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...
"Your stance is wrong."
"My 'stance' is fine, thank you very much."
"You're spinning an object, not giving birth."
Riley turned sharply to glare at Loki. They were standing together (well...in the general area, anyway) out in the palace gardens, near the outer walls, practicing moving around various objects and rotating them. Up above them, the sky mimicked a murky grey color, making it fairly dark out, despite the time of day.
"This is child's play," said Riley. She was squatted slightly in a bent-knee position, with one arm out in front of her, conducting a maroon flower pot to spin in a circle, over and over again, at a constant speed. "How is this supposed to train me for any oncoming war anyway?"
"It's not," said Loki, rolling his eyes. The half-blood was proving herself progressively more and more irritating...They'd only just begun her training, and already the girl was questioning his methods, stirring up unnecessary arguments. "Tell me, Miss Harrow, do words go in one ear and out the other with you? I've told you time and time again that you cannot control your power, and we are therefore fixing that first."
"Oh yeah, because spinning a pot is certainly going to solve that issue," said Riley, her voice thick with sarcasm. "Tell me, Loki, do you realize that your methods of teaching are lacking and you are just as incompetent as you claim your pupil to be?"
Loki considered slicing her to shreds with his silver tongue (Or perhaps quite literally shredding her, if he had his scepter on hand...), but he knew full well that the more he battered with her, the more she would come to loathe him, and the less work would get done. Instead, he maintained a calm composure as he answered.
"Once again, your control—"
"I'm perfectly capable of—"
The flower pot violently burst in mid-air, sending shards and dirt flying in all directions. Riley flung her arms up over her head to shield herself from the falling debris, but they managed to attack her face regardless. Loki merely took a step back, and not a single speck of dirt landed on his robes.
It took all the strength she could muster to look sheepishly up at Loki, not wanting to acknowledge that she was wrong. He smiled smugly back at her.
"Don't even say it." Riley wiped at the stray dirt on her cheek, but only smeared it worse.
"As I was explaining before you quite rudely interrupted me," said Loki, simply waving one pale hand over the shattered flower pot remains, repairing it in under two seconds, "you are like a bomb, just waiting to be lit. If simply my words themselves are igniting you, then think of how you will react in battle, when you are faced with true threats."
You seem like a pretty 'true' threat to me, Riley thought. Considering all those people you killed...
"Do you want to go rushing into war like Thor, flaunting your abilities? Like an idiot?"
"Isn't that what you did?" Riley shot back.
Loki's eyes narrowed darkly, and Riley could've sworn she saw a flicker of red within them. "Do not ever compare me to Thor. He swings his hammer about, just for the sake of it, like a mere child. I myself sought out only peace, using my magic because it is necessary. The difference between us is that I know my limits, and I have authority over my power, a concept both you and Thor cannot seem to grasp."
Is that why I'm not training under Thor?
"All right, all right, I get the point, District 9." Riley re-directed her hand toward the flower pot again, causing it to rise into the air and slowly rotate in a circle. Once again, she'd been defeated by Loki's silver-tongue and reasoning.
"What you don't realize," said Loki, sinking onto the bench behind him as his frustration began to simmer, "is that you are already controlling more than just simply the rotation of a pot."
"How do you figure?"
"There is soil inside of it, correct?"
"Yeah. I still don't see your poin—"
"Before you let the pot slip and shattered it, the soil remained intact on the inside. It should have spilled out the moment you turned it upside down."
Riley could have very well slapped herself upside the head right then. "Oh, I get you...Okay, another point for the Asgardian prince, I suppose."
"King," Loki corrected.
"I'll choose the nicknames, thank you," said Riley, but in spite of herself, she was actually smiling. Her eyes tracked the flower pot's movements more intently now, curiously.
Loki himself felt the corner of his lips curve toward the ceiling. Her try-and-fail attempts were amusing, he would give her that much.
"Oi!"
Riley's concentration faltered and a second crash erupted. This time she was prepared, leaping back out of the way just in time as the shards pursued her, and she just barely made it out of the way in time. Upset with both herself and the new voice that had drawn her attention away, she half-turned in the direction of the call, eyes narrowed.
Two figures were making their way across the yard toward where Riley and Loki resided, waving their hands in greeting. The first man's days were clearly numbered; wispy white locks of hair and wrinkled, thin hazel eyes told the story. The other male was shorter in height, with dirty blond hair and the same set of hazel eyes as the first. He appeared no older than Riley.
Loki watched them as they approached, but did not make any sudden movements from his position on the bench. He'd seen the pair before, not often, but on occasion in the shadows of the palace, before his fall into the wormhole.
"Hello," croaked the older man, raising one hand to them in greeting.
