bakerstreet | OTHERWORDLY.

[Always open to something with Darcy! He can hear prayers relevant to him, so there's that, or they could just meet somewhere.]

[Considering her short interaction with the Loki she's familiar with, I'm not sure she'd ever pray to him. Unless we're going AU. Or she's wasted.]

[lmao, well, I don't mind going with wasted, but she could just wind up sitting next to him in a bar or something too.]

Darcy shouldn't even be contemplating another drink, but it's the first time she's been able to let her hair down and enjoy herself since the whole London debacle. Something about fending off space elves that have Star Wars technology had left her drained, mentally and physically. She missed that cool anomaly in the abandoned building she could chuck random things into, but the whole Jane turning red and exploding thing? Yeah. Better that it was behind them.

Said boss had already gone home, three sheets to the wind after only a couple of beers, escorted by Erik who was, thank god, wearing pants. Darcy didn't mind remaining there on her own, since she could people watch and potentially flirt with attractive British men. Ian had been a quick-burning mistake, and he had since been banished from her employ. Not that she'd paid him in the first place. Such was the life of an intern.

The only bonus of saving the world as opposed to just one small town in New Mexico was that they were now working for Stark Industries and, thankfully, Darcy received a paycheck. Which meant hello drinking and shopping.

She was even wearing a new dress she'd just gotten the prior day. She rarely wore anything with a skirt, but her mood was so jovial that she actually wanted to feel pretty for once instead of hiding behind sweaters and jeans.

Cheeks flushed from the alcohol she'd already imbibed, Darcy flounced over to the bar, sitting down on an empty stool and waiting for the bartender to notice her. She glanced at the guy sitting next to her, one eyebrow raising appreciatively.

Loki had been at the bar for a few hours doing some casual flirting between drinks. All was silent in his mind, so that meant he had time for a little fun. He hadn't dressed up, wearing only a pair of well-fitted black jeans, black tennis shoes and a black t-shirt with "Your stupid. My stupid what?" written in green graffiti style lettering. Hos chin length black hair was combed back, and he was making an effort to be friendly to just about everyone. He was in high spirits.

When Darcy sat next to him he turned to her and smiled, giving her an appreciative once over before speaking.

"Hey, it's a nice night, isn't it? Great time to be out."

The weather was unusually warm for the season, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Loki had wished more than once for a carnival or some fireworks. It would make for a perfect night out.

"Did your friends leave?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. Loki had seen her with two others earlier, but he hadn't noticed them leave.

Damn. Hot and friendly. It was like she'd hit the metaphorical jackpot. If she'd been a little less sober, she might have asked him to recite the alphabet or read from the phone book. What a voice.

"Or in a bar. Drinking." Spending good weather indoors always seemed strange to her, yet there she was, doing just that, mostly because she didn't want to wander around a strange city at night and get murdered. Surviving a giant death robot only to succumb to a common footpad would just be embarrassing.

The stranger's next question took her by surprise. Had he been watching her? Was that creepy or adorable? She wasn't quite sure, so she took a moment to order another martini, raspberry this time, before turning to face him.

"Yeah. I'm all alone." She pouted, trying her hand at looking cute. "It's terrible, really. My boss can't handle her liquor."

"Well, that too," he agreed, grinning. Loki was planning to get a little drunk and go home with someone if he could find a person who could hold his interest long enough. It seemed a waste that there was no outdoor entertainment for the evening.

Loki couldn't help chuckling a little when she pouted at him, lamenting her boss's alcohol intolerance. He already thought she looked cute, that dress was great on her, but the pout added some extra charm. As long as it wasn't genuine, anyway.

Soon the bartender brought her martini and an ale for Loki.

"That is a shame," he replied with a bow of his head, still grinning. He raised his head to look at her before he spoke again.

"Being alone in a bar isn't so bad though. You meet new people."

Darcy was delighted that the bartender's tendency to include fresh fruit with her martinis was still intact. First peach, then apple, and now raspberry. She was already wondering if her next one should be grape, assuming she didn't wind up passed out on the floor, drooling.

