A discovery

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

Date: April 3, 2003, afternoon
Status: Public - complete
Setting: The Manor
Summary: Loki discovers some left-overs from the past. Anyone come play?


Loki returned to his room with a contented smile on his face. He had spend some hours rummaging through things from the manor's past, hoping to find something that would prove interesting and maybe even useful.

What he had found was certainly interesting, while its usability, as well as its usefulness, were still in some doubt. What he did not doubt in the least, however, was that he would find out about both soon enough.

He dragged his low table to the corner from where he could keep an eye on the door. Not knowing quite where his so-called friends and family were would keep him somewhat on edge for a long time, he feared. Or at least until he had enough allies of his own to sleep comfortably again. Not that he slept at all at the moment.

Carefully, he put down the four paintball markers he had been carrying on the table and unslung the bag from his shoulder. Then he laid out the paint cartridges he had collected in it, sorted by color. So now he had some firearms, though admittedly not the type he'd been thinking of when he mentioned them to his other self.

He reached into the box with red paint pellets. Yes, that was definitely his color. He took one out, holding it carefully between him fingers in order not to crush it. The ammunition had gone unused for years, it seemed, and the paint inside seemed to have dried up. Maybe applying a little heat would help.

The first attempt went somewhat awry. The heat flowing from his fingers caused the paintball to swell until it no longer fit into the weapon. It brust when he tried, splashing his hand with red paint.

He wiped it on the inside of the light jacket he wore open without as much as a t-shirt beneath, and tried again. A little less heat this time, and more slowly. He stopped when the outside of the ball started to show the first sign of reaction. This one was much better. Of course he would have to try it out to see if it was truly functional again.

Loading the marker, he went to his open window, sighted on one of the trees on the manor grounds, and pulled the trigger. With a satisfied grin at the result, he went back to his table to put the remaining ammunition into a functional state again, before he collected everything and went downstairs.

In the lobby, he put down three of the markers in conspicuous places, together with the paintfall boxes with yellow, blue and green ammunition. Then he retreated to the doorway to watch if anyone would come in and pick one up. The loaded red marker firmly in his hands and ready for action, he leaned against the wall and waited.

Comments

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

"The one and only," Loki drawled, stepping away from the wall, gun still held comfortably rather than at the ready. "Or well.. Maybe not the only one after all."

He stood poised, feet lightly apart for a secure stance, and started fiddling with his gun as if he was only waiting for the person in front of him to decide on playing or leaving the blue marker for someone else who would be more susceptible to a bit of fun.

He usually didn't mind cheating, but while he was reasonably sure that shooting paint at consenting players did not fall under the "harm none of the other inhabitants" rule, he wasn't quite sure if shooting at a being not ready to defend himself did. It was too early to find out the hard way.

[cattygabriel]

"I beg your pardon?!"

Gabriel blinked. Had this man just introduced himself as Loki?

He remembered what Daniel had said - ...if belief defines gods then different beliefs in the same god I assume define different versions of that god - and his interaction with the American Loki, and reached out with his senses. This god felt... different. Northern, perhaps Scandinavian, even the original Loki himself.

"I assume you're another incarnation of Loki?" he asked evenly. "Might I know which country you're from?"

Gabriel noted this Loki's posture, and his own fingers curled around the paint gun he'd found. He'd never fired a gun before and didn't plan to do so now, but Loki didn't need to know that.

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

"Iceland, we figured," Loki said. "I spent the last few millenia a prisoner, so any incarnation of myself you may have met must have been someone else. Althought I must say - I do hope there aren't more of us around."

Loki toyed with the gun. He tought that maybe the other one didn't look as if he knew how to handle it, but since his trial shot in his room had been the first time he had handled a gun, he had no way of being quite sure.

"Do you have a name, Stranger?" He asked the man with the blue marker. "Or do I just continue to call you 'you'?"

