It's Magic, My Dear

I think it was my own snores that woke me the next morning. I was face down in the backseat of my car outside Jane’s research station. A groan crackled in my throat as my stiff joints began to move with fresh life and stumble from the car.
My hands rumpled at my hair and my eyes squinted against the early morning sun. It was barely blistering against the slowly blue rising sky, but still it was hot. I grabbed my bag from the passenger seat and slung it over my shoulder and headed for the research center. It was going to be way too hot for long jeans.

Quickly I slipped on a pair of black jean shorts that had somehow managed to stay together after years of pub crawls and concerts and a plain grey tank top. As I relaced my boots I heard the unmistakable sound of another set of heavy boots stomping into the center and my sister’s voice.

“I cannot thank you enough for getting this back for me. I can restart everything from just this.”

“It was my pleasure, Jane.” Thor’s deep rolling voice followed.

“Mornin’.” I popped my head around the corner of the little room off to the side. I spotted Jane’s little black book in her hands.

“Look, Thor managed to nab this for my last night.” She held it up with a wide grin.

“Oh, cool. I tracked down where your equipment has been taken too and I am very sure that I can recover over fifty precent of your data from here.” My boots clunked against the floor as I walked out to meet them.

“Oh, no. Most of that data is going to need so much tinkering with that it’ll be easier to start with just this.” Her eyes averted to Thor who had a triumphant smile over his face.

“Hrm, cool.” I nodded but truthfully I couldn’t help but feel disappointed and somewhat shunted to the side. After all Jane had begged me to come out there and help her…and now it seemed that was a bit of a time waster.
“You’ll never gue-“

“Tiggie, could you grab us something to eat? From the café? I am famished and need to get my head down on this research right now. You’ll never guess what I am onto.” Jane pushed past me in the direction of the only table left in the center.

I took a step back and as my heart slowly began to sink I nodded. It was easy to see that Jane’s new infatuation with the God was slowly going to see her push some people aside. I guessed though I couldn’t blame, if it had been me in her place…but it was me. Hadn’t I met a God too? Hadn’t I felt a rumble when Loki had spoken to me? Didn’t I have a feeling of want to see him again?
“Sure. I’ll be back soon.”

“Great. Don’t forget the coffee.”

“Sure.” My smile was stretched as fake as fake could have been, but Jane only nodded and looked back down to her little black book.

“Shall I partake in the food gathering?” Thor asked as he looked over to Jane already scribbling away at a blank stack of papers.

“Big guy, you can help. Otherwise you’ll be sitting in silence. Jane is known to be at her workings for hours before coming up for a breather.” I chuckled at the God who felt like he was only trying to do what he thought was right.

“Then I shall follow. To the food we shall march!”

“Righto.” I headed back towards my car with the God of Thunder in tow. This was going to be interesting.

*

I smiled to the waitress as I handed over a few notes of money and leant back against the counter waiting for our to go order. Thor looked down at me from his great height and grinned. “Jane must think you very smart to ask of your assistance.”

“Ah, I guess.” I replied with a befuddled look over my face.

“She talked about you last night. Jane told me about your coming all the way here on her request.” He nodded his golden head in approval.

I nodded. “Well I thought she needed my help, though I guess not so much now.”

“Jane is blessed with luck to have a young sibling so close…” His smile died a little and somewhere inside me felt a little pang of sorrow for him.

“You can never go home, can you?” My hand touched his wrist as he shook his head.

“It is because of I that father is dead.” Thor’s words were a low rumble of his own heart break.

“Oh…” I had no idea Odin was gone and I wondered if that’s what Loki had told Thor the night before. “I…I’m sorry for…I’m sorry.”

He looked back down at me and forced a smile but sadness tainted his cherry exterior. “My brother came to see me out and burden me with the news. He is the rightful King of Asgard now.”

“I met him, your brother.” I couldn’t help but blurt the words out. I have no clue why I told Thor, I really don’t.

“When?” He brow creased.

“Last night, outside the facility. I was searching for where they had taken Jane’s equipment to and my trackings lead me there. He was waiting till you’d finished making quick work of the guards.”

“Did you converse?”

I nodded. “Briefly. He called me a liar and said it was a pleasure to meet me. He knew my name though…I didn’t say it, but he knew it.”

“Loki is an odd creature. I love my brother, but he is a prankster.” A glimmer of a past memory glittered in his sky blue eyes. “I shall miss that.”

Our order came out in several bags and trays of coffee. Thor reached out and took the bags as I grabbed the coffee. We said our thanks and exited the café. “I like him, Loki that it.”

Thor placed the bags between his feet as we slid into my car. “I can see by the shimmer in your eyes that from your short talk you are fond of him.”

I felt my cheeks begin to blush. “I knew of him a long time before last night.” Jutting the keys into the steering wheel I revved the engine to life and backed out of the car park. “I have spent my life studying you, the Norse Gods. It is what I specialise in. Over the years through legends and the more commercial side made of your myths, I have found that Loki was an idea I found some relation with. A correlation of sorts.”

“Really? That is fascinating.” He looked over as I drove.

“I travelled in my teens to see the relics left by the Vikings. There was a stone engraving of Loki in England that caught my particular interest…but you know meeting him in the flesh was unlike anything I have ever experienced.” My teeth bit into my bottom lip and I smiled. “It was nothing short of magnetic.”

“You said he knew your name?”

“Yes.”

“From my experience if Loki has taken the time to uncover a name there is something about the owner of the name that has caught his eye.”

“Oh, I doubt so.” I saw the research centre ahead and slowed to a stop. “Though, it’s nice to think of it that way.”

“Don’t ever doubt, Tiggie. You never know what the future doth hold for you.” If I had only thought harder about those words instead of blushing like an idiot.

I left the car with the coffees and spotted Erik and Darcy beside Jane, Darcy seemed to be the only one relaxed as they poured over a stack of papers. “Well that was quick.” I nodded to the stack.

“Yeah, Jane and Erik have been making good time on a bundle and a million new theories.” Darcy grabbed up one of the coffees and dove her spare hand into a bag and pulled out one of the Styrofoam containers of pancakes.

“Well if it’s all the same to you, I am going to go creeping out at the site. If you’re old research info isn’t going to be of any use I am going to find something that I can use in my research.” My brows went up as I grabbed a coffee as well. “I’ll be back sooner or later.”

“Tiggie.” Thor grabbed my wrist gently. “Take caution out there.” The seriousness in his face caught me a little off guard.

“I am always careful, big guy.” I gave him a reassuring smile and waved my good-byes as soon as he had let go.