Payment for a case

"It was all just a misunderstanding."

Jennifer called upon all her years of professionalism to keep from burying her head in her hands.

"You streaked through the conference center," Jennifer said. "Twice. We've gotten so many emails from delegations that saw your butt. Okay yes, most were compliments, not the point."

Sometimes the cases she was assigned to could be weird. On one side of the desk, Jennifer herself, hulked out as her job required. On the other, Valkyrie, King of Asgard, without a shred of shame on her face. (And outside the office entirely, Jen's paralegal Nikki staring with far too much excitement at Asgard's newest ruler being in their office, and pretending she didn't notice Jen's silent cues to get away).

"They said to make myself at home," Valkyrie said. "Easy mistake."

"Do you normally run naked past dozens of strangers at your home?" Jennifer said.

"Well duh," Valkyrie said. "Don't you?"

Jennifer blinked. Then sighed, making a note.

"I am, like, ninety percent sure this falls under diplomatic immunity," Jennifer said. "Really no precedent for public indecency like this, shockingly, but no reason it shouldn't work. Should have this cleared up for you by the end of the week."

"Cool! Bruce said you were good," Valkyrie said.

"Ask my paralegal for how to send payment," Jennifer said. "If that's all - and please don't have another case of drunk and disorderly behavior."

"If you think last week is disorderly, you've never been to a proper party," Valkyrie said.

Still, Valkyrie stood up. She paused for a moment, patting herself down, then at last pulled out a golden ingot. Jennifer stared.

"Um..." Jennifer said.

"Will that cover it? I don't get your exchange rates," Valkyrie said. "Too many bits of paper."

"Unusual. But, er, probably," Jennifer said.

"Right," Valkyrie said. She waved vaguely. "Have a tip."

"...Wait are you drunk already?" Jennifer said.

"Only a little," Valkyrie said defensively, reaching into her pocket again.

"It's 10am!"

"I had a late start, don't judge me," Valkyrie said. "Ah-ha!"

She pulled a small, engraved stone circle out of her pocket, then squinted at it for a second. It was roughly palm-sized, and grey, with circular runic patterns etched into the coarse rock, clearly very neatly carved.

She slapped it down onto Jen's desk.

"Asgardian summoning stone," Valkyrie said. "Think of it as a bonus."

"A what now?" Jennifer said.

"Ale," Valkyrie enunciated.

The stone sparkled. A glass appeared out of nowhere above it, slowly getting filled with drink; Valkyrie grinned, and chugged it down while Jennifer despaired.

"Summons anything of yours no matter where you are," Valkyrie said. "Saves a lot of hassle. Plus, killer coaster. Just give me your hand..."

Okay. Magical artifact. Sure, her job could be weird enough. Reeling too much to consider that it might be a bad idea, she let Valkyrie drag her hand forwards, and had her green fingers pressed to the side of the rock.

"There you go, attuned to you," Valkyrie said. "Gotta be worth some of my fee."

"Er. Sure," Jennifer said.

Valkyrie nodded proudly, and slightly unsteadily made her way to the office door. Jennifer stared after her.

Okay. Sometimes her job could be weird. As one of her more chaotic clients departed, Jennifer tidied the files on her desk, and fired off a few routine emails. It shouldn't be too hard to sort out.

Then she looked at the summoning stone, bemused. Okay, technically a lawyer accepting a gift from a client was ethically dicey, but Kings handing out magic rocks tended to not be all that covered by the law. Still, she resigned herself to standing up, and heading out the door.

"Nikki," Jennifer said.

"She's awesome," Nikki gushed. "Did you see her? Actual Asgardian King in our office! She said hi to me!"

"Okay, if you're done fangirling over our latest cameo, can you look after this for me?" Jennifer said. "Not sure what the to-do list is for magical artifacts."

"Will do," Nikki said. She took the offered disk of stone, slotting it away on her desk. "Need anything for your next meeting?"

"Still got five minutes, right?" Jennifer said. She shook her head. "Ought to be fine."

She had a busy day ahead of her. Still, it was meetings with Valkyrie that tended to be the most unpredictable; it ought to be smooth sailing from here. Her boss, Holden, and then Pug and Mallory were due to talk with an upcoming case soon.

Jennifer returned to her office. Her well-fitted suit did still tend to hug her She-Hulk accentuated body rather tightly, most tailors not remotely prepared to deal with her more unique scale. Nikki watched her leave, eyes lingering more than she'd admit. Jennifer sat back down on the far side of her desk, and Nikki cleared her throat, quickly looking away.

"Subtle."

Nikki glanced up; Mallory Book, another lawyer at the firm, was standing by her desk. Nikki schooled her expression.

"I always heard gamma radiation was dangerous," Nikki said. "Apparently it just makes you look good in pants."

Mallory rolled her eyes. As she went towards Jen's office, Nikki stood up to walk away to start sorting through files - both missed the stone sparkle at a certain word Nikki said. A pair of black, smart pants appeared, folding up atop the stone, unseen by both.

And in her office, Jennifer Walters' eyes suddenly went wide. Mallory entered for the meeting, just as she felt the soft cushion of her chair suddenly make contact with her bare thigh. She looked down, to find her bottom half clad in nothing but snug, black panties.

Wait, what-

"Ah, you're already here, good!" Holden said, Jen's boss striding into the office. He traded nods of acknowledgement with Mallory, and Jen suddenly felt very happy that her hulk-form didn't blush all that obviously.

Hatsily, she adjusted her chair, shuffling it forwards to better hide her now-bare legs under the desk, wondering what the heck had happened to her pants.

Well. This meeting was going to be awkward.