First entrance.

[scarred_grin]

[OOM: All in a day's work. Small warning for language and a bit of glossed-over sexual content.]

--already bracing herself for an agony that does not, somehow, arrive.

(The woman: a lean redhead of just-above-average height, in a little black dress perfectly suited to a night out with the cultural elite)The door closes behind her, and she stands

Comments

[changeinasnap]

So let's tally this up. Since the first time he cracked open a door that led somewhere it shouldn't have, he's run into:

three (3) of his siblings, in some form or another;
two (2) of the big tricksters on campus;
one (1) of the gods from his own world. (But it's the one who likes him enough to sleep with him, so whatever, no big deal.)

Call this the partridge in a pear tree, maybe. He doesn't know who she is, not even entirely what, but that indefinable quality is sharpening the look she gets from him, like flint struck on a steel blade. Sitting crosslegged on one of the barstools, he takes a long sip from his glass of Atlantean and studies her.

[scarred_grin]

At least she's more pleasant to study in this form than in her actual one?

She's got a lot of experience with that being-watched feeling, so while she notes it, she doesn't let it bother her. As long as it's not a hostile sort of watching, which it doesn't seem to be...

Well, maybe he knows what's going on. People are good for information.

"Fancy meeting you here," she says as she approaches. "I think you still owe me five bucks."

[changeinasnap]

"I think you've got the wrong guy, sweetheart," he returns just as easily, propping one elbow on his knee. "I don't make bets unless I know I'm gonna win."

Which is an easy feat to accomplish with an ego his size.

[scarred_grin]

"That's a pity. Losing now and then makes winning that much sweeter, I've found."

Follow a win far enough and it turns into a failure, and vice-versa. Lose the battle but win the war.

[changeinasnap]

"Really?" He cocks an eyebrow. "'Cause, see, I tend to think winning makes winning that much sweeter."

It's a shame he'll never meet Charlie Sheen.

"You go out and lose on purpose?"

[scarred_grin]

"Not on purpose, but I don't see it as a disaster if it happens. Nobody wins all the time, and if you aren't willing to take risks..."

She shrugs lightly. "I don't worry. Things have a way of working out."

[changeinasnap]

A slow smile.

"Now that," he says, pointing to her, "is a sentiment I can get behind." He takes a sip of his wine. "You got a name?"

[scarred_grin]

"I've got a lot of names," she says. "Have had, anyway. Stage names, you know? I go by Serafina these days. Actress and model."

In a manner of speaking.

[changeinasnap]

"Yeah, I know."

Boy does he know.

He sticks out his free hand. "Loki. Nice to meetcha."

[scarred_grin]

"Nice to meet you, honey," she says, shaking his hand. "And nice name. Parents Scandinavian, or just hippies?"

Said with amusement, not poking fun.

She's nobody to judge, after all.

[changeinasnap]

"Very mutual," he says, appreciative, returning with a firm shake before he releases her hand. "And? None of the above."

Pretty damn far from either, actually.

[scarred_grin]

"I knew a guy named Thor once," she says. "His parents didn't name him that, though, he renamed himself. Big biker guy. Loved to get drunk and wear women's clothing. If I had a dollar for every time I caught him trying to steal my underwear I could buy myself an island to retire to."

[changeinasnap]

That gets a loud hah! out of him. He swigs a little more Atlantean.

"Sounds like a couple guys I know," he says. "The question -- " and here, he leans forward, eyes dancing, "is: how did he look in the underwear."

Better than her? He doubts it.

[scarred_grin]

"Hairy, mostly," she says, wrinkling her nose. "He didn't even shave his legs. And the contrast between the biker tan and the expanses of pasty white, there's no pattern of lace in the world that'll go with that."

Everybody's taste is different, of course.

[changeinasnap]

"I dunno." Thoughtful. "Some of the stuff I've seen on the clearance racks at Victoria's Secret..."

He drums his fingers on his glass.

"I'm not saying it'd help, but it'd make the effect that much more hilarious."

[scarred_grin]

"As long as it involves a garter belt," she says. "They just bring things into an entirely new and over-the-top area, whether it's funny or sexy."

...and now she is picturing Thor in one. Well, you have a new experience every day, and that's certainly not one she would've ever anticipated.

"I wouldn't go with white, though. No sense bringing anything virginal into it."