Be Prepared
"How did you finish all those books in three freaking days?!" Jolene gawked the moment she got back from her job, seeing Loki's 'finished-books' pile stacked with every book they'd gotten from the library.
Loki laughed, one leg folded over the other as he leaned on the comfortable couch, watching her close and lock the door behind her. "I told you I'm a fast reader.
"Clearly!" She looked utterly amazed that he read them all so quickly. "How'd you like them?"
"It was all quite fascinating." Loki hummed with a pensive expression. "And a little confusing."
"That's history, baby." She giggled and plopped down beside him. "What did you learn?"
"Well, I can see why Thor likes the American Captain so much. I mean, crashing a plane into the Arctic? He's as reckless as my brother." He rolled his eyes in amusement, flipping through the book until he landed on the page about the Captain's best friend. "Though, to be fair, I suppose he did lose this... 'James Barnes.' Norns know how many reckless things Thor's done since I've been gone."
He put the book aside to pick up the one about Tony Stark, a man he should, by all means, despise. He flaunted his wealth just as Thor had flaunted his strength and his crown, he believed he was always right even when others tried to tell him he was horribly wrong, and certainly as reckless as Thor, especially for a mortal. And yet his book was one of the first Loki had decided to pick up, because beneath all the glamour and the rich-man act... he saw a kindred spirit.
"And a lot of what I suspected about Stark was true."
Sigyn- no, Jolene, her name was Jolene now- gave him a curious look. "What do you mean?"
He slowly flipped through the pages of the book, having no doubt that a lot of the information must have come from Stark himself. He doubted the man could resist having some part to play in the books written about him.
"Well... there's little mention of his father, aside from the brief rundown of history that leads to Stark's life. He speaks of his mother quite highly, whenever asked about her, but his words on his father seem more like he's talking about a colleague, not a father." And Loki knew quite well what it was like to admire and respect your father, but never know anything more than a mother's love. "And he became Iron Man after he realized what his weapons were being used for. He's trying to be a better man, even though he doesn't think he is."
Jolene watched him with those bright blue eyes of hers that always felt like they could see right through the walls he had spent centuries building up around him. "You sound like you know the feeling."
He was quiet for a moment before he closed the book and put it aside. "Well... I do." He then cleared his throat, eager to move on before she asked any more questions. "So, what books would you recommend to me? I'm sure earth has a plethora of books I've never read."
She grinned and hopped up, going over to pluck a book from a small sheld before returning to his side. "This is one of my favorites." she told him with an excited grin as she held it out to him.
He took it curiously and looked down at the title. "'Pride and Prejudice'?"
Jolene nodded and happily sat down beside him. "It's a really good romance story...! And before you go off saying romance genres suck, it's actually a really good book about defying societal norms and following your heart and--"
"I actually quite like romance." Loki interrupted her, flipping the book over to read the synopsis.
She blinked at him, looking quite surprised. "Seriously?"
He had to chuckle at her. "Yes, of course. Did you assume all men hate romance stories?" He gave her a scandalous look. "How awful Midgard must be to teach you such things."
He watched as her freckled cheeks go pink with embarrassment and she started shaking her head frantically. "I-I, er- I didn't mean it like that! I just-!"
He laughed and placed a hand on her back to calm her flustered babbles. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. My goodness, you're too easy to fluster."
He watched with amusement as her cheeks turned a dark shade of pink and she shoved him away. "You're a jerk!"
"Why thank you!" He laughed.
She pouted at him, and it was so adorable he was tempted to flick her cute pink lips just to tease her. But he decided not to, the poor thing was embarrassed enough already.
"Why did you assume I wouldn't like romance, anyway?" Loki asked curiously.
She fiddled with her hair, still looking embarrassed. "Well, most guys I've dated never really liked romance movies or books, they thought it was stupid."
Loki very nearly choked at her mention of men she's dated. But he managed to keep his nonchalant facade up enough to actually listen to her. It made sense that she'd date other men anyway, she didn't remember him, so he just reminded himself not to take personal offense.
"I mean, I can't blame them, a lot of modern romance is mostly catered towards women, so they're probably going to be reluctant anyway, but... it kind of hurts, having them dismiss Jane Austen's works as just... girly stuff. She was really ahead of her time." Jolene frowned, looking quite saddened, and Loki felt a wave of protectiveness wash over him.
Before he even thought about it, he took her hand, squeezing it softly to reassure her. "It's hard to change people's views of the world sometimes. So just focus on what makes you happy."
To his delight, her face seemed to warm up more when she looked down at their hands before she gave him that smile he adored so much. "Thanks a lot."
