Chapter 54: Movie Time!
Ariel walked inside with angel trotting on her heels. She sat on the bed, gently stroking Nevaeh's head.
'Mmm, Loki, mmm,' Nevaeh mumbled in her sleep.
Ariel was thoroughly taken aback. She withdrew her hand and loudly cleared her throat, making Nevaeh to wake up heavily. 'Mum?' she asked, looking at her through partially closed eyes. 'I thought you guys were coming home tomorrow.'
'Nevaeh, do you know this strange device you have that allows you to speak to your parents who are far from home and might be worried for their daughter?' Ariel said calmly as she watched her sit up straight.
'A lecture before a kiss. Such joy,' Nevaeh muttered.
'Stop the sarcasm! We tried calling you countless of times! No answer! Then Raphael called me—'
'What did he tell you?' Nevaeh asked quickly, any hint of sleep vanishing from her eyes. He had promised her not to rat out her pseudo death-stick business to her parents!
'That you were okay and were with Joe in some downtown pub, after which you called him to let him know that you're okay,' Ariel said. 'If you could call him, then why not us? You must've heard our million voicemails!'
'I was – I was drunk,' Nevaeh blurted. 'I was going to call you guys!'
'Sweetie, are you mad at us for leaving the very next day after you returned from Asgard?' Ariel said apologetically. 'You do realise our trip was unavoidable or else we would've never left you alone—'
'I wasn't alone! Loki was with me!' Nevaeh said hastily. 'I am not mad at you! I am sorry from not answering your calls! I was just busy! We were partying so hard.'
'What about yesterday?' Ariel asked. 'Were you drunk then too?'
'Oh,' Nevaeh's cheeks turned red. 'Loki and I went out.'
'Just the two of you?'
Nevaeh nodded mutely. She got up from the bed and tapped the wall. 'Loki! Get ready! We need to catch that movie!'
'Yeah,' Loki's voice shouted back.
'Is Joe coming with you to the movies?' Ariel asked coyly.
'No, she isn't!' Loki yelled again.
Ariel chuckled. 'Good to know.'
Nevaeh hurriedly jumped in the shower and soon got dressed. Avoiding running late for the movie, she gave a hurried hug to her dad. They did not get enough time to chat but Nevaeh was mostly glad that her parents were back. She was wearing denim jeans and a black crop top with Darth Vader's helmet on it. Nevaeh realised that they had about an hour and a half before the movie starts and she quickly went into Loki's room. She opened the door to find him standing in front of the mirror and she gasped. Loki was wearing a denim low waist jeans with a black t-shirt with his hair a bit shinier than before. Nevaeh smiled the widest; Loki was looking his most human self, like an innocent little boy.
'Loki, you look adorable,' cooed Nevaeh, clapping him happily on the back. 'Can you make it say 'come to the dark side'?' she asked, pointing at his t-shirt. Loki sighed and brushed his chest to make the words appear on his t-shirt in green. Nevaeh turned around to look at their matching clothes in the mirror and nudged Loki who was admiring this effortlessly-handsome look of his. Nevaeh didn't feel like taking the car all the way till Brooklyn, so they made an exception this time of teleporting into the mall as Loki promised her that he would telepathically find the quaintest spot to land.
They left home in haste, promising her parents that they would return home before dinner to talk about a few major things. Loki teleported them as soon as her home was out of sight. They looked around and found themselves amidst a flock of people who were briskly walking around the stores. A family was standing ahead of them; a lady turned around and shrieked audibly at their sudden appearances.
'Where in the world did you two come from?' she yelped, completely taken aback. Nevaeh looked at her in mild alarm as her family slowly turned around to look at them suspiciously. Nevaeh locked her finger into Loki's slightly raised one and he glanced at her side-ways.
'From Lifestyle; they are having a flat 50% discount on almost all the brands—'Nevaeh was interrupted as the lady's questioning look transformed into an ecstatic one and she nudged her husband sharply in the stomach.
'You hear that Toby? Let's move! Thank you, I somehow didn't even see the banner' said the lady in a loving voice, taking her husband by the hand as her kids trotted along with them. Nevaeh smiled at them warmly, waving an arm.
Loki scoffed. 'You, little one, have understood the human behaviour quite well, haven't you? It's a shame you behave like a lunatic from time to time despite your remarkable skills.' Loki received a similar sharp punch in the stomach. They kept strolling through the compound, taking the escalator to reach the upper floors while Loki talked about the unnecessary rush in the mall.
She suggested they grab a bite to eat before watching the movie as they had already skipped breakfast. They reached the very top floor and entered the food court, next to which was the movie theatre. 'Sweetie, why don't you take a look at what you feel like eating and I will grab the tickets in the mean time' Nevaeh subtly flicked her wand to slowly move an extra chair towards an empty table in the adjacent corner. 'They have little fliers, pamphlets, right next to their stalls. See if there is something that interests you,' she added, giving him a pat on the head and trotting towards the theatre. Loki looked around and walked towards the table Nevaeh had gestured, getting comfortable on the plastic chair which somehow had an invisible, cosy cushion on it.
