eachdraidh | ( video: open, both courts. )

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( video: open, both courts. )

[ appearances are important, he knows — everything, almost — and fairies and their ilk aren't known for any dedication to being either honest or straight forward.

so: he's been here long enough to have worked out how the locket works, and to have decided on how he wishes to appear. "as himself" — in a manner of speaking — is easy and simple enough, and this is not the place for tantrums and demands. that had all occurred earlier, when he'd realised where he wasn't and that he could not leave. that he'd lost — again, momentarily — what was, finally and rightfully his. he's not willing to commit to an assumption one way or the other as to the presence of thor or any of the so-called "avengers", so—

there's a drawn-out silence, whilst loki's gaze runs pointedly over the locket, eyes narrowing briefly; he looks very much as if he's considering something and, at length, he lets out an audible, almost defeated sigh. it's punctuated by a brief raising of his shoulders in a lazy, almost arrogant shrug of sorts. ]

The Realm Between Realms. [ the corners of his lips twitch upwards in a brief facsimile of a smile. the utterance itself is dry, but with the barest hint of mocking, although who or what that's directed at isn't made clear. ] I admit, it's not quite where I expected to find myself, but given the alternative, I can't really complain. Perhaps one small act of redemption can do much more than one imagines, although— [ a momentary pause, hesitation gracing his features before giving way to another brief twitch of a smile (faintly amused). ] —it's no Valhalla. [ deliberate caution. after all, for all that anyone knew, after all, loki had died; only odin and thor now live.

silence again, and a fleeting glance away from the locket. ] There have been a few words, but Fair Folk tend not to be known for their dedication to honesty, and one has to be careful with what they say and how and to who, do they not? So if any truth [ wry, fleeting smirk. ] can be spared: it would be appreciated.

[ impressions can and often do tell more about a place than simple facts, and above even that, they speak more of the person holding them than anything else, and it's that that has loki's interest for the moment. ]

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Asgard. [ pointedly, he leaves it just at that, his expression as equally deliberately neutral, and his tone level and lacking in any overt emotion. he's curious, then, as to what hiccup's first, instinctual response to mention of the realm is, rather than to loki's mannerisms. ]

[ Narrowing his eyes, he purses his lips and gives a slight shake of his head. ]

The gods wouldn't get trapped like everybody else.

[ Right? That's what Stoick has always impressed upon him, that Thor is Mighty. Asgard is glorious. Was Hiccup's dad wrong? That can't be.

This one isn't Thor though, that much is obvious if he really is from where he says.

On the other hand, Hiccup really just doesn't want to be trapped in one of those twisted sagas the gods are rife in. ]

[ omg fuck you hiccup.

a cant of his head and a setting of his jaw. it's a sore point, the fact that he's here and he can't leave when he ought to be able to. thanos, the other, even earth ought to have humbled him, but it's evident — in this brief moment — that none of it has. he'd made a point, once, of mocking the fact that they — asgardians — weren't immortal in the truest sense of the word; that they could and would and did die the same as humans. that they were subject to folly and mistakes. and yet loki had always — continued to — imagine himself as above it all, as a god in a somewhat different sense (he embraced it, where thor didn't, where odin hadn't until frigga had been killed and he'd sought vengeance on malekith.) and so the doubt, the quick and easy pointing out of what shouldn't be is quick to infuriate loki and it shows for a moment. ]

Even the power and reach of Asgard has its limits. [ a breath. ] But not indefinitely.

[ He just wants to fly his dragon and explore and make maps, gods damn it. Life is so hard!! Hiccup will die horribly because he pissed off the God He Really Would Rather Not Name, Thanks Very Much, what a wonderful way to go. ]

You're going to get us out of here? Asgard is?

