Common Heartbreak
Gimli rubbed at his right arm and looked over at Loki and the others. A storm had broken overhead, resulting in their becoming soaked to the bone. As Borin was busy, Noro and Kor stood on Loki's other side, all wondered why Ana had asked them here. The jotun's eyebrows furrowed as his love focused on the bowl's down slope. He followed Loki's gaze to see two silhouettes - one was a dwarf, the other a man - walking toward them.
Loki suddenly snarled, "Take your filthy, thieving hands off of her, Asgardian !" before green-fire was flying at the, uh, Asgardian.
The Asgardian stopped half-way down, slid a silver hammer from his belt and spun it, deftly deflecting Loki's fireballs. Said Asgardian laughed mockingly, "Thief ? I have stolen nothing, Jotun." and thunder rumbled above them.
In response, Loki hissed, "Liar ! You stole my five great's Grandfather's casket, Odinson. You stole my inheritance, my birthright !"
Odinson replied, "Your people were too weak to protect your precious casket. I think it obvious that our taking your casket stopped you from inheriting any good looks, Laufeyson. That dress you wear does not help as you look hideous...even for a jotun."
A patch of ice spread from Loki's left foot and as he stomped icicles arced toward Odinson. Lightning intercepted the icicles as jotun and Asgardian glared at one another. What was this about ? Loki had mentioned a stolen heirloom, yes, but he had never mentioned an Asgardian before.
His love sneered, "Your cape looks far more like a dress than my kilt, Odinson, you prissy, arrogant, odd-eyed, thin-ice minded prick."
Kor and Noro moved to stand between Loki and Odinson as the Asgardian approached them. He moved to stand beside Loki, unsheathed and hefted his axe demanding, "Who are ya ? 'N be quick about it or I'll banish ya."
Odinson looked down at him, amused arrogance in the blue-eyes. "How could a tiny dwarf manage to banish me ? I am Thor Odinson, Prince of-"
Loki interrupted with a gleeful, "Assholes." then laughed. Everyone, but Ana and Odinson joined in, Odinson merely gave Loki a sullen glare in response.
Ana finished running down the slope and shouted, "Enough ! Thor stop antagonizing Loki and Gimli. Loki is the lover of my cousin Gimli, Lord of the Glittering Caves. Now, both of you explain yourselves...civilly."
Kor snorted, "As if this fool could do such." and took a deliberate step toward the blond man.
The Orocarni raised halfling truly didn't seem frightened of the man who seemed to control the storm. Truthfully, he was slightly worried because even Gandalf as the White Wizard could only control one element at a time and only for a while. Noro thrust his spear under Odinson's chin as the man's hammer-wielding arm twitched toward Kor. Warily, he relaxed his axe when Ana reached up and yanked the Asgardian's arm down.
So, Loki explained, "Odinson's oh-so glorious father, Odin of Asgard, invaded then waged war on Jotunheim. While there he stole my Great-Grandfather's casket and attempted to kidnap me ! Yet, you Asgardians proclaim yourselves the protectors of Yggdrasil. You are a bunch of arrogant, warmongering and dishonourable, not to mention asinine, thieves is what you are."
By the end of Loki's speech the rain had started turning to hail and he was glad that he had his helmet on. The look of arrogance on Odinson's face turned to hurt.
As the storm suddenly stopped, Odinson countered, "Well, at least, I am not a monster ! It was your people who attacked that village without cause. Without my father's intervention your people would have slaughtered every last one of those people. My father was merely protecting them both on Midgard and on Jotunheim."
"One of your precious Midgardians killed three Jotnar children. Since when is retaliating to an obvious and deliberate act of war without due cause ? You try to justify your people's slaughtering of mine when the attack on Midgard was not solely their fault. You try to blame it on my people because you can't handle the thought that your precious Odin isn't perfect. You disgust me, Thor. Is it a wonder to you still why we could not ever see eye-to-eye ?"
Ana's face had gone from shock to horror-filled and back quite a few times in the space of two minutes. That description was also quite accurate for Odinson himself.
The Asgardian protested, feebly this time, "We were protecting them, Loki. I didn't mean to...I'm sorry."
That last sentence sounded like far more than something trying to justify war and a stolen heirloom. Just wanting to make sure, he leaned forward and looked up. Loki's face was completely still in outrage, his eyes darkened to a shade of Laufey-like, eerily glowing, dark-red. Ice spiraled outward covering the grey-stone that they stood upon.
Equally coldly, Loki snarled, "Well, you did, you cared not then and you refuse to acknowledge it now. Know that he has no faith, Ana and he breaks hearts with gleeful abandon."
With that said Loki brushed aside Noro's spear, punched Odinson in the face then spun on his heel and stalked away. It left himself, Ana and Odinson to stare as Odinson straightened wiping blood off his lips. He turned, hurrying after the jotun as Ana exclaimed, "You courted Loki !? You abandoned him ?"
"I didn't mean to ! It was only two months, then my father found out. I had no choice but to do it."
When he caught up it was to hear Loki whisper, "You could have explained instead."
Cautiously, he asked, "Is that when I met you ? After he'd...? Is that why Laufey asked why you 'kept' picking those who weren't Jotnar ?"
A sigh from Loki as he sat down. "It was a few months after Thor left me that I saved you, Gimli. Gandalf timed it perfectly when he sent you into the Lake of Blood. I heard you pounding on the ice and went to see what poor thing had gotten itself trapped. You were the only one besides Mother who managed to cheer me then, you were a Coldness sent dream, Gimli. First I was trying to court Thor, then it was you. Put simply before I left Jotunheim with you, Father was very close to stripping me of my title for my tastes. I stand by what I said when I met you, you have the most gorgeous hair. Also, then you had the most hair for your size."
He twisted to look over his shoulder to see Noro, Kor, Ana and Odinson talking. Slowly, he sank down beside Loki, turning back to wrap his arms around the jotun. "I'm glad that I could do you some good. Do ya want me to go chop off his balls ?"
Loki leaned against his shoulder and snickered. "That would be lovely, but no, I'm sure Ana will manage that without an axe. If Thor proves that he has changed then I will approve of his courting Ana. Should common heartbreak strike again, I can freeze his balls then yourself and Borin can take turns chopping."
Smiled briefly before his thoughts drifted to the piece of mithril. Since Father's burial weeks ago thoughts of it were never far away. Whatever happened with Ana and Odinson he would give her it. She was a smart girl and more than capable of eventually ruling the Glittering Caves. Perhaps if Odinson broke her heart he'd throw Ana's hare onto the blond and watch it crap daffodils in the Asgardian's mouth. Ah, well, time would tell if it came to that. Nothing against his cousin, of course, but he was really hoping it would.