THAT DAMN WHITE MASK
OLIVIA DROPS HER SUITCASES ONTO HER APARTMENT FLOOR, GLAD TO BE HOME. Immediately she goes for her couch, digging between its cushions for the white mask. She pulls it out with a sigh of relief; it doesn’t seem like it’s been disturbed.
“Thank God,” she mumbles, relieved that Bruce decided to listen to her for once in his life, instead of looking through her stuff while she was gone. She hears footsteps coming down the hall, though.
Her head swivels and her heart drops; she left the door open. She doesn’t have time to close it or shove the mask back into the couch.
She panics, her hand latching around the pendant Loki gave her as she remembers what he said. She feels a rush of something familiar just as Bruce comes through the door.
“…Olivia?” he calls, looking around in confusion. He doesn’t see her. She holds her breath, slowly stepping backwards to her room and trying to make no sound. “Liv?”
She turns and hastily stuffs the mask under her bed, whirling back around just as the security blanket of magic falters. Bruce pokes his head in the doorway.
“Hey,” he greets lightly, apparently not having seen anything strange. “You left your door open.” Olivia deflates a little.
“Bruce,” she greets, tiredly. “Hey. I didn’t hear you come in.” He shuffles a little.
“Yeah, I tried to let you know, but I guess you didn’t hear me,” he replies awkwardly. She deflates a little more, the exhaustion of everything catching up with her.
“Sorry,” she apologizes, “I’m super wiped. The flight was a nightmare. Screaming kids, you know?” Bruce nods with a sympathetic grimace.
“Screaming kids suck,” he agrees grimly. “I was just stopping by to check on you, see if you needed any help unpacking.” Olivia offers him a relieved, appreciative smile.
“Would you? God, that would help so much; I overpacked big time,” she replies. Not to mention she didn’t even end up using most of the stuff she packed, since she was in Asgard. Bruce nods, seeming genuinely excited to help.
“Sure,” he agrees. “I’d love to— I like the necklace, by the way.” She blinks once, then twice, reaching for it instinctively.
“Uh, thanks,” she replies. “It was a gift.”
***
“So, overall, I think Shady Acres is probably the way to go,” Olivia finishes, munching on a piece of toast in the shared dreamspace. Now that Loki and her have modifications down to a science, they’ve added an adjoining kitchen/dining room and a movie room.
The dreamspace is slowly shaping up.
“You certainly did your research,” Loki muses, a note of amusement in his tone. She shrugs easily, making a ‘meh’ face.
“Honestly, there wasn’t much else to do on the plane,” she admits casually, tossing another piece of bacon into her mouth. Loki nods, finding that reasonable enough.
“I assume Bruce has been absolutely incorrigible since your return?” Loki hums. Olivia tilts her head from side to side, as if to mimic the similar hand motion.
“I mean, he walked into my apartment at a really shitty time and I had to use that necklace you gave me— super cool, by the way— but he also helped me unpack, so…” she trails off, shrugging helplessly. “It evens out.”
“You used it already?” Loki echoes, sounding displeased about it. “I knew you would find it useful, but I didn’t think you’d be needing it in the first hour.” She snorts.
“I’m gonna need it tomorrow, too; you’ll never guess what I found with my mail,” she replies, flashing him a sardonic smile. His shoulders drop, and he looks at her in slight disbelief.
“Already?” he questions, bewildered. “You’ve hardly been home for an hour!” She tries to smile sarcastically, but it comes out more like a grimace.
“No rest for the wicked, I guess,” she grumbles, swiping her glass of dream OJ off the counter and taking a swig as if it were vodka instead. He sighs, expression morphing to borderline murderous.
“Have I ever told you that I hate your previous employers?” he inquires, pure annoyance permeating his tone like a fog. Olivia laughs.
“You and me both.”