Blood and Knifes

5

Finally, Megan closed the last of the cupboards, sighing with relief. They laid down on the couch and threw a blanket over their legs. They adjusted the pillow in the crook of their neck and flipped their notebook to a new page. Seeing as the government had failed to supply them and Loki with any food, it seemed that they would have to go shopping. Time to make a shopping list. Yay.

-Milk
-Cereal
-Noodles
-Spaghetti & Alfredo Sauce
-Bread
-Jelly
-Peanut Butter
-Oatmeal
-Mac & Cheese
-Mexican Cheese
-Quesadillas

As an afterthought, they added Teabags to the list. Loki seemed to enjoy tea. He did seem to have a British accent, even though he said he was from... what's the place? Jotunheim? Megan had never heard of it before. Then again, geography was never their strong point.

They walked over to Loki's office door.

"Loki?" They called, knocking softly on the door. "Did there happen to be any money in those boxes? I was thinking I'd maybe go shopping."

The door opened, and Loki stepped out, holding a stack of money with a rubber band wrapped around it.

"It seems that we are one of the poorer citizens," he said, handing them the stack.

They flipped through it, bewildered. "Loki, this is over ten thousand dollars! Are there more of these?"

"The smaller of the boxes was full of them," he answered, still unimpressed.

Their eyes widened. "We're definitely not poor," they muttered. "I could buy a grand piano with half this stack and still have some left over!"

He cocked an eyebrow. "A grand piano?"

"Um, well, I just, I mean-"

He cut them off. "How much should we bring with us?"

"I'm not sure," Megan said. "I'd guess about a quarter to half? I wasn't exactly expecting this much. We could spend a quarter of it on anything we need right now, and then we could save the rest for later, in case we need something?"

"There was a letter in the box," Loki said. He pushed the door completely open and walked back to the box. He paused, looking over his shoulder. "You can come in," he said.

"Oh," they squeaked.

When they joined Loki by the box full of money, he had pulled a knife from somewhere and slit the envelope open. Inside of the envelope was—surprise!—another letter.

To the recipient of this box.

You have been chosen as the town treasurer. Therefore, all the money falls to you, and you may do with it as you wish. Along with this letter enclosed in the box is your monthly salary. While this should be efficient to meet your basic needs, feel free to take from the treasury any extra money you may need.

God, was this entire situation uncomfortable. Megan pulled back from the letter and surveyed the box. There had to be at least a couple hundred thousand dollars in it.

"I suppose if this is your monthly salary, we could bring the whole box. We should probably only spend about half, maybe three-fourths. But it never hurts to have a bit extra. We should save quite a bit for taxes. Besides, the economy may be a bit screwed up, especially if everyone else has the same salary. Stores would probably up their prices. It might take some getting used to..." They cut herself off. "Sorry, I'm rambling."

Loki smirked. "What things do we need?"

"Oh, um." They pulled the notebook from their lanyard, and flipped to the page on which they had written their shopping list. "I just put down a couple of foods that are cheap and easy to make. Since we have so much money, we can probably buy a lot more food and any furniture, clothes, or anything else that we need. Um, what type of food do you like?"

"My family ate large amounts of meat, most of which come from animals that do not exist here. I prefer small meals. Nothing particularly doting."

"Oh, okay."

Loki cocked his head and smirked down at them. "I believe you mentioned wanting a grand piano?"

"Well, I mean, um," they stuttered. "I've been playing piano since I was four, so, um, I guess, um, I'd like to keep practicing."

Loki waved his hand towards the center of the living room, and from the seams in the wood floor green metallic liquid formed into the shape of a grand piano and an accompanying bench.

"I can make any material items we may need. Just ask," he prompted.

Megan was internally coming to grips with their imminent fate.

"Oh."

His smirk faded a little.

"Perhaps we should go to the market now?" He suggested.

"Yeah." They looked around. "There's probably a garage."

"A garage?"

"Yeah." Megan looked at Loki curiously. "For the car. There's probably one attached to the house."

"Ah, yes. I remember my brother was hit by a car the first time he came here. They're not my preferred source of transportation." Loki began to open a few doors in search for the garage.

"I'm not a huge fan of cars. I prefer horses." They finally opened the right door, revealing a tan Ford SUV. "Oh, here it is. I was expecting it to be a bit classier," she said.

"What did you have in mind?" Loki asked, looking over their shoulder.

They inhaled sharply, startled. "You seem like more of a '67 black Chevy Impala type guy."

With a flick of Loki's fingers, he was a '67 black Chevy Impala type guy. Megan smiled.