tightly pursed into a straight line. The playful Loki earlier was now nowhere to be found.

I sighed and tilted his head down by his chin.“Loki, we’ve all had our fair share of doubts and bad lucks.” I paused while I let go of my hand from his shoulder before taking both of his hands into my own and looked straight at him. I wanted his full attention on me. His brows furrowed a little but not too much. Was I making him uneasy ? “And perhaps, yours was just more than the usual, but remember Loki, no problem exists without a solution or answer to end it. You’ll find yours soon enough, you’ll just have to endure for awhile, but you know what ? In the end, it will be all worth it, trust me.”  

I smiled at him before letting go of his hands.

I looked at behind him and into the dim streets, remembering something.

“Now, what do you say ? We go home now and rent a few movies along the way, I know a great video store just right down the street.”I gave him another smile as I extended a hand towards him. Telling him to come with me.

“Well, are you up for it buddy ?”

-Loki’s  P.O.V.-

This mortal.

She is a stubborn one I admit. A complete pain in my Asgardian soul.

But her simple gesture had me at lost for words. A Silvertongue, at lost for words ? Hilarious. How does she know what I’m feeling right now ? Does she know my true nature ? An abomination ? A rejected outcast of the Asgardian society ? Does she know how much pain I am in right now ?  I doubted that, she was just a petty mortal after all.  But there was something in this mortal, I do not know for sure, but there is indeed something, something telling me to trust her. To believe in her.  

Well should I ? Could I ?

I mentally shook my head. No, this woman was not capable of telling a lie.  If there was something I was so sure about, it was the purity of her soul. Although most of times, foul words come out from  that small and frustrating mouth of hers, still, deep inside her true nature was kindness, unlike me, I was a monster, in and out. It was a skin-deep shame and burden I had to carry for the rest of my life. But this mortal—thiswoman, Patricia. Even at a ripe and young age, her wittiness already matches that of an adult’s. I was proud to have met her. Too bad, she would have made a great Lady back in Asgard, she possessed a kind soul and she was true warrior at heart too. She even wouldt have been made a great Queen too.

Queen ?

Wait, what in Odin’s name was I thinking ? I sighed. She is only but a mortal, her kind was the weakest species that had ever existed and I, I was a God and I should learn how to act like one. To be one.

But, I could let it go just this once.

Just this once.

I would try feeling again . I would try it . With her.

  I grinned as I looked down and nodded at her, accepting her offer.  She grinned back as well. And off we were, dashing onto the dim but busy streets of Midgard.

I would go back home.

  With her.

Home.

EMSGGBNG Entry #2 : The Care and Feeding of Your Stray Norse God.

As expected, you’ll be inclined to take care, feed and still listen to all the crap your Norse God will be giving you for the next few days. Their diet mainly consists of regular lashing and race discrimination to your species, stroking their ego, and your mother’s homemade pudding.