[ There's a very real note of hope in the questioning gaze Hiccup sends the green-eyed one his way, that of someone who has put faith in gods before. A believer's expectations. ]

[ hey it would at least be noteworthy and memorable... ]

What god — what Asgardian — would I be if I did not seek to aid those of the Nine Realms? Those that the Realm Eternal has sworn to protect for as long as it and they live? [ though he does sound arrogant (#lokiproblems), there is earnestness and a degree of questioning in his expression as if imploring hiccup to give his honest answer to the question. ]

[ YER STORIES GO AGAINST YOU, SIR. ]

I ... [ No, he has to think about this. Visibly, even, Hiccup does; he wets his lips and glances down, blinks back up as he picks his words carefully. He can be surrounded by as many nutso fairies as he likes, but he isn't going to mess with the gods from his world. He's the one that will have to deal with their shit when he gets back, most likely. (It's a reasonable way of thinking about it, at any rate.) ]

Thor has always been the patron god of my home. [ The honesty demanded of him isn't disappointed, although it's awkward to admit. At least he knows better than to lie. ] I always thought he would be the one to send help, if it came.

But you're not him, are you?

[ Hiccup honestly can't tell whether he's more let down or curious. ]

Thor— [ he starts and then stops. it's habit, of a sort, to want to point out how utterly ridiculous it is to place hope and trust in thor. ] —My brother [ intoned as a correction of sorts ] is easily distracted. The Nine Realms are large and he'd be king if Odin would have his way. You don't really imagine he'd have the time or the energy to notice the plight of one small boy, do you? Your hope is best place else where.

[ short answer: nah, bro, not thor. ]

Edited 2014-10-05 19:04 (UTC)

[ He tries not to let it sting, yet the truth is it does; he never really believed any of the gods would answer him, not until he died, let alone his hero since he could walk. This is Loki, then, and Hiccup knows better than to take him at his word.

Still a shitty thing to say, he thinks. ]

Such as in a trickster? That seems a less than intelligent career move for my trust issues, no offense.

[ mildly: ] You know to take caution and not to trust my words alone. There is no harm I could cause you that is greater than broken promises and smashed hopes.

Thor wouldn't lie. [ Hey, what, wait a second. ] I don't even know that I'll meet him, for that matter. He'd probably be down south with the Seelie while we're — while we're up here.

[ Ahw Hel no. ]

Not that anyone could hold him down for long.

I'd recommend taking the stories with a grain of salt.

I already do that with a few of your own, don't worry.

[ Gobber gets really, really into some of those. Hiccup isn't going to spread that level of weird shit around, no matter whom it concerns. ]

[ a non-committal hum, a quirk of his lips and— ] Odin was ever so fond of Sleipnir.

[ This face. Quickly moving on from any awkward horse-related topics, he clears his throat. ]

So, uh, you're Unseelie! I assume. I ... would think. [ If Loki is Seelie, Hiccup will eat his one good foot. ] Did you arrive in one piece?

[ oh bless you hiccup. Loki's eyebrows just quirk towards momentarily at the abrupt change of topic (look what did he just say about taking the stories with a grain of salt???) ]

In as many pieces as I left. [ that is to say, entirely whole yep, and unseelie. ]

[ Look, bruh, when you're raised by Gobber with his penchant for weird stories, you learn to steer clear of them pretty fast. ]

Could I — May I meet you? In person. I'm really stoked, uh, just. Y'know, this is kind of terrifyingly amazing, I've known about you my whole life and now you're here it seems like it would be stupid not to ... [ Gesturing to All That!! ] Does that make any sense?

[ ~~IT'S A GOD, A GOD, A REAL GOD. Hnnnnnnnghhh.~~ ]

[ there's a moment where doubt plays across his features — hiccup you've just been talking about thor for like a million years — but then he lifts a shoulder, lazily and without much overt vested interest. "fine." (feed his ego plspls) ]

Not to take advantage of the situation, you mean?

[ Thor always needs talking about, but still. Snubbing a member of the major pantheon? Not the brightest idea. ]

I guess I'm already doing that, but yeah. Where can I find you?

