but they're gonna pay me

[ikols]

who: loki and billy (616)
what: billy is loki's hero.
when: dec
where: trixie, the club.
warnings: gay boys play gay chicken, how can anyone lose? #moonboyfriends

[ The basement, pub, and VIP area of Trixie are all bursting at the seams tonight owing to bad weather and the enchanted nature of the building to stay a toasty hub in the wintertide months. Hygge is ongoing which means a party spirit is in the air but, for once, Loki can't be found dancing or flirting with his patrons; he sits in one of the booths upstairs on the restricted first-floor, not an ounce of merry-making beyond the half-closed golden drapes where he sits behind a low table scattered with official documents pertaining to his accounts. A laptop has a billion tabs open and a half-empty chocolate milkshake stands forgotten while Loki, with the sleeves of a smart white shirt rolled up, hunkers over bills and spreadsheets and genuinely wonders if this is a fate worse than falling into the Void.

The godling rubs his eyes and sighs, head in a hand. Not for the first time his mind wanders to a dozen other things, places, and people, restless and unwilling to cooperate because there was a reason he hired Tim Drake to do this, the guy was wired for marketing and financial nonsense. The strict, unrelenting nature of it goes against every iota in his body that tries so hard to feign interest, scripted for chaos and tricks and all sorts of things that don't help him explain tax and net incomes and EBITDA. His horned helm lies at an angle on the far edge of the table but it may as well be an omniverse away for all that he feels like he's the God of Mischief. God of Migraines, sure.

He always did hate arithmatic ... in every lifetime. ]

Comments

[wiccant]

( considering how busy the lower areas of the club are--billy expects loki to be among everyone else, being loud and obnoxious and having a genuinely good time, for loki. luckily for billy, loki also tends to stick out like a sore thumb: there aren't many people who wander around in bright greens and golds, nor are there many people who are quite as tall as him. he checks the nightclub first, the pub second, and spends quite a decent amount of time wandering the vip area before finding loki in the absolute last place billy would ever think to look for him: a quiet corner surrounded by paperwork.

there's a quiet rap of knuckles against the closest wall, just enough to let loki know he's there before billy's pushing aside the curtain and sliding his way into the booth, eyeing the massive pile of. . all of this nonsense. )

Are you bookkeeping?

( who are you and what have you done with loki laufeyson. )

[ikols]

[ He doesn't glance up with the knock, only when that familiar voice makes him perk up like a dog hearing 'Walkies'. ]

Billy! Yes. No. Attempts are being made ... [ Never mind that, who cares about taxes anymore when a bigger mystery stands before him! ] Hi. What are you doing at Trixie?

[wiccant]

( that's cute. numbers certainly aren't his strong suit either, but. he slides in close, leans over the table a bit to take a closer look at all the nonsense loki is working through. yes. no. was pretty clear enough. )

I was looking for you, but now that I've found you. . ( a low thoughtful hum, before he's raising a hand to pull some of the papers closer. ) Looking over finances for an extremely busy club?

[ikols]

[ Whatever papers are in his hand are dropped on the table for Billy to peruse as Loki sighs and sits back, hands in his lap as though he could be any unhappy young accountant. ]

Ever since my manager left the Quarantine, yes. Tim was wonderful, he ran a huge company for his father back home. This [ gesturing to the blizzard of numbers ] was his bread and milk, I was basically paying him to have fun keeping order.

[ With a sad sincerity, Loki pouts. ]

Billy, will you please behead me so that I never again have to think about encumbered assets and equity?

[wiccant]

( loki taking charge of a nightclub and incorporating breakfast meats in it is almost too predictable. loki hanging around nightclubs is also something billy expects; but loki sitting in front of a pile of paperwork sighing and making extremely pouty faces over his massive piles of paperwork?

billy presses his lips together, holds back the laughter that threatens to spill loose. )

You're the one who wanted a club. Sadly, you'll have to keep your head and deal with all the numbers that comes with it. ( but look: he's helping a little, organizing some of the piles around and reaching over to pull the spreadsheet-filled laptop towards himself. ) Not only did you manage to keep up your own apartment, but all this?

