"All of this time could be saved if you would just let me use magic."
"Loki," I sighed, exasperated. "How many times have I said that I would like to pack my own things?"
He thought for a moment. "Three."
"Exactly." I hunted around for the pair of bikini bottoms that went with the top I had in my hand.
"You're having so much trouble with it, though. Just a wave of my hand and everything could be done."
I finally found the bottoms and tossed it in one of my cheetah print suitcase- one piece of a luggage set Loki had given me when he announced the trip. "Lo, packing is part of the vacation experience."
"I see." Loki closed his eyes and leaned back onto my pillows. "I'll leave you to do it, then."
"Um, no!" I whacked him with a pair of pajama pants. "You need to pack, too!"
"Really?" He whined, sounding adorably childish.
"Yes," I demand, trying to keep my ground. "And no magic!"
"Fine." Loki pulls himself up and stands in front of the suitcase I had laid out for him, packing neatly folded shirts in.
"See? It's fun," I say cheerfully as I toss him a pair of swimming trunks that I picked out.
"If you say so." He rolled his eyes. "All this fuss over one trip."
Two weeks ago, my...well, "boyfriend," Loki, announced to my friend Reyna and I that he would be taking us to Disney World for two weeks, fulfilling a fantasy that we both had. We all agreed that two weeks was a bit extreme, but it was a smart idea, giving us time to have as much fun as possible.
"I do this all the time, Loki. If you want to keep traveling with us, you're going to have to get used to it." I close and clasp the suitcase, ending my packing session. "There. Done."
"Can I use magic now?" Loki begs.
I sigh. "Yes, I suppose. I'm going to go get Reyna."
I enter the guest room of mine and Loki’s retro Kansas City apartment- one of our Midgard homes- to find Reyna perched on the bed, suitcase beside her, nose buried in a Shakespeare.
“Finally!” she huffed when she saw me, closing the book. “I’ve been finished for forever. What took you so long?”
“Loki,” I chuckled.
“I see.” Rey nodded, not surprised.
“You ready to leave for dinner?” I asked, leaning against the doorframe.
“Yeah. I’ll go start the car.”
I toss Rey the keys to my black Avenger (which was often scorned by Loki), and she made her way out of the apartment.
“Hey, Lo?” I called into the bedroom.
“Yes, Ryn?” Loki answered.
“Are you done packing?”
“Of course I am, because I used magic!”
I rolled my eyes. “I figured. Come on then, Rey has the car started.”
Loki and I trek down to the vehicle and slide in, the interior lit up an electric blue in the fading light. Rey takes us to a locally owned sushi bar, which was surprisingly loved by Loki. We’re led to a table and get our drink orders taken, then Rey and I begin a nonstop fest of talking about the trip.
“So, what time do we need to be on the road in order to be in Tulsa on time?” Reyna asks, thumbing through the folder I had put together and absentmindedly sipping water.
“Four in the morning. It’ll take us four hours to get to the airport, which will put us there at eight, which leaves time for mishaps and security and everything in order to make a 10:00 flight.” Both of my companions look stunned at my sureness. “I’ve taken this trip before, okay?”
“Oh...kay?” Reyna returns to the folder. “What time is hotel check-in? Four?”
“Yes,” I reply. “The flight from Tulsa to Orlando is about four and a half hours, which will put us there at about 2:30. The bus to Disney leaves at 3:15, which gives us time to grab some lunch at the airport. The bus ride should take about fifteen minutes, putting us there at 3:30, which means we’ll have time to enter the park and find where everything is before check-in time. And our hotel is Pop Century, right? I stayed in it as a kid, it’s pretty cool.”
“Actually, that’s not the hotel you’ll be staying in,” Loki interjects.
“Yes it is,” Reyna defends, turning the folder around so that he could look. “See? Right under check-in time.”
“I arranged for us to stay in the- ah- Cinderella Castle. As a surprise.”
Reyna and I squealed, bouncing in our seats like children.
“Really?” I breathed.
“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” Reyna cried.
“You two are like children,” Loki chuckled, pleased with himself.
“Hey, it was your idea to bring us to Disney World!” I defended.
“You brought it up!” He tousled my ponytail, kissing my head.
“Oh! I almost forgot. I bought you lovebirds something.” Reyna pulls two blue gift bags with the Mickey Mouse emblem out from under the table. She hands one to Loki and one to me, and we pull out the tissue paper to see what was inside. We pull out gray t-shirts, his reading: “I’m her Beast,” with an arrow pointing right and a design of Beast from Beauty and the Beast. Mine read “I’m his Belle,” with an arrow pointing left and a design of Belle.
“Awh, Rey, I love it!” I lean over the table to hug her.
“I’m glad you do. I figured you and Loki could wear them tomorrow.” She flashes us a sly look.
I glance over at my lover with the same expression. “Oh, we most certainly will.”
*
We return to the apartment, check to make sure we have everything packed, set our alarms, and retire to our bedrooms. I stay standing as Loki straightens the bedcovers and turns off the light, fiddling with the DVD player. For the past few days I had made it a goal to make Loki watch every Disney movie known to man. We were almost finished and had the whole plane ride tomorrow, so we had decided to only watch The Little Mermaid, due to the fact that we had to rise extremely early.
I started the movie and collapsed into bed next to Loki, laying my head on his shoulder and wrapping my arms around his torso. He wraps his arms around my waist, drawing me closer, planting sweet pecks along my forehead and down my neck. I enjoy it too much to have the strength to say, “Stop it, Loki, we’re watching a movie!”, instead, I just lay there and let him spoil me.
*
Long after the last note of the final reprise of Part of Your World had faded away, I still couldn’t sleep. I fidgeted in Loki’s arms, not able to become tired.
“Love,” Loki murmurs in my ear. “Go to sleep, else you won’t be able to wake up later.”
“I can’t,” I whined back. “My mind won’t let me.”
“Here.” Loki’s thumb drags down my spine, leaving a warm sensation in its wake. My eyes begin to droop, and I fall asleep almost immediately.
