Reign

Chapter 6: Coffee Shop

Ash woke up in the morning to the sound of a door opening followed by a screech, "Ash!" Her first thoughts immediately flew to Loki as she thought that for sure she was busted. She leaped up into a sitting position on the bed, only to be relieved that he wasn't still beside her in the bed. She looked over to Natasha who continued her panicked cries, "What are you doing with the window open? I can't keep you safe if you're going to be exposing yourself like this."

Ash remained almost silent as she gazed almost quizzically at the opened window. "I- I'm sorry, Natasha... I didn't know the window was open."

It was then that the black cat, Loki, jumped onto the window seal from outside. He meowed as he walked over to Ash with a seemingly prideful walk.

Natasha shook her head disapprovingly before closing the window and changing the topic. "You're going to be late for work. Hurry and get ready so we can go." She then walked out of the room and closed the door, leaving Ash alone with the cat.

Ash closed the shades on the window as she looked at Loki with a slight frown. "You have such a habit of getting me into trouble."

"You have such a habit of letting your guard down." He retorted as he hopped onto her bed. She stood up and went to her small closet, pulling out a white pullover with some black pants. The pullover only advertised the coffee shop which she worked at.

He transformed into his human form as he watched her with a thirsty interest. She was facing away from him as she began to take off her shirt. As she began to change clothing she asked, "So are you going to be hanging out with me today? I can pull a few strings. Cats are allowed in the coffee shop." Loki silently studied her slim, almost completely exposed body as she was removing her clothes. She was indeed more beautiful to him than any goddess he had ever laid eyes on. As she got no answer she slipped on her pants before turning and facing him, expecting him to have had the decency to turn his head. Noticing he was staring, she quickly slipped into her pullover. "Loki!"

He then smiled at her as he stood up with a finger over her mouth. "Hush, not so loud, love."

She stared at him carefully before he pulled back onto the bed transforming into the same black cat. He did so with good timing, as Natasha opened the door right after his transformation. She looked around the room skeptically and asked, "Ash... is everything alright in here?" As she nodded her head Natasha simply stared at her in disbelief. "I could swear I heard you shout Loki's name."

Ash seemed speechless for a moment before pointing to the cat. Loki was struck for a moment, caught in how simple it was for her to seemingly give away his position. But he paused in his thoughts as she started speaking, "I said Lucky! That's my cat's name!" It was silent for a moment before she continued her explanation, "It can be confusing... It sounds like Loki but it's really not. It was made to be ironic. You see, black cats are usually labeled as 'bad luck'.  I named him Lucky because... irony purposes." Ash smiled as she pet Loki's head gently.

Loki purred with pleasure as he was greatly impressed with her quick manner of covering up what had happened. She was quicker than most mortals, for that he was grateful. It meant that it would be easier for her to sway his brother and retrieve his scepter.

Natasha seemed skeptical to the whole situation before nodding her head. "Well, I'll be waiting outside for you. I'll be standing by for security as you work."

Ash nodded her head as she left her room to go outside. Ash then took the time to quickly fix her hair back before looking at Loki and warning, "Don't do that again. You have no idea how difficult it is to hide the fact that I speak with you."

"You have a quick tongue such as myself." He smiled at her as she picked him up from the bed. "You're doing rather fine, you simply worry too much."

"Not a word, Loki... Not a word." She carried him out of the house and realized that they had to walk the short distance up the road to the coffee shop. She put Loki on the ground as she was making him walk himself the distance up the road.

As they walked up the road Natasha studied the cat and asked, "He's really obedient for a cat, isn't he?"

Ash nodded her head before quickly saying, "He's trained. He was just a kitten when I found him near my parent's farm. Lucky I found him... Could've been eaten by what ever lives in that forest..."

"You went in that forest to relieve stress when they have predators in that forest?"

Ash realized that she was receiving a suspicious look, but she was quick to move around the question. "Predators looking for a small and defenseless snack. Animals don't usually attack unless provoked in that forest. I guess... I guess Loki saw me as a small and defenseless target..." Tears once again welled within her eyes, giving the illusion that she was truly terrified by what had happened in that forest.

Natasha immediately felt bad for having questioned her about it. It was obvious that Loki had indeed scarred her and Natasha's heart ached just by thinking about what Loki could have done to the poor girl. She placed a hand on Ash's shoulder in a comforting way. "It's okay, Ash. He's not going to get to you again. I promise you're well protected. If Loki tries anything again I'll call the Avengers to come immediately. We won't let him hurt you."

Ash nodded her head; she wasn't sure what 'the Avengers' was, but she wasn't going to question that right now. She figured that it would have everything to do with SHIELD anyway. She rubbed her eyes to dry the faked tears before entering her coffee shop. She realized that people were already inside and waiting to order. She quickly ran behind the counter, allowing Loki to slip back there as well.

As soon as the customers noticed her arrival they let out hearty whoops of joy. She smiled as she began taking and filling orders. It didn't seem as though she would get a break this morning. As soon as she filled one order another customer would walk in the door. She worked fast as she enjoyed these kinds of mornings. It gave her something to do.

As she was exchanging coffee for money, most customers got their drinks to go. A lot of others chose to stay and sit at the tables in the shop. Ash noticed that Natasha seemed to have taken a seat by the door, watching all the customers with keen interest. Many had conversations on the action taking place in their home town. There was also much talk about the God of Mischief lurking about the town as well, even though no one really knew where he was. Why was Ash the only one who wasn't truly afraid of him? Perhaps that had something to do with their history together as children.

This was going to work fine with Natasha sitting next to the window. As soon as a majority of the customers were cleared out, she and Loki would pull the illusion. 

Almost immediately upon entry behind the counter, Loki had found the shelf of books under the cash register. He knew that this was going to be a long morning with all of these people. He had hopped onto the shelf and grabbed the first book that was before him: 'Gone'. What a strange book.

He had been reading for quite a while. He read half the book before checking the time. It was three hours before noon. He rolled his eyes and went back to reading his book. However, he didn't get very far with that. Ash tapped his head causing him to immediately close the book and hop up onto the counter.

She whispered, "Illusion time..." Loki nodded his head with a small smile before glancing at Natasha.