[ikols]

Why do you think I moved into the Sanctum. [ Not a question.

He takes Billy's arrival as an official intermission and reaches for his milkshake, one eye on whatever is being done on the laptop. ]

Are you any good with numbers?

[ Surprisingly somehow, he isn't all that certain he knows much about Billy's regular life as a mortal. Including schoolwork and talents therein. ]

[wiccant]

I got through high school without setting too many things on fire. Or exploding it, unlike some of us. ( tommy pls.

he's skimming through all the other nonsense that's. already up here, running through columns and taking one of the bills, flipping it over and stealing one of loki's pens to. start taking notes. ) I'm not great at them, but I can probably figure it out.

( easier than a god whose very nature defies order anyway. )

[ikols]

Would you like a drink or something to eat?

[ Putting together a meal or a cocktail sounds like the perfect escape as Billy settles down. ]

I'll make it myself.

[wiccant]

You're not leaving me here with this mess.

( on one hand: considering the state he found loki in, he probably won't be of much use. on the other: don't leave him alone in this massive pile of papers. )

And I'm never drinking again. ( not after the incident. )

[ikols]

[ Freedom dwindles like smoke and he slumps back again, his attention now scouring Billy from head to toe; his mannerisms, his clothes, the determined optimism with which he pokes boring documents.

A black nail scratches its way up Billy's pant-leg to hook in a beltloop, idly tugging. There's nothing to doooooo. ]

You really came here to see me? I would've thought you had better things to do than butter up gods with your free time, fussing with their finances.

[wiccant]

( he didn't even dress for loki's club: dark skinny jeans, a simple red t-shirt under a black zipped up jacket, boots with enough traction to help avoid falling over in the icy weather. loki starts tugging at his jeans, and billy. waits a moment, hesitates, before shifting his weight up onto his heels and sliding over the few breaths that separate them to sit down between loki's legs.

loki doesn't generate much body heat, sure, but he can take it well enough. the laptop gets slid back over, papers pushed back in front of loki as he starts sorting them into neat piles and making chicken scratch notes in the top right hand corners of each. )

Not having school, a job, my family around, inter-dimensional parasites, or aliens harassing me across space has left me with a lot of free time.

[ikols]

[ Accounting is three-hundred times better when Billy unexpectedly plants himself in front of Loki, who settles at his back with a chin on Billy's shoulder and long legs framing the outside of Billy's thighs. Impatient fingers tickle either side of a jacketed waist, far more perkiness infusing his mood with the physical contact. ]

I was looking up missions at the border patrol headquarters, are you still up for some questing? Some of the objectives offer rewards. Money.

[wiccant]

( who would have guessed loki was this easy to settle. luckily, the spreadsheet is already pretty thoroughly set up, so most of this is just data entry. billy can handle that, if loki can keep his fingers to himself. he moves an elbow back to shove into his gut--definitely not hard enough to hurt, but enough of a warning. )

I'd never turn down a good quest. ( and it'll get him out more. )

[ikols]

Oof. I'll find a good one.

[ Patting out tunes on Billy's legs, Loki grows bored of watching data entry and nips the back of the coat. ]

Aren't you warm? Take this off, it's in the way.

[wiccant]

( it's like babysitting a very impatient puppy, isn't it. and here he is trying his best to help. billy rolls his shoulders, shifts his weight back against loki. it's always fairly cozy inside trixie, yes. coats aren't necessarily needed, but-- )

In the way of what?

[ikols]

Of me. Divest this barrier, Wiccan! Speak unto this deity with no illusions between ye ... !