"Ah...hello," said Riley, glancing over her shoulder back at Loki. Did he know them or something?
The elderly man stopped a few good feet away from where Riley stood, grinning. For a good solid ten seconds, he merely scanned her face, his eyes darting about. "Eyes just like your father. Same nose, too. But that chin...must be your mother."
Riley opened her mouth, then closed it again, taken aback. "I...wait. What?"
Loki drew up one eyebrow in the pair's direction. "Have you lost the ability of sight, or are you just thick-headed?"
The old man did not acknowledge Loki, but the younger one frowned over at him. "Beg pardon?"
"Can you not see that I, as well as my pupil, am currently busy?" Loki hissed. "State your business."
"Aberle Suttonson and my son, Kane Aberleson," said the older man. He spoke the names calmly, but Riley sensed a flicker of fear run through his aura. If he hadn't been before, then Loki certainly was someone to fear now, after all of the events over the past week. "I am aware of your teachings, but I only ask a moment of your student's time."
"Why?" said Riley quickly, before Loki could answer. "You were muttering something about my dad."
Aberle looked to Loki for a fleeting moment. "Might we speak alone?"
"Do not keep her. Five minutes tops," said Loki warningly. His voice could almost be mistaken for casual, but a threatening undertone worked its way through to his lips. The older Asgardian oddly struck him as familiar (besides having seen him around before), but he was not certain as to why.
"Of course." Aberle motioned for Riley to follow him.
They did not actually move very far (to keep in Loki's line of sight, but out of hearing range), only a small distance away from the palace wall, into the gardens. Riley kept her gaze on the blooming flowers on either side of the path, until the two men came to a stop, turning around. There was a moment's pause in which Riley simply looked between the pair silently, waiting for an explanation.
"Brown," said Aberle abruptly.
"Sorry?" said Riley.
"The same exact brown eyes." Aberle shook his head, running a hand down through his long, cotton-like beard. "Your father and I were once good friends. We grew up together, even worked together." A distant gaze overtook the old man, and he slowly moved back, to sit down on the planter's edge behind him. "Should have never been banned. Good man, Axis..."
"I am sure that he was," said Riley, but she did not question him. She liked to remain under the impression that her father was in fact a good person, despite whatever he did to warrant himself a lifetime ban to Earth...She preferred to have a mainly loving vision of the man, un-fogged by what would undoubtedly be an upsetting truth.
"I suppose I just wanted a good look at you for myself," said Aberle, propping his chin up on one wrinkled hand. "It's been so long since I last saw him...I never even knew he had a daughter till you showed up here."
Riley said nothing.
"Such an idiotic reason," Aberle continued. "Just because he tr—"
"With all due respect," said Riley, cutting across him, "I'd rather not know the reason behind his punishment."
Aberle's hazel eyes moved to stare at her unblinkingly. "What? You don't know?" he demanded. "How...how could you not? Why, your father—"
"Dad," Kane interrupted, shooting his father an annoyed look, "you're unsettling Miss Harrow."
"Oh, no, I'm not...I'm fine..." Actually, Riley breathed an internal sigh of relief, glad that his son had come to her rescue. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy the small break away from the God of Mischief, but she also refused to accept whatever truth about her father Aberle knew.
It didn't matter anyway. The past was the past...whatever had happened then, she didn't need to know.
"So, learning from the snake, huh?" asked Kane, breaking the silence that had fallen upon them.
"What, Loki?" said Riley. She rolled her eyes. "Maybe not quite learning yet, really, but yeah."
Kane chuckled. "I would be terrified out of my wits if I was in your place...Does he like you?"
"Like me? Like me?" It was Riley's turn to laugh. "If anything, it's the opposite. I swear, he's planning my downfall every minute."
"What do you expect?" Aberle scoffed, his voice strangely disdainful. "He is, after all, a Fros—"
"I thought I was clear," said a thin voice, sending icy chills up Riley's spine, "when I said to not keep me waiting."
Loki had materialized at Aberle's shoulder, his expression nothing short of cold dislike. Both the father and the son gave a small jump and leapt to their feet.
"My apologies, sir!" said Kane hastily. Arbele said nothing.
"Harrow," said Loki with a short glance at Riley, gesturing slightly to their original practice sight over his shoulder. The flower pot had been repaired once again, lying ready for her on the ground.
"Right, right." Riley shook each of the men's hands once. "Nice meeting you two. See you around, then?"
"I'd like that," Kane returned, with a small smile. And with that, he and his father took off down the garden pathway, vanishing around the corner.
Loki and Riley returned back to their training spot. Riley was almost entirely certain that Loki would question her, but instead, he was unusually quiet, making only small, sometimes snide remarks on her techniques as she spun the flower pot again and again.
