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theuninspirednovelist · 5 years

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Barista! Thor and Artist! Loki - Give away gift

@thorkilaufeyson wanted a fluffy piece and even though it is late, omg!! i LOVED writing it.

There was something to be said about the clear afternoon skies in the city. It was his favorite time to be here, honestly, where afternoon was just bidding farewell and the evening was being welcomed by skies of gold and navy blue.

They met together, somehow, never clashing, always complimenting even though the colors were starkly different. It was mesmerizing and he loved to sit there with his quick paint kit and try getting at least a little of the skies captured in his paintings.

Loki had always been drawn to water colors. There was something so delicate and precise about them that he was taken by them in the first art class he took. One had to know exactly how the stroke would go, each twist of the wrist or flick of a finger was measured and calculated. Even holding the brush in his hand was an art – it was graceful and the results were often directly linked to his mood.

He remembered the first time he came here to this café. He had been upset, uninspired and frustrated because he hadn’t been able to paint in over a week. He ordered his drink and sat down, huffing in frustration as he glared at the table top with a wrath that the poor thing didn’t deserve.

With his crossed arms and a pout upon his lips, Loki had raised his eyes to the window, to the landscape before him just to have something other than his failure before him. And he found it.

He would never forget the sky that day.

It was the kind if sky that made him hear orchestras playing in the background, in his opinion. A gathering of skies grey and large, resting above the bluest sky he had ever seen. Rays of gold shot out from behind it like a vivid dream turned reality.

Loki took his phone out and swiped for the camera, taking a picture so he could have it with him for as long as he wanted.

“Beautiful, right?”

He blinked, offended by the intrusion, and turned to the person who had spoken from behind him.

And suddenly, the sky wasn’t the bluest thing he’d seen today anymore.

Loki found himself looking into the eyes of an Adonis.

The color was so fantastic that Loki imagined ballads written about those eyes. Loki had thought that eyes that reminded him of glaciers would have been cold, yet this pair, the one focused on him was so brilliant and warm that it stunned him. It knocked him out of his own mind, he couldn’t speak.

He just stood there, looking at those eyes, a skyscape in itself, watching them crinkle at the sides when the man smiled at him.

“Sorry” he chuckled, leaning over “You forgot your change”

Loki stared dumbly again, noticing only then that this man – this Adonis – had an apron wrapped around a massive body and the café’s uniform hat on his head.

“Uh…” Loki began, forgetting his words.

“You’re welcome” the man chuckled and tipped his hat to him “Have a good day”

Dumfounded, Loki once more, only stared as he went off and left him there with his phone and his coffee and his change, staring after him.

He realized then that the hair he’d had up in a bun, was actually just as gold as the sun in his picture.

***

Loki quickly became a regular.

He visited every afternoon. Since he was an artist and a semi successful one at that, he found it easy to manipulate his hours so that the time between the evening and the afternoon was free for him.

And if he’d managed to find out the shift timings for the hot blonde god who had come over to him, well, that was just a bonus Loki would live with. He liked seeing his face, a skyscape, bright and beautiful, stunning in a way even skies couldn’t manage.

He always took Loki’s order and always made it a point to smile at him or wink at him, something that made his greeting a little different, little unique.

And Loki found it heart warming.

He found it inspiring so much so that he came one day with this small portable paint kit he’d ordered offline on impulse. He’d never used it before but he found he liked it now. It made it easier to be with his barista, too.

The kit itself was nothing too fancy but the way he – Thor, Loki loved that name – looked at it, made Loki love it more than he did before. The second Loki whipped it out of his small bag, Thor was over, his blue eyes wide with interest.

“What is that?” he asked, abandoning his post

“Art kit” Loki boasted about it as though it was always his favorite thing in the world “It helps me paint wherever I am, you want to watch?”

“Uh…” Thor looked behind him at the counter, then back at him, clearly torn “Give me a second”

Loki smiled a little as he went off and began to work on the little sketchbook he had with himself. He hummed a little to a song that was playing lightly in the café as he worked, managing to copy the skies from the window in water colors before Thor came over, smiling.

“Sorry” he said, putting a pastry in front of Loki “that took longer than I expected.”