[cattygabriel]

If he'd spent the last few millennia a prisoner; then this wasn't the Loki involved in Morpheus's death. Although, admittedly, he could be lying, but Gabriel preferred to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"So you've met your American counterpart, then?" He smiled politely, holding out a hand. "I'm Gabriel."

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

"He met me outside when I wasn't sure it was a good idea to come in here," Loki admitted. "It was quite interesting, looking myself in the eye without a mirror in between. Though admittedly, I don't think we'd even be able to pass as twins."

He shifted his marker to his left hand. He made his handshake quick and firm, betraying neither weakness nor appearing as if he wanted to intimidate the other, or so he hoped. "What pantheon are you from, then?"

[cattygabriel]

"That is true," Gabriel nodded. This was so strange, meeting another Loki. He didn't know if it would be easier or weirder if they'd looked alike.

"Panth - oh, yes. Abrahamic, I suppose. Islam, Judaism and Christianity. Generally I'm simply considered Judaeo-Christian, though." His first instinct had been to point out that strictly speaking, it couldn't be considered a pantheon with only one supreme God, but he'd already been through this with Loki - well, the other Loki, or was he simply this Loki in another form? - and had decided that going along with the gods' way of referring to themselves was easier.

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

"So - what's your... sphere of responsibility there?", Loki asked, hoping that the answer wouldn't be I'm the God of something that makes me completely useless as a potential ally in one form or another.

While he waited for an answer, he checked his marker again. If the other decided to use his, he needed to be able to retaliate quickly. Ah well, strictly speaking, need was the wrong word. Wanted, was more like it.

[cattygabriel]

"Well, I'm the Divine Messenger, and the Archangel of Revelations and of the Annunciation," Gabriel responded, shifting slightly - he'd never given much importance to titles, but they did help others understand his functions. "I'm also the Angel of Birth and Mercy, and the second in command of the Heavenly Host - that's our army." There were more titles, but he decided that these were enough for now.

He noted Loki's checking of the paint gun, and his grip on his own gun shifted in response. Gabriel hadn't used a gun before, but as the other Loki had said, learning how to do so was probably a good idea. Besides, from what he could see, these guns used paint for ammunition, so they were probably either used for recreation or training, and wouldn't constitute flouting Adam's rules.

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

Loki shook his head slightly. He had understood maybe half of what the other one had said. As far as he was concerned, revelations fell into the responsibility of seers and priests, and the only things the gods he knew ever announced was their own present. However... "You're the god of birth?" he blurted out before Gabriel had finished his introduction. "Most people have goddesses for that, as far as I know!"

Only then did he realize what else the Divine Messenger, Archangel of Revelations and a Whole Lot of Other Stuff had just mentioned. "Your army? That's cool. Do they keep you very busy?" He tried hard not to appear too eager, but he was not competely sure if he succeeded.

[cattygabriel]

Gabriel sighed. Not this again. It was annoying enough flipping through books of religious art and finding himself portrayed as female in most of them. Yes, technically he was sexless, but he had grown used to the male form.

"Technically I am called an angel, and we are sexless. I may appear male right now but I could just as easily choose to appear female," he explained. "Besides, I'm not actually expected to help out at births. I'm supposed to protect them. It's one of my minor functions, anyway." He couldn't repress a small shudder; medicine had come a long way, but back in the early days of Man there had been no painkillers, and childbirth had been rather scary to witness.

"Quite. In addition to training and conveying various messages to humans and others, I handle quite a bit of paperwork as well. I haven't had a break in a while, so I'm on one now. And yourself? What brings you here?"

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

Loki grinned, smoothly shifting his form into a female one and back again. "Like this, you mean?" he asked. "So, have you ever tried it yourself, Angel?"

He quickly thought through various options of how to continue, then settled on one. If that was also the God of Mercy, he might realise that there were some things you just didn't do. Such as pouring venom into the face of your chained fellow god. Unless of course, he meant the kind of mercy that took a dagger to your throat and left you very dead if you hadn't had an apple just before. His mouth twitched as he remembered a few times where he would have gladly accepted that kind of mercy.