She took a sip of her drink, then withdrew the little plastic sword upon which was impaled four fresh raspberries. "It's more sad than anything else. Girl doesn't get out much. She's going to have the hangover to end all hangovers." Thank god it was Friday and neither of them had to work, unless one of Jane's gizmos detected something anomalous and exciting or, you know, blew up.

Luckily, the latter had yet to happen.

Nibbling on one of the raspberries, she tried to figure out how she'd managed to sit next to someone this cool. England was little different than the States in that an awful lot of guys who hung around bars were total losers. This guy hadn't spoken to her tits once.

"Mmm. Very true. I'm Darcy." She extended her free hand, smiling. "Nice to meet you."

"Well, there are worse things than hangovers." He took her hand and squeezed lightly, giving it a few shakes. This method of human greeting bothered him a bit sometimes. After the human ritual he brought her hand to his lips, kissing the backs of her knuckles.

"It is very nice to meet you, Darcy. My name is Loki."

One of the things she could very easily get used to was having her hand kissed. Thor was notorious for it as much as for his bone-crushing hugs, and she still recalled that minor heart attack she suffered when Fandral had done it. Now here was a random dude in a bar, acting the complete gentleman.

Until he introduced himself.

Darcy stiffened, her mind returning to that robot in Puente Antiguo, the battle of Manhattan, the pain in Thor's expression when he returned from Asgard after abdicating the throne. Loki was dead, Thor and Jane had seen him die, and this guy...well, they looked similar, but Darcy's only exposure to the man had been through grainy video feeds.

She forced herself to relax. It was just a coincidence of names, nothing more.

"Unusual name," she said jovially, ignoring the way her cheeks were still pink from the little kiss. "Your parents big fans of Norse mythology?"

"Oh, yes. They couldn't get enough of it," he said as he released her hand, smiling warmly. Very few people ever believed he was the actual Loki. It made life on Midgard much easier.

He had noticed her brief change in demeanor though. Loki tilted his head, watching her thoughtfully.

"Are you all right? Did I do something wrong?"

"Not at all! Just startled." There was no reason to hold her own experiences against this guy. He hadn't tried to conquer the world. "It's just that a few years ago, a guy named Loki tried to take over Manhattan. It was all over the news."

And a year prior, the same guy had nearly flattened Puente Antiguo.

It helped that this guy's smile was completely disarming. It would be unfair if she held him accountable for the crimes of another. She didn't hate every single guy named Ted because of what Ted Bundy had done. Nope, instead she hated them because it was a damn stupid name.

"It's a strange world now." Understatement of the fucking year. Returning his smile, she extended the plastic sword in his direction. "Raspberry?"

"Oh, that... yes, I know about that."

He looked away for a moment. That man's actions had given him a rough time for a while. Everyone hated the name Loki. Some still did. If he ever got his hands on that guy, whoever he was, he was going to beg for death by the time Loki was finished with him.

"Hmm?" Loki looked back up at her, though his smile hadn't returned. "I wouldn't mind one. Thank you."

Loki reached out and carefully plucked the berry from its little spear, inhaling its scent before putting the sweet berry in his mouth. It was fresh and cool, not unpleasantly sour or bitter. He licked a bit of juice from his lips. Maybe he should come to this bar more often.

Idly mentioning that she knew Thor and was involved in some pretty amazing things would have made for a great bar story, and she seriously considered it. However, in the wake of SHIELD's destruction, she'd been warned to lay low for a little while in case any of the organization's enemies decided to take a cheap shot.

"It was totally crazy. I wasn't there, thank god," because really, once was enough, "but aliens. Can you believe it?" She shook her head a little. "I was glued to my television screen. I gotta admit, those things the critters were flying around on? I kinda want one."

Darcy continued chattering because it seemed that just mentioning the battle had bothered him. Belatedly, she wondered if perhaps he'd lost someone he cared about in the attack. Meanwhile there she was, talking about the whole thing like it was some sort of elaborate game show. Way to go, Darcy.

Falling silent, she took another sip of her martini, frowning.

"I saw it on the news. Those things looked too mechanical for me. I'd rather have something more organic."

