((Most of you have probably read the fic this is a companion to, the Luck of the Gods. That one should be read first, as it contains the actual storyline and few characters will pop here that don't/won't have an important impact on that story.
The first one-shot concerns a character that I'm sure will be quite popular, one that has already been proven popular, and one I'm less than sure about. They are Vali (son of Loki and Siguna), Thrud (Nariko in the modern era, daughter of Thor/Narugami and his wife Sif), and Hnossa (daughter of Freya and her AWOL husband Od). Please, read on and enjoy this little flashback…))
It was a typical day in the world of the gods. Asgard's weather was always that of spring, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping. From inside the great palace one might discern the usual cheerful noise made by the gods and goddesses, and outside in the gardens and fields, the happy chatter of the younger ones rang through the air. It was very idyllic and peaceful, like a small taste of heaven.
He hated it all at the moment.
He was lounging about on a tree branch in one of the gardens commonly frequented by the younger female goddesses, a small group of whom weren't all that far away. He examined them carefully, occasionally catching one of their gazes and eliciting some giggles. He was, after all, Vali, the son of Loki.
Although he didn't know it, one day his half-brother the Midgard serpent would gain a human form. That form would was actually quite similar to Vali's own. The main differences were that Vali was younger, only about fifteen, that he wore a different, more stylish type of glasses, and that his hair was far longer and pure black. Also, there was something…harder about Vali, something less gentle, and flashier. Perhaps it was the fact that he was, in fact, more handsome than his brother was to be, and also far more self-centered and more outgoing.
So why would this boy, having good looks, a happy home, and the pedigree of being a god, be so sour of mood? Because he was an attention hungry creature, and there was one girl in that group of young goddesses who was decidedly not meeting his eyes.
That one goddess was a vivacious red-head who stood in a way so that she faced his direction, but she was very pointedly looking at her other friends (minor goddesses and a daughter of a Valkyrie warrior maiden, no one Vali really thought was utterly important despite the fact that they were all nice and quite pretty). No matter how often the other girls glanced up flirtatiously in his direction or tossed him a coy glance, the lovely little red-head refused to acknowledge Vali's presence.
Dammit, Thrud, look up here! Vali screamed in his mind. Out of all the young ladies in Asgard, only Thrud, Thor's favorite child, took it upon herself to blatantly and annoyingly ignore him, which of course meant he noticed her quite a lot. Vali was a bit on the arrogant side, and it tormented his ego to no end that he couldn't seem to attract the attention of the daughter of Thor. Worse, he found her very attractive (perhaps her obvious unavailability helped that), and would have leapt at the chance to flirt with her had he reason to believe she would possibly accept his affections.
So here he was sitting in a tree, which was just fine by him, waiting for this one contrary young lady to spare him a glance, which was less than fine by him.
Eventually, though, he got his wish: Thrud finally looked up a little and met his eyes. His face instantly broke out into one of his more handsome, flirtatious smiles and nodded at her. If he had done that to most any other young goddess in Asgard, he would have made their day. At the very least, they'd smile back and blush.
But not Thrud. Her expression didn't change at all as she examined him for a moment, and then, to his shock and displeasure, she turned back to her friends without even nodding at him. He had been utterly ignored! Rejected! Shunned! Snubbed! Denied! He practically fell out of the tree; he was so surprised and angered. How dare she!?
Scowling, Vali looked up at the clouds as if hoping something large would fall from it and crush either him or her, whichever ended his misery faster. Upon a lack of objects careening down on anyone's head, he sighed and shrugged to no one. He should've known that rejection was coming, it always did.
Deciding that enough was enough, Vali adjusted himself so he was sitting astride on the branch as he looked for the best path down out of the tree. A second after he changed position, he heard one of the girls giggle wildly and ask "Is it wrong to be jealous of a tree?" which, despite his bad mood, drew a small smirk onto his face.
"Yes. Yes, it's very wrong," Thrud drawled in response. "Especially since the reason why you're jealous is someone like Vali." That wiped the smile right off his pretty face. If the girls hadn't all been so distracted by being shocked at Thrud's commentary, they might have seen he actually looked a little hurt as he clambered down and walked away.
