Trickster's Game - Chapter 2 (LokixOC)

    So for the next two days, Loki returned to the museum as soon as its doors were opened and he looked for a way to reach the artefact, whatever it was, but as soon as he espied Abby, he watched her instead. There was much to learn before he would try to approach her, for he was sure that he would only get one chance. If he scared her off then, she would be gone.

    Then he would have to resort to his other plan, taking the keys off her by force. He had had his chance for that when she had been alone in her house that was much too roomy for one woman alone, but somehow, even though he wanted his magic back, he had refrained from it. Playing her would be more fun, he kept telling himself, but he had no magic and he despised this weakness. Yet, he found himself following again with no plan of overwhelming her as she went home.

    Only this time, she took a different turn than the last two evenings and Loki was curious. Where was she going?

    Abby crossed a busy street and then kept to smaller alleys, which still meant that they were far from narrow. Then and again she stole a glance over her shoulder, nervously biting her lip as she did so. At first, Loki was confused at her behaviour, then he chuckled to himself. Could it be that the good Doctor of Archaeology was hiding something?

    Smiling to himself, Loki thought that this trip had just gotten more interesting, so he followed eagerly, yet tried to keep back so as not to attract attention to himself. He was surprised when Abby turned towards a park and never looked up to find her way as she seemed to know it by heart. Was he about to find her in a rendezvous? That would make things more complicated than he would like them, but now he was mostly curious.

    Doing his best to appear as an innocent Londoner merely taking a stroll and nevertheless not to lose sight of Abby, he followed her through the park with its open structure and neatly kept lanes, wondering where she was headed. The walkways ahead were long, the whole park reminded him of the Gardens in Asgard with their vastness, yet this Midgardian replica lacked all of their beauty.

    The shouted, cawed cry of a raven made Loki wince and out of reflex, he looked up to the raven that had called, fearing it might be Hugin or Munin searching for him. He did not spy the blasted creatures anywhere and as he focused on Abby again, he had to realise that she was gone.

    Anger rose in him and he frantically looked around, but she was nowhere to be seen. Loki knew that it was no matter, he would find her in the museum again by tomorrow morning, but he was still angry with himself. Who would ever know what opportunity, what vital information he had now let slip through his fingers out of sheer stupidity and idiotic fright? All in all, it was at least one more night at the shelter, one more day without his magic. Another day wasted.

    Muttering curses at himself under his breath, Loki trod on through the park, not yet ready to admit his defeat for the day. His head bent low, he just followed the pathway under his feet, ignoring his surroundings in his gloom. It lightened when he smelled flowers and before he could get a clear hold of it, a thought flashed through his mind. Mother.

    Shaking his head violently, Loki tried to suppress the thought of Frigga, she was dead and she had never been his mother anyway… but he could not stop thinking of her, not with the lovely scent of roses in his nostrils. Without realising, he had walked right next to a hedge of beautiful roses. None had the beauty Frigga had succeeded to create in her gardens, but this, the feeling, the scent was as close to Asgard as he could get.

    Smiling despite himself, Loki approached the hedge of roses and as he entered the ring they formed, he was engulfed in a canopy of scent and beauty, roses were all around him and he was alone. It made his heart bleed as this reminded him of Frigga, of the only person that had ever cared for him, but she was gone, he had lost her without a chance of helping her, yet the scent nevertheless comforted him as no one apart from Frigga had ever done. In here he could admit defeat and not be ashamed of it for no one was there to see or to judge him deficient.

    Loki inhaled deeply with closed eyes, revelling in the peace he found for a moment. When he looked around again, he found a park bench and sat down, gazing at all the roses of so many different colours. In the calmness of this haven he could think and would plan his next step.

    Or he would have, had not in that very moment another person sat down next to him. Annoyed and ready to shoo off whoever there was, Loki turned towards them. And he was startled when he recognised Abby in an instant. Had she noticed him following her here and now come to confront him? No, that would afford more cunning than she could possible possess.

    Taking a closer look at her, Loki saw her dark brown doe eyes for the first time up close and they were rimmed with tears. Sniffling quietly Abby stared off into the distance, too absorbed in her grief to even notice his presence. He could barely manage not to laugh aloud. A sad, insecure woman was all the more prone to succumb to a man offering her comfort and a gentle smile. Really, it would be too easy.

    Despite his glee, Loki put on a mask of sympathising concern as he gently asked: “Miss, are you alright?”

    Abby gave a violent start and gasped in fright, obviously she had really not seen him before.

    “Yes, t-thank you.”, she stammered, clandestinely wiping away tears, “I am, ah, just… I am fine.”

    “But you were crying.”, Loki answered, keeping up the air of concern and wishing he had a handkerchief with him for just the right dash of dramatic acting. She began an answer, almost squirming with discomfort, but then sighed with all the exhaustion Loki had seen piling up on her slender shoulders in the last two days. Good, that meant she would crumble soon under its weight and lean on him for comfort.

