Meet Buddha On The Road
1. Zero.
Colin grizzles in the buggy. Baby kicks in her belly. It starts spitting down. Alice sighs softly to herself, bending down as best she can to sort out his buckle, his hood, his cover. Colin struggles against her. Baby kicks. Alice lets out a sharp word and he goes startled silent, then loud wailing. The rain comes down harder. Alice tries to get her umbrella out and the shopping goes falling and the people passing give her such looks and Colin wails and it's all she can do not to scream along.
Baby kicks. A man says, "here."
Alice sees a can of peas, a flash of red hair in the rain. She fumbles for a smile and a thank you. His lips curl, almost secret amusement, and she feels simultaneously attracted and annoyed. He helps her pick up the shopping and, while she sorts out her umbrella, pulls faces at Colin who stops wailing and looks affronted instead. That makes her laugh, and he smiles, and there's much less annoyance this time, even when he presses a hand to her belly without asking. They both feel the baby kick.
"Little menace," he says, and laughs, a bids her good day, chuckling to himself as he saunters away into the storm.
Colin laughs. Alice smiles, pushing them on. Baby kicks impatiently. My baby, she thinks. My little menace.
2. Five.
Loki leans against a lamppost. London iron. He walks gold coins across his knuckles, watching the Camden market crowds part around him. It's good to have something to do with his hands. No one looks his way. They just move. He juggles the coins with an illusionists ease, and no-one looks his way. Almost.
There's a tug at his trousers. Loki frowns. He looks around. Something tugs at his trousers again, and he looks down into bright eyes under a mop of mouse-brown hair.
"Hey, mister?" the boy says. "Hey, mister!"
"What?" says Loki.
"How come they don't see you?"
"How come you can see me?" Loki counters, still juggling.
The boy frowns, thinking. "I used my eyes!"
Loki rolls his. "I'll give you a chocolate frog if you go away."
"They make chocolate out of frogs?" the boy asks, eyes huge. Loki demonstrates. The eyes get even bigger. "It's hopping!"
"That's the best bit," Loki says.
It is.
3. Ten.
Loki's browsing his way through "Big Knobs and Broomsticks", a surprisingly accurate accounting of Merlin's various trysts -- though the writer had rather annoyingly left Loki out of the chapter on Edward the Confessor, Edith of Wessex, William of Normandy, Merlin Ambrosius and those nine straight days in the bedrooms at Ludlow -- when he's tapped on the shoulder. He turns, expecting to find the Flourish and Blott's store-keeper has once again come to assert the shop is not a library, to find instead a whirlwind of books waiting patiently between the stacks. He takes a step back and it bows elegantly to him, then sucks the shelves he'd been standing in front of clean and, much larger now, spins away.
Intrigued, Loki wanders after it, and finds a somewhat familiar figure sat on the stairs next to a pile of books as tall as himself, waving a wand idly as he reads.
"Hello," says Loki.
The boy looks up and smiles brightly. "Hello!"
"New wand?" asks Loki.
"I got it today! It's my first! I go to Hogsmeade in September! I'm here to get my books! Are you a wizard? Why aren't you wearing a robe? Are you pretending to be a Muggle? Do you have a wand? Did you want books? I've got lots! I'm not allowed all of them, though! So I have to read them quick, before my Dad gets back from getting my brother new robes! You can share if you want!"
"Thank you," says Loki and sits down, the two of them squeezed together on the top step.
"I'm Dennis!" the boy says, sticking his hand out. "Dennis Creevey!"
Loki grins and shakes it. "Loki," he says.
"Like the god?" Dennis asks.
"Exactly like, yes."
"Oooh! Are you from Asgaard? What is it like? Is the bridge really made out of rainbow? How do you walk on it? Can you really fly and change your shape and stuff? Because wizards can too, and I'm going to learn, and I'm going to meet Harry Potter! He's a hero! He helped my brother when he was turned into stone by a Basilisk, only it wasn't really stone, because he only saw it through his camera! He's got his camera with him! Can I take your picture when he gets back? Could you take pictures of Asgard for me? Or you could take me to Asgard and I could take pictures, if my dad says I can and Colin lends me his camera, or he comes with us, or Dad comes with us too!"
