A Different Kind of Game
As the group stepped outside into the cool breezy bay air Natasha moved off to the side so as to not block the door before turning to Sylvie.
“Well, it’s still early, care to get a drink?”
Sylvie followed suit and grinned at her friend before looking at her counterpart.
“Thought you’d never ask, Tasha. Loki?”
A fond smile tugged at his lips watching Sylvie seem so at ease with her friend. He knew this kind of life would have been impossible for her on the run, and before they first came to Earth he never would’ve guessed how much she’d like it. She was still staring at him expectantly and he gave her a mischievous smirk.
“Oh love, you know I can’t resist a good drink…”
A shiver went up Sylvie’s spine at the heat simmering behind his words and she grinned even harder. He squirmed happily when she gave him a teasing little pinch and shook her head softly.
“Matt?” Natasha tipped her chin up at him with a sultry smirk, “Can we lure you off for a nightcap or do you need to prep a case?”
Matt smiled and pretended to struggle with the decision as he held the white stick between his hands in front of him, “Well I don’t have to get anything done tonight, but I don’t know: rattle around my apartment alone or go someplace with lots of alcohol—tough choice.”
Natasha grinned and gave a quick nod, “It’s decided then, drop off the boring lawyer and off to drinks—”
“Alright, alright, twist my arm!” He laughed and Natasha smiled with a warm chuckle.
“Shall I attempt to find us transport?” Loki asked chivalrously as he noticed another group nearby struggle to flag down a taxi.
“Don’t worry about it—if there’s one thing this cane is good for its hailing cabs,” Matt smirked as he held it up and headed to the curb, using it to guide his way.
Loki chuckled as they followed, “Stopping for a blind man: the true mark of decency,” he said sardonically.
“Yeah, and a bit of gambling—never know if a blind guy’s gonna give you a twenty or a hundred dollar bill,” Matt joked, then out of nowhere stepped into the road and held out his cane.
An oncoming cab slowed suddenly and rolled down their window, “Whoa buddy! You okay? Do you need a ride?”
Matt raised his brow in alarm, “Oh hello, yes my friends were just about to hail a cab—I think I must have gotten separated from them somehow… Natasha?” He called out feigning confusion and she shook her head with a chuckle before hurrying over.
“Oh there you are, Matt! You almost wandered into the road! How many times have I said you need a dog?” She pretended to reprimand him and he shrugged with a playful smirk.
Loki watched slightly mystified as Natasha pretended to thank the driver profusely and graciously accept a ride.
The whole thing had seemed a bit alarming at first, but Loki now found their pantomime rather amusing. He glanced at Sylvie who was biting her lip trying not to grin at the couple.
“Played it a bit close there, didn’t they?” He murmured at the surreal experience.
“Perhaps at first glance… though if he really is the vigilante she’s been running around with at night—then I imagine this is probably something of a game for them.” Sylvie smiled and tugged his arm for them to follow.
“Quite some game…” he laughed softly and decided to play along, “Oh goodness! Natasha did you find him?” he called out as they approached.
Matt raised his brows in surprise but Loki could see an amused grin fighting to break out on his face.
“Yes, Loki—thank God, and look this nice cab driver pulled over to help him,” Natasha hammed it up and Sylvie had to bury her face in Loki’s shoulder a moment to keep from laughing.
“Well we shall certainly have to tip him well for his service,” Loki said loudly for the driver’s benefit.
After holding the door for Matt and the ladies to climb into the back, Loki took the remaining passenger seat. Natasha told the man where to go and the driver headed out for their destination.
Loki was distantly aware of the conversation going on around him as the couple in the back chatted with the driver, but not fully engaged in what they were saying. He puzzled over what he’d just seen and was most fascinated by the way Matt had not only known when to step into the road, but that he could somehow tell it was cab.
When they arrived Loki used the same card from earlier to pay their cab fare, delighting in embezzling the money from men too rich to ever notice it’s absence.
It was a trick he’d learned decades ago when humans had first created these silly little electronic cards and it still amused him. He found machines even easier to lie to than people—and he was very good at lying to people.
Tipping the man handsomely Loki climbed out of the car and joined Sylvie and the other couple on the sidewalk. The group went into the bar and ordered drinks before Natasha led them to an open booth off in the back.
After the first drink Sylvie dragged Natasha off, sensing that what remained unsaid between the two men would stay that way otherwise. She wanted to give Loki the chance to win the man over himself, without the option to simply disengage politely.
Natasha caught on and made the excuse of them going to the ladies room, but it was soon quite clear they would be gone for a while.
“I dare say those two have gone elsewhere to the ladies room—” Loki said casually.
“You dare correct, they’re sitting back up front at the bar,” Matt replied mildly and sipped his glass of Macallan scotch.
Loki took a deep breath and let it out with a loud sigh as he lifted his drink to his lips, then set it down on the table with resignation.
