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“Darcy, you can take a Midgardian mode of conveyance. Stark has offered you use of several.” Thor boomed as Darcy stuffed three magnums of Dom Perignon into her tote from the portable wine cellar that Tony had built for her. It kept the bottles at the perfect temperature, humidity, whatever. She had been thrilled with it, especially since Tony said the vintage tasted wrong to him. That’s how she ended up with near to two dozen bottles of the stuff.
“Mmhm. And Trish and Jess warned me that any car of Tony’s caliber would be stripped for parts in minutes. So, as a thank you to Tony, I’m not going to borrow one of his cars.”
“Then have a driver drop you off and pick you back up?” Jane suggested.
“Nah. I can take the bus. Jessica told me where to get off at.” Darcy said as she added three glasses to her bag and then topped it with a scarf. Jane frowned but shrugged, recognizing the glint in her assistant’s eyes.
“Remember, tomorrow. We have a presentation at NYU at nine, sharp.”
“Yep. Got it. Don’t worry. It’s a simple Girls Night In.” Darcy said with a grin. Jane only huffed.
“I find myself gladdened you have friends in this city, Darcy.” Thor said, patting her heavily on the shoulder not carrying the bag.
“Ow, yeah. Thanks Thor. I’ll be back probably after midnight.” Darcy said, edging towards the elevator to try and avoid a hug from her boss’ boyfriend.
“Ms. Lewis, might I remind you, if you do decide to utilize a car, a driver will be on stand-by. Simply call the tower and I shall dispatch the driver to pick you up.” JARVIS commented as she rode down to the lobby on the elevator.
“Sure, thanks JARVIS.” Darcy said before she bounced out of the elevator and through the lobby. Tonight was going to be epic. She had three bottles of some of the best champagne in the world in her bag and a date with a couple of old movies, ice cream, popcorn, and two really good friends. As she stepped onto the street a blue eyed white raven took wing from a flagpole.
* * *
Darcy overshot her desired stop, so she got off at the next block and glanced up, looking past the buildings, towards the darkening sky. Night was going to be coming down hard and fast. She shrugged, tugged at her lucky plaid cap, which was fraying in places and held together by little bits of green and golden thread. She only rolled her eyes when she caught a flash of white and then looked up at a nearby awning. A white raven was perched over the door. She shook her head and smiled. Her boyfriend was keeping an eye on her.
“Hello, Hlífa.” Darcy whispered, recognizing the white raven that her boyfriend had brought back from a trip to Jotunheim. It cawed once and mantled. That was enough for Darcy. Acknowledging it meant that her lover knew she knew.
After staring at her smartphone for a few seconds she decided to cut down an alleyway to get back to the correct street she needed, and Jess’ building. Her left hand idly curled around the taser in her pocket. Tony had fiddled with it, and Thor had volunteered to test the new taser. She could say it would even knock Thor on his ass, godly powers restored too.
Half-way through the alley she heard footsteps ahead and behind her. She only sighed and paused, half-turning to look behind her. Three guys stood about five feet away. She looked in the other direction. Two more.
“I will only ask nicely, once. Let me pass.” Darcy said, slight edge to her tone as she used her right hand to nudge up her glasses.
“Naw, baby girl. We’re gonna have us some fun.” One of the guys from the group of three said, edging closer. She judged that she’d be able to drop two with the taser before they realized what she had on hand.
“Actually? You really don’t want to do this. I know people. And they will seriously fuck you up. Let me pass.” Darcy said, trying to warn them off.
“We have no fear of the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen.” Another of the guys scoffed from her opposite side. She turned her head. They were just outside of touch distance.
Darcy rolled her eyes,“I didn’t mean him.”
The men advanced as one group from both sides. Darcy took a prudent step towards the wall of one of the buildings as a new, cultured voice spoke.
“She meant me.”
Green magic lit up the night and Darcy didn’t have to look to know that the smile quirking up her boyfriend’s lips was homicidal. “I have only one question, have they laid a hand on you, my darling?”
“No, Loki.” Darcy responded, knowing why he wanted to know that.
“Then I shant kill them. Close your eyes, Darling.”
Darcy calmly lifted her hands to cover her ears and closed her eyes. It muffled the screams, blocked out the sound of breaking bones, and she only smelled the blood instead of watching it fountain.