"Maybe?" offers Loki, who had lost track somewhere in the middle. Who was Harry Potter again?
The book whirlwind spins past again, dropping some more books on Dennis's pile. It's chased by the storekeeper who stops to glare at them, panting too hard to speak but eyes accusing, probably because they're the only people in the store who have managed to hold onto their books.
They look at each other, and then they look back at the keeper, both just as innocent as can be and chorus, "I didn't do it!"
4. Fifteen.
"My brother is dead," Dennis says. He's staring at a glass of firewhiskey. They're sat in the Leaky Cauldron. Loki sips from his own glass. Dennis stares at his. "My brother is dead. The words don't mean anything. They should mean something, shouldn't they? My brother is dead!"
"Drink," Loki says, and Dennis does, head back, throat working. He coughs and slams the glass down, eyes watering, though maybe that's not the alcohol burn at all.
"You're a god," Dennis starts.
"Not that kind," Loki says and pours another drink and then, when Dennis knocks that one back, another one.
"I'm underage," Dennis says. "I'm illegal!"
"I won't tell if you won't," Loki says, and smiles.
Some slow moment later, Dennis almost smiles back.
5. Twenty.
The man leans against a wall. It's raining, but it doesn't quite reach him. He's walking a gold coin across his knuckles. It's good to have something to do with his hands. The crowds walk past without noticing.
"Hey, mister," Loki says in his ear. "How come they don't see you?"
"How come you can see me?" The man answers back, not even slightly startled, and grins, eyes bright under the mess of mouse-brown hair.
"Trying to look like a Muggle, Unspeakable Creevey?"
"It's a mystery," Dennis informs him. He snatches the gold coin out of the air, turns his closed fist over. "Chocolate frog?"
"Is it hopping?" Loki asks.
"That's the best bit," Dennis says.
Loki agrees, takes the offered candy, cheerfully bites off a wriggling leg. "Expecting me, were you?"
Dennis just smiles. "There's a whole mess of new books just in, and the Cauldron is open all hours. I'm legal now, you know." His face is perfectly innocent. "Drinks are on me."
Loki says, "Little menace."
They chuckle and leave together.
Colin grizzles in the buggy. Baby kicks in her belly. It starts spitting down. Alice sighs softly to herself, bending down as best she can to sort out his buckle, his hood, his cover. Colin struggles against her. Baby kicks. Alice lets out a sharp word and he goes startled silent, then loud wailing. The rain comes down harder. Alice tries to get her umbrella out and the shopping goes falling and the people passing give her such looks and Colin wails and it's all she can do not to scream along.
Baby kicks. A man says, "here."
Alice sees a can of peas, a flash of red hair in the rain. She fumbles for a smile and a thank you. His lips curl, almost secret amusement, and she feels simultaneously attracted and annoyed. He helps her pick up the shopping and, while she sorts out her umbrella, pulls faces at Colin who stops wailing and looks affronted instead. That makes her laugh, and he smiles, and there's much less annoyance this time, even when he presses a hand to her belly without asking. They both feel the baby kick.
"Little menace," he says, and laughs, a bids her good day, chuckling to himself as he saunters away into the storm.
Colin laughs. Alice smiles, pushing them on. Baby kicks impatiently. My baby, she thinks. My little menace.
2. Five.
Loki leans against a lamppost. London iron. He walks gold coins across his knuckles, watching the Camden market crowds part around him. It's good to have something to do with his hands. No one looks his way. They just move. He juggles the coins with an illusionists ease, and no-one looks his way. Almost.
There's a tug at his trousers. Loki frowns. He looks around. Something tugs at his trousers again, and he looks down into bright eyes under a mop of mouse-brown hair.
"Hey, mister?" the boy says. "Hey, mister!"
"What?" says Loki.
"How come they don't see you?"
"How come you can see me?" Loki counters, still juggling.
The boy frowns, thinking. "I used my eyes!"
Loki rolls his. "I'll give you a chocolate frog if you go away."
"They make chocolate out of frogs?" the boy asks, eyes huge. Loki demonstrates. The eyes get even bigger. "It's hopping!"
"That's the best bit," Loki says.
It is.