[ Because, obviously, Hiccup isn't going to make Loki himself run around after him. ~~Stoick would have kittens if he did.~~ ]

[ and just you wait, hiccup, he'll prove he's cooler than thor.

nevertheless, a moment of consideration, and: ] The courtyard. [ it's not where he is, of course, but it's where he will be. ]

[ A nod, and Hiccup closes his locket to make his way down to the courtyard. The gravel is a pain to walk on, so he sticks to the lawn instead and tries not to freak out over meeting a god. A god, in fact, very relevant to his world and to Berk, perhaps not the one that his dad would have wanted him to meet with, but. How is he supposed to resist the urge to see Loki with his own eyes? No one from the archipelago could, he's sure of it. Even Astrid ...

Hand on a hip, he idly scuffs his peg-leg against the grass and listens to the muted birdsong, trying to pick up the sound of footsteps; he has a sneaking suspicion he won't. ]

[ for the most part, it seems that the natives of the drabwurld are easy to tell apart from those that aren't. mannerisms are telling, and the drabwurld, though full of mischief and unpredictability, is still full of a hierarchy all its own, especially within the courts. the courtyard itself is quieter than the rest of the castle, home to an ambience entirely at odds to the hustle and bustle found elsewhere. the fauna is quaint, in a sense: aesthetically pleasing, useful in the right hands, but almost, loki thinks, something of a cliché.

he doesn't rush there after answering hiccup's question (why should he, after all?). that hiccup knows his world, knows of him and recognises him for both who and what he is— it's a mixture of the expected and unexpected. expected because he is loki, but earth as it is has stepped away from religion, from realising its place in the universe. it is and remains nothing, a backwards and, up until recently, wholly isolated planet entirely incapable of protecting itself from anything outside of its own little bubble.

he stops momentarily when he reaches the edge of the gravel: hiccup is much as he'd appeared on the locket: a boy. mortal. one-leg. (not a great surprise, not really, not considering—.) the stories had been fun: fact and fiction mixed together just to see what the mortals would do. there's no need now, he thinks, to show off, to prove himself: hiccup is just a human boy, and barely worth the effort.

nevertheless, his footsteps are quiet (habit), and he (in green and gold and black) approaches from the side, his attention seeming to be more with the garden than hiccup himself until he's not more than a few steps away.

he remains silent, then, pointedly looking hiccup up and down, a small thread of amusement pulling at the corners of his lips. a breath. ]

Everything you expected?

[ He almost becomes too preoccupied with his own thoughts to remember why he's in the gardens, right up until a twinkle of gold on his peripheral vision catches his eye — and then the rest. Taller than Hiccup by mere inches yet somehow vastly more so, plated and armoured in a way that Hiccup imagines Thor wouldn't be, yet it's all somehow fitting. (It makes a lot more sense than the stockinged figure on the tapestries.) This dark-haired figure looks like a warrior capable of everything in the old tales told by Gothi.

Kneeling before Thor would be instinctive, but Hiccup sinks onto his good leg partly out of a conscious desire not to cause offense or anger Loki; so much more unpredictable, already having twisted a few words over the lockets. Thor would strike Hiccup down for being outspoken, simple and easy, but this god? He doesn't want to take any chances. And he does revere him, in a way. It's what his father would do, if Stoick were here, likely the one to yank Hiccup down a lot sooner and before he could drink the sight in with wide green eyes.

People here have talked about gravity and molecules, and Hiccup is sure all of that is very important, he would like to learn more — but he cleaves to his faith. Especially when it walks and talks right in front of him. ]

More. You ... I don't have the words.

