Daidouji Mayura: Chaos Goddess
Chapter 1:  Accident
By Lady Crysiana and Yasha-hime


Mayura would probably never know why she decided that going down into Loki's basement was a good idea.  She was, in all fairness, looking for Yamino-kun, who would probably later turn out to have been in some back closet, but this did not prevent her venturing forth into the dark mysterious gloom at the moment.  She shuddered involuntarily as she saw little purple flames all over the room.  "...weird..."
The jaki flared and danced ominously.  It was trapped in its current conformation, but with such a ready vessel to contain it, it was straining at the spells that bound it.  Mayura walked towards the center of the room where much of the jaki was stored.  She was nearly to the metal frame when she tripped and went sprawling onto the frame with a crash.
The jaki flames danced and whirled and gathered into one huge mass that flowed eagerly toward the waiting vessel that had just freed it.
"Mayura!" Loki's voice screamed, and then he was there, shielding her as the heatless conflagration slammed into them.  He bit his lip bloody and poured every once of his power into shielding Mayura, to the point where he didn't even notice his form changing from child to adult.
And then it was over, and Loki's arms gave out so he collapsed limply on top of Mayura.
Mayura shook herself, dazed and unsure of what had just happened.  "Loki-kun?" she murmured unsteadily.
Loki found the strength somewhere to roll to one side and sit up on one elbow.  He touched Mayura's cheek lightly with the other hand.  "Mayura, are you all right?" he asked in concern.
Mayura pushed herself up into a sitting position.  "I'm...you're that guy."
"...?" Loki blinked.  Only then did he notice that he was no longer a child.  "...this is going to take extended explanations, isn't it."
Mayura looked at him for a long moment.  "Loki-kun?" she asked finally.
"Un," Loki agreed wryly.  "Why don't we go up to my study to have this discussion?  It will be more comfortable."
Mayura, now past her shock, was blushing and staring at the floor.  "...un," she said in a small voice.
Loki rose and took Mayura's hand, pulling her to her feet.  "Come on," he said gently, leading her toward the stairs.  Poor child, he thought, she must still be in shock.  He managed somehow to totally miss the fangirling.  Mayura let him lead her towards the stairs.  Part of her mind was trying to process this new and confusing information.  Most of her mind was busy fangirling over someone that it did not particularly associate with Loki-kun.
Loki got Mayura up to his study and sat her down on a couch.  "Yamino-kun!" he called down the hall.  "Please bring some tea!"
Mayura stared dreamily at Loki, not really noticing when Yamino ran down the hall to stare into the room for a moment before shaking himself and going to get the tea.
"...Mayura, are you sure you're all right?" Loki questioned in concern.
"Mmhmmm," replied Mayura, still staring at Loki with hearts in her eyes.
Yamino returned with the tea.  Mayura did not notice.  Loki finally, belatedly noticed the fangirling.  "...geh..."
Yamino waved a hand in front of Mayura's face.  She managed to blink her way out of fangirling for the moment, and flushed with embarrassment as she stared down into her teacup.  "...um."
Loki unwisely chose to sit next to Mayura, rather than across the table from her.  "You're sure you weren't hurt?"
Mayura took a few moments to remember how to speak.  She finally said, "I think I'm alright."
Loki picked up a cup of tea for himself.  "What were you doing in my basement, anyway?" he asked.
"Looking for Yamino-kun," Mayura replied truthfully.  She looked over at Yamino and nearly dropped her tea.  She managed to spill it on the floor rather than on herself, though.  "...wha...wha...wha..."
Loki frowned and set his teacup down.  "What's the matter?"
"Mayura-san?" said Yamino, concerned.
Mayura stared at Yamino.  "A snake?!" she squeaked.  Her tone was combined confusion and fear.    
"There aren't any snakes here," Loki soothed.  It was true...in a certain sense...
"But...Yamino-kun...aura..."
"Yamino-kun is Yamino-kun," Loki said firmly.
"And 'boku wa boku,'" retorted Mayura.
"Well, I am," Loki said, spreading his hands.
Mayura made a face.  "Loki-kun..."  She sniffed and turned to Yamino.  "Why does your aura look like that?" she demanded.