    “It’s just…”, she mumbled, then gazed at the pink, velvety roses in front of her and whispered so quietly it could also have been the wind rustling in the leaves, “My mother passed away last week.”

    All his glee about her tears making her more gullible was wiped away by those few words and he felt a pang of guilt, the bleeding of a wound not yet healed and opened by the scent of the roses.

    “I…”, he began, but was speechless for a moment until he spoke from the heart, wearily, “I know what this means.”

    Now Abby was startled and she stared at him out of big, unblinking doe eyes, before she cast them down again and sighed: “Thank you.”

    Frowning, Loki wondered what he had done to help her, but she continued: “I do not have to tell you that this loss is hard enough as it is, almost too much to bear. I cannot take all the rest as well.”

    While he had watched her in the museum, Loki had thought that she was simply stressed because of the exhibition she had to open next week, but now he realised that she was at the edge, she was desperate.

    “What happened?”, he enquired and she began to speak, but then shook her head no, “I do not want to bother you with it…”

    “You don’t.”, he said and smiled warmly, finding the acting of it all not as hard as he had thought it would be, “I don’t really have anywhere else to go, so you do not bother me, Miss.”

    “Abby.”, she introduced herself and returned his smile. She was pretty, he had to give her that, but she hid it perfectly under her sadness and insecurity lest a man would spot her and be interested. As she waited for him to also introduce himself, Loki entertained the thought of giving her a false name, maybe Lucas, but then decided against it and replied, offering his hand: “Loki.”

    She arched an eyebrow at that and he jested: “My parents chose the name, it was not my doing.”

    She chuckled quietly at this, then nodded and said: “I can understand the ardour for Norse mythology, I share it. And it will be my undoing, I’m afraid.”

    Loki knew she was referring to the exhibition and so decided to let her speak in her own time which she did after another heavy sigh: “See, I am a curator at the British museum and I assembled an exhibition about Vikings that is to open next week.”

    “Interesting.”, he commented to keep her going and she smiled, she genuinely smiled without sadness this time as she enthusiastically said: “I know. Their culture is so interesting and more advanced than those movies would have you believe. They did not only make do with what they had, they made it excellent. Their cookery, their craftsmanship. It really is a shame that so little is preserved in writing, so many runes withered away…”

    She stopped suddenly and chuckled to herself: “Forgive me, I can get pretty excited about Norse culture and mythology.”

    “I gathered that.”, Loki winked at her and knew immediately that it had been too much for she retreated, averted her eyes and closed up like a clam before him. So much for subtlety.

    “Anyway, I have the exhibition ready, we could open any day.”, she continued and Loki had to gather all his self restraint not to let her see his excitement, but she was too wrapped up in her tale anyway, “But, a colleague convinced my boss that such a “dry and boring” exhibition would never get us visitors. It’s not like we earn anything from the free admissions anyway, but… Well, my boss now insists I find something to make it more interesting, to “kick it up a notch”. And I am absolutely at my wits end.”

    Before Loki could offer any comment, she added sadly: “If I don’t, I can go and look for a new job as I was made understood. Plus, I have to deal with Mom’s bequest and I will probably not be able to afford her house much longer, especially not as a curator on the dole.”

    In fact, Loki was barely able to withhold his excitement. Not only was she desperate and needed help he had wanted to offer, no, she actually came to him for it. This was his chance, so all he had to do was find a solution for her dilemma.

    “I… this isn’t your problem, I should not have bothered you.”, Abby suddenly apologised and tried to get up, but Loki stopped her with a hand on her arm. The way she winced and her head snapped around, he knew she was frightened, but he did not know was the reason for it.

    “Forgive me.”, Loki asked and quickly let go off her, “You did not bother me.”

    “You said so…”, she mumbled, sitting down again, but then shook her head, “Still, I shouldn’t. I should not have told you. Well, not anyone, I am sorry.”

    “Don’t be.”, Loki objected and was glad she remained seated this time, “There is no need to apologise. You needed to tell someone. And I guess you used to discuss such matters with your mother. So now you need someone else to discuss them.”

    “I do.”, Abby admitted sadly and then smiled crookedly, “And you… just happen to be here. That is incredible.”

    “Why?”, he chuckled calmly, hoping she would not suspect him of what he was actually trying to do, trick her. And she did not, as she answered with a shy smile: “You are here when no one else is. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, usually I would never have told a stranger so much about me. I guess you have just got one of those faces.”

    Loki raised an eyebrow, not comprehending what she was implying, so she added: “I don’t know, you just seem…trustworthy.”

    Now he could do nothing more than stare at her and blink. He had heard much being said about him, he had been cursed and called names, but never, in all his lifetime, had anyone called him that and so Loki veered between astonishment, disgust at such foolishness and gloating. Despite it all he smiled and told her: “I am here, so tell me what concerns you. Maybe we can find a solution.”

    And just as quickly as she had shed off her despair, she slipped into it again, dropped her head into her hands and mumbled: “I don’t think so. How can you make Vikings interesting for idiots like Julian, knowing nothing about them. Other than the incredulous stuff from bad movies.”