Nevaeh made her way through the crowd towards the movie theatre, but stopped unpleasantly as she saw a familiar face. 'Nevaeh!' a blonde girl called out as she approached her with a fake loving smile with a boy trotting behind her.
'Ugh,' Nevaeh muttered, but quickly reformed her expression, 'Betty, hi!' She kissed Nevaeh on both the cheeks. 'Who is that?' Betty hushed, eyeing a now distant Loki, as Nevaeh smiled and nodded towards the boy she was with.
'He is a – a boy,' Nevaeh said rather slowly.
'Jesus, you are such an uptight bitch,' Betty said in an awfully girlish giggle, 'let me guess, you are here to watch star wars?' Nevaeh nodded and she giggled again.
'God, you are so pathetically predictable. Do you have any idea what I would've done if I had as much money as you? Not blow it on nerd movies!' she said, shaking her head.
'No, you would have blown it on Cocaine and men! But in retrospect, you managed to do both of them thoroughly in your teens without the money, darling,' Nevaeh imitated her girlish giggle, kissing her one last time on the cheek of her flabbergasted face and waving goodbye to them to stand herself in the line for the tickets. The line was a tad longer than before and there were two guys standing ahead of Nevaeh, one of them glanced back and eyed her from head to foot.
'Are you here alone? I wouldn't mind offering you some company' he said faking politeness.
'I am good,' Nevaeh said, shaking her head and smiling lightly.
'I bet you are damn good,' he said slyly winking at her and she scoffed, choosing not to dignify that with a response. 'So do you come here often?' he asked.
'Dude, I am with someone and even if I weren't, I wouldn't be interested,' Nevaeh said firmly.
'I am sure I can make you interested' he said persistently. Nevaeh was exhausted; she had left Loki for less than ten minutes yet she felt like she had left sane, intellectual company behind her ages ago. She looked at the stupid guy in front of her, still gazing at her hopefully as though she will abruptly change her mind and she sighed, suddenly feeling the urge to give Loki a big kiss and to let him know how clever and unique he truly is. Nevaeh glanced ahead in the corner, wondering what is taking them so long to hand out a few tickets. She glanced at the guy who was still staring at her and he winked at her lightly, opening his mouth to speak again but Nevaeh made an audibly exasperated sound, rolling her eyes heavily. 'You say another word to me and you will regret it.'
'Word,' the boy laughed and fist-bumped his friend. They were next in line to get the tickets.
'Look at me,' Nevaeh said. She shadily twirled her wand. 'You look like a generous guy. Buy me two tickets first. Then buy everyone in this line theirs.'
The boy's friend laughed. 'Yeah, right.' He was thoroughly stunned when his friend purchased and handed two tickets to Nevaeh whose hand was expectantly waiting for them. 'Dude, what are you doing?' But his friend didn't pay him any attention.
'Don't forget the rest of the people. And the other people who will eventually join the line,' Nevaeh told him. 'If you run out of cash, use your card.'
She trotted off towards the food court feeling considerably cheerful, realising how drastically her people-tolerance-level has reduced since she came back from Asgard, and she figured it was for the best. She wondered if the reason behind it was that everybody seemed incredibly intelligent on Asgard. She was waiting to see the look on Loki's face when she would tell him about what she did. Nevaeh halted in mid-track.
Pure horror struck her eyes as she set her eyes on their table and onto Loki who was sitting behind in his chair with his legs lavishly crossed. There were at least seven pamphlets soaring in front of him at his eye level; The Burger King, KFC, The Kebab Corner, Dominos, McDonald's, Pizza Hut and Subway. They were all neatly rotating one by one as he flickered his eyes from one to the next, apparently reading everything.
Loki was distractedly rubbing a finger over his chin, deep in contemplation over what to choose while wondering what Nevaeh would prefer at the same time. The family sitting next to him were eyeing him with wild eyes, but the children were clearly loving his style which went completely unnoticed by a least bothered Loki.
'So wise! So intelligent!' muttered Nevaeh, pocketing their tickets and grabbing a scissor from a packaging outlet. Nevaeh trotted towards Loki while observing that he was being cautiously eyed by the family with four kids and a group of three friends sitting close to him. A few of the passers-by were glancing distractedly at him, only to double back if realization ever hit them amidst their busy lives.
'Why, good afternoon Prince Wizard! What kind of an optical illusion do you have here?' Nevaeh asked in a theatrical scientific voice, sliding down imaginary glasses down the bridge of her nose and eyeing Loki with dramatic suspicion.
Loki opened his mouth to speak but kept it open without saying anything as he watched Nevaeh raise the scissors above his levitating pamphlets and imitate a cutting gesture in the air as though cutting off invisible strings. He was thoroughly baffled at her improvisation skills as he watched the pamphlets lower themselves a little as if they were being held in the air by invisible ropes.