3. Ten.
Loki's browsing his way through "Big Knobs and Broomsticks", a surprisingly accurate accounting of Merlin's various trysts -- though the writer had rather annoyingly left Loki out of the chapter on Edward the Confessor, Edith of Wessex, William of Normandy, Merlin Ambrosius and those nine straight days in the bedrooms at Ludlow -- when he's tapped on the shoulder. He turns, expecting to find the Flourish and Blott's store-keeper has once again come to assert the shop is not a library, to find instead a whirlwind of books waiting patiently between the stacks. He takes a step back and it bows elegantly to him, then sucks the shelves he'd been standing in front of clean and, much larger now, spins away.
Intrigued, Loki wanders after it, and finds a somewhat familiar figure sat on the stairs next to a pile of books as tall as himself, waving a wand idly as he reads.
"Hello," says Loki.
The boy looks up and smiles brightly. "Hello!"
"New wand?" asks Loki.
"I got it today! It's my first! I go to Hogsmeade in September! I'm here to get my books! Are you a wizard? Why aren't you wearing a robe? Are you pretending to be a Muggle? Do you have a wand? Did you want books? I've got lots! I'm not allowed all of them, though! So I have to read them quick, before my Dad gets back from getting my brother new robes! You can share if you want!"
"Thank you," says Loki and sits down, the two of them squeezed together on the top step.
"I'm Dennis!" the boy says, sticking his hand out. "Dennis Creevey!"
Loki grins and shakes it. "Loki," he says.
"Like the god?" Dennis asks.
"Exactly like, yes."
"Oooh! Are you from Asgaard? What is it like? Is the bridge really made out of rainbow? How do you walk on it? Can you really fly and change your shape and stuff? Because wizards can too, and I'm going to learn, and I'm going to meet Harry Potter! He's a hero! He helped my brother when he was turned into stone by a Basilisk, only it wasn't really stone, because he only saw it through his camera! He's got his camera with him! Can I take your picture when he gets back? Could you take pictures of Asgard for me? Or you could take me to Asgard and I could take pictures, if my dad says I can and Colin lends me his camera, or he comes with us, or Dad comes with us too!"
"Maybe?" offers Loki, who had lost track somewhere in the middle. Who was Harry Potter again?
The book whirlwind spins past again, dropping some more books on Dennis's pile. It's chased by the storekeeper who stops to glare at them, panting too hard to speak but eyes accusing, probably because they're the only people in the store who have managed to hold onto their books.
They look at each other, and then they look back at the keeper, both just as innocent as can be and chorus, "I didn't do it!"
4. Fifteen.
"My brother is dead," Dennis says. He's staring at a glass of firewhiskey. They're sat in the Leaky Cauldron. Loki sips from his own glass. Dennis stares at his. "My brother is dead. The words don't mean anything. They should mean something, shouldn't they? My brother is dead!"
"Drink," Loki says, and Dennis does, head back, throat working. He coughs and slams the glass down, eyes watering, though maybe that's not the alcohol burn at all.
"You're a god," Dennis starts.
"Not that kind," Loki says and pours another drink and then, when Dennis knocks that one back, another one.
"I'm underage," Dennis says. "I'm illegal!"
"I won't tell if you won't," Loki says, and smiles.
Some slow moment later, Dennis almost smiles back.
5. Twenty.
The man leans against a wall. It's raining, but it doesn't quite reach him. He's walking a gold coin across his knuckles. It's good to have something to do with his hands. The crowds walk past without noticing.
"Hey, mister," Loki says in his ear. "How come they don't see you?"
"How come you can see me?" The man answers back, not even slightly startled, and grins, eyes bright under the mess of mouse-brown hair.
"Trying to look like a Muggle, Unspeakable Creevey?"
"It's a mystery," Dennis informs him. He snatches the gold coin out of the air, turns his closed fist over. "Chocolate frog?"
"Is it hopping?" Loki asks.
"That's the best bit," Dennis says.
Loki agrees, takes the offered candy, cheerfully bites off a wriggling leg. "Expecting me, were you?"
Dennis just smiles. "There's a whole mess of new books just in, and the Cauldron is open all hours. I'm legal now, you know." His face is perfectly innocent. "Drinks are on me."
Loki says, "Little menace."
They chuckle and leave together.