Chapter 4
After the game of questions, you had sent a simple 'well done' message to your mystery recipient. The smile didn't leave your face for the next fifteen minutes as you read over your exchange. The flirting couldn't be all in your head. There were definite moments when a spark could be felt, even if over a messaging system. However, the more time went by without a response, the more your smile faded and reality took its place. Regardless of who was behind the account, you had enjoyed the brief conversation.
By the time Monday morning rolled around and radio silence was all that transpired between you and the stranger over the weekend, it seemed to be all a distant memory. That memory fueled several late night fantasies though. (A couple even with the addition of your trusty vibrator that had earned a fair bit of action.) The silence nearly stopped you from even mentioning it to your co-workers, who you hadn't seen since prior to the whole ordeal.
"Hey—any of you watch those Marvel movies?" you ask the three members of your fourth grade team as you all stood against your door frames, waiting for the bell to ring. It was a tradition. Sip your coffee and greet kids as they walk down the hall.
"Those aren't really my thing," Marie admitted as she punctuated her admittance with a sip of sweet tea. The woman consumed more sugar than anyone else you knew, but somehow maintained an envious figure.
"What do you mean 'not your thing'? Jamie has literally made me watch every single movie at least thirteen times with him. You have to watch them in a certain order if you want to get the true experience" Anna rattled on, even proceeding to go into the details of the different viewing sessions she had undergone with her husband.
You stopped listening about half way through, wondering if it was a mistake to even bring it up. Your co-worker's dissertation gave you ample time to weigh the pros and cons of revealing your little Instagram moment. When your third colleague chimed in, you journeyed back into the conversation.
"My kids have watched them all and probably know more about them than I do. Now, I'll watch some of the movies, but mainly for the guy who plays Thor," came Joy's response—you aren't supposed to have favorite members of your team, mainly because you are the grade level chair and that might start some drama, however you have known Joy since before you became a teacher. She was a mentor, a friend, and had talked to you off of many ledges both professional and personally.
The bell echoed throughout the school, signaling it was time for students to be making their way to your rooms. However, one student popped out of Joy's classroom, chewing on a bagel. "Don't let Ms. L/N hear you say that about Thor. She likes Loki. She tells us anti-heroes are the best," Andrew explained to his mom as he ducked around the corner into your room. Joy was always in the know about what you told your students, since you now taught her nine-year old boy.
"But he's so old!" came Anna, the youngest in the group at a whopping twenty-five, cringing with a near comical level expression.
"Are you even legal to vote?" you called out, stopping that line of conversation before it even started. At thirty-one, you were relatively nestled in the middle of the team as far as age was concerned. Never before had you been concerned with age and you certainly weren't going to start caring now as that continually nagging thought dwelled in your mind. What if you actually had been speaking to Tom Hiddleston?
"He's what—? Older than me, right?" Joy questioned, the oldest of the group.
"Barely. He's forty and you'll turn forty on your next birthday," You answered simply.
"Oh. Like another person we both know," Joy's words pointed very specifically at you. Your friend shared a birthday with your infamous ex, exactly to the year. It wasn't lost on you that Joy's tone also changed when she brought up David, mostly because she knew you were still in contact with him, even though you both knew that should be stopped immediately.
"He's not really my type," Marie added, noting the distinct tension that filled the air. Though as students began coming down the hallway, the conversation topic had to be disguised by gestures and increased inferencing. "He's too—"
"Too what? Tall?" raising a brow as you suddenly found yourself a little protective of this man you literally had never met. "Gorgeous? Good morning, Carter," flipping back and forth between subjects.
"I know what you mean. It's something with—-," Anna gestured towards her face as if that was supposed to be some sort of clue as to why these two women did not find Tom attractive.
You were completely blown away by their statements. "Excuse me. What part of all of this—-," you gestured down the entirety of your frame, "and this—" motioning towards your face, "and—wait, have you heard him speak? How could you not find him—- Good morning, Ansley! Did you finish that math homework last night?" a bright smile plastered across your face before sliding right off in the absence of children. "I'm so confused right now." You genuinely questioned their sanity for not finding him sexy as hell. You'd be willing to admit though that neither of these women had fantasized about letting Tom Hiddleston rip their shirt off of them...
The conversation eventually trailed off, leaving you absolutely frustrated. You even asked yourself if you should mention anything to Scott about reaching out to "Loki" about his writing. Given that you weren't even sure if Tom (that felt odd to even think about him as simply–Tom) had actually read it, you felt it might be best to leave it alone. Though two hours later, when you were at your best, coffee having kicked in, kids fully awake, energy levels high—you have no choice but to address it.
"Ms. L/N!" called out Anna as soon as she opened the door to your classroom. It wasn't standard practice to interrupt each other when teaching, but things happened. Maybe a new email came in with last minute news, a question with a current lesson, or issue with technology—it happened.
"Alright, friends. Go ahead and get your books out for independent reading. Remember, write down a prepositional phrase that you spot in your book. Make sure to write down the page number also for our accountable talk," giving the directions to buy you some time to meet Anna in the hall. It was April, the students knew the routines and expectations, but they were still kids–so you left the door cracked to allow some level of privacy and supervision.
"Look at this!" shoving the phone practically in your face. At first, you assumed it would be an email sent to the staff or perhaps a parent of Anna's. When you spotted the Instagram logo, you felt the frustration enter your frame. You were interrupted for this? To watch some silly video?
When you were met with a video of Loki, your heart skipped a beat. Had she been looking up Loki videos since your conversation this morning? That was charming, especially since you tended to have difficulty connecting with Anna on a personal level. She was trying to build a connection, even if it was through a love of Loki.
