A New Leaf
Tower Universe - Short
Loki lounges in the palace garden on Asgard, completely bored. For once, he can't think of any trouble to cause or pranks to pull.
As he relaxes there, he thinks about the last time he was on Midgard and smiles. He prefers his home on Asgard but some things on Midgard have grown on him—texting, for one.
He sits up with an idea. Just because cell phones don't work in Asgard doesn't mean he can't talk to people. There are ways to communicate across realms.
He stands and searches the garden for a specific plant. Finally he spots it in the corner. It's almost as big as he is with wide, dark green leaves. He pulls a quill from his jacket and scratches a message into one of the leaves. It seems to burn gold for a moment before disappearing completely.
Back on Earth, Gwen Barkridge enters the code to unlock the greenhouse and steps inside taking in the scent of flowers and soil. She starts her routine, checking and watering the plants. Halfway down one of the rows, she stops and does a double take.
Etched in glowing gold on a leaf are two simple words: “miss me?”
She laughs softly to herself. Loki. It's been too quiet around the tower lately since he's been on Asgard. She'll never admit it but she does miss his texts.
Gwen pulls a pen from her pocket and writes back on the leaf, “New leaf. Who is this?”
She watches, eyes wide, as it glows gold and disappears.
She is unfamiliar with inter-realm, leaf based, communication etiquette so she isn't sure when to expect a reply. It's just as well, no more messages come through that day.
The next morning, Gwen finds another message from Loki.
“Very funny.”
And on another leaf, “Why do I even bother?”
Gwen laughs picturing how dramatic his eye roll must have been at her last message. She scrawls out a reply. “Because I'm your favorite mortal.”
Every morning Gwen finds something new etched into a leaf in glowing gold. Sometimes he's poking fun and sometimes he's complaining but Gwen never fails to return a joke.
Loki will never admit that he looks forward to seeing what she has written for him but his mood has noticeably improved around the palace.
He hurries down to the garden to see what has been left for him today. He sees the familiar gold scribbles but can't quite make it out. As he gets closer, it becomes clear and he laughs out loud startling a couple of people nearby.
Today there was no joke, just a simple doodle of Loki, horn helmet and all, jumping on a trampoline.