[ Yeah, someone is in much better spirits already. ]

[wiccant]

( it's a little weird how fast that works--how easy it is to pull loki into better spirits with just. contact. but if it works, it works? billy gives a soft hah, before he leans forward and tugs the coat off over his head to put it down on the booth beside them, quickly fixing the t-shirt under it back into place. )

Let me finish this.

[ikols]

I can help, I really do want this done with. Okay, so ...

[ A hand comes to rest on Billy's middle as Loki looms closer, but he seeks to assist the problematic accounts with a far more enthusiastic supporting role. Pointing to the files they'll need, whenever he isn't holding accounts or gesturing to the spreadsheets he drums an absent tune on Billy's jeans. Unlike most people, distractions work in his favour especially when he can escape the uninteresting task at hand by running the tip of his nose along Billy's shoulders now and then, eyes fixed on the laptop as he thinks of solutions while stimulating a restlessness he can't shake off.

If he were mortal, having too many tangents under his skin at once may have been defined as ADHD. For Loki, it's just the spectrum in which he operates best. ]

[wiccant]

( it helps loki focus towards getting it done, but it's distracting the hell out of billy. the arm around him is a constant pressure; that hand, that one doesn't bother him at all. it's the drumming across his thigh that has him stuttering a little, the nose against his shoulder that has goosebumps forming along the skin at the back of his neck. he doesn't once voice any complaints though, nor does billy move away from him.

once they've finished--papers sorted out into nice, neat piles to one side of the table, spreadsheets saved and triple-checked, billy hooks his fingers over the tops of the laptop, moves to shut it and add it to the pile off to the side. )

--anything else you needed to get done?

[ikols]

[ Trials overcome, he helps shut the laptop and then drops back onto the couch with his arms spread and chin tipped up. Freedom! Accomplishment! Likely stable assets! A sigh guts him in relief, puffing to the tented ceiling. ]

Nope! Not a thing. [ He looks up, relaxed as never before tonight. ] Thank you for that, I'm in your debt.

[ And he wouldn't say that lightly, so Billy can be somewhat confident Loki is happy. ]

[wiccant]

No problem. I wouldn't want to lose out on all my free lunches if this place did tank because some numbers didn't get moved right. ( loki had better be happy; billy wouldn't sit here and run numbers and try to figure out taxes if it wasn't going to benefit him in some shape or form--and in this case, loki's satisfaction had been his goal. the godling leans back, and billy shifts his attention to the golden helm sitting off to the side of the table, reaches a hand out towards it without quite touching.

asking first is important: ) Can I?

[ikols]

... Yeah.

[ He'd let Billy touch it even without asking but purely because he is who he is, of course he asks first. Loki chins a hand, watching him through contented narrowed eyes like a lazy cat. ]

It might be cold.

[ By a few degrees under room temperature, just as he is. ]

[wiccant]

( metal is usually cold. permission granted, billy's pulling the helm over on the table until it's in front of him, fingers tracing over the horns with thinly veiled excitement. it's not every day one gets to ogle the helm of loki, and it definitely makes all the paperwork effort worth it. )

Nice. ( that's totally a cool thing to say, right. a few more moments, and he's lifting the helm up, leaning back against loki as he eyes it. today is a good day to be a nerd. )

[ikols]

[ No one else thinks it's neat. Loki does, of course, same as his twin when they compared how they wore the horns. Billy remains the outlier, however, with those thin fingers running reverently from base to tip ... ]

C'mere, let me.

[ He reaches around and takes the helm at the sides, lifting it at the right angle for Billy to slide on if he wants to. It'll stay in place. ]

It's light as a feather, you'll see.

[wiccant]

( don't make his nerding out sexual, loki. he just really likes loki's horns. which, of course, means there's absolutely no way he's going to deny it when loki reaches out for them and holds them out so he can slip them on.

he leans into the helm, one hand raising to press over loki's own as it slides into place, smile widening as the helm presses to his forehead, his cheek bones. he leans forward enough not to stab loki in the face with them when he turns around to face the godling. )

That debt? Definitely repaid in full.