Yamino opened his mouth, then closed it, then looked to Loki for help. "It's a very long story," Loki offered.
"And anyway, how can you see my aura, Mayura-san?" asked Yamino.
Mayura blinked.  "...that's a good question."        
"It's probably because of the jaki," Loki commented, picking his tea up again.          
"The what?" asked Mayura.           
"Jaki," Loki said.  "The purple flames I'm sure you saw downstairs."    
"Oh.  What were they and what are you?"
"They are the flames of evil that burn within human hearts," Loki said poetically.  He drew a deep, steadying breath.  "And I am a god who has been condemned to collect them."
Mayura set her tea down.  "A god?" she asked, her eyes widening.
Loki nodded as he sipped his tea.  He looked perfectly composed outwardly; inwardly, he was squirming like a worm on a hot plate.
"That explains your staff," said Mayura thoughtfully.
"Laevatin," Loki named the staff.
"...may I ask a question?" Mayura said, very politely.
"Of course."
Mayura's voice was as icy as it ever got.  "Why didn't you tell me?"
"At first," Loki said slowly, "You wouldn't have believed me.  Or if you had, it would have frightened you.  Later..."  Loki paused.  "There is a great deal of danger in my life, and I know you, Daidouji Mayura.  You would have dived right into the thick of it all.  You've been a target often enough unintentionally; I couldn't let you get yourself killed."
Mayura blinked at Loki for a few long moments.  The extremely rational part of her brain that admitted that Loki's explanation made sense gave way as the feeling of what had just happened hit her.  She  buried her face in her hands and sobbed as something in her psyche decided that the tension inside had to come out somehow, and better crying than throwing objects in Loki-kun's study.
Yamino started towards Mayura, then stopped when he noted that the walls had begun to weep blood.  He turned pale.   Loki slid an arm around Mayura's shoulders and pulled her into a comforting embrace.  "Shhh..." he soothed.  "It's all right."
Mayura sobbed harder.  The glass panes of the windows shattered.  Loki held Mayura closer and ducked his head.  "I promise it's all right, Mayura."  After a long moment, Mayura blinked through her tears at Loki, then clung to him and pressed her face to his shoulder.  Slowly, her sobs receded to silent tears.  This was probably fortunate, since it meant that the books that had been flapping through the air dropped to the floor.
Loki rocked Mayura gently in his arms, stroking her hair soothingly.  Mayura continued to cry for a good while, finally pushing away from Loki a little to stare at the room.  "...what happened?"
"Apparently," Loki said a little too calmly, "more happened downstairs than I originally thought."
Yamino had, by this time, emerged from his hiding spot under the couch.  "Loki-sama, that was..."  He looked around, frowning.
"Mayura, I think you had better call your father and tell him you'll be staying here for a while."    
"Why?" asked Mayura, suddenly sounding on the verge of tears again.  
"Because somehow you've gotten my powers, and you'll need to learn how to control them, at least until I can figure out how to undo it."
Mayura pulled away from Loki, still sniffling a little.  "I'll go and call him, and then...I need to take a nap."  She walked off to the kitchen.
Yamino stared after her and collapsed onto one of the couches.  Loki waited until Mayura was gone, then buried his face in his hands with a terrified whimper.
Mayura came back to lean in the doorway.  "He's throwing a fit but I told him what happened and he says it's okay," she reported.  "Loki-ku..."
Yamino hurriedly led Mayura down the hall to a guest bedroom and convinced her that sleep was the best thing for her at the moment.  He walked back to the study and stopped to look at Loki from the doorway.  Loki had not moved, nor responded to Ecchan, who hovered over his head in concern.
"Loki-sama," said Yamino softly.
Loki raised his head after a moment's pause.  "Yamino-kun?"
"Um, will you be alright, Loki-sama?" asked Yamino hesitantly.
"I don't know," Loki answered honestly, voice unsteady.  "Yamino-kun, I can't even See anymore."
Yamino walked over to sit down next to Loki and smiled reassuringly.  "I'm sure we'll be able to get your powers back to you, Loki-sama."
