Daidouji Mayura: Chaos Goddess

by Yashahime

Mayura, a goddess? How did THAT happen? See for yourself!

5. Chapter 5: Friends

Daidouji Mayura: Chaos Goddess
Chapter 5:  Friends
By Lady Crysiana and Yasha-hime

Heimdall was almost bouncy, which would have been less unnerving had he not also been in a pink sweater and matching poodle skirt with bobby socks and saddle shoes.  He was walking down the street and generally not paying attention to the world around him.
Hel was not impressed by the poodle skirt or the saddle shoes.  The sweater, though, she thought, was really quite pretty, and she wondered where he had gotten it as she trailed along unobtrusively, clutching a couple of new books to her chest.  The fact that she never took her eyes off of Heimdall unnerved a lot of people she passed, and nobody got between them.
Heimdall did, eventually, notice that Hel was following him.  The fact that he could feel her aura across town and could feel it infinitely better while being followed even at a distance probably helped in this.  Hel continued to scare people as she got a few steps closer to Heimdall and followed him for several blocks at that distance.
Heimdall decided that going home might help things.  He did not want to ask why Loki's daughter was following him, mostly because he'd seen her while she was in training and if it was to fight, he'd feel safer with some space and several circles of protection between them.
Hel followed Heimdall home, pressing her lips against her books.  Heimdall got into the house, shut and locked the door, and was very grateful that the curtains were almost invariably shut already.
Hel settled down to wait.
"Heimdall, you're back so early?" Freyr blinked, watching his soaps in the living room.  "'Beauty and Sin' isn't on yet..."
"Loki's daughter is stalking me."
"....Hel...is what!?"
Heimdall sighed and hoped that Freyr would not immediately go out and challenge Hel.  "Following me everywhere.  Stalking me."
Freyr had already abandoned his popcorn bowl (Gullinbrusti was thrilled) and was headed for the front door.  Thirty seconds later, there was a loud explosion, a flash of light, and a Freyr strung up in a sparkly spider's web.
Ten minutes later, a very irate Loki was calling Heimdall's house.
"Yes?" said Heimdall coolly.
"Hel," Loki said grimly, "is crying.  Would you mind telling me why?"
"She followed me all around town and I made the mistake of mentioning it to Freyr," Heimdall explained.
"And?" Loki prompted awfully.
"Freyr went outside, there was an explosion and a flash of light and now he's hanging from one of her spider webs," said Heimdall.
"I'm going to want to discuss this with him," Loki responded, still in full Father Mode.
"Will you please ask your daughter why she felt the need to follow ten feet behind me all through town at some point?"
"Let me talk to Freyr.  Now."
Heimdall sighed and decided it was well enough that he had a portable phone.  He went outside and held it up to Freyr.  "It's Loki."
That discussion took about ten or twenty minutes and involved a lot of shouted accusations back and forth.  The only reason it ended so soon was that Gullinbrusti chewed through the phone line and rescued his master.  Heimdall sighed and began seeing what he could do to undo the binding spell on Freyr.
Hel's spells were as tangled as her mind; Freyr was going to be stuck for a while.
After about an hour, Heimdall blinked.  "'Beauty and Sin' is on!"  He dashed into the house, leaving Freyr still stuck in the web.
"Ahhhh!  Tape it!  Tape it!" Freyr shrieked after him.

