A New Mission
There was, in fact, a bath and a bed where the strange girl took him to rest, for which Loki was grateful beyond words. He almost forgot how relaxing it was to lay down in a tub and forget all his troubles as the dirt from his skin melts into the water. Zozo was kind enough to inform him that he was allowed to use all the products and even recommended some lavender bath salts, but all Loki truly cared about was simply laying down for a little, without any expectations of saving worlds or bringing them down. It was so relaxing that he almost fell asleep, which he thankfully managed to keep himself from doing by sliding the entire jar of salt into the tub. Oops.
The bath had relaxed him so much, that he did not register where Zozo had led him to after it, or that he received someone else’s clothes to sleep in, and the second his head hit the soft pillow, he drifted away into a deep, thankfully dreamless slumber.
He was less than amused when he woke up, thirteen hours later, and realized he spent the night in the bottom bunk of a child’s bunk bed, by slamming his head into the top bunk when he tried to sit up. His feelings of confusion later morphed into mortification, when he realized he had slept topless, wearing just a pair of black shorts with the word “juicy” written on the back in fake gemstones. This was most definitely not appropriate sleeping attire for a prince, and after he summoned himself some more appropriate clothing, he was about to give Zozo a piece of his mind, but once he went downstairs and saw her sitting by the table with two plates of breakfast prepared, he decided against it.
“Do you do that often?” Loki asked, sitting down on the empty chair across from the girl. “As in, invite strange men to your home to sleep?”
For the first time in a while, he was dressed in Asgardian clothing, and though it felt rather pretentious compared to Zozo’s dress, it was nice to have that bit of familiarity with him. Charlie also seemed to appreciate Asgardian fashion, as he sniffed his cape with curiosity and proceeded to lay down on it. Zozo laughed.
“Oh I don’t live here, this isn’t my home.” She took a generous bite off her sandwich, then looked at Loki’s plate with a sort of unfulfilled expectation, “I don’t know what you like, so I made you a simple sandwich with like ham and cheese and stuff. If you want tomatoes, or like… pickles, I have those in the fridge.”
Too stunned to realize what he was being offered, or even question what pickles were, Loki stared at the girl in shock.
“Wait, so you just… broke into somebody’s house, to have a sleepover!?”
“WE broke into somebody’s house.” Zozo corrected, mouth full of mashed sandwich. “And it’s fine, they’re on vacation anyways.” She swallowed, and looked at Loki’s still untouched plate. “Are you scared I poisoned that sandwich or something? Because I guarantee you, it’s delicious, and I don’t know how to brew poison or where to buy it from. So you can eat it safely.”
“Were YOU not scared I might hurt or kill you?” Loki asked, trying his best to ignore the questions about the sandwich and stir the conversation onto the correct path, “You look like a big child. If I wanted to, I could easily push you over or beat you to death, and don’t even get me started about the lethality of my magic.”
Now Zozo’s face started displaying some annoyance, and what looked like embarrassment, which Loki assumed was due to him calling out her reckless behavior.
“I did lock the door before I went to sleep.” She confessed, and surprisingly, it did not make Loki feel any better. Untrustworthy. That’s what he was, and Zozo knew it.
“And I could have easily gotten in by using my magic or picking the lock.” He countered.
Anger flashed in Zozo’s blue eyes, and she slammed her sandwich into the plate and pushed her chair back, in an almost defensive gesture that startled Charlie and caused him to flinch.
“Alright then, do it, kill me!” She shouted. Then, after a second, the spark of anger was gone and she cleared her throat. “Though killing me would not benefit you to the slightest, and the only thing you’d achieve by doing so would be murdering someone who showed you kindness and offered you shelter, please, go ahead.”
For a moment, Loki stared at the girl, absorbing every little detail about her. Once the anger dissolved, her face didn’t exactly show any sort of particular emotion. Not confidence, not trust, nor even the slightest bit of fear. Either she was stupid enough to blindly trust him not to hurt her, or she genuinely didn’t care. Of course, it didn’t really make much difference, but in a way it didn’t sit right with him that someone would be indifferent about the possibility of their own death. Maybe when he was younger, he would have considered threatening her for fun, to get some sort of reaction, but not now. Not after everything he’s been through recently.
After a minute of contemplation, Loki took a bite of the sandwich.
“It’s very good. Thank you.” He said.
The girl smiled, and her tense body relaxed against the wooden chair.
“Told you.” She remarked triumphantly, “I make fantastic sandwiches.”
They spent the rest of breakfast in silence, and though it was neither awkward nor very comfortable, it sparked a sort of curiosity in Loki about the person across from him. Who was she? Where did she get the tempad from? What is this place? And most importantly, why for Norns sake did she offer him refuge if she had nothing to gain except for, as she claimed, moral superiority? This was all weird and quite frankly didn’t seem right. There must have been a bigger goal somewhere. A goal, Loki decided he needed to know. Just maybe not now. He needed to be sneaky about it.
Zozo coughed, no doubt to get his attention.
“Hey, so, this was fun, but I gotta get back to the TVA, and I really don’t want to stay here for longer than necessary, so do you like, want me to pack you the rest of that sandwich or something? Because we gotta get going real soon, and by that I mean in the next five minutes.”
“No need to pack it.” Loki said, and took a quick bite off his sandwich using his seiðr to make it disappear into his dimensional pocket. “And why the rush? You said the owners of this house were on vacation.”
Zozo shifted uncomfortably, as if she was hiding something from him that she would rather not think about. There it was, the crumb of that bigger goal she was keeping to herself.
“It’s not about that, I’m just kind of on a time limit here, and I really need to get back so I can get as much work done as possible.”
