Another Loki arrives

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

Date: April 1, 2003, early evening
Status: Public
Setting: Just outside Tadfield Manor
Summary: Loki (II) arrives (complete)


The world had changed while he had been out of the game. The time he had spent in chains had felt like an eternity to Loki, and when he re-emerged into the world, he was no longer sure if that was really just his perception of it.

Asgard seemed a bad place for him to turn up right then, alone and without anyone to go to battle with him. He considered different options and finally settled on Midgard. That was the place where he would start to gather both intelligence and support. To renew old acquaintances and to make new ones. To take revenge on the ones that had wronged him and his children…

A bitter taste rose to his mouth when he thought of it. Midgard it would be, and then on, on to gather an army that would outdo prophecy. As far as he was concerned, prophecy could hardly be written in stone. If he went about it smartly, maybe he could turn the tide in his favour. Maybe Ragnarök wouldn't even mean his death them. He had deserved some good luck after these last decades or millennia or whatever it had been. He had not counted, and no one had ever been very specific about dates where the doom of the gods was concerned.

So Midgard it would be for the beginning, a place with inhabitants that were easily influenced and convinced of a cause…

For a little while, he seriously wondered whether someone had gone ahead and started Ragnarök without him. Nothing was as he remembered it. The last time he had visited Midgard before his imprisonment, people had ridden horses, brandished swords and warhammers and yelled "Thor" and "Odin" when they rode into battle. Warriors had been revered, not locked away apart from the others. He could not help but grin at the thought of how it must gall both Thor and his sons to see that.

Thinking of them, where were they anyway? Travelling the world, he realized that there was certainly no shortage of priests and prophets, but most of them were affiliated with some deity or other that he had never even heard about. It probably didn't matter – it just put him before a completely different problem. People were always better supporters when they believed in the cause they supported. These people seemed to have forgotten that there was such a thing as Ragnarök, let alone that it might happen within their lifetime.

Then, after some weeks of aimless wandering, in the middle of one of those incredibly big towns his path crossed that of something – or someone – he had no longer expected to find: A warrior in full battle-gear was walking down the street, ambling towards some goal without any obvious haste. No one seemed to take special notice of him, either. Intrigued, Loki followed the stranger. Where there was one, there might be more. Not wanting to draw too much attention, he took the first opportune moment to change into a shape that was less easily visible.

When he found the clothes of the warrior to be clean and utterly free of any mortal fleas, suspicion started to dawn on him. He stayed with his warrior until they entered some place where he could see larger numbers of people in proper cloths instead of the silly things he had seen almost exclusively during his recent travels. Then he left the man and found a quiet corner to change.

An hour later, he had relieved some unsuspecting person of her money-purse, acquired a mead-horn someplace and savoured the first mead since he had regained his freedom. Mead, at least, had not changed as much as people had. His suspicion was quickly confirmed. While these people made him feel a little more at home, they were only pretending. Any remaining plans of going ahead quickly with ending the world evaporated. He needed to find his place in this changed world first, it seemed, and establish himself again as a power.  

He went back to letting himself drift, going wherever chance brought him, learning what he could, never staying in one place for long.

Right now, his path hat brought him to what they now called England, and, more precisely, to a small town that looked to him as if it could have been just about anywhere in this world. He was feeling more "right" today than he had for a long time, and he was not quite sure whether it was the time or the place that caused it. Since it was getting late, he contemplated his options. He could find a place to spend the night or move on to the next town, which would be nothing different from this one, and then the next... Nights outside were still pretty cool at this time of the year, and he had had some rather unpleasant experiences while wearing different shapes these last few weeks. Well, if this town had a hotel or hostel or something, maybe he could spend not only the night but even a few days like any other person, listening, talking and maybe finding a kindred spirit. He almost laughed at the thought, but decided to act on it anyway.