"Assuming I survive that long," Loki said darkly.  "Considering the number of people out for my blood, and the number of others who might just kill me accidentally because they don't stop and listen."
"...we could probably ask Narugami-kun for help," said Yamino.
"I suppose there isn't much choice."
"It can probably wait until Mayura-san wakes up..."
"This is going to be troublesome."
Yamino placed a comforting hand on Loki's shoulder.   Loki heaved a huge sigh.  "I'm going to have to teach Mayura rudimentary spellcraft when I can't even See what she's doing.  I'm going to have to try my best to stay out of the way of everyone else.  And I don't even know what else is going to happen, but I'm sure it's not going to end with this."
Yamino decided not to voice the concern of what might happen if and when Odin found out, since Loki had probably thought of that and if he hadn't Yamino didn't want to bring it up.  He said, "I'm sure we can manage, somehow."
Loki seemed to have recovered his composure by now.  "Aa," he agreed with a sigh.  "How long is it until dinner?"
"A half-hour," replied Yamino.  He rose and headed for the door of the study, then paused.  "Ecchan is staying close to you, if it makes you feel better," he offered.
Loki sighed again.

"Why did I have to come over now?" grumbled Thor to Yamino as they entered Loki's study.  "I just got a new part time job."
"Narukami-kun," Loki greeted from behind his desk.  He sat neatly, his hands folded in front of him on the desk, and was clearly not a child.
Thor jumped and blinked at Loki.  "What happened this time?" he asked, walking over to Loki's desk.
Loki was silent for a long moment, gathering the courage to admit the problem.  "There was an accident with the jaki I've collected, and Mayura has received all of my power," he blurted finally.
"...." said Thor.  He knew that laughing was inappropriate, since this was a serious situation, but... "You're really screwed, aren't you?"
Loki gave Thor a dark look.  "Thank you kindly for your excellent support, Narukami-kun," he said flatly.
Thor sighed.  "Well, I can only do so much to help, you know.  If you want good seals, you know that I'm not the one to go to."
"I'm less worried about Mayura than I am about myself.  Nobody wants Mayura dead just because she exists."
"That I can help you with."
"The worst of it is..."  Loki hesitated.
"Hm?" said Thor, looking curious.
"I've lost any ability to See."
"...maybe you shouldn't go outside until we've figured out how to fix this."
"I have, in fact, considered that."
"It would keep Heimdall from finding out, at least."
"I hope."
Thor leaned against one of the couches.  "Do you have any plan of what you're going to do?"
"Only the most rudimentary ones of training Mayura not to accidentally ruin my walls, books, and windows, while at the same time trying to figure out how to get my power back where it belongs."
"So what's the new goddess of chaos doing now?"
Loki twitched.  "Are you even taking this seriously?"
"I take every new member of the pantheon seriously."
"Mayura is not a new member of the pantheon," Loki growled.
"Then what is she?"
"You realize I will remember this when I get my powers back, don't you?"
Thor rolled his eyes.  "Loki, are you, at the moment, a god?"
"I don't want to discuss this."
"Alright."
Loki really, really, really did not want to think about the concept of not being a god, to be honest, and it showed all over his face.  Thor shrugged.  "It'll be fine.  You'll just have to be careful until we get things fixed."
"I don't know why I let Yamino-kun talk me into confiding in you," Loki muttered.
"Because I'm going to live in your house and make reasonably sure that nothing kills you between now and the time that you pull yourself together."
"...if I promise to pay you for it, will you refrain from taunting me?"
"If you pay me a living wage, sure."
"On the other hand, given your luck with part-time jobs, can I be sure my house will survive if I pay you?"  Loki rested his cheek on his fist.  "My insurance doesn't cover acts of god, after all."
Thor hmphed.  "It's like being back home."
"Without the sex," Loki added dryly.
"Just don't go outside the house alone, and don't go near that one market where Freyr and Heimdall shop.  The rest will take care of itself."
"Which market is that?"
"You know, the one ten or so blocks away that has the snacks they like."
"Oh, that one."
"Yes, that one.  Don't go there."
"I have no reason to."