“I didn’t notice” Loki shrugged

“Yeah cos you’re someone who gets noticed, not the other way around” Thor dug into the pastry

Loki looked at him a second and the lightest dusting of a blush rested on his cheek.

“How unoriginal”

“Really?” Thor asked “You want me to talk about your eyes?”

“I want you to swallow before speaking” Loki told him

At that, Thor blushed and Loki felt a minor victory at that. He went back to his painting, noting how slowly, Thor dragged his chair closer and closer until he was sitting right next to him. He kept working, however, never faltering in his creation until Thor placed a hand on the back of his chair.

Loki ruined a stroke and let out a soft gasp, pulling back and looking at Thor

“Damn it, Thor!”

Thor frowned “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you”

He pulled back immediately and looked at the painting, at the stroke that shouldn’t be there, the frown on Loki’s face.

“I – It doesn’t look bad” Thor winced “I’m sorry, I really am”

Loki exhaled and looked at the painting, hesitant to paint on it again.

“Oh, come on, please finish it?” Thor said “I’ll give you anything you want from the shop, on the house”

That perked Loki up and he chuckled

“Fine, but if it sucks when it’s done don’t blame me”

“I won’t” Thor smiled, looking at his eyes

He could see the painting reflected in Loki’s beautiful green eyes and he loved it. He loved this painting. His green gave it an ethereal quality. It was why he wanted the tiny painting, he was willing to bribe Loki to get it.

And one cupcake and half an hour later, Thor owned one of Loki’s masterpiece paintings.

***

Loki loved the window because of non Thor related reasons, too. For example, every day, just before the sun set, the skies and the streets melded together in a story, in a painting and he captured it immediately, with either his phone of his sketches.

Thor had thought that Loki only painted with his kit to spend time here, but one day, while Thor was working, Loki brought a large canvas, completed to the smallest detail, of the view from their café window.

It stunned Thor and made him gape as Loki came to show him, beaming at it in obvious pride.

He’d painted everything.

The curves of the roads till they couldn’t be seen, the buildings, the patterns of leaves and shade on the building, the strokes of paint on the very walls, the graffiti’s, the people, the cars, down to their license plates.

And he’d painted the sky with promises of blue shining through gold tinted clouds. The blush of pink at the very top made it magical and Thor noticed how it cast a realistic amber glow to everything the sunlight touched.

He loved it immediately.

He bought it instantly.

And the owner listened to him to have it displayed in Loki’s corner seat.

“I can’t believe you did this” Loki whispered the next day, sitting with Thor again “I’m touched”

Thor looked at him and winked.

He liked that smile on Loki’s lips.

***

After he had a taste of that smile, Thor felt like he needed to have it every day.

He knew eventually he would get in trouble, but he bought Loki a coffee every single day. He told him it was on the house and because it brought Loki there every afternoon, Thor didn’t mind.

He went over now, Loki’s order memorized, and set it next to him.

Loki raised his brow at him and smirked “You know you really need to stop flirting with me”

“I am not flirting” Thor smiled “I am just being extra nice to someone who is extra special”

Loki rolled his eyes but he felt the tinge of pink light his cheeks.

“That was stupid”

“But also effective” he said “you blush like one of those petals you paint, you know?”

“Stop” Loki chided, touching his cheeks “You’re breaking my concentration”

“Well, at least I’m breaking something” he winked at him “enjoy your coffee, its…”

“On the house, I know” Loki cut in, smiling “now go before you get fired”

“Alright, see you”

He waved at him and went back to his post. He kept giving Loki glances and studied him as he painted. Loki was fully relaxed at this moment, his shoulders were down, his eyes were lowered, his head tilted just a little.

He would tell Loki it was good he was an artist because he was a work of art himself.

He was sure Loki would slap him for it.

It made him smile and kept his day a little brighter.

And Loki, for his part, stole secret looks, too. The way Thor brushed his hair back, the way he smiled at every customer.

His smile was as bright as the skies in the painting behind Loki, hanging there, his work of art, in his coffee shop.

It warmed him, truly.

So when the next coffee arrived, Loki was ready but Thor only winked and turned to head away, because his manager was watching.

Loki waved his fingers at Thor as he went back, then returned to the painting he was making.

The sky was beautiful again.

***

Thor brought his coffee over a day later when something fell out of his pocket on his way back.