The hotel, as he found out, was somewhat over-sized for the town. Good for him. If they had that many visitors, there would be lots of people with nothing better to do than to talk and be talked to. He stood at the gates for a minute or two, watching the building and the grounds silently. Then he shouldered the holdall that kept whatever all that he had considered worth keeping with him instead of acquiring anew each time he needed it, quickly checked how much the wallet held that he was currently carrying, opened the gates and walked towards the entrance of the building.

Comments

[leucemic-god.livejournal.com]

Something about the new arrival felt ... strange. He was clearly a god and he felt Norse even though Loki was sure he'd never seen him before. What was even worse was that he couldn't identify him by the feeling either. It felt familiar, so very familiar, and yet it matched no god Loki knew.

Loki flew down from his perch in a tree and shifted back to his human shape just in time for the landing. This time, he noticed with satisfaction, he'd managed almost as elegantly as he used to do before his illness.

"Hi there!" he greeted the familiar stranger. "Can I help you?"

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

The sudden appearance of the shape changer that reverted to human form almost in mid-air starled Loki slightly, though he covered it up quickly. Looking the other man up and down, he decided that something about him was familiar... He quickly went over the natural shapeshifters he knew, as well as over those that used objects to change their appearance. After all, just because he hadn't seen the other one quickly tuck away a cloak of feathers, that didn't mean that there hadn't been one. He had not expected to see a bird turn man after all, and still be looking at the house.
he curled his lips in something that was barely more smile than grin, and answered: "Maybe. I'd been thinking of staying the night. I've heard this is a hotel." Though, he added silently, it looked rather different from all of those hotels that he had seen or frequented since he his escape. None of them had had strangely-familiar flying porters either...

[leucemic-god.livejournal.com]

Loki smiled back widely. He didn't quite trust this odd feeling of not-recognission. Playing friendly was the best strategy, if you didn't know where you stood with somebody.

"Yep, and they even have a special offer for our kind. As long as we don't damage the town, people or fellow guests with our powers we get free rooms. Just tell Sister Mary at reception that you're here as Adam's guest."

In the back of his mind he kept running through the list of Norse gods and half-gods, but none of them fit. Could this be some Vanir's more recent bastard? He felt much too old for that.

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

"Why would I want to damage them?" Loki asked. "Wait, I'll take that back - who ARE these fellow guests?" After all there were a few people he would have liked to damage very much at the moment. A little more careful, he added: "And define 'our kind', please?"

[leucemic-god.livejournal.com]

Loki shrugged.

"Well, there is this hero who accidentally shot me and one of the other guests likes to eat people." He didn't want to give the Sphinx away to a stranger. She was a sort of friend and a cool beast. "Mostly we've got gods here, but also some personifications, heroes and monsters. And cats. Do you like cats?"

Should he introduce himself? If the other didn't reciprocate, it would put him at a serious disadvantage, especially with someone Norse.

[safehouse-guest.livejournal.com]

Ms Hodges giggled and blushed; that roguish smile was doing strange things to her stomach. "Well, sir, if you haven't toured the Manor yet, I'm sure I could remedy that..."

There was a god... well, two gods... no, one god in two forms... oh tush, there was a very handsome man flirting with her, and she patted her hair rather self-consciously before entering 'Loki of Iceland' into the computer. Adam's explanation was suddenly the last thing on her mind.

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

"Wonderful", Loki said, putting the key away quickly. "We only got as far as my room."

He turned to his other self. "You don't mind, do you?" he asked, not quite sure about it. He wasn't quite certain how he himself would have reacted, had their roles been reversed,and of course he also didn't know what women the other Loki had claimed for himself yet.

[leucemic-god.livejournal.com]

"Of course not," Loki replied with a smile. There'd be enough opportunities to talk with himself later. "I do have some practising to get on with after all. Better do that while it's still light outside and maybe I'll see you in the bar tonight?"

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

"Sure", Loki told him with a wide smile. "That is - Do they have mead? I've found it terribly difficult to get a decent drink in this new world!"

