Chapter Text
The drive was uncomfortably familiar, yet somehow completely foreign at the same time. Loki couldn’t quite recall the last time he had driven these roads he had once frequented; couldn’t quite recall the last time he had bothered to visit the little town. The town - jokingly nicknamed Asgard by the locals for some reason Loki had long forgotten - held memories of all sorts, but all that ever seemed to surface for him were the bad ones.
Truth be told, Loki had never truly hated Asgard until he had graduated from the local high school and went off to college. Even then he put up with visiting every break, even if just to see his dear mother. She made it bearable, and she was the reason he continued to put up with it at all. No matter what, Frigga had always been Loki’s biggest supporter even when everyone else was trying to tear him down or abandon him - she encouraged him to chase after his own dreams, to not feel pressured to follow in Odin’s footsteps. She was the one who called to check in on him when he was cramming for finals, the one who would make sure he was eating proper meals.
After college when Loki moved into a small studio apartment in New York, she was the only one who came to visit. Granted, his brother Thor probably would’ve had Loki bothered to give him the time of day…but it didn’t matter, not anymore. By that point, it had been nearly four years since Loki had bothered to have a proper conversation with his brother.
Another year would pass before Loki received a call from Thor informing him of their mothers death.
It brought the brothers closer, in a sense, though their relationship was civil at best. As for Odin…Loki never saw him again after the funeral. Perhaps that was the last time he had been here?
Not that it mattered, it wasn’t as if Loki would be running into Odin anyways. No, his father was buried next to his mother now, lowered into the ground in a ceremony that Loki hadn’t bothered to attend. And if it wasn’t for the bakery, he wouldn’t be driving these roads now heading back to his own personal hell.
Frigga had loved to bake - so much so that when Loki and Thor were old enough to be in school, she had decided to open a bakery up on Main Street to keep herself busy during the day. It was an instant hit too, with the entire town flocking to buy the goodies for all their events. Christmas was always an especially busy time of year, and when he was old enough to do so Loki offered to help out by working while he wasn’t in school. Odin was horrified at the idea of his son baking, but Frigga eagerly taught him everything she could.
When she passed, Odin took ownership of the bakery and only kept it open to appease the townspeople. It was no secret that he had never been a huge fan of it and only let it stay open because it kept his wife happy - but with her gone, he was forced to keep it open for public opinion to stay in his favor. After all, how would closing one of the most popular spots in town as soon as he could look?
Loki sighed as he snapped himself back to reality, the town slowly entering his field of vision. For a split second he considered turning around, pretending he had never received the letter indicating he was the new owner of his mothers beloved bakery, Magic Touch. If he handled everything behind the scenes involving the finances, did it really matter?
Finding a spot to park was easy enough, and he hesitated before getting out of his car and walking down the sidewalk until he stood across the street from the old bakery. He stood there and stared at it for a minute, frowning as the once vibrant store front he remembered now seemed dull and sad. It also appeared to be empty…it was later in the afternoon, yes, but surely it wasn’t closed for the day already?
The entire reason he had come here was to see the state of the place in person, to speak to whatever manager they had to get an idea of the current financial situation. A decision had to be made, and while he already knew what he wanted to do, something in him (or perhaps his brother's constant nagging of how he had to come back one last time) made him come see the place in person to justify selling the storefront.
“Isn’t quite what it used to be, is it?”
Loki startled a bit, having not noticed the woman walking up next to him. The second his eyes got sight of her though, suddenly he felt as if his heart were shattering the way it had a decade before. Before he could string any words together the woman continued, “Terrible that it’s going to be closing.”
“It’s going to be closing? That’s news to me.”
“Well I figured it was obvious, seeing as the new owner doesn’t seem to care about it in the slightest.”
He turned back to the faded sign reading Magic Touch Bakery, “Why are you even here, Sylvie?” the words were meant to come out cold and harsh, but instead Loki was pretty sure it just sounded pitiful.
Sylvie raised an eyebrow, “Well I had been planning on grabbing a quick bite, then I saw some out of place city lawyer eyeing up one of our stores. Let me guess, you’re here to get some final confirmation needed to sell it? Or did you want to crush the souls of all the workers in person, telling them they’re out of a job right before the holidays like the Grinch you’ve become?”
“I-”
“Oh save me whatever crap you’re about to try and spin, Loki, everyone knows you’re going to sell it. Word on the street was that Odin was already about to when he kicked the bucket, I’m sure the potential buyers are already in your pockets too. That’s all that matters in the end, isn’t it? The money?”
Loki shook his head, “I meant why are you here, in Asgard. You were always so eager to get out and travel, to experience all the world had to offer.”
“Not all of us could afford to just run away and start a new life, no matter how much we wanted to. Some of us didn’t have rich parents to pay our way through school, we had to work minimum wage at McDonalds to even afford a place to live.”
“Sylvie-”
“Oh, don’t give me any pity.” she nearly spat out at him, “I’ll have you know that I enjoy my life. But why are you here, Loki? Was I right, just finishing up some of the finer details for some sale of the place?”
