STRAWBERRY CAKE, PART 2
TWO HORSES TROT EASILY THROUGH THE ASGARDIAN COUNTRYSIDE, THEIR RIDERS ENGAGED IN CONVERSATION. Loki is listening with some interest as Olivia lightly recounts the events of her day.
“So, I called Lacey and together we got the discount,” she explains. “It was a lot of fun, we must’ve spent hours climbing every wall they had open.”
“Lacey,” Loki hums, “you’ve mentioned her before; you used to be… roommates?” He says it like a question, uncertain whether his memory is correct. Olivia nods her confirmation, easing his worries.
“Yeah, yeah, in college,” she confirms. “She got engaged a few months ago; her fiancé is really nice.” Loki nods. He doesn’t really give a damn about this Lacey woman or her fiancé, but he is currently very keen on keeping Olivia distracted.
“Were any of the walls challenging? Did you do anything after?” he prompts, making sure to lean just slightly towards her to seem more interested.
“I dunno,” Olivia shrugs, “we’ve done them all a few times before, so I’m not sure I’d call them challenging anymore. My feet slipped a couple times on one of the harder ones ‘cause some guy spilled water on the grips, but I made a fast enough recovery.”
Loki glances briefly in front of them, at the path ahead, but refocuses on Olivia before she can notice anything.
“We bought a couple drinks after,” she hums. “Had to drink them at home, though; I’m banned from pretty much every club in New York.” This manages to really catch his attention.
“Banned?” Loki echoes, incredulous. “What could you have done to be banned from every club in the city?” Olivia shrugs, shooting him a mildly dry smile.
“My old bosses have their fingers in a lot of stuff; pretty much every club owner in the city either works for them or really doesn’t like them,” she explains, diverting her gaze to the sky. “Now that I’m out, I’m not really welcome with either type.”
“Oh,” Loki mutters, not really sure what to say to that; he hadn’t wanted to make her think of them. Still, he generates a question. “Does Lacey know, then?” Olivia shakes her head at once.
“Absolutely not,” she denies at once, shooting that theory right down. “She just thinks I’m really stupid when I’m drunk. You’re the only person I’ve ever told, and Bruce is the only person who’s ever found out.”
“I’m… honored,” is all he can think to say to that. “Seems to be a bit of a running theme.” She smiles, amused.
“Well,” she reasons, “to be fair; what are you gonna do? Tell people?” He chuckles, but also cringes a little at the same time.
“I suppose not,” he agrees grimly. “Hard to do from a cell.” She frowns, and a brief silence passes between them.
Loki tries to think up something to say, but she beats him to the punch.
“Odin is a dumbass,” she decides, grumpily. He recoils a little, the shock hitting him so hard it causes a physical reaction.
“You— I— what?” he splutters, looking at her with wide eyes. Did she just call the Allfather a dumbass?
“Well, your glowing staff thing,” she replies slowly. “Just being in a room with it for five minutes made everybody really irrational and angry, right? So I can’t imagine what it was doing to you.” He hadn’t thought of that; now that she points it out, it feels obvious. “Maybe I’m just misunderstanding something, but if not, he should have taken that into account at your ‘trial’.”
“Why did you do that?” Loki wonders, confused. Olivia blinks at him, her expression blank.
“Do what?” she prompts, not getting it.
“You put air quotes around trial,” he reminds her, “like it wasn’t a real trial.”
“Oh,” she recognizes, nodding, “that’s because it wasn’t. Your dad pretty much just pulled you into a room, insulted you for ten minutes, and then put you in jail without waiting for a defense.”
“He’s not my father,” Loki corrects, almost habitually.
“Also,” she mentions, “if your mom is anything like mine, he probably only sent her away because she’s the one person who both could and would put him in his place.”
“I—…” Loki trails off, reeling to catch up with the pure slander being thrown on the name of the king of Asgard right now.
“Third side note, there is literally no way he’s been king of Asgard through that many wars and hasn’t committed a stupid number of war crimes,” she continues. “Especially if the people he fought were as bad as he says. So, kind of hypocritical of him to sentence you to life in jail for being too much like your dad.”
“He has not,” Loki finally manages, “committed ‘a stupid number of war crimes’.” Even as he says it, he starts to doubt the truth behind that statement.
“If you say so,” she shrugs. “Wouldn’t be surprised if he did and then just covered it up, though.” Loki looks away from her, suddenly deeply uncomfortable with the conversation.
“We’re here,” he announces instead, sliding off his horse and onto the hilltop. He approaches Olivia’s horse before she can get off by herself, offering up a hand.
She raises her eyebrows at him, but takes it; as soon as her feet touch the ground, he has a hand covering her eyes.
“Oh, I see,” she jokes, an amused smile forming on her face. “You wanted to blind me. And here I thought you were just being nice for once.”
“I’m always nice,” he fires back, smirking. She snorts, and he can’t help but chuckle a little. The earlier tension has vanished like an illusion, and he mounts some excitement again.
“Hate to see what you call mean,” she teases in return, not missing a beat. He grins widely.
“Well, then I wouldn’t advise looking in any mirrors,” he taunts, taking the obvious shot. She grins as he leads her just a little further forwards. The sun finally finishes setting over the horizon, and he pulls his hands away.
The sight that Olivia is greeted with is a full moon illuminating a field of moonflowers, each and every one glowing softly. She stares in blank amazement for a long moment, awestruck.
“Holy shit,” she breathes. “That’s so cool.”
“You said you wanted to see a moonflower in full bloom,” he reminds her. She nods dumbly, starting down the hill at a dazedly slow pace.
“Your flowers fucking glow,” she muses, finally reaching the edge of the field and kneeling down to look at one of the moonflowers. He smiles fondly, following to kneel next to her.
He watches her silently study the flower, entirely fascinated by its ethereal beauty. The soft blue light reflects off of her skin, giving her a more quiet beauty of her own.
He feels something wrap around his hand, and looks down to see Olivia’s hand clasping his own. He looks back up, to find her looking softly at him.
“Thank you,” she whispers, sincerely. A bolt of embarrassment shocks through him, and he fights to keep his face the proper color.
“Happy birthday,” he replies quietly, offering a small but sincere smile. She smiles back, redirecting her attention to the flower but keeping her hand in his.