“Hoy, Thor!”

Loki reached over to pick it up just as Thor turned and the man winced

“Yikes, sorry”

Loki held the familiar paper, tough and slightly crumpled, opening it to see the painting he’d made, the one he’d ruined, still there, with the brush stroke on it.

“You kept it?”

“I keep it every day” Thor came over to pluck it from his fingers “I love it”

Loki smiled at him “You’re an idiot”

“Possibly” Thor put it back into his pocket “but you like it”

Loki snorted “I do not”

“You like it a little” Thor told him

“And you’re going to lose your job if you don’t get back to work”

“Deflection” Thor nodded “good strategy. Means I’m close”

“Close to?” Loki crossed his arms and cocked his hip

“Taking you out”

Loki rolled his eyes “In your dreams”

“Oh, my dreams are far worse” Thor chuckled as he stepped back “see you later, Lokes”

Loki grimaced at the name but said nothing as he went back to his art.

He worked there silently for a while again, but again he kept looking at Thor.

He knew the man stared, and Loki didn’t mind. He found he liked doing it too.

He already looked forward to meeting him tomorrow, deciding on saying yes immediately.

However when the sun began to set the next day, Loki came to see someone else in Thor’s usual spot and immediately the entire café felt darker. It felt wrong, all of it felt wrong.

He looked around, trying to catch sight of him but Thor wasn’t there and Loki bit his lip as he hesitantly went to take his usual seat, finding a jolt in his heart when a couple was already sitting there.

It was so strange, this unpleasant feeling inside him. He’d been so used to everything that this small, miniscule thing in his uneventful day upset him.

He had his paints with him and went to sit in a booth instead.

It somehow felt colder, foreign, more so when someone came to take his order rather than give him what he always wanted.

“Where’s Thor?” he asked instead of ordering from the person who came over

“Oh” she smiled “He’s out sick today but I could give you his number or something if you’d like?”

Loki felt his lips curve into a smile “Yes, I would like that. And tell me what his favorite coffee and dessert is…”

***

Thor groaned when the insistent knocking at his door didn’t stop.

He was in no mood for this! He was sick, he was gooey and disgusting and no human should ever be exposed to him this way. Humanity should never have know the shame of him being this ugly.

He was wearing one sock, his sleep shorts, a worn shirt and a blanket he’d pulled out of bed. His small one bedroom apartment was a mess, but he was past the point of caring. He wanted a bed and a TV and that was it.

His flu was unwanted but he couldn’t do anything about that.

Thor growled as the knocking continued and tried to brush back his messed up ruined hair.

“Alright, God damn it!” he said loudly as he unlatched his door “I swear to God if you’re delivering someone else’s pizza, I will…”

He froze when he opened it and saw Loki standing there, perfect, pristine, holding two cups of coffee and a bag that looked like it was from a pharmacy.

Thor slammed the door shut.

Loki smiled and pulled his lips inwards when he heard scrambling inside and thudding, a cuss, more thudding, hissing, coughing, and then…

Thor opened the door again.

He arched a brow when he saw the bad attempt at pulling his hair back – he’d made it worse – and the worse attempt at cleaning the apartment in the four seconds he had.

The blanket he had around himself was thrown behind the couch in a ball Loki could already see it but Thor leaned against the door, his face blotchy and his voice scratchy.

“Hey” he smiled “What – How did you find me?”

“Well” Loki walked into the apartment “I asked for your number and address and thought I would drop by. I heard you were sick”

“Stalker” Thor closed the door and turned to him, pointing to the bag “those are…?”

“Oh,” Loki set the coffee aside and opened the bag “lozenges, flu syrup, cough medicine, pain killers and…”

He pulled out a water color painting he’d done.

“Today’s skies”

Thor grinned and walked over to take the painting, laughing at it

“I love it”

“You’ll love it more when you feel better” Loki went to retrieve Thor’s blanket “Sit, I will care for you”

Nothing warmed Thor more than the care Loki showed, the lack of judgement about his messy apartment.

He put Thor on the couch and sat beside him, giving him his coffee, letting him be warm. Thor sat with his back against Loki’s side as they watched TV and hummed.