“I’m beginning to sense a pattern… she arranged a little tête-a-tête betwixt Stark and myself not so long ago…”
Matt couldn’t help but quirk the tiniest grin at the man’s unique manner of speaking.
“Women do tend to find ways to get us where they want us…” Matt said fondly.
Loki furrowed his brow, “Not usually for m—” he paused before finishing the thought.
His mouth clicked shut as he considered the way his mother had always been so adept at guiding his moods to make him more agreeable. It had seemed a kind of magic, her ability to ease his temper and get him to reach the conclusion she’d already quietly come to on her own.
Loki missed her, lost in thought for a moment as the silence stretched between them.
“So, there are actually people who think you’re God, huh?” Matt broke the quiet with a baiting smirk and curiously impassive tone.
“A God. Yes,” Loki corrected, prickling somewhat at the man’s impertinence.
“A Norse one.”
“We are not Norse, but they do recognize my father as their central deity… My brother and I are two others of which many Norse peoples have worshipped.”
Matt was quiet as he listened to Loki’s heartbeat and words, and struggled to reconcile the two.
“How’d that happen?”
Loki sighed, “It is… a long story. But my father brought peace to the nine realms long ago…When he visited Midgard, the oldest clans in the northern seas of Europe were still young. They recognized him as a God—and in our younger days my brother and I enjoyed the adulation.”
Loki sighed wearily, “As time went on we visited far less… I suppose a part of me—foolishly—believed it could be that way again when I returned in 2012.”
Loki noticed the firm set to the man’s jaw at the mention of the attack on New York.
“‘Guess we tiny mortals weren’t quite the easy marks you remembered… nowadays you gotta do a bit more than kill people to earn our faith.”
Loki looked at him somewhat sharply.
“My Father first came to this world long before the birth of Jesus Christ, Murdock, let alone Christianity or Catholicism.”
Matt was still as marble as Loki continued undeterred.
“Do not let my youthful appearance fool you… I am old, older than you can imagine. Neither the Jotnar nor Æsir age as humans do… yet still we grow and evolve with time.”
Matt was quiet, then a small smirk played at the corner of his mouth, “You’ll forgive me if I have to take your word on the ‘youthful appearance’ part.”
Loki couldn’t help but huff another surprised laugh and smile at the man. He didn’t think he’d ever met a human quite like this one before.
It was easy to forget Murdock was blind with the precise way he responded to external stimuli. His calm and steady demeanor masked the sharp wit which bled through when Loki least expected it, uncannily breaking the tension.
“Pity for you,” Loki said with a casual air of superiority which made Matt smile, “Sylvie has had occasion to call my appearance devastating.”
“Are you sure that was a compliment?” Matt laughed and Loki couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Hmm, on second thought I may need to revisit that conversation with her…”
“Don’t bother, she’s either extremely attracted to you, or I’ve inadvertently snared another one,” Matt teased playfully.
Loki quirked his head at the man with a curious expression.
“You know for any other blind person you would actually need to vocalize that kind of question.”
“What question?”
“You tilted your head, as though you were surprised by my comment.”
Loki raised his brow slightly impressed.
“Don’t sound so surprised,” Matt said with a teasing grin.
“Apologies. It is indeed uncanny, one might begin to suspect—”
“That I’m not blind?” Matt turned to face Loki and smiled tightly. “Do you have a light of some kind?”
“What kind would you prefer? I can conjure anything…”
“Right,” Matt laughed softly, “a flashlight will do.”
Loki glanced around for a moment but the other man assured him no one was paying attention so he conjured a small light under the table.
Matt removed his glasses slowly, “Shine the light in my eye, either one.”
Loki did as he instructed hesitantly and was amazed to see the man stare blankly ahead without reacting. His pupils remained fixed, undilated, as the light passed over them.
Loki tucked the light into his jacket as he continued to look at the man in astonishment.
“Convinced?” Matt asked sounding slightly amused as he put the glasses back on.
“Confused.” Loki said absently.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself, the medical community would be equally baffled.”
“Huh,” Loki said dumbly, “and yet… you can fight?”
“Care to test me?”
“Not entirely certain…” he narrowed his eyes.
After casting a quick illusion to hide them from anyone who might look over, Loki took a gentle swing at the man who easily leaned back out of the way without spilling his scotch.
“Remarkable…” Loki muttered under his breath, soft enough no one else would have heard it in the noisy bar, but Matt grinned a cocksure smile.
“Gotta say, don’t think I’m ever impressed a God before, almost makes losing my sight worth it,” he teased with a grin.
“Doesn’t seem you need it,” Loki said honestly, “though I’m quite relieved, I’ve done many regrettable things in my life but punching a blind man is thankfully not on the list.”
Matt laughed good-naturedly, “Don’t worry, you wouldn’t be the first. I’ve had my ass handed to me plenty of times. Luckily, we Murdocks can take a punch… and no matter how hard we fall, we always get back up.”