Down below

Chapter 17.

   Loki looked at himself in the mirror.

'What do you think?' he asked the shop assistant and stopped himself from rolling his eyes when she blushed.

'I think you look great.'

'Yes, thank you. Elianah!' he raised his voice, prompting Elianah to look at him instead of that damned phone of hers. 'Thoughts?'

'Buy it.' she said, but he wasn't convinced.

'I really think we should go for the other one.'

'You mean the other black shirt that looked exactly like this one?' she replied, looking utterly bored.

'This one feels better on my skin and has black buttons, the other one has green buttons.'

'You look like a priest.' Elianah stated.

'A hot one, though.' added the shop assistant and she bit her lip when they both stared at her derisively.

'Fine, I'll take it. Pay the girl.' Loki said and took the shirt off, threw it at Elianah, then put a white T-shirt back on they bought earlier, ignoring the thirsty looks the shop assistant gave him.

'Right away, Your Highness.' Elianah hissed and got up, taking the heap of clothes next to her.

'I don't like your tone, young lady.' he said, enjoying her annoyance.

'You should tone down your commanding manner then, Leo. I am not your servant and we pay these by the tills.' she replied quietly.

'How was I supposed to know?' he shrugged.

'Because that's what we did in the other five shops before this one.' Elianah hissed and got into the queue.

'You could have tipped her. She was really helpful.'

   Elianah let out an irate sigh, then paid for the clothes. When she arrived back with his fake ID earlier that morning, Loki was looking at old magazines of hers, asking all sorts of questions about the clothes he had seen in them. They went to a big shopping centre outside the city. Loki had a great fashion sense and an expensive one, so she had to argue with him at every turn what to buy. Not that she couldn't afford it, she had plenty of money stashed and Loki could conjure almost anything, yet she didn't want to explain his attire and how he could afford all this to her friends.

'I'm starving.' Loki declared. 'You mentioned something about lunch.'

'Yes, we need to hurry. We meet Claire at a local café.'

'I hope they have tasty meals.'

'They do, don't worry.'

'I am worried though, given how stingy you are with your funds. I hope you don't take me to some shabby place with subpar food.'

'Duly noted, my prince.'

'Keep mocking me.' he flashed a dark smile at her. 'Let's see what happens when I had enough.'

   Elianah didn't push it, she swallowed her snappy comeback and hastened her steps, because she was getting hungry as well. They were ten minutes late. She spotted her friend immediately. Claire'spretty caramel face looked a bit pale. When she saw Elianah, her deep browneyes lit up with joy and she ran to her, jumping into her neck.

'Hey!' Elianah mumbled awkwardly, patting her on the back.

'Don't ever disappear like that again!' she said, punching her in the shoulder.

'I left a message.'

'Right: "UK, family emergency. I'll explain when I'm back." I thought you don't keep in touch with your family. And who's this?' Claire asked as they sat down around a table.