'Hey! I am still reading!' complained a confused Loki.
Nevaeh shot him a glaring look. She did a complete circular cutting gesture and one by one the fliers fell down on their table, while some on the floor and one landed on Loki's head. The kids from the family started laughing and applauding but all the adults were still eyeing her with incredible suspicion, Loki being one of them. She bowed a little for the kids and grabbed Loki by the arm who was still stunned by her lunatic, far-fetched, and wildly exaggerated act of explanation. He quickly got up, the pamphlet brushing itself off of his head and they started walking straight towards the theatre.
'Dude! WTF?' Nevaeh hissed as soon as they were away from the court.
'WTF? What does that stand for?' Loki asked.
'Okay, stop talking!' Nevaeh gestured an arm to stop him. 'We are going inside, finding a quaint corner and talk this through.'
She beckoned him to enter the theatre. She distractedly pulled out their tickets; locating their screens and seats as she passed through the detector door. She halted within two steps when she heard a loud beep as soon as Loki attempted to pass through it. Nevaeh turned around to see a blinking Loki halt in his step and she grudgingly wondered how many daggers his highness might be packing in his jeans' pockets.
A guard quickly approached Loki with a huge detector in his hand, stretching out an arm. Nevaeh felt her heart skip a beat as she saw Loki's face turn visibly red in indignation blended with fury as he scoffed at the guard's outstretched hand. Nevaeh was just waiting to hear the words "You dare point that puny stick upon the Son of Odin" erupt from his mouth when Loki waved his arm in a strikingly familiar gesture.
'Nothing to see here. Move along,' Loki said, waving his arm in front of the guard's face.
'There is nothing to see here,' mumbled the guard, lowering his detector. Loki smirked and moved ahead, winking lightly at a stunned Nevaeh. 'Move along,' the guard mumbled from behind and Loki chuckled.
'You heard the man,' Loki said, taking a still-stunned-with-silence Nevaeh by the arm and steering her inside as she blinked at him, wondering whether to laugh or cry.
There were still twenty minutes left for the movie to begin and they entered their screening room. After sitting themselves down on their seats inside the considerably empty theatre, Nevaeh let out a huge sigh and shifted in her seat to look at Loki. Their seats were on the second last row and right in the middle, because Nevaeh never watched any movie from a corner, just never.
Before Nevaeh could speak, Loki interjected. 'Can we talk about why you performed that poor acting back there? And what were you exactly? A scientist? A detective? Where did you get the scissors? And what is Prince Wizard?' Loki asked, fixing her in a heavy frown as though she should've chosen between either one of his alternative names.
'I don't know! I was shocked after seeing you! You can't do this stuff in the open, Loki. It is wrong!' Nevaeh said in an urgent voice. They had discussed for hours over how Nevaeh had to behave around people, but apparently Loki somehow did not see the fact that it was applied to him as well.
'Says who?' Loki asked. Nevaeh opened her mouth to speak but quickly closed it as a couple passed from near their seats to settle themselves at the far end. Loki watched her with patience as little as her nose, and clicked his tongue in annoyance. 'The problem is them? Mortals? Seriously? What was I doing? I was merely selecting what to have for –'
'Loki, I understand that. But they cannot analyse their menus by merely flickering their eyes! That kind of stuff is frowned upon by everyone,' Nevaeh said in a-we-can't-help-it manner.
There was a long silence which was broken by Loki. 'So, you love this movie in which your favourite character destroys an entire planet by using the power of a huge spherical ball? A man who has powerful abilities such as telekinesis and whom you think of righteous?' Loki asked, thoroughly enjoying a personal experience with striking resemblance. He hoped that she wouldn't get defensive as she opened her mouth to speak.
'Well, the people of Alderan did not deserve that at all! They were peaceful people and—'
'Yes. But if Alderan would've been portrayed as a toxic planet filled with monstrous, blood-thirsty creatures, your sympathy for them would've perished, yes?' Loki asked calmly.
Nevaeh was enjoying Loki's enthusiasm and newfound approaches on Star wars related topics and she wondered if he was doing that just to make her happy. 'Sure – maybe, if they are indeed that horrible,' Nevaeh said. 'Vader is still the best though. AND THE EMPIRE DID NOTHING WRONG!' Nevaeh boasted loudly in a booming voice which echoed throughout the theatre followed by a chorus of thundering cheers from the crowd and people happily turning to raise their soda-cups in the air. Loki chuckled along with the crowd who were suddenly looking a bit alive and enthusiastic, some of them still laughingly saying 'hear-hear!'
'Why aren't all these seats taken near us? Look at them, all crowded over there! They are not even together!' Nevaeh said, nodding urgently towards a man sandwiched right between a family and a couple. The lights went off and Loki sighed in relief. The movie began playing when a distracted Nevaeh again opened her mouth to speak, but Loki shushed her as though his life depended on the movie. The words 'A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…' appeared on the screen and Nevaeh quickly shifted in her seat and slid her hand into Loki's.
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