When the train rolls by, I'm gonna be ready this time

[red_in_ledger]

Who: Loki Laufeydottir and Nikolai Romanov
When: Tuesday night, post Tower-break
Where: Loose in New York
What: Oddly similar to the "Where"

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[atrickygod]

A pang of panic had settled into Loki’s chest at the sudden appearance of Agent Romanoff, but she quickly swallowed her fear. She would not let him ruin her plans today. Fixing a grin to her face and forcing a chortle, Loki gave the agent a playful shove with the tip of her umbrella, creating a distance, albeit small, between them. The knife still tickled her side.

She rolled her eyes for the benefit of the saleswoman and stepped slowly, but deliberately back towards the counter. She would not allow herself to be led.

“My little brother,” Loki sighed, nodding her head at Agent Romanoff. She mimicked the accent Nikolai had let slip just a moment before. “He has these games he likes to play. Always has, as far back as I can remember.”

Loki patted Nikolai’s cheek affectionately, if not swiftly. “I told you to wait in the car, Младший брат.”

The saleswoman looked back and forth between the two. She had a small key in her hand and her body was half turned towards the display case. Under the glass, Loki could see the small emerald earrings resting on a pillow of white velvet and glinting in the artificial light.

“May I see them?” she urged, pointing at the green stones. “Nikki was not wrong,” Loki continued as the saleswoman bent to unlock the case and pull the earrings toward her. “They are to be a gift…” Loki ducked her head in mock embarrassment, glancing about as if afraid of eavesdroppers, “ …for my girlfriend.”

[red_in_ledger]

Nikolai closed the space between them swiftly, taking a firm grip of her arm. "And my wife, love of my life though she be, is something of a pathological liar," he told the woman. "I am extremely sorry for any trouble she may have caused."

Turning away, Nikolai hauled Loki after him as casually as he could. "You will come with me quietly," he hissed. "Or so help me I'll find out just where the line your sister draws is. And I will enjoy it."

[atrickygod]

She knew she was treading on thin ice. She knew she should not try her luck with such a deadly assassin as Nikolai Romanov. She knew nothing good could come from her defiance of him.

But Odin-dammit she wanted to have some fun. And causing a little bit of chaos was never dull.

Furthermore, Nikolai had started it. He had begun one of her most favorite games: "Who's Lie Will Be Believed First?".

Nikolai had started off strong, Loki acknowledged, asserting his authority over her with this make-believe marriage and impatient wife. In retaliation Loki thought she'd parried his lie with as good as any, but he had come back with his own falsehood with determination.

Now it was her turn again.

Digging her heels into the ground, Loki tugged her arm free of Nikolai's grasp. She willed tears to her eyes and turned to face the jewelery store attendant.

"He's always doing this," she sniffed. She looked between Nikolai and the saleswoman, raising her voice as she continued, "I know that Father has never approved of my relationship, but, Nikki, I had hoped you would understand. I thought you would understand that these little games you play - this insistence that I am lying about who I am - hurt."

She stared long at her little Midgardian saleswoman and could see the obvious discomfort in the woman's eyes. The woman stood in a half crouch before the display case with the earrings in her hands. She was red in the face and stammered something about not knowing what to say about personal family business.

"Please," Loki continued, pulling her notebook out of her fur coat. She addressed both Nikolai and the saleswoman. "May I at least make a few sketches of the earrings so that I may show them to my girlfriend. A simple request. Then I shall leave without fuss."

Loki waited, seeing what Nikolai's next move would be.

[red_in_ledger]

Nikolai had to suppress a triumphant smile at the look on the saleswoman's face at Loki's words. "Come now, Рыбка," he said, shooting the nervous saleswoman a sympathetic glance. "It's not fair to put this kind lady in such an impossible situation. You know it can't be proper to leave such lovely gems out and unprotected for such a length of time. And it's equally unfair to waste this lady's time when you won't be purchasing anything, especially as I'm sure she's paid on commission?" The saleswoman nodded hesitantly, and Nikolai took it as his cue to again lead the demigoddess away.

Still, it wouldn't do to for the saleswoman to decide she needed to step in, so he decided to seal his story. A few paces away, he pitched his voice low and intimate, just loud enough for her to overhear. "I'll make up for the disappointment at home, I promise," he said, before catching Loki in a decidedly unbrotherly kiss.

[atrickygod]

Bile rose in her throat, and Loki lurched backwards in alarm. She clutched her hands to her mouth and stared horrified at the mortal before her who had dared grope her in such a manner. She was suddenly regretting this game.

With tears streaking down her cheeks, Loki turned her gaze towards the saleswoman whose mouth gaped wide. She had already put away the gems. Loki's notebook lay on the floor where she'd dropped it when Nikolai grabbed her.

Suddenly a small voice sounded at Loki's elbow, and she turned to see a tiny man in a suit and sporting an ugly hairpiece.

"Is these something wrong here?" The man looked pointedly at his saleswoman.

"I think we should ask these two to leave. They are - er - having some family issues," the woman explained sheepishly. The man in the suit turned to Loki who cried harder.

"Ma'am, might I ask that you leave with your...?" He gave a nervous look at Nikolai as he spoke.