Loki could see that he'd upset her, and while he wasn't the perfect gentleman he was pretending to be, he hadn't intended to make her uncomfortable.

"People have some strange definitions of 'alien' though. Anything that isn't from Earth or even one's own country is an alien. I don't know what they were, but I don't think alien is a good word for them."

He grinned at her again, shaking off the uneasy feeling he got whenever he thought about those incidents - the Manhattan one in particular.

"Unless you can breed an eagle large enough to fly like from The Lord of the Rings, you're kind of out of luck." She stared at him, wondering why he had a problem with the term alien. The things had literally come from another dimension or whatever.

"Dude. They came from a hole in the sky. I think they're aliens. It's not a bad thing. ...well, in this case it was, since they weren't exactly friendly."

She sure as hell didn't have a problem with aliens. Hello Thor's abs.

"Enough of that." Darcy waved a hand around, dismissing the topic. "What are you doing out by yourself on a Friday night? Just bored?"

He shrugged.

"It's a good time to meet new people. I probably would have had better luck somewhere else. Some of the people here are a little pathetic, but I wanted a few drinks. Hey, what can you do?"

Loki smiled and took several long gulps of his ale. It was a shame he didn't even feel close to drunk yet. It would have been nice.

"What do you do on Friday night's?"

Darcy considered whether she should be insulted or not. She was pretty awesome and he was currently talking to her, yet he thought he'd have better luck elsewhere? Rude. At least she didn't fall under the umbrella of 'pathetic' as far as she was aware.

"Work." Yeah, aside from the occasional bouts of what the fuck is going on she led a terribly dull life. "My boss is an astrophysicist, and there's almost always way too much to do. Other than that? I usually try to explore. I still don't know London all that well."

That was an opening if she'd ever offered one.

"How about I show you around a bit then? I know some nice places, and it would be a waste for you to go straight home in such a lovely dress."

Admittedly, he wasn't sure what she would like to see. He didn't live in London himself, but Loki supposed he didn't really live anywhere. Traveling was his thing.

The compliment was simple, casual, yet it brought a flush to her cheeks. "After we finish our drinks." Darcy was reasonably certain she would be able to walk straight after her third martini. She was no Thor, but she could hold her liquor well enough.

Mentally, she gave a fist pump, then patted herself on the back for good measure. She'd just nailed herself an evening with a hot guy. She still had that Darcy Lewis charm. It helped that Jane had gone home. She was certain that if the scientist had stuck around, Loki would have invited her out instead. It was hard to compete with someone who was both brilliant and beautiful, so Darcy never even tried.

She was too used to others taking the spotlight and leaving her behind.

"Do you know of any cool, little hole-in-the-wall shops that sell really weird stuff?"

"Of course," Loki replied with a nod. He could finish his drink in a few gulps and be ready to go, but he drank slower, not wanting to rush her.

Humming in thought, he rested his elbow on the bar and tapped his chin.

"There's a shop for anything if you know where to look. What did you have in mind?"

"Nothing specific. Just...something different. Memorable. Unless you just know of a place with great sightseeing." Darcy was rather easy to please. If they just wandered the city aimlessly for hours, she would probably find it entertaining, especially with Loki.

She eyed her drink, then took a deep breath and finished it. Goddamn. She was good.

"That's a pretty broad spectrum," he said with a laugh. Loki could take her anywhere from the most gorgeous out of the way dress shop to the most kinky of sex shops. He polished off his ale, trying to choose a middle ground.

When the bartender walked by Loki took the liberty of paying for her drinks too.

"I do know of a place that is certainly memorable, but I'm not sure it's the best place to take someone you've just met..."

Darcy thanked him for paying her tab, surprised. This guy was a keeper.

"Oh, you can't say that and not either bring me there, or tell me what it is." She leaned forward, closer to him, interest and naked curiosity on her face. "What is it? Can we go?"

"It's part shop, part cafe, part bar. They sell local artwork and appeal to," he paused, trying to think of the best word. "The less popular crowd, I suppose. I spent New Year's Eve there for the change to 2012. They were having a steampunk ball and selling gas masks for the predicted end of the world."

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