"Good.  I'll go tell Megane that I'm staying here for a while."  Thor headed out of Loki's study.
Loki sighed and got up.  He was going to take a walk.  The backyard would be safe enough; it wasn't really outside the house, per se.

Twenty minutes later, having exhausted the potential of the backyard and the house, Loki was ill-advisedly wandering the streets without paying any attention to where he was.
Heimdall was, at the moment, in the aforementioned market with Freyr.  "I do not like eggplant," Heimdall muttered sourly, shooting a glare at Freyr.  He was somewhat distracted from his complaint when he noticed Loki walking by.  Loki did not notice Heimdall.  At all.  Of course, he had stopped to look at some of the merchandise absently, which might have had something to do with it.
Heimdall was understandably upset at noticing Loki in kakusei form at all.  However, he did believe in fair play, and so the first bolt of power he sent at Loki was both easy to sense and fairly easy to dodge.  If one could See it coming.
Loki belatedly recalled Thor's advice as he sprawled face-down on the pavement, gasping in pain.  Heimdall frankly stared when the bolt actually hit Loki and hurried to Loki's side.  Once there, he prodded Loki's shoulder with his foot.  "Oi.  What's wrong with you?"
Loki wondered if playing dead would work and did not move.
"I can tell you're still breathing.  Answer my question."
"...damn," Loki muttered into the pavement.  He sat up, wincing in pain, and wiped blood off several small cuts on his face.
Heimdall sighed and leaned towards Loki.  "Brace yourself on my shoulder and come help me stop Freyr from buying eggplants."
Loki leaned away from Heimdall.  "...who are you and what have you done with Heimdall?"
"You're boring when you're helpless.  There's no fun in torturing someone who can't do anything about it."
Loki developed a severe twitch in his left eye.
"Yo, Heimdall!" Freyr called heartily as he came up behind his friend.  "I got fifty-seven eggplants for the price of nine, look!  ...geh...Loki!"  He very nearly dropped his shopping bags. 
"Don't worry, he's impotent," said Heimdall to Freyr.
"I have a potion for that..." Freyr started to say, while Loki sputtered indignantly.            "He has no power," Heimdall rephrased.       
"...uh?" Freyr blinked. 
Loki contemplated shoving a couple of those eggplants up Heimdall's nose and regretfully decided he probably wouldn't be able to manage it.  Impotent, indeed!
"He can't See, he can't fight, he can't summon.  He has no magical power whatsoever."  Heimdall looked amused.
"...he's mortal!?" Freyr squawked loudly.
"Thank you, Freyr, I'm sure no one in all the three realms heard you," Loki said dryly.   "Come on," said Heimdall, offering Loki a hand.  "We have bandages at home."
"No, thank you," Loki declined politely, remaining right where he was.  
"If I were going to kill or torture you, I'd do it on the street.  I'd rather hear about how you managed to do this to yourself."
"No, thank you," Loki repeated more forcefully.
Heimdall shrugged and bound Loki with the Ribbon of Doom™.  "Your choice."
Loki struggled.  Half the problem was that he could not actually see the Ribbon of Doom™, only feel it, so it was pretty much impossible to escape.
"Gullinbrusti," Freyr summoned.  He hung the bags off the pig's ears and lifted the helpless Loki up to sit on its back.  "Okay, now we can go!" the Vanir said cheerfully.
Loki being taken care of, Heimdall turned to the other issue.  "Why are you buying so many eggplants?"
"They were on sale," Freyr said innocently.  Heimdall muttered something unkind.  "And they were out of pumpkins," Freyr continued.
"Remind me why I put up with an idiot like you."
"You'd be lonely without me," Freyr said sulkily.  Heimdall grumbled all the way back to the house.
Gullinbrusti took a course like a drunken bumblebee, finally electing to zip several hundred feet up, at which time Loki stopped trying to roll off the pig and run.
Heimdall seated himself in an armchair when they arrived at the house.  He was still sulking about the eggplants, but he brightened when he remembered that he also had a Loki to question.  Loki wore a distinctly sulky look when Gullinbrusti dumped him on the couch and zipped off to the kitchen after his master.