"Technically, I'm in hiding," he said. "Before that, I had a kind of a break, too - Chained to a rock, with venom dripping into my face. Terrible stuff, I assure you. Very ... uncomfortable. Very painful. Childbirth is nothing, compared to that." He hoped he had interpreted the angel's shudder correctly. And speaking of childbirth... "They also killed my sons to forge the chains that held me. Even if I'd made some mistakes, they had no part in it! What kind of creature is it that slays innocents to get their revenge?" This time, the sadness and bitterness in his eyes and voice weren't faked. Neither was the fact that his knuckles turned white as his hands cleched on the marker.

He forced his hands to relax a little before they damaged the gun and went on, making no effort to banish his emotions from his voice, even though the words were not quite the ones he might have used talking to his other self. "I'm not going back there. So I hope no one will come for me and try to take me back in the first place. Right now, I don't know what I'd do if they tried, though. I know I don't necessarily look it, but - millennia of torture have a way of weakening even a god - or a jötun." It was true, technically speaking. It was also true that his lady wife Sigyn had slipped him an Apple before he'd made his exit. He saw no need to mention that right now, though. Besides, while he felt pretty good, physically speaking, he had not had the chance to try and see if he was truly back to his full strength.

[cattygabriel]

"Quite like that, though we'd wear more clothing," Gabriel smiled. "I've been female before, but never for long."

He reached out tentatively, touching Loki's shoulder. "I know. I've read about you. Few books bother giving your point of view, though. I'm truly sorry."

The raw emotion in Loki's voice had shaken him, though outwardly he remained calm. "In that case, you've come to the right place. The clash of two or more angry gods would definitely endanger Tadfield, and Adam won't let that happen. You could rest here and recover your strength. It's neutral ground, in a way."

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

"Actually, our women do, too," Loki admitted. "I've heard this Adam mentioned several times now. Who - or what - exactly is he?"

"I also admit that I haven't read the books. They were obviously written while I had no access to such things. But who knows..." the grin reappeared, "maybe I'll write one myself one of these days. Then people could choose who they believe."

[cattygabriel]

How to explain the Antichrist to a pagan god who'd been rather... out of the loop for the past thousand years?

"Adam Young is the Antichrist. The Son of Satan, though not literally, I think. Satan, or Lucifer, is... utter evil. Our great Adversary." It wasn't always so, though. "Adam was supposed to bring about the end of the world, the Apocalypse, some years ago, but decided he liked humanity and the world in general too much to let it end. That rather nullifies his role, I think, so I'm really not sure how to define him. I do know that he loves this town very much, so if you want to stay here, don't harm the town or its inhabitants in any way."

He grinned at the thought. "I'd like to read that. Well, I'm also the librarian here, so come to the library one day and I can show you the books on Norse legends."

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

"I take it you're a young pantheon, if you haven't managed to make peace among yourselves, then. Back home, it worked out pretty well... Hold some discussions, exchange a few hostages, and then no more warring amongst ourselves! As for utter evil - I don't believe in that concept. The same goes for utter good. I mean, isn't it always what two sides of a conflict say about themselves and the other? No, I personally side with neutrality."

Besides, he was the one who was supposed to bring the end of the world about, not some Adam Young. "But I guess it's good that he left the world in peace. It's such a nice world. With many nice, new things that were invented while I was taking my involuntary vacation. Speaking of which..." He hefted his marker. "Do you know how to use these?"

[cattygabriel]

Gabriel bit his lip, running a hand through his hair. "We were peaceful once. Peaceful, and calm, and full of love. But Lucifer... he had his reasons for rebelling, but it changed things forever. A third of the Host Fell with him, and we - Heaven and Hell - have been bitter enemies since. Most angels and demons would kill each other on sight. I prefer not to, but not all of them share my views. Perhaps there is still some good left in Lucifer, but he does glory in evil. You have an interesting perspective, however."

