Fireworks?
“Ash? Ash!”
Ash raised her head, bleary-eyed and half-awake as she blinked into the darkness. The light suddenly snapped on and she frowned at Loki. “What is it?” she groaned, rubbing her eyes in the blinding brightness surrounding them.
“I don’t want to alarm you, but I think we might be under attack,” Loki replied, sounding as though he was doing his best to keep his voice calm, although his face was panicked.
Ash pushed herself up in confusion. “What do you mean, under attack?”
“Listen.” They sat quietly for a moment and then Loki shook his head. “Strange. I could hear it just now, like cannon fire.”
Ash blinked at him and then the sudden whistling followed by an overly loud BOOM reached their ears and Loki sprang off the bed. “There it is again! You see?”
She looked at him and then burst out laughing. Loki glanced at her in alarm as she clambered out of bed and pulled back the curtains. “That’s not cannons, Loki, it’s fireworks! No one’s attacking us!”
“Fireworks?” Loki repeated, bewildered.
“Yeah, someone must be letting them off early for Bonfire Night,” Ash smiled, pointing into the distance. “You see?”
Loki watched as something small shot upwards into the air and suddenly burst apart in a bang and a shattering of bright pink and blue colours, like glittering stars, that expanded for a moment and then faded into wisps of smoke. Ash looked at him. “You don’t have fireworks on Asgard?” Loki shook his head, watching a second firework explode in a golden fountain. “You don’t know what you’re missing, mate.” She gave a yawn and closed the curtains, clambering back into bed. “You’ll get used to the bangs, don’t worry.”
Loki sat down beside her. “What are they?”
“Fireworks? Well...” Ash thought for a moment, trying to work out how best to describe them to someone who had never seen them before. “They’re small explosions, made up of different chemical compounds that explode when combined and lit, and each compound makes different coloured sparks when it explodes, so when they’re let off, they make all sorts of pretty colour combinations and shapes in the sky at night. Does that make sense? It’s how I remember it from Science class.”
Loki nodded. “That makes sense, but what’s their purpose? To frighten people?”
Ash giggled. “No, they’re for entertainment. People have firework displays late at night for friends and family, or in this case, the general public, to see. It’s especially cool if you’re like me and you don’t have a garden to let them off in yourself, so you can watch them somewhere else and not feel like you’re missing out.”
“So, they’re for fun?” Loki asked, his brow furrowing.
“Yeah.” Ash gave him a tired look. “I know it must seem like we have some very weird ways of entertaining ourselves here-”
“I can think of stranger ways,” Loki interrupted with a smile. “So, what’s Bonfire Night?”
“Oh, it’s another name for November the Fifth.” Feeling that she had better explain otherwise she would never get any peace, Ash sat up and faced him. “Back in 1605, there was a man named Guy Fawkes who had a plot to assassinate the King of England and his friends in Parliament by blowing up the House of Lords whilst they were all in it, using gunpowder.” Loki knew enough of Midgard culture to know what that was and what it could do and he nodded, listening intently. “But it failed because one of the men on Fawkes’ side sent a letter to his brother-in-law, who was a Member of Parliament at that time, telling him and his other brother-in-law not to go to the House of Lords that day. Well, he showed it to the King’s men and Fawkes was caught just as he was about to light the barrels of powder. He and the other plotters, apart from the one who had sent the letter, were executed and now we celebrate the failed plot every November 5th with fireworks.”
Loki blinked at her. “Why did they want to kill the King?”
“Because they didn’t agree with his ideals,” Ash explained. “Back then, Britain was divided, religiously; between the Catholics and the Protestants, both followers of the same religion, technically, but with different ideas about how God should be worshipped. It’s not such a big deal now, but back then, the King was a Protestant and Fawkes was a Catholic. And he and his friends wanted a Catholic ruler on the throne.” She shook her head. “Religion kind of dictated everything that happened back then. Like I said, it’s not such a big deal now who’s on the throne, as long as they have a legitimate claim to it.” Loki was quiet a moment and she wondered if she had said something that had touched a nerve. “Sorry,” she added.
“It’s alright,” Loki said, slowly. “I just never considered the possibility that not everyone would agree with their King’s ideas.”
Ash smiled and reached out to squeeze his hand. “I’m sure you’d have been a good King, really, Loki. In time.”
She rolled over and flipped the light off. Loki sat in silence a moment before he lay down beside her. Ash had no idea if he was really alright or not, so she said, presently, “You know, it’s November 5th on Friday. There’ll be a huge display then, overlooking the Thames. We could go and watch it together, if you like.”