"Brother," she hiccuped her response, suddenly feeling the game turning in her favor.

Loki was just about to latch onto the mortal man's arm and fake a few more tears so that he would not allow her to leave with Nikolai when the saleswoman cleared her throat.

All three turned to look at her. In awkward shuffling steps and making a wide sidestep away from Nikolai, the woman approached Loki and held out a narrow sheaf of paper.

"Here. It's a brochure about those emeralds. Um...you can show it to your girlfriend if you like. Yeah." With that said the woman disappeared into the crowd clearly putting as much distance between herself, and the strangers who'd disrupted her usually uneventful workday.

Confused at what a "brochure" was, Loki peered inside the folded paper and saw several photos of the emeralds from different angles. A few blocks of text gave descriptions and detailed origins of the gems. And on the back of the brochure was a nice little map directing its readers to this very store.

Realizing what she had and no longer needing the emeralds, Loki stooped down, picked up her notebook and stuffed the brochure inside it. She then placed the book in the fold of her furs and stepped to stand beside Nikolai.

"We may go now."

[red_in_ledger]

Giving up on pretenses, Nikolai grabbed Loki's upper arm and hauled her out of the store. "You came very close to the line keeping me from killing you," he told her, voice eerily calm. "Pull such a stunt again, and that line will not hold me. There are conditions to your freedom and I would advise you to recall them should you wish to continue breathing."

[atrickygod]

"I thought we were having fun?" Loki quips, suddenly finding the whole situation laughable. Almost. "Well up until the point you chose to violate me. I will have to tell Thor about this. She will not be pleased."

Loki really had no intention of telling Thor anything, but felt the need to get under Nikolai's skin.

"Honestly, is this how you treat your Midgardian women? Just slobber upon them to seek dominance. I would pay to see you attempt this on my sister. She would have your head punted across a field faster than you can say Mjolnir."

Smiling at that thought, Loki fell silent for a moment, allowing herself to be hauled out into the rain and slush. She frowned when Nikolai moved too fast to allow her to open her green umbrella. Her hair fell flat in seconds.

"Do you think Doctor Banner likes earrings? She is such a plain little woman. I think she would enjoy these." Loki tapped the front of her coat where the brochure remained hidden.

[red_in_ledger]

"Thor will less pleased at your escape," Nikolai shot back. "And I assure you, your being a woman had nothing to do with it. This would not be the first time I kissed someone detestable for the sake of a cover, male or female, nor even the hundredth. Try not to let the honor of getting kissed by the Widowmaker and surviving go to your head."

He shot the goddess a glare over his shoulder. "I do not think she is inclined toward jewelry of any kind," he replied stiffly. "And I know she is displeased with your and Stark's attempts to change her. She is quite lovely as she is."

[atrickygod]

"Then another bauble perhaps...," Loki mused. She grimaced as her foot slipped into a puddle of icy rain water. She cursed gathering up her dress.

"I could make her a set of beakers or vials. I am sure a woman of science could find use for them." Loki gave the man a smirk. "I shall just keep the earrings for myself."

[red_in_ledger]

"You can try," he retorted. "But the injunction against your death does not extend to your property. Do not push your luck."

He couldn't help a small smirk as she struggled with her clothes and the weather, and he picked up their pace. "If all you needed was the image, why not just steal Banner's computer?" he asked. "You do it often enough anyhow."

[atrickygod]

"I did not need just the image," Loki explained, hopping away from another puddle. "I could have used just an image, but the earrings would seem as paper when the spell was complete. Brittle, flat even at least to the trained eye. Illusions are much more complex then simply recreating an image. I need to understand the earrings shape. Their weight."

She tapped where the brochure was hidden. "It will help that this explains the measurements, but I wish I had at least held them once to really know. Much easier for spells."

Loki showed the agent her umbrella. "I could not have made this so realistic if I only looked at a image. Doctor Banner lent me hers, and I transfigured my own. Which reminds me...I must return her umbrella...."

[red_in_ledger]

Nikolai just shot the woman an unimpressed look. "You realize I do not care, yes?" he asked. "I do not care about your magic or its constraints. I care about keeping you from trying to kill or steal people again. So viewing a couple of sparkly stones does not constitute a good reason to escape the tower."

[atrickygod]

"How about 'I was bored'?" Loki smirked, shaking her wet hair back from her face. She knew that was not a good answer, but her humor was actually returning despite the rain. And with a new game.

"I suggest if you do not wish a repeat of this day then perhaps we start up a Stark Tower game night, hmm?" Loki offered. "Hours of fun. My sister would like that. The need of competition is one of her weaknesses."

[red_in_ledger]

Nikolai made himself count back from ten before he answered. "Or perhaps next time you leave the tower, I'll ensure you're locked up with the key thrown away at the very least," he returned. "I am not your damn babysitter; if you don't like the consequences of your actions, think before acting."

[atrickygod]

"But then we would not be having this lovely conversation in the rain," Loki laughed. She kicked out at a puddle, cascading the water along the sidewalk.

[red_in_ledger]

"I do not wish to be conversing with you in the rain," Nikolai replied. "I'd rather if I never had to see you again. Unfortunately, that is not to be."