The Date

Loki opened the front door to the Queen's nest in order to make a few arrangements, but stopped soon after. Joe was about to knock on the door. Loki smiled widely at her, while she stared at him through wide eyes as though seeing him for the first time.

'You're a God,' she whispered.

Loki felt as though his heart might expel itself from his mouth. Why would she say that to him? Did she really know? 'What are you talking about?' he asked sharply.

'I read the book,' she squeaked. 'Grace showed me.'

'That little stone of a witch!' Loki muttered bitterly. 'Joe, that stone has been plotting against me since the moment I arrived in this house.'

'But it is true, isn't it?' she whispered as Loki hastily closed the door behind him to step outside. 'Do not lie to me. I know you are the God of lies.'

'Not just lies,' Loki complained. 'There is mischief too!'

'So you admit it?' Her eyes bulged out. 'You are a God! Nev is going to freak out!'

'Which is exactly why we aren't going to tell her anything,' Loki told her.

'She thinks you are a normal, orphan boy!' Joe hissed. 'You lied to her!'

'I came clean,' Loki raised his hands as if he were surrendering. 'She knows I am royalty in Asgard. She knows of my family! I told her everything!'

'Did you? When? How?' Her eyes were sceptical. 'And where are you off to now?'

Loki explained in brief how he had told Nevaeh all about his family and his abilities while she listened carefully.

'—so she tried to kill me in my palace, but failed. Later she sort of resurrected me, and now, we are headed on a date. I am actually running off to make a few arrangements for the day, and I hate to break it to you, but you are hogging my limited time,' Loki finished.

Joe's gaze suddenly transformed into a surprised and optimistic one. 'Is that another one of your lies? About the date thing? Because I do want her to date you, despite your shady background.'

Loki sighed; being the God of Lies was more of a curse than a blessing, because everyone assumed that he was lying even at those rare instances when he wasn't. 'Well, she started the day by attempting to kill me. Ended the day by kissing me. That isn't so hard to believe, is it?' he said rather proudly, as it were his sheer charm that had led Nevaeh to so drastically change her mind.

'She is okay with your lies?' she asked.

'She forgave me for everything,' Loki told her. 'Will you please resume this interrogation and cross check my answers with Nevaeh later? I don't want to be late whilst escorting her. It is our first date.'

Joe took a moment to soak that in, but nodded in the next. 'I will cross-check it though! Why can't you tell her about being a God?'

'Because I do not want her to know anything about Norse mythology. Those are myths and I do not want them to meddle with her already entangled thoughts. She is an atheist! I do not want her to change her own beliefs. Her complexity is one of the strongest aspects that I find incredibly charming,' finished Loki. Joe was suddenly looking at him through slightly misty eyes and she nodded slowly, making him smile in relief. Loki gently took her palm into his and kissed the back of her hand, making her blush flamingly.

'Your faith in me will not go unrewarded,' Loki smiled.

'I don't know. This was quite a reward,' chuckled Joe, gesturing the back of her hand. Loki glanced around once and teleported Joe right inside her house, before brushing off his clothes and walking briskly away from Nevaeh's home.

Two hours were about to be up. Nevaeh was sitting on the living room couch with her legs crossed, smoking a cigarette while waiting for Loki to return. She was wearing a plain green cocktail dress with a boat neck; she didn't want to look overly dressed although her choice was colour was purely intentional. She did put on her tallest heels to come a little closer to Loki's towering height.

Whenever situations like these occurred, Nevaeh couldn't help but fear that there could be the slightest possibility that Loki might not return. A sharp knock on the front door made Nevaeh hastily put out her cigarette and jump ahead to open the door.

'Why, good evening, prince charming' said Nevaeh as she watched Loki stand in her doorstep wearing a black suit over a green shirt, with his hair shining black and flowing in the wind. Loki smiled widely, showing all his sparkling teeth but Nevaeh's attention had been diverted by a neighing sound.

'You look heavenly,' Loki soaked in her appearance for a few moments, before turning around and offering her his hand. 'Shall we?'

A flabbergasted Nevaeh was lost for words as she saw the surprise that was waiting for her in her front yard.

A white horse was standing in her driveway which was carpeted with rose petals. The petals were beautifully scattered in a straight path, ending exactly where the orhohorse stood.

'Oh my god, Loki. What did you do?' hushed Nevaeh as she closed the door behind her and slapped him hard on his arm. 'Is that a real horse?'

'Of course, it is real! How else can we ride on it?' Loki said confusedly.

'Where did you get a horse?' Nevaeh laughed, approaching the horse to pat a hand over his head.

'I borrowed it from that fellow over there,' Loki nodded towards her gate where an elderly person was standing with a big brown bag in his hand.