[ Hel, he had the village build a fifteen-foot metal statue of Thor just because he believed the God of Thunder was angry with them. This is quite suddenly not just a face over a locket, untouchable. This is very, very real. Hiccup would reach out and touch him if he dared, but he doesn't. ]

[ he remembers, for a moment, when they — him and thor (and sif and the warriors three) — had been children, had travelled to midgard on whims and nothing more; when they had played with the lives of mortals as if they were nothing more than toys. they'd been amused and entertained by the humans' capacity to be awed and to worship even the slightest, simplest of things. (thor had needed only to make it storm and they'd been amazed—). odin had reprimanded them (him) for interfering, though it hadn't taken long for the games to grow dull and tiresome; there was only so much entertainment one could have when one's plaything was so predictable. (feasts and offerings, feasts and offerings; it was really no wonder volstagg had grown so fat.)

still: he smiles. he can imagine odin calling him arrogant and self-indulgent, not that the all-father would have any place to talk; it's their rightful role, after all. he doesn't gesture to hiccup to stand, though he does turn away to direct his attention back to the garden at large, and he takes his time responding. ]

Who would? [ a brief but curious glance back at hiccup. ] It must be a monumental occasion. [ a breath of a pause, and then: ] It's only a pity my brother occupies our enemy's court. [ after all, he's repentant. sorrowful. eager to make up for countless mistakes over the last few years: asgard and thanos and earth. it will be easier, he thinks, to get what he wants, to do what he wants without the words of steve rogers and sif counting against him; thor will wish to believe in him, and the longer appearances work in his favour, the better. ] So tell me something: how opposed truly are they? Both the natives within each court, and— [ a gesture towards himself and then hiccup. ] us. Fostering antagonism and hate is no easy thing.

Edited 2014-10-15 21:17 (UTC)

[ Hiccup takes the opportunity when Loki turns around to rake him with a fascinated gaze, drinking in as much as he can of the god. The motifs on his armour — Jörmungandr and Fenrir — noticed by quick, sharp eyes accustomed to picking out the slightest details on dragons of new species. He isn't entirely uncertain he hasn't walked right up to yet another.

He doesn't rise because he isn't bidden, yet his heart leaps into his throat (and into the skies, it feels like) when he hears Thor is among the Seelie. What does it say that I share a court with Loki and not the god my father prefers? Loki could assuredly cause havoc if he wanted to. For that reason, Hiccup takes it upon himself to allay the god of any provocations he might have already met. ]

You don't have to fight Thor. Not that anyone could make you, uh, but I get the feeling from talking to people that a lot of them don't want to take part in a war. I know I don't. I ... can't really speak for the natives, since we seem to be surrounded by monsters — [ orcs, imps, ] — that don't particularly seem to want to talk to me.

[ They're downright offensive, in point of fact. Hiccup freely admits he's not an impressive sight like Stoick but it's starting to grind his gears how the laughter is suddenly right back at his heels (heel) in the Drabwurld. ]

This whole war is pointless. [ — in his opinion. Killing for the sake of it, it's a terrible waste, and also; ] My family stand a good chance of being claimed by the Seelie.

[ "you don't have to fight thor." loki laughs a little at that, the sound seeming — by all appearances — to he involuntary, and the corners of his lips twitch a little before he remarks (offhand, rhetorical, almost to himself. ] Do you think? [ a beat; a wave of his hand. ] We are brothers.

[ he imagines it's the truth when hiccup states that most don't want to fight and to battle: most species were lacking enough in durability, that aware of their own mortality — for better or worse — that they'd shy away from endangering themselves in any shale or form. it's a pity, he thinks: war was useful. it could (would and did) distract and divide and provide opportunity.

—though, he thinks, given the hints to the courts' power, he suspects that if they so wished, lesser beings with weaker will could be persuaded (one way or another) to participate and to fight.

still: he shrugs, the movement casual and noncommittal. ] War is a fact of life. Everyone must fight to survive [ his gaze flickers to hiccup's leg. ] in one form or another. [ he lifts his chin ever so slightly. ] It's simply a matter of embracing one's strengths and knowing one's weaknesses.

[ monsters, though. before he speaks again, he gestures loosely and lazily and without any real interest for hiccup to stand, before taking several steps to circle round him, amusement dancing across his features for several moments before passing into open curiosity and interest. ]

Do you truly think them monsters — baseless, thoughtless creatures?

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( video: open, both courts. )

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omg phone tagging is hard IDK WHAT HAPPENED THERE