(TW: implied harassment, alcohol, use of date rape drugs but no one ends up hurt.)
It was a busy evening at The Frosty Giant. Couples on dates mingled with hungry tourists and violent felons. A drug deal was happening in one booth while a pair of teenagers with fake IDs swapped spit near the washrooms. An old man in aviators told wild tales to anyone in earshot that Loki doubted had a shred of truth to them. Lonely people made eyes at each other across the room but were mostly too shy or not drunk enough to actually speak to each other. Those that were drunk enough slurred and swayed and swore they could usually hold their liquor better than this. All in all, an average crowd.
Loki never would have imagined himself working in the service industry. And he didn’t always work; he had a good staff on hand. However, he’d discovered that working behind a bar made the acquisition of secrets exceedingly easy. Sad drunken people spilled their entire life stories completely unprompted. The secrets, the affairs, the successes and failures. Mostly it was just entertainment but every so often he could gain something truly useful. For instance, the other day he got word of someone illegally smuggling Asgardian ale, scared off the buyers, and took it for himself. He paid for it of course. With Monopoly money disguised as American money. By the time the smugglers discovered they were tricked, Loki was long gone with his prize and wearing a different face.
He found that taking the form of a woman was most efficient for wringing secrets out of strangers. His staff never batted an eye, even when they saw him shift his form. Living in this area, they’d undoubtedly seen stranger. Tonight, however, he appeared as a man with a thin face and fiery red hair. A different kind of secret often came out while wearing masculine appearances. Men who trusted him to understand their more nefarious actions. Such as the barefaced whelp that approached him now.
“Hey dude, mix me up a couple rum and cokes,” the youth said. “Got a date over there, gotta get it going, y’know?” He wore a baggy letterman jacket, a backwards hat, and jeans that sagged far from where they should. A few sparse hairs poked from his chin where his attempt at growing facial hair only embarrassed him.
Basic, Loki thought before shooting a foxlike grin at the boy. “Coming right up.”
As the god mixed the drinks (it really was basic) the young man gave a rundown of his encounter. “Been bugging her for a date for ages,” he explained. “She finally gave in and agreed. Not gonna let this chance get away.”
Loki’s eyes trailed over to the girl he referred to, a thin young woman with dark hair and wide eyes. She looked uncomfortable where she sat, hands wringing and nervous eyes glancing towards them at the bar. She clearly didn’t want to be there. As for the boy’s story, it would almost sound sweet if not for the implied harassment beneath his words.
“You wanna make that one a little stronger?” the boy prompted, indicating one of the drinks. Loki wordlessly tipped a bit more rum into one of the glasses before sliding them both across the bar.
“Thanks, man.” His customer paid and took hold of the drinks but kept them on the bar. Then he pulled a something from his jacket pocket and dropped it into the stronger of the two drinks. It dissolved quickly and the boy picked up the drinks and turned away.
“Just a moment,” Loki cut in, catching the young man’s attention again. “What was that?”
He was met with a lop-sided grin and the boy lifted a glass to him. “Just a little insurance, y’know? Make things go smoothly.”
Loki forced a smile, which seemed to satisfy the other since he walked back to his date. A sigh passed the god’s lips and he flicked his wrist. The drinks in the boy’s hands shimmered as Loki swapped the contents of the glasses. Once again, Loki found himself doing something his brother would actually approve of—though with significantly less punching. He was losing his touch.
Later in the evening, the boy’s date left after he made a drunken fool of himself and passed out on the table. Loki had to scroll through the young man’s phone (a passcode of 0000 was just asking to be hacked) and locate someone suitable to call. It just so happened his mother lived nearby so she came to pick her son up. Loki would love to be a fly on the wall for that lecture in the morning. After all, he had happily filled her in on the whole situation.
Once he’d closed down the bar for the night, Loki walked back to his acquired apartment with the nauseating feeling of having done a good deed.