Sylvie crossed her arms, looking over at the bakery entrance. If business really was failing, as she had said, then it made sense why it looked so…abandoned. While Frigga had been alive, she had always made sure the place looked lively and welcoming. This time of year, there should’ve been colorful lights lit up inside and out, displays of holiday goodies in the window, perhaps even a Christmas tree decorated by the local kids. But now there was none of that, not that Odin would’ve ever bothered with it. He had paid to keep it open, delegating responsibilities to the workers who, as time went on, either didn’t understand or stopped caring as well.
Most of Main Street still looked lively - other shops were decorated, had a decent amount of customers in them…really, the bakery looked very out of place. “I haven’t decided what I’m doing with it yet,” Loki said, knowing it was mostly a lie, “I wanted to get a better idea of the state it was in, see how things were going. Perhaps if it’s already struggling, it’s time to just pull the plug on it.”
“Shame,” Sylvie said with a small sigh, “This place was always the heart of the town. I almost expected this entire street to turn to shambles when this place started struggling. Honestly, kind of disappointed it didn’t. But anyways, I’ve gotta get to work so…guess I’ll see you around.” She turned on her heel and walked away, sparing one more glance at the bakery doors before disappearing around a corner.
Loki watched her walk away, a twinge of pain still present in his heart. He had spent years trying to forget Sylvie, and honestly he thought he was over her after all this time. But no, one look at her at the wounds felt brand new all over again. Taking a deep breath, he crossed the street to find out exactly what he was dealing with.
Walking inside the bakery was just as disappointing as the outside of it would make it seem - there was no lively atmosphere, no abundance of people that once filled it. Instead, there was one singular employee leaning against the counter watching something on their phone, only looking up when he cleared his throat to get their attention.
“Oh! Sorry, I didn’t hear you walk in. Uh, what can I get you?” the teenage girl motioned to the small display under the register, “This is all we currently have made. Anything else would have to be ordered and picked up later.”
“I’m not here to buy anything,” Loki said, glancing over the sad looking cookies and cupcakes, “I was hoping to speak with whoever is currently in charge?”
“Guess that would be me.”
“You’re the manager on duty?”
“I’m the only one on duty right now.”
He was taken aback by this - how was one lone teenager running the entire shop? The girl studied him, sensing his confusion she continued on, “Just for now, nobody ever comes in this time of day so we try to save money where we can. If you want to speak with someone in charge…well, I guess that’d be Miss Lushton. I don’t know if she’ll be in today, though.”
“Sylvie is your manager?” She worked here and didn’t bother to mention it? …But didn’t she just say she was going to work and went the other way?
“Not technically, but it’s kinda understood. She handles payroll and hiring everyone but honestly, I don’t think she actually works here. She knew the owner or something. And if you’re looking for the owner, you’re outta luck there - couldn’t tell you who that is anymore. Which kinda sucks because I dunno where my next paycheck is supposed to come from but she’s insisting it’ll be here on time, so…” the girl shrugged, “But anyways, anything else I can help you with?”
“Can I ask…how much business do you get? I’d imagine this time of year would be much busier.”
The girl's glaze quickly turned suspicious, “We make enough. Now please, if you’re not going to buy anything…”
“I’ve changed my mind, actually.” In the end, he ended up leaving with two different types of cupcakes and three different cookies, noting that they seemed much harder and rock-like than he would’ve expected from his mothers recipe.
It was a short drive to the location of the only inn in the town. In more recent years, Loki had grown accustomed to the big-name chain hotels and the amenities that came along with them…he wasn’t sure he had ever even stayed in the small inn right on the outskirts of Asgard. ‘Guess the tourism industry isn’t exactly booming up here then.’ he couldn’t help but think as he checked in and found his small room for the next few nights, wondering why he hadn’t just gone a bit further out for a nicer hotel.
Truth be told, he had left his home in New York fully prepared to sell the store and be back home in two days tops. Sylvie had been right, Odin was preparing to sell it himself when his heart gave out. The buyer had quickly reached out to Loki and offered a decent amount, and had it not been for Thor’s sentimental trip down memory lane the documents would’ve been signed and sent out already.
But no, Thor’s ramblings had sent a sense of nostalgia through Loki as well, and he wanted to have one more look at the place before it would be turned into…well, he wasn’t sure what. It wouldn’t matter in the end, would it?
Seeing it now caused a surge of uncertainty through him, though. Frigga had poured so much love into that bakery, and there was no doubt that she would be heartbroken seeing the state of it now. Reaching for one of the cookies he had purchased, Loki nearly spat it out as soon as he took a bite of it.
This wasn’t his mother’s beloved recipe - far from it. The singular cupcake bite got the same rating as the cookie - it was far from the tastes of Loki’s childhood. ‘No wonder the sales are down,’ he couldn’t help but think, ‘These taste awful.’
Loki fell onto the bed, thinking over his two choices: just sell the place, losing the only place in town where he had some decent memories but avoiding having to hang around longer than necessary…or evidently talk to Sylvie to see what’s gone wrong with the place, perhaps pouring some of his own money into fix it up and try and get business going again hoping that it would be enough to repay the expenses.
Well, he supposed he had a few questions for ‘Miss Lushton’ anyways, so he might as well do it with the pretense of saving Magic Touch, even if he decided against it in the end.