He laughed at that. "I know what you mean. I was in Heaven for about a century and when I returned here... well, I'd followed major developments like wars and leaps in medicine, of course, but everyday life itself has changed drastically in a short time." He looked down at his own gun for a moment. "No, I don't. I have nothing against learning, though. These only fire paint, right?"

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

The angel didn't appear too peaceful and full of love to be a worthy ally, Loki thought. It was also easy to be peaceful and calm and full of love when no one was objecting to anything. It was the way those whp did object were treated that in said most about any given ruler, be it one who ruled a pantheon or otherwise. Having been at the receiving end of that treatment, Loki considered that meeting this Lucifer might be interesting.

For the moment, though... "Yes," he said. "That's what they do." You were probably also supposed to wear some kind of padding to take the sting out of any hits, but where would the fun be in that? In one swift motion, he raised his marker, aimed in the direction of the angel as well as he could at that speed and fired, then ducked out of the way of the retaliation that was sure to come.

[cattygabriel]

"Oof!" Paint it may be, but it stung, especially because of the close quarters, and he staggered back slightly. He should have been able to duck that, but he hadn't expected it to be so sudden. Well, if that was what Loki wanted...

Loki, unsurprisingly, had ducked, and the first wild shot landed in the wall. My apologies, Ms Hodges. He turned swiftly, managed to aim properly fairly fast, and fired.

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

When the second shot came, Loki realized that he had made a mistake when he had chosen the place to stage his paintball-competition. Large the lobby might be, but it was far too small for this particular game.

He had tried to drop out of the way when the angle had turned, but he hadn't been quite fast enough to evade the paint. Blue stained his jacket, and he resisted the urge to rub his arm. Instead, he brought up his marker and gave off another shot in the general direction of the angle, more in a hope of keeping him too busy evading the paint to shoot than to actually hit. Maybe that would give him just the time he needed to get to the door and outside, and draw the game where they had actually some cover and didn't have to deal with breaking furniture...

[cattygabriel]

Gabriel quickly dodged the paint-pellet heading his way, and a splotch of blue paint stained one of the sofas in the lobby. He winced, waving a hand to miracle away the red and blue stains on the wall and sofa, before swiftly ducking behind the sofa.

"Outside?" he called. Loki thrived on chaos, but surely he didn't plan to vandalise the lobby thus.

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

Now that was one handy move, Loki thought as he watched the angel remove the paint on the wall without any visible effort.

"Definitely outside!" Loki replied and lunged for the door. The one outside first would definitely have a certain advantage. The other one had to come through that door as well, after all.

[cattygabriel]

Gabriel laughed, running towards the door as well. He aimed at Loki's leg and shot, not really trying to hit him but hoping it would delay him slightly; just enough that Gabriel himself would have time to make it outside first.

He certainly hadn't expected something similar to a training session, but the adrenaline rush was exhilarating.

[misterbkeele.livejournal.com]

For the second time that day, a tall grey-clad figure wandered his way up the manor drive. His walk about the village had done Barnaby a world of good: the lines about his eyes were less pronounced.

He looked around and blinked. An oak tree on the grounds was splattered in, no, not blood, red paint. Shouts and thuds and running footsteps could be heard as he approached the front of the building, but edged with laughter rather than otherwise.

"What in the world?"

[norseloki.livejournal.com]

Trying to change your direction in mid-leap was not always a good idea. While he tried to stay in the angel's path and not be hit by the paint at the same time, he tripped on something and stumbled.

He grabbed for the first part of the angel he could get a hold of, as much to keep himself upright as to hold him back.

[cattygabriel]

Gabriel gasped as the god's hand closed around his knee; he cut a rather undignified figure as he threw out flailing arms, trying desperately to keep his balance.

Wings burst out from his back instinctively, flapping hard to keep him airborne; unfortunately, they were a sudden pull against Loki's grip, and his other foot slipped against the edge of the carpeting.

The angel and the god landed rather hard on the floor in a tangle of limbs and feathers. Gabriel pulled away enough that his wings were not touching Loki, then tried to apologise, but all that came out was laughter.