Ace of Hearts [Loki Laufeyson] BOOK I

Great Minds Think Alike

Jay was sitting on her couch when she heard someone exit the elevator on her floor. "I'll find a way to lock that elevator, I swear-oh! Hi Nat...asha."

"It's fine, Jay. Call me Nat." A smile appeared on both of their faces.

"Whatcha need?" Jay asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I thought I'd take you clothes shopping. We can get lunch as well if you're interested." Nat offered. Jay nodded and stood up, retrieving her backpack from her bedroom and putting it on over her trench coat. They left down to the garage, and Jay's face immediately lit up with excitement.

"You brought over my motorcycle?!" She exclaimed, running over to her bike. The helmet was sitting on the seat of the black and red colored NCR M16. It cost nearly a quarter of a million, but it was worth every penny. "Thank you!" She brought Nat into a hug.

"You are very welcome, but we should take this." Nat lead Jay over to a dark blue colored pickup truck. "We'll need it for all the stuff we're getting." Nat hopped into the driver's seat and Jay got in the passenger's seat before Nat started up the car and drove out of the garage.

They drove for around five minutes before parking in front of a shopping mall. They both got out of the car and began walking over to the entrance to the mall. "Do you have a method of pay?" Jay asked Natasha, digging around in her pocket. They both flashed one of Stark's credit cards at the same time. "Great minds think alike." They fist-bumped before entering a clothes store. They both picked about a million things out from about a million different stores, but Jay ended up only buying a few new black trench coats, five pairs of jeans, a few band shirts, - Panic! At the Disco, AC/DC, Fall Out Boy, Twenty One Pilots - a pair of Llama pajamas, and a llama hoodie.

Next, per Jay's request, they went to an art store. She picked out a few new sketchbooks and charcoal pencils, along with a few notebooks, a set of pencils, watercolors, paints, and a few hundred erasers because you can never have too many erasers. When they both finished shopping they went back out to the car and drove back to the tower.

Nat dropped Jay off at her own floor, who graciously hugged Natasha for the shopping trip before walking into her bedroom. Jay dropped all of the bags onto the ground and practically fell on the bed, a wave of sleep washing over her as she fell unconscious. 

The next morning, she looked over at the clock and noticed it was six in the morning. She rolled out of bed and quickly got changed into a sports bra and white shirt along with grey leggings. Jay put her hair up in a loose bun before walking over to the elevator.

"Which floor is the gym, FRIDAY?" She asked the bodiless voice.

"Floor ten, Miss."

"Thanks." She pushes the button and takes out her headphones and phone as the elevator ascended. When she was let out, she momentarily marveled at how big it was. There was a shooting range in the far corner, an area for ballet, a boxing ring, a few aerobics areas, weightlifting, and a couple punching bags. She walked over to the aerobics area and set her water bottle down on a bench. Jay sat down on the large mat and put on her wireless earphones and setting her phone down, playing her workout playlist before doing some stretching.

When she completed her brief warm-ups, she walked over to the aerial silks and gently wrapped it around her wrist. She took a deep breath before grabbing hold with her other hand and hoisting her body up and using her feet to wrap the silk around her right leg. She tentatively let go with her hands, gaining momentum by swinging and flipping her body up. As she grabbed hold with her hands, she began climbing up, continuously wrapping her legs around it to have some support. When she made it to the top of the silk, she wrapped it around her foot and other leg and tightly held her feet together to not slip, slowly bending back so she was hanging upside down once again. She looked down, noticing that she was about forty feet off of the ground.

She loosened her legs' grip on the silk and instantly started sliding down towards the ground. Just in time, she slowed her descent and gracefully flipped off of the silk. Just as she stood up, she heard the door open and close. Her head snapped to the direction of the door to see Bucky in a white tank top and baggy sweatpants. She noticed how the moment he made eye contact with her his metal arm shot behind his back.

"You're up early." His rough voice stated as he started to walk over to the weightlifting area.

"So are you." She shot back, walking backward a few steps to get a running start. As he sat down on a bench press, she ran forward, jumping up and twirling her foot and hand around the silk to provide hand and footholds. The held on with just her feet as she hung upside down and tied a knot around her foot and leg. She stood up on the knot, calculating exactly how much rope she would need to get as close to the ground without hitting it, factoring in the elasticity of the silk and momentum that she would be swinging at. Once she knew her measurements were correct, she started to swing back and forth. As she reached the far wall, she pushed off of it with her free leg and dove back, diving straight for the ground. She heard a shout from Bucky as he probably stood to try and catch her, but he stopped when the silk caught her right as her hair brushed against the mats and threw her up. She gracefully slid down the silk, landing in a crouched position.

"Christ, you scared the shit out of me." She heard Bucky mumble as he sat back down.

"You should know, I always have everything under control." She replied, smirking lightly as she took a sip of water from her bottle. She walked over to the punching bags and wrapped her hands before beginning to punch the bag. Through the constant thudding sound of her fists hitting the bag, she heard Bucky get up and move to one of the other bags and starting to punch as well. After that, however, her mind was clawed back into her childhood.