Eventually, Riley moved on to spinning two separate flower pots at the same time, attempting to keep them completely in sync with each other, without breaking or dropping either of them. Unsurprisingly, Riley smashed the new pot three times before finally getting the hang out of it, but by the time she was satisfied with her skills, it had begun to rain.
"Good timing, weather!" Riley shouted up to the sky as her clothes began to cling to her body, her hair sopping wet.
"We will move our training inside," said Loki shortly, drawing his royal robes around himself calmly as though the rain were not there. Riley followed him back into the palace, descending the long, coiling staircase into the large, ball-like hall. A decent number of Asgardians filled the room, all chattering loudly whilst drinking some sort of alcohol. None of the occupants wore anything fancier than their daily dresses and robes, so it did not appear to be a party...
"What's the occasion?" Riley asked, surveying the room.
"Foolishness," said Loki. "I try to avoid this room when possible. Keeping moving."
"Brother!"
"Damn."
Thor waved one muscular arm back and forth in their direction as he drew near, his wide smile affable. "Are you two all right? You look as though you've been through a hurricane." He spoke mainly to Riley.
"I would think that you of all people would know the weather outside," said Riley. She smelled strong alcohol in his breath and wrinkled her nose; he was obviously drunk.
Thor chuckled. "True. Why don't you join us for a drink?"
"No," said Loki curtly before Riley could interject her input. "We're busy."
"Oh, come now." Thor moved toward one of the long, white clothed tables outstretched behind them, scooping up two golden goblets filled to the brim with a honey-like liquid. The contents sloshed over the sides of the cups. "You cannot spare even a moment from your training?"
"Actually," said Riley, eyeing Loki sidelong with a mischievous sort of smile, "a break sounds quite nice. Thank you, Thor."
If looks could kill...
Loki breathed in deeply, trying to keep his animosity at bay. He knew Riley was only trying to get under his skin, but he would not give her the satisfaction of knowing she had. If there was one thing he disliked more heavy drinking, it was these little gatherings. Crowds of gossiping Asgardians in every direction, the high stench of alcohol on their breath...
"Very well." The smile Loki offered deeply reflected the opposite of his inner mood.
"But just a break," said Riley, brushing away the drink in Thor's hand. The combination of a hostile, hard-to-control half-blood and alcohol consumption did not mix well, she knew that much. The last time she'd had a drink or two was when she was working with SHIELD...She ended up blasting a gigantic hole right through Phil Coulson's window, during a small party he was holding.
"What's the matter?" Loki inquired innocently, taking the goblet from Thor and holding it out to her.
"I don't want it."
"Don't be ridiculous, Harrow."
"Unless you want to see a drunken girl burn holes in every one of these walls," said Riley through gritted teeth, "you'd do well to get that out of my face."
Thor chortled. "In your trip to Asgard, you did not lost your spark, I see...Oh!" He suddenly caught sight of something over Riley's shoulder, and he waved one hand in the direction of it. "Riley, I would like you to meet my good friends."
Loki sighed. Oh, how delightful.
A group of three men and a warrior-like woman crowded beside Thor, looking to Riley in polite interest. The three men varied in appearance and size, hitting all the natural hair colors but brunette. The woman among them was very beautiful, with long black hair pulled back in a ponytail.
"Lady Sif and The Warriors Three," said Thor, gesturing to each man as he spoke their name. "Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg."
"Riley Harrow," said Riley, extending her hand to each of them.
"Have you been out in the rain?" asked Fandral, looking her up and down.
"Uh-huh. Have you not?"
Volstagg chuckled, popping a green grape into his mouth. "No, but we do not dislike it. And...I see you've managed to bring the silver-tongue out of the shadows."
Loki merely nodded shortly to him, not leaning toward polite nor rude. He desired nothing more than to keep moving across the palace hall, into the indoor courts, to continue with his training. He would even return outside to the pouring rain if it meant getting away from these fools...
The discomfort between Loki and the others was more than a little obvious; after the incident on Midgard, his isolation from the other Asgardians had only increased. They all shot him scathing, cold looks.
Thor, in his drunken state, saw nothing wrong with the situation.
"Very nice to meet you," said Sif, dipping her head in greeting to Riley. "I quite like your shoes."
"Oh..." Riley wasn't sure whether Sif was trying to make a jab at her, or if she was serious; she was wearing the same shoes from Earth: Sneakers. Simple, plain, and actually pretty scuffed up and worn. "Um. Thanks."
"I have not seen them around Asgard before." Sif smiled. "They're unique."
Riley half-shrugged embarrassedly. "Well, that's one word for them, I guess. Er...is there a loo around here?"
"A what?" Thor asked.
"A...loo." Riley looked between them, frowning. "Powder room? Bathroom?"