He smiled back at her and pulled his hand away, not wanting to make her feel awkward. Looking down at the book, he found that he was kind of excited to read it. Sigyn had always had wonderful tastes, even if their opinions differed on some things, but even if he didn't end up liking it, he would do anything to see her smile and let her talk about her favorite things.
"Oh, and you mentioned you wanted to show me something yesterday?" he said, deciding to save the book for later. "Something about 'movies'?"
Her eyes lit up with excitement. "Oh, yeah! I have got to show you the Disney classics!"
He watched with a bewildered expression as she scurried over to the flat-screen device and pulled out some sort album that had a bunch of disks in it. Despite how confused he felt at why these 'Disney classics' made her excited, he honestly didn't care about what they were. Jolene was clearly passionate about whatever these were, and he was willing to try it out, even if he didn't end up liking it.
"Hmm, maybe we could start with Snow White? Maybe Sleeping Beauty? Ooh, or Lion King, I think you'd love that!" She picked out several disks and put them next to the screen before she scurried into the kitchen. "Oh, oh, popcorn! We can't forget the popcorn!"
He waited there, utterly confused as the used the beeping device to warm up whatever popcorn was. At the very least, he knew to expect the popping sounds that came from the beeping device. When she came back, she had a bowl of some strange yellow food that she handed him before quickly going to put the disks into some other device.
"Stop looking at it like it's gonna attack you and just trying it." Jolene giggled at him as he examined one of the little pieces.
He shot her a wary look before carefully putting it into his mouth. Oh. This was surprisingly good. And thankfully it didn't pop while in his mouth. Jolene grinned as she plopped down beside him and turned on the screen.
"After this, you're gonna be singing songs for days." she giggled.
He scoffed at her. "Never."
It would seem that Snow White was the first 'movie' she had decided to show him, and he expected it to be like the play they'd seen just last week, with actual people in costumes, not... a moving painting.
"What kind of magic??" Loki said, his voice full of awe as he watched the painting move across the screen.
"It's animation." Jolene giggled. "This was the first hand-drawn animated movie from Walt Disney."
"This is hand-drawn?? But it looks so... so real...! And yet not??"
Jolene laughed, her eyes shining with delight at how entranced he was by the moving painting. "It takes a lot of time and effort to make these types of movies, but it's always worth it. They're incredibly beautiful. The story's simple, but it's worth it."
Loki completely agreed. He was practically hypnotized by the screen as he watched the story play out. It was certainly a simple story, good versus evil, love conquers all, and usually, he'd just roll his eyes but he was too fascinated by it all to care. Even though they were nothing but paintings, they seemed real, alive. Even most plays he'd attended hadn't captured his attention like this, and when the queen transformed into an old hag, it truly looked like magic on earth. Sure, there were some holes in the story, but when it ended, he felt himself smiling a little at the happily ever after, despite how hard he tried not to.
"This is what humans can create?"
"Yep." Jolene smiled proudly, almost smugly, at being proven right. "Our imaginations can run pretty wild."
And she began to show him more animated classics. Not all of them had the same style, but they certainly had the same themes about love and focused mainly on princesses, and he pointed this out sometimes, but mostly just enjoyed the movements and the songs. And my gods were the songs catchy as hell, especially the villain songs.
And when he watched the Lion King... well, if he had to hug a pillow to keep himself from crying at a certain part of that movie, and if he had to hide the horrible swirling emotions in his chest the rest of the movie, no one had to know.
The next morning, Jolene yawned as she made her way out of her bedroom and towards the kitchen, eager to get some coffee to wake her up. She wasn't surprised to see Loki already awake and in the kitchen, warming up some tea (she'd get him addicted to coffee, just you wait) and... humming? No, he was singing, not very loudly, but definitely singing.
"So prepare for the coup of the century
Be prepared for the murkiest scam
Meticulous planning, tenacity spanning,
Decades of denial is simply why I'll..."
She stared at him as he dipped his tea bag into the hot water, not even realizing he wasn't alone. He was a pretty good singer, hitting the notes quite well in a soft, almost hypnotic voice that fit the song incredibly well. His voice made her heart race, made her cheeks flush, and almost made her want to get closer to listen to more. And then she blinked at herself, incredibly shocked by her reaction to someone singing. Then again... it wasn't the first time he did small things that elicited these sorts of reactions.
He hummed the rest of the song as he took up the mug and turned around, then he jumped like a startled cat when he saw her standing there. "Sig! Er, Jo- I, um... I didn't see you there."
Jolene had to laugh at how over the top his startled expression was. If she hadn't heard him singing a minute ago, one might've thought she'd caught him with his hand in the cookie jar! "I told you you'd be singing Disney songs...!"
