lt_safe_house | (no subject)

Date: March 14, 2003
Place: Manor Grounds
Status: Public (Loki, Phanuel - Complete)
Summary: Loki practises, but is distracted

Well, if there wasn't any chance to get at the books, he might as well continue practising his shifting. It wasn't like he really needed the books or cared about arrogant fucking Judeo-Chritians.

Loki stomped outside and concentrated on getting smaller and ... Damned archangel. Who did he think he was.

It wasn't working. He couldn't think of Gabriel and concentrate on the change at the same time. Once upon a time it would have been no problem.

Okay: smaller, thin, elegant legs, a small snout and don't forget the tail

He landed on his paws halfway elegantly this time and only slightly panting, but being tired out here in the open was a bad idea. Why hadn't he thought of this before? The fox made for the bushes as quickly as his weakened condition allowed.

There, this was much better. Here under cover of leaves and branches the world smelled interesting and felt safe. Maybe he should stay a fox for a while, find a burrow somewhere and wait until the Judeo-Christians left and the manor once again felt safe to his human shape.

The fox shape had its downsides, though. Loki knew that fox hunting was a popular sport in this country and he couldn't go anywhere too close to people, much less communicate with them. He'd be left out of the information loop. That was never a good idea and with hostile archangels around he couldn't afford it. Who knew, they might like foxes even less than gods.

No, he had to keep an eye on him and for that he had to be human and able to talk to people.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was quite comfortable being carried, though the jostling whenever the hero needed a hand free was a little annoying. Loki protested being put down with a soft whine, but stayed on the towel obediently. He was a helpless injured animal after all.

The disinfectant from the bathroom worried him a little. Was the hero sure this was meant to be put on wounds and not just for cleaning the bathroom?

Of course he could handle a little stinging, but he wanted more pettings, so he put his snout on the hero's knee and whined.

Phanuel patted the fox's head. "It's just to make sure it doesn't get infected," he said. "It'd be worse if it did, though I wonder…" He shook his head, and poured a little of the antiseptic onto the cotton bud, then reached for the left paw for a better angle at which he could dab it on.

Loki understood that just fine, but hey, he could clean his own wound later, if the hero didn't do it. He couldn't pet himself.

He held out his paw obediently and did his best to look cute.

Well, Phanuel had caused it, so he felt bound to do something, more or less. He dabbed the antiseptic onto the wound, and tried to keep as much of himself out of biting range as he could. Cute as the fox might be, it was still a fox.

The antiseptic stung, but Loki had dealt with worse. He squirmed and whimpered for sympathy, though.

While it was very nice to be cared for, things weren't quite going according to plan, though. The hero still hadn't revealed anything other than his first aid skills and general animal-friendliness. Perhaps it would be best to just reveal himself and talk to him after all?

Phanuel scratched the fox behind one ear, reaching for the bandages again. He held them, considering. An ordinary fox would probably have them off in no time, and this one…

"I don't believe you're an ordinary fox, are you?" he asked. "I don't suppose you'd care to share your name?"

Loki leaned into the scratching again and almost purred.

The hero had a point, though. A bandage made for a fox would probably not hold up well in the shift back to human.

With a sigh of regret he ducked out from under the hero's hand. It would not be a good idea to suddenly grow to human size right under it. Then he concentrated and after a moment what looked like a human man was sitting on the towel.

"Is that better then?"

That wasn't what Phanuel had been expecting, and it showed for a few moments before he forced it down to mild surprise. "It is," he agreed. "Say, would you like me to wrap that now, or…?"

Loki looked down at his arm studying the wound intently. He moved his wrist a bit and found that it hurt, though not all that much.

"I suppose that would be best," he decided. "I'm not that skilled at self-bandaging."

He looked back up at the hero. "What do you think you're doing running about shooting innocent passers-by anyway? Not enough monsters to kill?" The words were challenging, but the tone light. He wanted to get to know the stranger not antagonise him.

"All right. If you could hold it out for a moment, then." He began to unroll the bandage.

"I'm afraid I was unaware that I had company when I began my practice," he said, tone mostly matter of fact. "Nor have I had much practice with the bow of late. There hasn't been much call for it. It was not my intention to cause harm, I assure you."

"You might want to consider checking next time," Loki suggested holding his arm out as instructed. "There are a lot deadlier things than me around here and I can do a lot worse things than turn into a fox."

Okay maybe he was exaggerating a bit. Then again War and the Sphinx probably were much deadlier than he was, Belial had powers Loki could only dream of and the other two Judeo-Christians probably weren't any less dangerous, but seemed a lot less friendly.

Of course the hero felt Judeo-Christian, too, so maybe they wouldn't harm him.

"Ah," Phanuel said, pausing for a moment, but shook it off, wrapping the bandage around for a moment. "Hold on for a moment." He found a pair of scissors and cut the bandage, securing the loose end. "I imagine so," he agreed. "But, if you'll pardon me, why so worried about something like this?" His attitude was curious, rather than accusatory. He didn't need or particularly to antagonise anyone.

Loki waited patiently until the end had been tied securely. You learned not to fidget and cause the bandage to slip off after a few times of having to get patched up by Odin instead of Frigga.

"Hey, just giving you some good advice here," Loki said. "You probably don't want to be killed and if you kill something, you lose the free room. Unless you're not that bothered about it?"

Maybe the hero was so rich he wouldn't notice the difference.