"Oh yes—down that hallway, first door on the right," said Fandral, pointing across the room.
"Thank you."
Riley hurried off, weaving in and out through the crowd of Asgardians, till she reached the door labeled "Maidens." She heaved it open and stepped inside, locking it firmly. As she had hoped there would be, a towel rack hung on the wall, with three white towels hanging off of it. She grabbed for one, wiping both rain and sweat from her face.
Riley wasn't sure what had made her so nervous...Perhaps it was being surrounded by so many Asgardians at once, as their auras and powers were quite overwhelming. They were different than human's, stronger even. Riley continued to wring out her hair, so that it could at least be called presentable.
She wondered what the Avengers were doing...Had they themselves returned to their normal, everyday lives? Or were they also doing some form of work, training even? Natasha and Clint would surely be continuing their work as agents at SHIELD...but as for the others, she could not be certain.
Returning to the door, Riley pulled it back open once again and headed out. In the corner of the room, the majority of the group remained, but Riley noticed that Loki was no longer present with them...had he gone off to the loo as well? Or maybe he'd just ditched her. She couldn't blame him, really; the looks the other Asgardians shot him were more than a little unfriendly.
Maybe she did need a drink. Riley hesitated in front of one of the long tables. She lifted one of the golden goblets, examining the precious and semi-precious jewels embedded in it. Nice touch.
She raised the glass to her lips, took a sip, and drew it away, wrinkling her nose in disgust. Oh yeah; she'd forgotten how much she hated the taste of alcohol...It was probably due to the fact that the last time she was drunk, she could not even remember actually drinking the liquid itself.
"So, this is the half-breed, is it?" said a voice behind her, causing her to slop some of the drink from its goblet. "Harrow's daughter?"
Riley almost didn't turn around. It was nice meeting people back on Earth, when they didn't already know her name or her family tree and father's reputation. When she finally did look back, there was a male with sandy brown hair. He wore a seemingly permanent smirk on his face.
"Uh, yes," said Riley, placing the goblet back onto the table. "Riley Harrow, actually."
"Riley? Isn't that a dog's name?" The smirk widened.
Riley sighed, biting back the burning temptation to curse him out or return the remark in the form of a slap. Don't do it. Don't you dare do it, She told herself; she figured she'd be used to the teasing by now, as she got if from Tony often, but...coming from someone she didn't even know yet? It seemed ten times worse.
"How do you even know what a dog is?"
"Thor isn't one to keep quiet about his tales of Midgard." The Asgardian male sneered at her. "So you're a female with a dog's name. Does that make you a bitch?"
It wasn't like Riley hadn't heard this taunt before. It wasn't like she hadn't dealt with the jerks who spat these words in her direction. But for some reason, she faltered. She opened her mouth to retort, but no sound followed. Great. It was curious, how much more the curse hurt her than it would have on Earth. She'd built up a shield to it, an immunity...or so she thought. Instead of replying, she just curled her hands into fists, jaw set to cover up her actual pain.
"And you have a face like that of a mule. Does that make you an ass?"
If Riley hadn't seen his lips move, she would have not thought it possible. She could have denied it, could have said that it had been merely her mind playing tricks on her...But no.
The God of Mischief had come to her defense.
For a split-second, the Asgardian man said nothing. He looked as though he'd been slapped hard across the face.
"I—I—Loki—" he spluttered, his eyes stretching wide in fright. "I didn't, um, see you there."
"Leave."
It was odd, how one word, spoken in the correct manner, could strike so much terror in a person. The Asgardian nodded quickly, tripped over his own feet, and took off in the other direction.
"I'm not very fond of that man," said Loki, turning on his heel, his cape billowing about behind him. "Don't think for even a second that that was for you."
But it didn't matter to Riley, who wiped her eyes hastily on her sleeve and followed him, covering a smile. Even if it wasn't for her sake, for once in her life, someone had actually come to her defense...
Strange that it happened to be the person she currently hated most.
...
Viktorskrumpet: You're quite welcome! Yes, I'm not quite sure yet whether Odin's decision was brilliant or stupid, but I'm kind of leaning more toward stupid, given Riley's and Loki's relationship. And yeah, she's definitely not suave, to say the least haha...Anyway, thanks!
Stargazer1364: What? Wow! That's odd...I wonder what makes Odin so special? Haha. But what exactly do you mean by "tries something"?
Skye: Oh, it certainly helped! I'm beaming as I write this actually. Thankyousososomuch, you have no idea how happy this review makes me! I'm really flattered, honestly (:
MorWolfMor: Trust me, I've been trying to figure out Loki's character every time I write something with him. He's so complex, I keep fearing I won't do him justice! Thank you! :)