He was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

Lounging on this part of the bed with the bedroom door open, I was able to admire every inch of his lean body as he stood by the kitchen counter, making breakfast. There were a few scars from battles, that was ok, I had some of my own. And unlike the people I had met before, they didn't bother him in the slightest. I sighed dreamily and rocked my feet back and forth in the air behind me.
It was hard to imagine we had been together for so long now; every moment was as exciting and invigorating as if we were experiencing it for the first time. Perhaps that was because we didn't see each other often. He was away a lot on "business". Or at least that's what we told my friends and family. They didn't ask too much about it, they were just happy to see me finally with someone, making it work. And I was happy too. Even if I lived with the constant fear he'd forget me while he was away doing whatever he did.

He'd sometimes take months at a time, and you can't exactly pick up a phone to call an extra-terrestrial, can you? He argues with me on that. Says he's a god. Admittedly, he is in bed, but that's beside the point, I don't believe in gods.

"Eggs?" He called back, sauntering around the counter to the fridge. I scowl; he knows where the eggs are and now the cabinets block my view. "Top shelf." I call back, rolling over, pulling the duvet with me to cocoon myself in it. I hear one crack open and I wrinkle my nose in disgust, I only end up buying them for him on the off chance he comes back for a weekend or so.
Burying my face in the duvet, breathing in the scent he left behind on the sheets, I think back to how we first met…

Exhausted and kneeling, I sigh as I crack open another book on my knee and search the index. A small pile already sits next to me waiting to be taken home and studied for my essay.

It wasn't that I had picked a dull topic, or even that it was for a module I didn't enjoy as much as I had hoped to, I just really didn't want to be there. After my recent break-up, everything just seemed so much harder. It's been three months and I sometimes still find it difficult to get out of bed in the morning.

Nope, nothing relevant. I take a deep breath and slot the book back onto the shelf, I glance down at the list I've written, the next book has a big cross next to it from where I made a mental note to check next week since someone had already taken it out.

A shadow falls over me. "Sorry," Says a cool voice, "I just need to get past." I apologise on autopilot and move myself and my books out of the way. The man walks past me and hesitates, he reaches down and picks up the top one off the pile. "Norse Myths?" He smiles. "I'm looking for something similar myself, do you mind if I take it?"
"Actually, I need it for my essay," I look up at the man, tall, thin, sleek black hair framing his face. "I'm writing about the impact of Norse culture during the Early Medieval period."
He raps his fingers against the book cover in thought. "Would you mind if I take a quick look though?"
"Right now?"
"Yes."

"Alright." I shrug, tucking some hair behind my ear. I go back to scanning the shelf in front of me. I don't think any of it will be useful, but I can't go until I get that book back.
"Have you read any of these?" He asks casually as he flicks lazily through the pages.
"Not really, no, my friend is more into the mythology than I am."
He nods but he doesn't seem to be really listening. "They give Thor too much credit." He mumbles as he glares at a particular page for a while before angrily turning it.
"Are you doing an essay on that?" I ask politely. "What course are you on?"

He stops and smiles at me, he laughs.
"What is it?"
"Nothing, don't worry." He hesitates, smile becoming more rigid and less sincere. "I am Loki."
"Ok, my name's Jess."
Sure, it's weird he's named after a Norse god, but then again I've heard stranger.
"Jessica." He says my name slowly, as if testing the weight of it on his tongue. "I like that."
"Thanks?"
He says nothing for a moment, and looks me up and down, scowling. "Would you like to go to dinner?"
"Dinner?" I repeat slowly.

"Yes, dinner." He rolls his eyes, "An evening meal? With me?"
That was sudden. He's hot, I'll admit it. And his impeccable taste in clothes doesn't hurt either. But I'm not the sort of person to go running off on dates with people I barely know. And anyway, I have a… Ok, so I don't have a boyfriend. Not anymore.
"Maybe." I look down at my knees, "Do you want my number? We can text about something this weekend, I need to get this essay done by Friday."

Loki nods and pulls out a pristine but rather old phone from his coat pocket. I give him my number and he promises to text me. If he turns out to be weird I can just block his number, I had to get an app in first year because of a boy from Uni.

He hands me back the book. "I know a lot more about the mythology than what's in that book." He tells me. He must have done a project last year or something, I figure, he seems the bookish type who would do plenty of extra research. "I'll text you tonight." The word text seems alien to him as he says it, like it doesn't quite fit the mouth around it. He leaves and I scoop up my bag, coat and books and head over to the next floor to search for Norse art.

That evening, I check my phone regularly, I'm not expecting him to actually text me, but it would be nice if he did. As I'm washing up my dishes from dinner when my housemate walks in. "Busy day?" Emily asks.

"Was alright." I tell her. "Just got back from the library."
"Yeah I guessed that." She picks up the books I left on the table, flicking through them casually. Her boyfriend walks in. He's wearing his coat, he's off out. I love my housemates, and I don't care that they so often hang out with my ex, what does upset me is they always treat me differently when they come back because of whatever he's made up to tell them that night. I glance at my phone, scrolling through the messages until I see his name. Scowling, I switch it off and make a cup of tea slipping my phone into my pocket. Out of sight, out of mind.