'This is too beautiful. But we can't ride a horse through Upper East Side!' Nevaeh said laughingly. 'What's the deal with the rose petals?' she added as she saw the horse move its foot and the petals move along with it.

'Them, I bewitched. It is a carpet for the horse atop which we shall gallop ahead,' Loki said humbly.

'You are kidding, right?' She gestured the horse to come ahead while closely watching the petals. As soon as it began moving, the rose-petal-pathway started growing with his every step. Loki was not kidding.

'I was leaning on a rainbow path, and a unicorn instead of a horse, but I went with rose petals and this one instead. Apparently, you get laughed at when you ask for a Unicorn around here,' Loki said in a matter-of-fact voice.

'You are crazy!' she laughed, ruffling his hair 'but we can't do this. Dates are supposed to be normal. A magical rose petal path and a horse doesn't fall under that category,' she added, waving a hand to the horse's owner and gesturing him back to them.

'What? Why not?'

'Loki, this is Earth, New York. And I am wearing a dress! I can't sit on a horse!' Nevaeh said. She sharply clutched Loki's about-to-flick finger. 'No more magic in front of the Muggle! And you are not changing my clothes!' she added, twisting his finger down.

'What is a Muggle?' Loki frowned.

'I saw him pulling rose petals out of air!' hushed the elderly man as he reached near them and looked at Loki through wide and slightly concerned eyes. Nevaeh was clearly alarmed at his statement and shot a disapproving glance at Loki. They returned the horse and started walking away from her house.

They were strolling down the side-walk while Loki tried to convince her that taking the horse would've been the best way. Later he argued that the rose petal carpet should've been approved by her but she kept shaking her head in disagreement, trying to be as firm as she could.

Loki had already decided where they would commence their first date. He took her towards the tower that held The Heaven's Rooftop lounge on the top floor, and wasn't surprised to hear that she was familiar with the restaurant which was only a few blocks away from her home. He insisted that they should at the least teleport there to avoid walking amongst the bustling of ordinary people, but she refused to that as well.

They entered the building with the intention of reaching the very top. Nevaeh halted in front of the elevator and smiled politely to the guard.

'Are we seriously going to take the elevator like a couple of mortals?' Loki drawled. The guard stared at him as he slowly opened the door for them. Nevaeh shot Loki a deadly gaze behind her back as they entered it.

'Would you have rather walk up the stairs, young man?' asked the guard.

'No. Teleport,' Loki said as though it were implied. Nevaeh sighed as she watched the bewildered expression spreading on the guard's face.

'Your man is very funny.' The guard chuckled suddenly.

'I wasn't –'Loki was interrupted when Nevaeh sharply nudged him in the stomach. 'He is, isn't he?' The elevator halted on the brightly lit floor.

The indoor bar and lounge area was packed with all kinds of people; college students sitting in groups, couples out on dates, families with kids.

Loki once again offered his arm. Nevaeh wrapped it around hers, but was slightly taken aback when nobody even bothered to show them towards their table. Loki led the way to the terrace and did not halt till they reached a quaint spot near a fountain, over-looking the city. A bottle of champagne along with two champagne flutes was already sitting on their table. A glass cube filled with water was sitting in the middle with floating candles in it.

'Oh, Loki. You are amazing,' Nevaeh cooed as she sat on the chair that Loki had tilted for her.

'I know, right?' Loki smiled.

A few minutes later, Nevaeh was still surprised to see that none of the staff were paying the least bit of attention towards them. No one came to take their order or offer them pleasantries. Not just that, but the entire rooftop was empty other than them. Not one person was occupying the rest of the tables. 'Loki, what did you do? Why isn't there anyone here out on the rooftop? It is crowded by this hour!'

'I merely demanded some privacy,' Loki said innocently, 'by compelling them to leave us alone.'

'All of them?' she sighed. 'Loki, we said we would do normal things!'

'This is normal!' Loki said. 'Maybe we can watch a movie tomorrow! That's normal too!'

'Oh, yeah,' Nevaeh said. 'There is a theatre in Brooklyn inside a mall that plays A New Hope at noon.'

'See! We can do that normal thing too!' Loki said happily.

'But this is different!' she returned to the point. 'This restaurant is losing money because of us!'

'I will tip them wild,' Loki said. 'You do not worry about that.'

'With what would you tip them, Loki? Red Gold?'

Loki tried very hard not to look indignant. He simply rotated his hand in front of him. An American Express plastic card appeared on the table. Nevaeh picked it up. 'Loki Odinson,' she read out-loud. 'This raises more questions than it answers, Loki Odinson.'

'I had two hours, didn't I?' Loki said. 'I have mountains of gold and I converted a teeny-tiny bit of it into your planet's currency. I merely quickened the process by magic. Trust me I have no intention of bankrupting your little planet.'