When a careful hand touched her elbow, Darcy opened her eyes. Loki stood before her in full green and gold armor. The smile turning up his lips was pensive. His green eyes were scanning her face with worry.
“I’m fine. They never touched me. I thought you were doing something for your Dad.” Darcy said, gaze skimming over the armor.
“You shall always come first. There is little the AllFather will object to, if it involves either you, or Ms. Foster. Might I have the privilege of walking you to your destination?”
“Sure. Jessica, Trish and I are doing a ‘Girl’s Night In’ at her place. Apparently we are doing Legends of the Fall, Scarface, and the new Beauty and the Beast movies.” Darcy said with a grin.
“The cartoon that Thor forced me to observe?” Loki wrinkled his nose and frowned.
“No, they made an actual live action version. Not the cartoon. Though, that might be an idea for the next night…” Darcy said as she set her left hand on Loki’s offered arm.
Loki escorted her to Jess’ very door and kissed her on the cheek before bowing slightly and teleporting away in a shower of green sparkles. Darcy smiled and knocked on the door.
“It’s open!” Jess yelled. Darcy pushed open the door and grinned. “Hey, Jess. is Trish here yet?”
“Yep. Come on. Got my movie cued up.” Trish called, waving a spoon at her as Darcy kicked the door shut with a foot. The scent of fresh popcorn hung heavy in the air.
“So, Fall first?” Darcy asked as she used Jess’ desk to unpack her tote.
“Yep. That’s right. Got your tub of Pralines And Cream right here too.”
“Yay!” Darcy exclaimed before she glanced at Jess, “Hey, Jessica? What’s your local PD’s number for non-emergency stuff?”
“Why?” Jess asked, pausing even as the microwave beeped. Her eyes narrowed.
“Some idiots tried to jump me in the alley? They may need medical attention, and police?” Darcy hedged.
“I will beat them into a pulp.” Jessica growled.
“Boyfriend kinda popped up, and already did that? He walked me here.” Darcy said. Jessica sighed and nodded.
“Gimme a second.” She set the popcorn down on a plank of wood in front of the television and walked over to her desk. She flipped through an old fashioned rolodex and read off the number.
Darcy punched it in on her cell phone, gave a concise description of each attacker and where they could be found in an alley. She strongly suggested medical attention be ready to go, citing magic related injuries and then hung up.
Trish and Jessica just stared at her. Darcy shrugged. “I brought the booze. Apparently Tony was having a gala of some sort, but he didn’t like the way this stuff tasted. I didn’t mind it, so he let me have the bottles he ordered.”
Trish bounded off the couch, carrying her tub of vanilla ice cream, and peered at one of the magnums.
“Holy shit. Dom?” Trish breathed.
“Mmhm. Cuvee Oenotheque 1998 too.”
“Huh?”
“Jess? Really expensive champagne. Like probably a thousand a bottle?” Trish hazarded, glancing up at Darcy.
“Maybe? Like I said. Tony ordered it for something, but didn’t like the way it tasted. I didn’t have a problem with it, so he let me have it. Even built me a portable wine cellar to store the bottles. I brought us a bottle each.” Darcy again noticed white outside a window and spotted Hlífa getting comfortable on the fire escape. She only smiled.
“Nice. Ice cream, bubbly shit, and popcorn.” Jess said, snagging the bottle closest to her. All three women dropped onto the sofa, giant bowl of popcorn on the plank parked on cinder blocks in front of the big screen television.
Darcy, Trish, and Jess all giggled when they simultaneously popped the champagne bottles open. Jess took a swig directly from the bottle and blinked.
“This is good. Bring on Trish’s sissy movie.” Jess called with a grin. Trish stuck her tongue out and hit play. Darcy muffled a giggle with a spoonful of ice cream.
Darcy was two-thirds through her ice cream by the time Scarface rolled around. She and Jess were both drinking straight from their bottles and giggling.
Jess had a maniacal grin as she toasted the tv and quoted, “ ‘I got ears, ya know. I hear things.’ ”
Trish was sipping from one of the crystal champagne glasses that Darcy had brought, and giggling faintly in the background each time Jess quoted a line. Darcy eyed her bottle versus how much Jessica had swallowed.
“There’s more ice cream in the freezer.” Jessica murmured, eyes glued to the screen.
Darcy glanced at the bowl of popcorn, realized it was empty and got up, setting her bottle on the floor with a thunk. She frowned at the microwave for a moment or three and then Jess called instructions for which buttons to press so that she didn’t blow a fuse or burn the popcorn.
