Coffee and Books 2

Loki's view - scene 5

(This scene corresponds with chapter 6 of 'Coffee & Books')

It has been a week since Loki has been injected with the tracker. The first few days he had not left his room, but it slowly came to him that he might as well enjoy the benefits of the devilish device. The range of the tracker was set at approximately one block around Stark Tower. He could go for a short walk, or visit the stores that were inside the range, like the bookstore and the coffee shop.

In fact, that is were Loki is heading now. He ordered some books from Frederikson the other day and told him he would pick them up himself. Well, not completely by himself, as there is a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent discreetly following him a few yards behind him. Loki found it pretty easy to ignore the mortal; he actually had forgotten the human's name already.

There is the store window with the coffee cup and the books, the bookstore next to it. As Loki walks up, the door to the coffee shop is held open by a man who is talking to someone inside. The mortal has the audacity to bump into Loki at turning around. He stoically waits until the blundering human has made the way clear.

And there is the girl again; she seems to always be there. Now, she grabs the door to hold it for him. "I'm sorry, that was..." she starts nervously.

"A nuisance," Loki finishes for her, barely giving the incident any thought.

The girl chuckles. "I guess you could say that." She looks at him and her smile grows bigger. "Come on in, can I get you anything?"

How is it that she relaxes upon seeing him? Loki looks past the girl at the bookstore, his original goal for today. "I only came to pick up some books."

"Oh, alright. Well, we've got plenty of books. You know where to find them." She steps back to let him pass, Loki does so without looking back at the strange girl who sounded disappointed.

Lars Frederikson is expecting him and immediately starts apologizing. "I'm sorry, prince Loki. I'm afraid my supplier delivered the wrong boxes this morning, the books you ordered aren't here yet. At least, not all of them."

Loki is disappointed, but he will not take it out on Frederikson. The man has build up some credits after all. "That's alright. I'm sure they'll be here soon enough. What have you got for me?"

The bookstore owner shows him the book and they talk for a little while before Loki returns to the coffee shop. He notices that the comfortable brown chair he occupied last time is free and he decides to go sit there for a while. He settles in and activates the repelling ward around him. It was actually Thor who had inspired him to do this. Loki had tested it at the apartment and he was able to hold up the ward without his skin turning blue or something equally inconvenient. The mortals probably wouldn't react that well to seeing a Jotun prince in their favourite coffee establishment. Normally Loki wouldn't give the mortals any second thought, but this is in his own interest. A little peace and quiet is very welcome to calm the storms in his mind.

The ward works perfectly, without him having to actively keep guard. For a second he smells a whiff of that horrible perfume, but as quick as it came it was gone again. A good book, a comfortable chair, being left alone; Loki is content. Even the background music in the coffee shop is tolerable.

He notices her jeans first, dark blue and clinging to her legs. She wears low, flat shoes, with a little bow above her toes. She is standing right next to his chair. How in Hel's name did she get through his ward?! Because it is her, Loki knows that even before he looks up at her face. The girl with the light freckles and the strawberry blonde hair. She wears it in a loose braid over her shoulder this time. Her name is written on a coffee cup name tag over her left breast; Little Wolf, Ylva.