Caffeine

Prologue - Simple Stone

Manhattan, New York. A universe where Thor Ragnarok was the final movie of the MCU universe. The Asgardian Peoples have landed on Earth and integrated themselves into society. The final rule is given by Thor before dispersing into society was one that banned Magic unless it was for self-defense. The majority of the human population is ignorant of the arrival of the Asgardian people. Life resumes as normal. Infinity War never happened.

***

There really wasn't much for the Prince of Asgard to say. Midgardians lived in ridiculously small places.

Loki knew that he promptly stated the obvious, but why note the less obvious when the place was so...bland? It certainly did not suit his fine Asgardian taste. The counters were as bland as his Asgardian prison. Papers littered the floor, each one filled with senseless lettering. The walls were washed with white. The only differences he could determine from other Midgardian homes were the several cat trees in the house and the two other living beings who occupied the house with him.

Which caused him no concern, for those two beings were two fat cats rolling on the floor lazily. One was ginger coloured while the other was speckled with grey- both were chubby despite the food bowl having a timer on it. If it were not for his quest, he would like to take them for himself.

His quest... damn Heimdall. A place brimming with power? The Guardian had a horrible sense of humor. Somehow, Heimdall transferred Loki to the cat-filled Midgardian home. His being here was slightly awkward and a little too claustrophobic for his tastes. Both the decoration and the size was like his Asgardian prison, except for that little bit of hallway; leading to the front door and two other separate rooms, one being a bathroom.

No matter how simple the apartment was, or how stupid Heimdall seemed to be for sending him here, Loki still knew that the guardian would not send him here without reason. This house contained no magical boundaries, according to Loki's magical senses, and mortal technology was useless against Asgardian sorcery. Yet he still could feel a slight tremor of power in the apartment, that being the only reason why he had not teleported out of the house yet. The humans' infinity stone could not have been hidden any sloppier. He was nearby, for sure. His magical senses told him so.

The Prince decided to visit the room with a closed door. The bathroom was irrelevant to him now.

It was nothing more than a typical Midgardian bedroom. At first glance, the bathroom would have been a better place for him to search. This room consisted of nothing but one singular bed and a nightstand. But Loki knew better. There was nothing more ingenious than hiding in plain sight.

Power lingered in the room. No... Lingered wasn't the right word. The power's presence was in front of him, hidden behind layers of magical suppression spells. Perhaps a better way to describe the calling of the power was a presence that was not there, but it was. The Prince could almost taste the power in the room. The humans' infinity stone was most likely in here- no, it was in here. It was somewhere hidden in plain sight.

Now all he had to do was find it.

He inspected the room again, allowing his senses to be heightened as much as possible. The blankets lacked substance underneath them. The pillow was filled with nothing but endless cotton clouds. The nightstand drawer, like the floor, was filled with endless scribbles. The items in plain sight were searched through thoroughly.

He backed up from the nightstand drawer. Was his instinct wrong? Could the stone really be in the bathroom instead? Countless drawers, endless bottles of skin care lotions (If the Midgardian world had few things that Loki could understand, this was one of them), appliances that could be disassembled and assembled with the right tools... That would be a more secure place to hide such a powerful item, he supposed, thinking from the Midgardian useless but impressively complicated train of thought.

A pause. Then he listened again, knowing his mortal senses were sharper than any human. The sounds of the cats meowing contently around his feet. The sharp whisper of the wind on the balcony. And footsteps in the hallways.

And footsteps in the hallways.

He had to find this infinity stone. The power seemed to be on the tip of his tongue, and he wasn't going to let it get away. His magical senses told him no new information from before- the stone must be nearby. Somewhere... it had to be somewhere...

Another pause. More footsteps followed.

And a box, placed next to the shabby nightstand. How did Loki's eyes gloss over it before? Certainly, he was right. The best place to hide was in plain sight. Simple, wooden, and incredibly bland, he noted. The box was like his mother's, except his mother was much more ornate, but they both seemed to keep expensive jewels within them. Except this one actually held a powerful gem, the most powerful man-made essence, the first human-made item that barely resembled an Infinity Stone.

Louder footsteps. More meowing.

Loki scowled. He could tell just by inspection; the box's lock was going to be difficult to open. Of course, it was a Midgardian key. But that particular Midgardian key needed to contain some form of magic. He would have to take the box first and then crack the code later.

The footsteps came closer. The door opened.

Suddenly, many things happened at once. Both of the cats- ridiculously fat cats- leaped upwards; using the God of Mischief to propel themselves towards the door. Caught off guard, Loki fell forward. His mind still remained calm. A simple plan he was able to formulate: snatch the box and teleport. The Midgardians would not be able to suspect anything.

Loki's last thought before he touched the box was that Midgardians were such pathetic creatures. Alas, Loki didn't realize that cats were even more pathetic.

And the stupidest things are the hardest to embrace.

-End of Prologue-

Hello everyone!

Thank you so much for reading this prologue. I'm really excited to be writing again and I really hope that you enjoy this piece. I will be updating more frequently on https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13031375/1/Caffeine under the pen name InitialKC. Please favourite, follow and review! My Instagram name is initial_k.c . 

Cheerios,

KC