"Someone like me, huh?" Vali muttered as he wandered about for a while afterwards. "Well, I suppose that just about sums up Thrud's opinion of me doesn't it? I wish she'd been a little gentler about it, though. Or at least that she wouldn't ignore me…"
"You're talking to yourself, you know," said a light, sweet-sounding voice behind him, bringing him back to reality. He turned to face the speaker, another of Thrud's good friends who also happened to be on good terms with Vali as well.
She was Hnossa, the daughter of Od and Freya, although the latter was the one whom the girl seemed to take on after the most. Blonde, blue-violet eyed, and downright gorgeous, she was like a younger, sweeter version of her mother. She was as lovely as any gem, hence the significance of having a name that meant "jewel." She was also beyond innocent and friendly, and her smile could melt the hardest heart.
Sure enough, seeing the smiling face of Hnossa did, in fact, improve Vali's mood a bit. Being the charmer that he was, he reflexively took her hand and kissed in as greetings. "Hnossa, you're as radiant as ever."
"And you're being a humongous flirt, like always!" Hnossa retorted, laughing. Hnossa, being among Vali's best friends, was one of the few girls who could resist his ability to enchant them. It also might have had something to do with the fact that boys in Asgard were always like that with her.
"You don't seem to be in the best mood," Hnossa commented, and Vali's mood went back to the abysmal place it had been before. "Want to talk about it?"
"Maybe," Vali mumbled. Hnossa was his and Thrud's mutual friend, and although he enjoyed her company, he knew she was a bit on the airheaded side and there was a chance if he let her know too much, she might slip and tell Thrud. So, he explained Thrud's comment and his disappointment with it to Hnossa without actually voicing exactly what made it upset him so.
Hnossa shrugged. "I doubt she really meant to hurt you. She was probably just a bit annoyed that all the other girls were getting distracted because you were around. Plus, you know she doesn't like Loki because of that prophecy. I'm pretty sure she doesn't like you either just because of that."
Vali considered these reasons. It was true that all the girls with Thrud had at least once paused the conversation to look at him: that must be quite annoying. He would get disgruntled too. Okay, he could forgive her for that.
Plus, Thrud did have that natural animosity ever since the news came about that a prophecy had dictated such and such about the end of the world, including that Loki and, most likely, his children were to play key roles. Vali assumed that it meant Loki's demon children, his half siblings, not himself and his little brother Narvi (like Narvi could hurt anyone, anyway). Still, there had been few details given so as to prevent giving "those concerned" ideas, so there was a chance Vali played some part.
"Okay, so she has the right not to like me," Vali conceded, "but that doesn't give her the right to ignore me!"
Hnossa thought for a second. "No, I guess it doesn't," she agreed. Vali withheld his annoyance. Hnossa tended to take a second to completely gather the obvious, and to state it once she did. After that would typically come the stuff that Vali wanted to hear, the more profound and/or intelligent commentary.
Sure enough, a moment later Hnossa suggested "Try a different technique."
"Excuse me?" Vali was a bit confused. What did she mean technique?
"Well, you've been trying to get her to notice you the exact same way you get all the girls to. Maybe if you took a different approach, she'd pay more attention."
Vali considered that. She had a point: since he constantly craved attention, particularly female attention, he had found out what made the girls and himself happiest and stuck with that. He had never thought about the idea that a particular girl, i.e. Thrud, might need something entirely different to react like he wanted her to. But what could that possibly be?
What did he know she liked? Well, food, for one thing, he had to admit it. And her father, of course. But neither of those would get him anywhere. Hmm…she liked a challenge. She liked to fight, and to have something to do. She liked excitement. And, as anyone who had seen Thrud arguing with her supposedly stronger elder brothers, she DIDN'T like being considered weak.
Which got Vali thinking of things that made Thrud unhappy rather than the opposite. She hated being insulted, or hearing her father insulted either. She couldn't stand it when someone pushed themselves father than her: one of the few things that got a decent reaction out of her was the glare he'd received upon once outrunning her, being very swift of foot. She hated being called weak most of all, and was insanely jealous of her elder brothers, Magni and Modi, for they were to inherit their father's great Mjollnir. She loathed being confused, despite the fact that that happened quite often.
