Domestic Bliss

Summary: The God of Mischief learns how to use the coffee maker.

Rating: T

Songs: "Once" by Brad Caleb Cane

Of all the contraptions in his Jane's tiny dwelling, the computing device and coffee maker both stood out as her most used appliances. While he understood the importance of the first, Jane's dependency on the latter surprised him. Whenever he would find her in the middle of the night hunched over her desk and typing almost fanatically at the keyboard, cups of the strong smelling liquid would typically be strewn around the table.

Now as he found himself standing in front of said contraption, confusion mixed with curiosity prodded at him. What was it about this small appliance that made his little scientist happy? Reaching slowly for the top of the black appliance, Loki gently turned it to the left; his eyebrows raising up at the sight of the cup measurement scale. So, the device operated with measurements, he mused; satisfaction at the first accomplishment greeting him as he turned the device to the right. Like before, his dark eyebrows rose up in surprise as he located the on/off switch situated at the bottom of the device.

"What are you doing?"

The sudden presence of his Jane pulled the God of Mischief from his inspection; the feeling of being caught doing something he shouldn't flooding the pit of his stomach. "Ah," he started, stepping away from the counter while looking at Jane with a sheepish expression. "Well, I wanted to understand the coffee maker."

Having woken up in an empty bed, Jane had slid off the mattress in search of her husband. Typically she would find him still sharing the bed with her as he insisted on being there when she woke up, his absence propelled her to walk slowly to the small kitchen. When she reached her destination, the sight of Loki hunched over the tiled counter top brought on an instantaneous smile as he seemed to be in his 'curious scientist' mode. Last time she caught him inspecting, he was sitting on the floor in front of the TV stand; his long fingers prodding at the on/off switch of the DVD player. As much as she knew he understood a great deal of Asgard and other realms, her planet's appliances threw him off. It was, in all honesty, one of the most adorable parts of being married to him; the moments when he found a new appliance and wanted to understand each aspect.

Making her way over to the tall raven haired God of Mischief, she could not resist wrapping her arms around his waist and raising herself up onto her tiptoes to kiss at his lips softly. "I hope you realize how cute you are."

Feeling the beginnings of a light brush caress his face, Loki snorted faintly as he slid his arms around Jane. He appreciated the fact that she seemed to humor him whenever his curiosity got the best of him; a trait that he knew she also possessed.

"So! Do you want me to show you how to use the coffee maker, then?," Jane exclaimed; her soft brown eyes wandering over to the topic of his inspection.

Emitting a groan of acknowledgement, Loki turned his head in the direction that Jane's gaze moved to. "Yes, my dear. I will say that I have located both the on/off switch as well as how you perform the measurements," he added; pride for himself revealing itself in his tone.

"Perfo- ah, right. Well, all I do is this..," she drew herself from the loose embrace and walked around Loki; her bare feet padding lightly along the cold kitchen floor. Reaching the counter, she turned the coffee maker to the right to allow Loki better access before continuing to speak in an informative tone. "I turn it on since I set it up before I went to bed last night."

"Oh? Why would you allow it to sit overnight?" As usual, curiosity filled him as he made his way behind Jane; his arms wrapping around her waist as he looked over in wonderment.

Smiling at the added comfort and momentarily losing focus, Jane cleared her throat as she forced herself on the task in front of her. "It's just more convenient to set it up. When I was still going to school at Culver, I always made sure to set things up before I slept. Made things easier when I'd wake up late for classes."

Tsking softly at the idea of his Jane sleeping in, Loki reached with his left hand to tap at the lid of the coffee maker. "What's this for?"

"That's where you put the coffee in."

"But, I thought coffee was a liquid. Why would you put a liquid in there?"

"Oh, no, no. You put ground up coffee beans in there. Here, I'll show you." She knew he was going to have a list of questions so she reached for the lid of the coffee maker and flicked it open. "See? There's ground up coffee in there."

Leaning over his small wife, the familiar smell of coffee greeted him. "So, you put the coffee grounds in there and..-

"Hey, how about I go through the process and you can ask me all the questions after. Deal?," Jane said; the idea of showing him far more appealing than this sporadic method. His grunt of acknowledgement filled her ears; the sound giving her the chance to close the lid and press the on/off switch. All at once, the coffee maker began to brew. "See?," she said after a minute while as she pointed a finger at the dripping coffee. "Water is being added to the ground up coffee on top and is now being dripped into the pot beneath."

Curiosity filled eyes watched the entire process with avid interest; the sight of the dripping coffee greeting him. "So, what about it makes you drink as much as you do?"

".. I'll tell you later."

End!