Chapter Text
Katie was many things. An explorer, an emergency nurse in some cases and a therapist in others, a photographer and an artist.
Tall, slim frame which was a lot more powerful than one would be led to believe.
Her long reddish-brown hair flowed down to her lower back in waves, her wide-set, almond shaped hazel eyes giving off an innocent elegance, which made some of her statements all the more shocking.
She was also best friends with Tom, an actor who was almost too perfect to be real.
They'd met in Cambridge and just clicked from there, drifting apart briefly before she moved in to the apartment across the hall from him.
Neither of them were really there that often.
He could be off shooting a movie somewhere or in a play, while she might be traveling to somewhere new for inspiration.
Although, the times they were there at the same time, were normally spent catching up and laughing at each others anecdotes.
This was one of the rare times that they'd be together.
The rain was bucketing down as Katie took her things out of the taxi.
"Damn it Thor! Don't you think I've had enough of a bad day already?" She grumbled angrily and heard a familiar chuckle.
"Would you like some help there Katie?" Tom asked her as he put his umbrella over her.
"You have your own stuff to carry..." She began but trailed off as he gave her his best puppy-dog look.
"Ugh...damn it Hiddleston, one of these days I will grow immune to those," She told him and let him take one of her bags.
They went inside and he closed the umbrella before going towards the lifts.
"Have you suddenly developed an aversion to stairs?" She asked, quirking her eyebrow teasingly.
"Ehehehe, no, but you look exhausted, so, I thought we could take the lift," He replied smiling sheepishly.
"I can deal with that, besides it'll give us a chance to start catching up," She smiled at him.
They got to their floor and he helped her unpack.
"You're probably dying for a cup of tea, aren't you?" He asked her.
"You know me so well, just let me change really quick," She smiled at him and he nodded, letting her change.
They crossed the hall and went into his apartment, where Katie automatically fell into the habit of helping herself.
"I can do that for you Kate!" He tried protesting.
"Tom, the only time I let you do stuff for me, is when I'm sick and even then I'm complaining that you're fussing too much," She reminded him.
His protests dried up but he still made sure to help her.
"I'm convinced you put things high up, just so that I need help getting them down..." Katie muttered and he chuckled.
At 5'6, Katie wasn't exactly small, but she was still shorter than Tom, who stood at 6'2.
'A fucking giant,' She'd called him before and he had just grinned at her.
They made their tea and were currently sitting on the sofa, with the ease of old friends.
It almost felt as though no time had passed since they last did this.
"So, would you kill me if I asked you to come out for a run with me tomorrow morning?" He asked her casually.
"No, surprisingly enough, I wouldn't," She replied grinning at him.
"Great, then maybe we can get coffee after?" He pressed a little more and Katie laughed.
"Sounds like a plan," She grinned at him and he returned it.
"You know what else we could do?" He teased her.
"Movie marathon where I point out every little thing I noticed about your characters?" She asked innocently.
"Movie marathon yes, but you normally just tell me what you think of my characters anyway," He replied and she laughed.
"True, so, do you want to know what I think before we watch the movies?" She responded.
"Sure, I guess," He replied nervously.
"Okay and I will include your characters from the TV shows too," She replied.
"Uh-oh, this could be bad..." He replied, feigning fear.
"Just remember, you asked for this," She replied and adjusted her position on the couch so the she was facing him fully.
"Bill and Loki are still my babies, Bill because he is so damn innocent, it's adorable and Loki... well, he's my baby because I love him and can kind of relate to him with the whole adoption thing," She began and Tom sat up a little more to face her properly.
"Oakley, I'll be honest, makes me want to smack him and tell him to grow up and stop being such a sex focused, party animal," She continued and he tried to stifle a laugh at that.
"Prince Hal went from the boy I wanted to shake violently to the young man who I would proudly swear allegiance too and hug him, because losing a parent sucks," She said and he nodded.
"Captain James Nichols," She began and trailed off as a pain settled in her heart, which didn't go unnoticed by Tom, who moved closer and hugged her tightly.
"I love and hate that man... I love him because he was such a gent and he clearly loved Joey and I hate him because he was quite honestly the first of your characters to break my heart and made me realize how one day I could lose you..." She told him and he nodded, running his fingers through her hair.
"What about Magnus?" He asked her curiously, trying to distract her from the memories of how he had held her as she cried after seeing that scene, which caused her to have nightmares about his own mortality.
"Magnus is great but he needs to work on his violent tendencies... Still, he's an amazing police man and I would be proud to know my safety would be in his hands if I ever needed it," She replied. "And Adam?" He asked tentatively, knowing she didn't really like vampires that much.
"I love him, I feel sorry for him and honestly, I've sometimes imagined him to be that mysterious, dark, brooding stranger, who sits in the corner of the room, not speaking to anyone but making a lot of people think some rather... erm... sinful things, to use a similar phrase as Hal... he's the guy I'd be curious about and want to befriend, while also remaining cautious of him," She explained and he nodded, blushing a little at the mention of 'sinful thoughts'.
"My stars Thomas! Are you thinking sinful thoughts right now?" She asked him in mock horror.
"Ehehehehe," He laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck.
"Freddie was probably the same and I'll be honest, it was very hard to not have bedroom thoughts after watching that movie..." She decided to point out which in turn caused him to blush even more. "Honestly Darling, you're going as red as Thor's cape!" She continued to tease him, ignoring the tiny slip up with the term of endearment.
"Y-you just called me Darling," He pointed out, his eyes widening.
"Damn it! You we supposed to ignore that, but yes I did call you 'Darling', what of it?" She replied.
"Does this give me permission to start calling you Darling?" He asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Yeah, I guess it does," She admitted and he grinned.