    With that, Loki smiled and suggested: “Give them what they know from the movies.”

    “What do you mean?”, she asked frowning, “Like…?”

    “Give them a Viking.”, he shrugged, “No real Viking of course, they could be a bit hard to come by these days, but you could parade someone in leather armour before them. Make him growl at the crowd, put an axe into his hands and they will love him.”

    For a moment, Abby stared at him, then snorted with laughter: “That’s brilliant!”

    “If you say so.”, Loki joked smiling, but he could watch how her own smile faltered and died.

    “What is it?”, he asked and he could not keep a hint of annoyance from his voice. She had liked his idea, why was it insufficient all of a sudden?

    “That suggestion is brilliant and would solve me problems like this.”, Abby said and snipped her fingers before she sighed, “If and only if I happened to have an actor around.”

    That was true, though Loki could not imagine that actors would be that hard to find.

    “Every oaf can play a Viking as they are received nowadays.”, he shrugged and thought that even Thor would have been able to pull that off, “Just give some desperate actor a chance.”

    “I don’t know…”, Abby muttered and Loki glared at her. He would not be able to help her and thereby himself to the artefact if she simply would not let him help.

    “Moreover, I don’t want to depict Vikings like that!”, a sudden outburst of passion came from her, “The museum is there to teach people. If it can be made fun for them, all the better, but I will not alter the facts, not like that.”

    “Maybe…”, Loki added as a truly mad idea struck him, “Maybe you will not have to.”

    Abby looked him over and he smiled before he elaborated: “If you assembled the collection for the exhibition, I really do not have to tell you about Norse mythology. Vikings may be known now for their fighting and brute strength, but they had so much more, you said it yourself, craftsmanship, cookery. Why not give your visitors the joys of a show with an “actual Viking” and simultaneously introduce them to the finer arts of this culture. Like, let’s say… mockery.”

    Abby smiled at this, understanding his allusion much more quickly than he had anticipated, but then she smiled wearily: “I do like that notion, but it puts me into the same predicament I already was in before. I do not have an actor.”

    “No.”, he admitted, “You have, however, a Loki. Sitting next to you.”

    Now her jaw dropped and all he could do was chuckle whole-heartedly to himself.

    “You wouldn’t…would you?”, Abby gasped, “You can’t…I mean, you…? Are you an actor? And…would you really do that?”

    By now she had him laughing and Loki cocked his head as he explained: “I am not an actor by profession, but I have a bit of experience in the field.”

    “Still.”, Abby shook her head, “Why would you… why would you do that? Why would you do that for me?”

    When she said that, Loki was speechless for a moment. The look in her eyes was so familiar as he had seen it often enough, too often in his own sad eyes. She felt alone and could not believe that anyone would do even the smallest thing for her…because she had been alone for too long, just as he had.

    Shaking off that thought, he explained tensely: “Look, I am in quite the dilemma myself.”

    So much was even true, yet what he added was so much seasoned with falsehoods so that he was willing to call it a straight-out lie: “My father, well, foster-father, actually kicked me out after the only mother I ever knew died. I have… no place to live, nowhere to go. I need something to live on, a job, and a place to live in as well, yet without a job this is hard to find.”

    “I am so sorry.”, Abby murmured and it irritated him to no end. She was miserable, she was so desperate it was palpable in the air around her, and yet she pitied him?!

    “Don’t be.”, Loki snapped, unable to bite back his anger, but as Abby winced, he apologised so as not to lose her, “Forgive me, please. It has been a few rough days.”

    “Well, you know…”, she began shyly, “My mother left me the house. It is a bit big for me alone and there is a little flat in it where she used to have lodgers. If you want to…”

    “I cannot accept this offer.”, Loki politely refused even though he had hoped for these very words. Abby shrugged shyly and continued: “I know it sounds insane. I don’t even know you, but… as I said, you just seem trustworthy. I need an actor for my exhibition, you need a job and lodgings. So we both win, I guess.”

    “Well…”, he began and Abby nodded, “I insist. You will have your own key, your own rooms. We do not even have to meet at all. Apart from during the exhibition hours, that is.”

    As she said those words, her smile faltered until she cast down her eyes. Even with the potential opportunity to attend to gulling her day and night when living with her, Loki was sure that her shyness would be a major obstacle. But, as he had thought before, he always liked a challenge.

    “Thank you, then.”, he told her and got up, offering his hand to her to pull her to her feet, smiling at her when she accepted it, “You just got yourself a lodger and an actor. Let’s make the best of it.”

    She returned his smile, yet in the oncoming dusk, Loki still saw her blush when she withdrew her hand.

    “Let us indeed.”, she nodded and he grinned. The good doctor had absolutely no idea what she had gotten herself into, that was for sure. And Loki would relish in her shock when she realised the magic of the artefact she harboured in the museum and even more so when she would witness what he was able to do with such power.