"Don't feel too bad," Heimdall advised.  "You get to see Freyr inflict his cooking on me."
"Mou, hidoi, Heimdall!" Freyr accused as he returned to the living room.  "Your cooking is no better!"
"I don't make you eat my cooking."
"Fine, you don't have to eat!" Freyr sniffed.
Heimdall rolled his eyes and turned his attention to Loki.  "What happened to you?"
"You know," Loki said thoughtfully, staring at the ceiling, "you two sound like you're married."
"Answer the question."
"And what do you intend to do if I don't?"
"There's always the option of searching your mind myself, but I'm given to understand that that's painful."
"It's really none of your business," Loki said.
"I only ask because power doesn't just disappear; it has to go somewhere.  But you don't have any of yours right now."
"Oh, I know where it is," Loki assured his captor.
"Really?"  Heimdall sounded actively interested now.
"And it's still none of your business."
Heimdall glared at Loki.  Loki glared back.  Heimdall shrugged and reached into Loki's mind.  Loki screamed in agony.  Freyr came running out of the kitchen and smacked Heimdall on the back of the head with a towel.
Heimdall pulled out of Loki's mind and glanced at Freyr.  "He refused to tell me."
"It's not nice to pick on the handicapped!" Freyr retorted sharply.  Loki twitched again, though that might have been in reaction to the pain.
"I found what I was looking for, anyway," said Heimdall.
"Sou ka?  What is it, then?" Freyr demanded eagerly.
"There was an accident, and his power was transferred to that girl."
"...that girl?" Freyr asked.
"You know.  Mayura."
Blank look.
With extreme patience, Heimdall said, "Yamato Nadeshiko."
Stars immediately appeared in Freyr's eyes.  "Yamato Nadeshiko is a goddess!?"
"...buhi," Gullinbrusti said from the doorway.
"A chaos goddess.  An untrained one," pointed out Heimdall.
"Buhi," Gullinbrusti said again.
"I will take her home to Asgard with me!" Freyr wept, hands clasped gleefully and tears of joy streaming down his cheeks.       
There was a pause, then Heimdall turned to Loki.  "So how can I help you get your powers back?"
"....excuse me?" Loki blinked.  "My hearing must be off.  What did you say?"
"Buhi!"
"I want to help you get back to normal," said Heimdall.
Loki gawked in amazement at Heimdall.
"Buhi!" Gullinbrusti insisted violently as black smoke began to pour into the living room.
"...eh..?" Freyr blinked.  "Ehhhhh!?  My dinner is burning!  Ahhhhh!"  He stopped fangirling and ran down the hall into the kitchen.           
Heimdall sighed and closed his eyes.  "I should go help him."
"You do that," Loki encouraged.
"I'll wait until he starts screaming again."
Right about on cue, there was a scream in the kitchen.  Heimdall made a face and headed for the kitchen.
It took almost half an hour to put out the fire, by which time Loki (who had very politely asked Gullinbrusti to let him loose) was gone.
"We'll have to pay Loki a visit tomorrow," mused Heimdall.
"My eggplant parmigana," Freyr mourned. "...eh?  Why?"
"I thought you'd want to see your Yamato Nadeshiko as a goddess."
"Well, of course, but--eh!?  You mean that fiend Loki is--!?"
"I mean that if I were him, I'd be concerned with having a chaos goddess shedding power all over the city and would keep her close."
"He can't have Freya-chan and Yamato Nadeshiko!" Freyr shrieked.  "Gullinbrusti!  Let's go!"
Heimdall gave Freyr a Look.  "Freyr, calm down and help me clean the kitchen and then we can go disrupt the peace at Loki's house."
It was too late.  Freyr and Gullinbrusti were already on their way out.  Through the window.  Heimdall picked up the phone and called Yamino to warn him of the impending Vanir.

Loki had only just made it home (limping badly) when the phone call came in.  He was immediately faced with Mayura, Thor, and Yamino.  Yamino spoke first.  "Freyr is coming to visit."
"...lovely."
Thor growled, "What part of 'don't leave the house alone' is hard to understand?"