[safehouse-guest.livejournal.com]

"I hope you don't mind my breaking in," Ms Hodges smiled, "But we have an excellent barman. I don't know where he gets half those vintages, but I'm sure he'll have mead."

[safehouse-guest.livejournal.com]

"So no celebration, then?" she asked, a little disappointed, as she led the way to the ballroom.

The doors weren't quite that impressive, but they were certainly more so than most of the decor. Ms Hodges had had high hopes for the ballroom; it had been a bit of a let-down that so few of the companies had used it.

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

Loki followed her downstairs.

"Previously, no," he said. "That doesn't mean we can't change that, though. Although I really fear that this is on too short notice for any but the most private of celebrations."

[safehouse-guest.livejournal.com]

"Oh, that sounds lovely too," Mary smiled. "I can speak to the chef. Is there anything special you want, to eat? I'm sure the bartender can provide anything special you want to drink."

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

"I prefer mead," Loki said. "No preferences food-wise, though. Anything is fine. Good company, however, is a prerequisite." He smiled, even though she could hardly see that, with him walking behind her.

[safehouse-guest.livejournal.com]

"Perhaps roast chicken, or beef," Mary murmured to herself.

She giggled at the last bit, blushing again. "Well, I'll make sure to invite the town council, then."

[safehouse-guest.livejournal.com]

"Yes, but you used neither flint and steel nor matches nor a lighter. You just looked at the candle and it lit - I'd say that's a miracle." She thought back to her other guests. "Well, there's angels, running around in robes and wings and glowing. One of them's my librarian, and even though he does his work by hand, it still seems to be faster than I expected, somehow. And I was sitting by the window and reading one day when I saw a woman turn into a bird and fly. Adam did warn me we'd get all sorts anyway, doing odd things."

She tilted her head, trying to remember. "No, not that I can recall. Why?"

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

"Just wondering," Loki said. He wondered if mentioning shapeshifting powers was a smart idea at the moment.

"I called fire to the candle, and that's easy because the candle is made to burn. It would be more difficult if I tried to light something that does not usually burn." Now that could be taken any way she wished to take it.

He indicated the menu. "What do you recommend?"

[safehouse-guest.livejournal.com]

"Oh. Could you - could you make anything burn?" Did he mean what she thought he meant?

She glanced down at the menu. "Oh. Well, the pasta is good, and so is the Caesar salad and Yorkshire pudding."

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

"I think I'll go with the salad," Loki said. It seemed the safest choice.

"I could theoretically call fire to anything, but the fire would not necessarilly devour everything," he explaned. "So it is really a matter of how you define the word "burn"."

[safehouse-guest.livejournal.com]

Mary beckoned to the waiter. "Two salads, thank you."


"I don't really know how to define it, there are so many meanings! How do you define it?"

[safehouse-guest.livejournal.com]

"Which dessert would you care for, sir?" the waiter asked, setting the dessert menus down in front of them.

"Well, maybe they're just scared of fire?" Mary asked. "Unsettling how?"

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

"I'll stick with the tea, thank you," Loki told the waiter. Then he turned back to Mary.

"I don't know", he said. "I'm not the one who's unsettled. That other me I met earlier didn't seem very unsettling either."

[safehouse-guest.livejournal.com]

"Two teas, then," Mary told the waiter, who nodded and retreated.

"The... other Loki? Will this sort of thing happen often, do you think?" She tried to imagine having multiple versions of her guests around.

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

"The two of us having tea?" Loki asked pleasantly. "I think that depends on how I will find the tea, once I've tasted it. And on how long it will take for you to tire of my company," he added with a boyish grin.

[safehouse-guest.livejournal.com]

She blushed at his words and smile, deciding not to correct him. "Not anytime soon, I think, sir."

The waiter reappeared with their tea, setting the two cups before them along with milk and sugar. Mary gestured towards the sugar. "How sweet do you want it? The tea, I mean."