I go upstairs to watch something online, the bed is too empty, I miss watching series with him, somehow always ending up under the covers in his bed, like we always did, arms and legs a tangled sprawl around each other. The show ends and I'm about to get ready for bed when my phone screen lights up. Jake. With a sigh, I open the message. "Can we meet?" I've been ignoring him since he broke up with me.

My phone buzzes again, it's a message from Loki.
Grudgingly I get up and leave, phone buzzing again. This time the message simply reads "Dinner. 8pm. Saturday."
I sit on my bed, fuck it. "Sure." I text him back. "When and where?"

We text each other for the rest of the week, just random conversations. He takes a while to respond at times but then at others his replies are almost instant. I find myself looking forward to our date, he's funny and smart.
I wear a nice dress the evening of our date. I'm applying make-up when there's a knock on my door. "Come in."

Emily pushes it open and steps in, his eyes widen and he looks me up and down. "You look nice. You going out?"
"Yeah." I say, wiping off the excess eyeliner I've put on.
"With Jake by any chance?" She rolls her eyes. She never liked him. I've joked to her that she has a better sense of men than me and I should get her to vet the next one.
"Err, no."
"Oh, are you seeing your aunt again?"
"Nope." I pick up my red lipstick.
"Hmm." She sits on my bed, having a look at the stuff on my bedside table idly. "You going somewhere nice?"
"The Italians by the cinema."
"Date or something is it?" She winks.
"Something like that, yeah." I turn to face her. "Well it's not like Jake and I are going to…"
"No." She shook her head. "What time are you meeting him?"
"He's picking me up at 8." I thought it was best for him to come to the house so that the others knew who I was with in case something happened.
"Oh ok." She stays on my bed while I continue to get ready. Not awkward at all.

The doorbell rings. She leaps up and goes downstairs to answer it. Great. I think irritably as I follow her down. "Good evening, is Jessica ready?" Asks Loki, flashing Emily a dazzling smile.
"Yeah, she's just here." She sounds elated. She turns and flashes me an impressed look. Good.
"Have a nice night!" I call to her as I push past to get to my date. "I have my phone on me!" Quickly I close and lock the door. I don't want to think about it, I just need to focus on Loki and what is happening in the now.
"How are you?" He asks, taking my arm as we walk down the street.
"I'm fine, thanks," I smile up at him, "how are you?"

Loki comes back into the bedroom, "Are you quite comfortable?" He raises an eyebrow and takes a bite of the breakfast he's holding.
I peek up from under the covers. "Just about. There's room for one more." I lift up the duvet for him.
He shook his head. "I can't stay love, I need to go home."
"Again?" I sigh, collapsing back onto the mattress. "You just got back last night, I thought you were gonna stay for a bit."
He nodded and sat next to me on the bed. "So did I, but preparations have to be made."
"For this ceremony for your brother?"
He nods, still eating.

"Can't you just take the day off? I thought we could go to the museum or catch a film or something."
"Sorry." He reached over and rubbed my shoulder through the covers. "We'll do that when I get back, ok?"
"When?" I pout jokingly. "I miss you."
He laughs and I grin. "It might be a while, I'm afraid." My smile fades.
"How long?"
"We'll see."
I scowl. I hate it when I don't know when he's coming back.

He lays his plate on the floor and gets up, retrieving the coat he discarded in a hurry the night before. He fishes out a box from the pocket and comes back to me, opening it. A silver bracelet lay inside. "Here." He slipped it on my wrist. "I'm coming back." He stroked my hair. "I promise."
"Can't I come with you just this once?" I ask sullenly, twisting my wrist and admiring how the bracelet shone. "You met my family."

He sighed. "I fear father would not approve."
I glance at him, "What, I'm not good enough for your snooty alien family?"
He didn't say anything. And I scowled at the bracelet. He noticed and bent down to kiss me firmly. "Don't." He warned.
"Don't what?"
"Don't start thinking like that again."
"Like what?"

He growled and pounced on me, pinning my arms above my head while he straddled me, forcing me to look at him. "Like you're not good enough. You're perfect." He leant down and kissed my neck, I closed my eyes. "You are perfect to me. And I'm coming back."
"Fine." I allowed, bringing my lips to his.
He hummed and ran his hands down my body. "I wish I could stay a bit longer."
I bite my lip. "So do I."

He kissed me passionately and sighed, "If only my family understood what I had to give up every time I went back to them." Another quick peck on my cheek. Slowly he clambered off and got dressed. I rolled onto my side and watched hungrily. "Do you mind?" He asked, rolling his eyes. I only winked back.

He left and I stayed in bed a little longer, soaking up what little warmth he had left behind. Eventually I got up, dressed and cleaned up the dishes.