Title: Magic for Beginners
Fandom: Marvel
Pairing: Loki/Darcy
Categories: AU, Magician, Las Vegas, Romance
Length: Long (17,274)
Warnings: Mention of past secondary character deaths

Thanks to chibifukurou and sheepnamedpig for permission to rec in their claimed fandom!

Author on LJ: NA
Author Website: Vera,  Dragonmuse on tumblr

Author's summary: There's a run down theater and a run down magician with three ravens. He has one impossible trick. His new assistant has a lot of questions, but no answers of her own.

Review:
Loki is a solitary Las Vegas magician with a secret and an angsty, twist-on-canon past with his family. Darcy pushes her way into the role of his assistant, and ends up becoming more.

There's an understated beauty to Loki and Darcy's relationship, and in fact to the writing throughout. Vera creates slightly melancholy tone that's brightened by Loki's wry sense of humor and Darcy's frequent quips. It's also made warmer by the deepening connection between two people who have no one else to turn to anymore. The dialogue is terrific throughout; the progression of the relationship works well, and the gothic nature of a rundown theatre, the ravens of myth, and the old-school magic tricks give this a unique feel.

At the heart of it, two lonely people find one another, and their futures look brighter than their pasts.

“What about your big trick?” She asked.

“What about it?”

“Why have you only done it four times?”

“Why do you only wear low cut tops when you want a discount at the bookstore?”

“Hey!”

“I’m drawing a parallel, not leveling a criticism.”

“So what,” she plunged her fork into the last strains of noodles, “you’re big disappearing thing is like my spectacular rack?”

“Yes. It’s my ace in the hole. If I use it too frequently, it will become....mundane. No longer exciting.”

“I last flashed in New Orleans to get Mardi Gras beads. When was the last time you performed?”

“Six years ago, for the reopening of the theater.”

“It was closed?”

“Obviously.” He plucked up a piece of bread, drawing the crust away from the white fluff within. “But that’s a part of the larger story.”

Magic for Beginners