Hmm…
He couldn't think of too many ways to impress her, it was that simple. On the other hand, he could think of quite a few ways to upset her even more than she upset him. Not only that…but Vali had a rather twisted sense of humor, and had to admit this current plan forming in his head was striking him as absolutely hilarious!
As he was thinking, Hnossa watched his expressions change. First he was surprised, then he was calculating, then he was silently frustrated, and then he took a look of rather bad-willed amusement that slowly developed into a dark, mischievous grin that Hnossa knew couldn't bode well. "Er, Vali, what are you thinking?"
"Oh, nothing in particular," he blatantly lied, still grinning. "I just had a little epiphany is all."
"An epiphany…?" Hnossa repeated slowly, not liking the way Vali said it. He wasn't the son of the god of chaos for nothing, after all.
"Yup," Vali confirmed, and suddenly he ran past Hnossa. "I gotta go do something, see ya!" he called back to her as he went to the last place he'd seen Thrud, leaving Hnossa baffled and quite sure she'd somehow made everyone's lives a lot less peaceful.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Thrud, do you think I should tell Vali I like him?" one of her friend inquired of her. The others had wandered off after Thrud had made her comment about Vali, and now only Bertana, the young Valkyrie-to-be, was left, still struggling to comprehend that Thrud could not see the object of her affections as the most amazing thing in Asgard.
The fact was, Thrud didn't like Vali because he confused her. He would offer her a brilliant smile or a wink like she was the only thing in the world that matter after having very obviously flirted with another girl seconds before, and immediately after he'd be at it with another. Plus, if anyone else had made some of the comments Vali had made in the past, she'd've thought them stupid, but when Vali said something outrageous she found it funny, as he intended. She thought about him for no reason sometimes, and even got mad when he flirted with others for no good reason.
"You should if you want to, I guess," Thrud answered her friend's question with a shrug. That just got Bertana going on and on about this and that concerning Vali's possible reactions, and Thrud honestly stopped listening.
"Hey, Thunder Girl!" called out a voice behind them. Surprised, Thrud and Bertana turned to see Vali only a few meters away, grinning like he was up to something.
"Thunder Girl?" Thrud repeated, knowing he had to be talking to her. "What kind of stupid nickname is that?"
"Oh, it's stupid, eh?" Vali asked playfully. "Well, then I suppose it rather suits you, doesn't it?"
Thrud blinked, and then felt her blood begin to boil. "What was that?" she hissed.
Vali chuckled, turning away a little bit. "You heard me." He glanced at her companion. "Bertana, you heard me, I assume? Would you be so kind as to tell your deaf friend over there what I said to her?"
Bertana stared at Vali in utter shock. Vali put on an expression of sympathy. "Oh, dear, the girl's gone dumb! Looks like you're contagious, Thunder Girl."
"Say one more nasty comment, Vali," Thrud snarled, getting seriously pissed, "and I will rip you limb from limb!"
Vali acted like he was stunned, but too dramatically to be thought to really be stunned. "What's wrong, Thrud, can't take what was coming to you?" His face finally took a serious expression; he looked very annoyed, but somehow satisfied and mildly triumphant. "You've ignored me and rejected my attention long enough. Now you're going to notice me whether you want to or not. And besides…" Vali smirked, looking quite content. "…this is such fun! For me, anyway."
Thrud gazed at him for a second, taking in what he had said. Rejected? What does he mean by that!? And what does he mean, what was coming to me!? "Vali, you're nuts."
Vali laughed cruelly. "Very creative, Thrud, I'm impressed!" he sarcastically praised, clapping his hands. Thrud felt the veins in her forehead throbbing. "I'm nuts, am I? Well, I have fun this way, so I suppose I'm better off."
"Quit confusing me!" Thrud shouted, enraged.
"Aw, am I confuzzling poor widdle Thrud?" Vali acted as though he was about to cry, and his voice reeked with fake guilt and a baby-talk tone. "Dat's so vewy, vewy sad! I'm a bad pewson, oh, yes I is! Oh, woe is me!"
"I'm serious, Vali…" Thrud told him through clenched teeth.