I spent the past few days taking care and tending to Loki’s wound ever since he’d arrived. We’ve made a brief introduction of ourselves after making the deal. I made him a decent living space by using the spare pillows, comforters and blankets I had in my closet. Loki paid no attention really, though sometimes he’d complain of the boredom and he’d vent it all out at me. Well, I’m not the one who’s all knocked up here right ?  And as the following days passed by, Loki’s wound gradually looked better compared to its initial state before. Sneaking around while carrying food was really harder than I’d thought it would be. There was even a time in which my brother almost caught me one night, clutching a Tupperware with my Mom’s pudding in the middle of the night. You’re probably wondering what’s wrong with me being caught with pudding right ? Well, the sad thing was, I absolutely, tremendously, horribly (emphasis on the next word please.) hate  my mom’s pudding. It made my stomach sad, and I personally liked my stomach happy, thank you. I’d managed to slip away from my brother’s suspicious looks by coming up with a really really  bad excuse, though miraculously, it worked. And I can’t even find a logical reason to explain why. Today was already the seventh day of Loki’s surprise visit to my house. And what a troublesome and annoying surprise it was, indeed.  Despite all that, I felt pretty proud of myself, you know ? It ain’t easy to keep a bitchy God and keep him dehydrated and well fed in a house with alert and prying eyes present everywhere. I’d also managed to change the door knob of the temporary door of Loki’s “room” to keep my pesky family from knowing what lies behind the damn door. I made Loki keep a spare key for him and the other for me to use, I’d also remind him to lock the door regularly when I was away. Though personally, I didn’t think it that necessary. My dad was a travelling journalist for some big-hit industry, so it meant that he’d only come home rarely, and when he did, he’d spend a full week being with us, to make up for the lost time, and honestly, it didn’t bother me at all, he was a good man and I loved him, he was the best father I could ever have. My dad was also paid a ridiculously large amount of salary for his job, which was odd, since as far as I knew, journalists only made so little, but I didn’t question him anyway and his income was more than enough to feed our family, I only felt grateful for that. On the other hand, my mom was your average and regular housewife, she took care of us, cooked our meals, and was there for us whenever my brother and I had some problems in dealing the real life. She also used up most of her free time, volunteering at numerous charity events, helping the community deal with outrageous shit, and cooking and baking too (which wasn’t bad at all, except for her pudding, well, that was another story) thus, she’d only come home home to fix us our meals, needs and other stuff whatnots and then she would go off with her other bff’s (the crazies, widowers single moms, etc. you know them) to assemble in their teeny, tiny, little club, better known as the ‘Sexually Frustrated Housewives’ or SFC as I would like to call it. And as for my brother, he was already twenty-eight years old leaving a huge age gap in between me and him, and though he was old enough to deal with his own problems, he would still come to me to ask for advice, and I was already willing enough to give him some. My bro was a NEET, which also meant that he spent most of his time, coped up in his own room. He rarely comes out though, he’s pretty much considered a nocturnal creature (like me! )but when he does, you’d expect him to party all night and sleep all day after his great escapade.

I was now seating beside Loki, eating a large bag of Cheesy Cheetos as watched the large T.V play America’s Next Top Model while seated on the stylish but comfy couch in the living room. We both decided to chill out from his “bloody damn prison” by which also happened to be my unfinished future room. Dad had already left a few days ago to resume his work while Mom traveled to the countryside to attend some crazy lady convention (and I don’t want to even know what it was about), for a few weeks and my brother was now also busy crashing himself at his friend’s place while our parents were away. And it all came down to me and Loki, owning the house for albeit while the grown-ups were away.

Loki took a few scoops of his homemade pudding (one word : ew) before complaining about how ridiculous each contender looked at their photo shoots, he would shamelessly complain about how extreme thin most of them looked.  He swallowed another scoop (in a sexy manner) of pudding with his uninjured arm before speaking. “I’d always know you petty mortals to be fools one way or another.” He paused while taking another scoop again. God, how can he can make any horrible food look delicious while he just simply ate it ? Really, that was so unfair. “But it has always piqued my attention at how incredibly low and stupid you all were, and this just proves it well enough.” He says while pointing his spoon to the television. I stared at him while his attention was on the large screen. Would his hair be as silky as how it had appeared to be ?  I wondered for a moment before Loki called my name out to grab my attention. I narrowed my eyes before throwing a few of my Cheesy Cheetos at him. He tried to dodge, but given with his current state, I didn’t think it was possible. His eyes were now wide at shock as he gave me a snarl. “How dare you mortal to throw foul things at me ! “ He exclaimed but I found it terribly amusing and so, I only gave him a good and loud laugh. I laughed as I wiped a tear welling up from my eye, this was way too much. “And you want to rule over these ‘stupid fools’ ?”  I say with mockery present in my voice, I can only say it didn’t please him as much as it did to me. He glared at me as he set his spoon on the now-empty plate where the pudding was before.

 “I was made to rule. To be a king, and therefore, I shall fix these damned ways your people have grown accustomed to and with that I shall build a new kingdom, because in the end, you all will always kneel­­—“ He looked and gave me the creepy grin he was so famous for. “—to me. “ He continued, still having that creepy grin plastered to his face. Even with him, making a valiant effort trying to get me to ‘succumb’ to him,  I didn’t feel threatened by his words or presence anymore, instead, I found myself growing rather fond of his company, I’d even enjoyed interrupting him while he made his ‘I was made to rule’  speech crap.

I threw another set of Cheesy Cheetos at him.