At the same time, Mayura said, "Loki-kun is hurt!"   
"If you don't want me to go outside, Narukami-kun, you'll have to find something worthwhile for me to do inside," Loki retorted, leaning against the doorframe tiredly.
Yamino was ushering Loki into the house, so he missed the fact that Thor blinked and glanced at Mayura.  Loki limped to the nearest seat and sat, vowing not to get up again until his leg didn't feel like it was on fire.
Yamino brought everyone tea and announced that dinner would be ready soon.
About that time, the front door blew open--and off its hinges--and Freyr and Gullinbrusti entered.  "Loki!  I won't forgive youuuuu!"
Unfortunately, they overshot the living room and crashed into the kitchen.
"...or maybe not," sighed Yamino.
Just then, a cab pulled up outside.  Heimdall proceeded to get out and walk through the no-longer-front-door.  He immediately said to Thor, "You don't have to defend Loki from me.  I want him to get his powers back."
"....." said Thor.
"You know, right now I think I'd rather just die," Loki said thoughtfully.
"Too bad," retorted Heimdall.
Yamino was already heading over to the kitchen to assess the damage.
"I really, really, really, really hate you, Heimdall."
"I assure you the feeling is mutual."
Freyr sat in the middle of a huge pile of dishes and pots and pans that had, until a moment ago, contained dinner.  He absently wiped a streak of something off his cheek and tasted it.  "Ah...oishii," he noted.
Yamino wilted and came back to the group in the living room.  "Supper won't be for a while..." 
Loki heaved a sigh.  "What did you tell Freyr, Heimdall?"
"I told him that you were probably keeping Mayura close so that you could train her," said Heimdall.
That twitch developed in Loki's left eye again, and he shot an evil glare at the kitchen door.  "Sou ka."
Freyr had decided that since it was, after all, his fault all these pots and pans were on the floor, he would at least chuck them in the sink.  He was making quite a racket doing it, too.
"You know, one of these times, I'm going to have to tell him about the time that Freya snuck out to Bifrost for a week," Loki said thoughtfully.
Yamino rushed back to save his kitchen.  This began with the physical removal of Freyr.  Heimdall shrugged and sat down on one of the couches.  "You can tell him now if you want."
"I didn't invite you here.  Go home."
"If you want my help, you can ask.  Otherwise, I'm just here to take the idiot back home."
"I would rather walk naked through a bramble thicket than ask for your help," Loki retorted as Yamino was finally successful in booting Freyr out of the kitchen.  Freyr made a nice arc, too, and landed on the welcome mat.
"Suit yourself.  Just something to keep in mind; there's nothing keeping her from going to Asgard."  Heimdall wandered out the door, politely requesting of Gullinbrusti assistance in getting Freyr home.
"What did he mean by that?" Mayura asked.  "What's Asgard?"
Gullinbrusti was more than willing to cart his master off; that was, after all, his main function.  He was even willing to let Heimdall hitch a ride.
"Asgard is the world where the gods dwell," Loki said tightly.     
"...why would he point out that I can go there?"
"Because I can't," Loki explained.
"Oh," said Mayura softly.  She frowned and moved to sit next to Loki.  "I just want to give you your powers back," she said.
Loki forced a smile.  "I know."
"...can you teach me something so that the bathroom thing doesn't happen again?"
"...eh...bathroom thing?"
"Yamino-san fixed the pipes very well!"
"...what...happened...to my bathroom?"
"It wasn't an explosion!  Not really!"
"...you blew up my bathroom!?"
"No!  ...maybe a little."
"I don't believe it--you blew up my bathroom!  Mayura!"
Loki was using a teasing tone.  Unfortunately, Mayura was not especially listening to this, and she started to sniffle.  This was followed by Yamino throwing himself from the kitchen, running across the room, getting a fire extinguisher, running back across the room and applying the fire extinguisher to the kitchen sink.
Yamino walked into the living room with a look of tense patience on his face.  "Loki-sama, why did the water coming from the sink just turn to fire?"
Mayura winced.
Loki sighed.  "Mayura," he said gently, "I know you didn't do it on purpose."