Darcy made popcorn to the sound of gunfire and then sat down again with a new bowl which she sat once more on the plank. Nearly tipping her bottle over as she snagged it, she shook her head as the credits rolled.
Her movie was up next. Jessica handed her the remote. Darcy adjusted her glasses and squinted at it. After making sure the button under her thumb was ‘play’ she pressed it and started her movie.
By the time “Tale as Old as Time” came around, all three women were so drunk that they were singing the song at the tops of their voices and then promptly fell back on the couch giggling.
“You know… my boyfriend’s only seen the cartoon version. Need to make him watch this.” Darcy said, frowning down into her half-full bottle of Dom. Her ice cream container was mostly empty and not quite rolling across the floor.
With the credits rolling, a knock at the door made all three women jolt. Jessica was first to her feet. Darcy was up next with her taser clutched in hand. Darcy noted that Jessica’s hand on a letter opener was rock steady as she opened the door.
Smooth british tones drifted into the room. “Ah, you must be Jessica?”
“And who are you, buddy?” Jessica demanded, no sign evident that she’d polished off a half-gallon of butterscotch ripple, half a bowl of popcorn, and an entire magnum of champagne.
“I am Loki of Asgard.”
“Wait, like the guy that tried to destroy Manhattan?” Jessica blurted.
“God, actually. But yes, unfortunately that was I.” Wow, Darcy could actually hear Loki’s back rising with the sharp edge to his tone as he stated the word ‘god’.
Jess swung around, and Darcy took note with a portion of her brain that wasn’t scrambled by sugar and booze overload that Jessica wasn’t entirely steady due to an adrenaline let down -- and she knew her adrenaline wear offs, she’d actually witnessed Thor face planting in exhaustion after a battle on at least five occasions.
An unsteady hand pointed in her direction. “Dar! Boyfriend here!”
“Might I have your permission to enter, Lady Jessica?”
“Lady? Yeah, sure. Whatever.” Jessica advanced further into her apartment and Loki stepped in after, dressed in black sneakers, simple blue jeans, and a dark pullover sweatshirt.
“I can teleport the Lady Trish home?” Loki offered after he sized up the way Trish was slumped against the sofa and giggling still.
“I took a cab here.” Trish managed, blinking up, wide eyed.
“I give you my word, you shall arrive in your home, unharmed and without throwing up on your shoes.” Loki intoned.
“Ooh, go for it, Trish. He’s good at it. Aren’tcha, lover?” Darcy encouraged, propping a hip against Jessica’s desk.
“And you are completely besotted, Darling.” Loki returned, shaking his head.
“It won’t hurt?”
“I would never harm my Darling’s friends.” Loki promised, glancing at Jessica and then looking back at Trish.
“Okay. Need coat, shoes, and purse.”
Loki summoned all three items and then held out a hand. Trish staggered upright, still clutching the partial bottle of Dom. Loki sighed and carefully tugged the blonde into an embrace. She blinked and then they shimmered out of existence.
Moments later, Loki was back, hair mildly ruffled and an amused look on his face. “I placed her on a sofa. Apparently she passed out. I also ensured that the bottle went into the proper receptacle to keep it fresh and made certain she has medication and water near to hand when she wakes.”
“That’s my lover-god.” Darcy chirped with a grin.
“Besotted Darling.” Loki returned with a smirk as he summoned Darcy’s hat and her boots. He waited for her to gather up her bag and held his arms wide for a hug. She took him up on the offer, snuggling in close. He nodded once to Jessica Jones and then they shimmered from view.
* * *
The next morning, Darcy awoke with a whimper and tried to bury her head in the pillows. The gentle ripple of green magic over her cured the hangover and a glass of orange juice greeted her when she peered out from under the covers.
Loki only smirked and she rolled her eyes as she sat up in bed. Her glasses were in his other hand. She slid them on, adjusted the blankets around her hips, sitting bare breasted in their shared bed.
Taking the orange juice, she sipped at it. “Thank you.”
“Still besotted?” Loki purred.
“Not in the old fashioned way you used last night, but yes. Still enamored of you.” Darcy said as Loki leaned forward, careful not to upset her orange juice. The kiss was sweet and tasted faintly of tea and citrus. It was a good way to wake up.