ONLY FOR YOU | Loki

CHAPTER 29: JADE TRINKETS AND BANANA BREAD

     TONIGHT IS ONE OF THE GOOD NIGHTS. Well, maybe good is a stretch; 'better' is a more appropriate word. While Loki has been getting progressively more obnoxious and overt about being an ass, this is one of the nights where he isn't letting it stop him from idly teaching Olivia random things about Asgard.

     Actually, she'd say the overtones of superiority have actually improved the quality of this particular lesson.

     In a fit of 'why should I have to waste time telling you this', Loki has pulled Olivia through his door and into a bustling Asgardian marketplace. It's a beautiful place with towering stone buildings and cobbled stone roads. It looks like a scene torn straight out of a fantasy book.

     "Wow. Do all the buildings here look like ivy league universities?" she wonders in amazement, spinning in a slow circle. The golden palace in the distance looms over the square, huge and imposing. Carrying on the breeze is a subtle, sweet smell.

     "They look nothing like that," he denies, giving her a look, "but yes, they all look like this." Olivia nods.

     "No, you're right," she agrees sarcastically. "Even ivy league universities don't have gold roofs." He rolls his eyes at her.

     "If you're going to be sarcastic we can just go back," he states flatly. She raises her hands in surrender, and he lets her wander over to one of the stalls. Its baskets are full of fresh fruit and colored bread. The shopkeeper doesn't notice her or Loki, as if they weren't there.

     The next stall's baskets are instead full of little jade statuettes, about 5 inches tall at most. Some are abstract shapes, but most are abstract depictions of animals, both familiar and unfamiliar. At least, she thinks they're abstract— but then again, maybe Asgardian wildlife is just that strange.

     She picks up one of a creature she might recognize on description, and turns to Loki for him to see.

     "This is a... bilgesnipe?" she guesses, watching him for confirmation. He takes it to look a little more closely, then nods, dropping it back into her hand.

     "Yes, that's a bilgesnipe," he confirms. He shoots the man running the stall a side look as she drops it back into its basket. "Some men will carve anything, I suppose." Olivia nods.

     "Some things are universal, I guess," she muses to herself, heading further down the cobbled path to explore. She spots a stall selling wind chimes, and approaches optimistically.

     One wind chime in particular catches her attention. The chimes are thin and somewhat short, but appear to be made of gold. Along the sides are intricately-carved engravings; swirling patterns of vines and flowers. They're genuinely gorgeous— she's drawn to give one an experimental tap.

     The wind chimes sound somewhat softer and lighter than she's used to. That's a good thing, of course, because she tends to find wind chimes that are very loud and clang-y. Their soft jingles carry on the breeze with a satisfying reverberation.

     "I love these wind chimes," Olivia notes with a smile. "Shame I live in an apartment in another world and therefore have no use for or method of obtaining them." Loki's mouth quirks up into a small, amused smile before he can stop himself.

     "You like books, right?" he prompts, covering up his smile quickly by turning towards a stall on the other side. "That stall sells used books."

     Interest piqued, Olivia follows his direction to the aforementioned stall. As promised, its crates are full of used books with titles like 'A Murder In Ljosalfgard' and 'The Stall Across The Square'. There's much more obvious fiction than the books she saw on Loki's shelf in the room.

     "How'd you know this was here?" she wonders, glancing back at Loki. He pauses, and she glances over the back cover of The Stall Across The Square. Looks like a romance.

     "I... used to sneak out," he admits after a pause. "I'd come here and buy fiction; the palace library mostly only had true classics, and I wanted to read something more modern." Olivia's eyebrows raise.

     "Really?" she wonders in surprise. "What genre do you like best?" He glances at her, but looks away when he realizes she's already watching him.

     "Mystery novels," he replies, after a thoughtful pause, "and thrillers." Olivia nods appreciatively.

     "Good choices," she praises. "I think I've got a mystery on my shelf back in the room if you want to read it."

     "I don't," he replies at once. Olivia glances at him skeptically, but shrugs.

     "Well if you change your mind, it's called Bleeding Colors," she replies simply, deciding to just ignore it and enjoy Asgard while she has the chance. "Oh hey look at that, they're selling cool bread."

     Loki looks over at the stall and his face lights up.

     "You have to try this," he decides at once, grabbing a loaf of bread. "It's the best banana bread in all of Asgard." Olivia's eyebrows raise; wow, what a turnaround.

     "I don't know," she hums skeptically. "It looks cool, but I don't really like banana bread, and—," he cuts her off.

     "Try it," he encourages, tearing off a piece for her. She stares at it for a moment hesitantly. Maybe Asgardian bananas are different? She should probably at least try it.

     She takes it and, deciding she can just stop eating it if she doesn't like it, takes a bite.

     "Wow," she remarks, pleasantly surprised. "Wow that is— mm, that's really good!" She takes his second offered piece gladly, her hesitation gone.

     "I told you it would be," he reminds her. "I know what I'm talking about." Her brows furrow as she chews.

     "Mm, that's uncanny," she hums. "I can still taste all the things I hate about banana bread, but for some reason I like it anyways. That's so bizarre."

     A silence washes over the two as they think.

     Then, Olivia snaps her fingers.

     "Oh, maybe cause I'm not actually eating the bread, just a memory of it. So, I'm just tasting it how you taste," she guesses. Loki's brows furrow, but he nods slowly.

     "That would make sense," he admits. "I don't know how you could dislike banana bread, though." She shrugs.

     "And I don't know how you could think Denny's and Waffle House are the same," she fires back easily. "Sometimes people are just different." He turns his head to look at her, and luckily, she's looking away this time.

     His eyes fix on her face as she idly scans the stalls with her hands in her pockets.

     He thinks she's...

     He thinks she's right.

    "I know I just said sometimes people are different, but I really wanna go back for some more of that banana bread," Olivia admits with a sigh. "God, it's so nice to like it for once." An amused smile forms on his face.

     "And you doubted me," he teases, though he's quick to turn around. She shakes her head, sporting her own half-smile.

     "Alright, laugh it up," she half-complains, though she gives herself away as enjoying this as much as him. "I'm gonna remember this for when I'm right and you're wrong."

     "Now, that will never happen," Loki replies with a small grin. She laughs, and as he listens to the sound, he pretends to have forgotten she's just mortal.

     Maybe he should give that book she mentioned a read.

     Who knows?

     Maybe it'll surprise him.