Loki's face turned a cute light pink color, but it didn't take long for it to fade, his startled expression changing to one of confusion and relief. "You're not... mad?"
The question caught her off guard and she stared at him, utterly bewildered. "What? Why would I be mad?"
"It's, um... a villain song."
"Yeah, so?" She was still very confused as to why she would be mad about that until she took in his nervous and ashamed expression, the way he averted his eyes...
Oh.
She went over to him, placing a hand on his arm as she watched him with a frown. "You think you're not supposed to because of... what happened?"
He very slowly nodded. "Liking villainous songs doesn't quite... reflect anything good about me. Especially with... that particular one."
"What's wrong with Be Prepared?" she asked, genuinely confused why that song seemed so especially taboo to him.
He gave her a wry smile, a cold look in his eyes. "One brother jealous of the other going to extreme lengths to get what he wants? It hits quite close to home. Except he actually succeeded."
His smile quickly faded again and she had to frown at how ashamed he looked at the fact that he could so easily relate to the villain, at how he so easily believed that indulging in such things made him look like an awful person. And to some extent, she could understand why. What he did, in the eyes of the world, was unforgivable. To them, he was as bad as the villains that plagued the heroes in fiction. From how he reacted just by getting caught singing one of the villain songs, he must believe it too.
And for what felt like the hundredth time since he first stepped into her apartment, she looked deep into his eyes. Gentle, intelligent forest green. Not the chilling blue she'd seen in Germany. This was Loki, the real Loki. The expression on his face told her as much.
She gently put her hands on his, sorrow and sympathy squeezing her heart at the way she felt his fingers shake against her palms. "They're not real, Loki. You're meant to like them, or at least enjoy watching them."
He looked up at her in confusion. "But... they're villains. Monsters. Murderers."
"They're not real." she told him gently. "And a lot of people's favorite characters are the villains, for lots of different reasons. You don't agree with them, but they're fun to watch, and their songs are freaking catchy...!"
She gave him a reassuring smile and to her relief, he very weakly returned it. He looked hesitant, but she refused to let him think that liking villains was a bad thing.
"And it's okay to relate to them sometimes, as long as you don't actually start doing what they do." she told him, then she added before he could retort, "And no, being forced to by that weird stone thing does not count, so don't you dare."
An amused smile formed on his face, bigger than the one from before, and she felt triumphant that she could get that out of him. She didn't like seeing him frown. "You're as stubborn as I remember."
"Good to know I can still handle you." She gave him a playful smirk and his responding laugh made her heart feel so incredibly warm. "Now, where did you leave off?"
He looked at her in confusion as she let go of his hands, playfully tapping her chin as she walked a few feet away.
"Meticulous planning, tenacity spanning...!" She spun back to face him, dramatically sweeping her arm out to reach for him, inviting him to follow.
"Decades of denial
Is simply why I'll...!"
He looked at her extended hand with a slightly hesitant look, but she gave him a big smile that she hoped would encourage him to just have fun. To indulge in something that didn't actually matter because he was trying to be good. He wasn't a villain. Didn't mean he couldn't sing a villain song, though!
After a moment, he put his mug aside on the counter and took her hand with a chuckle. "Be king undisputed"
She let out a small yip of surprise when he suddenly pulled her closer and took her other hand to draw her into a dance as they moved from the kitchen to the living room. She had to laugh as he spun her around, a playful smile on his face.
"Respected saluted!" He spun her out with a mischievous smirk that would make most people wary, but to her, it made her happy.
"And seen for the wonder I am!"
She laughed and spun back to him, the two quite close now. She saw his cheeks turn pink and could feel the heat rise in her own cheeks, but she didn't want the moment to be interrupted. So she gave him a teasing grin and poked his nose, loving the way it scrunched up.
"Yes, my teeth and ambitions are bared
Be prepared!"
She dramatically threw her arm out to the side as she sang, enjoying having someone else to enjoy these things with her. And seeing him copy her movements and sing the final lines of the song with her made her smile, so happy she could let him relax enough to just have some fun.
"Yes, our teeth and ambitions are bared!
Be prepared!"
They both collapsed onto the couch behind them, laughing. She looked up at him, watching as his face seemed to light up with delight. It was one of the few moments that really made her think she was looking at a younger version of him that she must've known, a much more carefree version of him that she must have adored.
What happened to that boy? To make him become so distant and fearful of himself? She wanted to ask, but... seeing how happy he was, feeling his hand still embraced in hers, all she wanted right now was to keep that beautiful smile on his face.