Chapter Text
Loki swished the bourbon in his glass and glanced around the lounge as the lights began to dim. He’d heard of this little cabaret on one of his last trips and when he’d finally found the time to slip away and see it for himself, he was pleasantly surprised to find that they were putting on a performance this evening.
It seemed they had a regular act three times a week, and he just happened to come through before one such act. He could barely keep the grin from his face when he read the headliner's name on the board outside. The Magnificent Melina’s Mystical Medley .
Rubbish. He rolled his eyes and took a swig of his drink as the lights came up on the stage. The ornate curtains peeled back, and at center stage, ringed by a warm spotlight were two large feathered fans obscuring the lone figure that stood there. The music began in a slow rendition of Call Me Irresponsible and the feathers ruffled organically as they slowly parted and unfolded when the sultry vocals began.
“Call me irresponsible, yes I’m unreliable. Throw in undependable too… ” The feathers unfolded enough to reveal the woman behind them, her red hair pinned and curled in a 1940’s inspired style, her pale skin shimmering like diamonds in the light. She wore a draped, navy gown that split up the center and parted around her legs as she stepped forward and spread her arms in a slow elegant gesture. “Do my foolish alibis bore you? Well I'm not too clever, I just adore you… ”
She strut forward on the stage and the feathers folded down and back to trail behind her, laying smoothly over her gown. She swept an arm across the crowd and up towards the ceiling as the candles on the dinning tables lit up with dull blue flames that flickered and swayed in time with her movements.
“Yes I’m unreliable, but it’s undeniably true… ” Her gaze slowly panned across the room and her long lashes flickered seductively as she made just enough eye contact to hold attention without actually focusing on any one patron. “I’m irresponsibly mad… For you. ”
As he watched her move, Loki scoffed and smiled at the parlor tricks she employed to woo the crowd. First the lights, then the gown and the illusory magic to make herself shimmer and glow in the light like no mortal ever could. The flicker of flames and the subtle aphrodisiac that flooded the room were nice touches he’d admit, but beyond a basic interest they didn’t impress him much. He finished off his glass and ordered another as the next song began.
“Out of the tree of life, I just picked me a plum… ” Her shoulders rocked back and her hips swayed as she stepped across the stage and pantomimed the opening lyrics. When her hips swayed the feathers fluttered and ruffled as if they were elegant tail feathers flapping with each movement, her long legs teasingly peaked through the slit in the dress as she moved. “You came along and everything started to hum. Still it’s a real good bet the best is yet to come… ”
“Come the day you're mine…” As the music grew louder and her movements grew bolder the temperature of the room rose a few degrees and the lights shifted to a subtle reddish hue. She turned in a slow swaying motion until her feathered backside and deep plunging backline faced the crowd. “I'm gonna teach you to fly…” She glanced over her shoulder as she sang and swayed her hips. “We've only tasted the wine.” The feathers rose up from her gown to fan out around her backside in a peacocking display that only drew more attention to the bare skin of her back and the seductive sway of her body. “We're gonna drain the cup dry…”
“Wait 'til your charms are right for these arms to surround. You think you've flown before, but baby, you ain't left the ground.” She tilted her head back and the feathers fanned out and flapped like wings strapped to her hips. The warm scent of spiced honey and juniper danced in the air in her wake as she turned to strut across the stage and perform some more crowd work for the front row of tables.
Loki took a sip from his fresh drink and enjoyed the way the bourbon paired with the sweet scent she’d created. The warmth and euphoric illusions she was subtly spilling into the room may have been minor tricks, but they were pleasant just the same. He hadn’t witnessed such a well rounded display of illusory magic since he’d been back home and something about it soothed him.
“Out of the tree of life…” As the music slowed to a stop she pantomimed the picking of a fruit, producing an actual plum with the flick of her wrist and a thin shimmer of black smoke. “I picked a plum…” She folded her body elegantly until she was settling into a roost of fine feathers and partially obscuring her full lips with the fruit, her heavy lidded eyes fluttering and settling somewhere far off above the audience.
The lights dimmed and the crowd was given a moment to applaud before the next song began with melodic violin. When the lights came back up she stood at center stage, gown transformed to a corseted bodice with the fabric layered back and away from her long legs in a burlesque style. The feathered fans had been transfigured to act both as a bustle for the skirt to create a more striking silhouette, and as a peacock-like back piece that stretched and fanned out much broader than before to frame her freshly exposed figure.
“They call you Lady Luck. But there is room for doubt… At times, you've had a very unlady-like way of running out.” She sashayed forward in long, slow strides, showing off the well toned shape of her calves and thighs. Loki followed the line of her leg up into the feathers and for the first time in the evening found that he wished they weren’t there. “You're on this date with me…The Pickens have been lush, and yet before this evening is over, you might give me the brush.”
“You might forget your manners, you might forget to stay, and so the best that I can do…” The music soared and Loki didn’t miss the smirk on her lips as she posed in time with the boom of the brass. “Is pray.”
He was too enamored with the performance to touch his drink as she moved and the lights overhead popped and flashed in time with the music like fireworks, cascading illusory embers and dazzling sparks around her that made her hair shine and her skin shimmer with an ethereal glow.
He was almost too taken with her to realize the subtle shift of the pouch in his breast pocket and the tendrils of magic that caressed his chest. When he reached up to check his pocket he realized the pouch was still there, but it was empty now. In stunned disbelief he glanced around the room for the first time since the show had begun, realizing everyone in the room was too focused on the woman on stage to realize the weave of magic that crept silently amongst them. It was a black, formless tendril that slipped through the shadows and wove its way under seats and tables, only rising up to touch pockets and brush past jewelry and watches, spiriting them away with the slightest of grazes.
“Luck, let a gentleman see, just how nice, how nice a dame you can be.” When he looked back up to see her she was smirking a mischievous little smirk and throwing seductive glances around the room to keep all eyes focused on her. “I know the way you've treated other guys you've been with…” She spun on her heels and kicked one leg out to the side dramatically with her hands on her hips. “Luck be a lady, with me! ”
Loki couldn’t restrain his laugh as he watched her empty the pockets of nearly half the room all while charming them with a smile and a show they wouldn’t soon forget. The sound must have caught her attention because she glanced at him and turned her charm his way, bedroom eyes and all. She blew him a kiss between lines and with it he caught the undeniable trace of magic meant to glamor and beguile; and although it didn’t affect him, he grinned back at her, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat to watch the show.