“So, is this out date?” Thor asked

Loki smirked “Well, you would have to ask me first”

He looked at him and Thor smiled

“Loki, would you like to go out sometime?”

“Sure” Loki beamed “as long as it’s not coffee”

“But as long as you bring your paints with” Thor reached over to touch his cup to Loki’s “I’m fine with it”

“Me too”

Loki took a sip and let Thor out his arm around his waist as they sat there, warm, comfortable and having their coffee, with Loki’s painting next to them

#thor #loki #thorki #fluff #sinny writes #my works #ficlet

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movie-rant-inc · 7 years

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RANKING THE FRANCHISES

The TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES movies

6. TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES III (1993)

No fun, uninspired and worst of all - boring, this time travel entry killed the original film franchise for good reason. Far too much time is spent with the underwritten human characters, and the turtles’ charm is missing completely. Add in a cloying subplot about Raphael getting in touch with his softer side through a frienship with a little girl that feels straight out of “Sesame Street” and you find yourself at the nadir of turtle-movie-mania.

5. TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (2014)

This reboot sucked, but it was miraculously a big enough hit to produce a superior sequel, so at least that can be said for it. The CGI turtles are disgusting, the action is frenetic and fake, Megan Fox is a terrible April (whom everyone on screen - human and otherwise - seems to obsessively want to fuck), Will Arnett is annoying, Shredder is an afterthought, and above all - it feels like a complete middle finger to the beloved cartoon. It gets to be a step above Part 3 for a few small moments of authentic joy (I’m lookin at YOU, elevator scene).

4. TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES II: THE SECRET OF THE OOZE (1991)

Nostalgia may have been kind to this one, but reality isn’t. This is a sanitized, unfunny remake of the 1990 original aimed at toddlers. Parent complaints left the turtles weaponless, and the film is toothless as a result. Tokka and Rahzar are embarrassing stand ins for Bebop and Rocksteady clearly created purely to sell toys and annoy the shit out of audiences, but it’s not all bad news. The storyline about the turtles trying to understand their origins is nice, Ernie Reyes Jr. adds a bit of martial arts authenticity, and love it or hate it - Vanilla Ice’s “Ninja Rap” is pure early 90s cheese in the best way.

3. TNMT (2007)

The first attempted reboot was this all-CGI take on the franchise, and frankly - though the animation is dated by today’s standards and the voical talent is uninspired (sorry Sarah Michelle Gellar, but honestly NO ONE remembers you were April in this), the “look” of the film is terrific and imaginative, and the action feels often like a comic book come to life. Many argue that this film is the closest feature films came to truly capturing the spirit of the property, and it is not hard to see why. It has fallen by the wayside in pop culture due to the lack of sequels and the multiple simultaneous TV incarnations of the property, but it’s worth another visit.

2. TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS (2016)

For my money, this is the most purely “fun” entry in the franchise, and the one that finally understood the fine line between nostalgia and reboot, having seemed to pay attention to the lessons learned from response to the previous film. The CGI turtles look better and more streamlined than they did in 2014, they downplayed Megan Fox and Will Arnett, and they threw everything possible at the screen (Krang! Bebop! Rocksteady! Baxter Stockman! The Technodrome! Casey Jones! The turtle van that shoots manhole covers!). Though not everything works, it hits more often than it misses, and truly feels like an attempt to appeal to fans new and old alike. Sadly, it underperformed at the box office, so we are very unlikely to see a Part 3, and that’s a shame because I feel like they were finally on to something.

1. TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (1990)

Dark, violent and a bit more mean spirited than expected, this franchise starter still holds up as the best film in the turtles legacy. The characters are well-defined and true to their origins, the Jim Henson creature shop costumes are excellent, Shredder is menacing (and he gets flat out KILLED in the end), and that killer theme song is hummable for days. It works as both late 80s/early 90s nostalgia and as a fun kiddie actioneer that feels like the cartoon series by way of MEAN STREETS. Now, understanding that this is the Ninja Turtles we are talking about, there is a very definite ceiling for film quality (the concept of ninja-trained, pizza-loving surfer dude turtles who live in the sewer with a talking rat, will, by nature, never inspire a transcendent film of THE DARK KNIGHT-style realism and critical accolades), but for what the series is and what it sets out to be, the original is easily the way to go.

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