"So am I," Vali insisted. He pointed at one of his eyes. "Look, I think I'm even shedding a tear or two!"
"Vali, if you don't shut up this second, I swear I'll-"
"Get your dad to settle this like the little daddy's girl you are?" Vali suggested, smirking again.
That did it. Thrud shouted and lunged.
Yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
Not all too far away, Loki happened to have been walking through the gardens himself, having grown bored with dealing with the other "major" gods and goddesses and hoping for a change of pace. As he walked, he had come across Hnossa, standing in shock. When he inquired as to whether or not she was alright, she'd begun to babble something about Vali and Thrud and attention and bad ideas.
He let her vent for a few minutes before raising his hands in front of him in the universal "hold it" sign and telling her "Hnossa, slow down there, I can barely understand a word you're saying. What's this about Vali and Thrud? And don't forget to breathe sometime soon or you'll pass out."
Hnossa nodded, taking a second to gasp for air: she'd been talking so rapidly she'd forgotten to inhale. "Vali…he was mad at Thrud…"
"Because she ignores him?" Loki asked, figuring this was the case. Vali had come to him to complain about it once or twice too. Loki's advice had been to just lay off and see what happened or to realize he might be better off without dealing with Thor's temperamental daughter. Vali had not liked that advice too much.
Hnossa nodded. "Yeah…and today, she said something a little mean and upset him…so, when he asked me for help, I told him, try something different from how you get the other girls' attention…"
"And the bad part about that is…?" Loki prompted, thinking that was actually decent advice to give and not seeing what was wrong with this situation.
"Well…Vali thought about it for a little while…and then he got a really evil grin on his face and ran off."
"Did he say anything about this 'evil grin' of his?"
"He said he'd had an epiphany."
Loki considered this. "Well, I'm sure Vali can't be planning anything too bad…"
The second the words had left his mouth, he heard the sound of rapid, running footsteps approaching and two young voices shouting at each other. It took Loki a second to recognize his son's voice and that of the girl who so interested him. He glanced in the direction they came from, suddenly doubting his own words just a moment before.
Sure enough, Vali came rushing around a corner top speed, barely dodging a rock that was thrown at him. Laughing, he called out "You couldn't hit water if you fell out of a boat!" at Thrud, who was in hot pursuit.
"I'll make you pay for that!" she shrieked, grabbing for Vali's long hair but missing.
"You'll have to catch me first, you slowpoke!" Vali retorted confidently, racing past his stunned father and friend without even seeing them.
Thrud was equally blind to their presence as she chased her tormentor. "Drop dead, Vali!"
"After you, Thunder Girl!" Vali replied, and they both ran around another corner and were lost from view.
Loki stared after them for a second in pure shock. "What in all nine worlds was that!?" he finally exclaimed. Then a look of sudden comprehension graced his face and he gave Hnossa a sidelong glance. "That was the result of Vali liking your advice a little too much," he answered his own question.
"I'm sorry…" Hnossa told the god of mischief, looking near tears that her interference in this had turned out so horribly.
"Don't worry, it's not like you meant for that to happen," Loki assured her, not wanting to deal with a crying girl in addition to the mess she'd inadvertently caused. "I'm sure Vali will grow bored with it quite soon…"
"And if he doesn't?" Hnossa couldn't help but ask.
Loki thought for a second, then shrugged and truthfully told her "Than I think you may have created a monster ten times scarier than Fenrir ever was."
(And so ends the first installment of the Lives of the Gods: an explanation as to why Vali started tormenting Thrud/Nariko all the time, as has been mentioned in the Luck of the Gods a couple times.
What did you think of the way I characterized Vali? I totally adore him. He started as a younger version of Loki with Yamino's looks, but I developed him a lot and made him, among other things, a totally hot jerk, a well-meaning prankster, and the most loveable bastard you will ever meet besides his father. Hee. He's fun to write.
Review, please, it makes me happy. Next planned installment of this (to be posted about when I feel like writing the dumb thing) will concern Loki's childhood in Jotunheim, back when he lived with his mother and before he became a god. Until then, enjoy this and whatever stuff I post in the Luck of the Gods in the meantime! Laterz!)