Mayura looked cheered at that.  Pastel sparklies appeared around her for anyone with the Sight, and she blinked.  "Ooooh, pretty!"
"...nn?" Loki blinked.
Yamino shook his head, smiled and returned to the kitchen.
Thor grinned.  "She can make her own shoujo sparkles."
"...masaka..." Loki twitched.
"They're pretty, Loki-kun," said Mayura.  "Could Loki-kun make pastel sparklies?"
"No," Loki said a little too quickly.
"Are you sure?" asked Thor.  "I seem to remember them."
"Your memory is defective," Loki said quite firmly.
"No, I don't think so," said Thor.  He turned to Mayura.  "One time Loki got really drunk..."
Mayura leaned forward, eager to hear the story.  "Shut up, Thor!" Loki screeched.
Thor coughed politely.  "Well, at any rate, Loki can generate pastel sparklies."
"No, I can't!"
"Do you want me to tell the rest of the story?"
"Do you want me to tell everyone we know about you and sock-dancing?"
"Do you two always fight like an old married couple?" asked Mayura.
"No, only on special occasions," Loki responded blandly.
"Like on the occasions that Loki-kun sparkles?"
"I do not sparkle."
Mayura smiled at Loki.  It was obvious even to someone without the Sight that she was sparkling.
It was obvious to anyone at all that Loki was feeling sorry for himself, in addition to still being in pain.
Mayura blinked, got up, and hurried upstairs.  She returned a few moments later with bandages and antiseptic, which she applied to his face.  "Ow!" Loki yelped at the antiseptic sting.
"Hold still," said Mayura as she put the bandages on Loki's face.  She produced a bottle of aspirin.  "Do you know how to swallow pills?"
Loki eyed the aspirin.  "...no," he admitted.
Mayura set the bottle of aspirin down and went to go get a glass of water.  She offered the glass to Loki.
"...what's this for?" Loki wanted to know.
"Most people find swallowing pills with a liquid easier than dry swallowing," replied Mayura.
"...oh."            Mayura handed Loki two pills.  "You just...swallow them."  She shrugged helplessly.
Loki eyed the pills again, then shrugged and tossed them in his mouth.  They went right down, and then he sipped the water.  Mayura face-faulted.  Thor pointedly did not comment.
"...that's it?" Loki questioned.
Thor spoke directly to Mayura.  "No, you don't want to know."
"Well it's not like they were very big or anything," Loki shrugged.
"No, I don't," agreed Mayura.
"...what?"
"Nothing," said Thor and Mayura in unison.
Loki sighed.  "I'm going to bed," he announced.
"The pills should help with the pain," Mayura said.
"Is that what they were for?"
"...yes."  Mayura gave Loki a Look.  "What if I'd said no, that they were poisonous to humans?"
"I might have believed you because I watch TV."
"You don't watch TV; it disturbs you."
"Exactly."
"...do you need help getting into bed?"
"No, I think I should be able to manage that much on my own," Loki said.  He was proud of the fact that there was only a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
Mayura gave Loki a motherly look.  "I only asked because I wasn't sure if you needed help with your leg the way it is."
"I'm not that badly handicapped," Loki said sulkily.
"...you're not handicapped at all; your leg is hurt."
Loki muttered to himself in Old Norse as he limped up the stairs.
Yamino stuck his head out of the kitchen.  "You warned him about the pillows, didn't you?"
Mayura turned pale and ran up the stairs after Loki.  "Loki-kuuuuuuuuuuun!"
"E-yoooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwww!" Loki screeched.  Mayura winced and ran to see what the damage was.
The ex-trickster god would not be sitting down for a while.
Mayura pried the carnivorous pillow off of Loki's bottom and lead him to the room where she was staying (which was conspicuously devoid of pillows).  "I'm sorry, I forgot to warn you..."
"This has got to have been the absolute worst day I have ever had," Loki growled.
"I don't even know why the pillows like the taste of human flesh now!"
"We'll figure it out tomorrow," Loki sighed, rubbing absently at his temples.  The aspirin was not, in fact, making much of a dent in the headache Heimdall had given him.
"You can sleep in my bed."