This wasn’t an answer, but he supposed it wouldn’t be good to push her limits. After all, she was the one with the tempad, and Loki would rather not get on her bad side and risk getting left behind.
And so, moments later, they stood by the file section of the TVA, right where they started off, except a lot more well-rested. Loki didn’t know why, but his stomach tightened with anxiety the longer they stood there, neither of them sure of what to say. Finally, Zozo broke the silence.
“Well, I guess I’ll get going now.” She said, fidgeting nervously with Charlie’s leash and trying her best to avoid eye contact, “It was lovely to meet you. See you around, I guess.”
“Yes, see you around.” Loki mumbled, as he watched the girl disappear into the infinite amount of files under the letter Z. Once again, he was alone. Alone, carrying the weight of the universe, or rather, the multiverse, and the knowledge of an incoming multiversal war, against an incredibly dangerous individual. For perhaps the first time in his life, Loki felt overwhelmed. Usually, coming up with plans was in his nature as much as breathing, but this time, he was truly lost. He didn’t have anyone or anything, no brother, no family, no friends, not even Mobius to help him. The only person who recognized and cared about him, even just slightly, was that girl who offered him shelter to safely sleep in, and though Loki knew better than to get attached to someone so quickly again, he knew what he had to do.
“Hey! Dog girl!” He yelled, as he chased after her into the files. She didn’t go far, thankfully, and was busying herself with reading a file and taking notes on her arm, which while confusing, almost made Loki sigh with relief. Helping her with whatever meaningless task she was performing, put much less pressure on him than whatever consequence was awaiting him for freeing the timeline and opening the multiverse. He will deal with that later.
Zozo looked up from the file, surprised, slight concern in her eyes as Loki got closer. Charlie wagged his tail slightly.
“I have decided to help you.” Loki said.
The girl’s eyes widened, then narrowed, and she let out a dry laugh.
“Yea, thanks, but I’ll pass.”
Loki blinked in confusion. Rejection was nothing new to him, but he never expected someone who was… well frankly put, beneath him, to do so with such bluntness. She needed his help, with whatever it was she was doing, and he wasn’t going to let her go. Not when she was his perfect escape from everything.
“I think you’ve misunderstood,” Loki explained, deliberately slowing down his speech as if he were talking to someone much dumber than him, “I, Loki of Asgard, the god of mischief, will be helping you on your mission. I’ve already decided that, so there is no need for discussion. You’re welcome.”
The girl sighed with annoyance, and closed the file she was holding with a bang. Then, she reached out to the cabinet, and grabbed another, skimming through the contents with annoyance and completely ignoring Loki’s words. Naturally, the god took the file from her, and held it up above his head until she looked at him angrily.
“I work solo.” She informed him, through gritted teeth.
“Not anymore.” Loki grinned, though the grin was as forced as could be. He won’t let his only chance to escape this mess run away. “Seriously, think about it. You are a lost teenager, alone, stuck in the middle of a multiversal mess that you couldn’t even begin to understand, and someone way more powerful than you, is offering you not just his company, but also protection from anyone who would want to attack your vulnerable self.”
Surprisingly, Zozo didn’t seem convinced, and instead let out an annoyed grunt and backed out of the section, as if trying to escape the god no matter what. Unfortunately for her, she was still attached to her dog’s leash, and when Loki picked him up and held him tightly, she fell over on her back.
“So, how will it be, human?” He asked her, holding Charlie in both of his arms while leaning over her. Zozo glared at him from the ground.
“I have a name, you know.” She hissed, trying to clumsily stand up. Loki smiled.
“Oh I know. I am consciously choosing not to use it because it’s exceptionally stupid. Have you ever considered changing it to something with an actual meaning, not just a repetition of syllables?”
“You know, there’s this saying, never meet your childhood heroes.” Zozo said, her brows twisted in annoyance and anger, “I never thought it would ever apply to you.”
Now that was new. New and surprising. Loki had never thought of himself as a hero, nor did he think there were people who genuinely believed him to be one. Obviously, he wanted to be perceived as a hero, but all that self righteous nonsense Thor was always going on about, honestly made him sick. Why would Zozo say something like that? The more time Loki spent with her, the more curious about her he became, and it probably would have made his life a lot easier if he didn’t have to sate his curiosity forcefully, as the girl kept trying to run away.
“Where are we going?” He asked, when she started walking through the cabinets. Charlie was still in his arms, so it wasn’t as if she could walk far.
“Home.” Zozo replied, dryly.
“Alright, let me rephrase, where exactly are you taking me?”
“I dunno, man. I’m going home, you’re the one who keeps following me.”
Then, seemingly out of the blue, the girl froze, which caused Loki to bump into her.
Her face, once the epitome of annoyance, was now pale, her eyes wide in fear. Whatever it was that she saw, it must have scared her immensely, as she ignored Loki’s protests and backtracked further into the cabinet. Then, without much preparation or warning, she started sprinting. Behind them, someone was also running, and Loki decided to let go of Charlie, and instead knocked over some cabinets to buy them some time and create an obstacle, for which he assumed Zozo would thank him for when she turned right and typed something into the tempad.
“Do you trust me?” She whispered after she opened the portal and took Charlie in her arms. Her eyes didn't show anything except honesty and desperation. Whatever it was she was dealing with, Loki had to make his decision now. Go with her, or betray her. In his earlier days, perhaps he would have thought about it more, and maybe he would have stalled enough to take control and get the answers on his own. But that wasn’t him anymore.
“I don’t.” He admitted. “But we don’t have much choice, do we?”
And with that, he took her and Charlie into his arms, and jumped through the portal into the unknown.