He glared and growled at me this time and I just simply laughed back at his face. Hah. Take that you narcissistic douche. “Are you really trying to provoke me ? Do you not know your plac—“ He stopped as a loud buzzing sound, accompanied by my Justin Timberlake’s  ‘Suit and Tie’ ringtone echoed throughout the room. Loki looked surprised, and even more as I fished out my smart phone from pocket of my cargo pants. I gave him a finger, telling him to shush his mouth while I took a call from my friend. He followed but didn’t look happy when he did so. I held up the phone to my ear. “Yo Jake, what’s the sitch ?” I call out, earning a raised eyebrow from Loki. I only held out my tongue to him. “Such unacceptable manners for a lady, Tsk tsk.” He shakes his head in disbelief before giving me another grin.

“Shut up.” I shot back to Loki.

“Excuse me ?” Jake’s voice called over from the phone.

“Oh sorry, J, It wasn’t meant for you.” I apologized to him through the phone. At the corner of my eye, I found Loki grabbing the remote and flipping through the channels, he looked really bored.

“It’s cool. Uh hey, about the movies—” Jake starts through the phone, I wondered why he sounded sad though. Jake, Emily, Emily’s boyfriend, Nash and I decided to go for a movie this coming Friday. It was my idea, to celebrate the couple’s ‘Finally Getting Hooked Up Together’ moment. Emily, my only best female bud had been recently drooling over Nash for quite some time now, and she’d managed to shock Jake and I, with the great news of her and Nash, finally being a couple. Over time, Jake and I worried over Emily, we thought that it would end up as a nasty case of one-sided love for her, but eventually we were proved wrong. “Yeah ? What about it ?”   I say casually over phone while chewing the Cheetos in my mouth. Loki still paid no attention to me, and it seemed that he’d found some interest over something playing on the T.V. . It was none other than the Wildlife Channel featuring Penguins roam in groups in the Antartic ice. Loki looked really adorable and I stared at him (again) for a bit before diverting my attention back to Jake on the phone.   

I could hear Jake sighing over the phone. “You see they bailed out. Well, not technically, they asked in a kind way though.” I could imagine him massaging his temples. “Sorry about that Trish, but hey, I’m still up for the movies on Friday, how about you ? “ He asked, his tone, slightly improving. I thought about it for a moment, well, I could never leave Loki all by himself here while I go watched some movie with friend, it’d be really risky, leaving him all alone and vulnerable here at home. I looked at him for a moment. “Sure, only if I can bring someone with me.” I replied back to Jake with a grin. Movies with Loki might be fun, I wasn’t going to miss that moment. “Uh, sure, I guess.” Jake says with a disappointed tone. Sorry Jake. Can’t leave the guy here or else I might find my house burning down to pile of ashes when I come back home.  I hope that you’ll understand, buddy. “Thanks a lot, J. Same time ?” “Yeah.” He replies dryly. “Okay then, see ‘ya.” I say back to over the phone before cutting off the call. Loki now turned his attention back at me, abandoning the Penguins in the T.V..

He raised again his dark brow at me. “I take it that you’ve made plans with someone ?” He asks in the same velvety voice that screamed, ‘Eat Me’.

I grinned back at him. “You’re coming though, can’t leave you here. “ I reply back to him. He then gave me confused expression.  “But before that, I’ll have to teach you stuff tomorrow, I think your arm is better now, right ?” I asked him, hoping to receive a positive reaction and honest answer from him. “No, it is not.” He says dryly, clutching his injured arm with his other free arm in a protective manner. “Aw, come on ! It has already been a week, surely you Gods can heal quickly, can you ?”

“Stop pestering me with questions mortal. If I say that it is not, then that would be the last of it. Do you understand ?” He says with a hard expression on his face. I flinched back for a moment. Loki looked serious. I wondered for a moment why ? I mean really, aren’t God’s blessed with the power to heal and regenerate quickly ? Well, a week has passed now ever since he came in my house with a huge gash wound, it should have healed rather quickly right? Unless…

I faced him now and looked at him, straight in the eyes. His emerald green eyes never failed to drown me in their beauty. “Tell me Loki. .  . are you …” I trailed off. I didn’t want to offend him but it had to be done after all, I needed answers to my internal questions. “Mortal?” I continued but the word nearly came out as a squeak. Has Odin stripped him off of his immortality now? Was his punishment really that heavy ?