"Thank you," Loki mumbled, climbing into the bed and collapsing on his stomach.
Mayura touched the bloody area on Loki's pants.  "We should do something about this..."
"...ow!"
"Take your pants off," said Mayura.  Her words suddenly registered in her mind, and she blushed a dark red.
"...no, no, I don't think that would be a good idea at all," Loki denied.
"Someone needs to bandage, uh...that...wound..."  Mayura was stumbling over her words now.  "I could get Yamino-kun..."
"Please," Loki agreed.
Mayura ran out of the room, still blushing a dark shade of red.  Loki rather painfully managed to remove his damaged trousers before laying back down.  On his stomach, of course.
Yamino came up and cleaned and dressed Loki's wounds in roughly five seconds, then wrapped Loki in a blanket and carried him outside.  "......" Loki said, sweat-dropping.  "...Yamino-kun, what's going on now?"
"I'm sorry!" wailed Mayura.
"The doors are all disappearing, Loki-sama," replied Yamino.  "It was easier than climbing out the window would have been."
"....disappearing?"
"Turning into wall," explained Thor.
Loki was visibly startled.  "I don't think I ever tried that one," he said.
"You did when you were hiding from...I don't remember who," said Thor.
"Oh.  Well.  Yamino-kun, did you remember to grab Fenrir and Ecchan?"
"They're out here, Loki-sama."  Yamino gestured to both of them.
"Loki-kun, how can I undo this?" asked Mayura.
"It would be easier to tell you if I could See what you'd done in the first place," Loki sighed.
"Let's see...the pillows were black puffs of inverted smoke, the bathroom was fire, the sink was fire, the doors were white fog..."
Loki considered for a moment, sifting through bits of knowledge that floated around in his head and usually he didn't have to actually think about.  "You summoned imps into the pillows.  The bathroom and the sink were elemental and you can't undo that.  The doors..."  He trailed off with a frown.
"...the doors are still there in the fog," offered Mayura.
Loki's expression cleared.  "It's just illusions, then."
"How do I fix it?" Mayura asked again.
"Make the fog go away."
Mayura closed her eyes.  The doors reappeared and several windows broke.
"...what happened to the windows?" Loki wanted to know.
"...a side effect from the wind that blew the fog away?"
"Wind?"
"...yeah."
"There's nothing wrong with that," Loki assured Mayura.  "It's just that to me, it looks like the fog compacts itself into a little ball and then right out of existence."
"...I'm sorry about the pillows," said Mayura.
"That," Loki grimaced, "is going to be a real mess to clean up."
"Why?" asked Mayura.
"Because you summoned the imps accidentally, there are no restraints on them," Loki explained as he finished folding the blanket around him in a toga-like fashion.  "We'll have to send each one home individually.  We'll be finding biting pillows for weeks."
Mayura wilted.  "...most of the pillows are in your room."
"....geh....my room??"  Loki shot an accusing glare at his youngest son.
"...well, we needed to lock them in somewhere," said Mayura reasonably.
Yamino edged away.  "I'm sorry, Loki-sama..."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe we have several small rooms with sturdy doors known as storage closets."
"But the pillows were already in your room because of the, uh, nevermind," said Mayura.  She very quickly began heading for the house.
"Because of the what?" Loki demanded, limping after Mayura.
"Nothing!  Absolutely nothing!"
"Don't give me that!  What else happened?!"
"...well, I sort of got locked in your bedroom."
"...."
"It was an accident!"
"And then what happened?" Loki demanded suspiciously.
"Nothing whatsoever."
"You are very bad at lying, Mayura, and I'm very good at not being lied to.  I've raised children.  Spit it out."
"No," said Mayura flatly.  "It's embarrassing and the traces of it are gone and I'm not telling you."
"Then how did the pillows get into my room?"
"It was...well, I think they ended up being in there because of…texture thing."
"...texture thing?"
"I'm not expanding on that."
"You know, I'm going to find out about this some day."
"Not from me."
"Even so."
"Shouldn't you be trying to not upset me?"
"It would hardly be the first time my insatiable curiosity has gotten me into trouble."

To Be Continued...