my mortal 🐍✨🖤

chapter 5

The next morning, Sophie naturally woke up after a refreshing good night's sleep. She couldn't remember how exactly she got in bed, but could vaguely recall last night's occurrence. Sadly, she thought it had only been a dream and quickly got ready for another day of work, only to realize she was still in her uniform from yesterday.

The entire day, a feeling of warmth, comfort and peace lingered and no rude customer through the drive-thru could ruin it, though she could not remember the details. Later that afternoon, it started pouring, unfortunate for her since she had to bike home since her parents were out of town. She rushed out to the bike rack getting ready to take off, when a figure with a large umbrella approached her, slightly frightening her.

"You again?! I swear, it feels like I ran into you very recently."

"It's not exactly nice to see you all the time either." he replied sarcastically.

"Well, this isn't the entrance, it's on the other side of the building." she replied dragging her bike onto the sidewalk.

"Oh don't be silly, I'm not here to get diabetes," he chuckled. "I just happened to notice you were without an umbrella and this weather is not exactly the most desirable for your transportation situation."

'Hm that's suspiciously thoughtful for a stranger', she thought, but was grateful for a random act of kindness.

He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small purple umbrella with a guitar umbrella and opened it.

"Here, for you." He said with a wide sarcastic-looking smile.

"...." she stared at it. "A Hannah Montana umbrella? This is AWESOME! Thank you so much, this is seriously so cool haha." she said genuinely amused.

He smirked with a bit of pride. "Oh I know."

He had offered to walk her home and she reluctantly agreed. There was some small talk, but a lot of comfortable silence as well. When they reached the main gate, she punched in the code to let the gates open. "So that's how it works", Loki whispered to himself.

They reached her garage after a rough hike up the street and she opened it, still talking to him. 'This is my chance to find the tesseract', he thought internally.

Excitedly, he casually continued their conversation and entered while she went on talking. He looked around trying not to seem suspicious.

"Fascinating storage site you've got here." He remarked.

"Thanks! Yeah we have a lot of junk. She paused realizing this was probably not allowed. "Ok Loki. Thanks for walking me home and giving me this sick umbrella." She said uncomfortably, not knowing what to do.

"Ah it was my pleasure." He said giving a slight bow with a slight grin. He had genuinely enjoyed spending time with her. "I suppose I should leave, now that you're safe and sound."

"Would you like a warm cup of tea first? To prepare for your walk home?" Sophie blurted out. What was she thinking? Stranger in the house? No adults? She would get grounded for life if her parents found out. She turned red with embarrassment.

Loki was surprised. He hadn't been expecting such an invite. "Well frankly I wouldn't mind if I do! Much obliged."

"Um okay uh yeah okay follow me." She awkwardly walked to the door able to sense his presence right behind her as he frantically wondered what this could mean.

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She brewed some nice hot English breakfast tea for the English-sounding man sitting in a seat at the island table looking around with a wondrous look on his face.

She gently slid the cup towards him and he quietly took a few sips with noticeable satisfaction.

"Thank you very much. I appreciate your kind gesture." He said content.

"I'm glad you like it haha."

She watched the man drink his tea with peace and pure enjoyment. Her attention transitioned to his very light yet deep green eyes. She found the hue beautiful and thought of how she could get lost in them for hours. She ended up appreciating the form of his entire face, as she's never seen such a chiseled one before.

Then out of the blue he met eyes with her making her visibly panic for a split second.

"Thank you, once again. I absolutely adored it." He said. He watched her turn red. It was cute and quite sweet, for a split second he forgot his whole intention of being here.

"Yeah, no problem.."

He got up and walked to the garage door and she quickly followed after, confused.

He glanced around, following every instinct. The signals kept fluctuating, frustrating him more. He sighed with disappointment. She tapped his shoulder and he snapped out of his anger.

"Are you heading out..?" She carefully asked.

"Yes, I believe it's time for me to depart." He smirked. "Once again, I thank you for your hospitality." He gently grabbed her hand and planted a small kiss while playfully bowing.

Stunned, she speechlessly waved him goodbye as he approached the garage door. He then idiotically attempted to force the door open using his bare hands. Seeing this, Sophie held back a laugh and pressed the button, not saying a word, as she was still shocked.

"Ah there we are!" he exclaimed with an exhausted voice.

She then watched the strange man walk away in the cloudy afternoon.

Once he was out of sight, she dizzily walked back inside. She replayed the kiss in her mind. 'What was that all about? Probably just something they do where he comes from... but why did my heart start beating so damn fast??' She then spotted something in the corner of her eye: a long black umbrella. He had left it, probably forgetting about it due to the rain stopping. She ran out the door and down the street but he was nowhere to be found.

'I suppose we'll have to coincidentally run into each other again soon.'