Upon further inspection, you realized that this wasn't a past video, nor was it from some random fan account. This video was posted twenty-two minutes ago from twhiddleston's account. Not only that, but the caption read:
Not every hero has to be a God, though you can't go wrong when you team up with the God of Mischief. Thank you Scott from @cgfan0820 's class for writing this riveting tale. #forgive&forget #metaphorsbewithyou #doesthisansweryourquestion
You couldn't move. You couldn't breathe. You read the caption over and over again. That definitely said your student's name. That definitely was your account name. Even in that moment, you told yourself that anyone could have posted the caption, until you read the hashtags. They were obnoxiously long, especially the last one. Then, you actually read it. Does this answer your question? The phone nearly fell from your hands like some slapstick comedy routine.
"Watch the video!" Anna hissed, excitement evident in every aspect of her being, and obviously having already watched the video herself. Pushing the phone into your hands, Anna went to the other two classrooms, to get the attention of your colleagues as you stood there staring at the paused image. Did she not realize you lost all sort of control of your extremities?
Staring back at you was the clean shaven, jet black hair, green costume donned actor who you may have been the subject matter of several scandalous thoughts over the course of your weekend. You always preferred the beard, but you weren't put out by the exposed jawline like a freaking Adonis statue. Or the blue eyes that stared directly into the camera. Directly into you. Unable to press play, Anna forced your hand as the other teachers circled around.
"I am Loki of Asgard!" announced the man, camera fully focused in from the shoulders up. The image pulled back suddenly to reveal an old, worn, leather bound book in his hands. God, his hands... Palms wide enough to splay generously across your breasts...fingers long enough to slide deep inside your...
"Today, I shall tell you a tale, one riddled with intrigue, betrayal, and a touch—," he paused, giving a quick wink to the camera. An audible squeak leaving the back of your throat. No one heard that right? Loki always winks. Nothing to see here. "---of mischief."
When he began to read from the book, an odd sense of deja vu overcame you. Why was all of this so familiar? It wasn't until Joy grabbed your forearm as realization hit her, that it hit you as well. This was Scott's story. Tom Hiddleston was dressed as Loki, reading Scott's story. He turned to show the book towards the camera, words in dramatic script, but the pictures were cut from Scott's actual book. He had to have taken her screenshots, printed and glued them into this prop.
The story was about how it can be difficult to deal with a brother. Scott stumbles upon Loki in the story and asks for help. Loki gives chaotic after chaotic ideas as to how to handle the tiff between brothers, but it is through all of his terrible ideas that Scott comes to a solution on his own how to address his own brother and how to help Loki and Thor get along. It was simple, but effective for a fourth grader.
What sold the delivery were the tiny turns to the camera Tom made, little quips here or there about how irritating Thor could be, commentary about the narrative—raised brows, winks, or a roll of the eye. Every facial expression made you absolutely weak.
"I should be King!!!!!!!" Loki bellowed to the point that the camera shook, wiggling and moving in such a dramatic fashion. It had obviously been planned prior to the video. You burst out into laughter, smacking at your colleagues' arms with your free hand at the performance. It was the line. The line. It was the seven-exclamation-point-never-going-to-let-him-live-it-down line. His next words knocked the breath right out of you though.
Face was even, turning towards the camera. "Ms. L/N informed me that one should always read with expression," a roll of the eyes as if he had been asked the impossible, turning back to the book. Then, as if he remembered something, blue orbs directed to the camera with brows scrunched. "Also, does she always have such interesting shirts?" as though the audience could respond back to him. He shook his head as if the question didn't matter and went back to reading the story.
As if the question didn't matter...As if he didn't actually use your name...As if he didn't refer back to something you had specifically messaged to his account... As if he hadn't just mentioned your shirt choices...
"Did he just—?" asked Marie.
"How does he know about your t-shirts?" Joy questioned, glancing down at your shirt choice for the day with bright pink letters–"Y'All Gonna Learn Today".
"Why did he say you informed him?"
But you were silent. Your head was spinning. This was as close to an out of body experience as you had ever had before. Before you knew it, the end of the story was near.
"Many thanks to our author, Scott. He who understands the trials and tribulations one must endure when faced with having a brother," closing the book with a dramatic sigh, only to be interrupted by a loud cough from off camera. Suddenly—
"I'm in the next room, brother. I have heard every word you've said," and there was Chris Hemsworth, in full Thor costume. The way it was shot, neither actor had to be in the same room. Had they gone to all the trouble of coordinating not just Tom, but also Chris (as if you were on a first name basis with either of them) to film this video?
"Your point?" Loki waved off as if it was inconsequential.
"Hold on," Thor paused. "Didn't I watch you die?"
A slow-forming smirk appeared on Loki's face, contorting to something far more mischievous than any facial expression prior. It was a signature look that you had seen countless times in film and interviews. But this was different, so very different. Those film clips were so disconnected from your life, yet each second of this video felt like it was intricately woven into your existence. "Scott," facing the camera with glee. "I look forward to many more adventures with you. Do try not to give Ms. L/N too much trouble," he calmly added at the end without the smirk. Now that was rather out of character for the trickster, but you didn't comment. This wasn't a movie. It was a video posted on Instagram.
"Leave the mischief making to me," his words were deep and filled with promise. Your stomach flipped as though you were sixteen and a boy held your hand for the first time. Excitement was all around you—but you weren't sixteen anymore. And this was no boy. So, you hardly felt bad when you realized your mouth was hanging wide open.
You also had the confirmation of exactly who you had been speaking to last week. It wasn't in your head. It was also comforting to know that this man's sizzling recitation of a children's story wasn't only mind boggling to you, judging by the grip your colleague's hand on your forearms.
"Okay. I take it back. He's hot," eventually stated Anna.
You think?