She's Got Taste
Loki arrived at the estate 15 minutes early, since it was just on the town limits the roads were empty enough to speed through. Although they made it to the estate easily, getting to the house challenged their confidence, the driveway was long and shaded by trees and other plants. If Loki didn’t know any better, they would have turned around.
The house looked exactly how it did in the pictures, white stucco walls with dark exposed wood beams, a grass roof, and a very square and symmetric build. Mobius appeared from the side of the house, walking along overgrown pavers with very delicate steps so as not to disturb the grass. “Loki! You made it!” He was wearing yet again the same outfit, but this time with amber aviators. How daring.
“It’s quite hidden, wouldn’t you say?” Loki pulled themselves out of their low car- it was the best sports car money could buy but unforgiving to the tall. Loki could see Mobius crack a smile at the sight of a gangly person unfolding out of a two door car. “Let’s start the tour, shall we?” Loki said in a brusque manner.
“Course,” Mobius walked up to the porch and when Loki reached him, he unlocked the house and the two went inside. The floorplan was relatively open, one could see most of the first floor with ease right away. More exposed blackish wood seemed to be the focal point, white walls and brighter colors made the beams pop as though they were lines on paper. “So I did some digging, it seems like the house was built in the 19th century and stayed in the same family the whole time. Pretty lucky if you ask me.”
Loki began to wander to the living room, looking at the embroidered plush armchairs, matching footstools, and ornate rugs. Only occasional paperweights and trinkets seemed modern, everything else reeked of prideful family heirlooms. How could their mother never mention this place? How had they not seen it until now? “I’m assuming the kitchen’s in the back?”
“Yeah, the house runs on gas, but there’s no electricity in the attic.” Mobius followed after Loki and the two stood in the kitchen. Black and white tiles and very old but sturdy appliances. “I think there’s just an icebox,” Mobius opened a couple of cabinets, showing chinaware and small glasses. Loki looked under the sink, the plumbing was okay. The stove burners seemed to work fine, and after running the water for a bit it also seemed of livable quality.
The second floor had a theme of white, lavender, and that woody black; every full bath had a clawfoot tub, and every bedroom had lavender wands on dressers. Frigga seemed to have known exactly what she liked. Loki and Mobius found themselves in a room that served as both storage for out of season clothing and crafting.
“I’d assume you’d have more to say,” Mobius teased Loki as he walked around an outstretched yarn winder. Loki looked up from a half-done sweater and sharply inhaled.
“Well, I would rather see what I’m inheriting,” Loki walked out into the hall, waiting for Mobius to help them get to the attic, “Why must you be here anyway?”
Mobius pulled at a string hanging from the ceiling and a set of stairs slowly unfolded from the attic hatch, “I had lunch with Frigga here once or twice, and I wanted to see if it was still in the same livable condition. Thought you might like a little tour guide to help you out too,” He climbed up the ladder and once up, stuck his hand out.
Loki did not take his hand, and climbed up after. The peak was so low that Mobius had to slouch, resulting in Loki doing a half-squat just to fit. It was so unbearably hot, the two quickly cracked open the windows at opposite ends of the room. “It’s more of a crawl space than an attic,” Loki’s thighs began to burn so they sat down and pulled over a nearby box to riffle through. Mobius was next to the window feeling any cool breeze he could catch. “You seemed to have spent quite a lot of time with my mother,”
“Wills take a lot of time to make. Especially when someone owned a lot,” Mobius took off his tie and shoved it in his pocket, then unbuttoned his shirt a bit, “She did a lot of studying beforehand too. Normally I don’t use legal terms with clients since they’re hard to grasp, but she just. Knew everything I said.”
Loki pulled out a knife blade that was missing a handle and gently began turning it over in their hands, “She did have a knack for that, I will admit,” they felt a bead of sweat drop into their eyebrow and quickly wiped it away with their emerald linen shirt sleeve. “Best head over to the garden now,” Loki scuttled over to the hatch and climbed back down. Mobius quietly made it down, closed up the attic, and they both made their way to the backyard.
The house sat in the middle of the property, only a few acres in size but in a rural location. Large trees seemed to act as the fence between the backyard and the land that was left alone. It gave plenty of shade and dead leaves to the patio, roofs, garden, and overgrown grass. Frigga had passed that month, yet the house appeared to be left alone for a little while longer. It wasn’t as bad as Loki expected, the garden was managing, no visible damage happened to the shed nor the greenhouse, if anything the most the place needed was a couple of garbage bags and a lawnmower.
Loki followed Mobius, who unlocked the greenhouse first. Inside, Loki’s expectations were met. A racoon must have mauled away some fertilizer bags, and other animals seemed to have exploited the unprotected plants. It was surprising that Frigga allowed anything to slink down into such a condition, to Loki she seemed well managed. Mobius walked along the edges of the space to check for mold and the sort, while Loki went from plant stand to plant stand. “You ever kept any plants?” Mobius broke the silence.
“No, I’m not the type. I don’t quite like having an incommunicable thing leeching off me,” Loki picked a sprig of rosemary and sniffed it.
“So no pets either I’m guessing?” Mobius teased.
“No.” Loki walked out of the greenhouse and to the shed door, Mobius had to do a little jog to catch up to them.
“I actually keep a couple of fish,” Mobius fiddled with the lock, “three pearl gouramis and two snails, just to keep the tank clean.” He opened the door and Loki rushed in to avoid any more fish conversation.
It was well organized all things considered. Lots of insect and animal traps, stacked boxes of various materials, and some furniture pieces. “So I’d recommend going through everything and just reorganizing it all, that should be enough…” Mobius began to trail off as Loki was pulled to the back corner. There, an ornate chest with polished brass hardware and intricate carvings stood. On the lid, ‘Loki’ was engraved with green paint details, it was covered in less dust than everything around it, and looked nothing like they had ever seen before. Even the chests given out at the reading were nothing compared to this. “Loki?” Mobius called out.
“Yes?” They didn’t move.
“A couple trucks pulled up, I’m gonna go check that out real quick-”
“Don’t worry, they’re mine.”
Mobius pulled his chin back in confusion before peering out the door.
“I have the right to stay here, so I’m doing just that. Those are the movers.”
“Oh, okay,”
Loki stood up and walked over to Mobius, the crowded room forcing the two close together, “You said you needed to watch me?”
“Hm? Oh, yeah.” Mobius was a tad rattled at how soft Loki’s voice became, even though they were close enough to whisper.
“What time works best?”
“Noon to two? Or after work, five thirty.”
“Five thirty on Monday then. I’ll start here.” There was a small pause where they looked back into Mobius’s eyes, “and the keys?”
Mobius took a moment. “Mh, yeah, here you go,” He held out the keys and Loki gently clasped his hands while taking them. Loki then brushed past Mobius and out the door to greet the movers. He turned around to look at where Loki once was, standing there for a minute or two, before heading back to his office.