Loki was quiet a second, secretly thrilled by the prospect of spending an evening watching fireworks with her, although when he spoke he tried, and failed somewhat, to keep his voice neutral. “I think I’d like that. Perhaps we could watch them from the roof.”
“Hey, that’s a great idea,” Ash grinned. “We’ll get some snacks in.” She frowned. “Do you like toffee apples?”
Loki glanced in her direction. “I don’t know. I’ve never eaten one. But I do like ordinary apples.”
“Right, that’s decided then,” Ash grinned, snuggling down to sleep. “First firework display, first toffee apple, Friday evening. Goodnight, Loki.”
“Goodnight, Ash,” Loki said, softly, into the darkness.
In spite of having been woken by her flatmate in the middle of the night, Ash found herself surprisingly bright and alert first thing in the morning as she set about making breakfast and getting ready for work. Once she had gone, Loki sat thoughtfully on the sofa and pondered something that had been on his mind for a while. Finally making his mind up, he set about his small task of moving his boots and the large carrier bag of books he still had left to read from the library into the guest room and then spent the rest of the day actually in the library, reading up all he could find about Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night. Ash’s explanation, it turned out, had been a simple textbook version of what he ended up with by the time he left the library, his head brimming with all he had learned.
To his surprise, Ash was already home when he got in, meaning he had been away longer than he had anticipated. Home. It was strange how he was coming to think of the flat as just that.
“Oh!” was the first thing she said when he came in, her lap piled high with magazines that needed labelling. “There you are. I didn’t know whether to start worrying or not.”
“Sorry,” Loki apologised, meaning it as he sat down beside her, using his magic to get her work done for her. Ash rolled her eyes but didn’t complain. “I was in the library.”
She smiled, knowingly. “Of course you were. I just thought...when I saw your books weren’t in the bedroom anymore...”
“What? That I’d abandoned you again?” Loki grinned at her. “Trust me when I say I wouldn’t dream of it. I put them in the spare room.”
Ash was surprised. “Oh. How come?”
Loki took a deep breath. “Because I’m thinking of sleeping in there from now on. To give you some space.”
Ash frowned. “I thought you said that closeness helps you sleep in a strange place.”
“It does,” Loki replied. “But, well, let’s face it, this place isn’t really strange anymore. I’ve grown used to it. I should try sleeping on my own at least.”
She giggled. “I suppose you are old enough now.” They both laughed and she got to her feet, glancing at him over her shoulder. It would be nice to have her bedroom back to herself, but after getting used to Loki being there all the time, it would take some getting used to. “You know,” she added, causing him to look up at her, “if you can’t sleep or you have a nightmare or something, you can sleep with me. I mean, I don’t mean-!” she added at how that sounded and the way Loki’s eyes widened, jokingly, at what she had said. “Not sleep with me, I mean next to me!”
Loki laughed. “I know what you meant, Ash. Thank you.”
She offered him an embarrassed smile and went to her room. The second she was gone, Loki leaned back in his chair. Mark’s words kept coming back to him, his encouragements to do something to impress Ash that might make her look at him in a different light, look at him the way a lover might. That wasn’t the reason he had done this, he told himself, no, he had done this because it was the right thing to do; after all, they were supposed to be just flatmates and poor Ash was getting self-conscious with him being in the same room whilst she undressed, even if he did make a point of turning his back in those instances. But it did seem to have made her happy and that was a start at least. He could do this. He could win her heart.
Couldn’t he?
“So, I’m thinking,” Ash added, drifting back into the room, dressed now in her jeans and an old jumper, her feet clad in slippers, and her hair down in a loose ponytail, “that once I’m done with work on Friday, I go straight to town and grab some snacks and when we’ve eaten, we go up to the roof and watch the display, which will probably last at least a few hours, and then if we’ve got time, watch a film and go to bed. Sound good?”
“Sounds good,” Loki smiled.
It did feel strange sleeping in a bed on his own for the first time in ages, but eventually he was able to get comfortable and fall asleep quite quickly. It was also a little strange not being woken by her alarm first thing in the morning, but that was also nice in a way; it meant he could wake up at his own pace. Part of him wondered, as he lay there in the bright light of morning, just listening to the sounds of the city waking up around him, whether he oughtn’t try to get some kind of job now that it was established that he would be staying her for quite some time. It wasn’t really fair on Ash that she did all the work here, and it would be something to do other than stay in the flat or wander about the city in her absence. He decided to ask her about that at some point.
