Lower Tadfield Safehouse

"Yeah, it would be a shame," he muttered. "But I can't look at him, I just can't. You know what I mean? I mean, I've known for a long time that my feelings weren't, um, reciprocated, I really did. But it's one thing to know it, and another thing to be punched in the face with it. You know what I mean?"

Michael needed a little reassurance that he wasn't the only angel to be spurned for love. It just didn't happen that often with their kind, and now that he'd been denied, he was reeling.

(Although he would never ever admit it, and if Aziraphale told anyone how vulnerable Michael was acting, he would find himself recalled to Heaven and stuck doing grunt work for eternity.)

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Sauntering over the grounds, Loki spotted two figures, one of which looked remarkably like Aziraphale from behind. The other he had seen on the easter party, but not had any chance to talk to in more detail yet.

He approached them quietly from behind, not sneaking but not exactly stampeding either.

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Aziraphale reached over and gently squeezed Michael's thigh. "I do know, dear." Well, he had vague close brushes with the idea, personally speaking. "I've seen it happen to humans all the time. They survive the ordeal, just as I'm sure you will. It hurts, yes, but the humans have an adage: What doesn't kill us makes us stronger."

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Truth be told, Michael was no longer listening to Aziraphale. Instead he was paying very close attention to whoever was approaching from behind. Not a demon, but that didn't mean they weren't antagonistic.

Well. If this whoever it was thought to get the drop on him, it was sorely mistaken.

And, for being nice, he would make sure the Nerd didn't get offed too.

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"Hi," Loki said casually when he had almost reached them. "Can I play, too? I've been through a couple of ordeals myself, you know."

His tone was light, not matching the look of concern he had put onto his face.

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Aziraphale looked over his shoulder and beamed at the approaching Norse god. "Oh, hello again! Loki, this is Michael," and he patted Michael's thigh again, "and Michael, this is Loki."

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This guy could be the world's greatest listener, but that didn't mean Michael was going to talk about anything close to being that personal with someone he didn't know. So, it was time to change the subject.

"Hi. What are you?"

Edited Date: Friday, 28 May 2010 20:12 (UTC)

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Aziraphale tried but could not resist the urge to facepalm.

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Loki crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned lightly on the bench's backrest between the two of them from behind. He could look at them comfortably that way, while Aziraphale and Michael had to twist their necks of turn half around to look him in the face.

"Hello, Michael," he said. "I am a jötunn. You, apparently, are half bird."

Leaning towards Auiraphale, he added with a smile clear in his voice: "It's a legitimate question in these parts, don't you agree?"

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Michael blinked at him. "Bless you."

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Loki laughed, a deep, honest laugh. It wasn't like this was the first time he'd gotten that particular reaction in this time.

"Not one for languages, are you?" he asked when he had calmed down again. "The word is Old Norse. I've seen it translated as Giant but..." he trailed off. It was obvious that he was tall, but no one in their right mind would call him a giant.

"Nature spirit will do," Loki said. "I see no reason to offend your god by using his title." That, of course, was a statement that was very much limited in time and space. Here, in the hotel, with any number of his minions and lesser gods aroundit bode well to be careful around the ones was not more familiar with.

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Michael wrote off the laugh as symptomatic of the crazy. "Okay, nature spirit it is, because there's no way you're a giant. Spirit of what part of nature, anyway?" In Michael's case, he was fire, but it seemed awkward to say that, because I'm the Prince of Fire!

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"Fire," Loki said evenly. "I'm fire. There's another one here by my name who doesn't seem to be, though."

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Michael grinned. "Me too! We've all got elements - Gabriel's water, Uriel's earth, Raphael's air, and I'm fire. That's so cool. And that's weird, people going around stealing your name. Although from what I've heard 'Michael' is a fairly common human name."

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"I know Gabriel, but I haven't heard of or met the others," Loki said. "And I wouldn't mind so much if he was just taking my name. But alas, he claims to be me!"

He paused in thought for a moment. "So, what was it you were talking about?"

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"Uriel was here," Michael pointed out, "although I missed him too. And really, he thinks he's you? That's really sketchy. Want me to," he put up his fingers into quotes, "'have a talk' with this guy?"

Yes, Michael, pretend the question was never asked. That always works.

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Loki shook his head. "I had a" - he repeated Michael's gesture - ""talk with the guy before. I've also not ran into him for a couple of days now, so maybe he left. Besides, apparently we're getting thrown out of here if we're having too physical a talk. Though I admit ours got rather physical, too. It wasn't about names, though."

He glanced at Aziraphale to check his reaction. He thought that one might know his other "self", too.

"What about you? Want me to talk to the one who ... did whatever caused you two to sit here moaning about ordeals?"

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Aziraphale had frowned at the mention of the American Loki, but pushed it aside and cleared his throat while Michael turned an odd shade of pink. "We were simply gossiping," he said. "You know how it is. A group of ecclectic individuals come to one place and you can't help but comment on some of them."

There was a way to easily change the subject and assure it stayed changed; make Michael angry.

"Like that Duncan fellow," he said. "Am I to understand he claims to be several centuries old?"

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"A several-centuries-old jackass," Michael muttered.

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"I've no idea," Loki said. "I haven't talked to him much yet. Could find out, I guess. What'd he do to be called a jackass? Does he hee-haw?"

He leaned conspiratorially towards Michael and lowered his voice so that even Aziraphale would have trouble understanding his words: "And that is one adorable shade of pink."

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Michael had been about to respond with a list of reasons why Duncan needed to take some Midol and eat some chocolate*, but blinked when it registered what Loki had said to him.

"Are you hitting on me?" he asked. "Because while I'm flattered, I think, I barely know you, so it's kinda awkward and waaaay too soon. But thanks anyway."

---
* Mmm, chocolate...

Edited Date: Tuesday, 8 June 2010 18:41 (UTC)

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Loki threw back his head and laughed. "Sorry, man," he said. "I'm currently wearing the wrong kind of gender for that kind of thing. And the last time I turned into a woman for any amount of time it was an old one, and the time before it was a mare. I'm not in the habit of running around looking prettier than my wife."

He calmed down and leaned comfortably between the two again.

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Michael grinned. "Geez, I feel so unworldly. I've never been a woman before. Maybe I should try it sometime. Although Gabriel might smite me out of jealousy if I ever turn up prettier than him."

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"Try it where he won't see," Loki suggested with a grin. "And really - have you told me what you are yet - apart from feather-bed material, I mean?"

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