Loki didn’t reply for a few seconds, instead he only stared at me with those eyes. “Loki…” “Must you really pester me so much you human filth !” Loki burst out and I found myself jumping from my couch, tightly gripping the edges for support. Loki proved to be really terrifying when he got mad. I mean he just scared the shit outta me right now. Sighing, I called out to him again. “Loki, I’m sorry if I’ve offended you or anything, you see, I was only curious—“

“Curious ? “ Loki started to laugh now. “This why you mortals always find yourselves situations that threatens for the safety of your life ! Are you not even aware of your very own Midgardian saying ? ‘Curiosity killed the cat’ ?” Loki starts huffing out in rage. “Or do want me to demonstrate what I’m trying to point out here ? I’d be very much interested in doing so.” He finishes, his tone now calmer but nevertheless, it was still giving  me the chills.

I flailed up my arms in defeat. “Okay, okay, I understand your point, but really, I’m just curious, that is all, I didn’t mean to flip your bitch switch on.”

  Loki’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“My Bi-what ?” He asks.   I gave him a knowing look. “Bitch Switch. You know, when someone ticks you off, and then you go on raging, bawling your eyes out.”I explain to him. I felt the sudden change of the atmosphere eased the tension between. Well, at least things were now cooling down.  Loki shook his head in disbelief. “What is it with you humans and your vocabulary ?” I gave him a half-smile and shrugged. Happy that the tension was now finally relieved off.

“I guess that we’re just spontaneous that’s all.”

Loki nodded. Although the tension has already died down, I still couldn’t help myself from asking again, I needed an answer. An honest one. In a low and calm tone, I asked him . “So…  are you ?” I was  hoping that I don’t flip the switch again. Loki looked at me before sighing and rubbing his temples. “Fine, I am , now, are you content ?” He asks in a ticked off tone. I smiled at him. “Yes I very much am.”

“Though why couldn’t you just tell me earlier though, are you like on PMS or something ?” I asked him as I crossed my arms over my chest. Loki shot back another expression of confusion to me. “Pm-what ?” Loki shook his head. “You do realize that I am the God of Mischief, right ? Which means, that I don’t make it easy for everyone.” He grinned at the last part.

“Touché.” I  say back with a grin too.

Loki smiled, it looked genuine enough and so I returned him with a smile too. I’d never thought that hanging out with Loki could be so scary but entertaining at the same time. I’m glad to have met him.

I got up and  took the plate where the pudding had been earlier. I flinched a little at the reminder of how it tasted. I wondered how Loki was able to surpass the taste, does he have a magical tongue too? “Are you not disgusted ?” I asked him and then I felt goose bumps rising over my skin as I once again remembered the putrid taste of it.

      “By what ?” Loki asked, raising his head to look up at me while he tore his attention from the T.V.. I raised the used platter in the air.  “This.”

      He raised an eyebrow. There it is again. The need to rub my thumb over it and stroke it all over is killing me . Damn Loki and that brow. Damn him for being perfect.

“I find the taste, quite exceptional. Is there something I should be aware of ?”  He asked, still using that that goddamn sexy voice.

I stared at him for a moment, finding his appetite and taste, really weird.  I shook my head but my eyes never left him as I did so. “No…”

After a few seconds, I spun myself around, and started making my way towards the kitchen when I slipped and fell. “Oh Shi—“ 

Unfortunately, my face met the cold hard floor first. The plate (thank goodness it was plastic!) rolled onto the floor. Not longer than that, I felt a long, cool, and slender hand grab my mine and yanked me up.

“Fuck. .  . that really hurt.” I complained as I got up. I rubbed my face, feeling my left cheek hurt a little. This will probably bruise.

“Is this a habit of yours ? Mindlessly tripping on the floor?” Loki asked, his tone of voice amused, I could hear a faint chuckle coming from him. “… No.” I said while balancing myself, my other free hand was now settled over his chest. I felt the thin fabric of his black shirt within my palm, his chest heaving as he inhaled and exhaled. And then suddenly I felt intimidated his height. Analyzing, I’d be guessing he was somewhere over six feet and three inches.

 I looked up to him, feeling him towering over me. His expression, still amused. His mouth, smirking.