Friday came around and he found he was quite excited by the prospect of something to look forward to in the evening. Ash grinned at him as she came in, sporting a bag of snacks, and he investigated it while she was changing; Pringles, chocolate, wine and two apples on sticks coated with something hard around them. He picked one out and was frowning at it when she came back into the room.
“Toffee apples,” she explained, coming up to him. “They’re basically just apples coated in hardened toffee, and they’re delicious.”
Loki looked at her. “Is it a tradition to eat these on Bonfire Night?”
“Yep!” Ash grinned.
He returned her smile. “In that case, I think I like your Midgard traditions very much, Ash.”
Ash giggled and pushed past him to make dinner. After they had eaten and the sky had grown dark and star-filled, they both pulled on coats and shoes and then Loki teleported them both up onto the roof of the building. “Tell me, why do we have to wait until night to see them?” he asked.
“Because they show up better in the dark,” Ash replied, settling herself on the edge of the roof, her legs dangling. “And look more magical.”
That was a very good answer, Loki decided as he sat down beside her.
“Now, whatever you do,” Ash added as she pulled the cork out of the bottle of wine, “don’t let me get too tiddly and drop this. Otherwise it’ll probably hit some poor old chap on the head and then I’ll really be in trouble.”
Loki grinned. “You have my word, my Lady, that I won’t let that happen.”
She smiled. “You must be a very polite race to always address people as “Lord” or “Lady.” Or is that just from being raised as a Prince?”
“Both,” Loki replied, mischievously. He glanced over the water, remembering that Ash had once pointed out to him that she lived just opposite the Houses of Parliament. “So, Guy Fawkes tried to blow up that building?” he added, pointing to the House of Lords.
“Yep,” Ash agreed. “Tried and failed. I shudder to think what might have happened if he hadn’t. The whole country would have been up in arms about it, there’d have been wars and everything. I mean it probably would have fizzled out eventually by our generation but...” She blushed and ducked her head. “Loki! I wish you’d stop me from babbling like this!”
Loki smiled. “I like it when you babble. It’s cute.”
Then he instantly realised what that sounded like he was implying and he quickly looked away from her. Before Ash could say anything, the sound of faint applause from down below alerted them to the fact that the display was about to begin. They both sat up and Loki felt a tingle of anticipation run through him as the first rockets were lit and sent into the air. They exploded in a rainbow of different colours with heart-stopping bangs and illuminated the whole sky.
“Wonder if that’s what it’s like when a star explodes,” Loki mused. “Or falls to Earth.”
Ash looked at him and smiled. “That sounds quiet poetic.”
Loki returned her smile, the awkward moment between them having passed and drifted away like the firework sparks turning to smoke. He soon got used to the bangs they made and found himself awed by the different shapes and sounds that filled the night. Asgard had never had anything as spectacular as this, he decided.
They watched the whole display mainly in silence, the fireworks too loud and distracting to make conversation possible anyway, but Loki couldn’t help voicing his amazement when he finally got around to trying the toffee apple.
“This is absolutely incredible,” he told her.
Ash just beamed at him. “I knew you’d like them.”
As the display finally came to a close, Loki was suddenly very aware that she had shifted a bit closer to him on the roof. He didn’t move, even to look at her, but he could feel his heart rate picking up at her closeness. How did she do this to him, he questioned not for the first time, her? A simple Midgardian woman? And yet...well, now he was beginning to see what Thor had seen in the woman he had fallen for during his time on Midgard. They were different to Asgardian women and in a way it was nice. And if it could work for Thor, then why not for him?
In one final golden bang, it was all over and once again the cheers and applause from those watching below reached their ears. “I feel sorry for them,” Ash murmured. “Watching from down there. We definitely had the best view up here.”
Loki smiled and glanced at the sky, which was tinted red by the glow from the fireworks and filled with stars. “This was a good idea,” he said, and then, turning to her, “Thank you; I enjoyed myself.”
“I’m glad,” Ash smiled.
Loki swallowed hard. She had her head resting on his shoulder. What did that mean? Was it just a simple friendly gesture, proving how comfortable she felt around him? Or was it something a bit more than that? He had no idea how to go about finding out. For want of something to do to keep himself from suddenly grabbing her and smothering her with a kiss, he reached around for the almost empty bottle of wine. Ash raised her head off his shoulder and smiled as he poured what was left of it into their glasses.
“Thank you,” she said, softly, toasting her glass against his and they both drank, Loki extremely glad that she had moved, now certain that it had just been an unconscious, friendly gesture that she might have done to anyone sitting on the roof with her at that moment, and with what was going on in both his mind and his trousers at that moment, extremely glad that they were sleeping in separate beds now.