Heimdall walked through town aimlessly.  He looked up and thought that he should probably set up a tent over Freyr before the black, threatening clouds actually dumped rain all over everything.
Hel walked out of a shop ahead of Heimdall.  As usual, she clutched a book close to her chest; she also carried a plastic shopping bag in one hand.  She didn't immediately notice Heimdall as she turned to look at her brother.
Before Yamino could say anything, Heimdall stalked up to Hel.  "Why were you following me?"
Hel backed up instinctively, right into her brother.  Most people reacted that way to an irate--or even slightly annoyed--Heimdall.  Heimdall crossed his arms.  He noted the venomous glare that Yamino sent him and gave Yamino a flat look.  "You are nowhere as impressive as your father, and I only asked her a question."
The wide-eyed and not-quite-tearful Hel stammered out something of which only the word 'friends' was clearly audible.
"...I will be more inclined to be your friend when you let my boyfriend down from the web you have him in."
"He tried to cast a spell on me!" Hel responded indignantly.
Heimdall rubbed at his temples.  "He's like that sometimes."
"And he touched me," Hel added darkly, in a tone that indicated Freyr was lucky a binding spell was all she'd thrown at him.
"He thought you were stalking me," Heimdall pointed out.  "And it's Freyr; what did you expect?"
Hel didn't seem to see the point of that--but then, she had only met Freyr about six times in her entire life, given her banishment to Nifelheim.  Yamino coughed.  "Freyr is not the most sensible of people," he explained.  Hel blinked up at her brother expressionlessly, which meant she was saving that comment for future analysis.
"In any case," said Heimdall, "come and let him down and watch soaps with us."  He looked at Yamino.  "You're not invited."
Hel handed her bag to Yamino.  "Okay," she agreed immediately.  "...what are soaps?"
"You'll see."  Heimdall headed off down the street, not waiting to see if Hel was following.
Hel, of course, did follow, since she wanted to be friends with Heimdall.  She took the precaution of preparing several of her strongest spells, though, just in case.  Heimdall turned to glance at Hel.  "Don't worry about anything.  Freyr's pretty harmless."
Hel did not release her spells.  She's been lulled into trusting easily once; she wasn't going to do it again.
Heimdall eyed Freyr when they arrived at the house.  "Tadaima."
Freyr lifted his lolling head.  "Okae--what is she doing here!?"
"She's going to let you down and we're all going to watch soap operas together.  If you attack her, you get no sex for a month."
Freyr promised to be good.  Very, very, very good, in fact.
"He should be okay," Heimdall said to Hel.
Hel reluctantly released Freyr from the spiderweb.  Personally, she thought it was kind of nice as an art statement to keep him up there, but...
"Come on inside," said Heimdall, heading into the house.  Freyr glared at Hel sulkily and Hel held up a spell in one hand.  "Children," said Heimdall warningly in a tone to match Loki's.
Freyr sulked into the house.  Hel took her spells back into herself and followed him in slowly, looking around curiously at Heimdall's house.
Heimdall retrieved the last of the popcorn, made up a bowl, and sat everyone down on the couch to watch the current soap opera.  (Which, incidentally, was not "Beauty and Sin," which was coming on next.)
Hel did not partake of the popcorn, but she found the soap operas absolutely entrancing.  Especially 'Beauty and Sin.'
Around eleven PM, Heimdall started wondering why Loki hadn't come looking for his daughter yet.  This probably only happened because they had to break in the 'Beauty and Sin' marathon.
Loki kicked the door open.  Literally.  It had taken him several hours to get out of the binding spell (again), and he was armed with a large metal bat in place of Laevatin.  "Heimdall!"
"Shhhhhhh!  This is the best part of the episode," grumbled Heimdall.
Loki twitched violently, and the only thing that kept the TV intact was the fact that his daughter trapped him in a spider web with a frown.  Her irate father made as much angry noise as he could with his mouth bound shut.
At the end of the episode (which was fortunately also the end of the tape) Heimdall turned to Loki.  "Gullinbrusti chewed through the phone cord."
"Mrf!" Loki growled.
"She was perfectly safe."
Whatever it was Loki said then, it wasn't nice.
Heimdall turned to Hel.  "Can you at least take the gag off?"
"You won't like what he says," Hel pointed out.
"It'll make him feel better."
Hel released her father from the spell.  Large amounts of property damage occurred.
Afterwards, Heimdall sat on the remains of the couch.  "That was interesting."
Freyr, who was seated on the floor typing an IM to Yamino (who happened to be a Net buddy through eBay), agreed.  "Are you sure you don't have a concussion, Gullinbrusti?" he queried anxiously.
"Otousama does," Hel volunteered as she sat on her unconscious father's back.

KaitouFrei: Come and get your dad, he just wrecked our living room.  Wanna go to the furniture outlets tomorrow?
MasterChefYamino: There's a sale at the Insane Gadgets store; we'll have to bring a truck.  And we'll be right over.

"At least the tapes are alright," commented Heimdall.

KaitouFrei: You might wanna bring a change of clothes for your sister, she got tea and beer all over her dress.  If we're going to that store, I probably ought to not tell Heimdall we're going and sneak out.

"Sou desu ne," Hel agreed, sipping some tea with complete disregard for her lack of a cup and liquid-stained clothing.

MasterChefYamino: Mayura-san is getting some clothes for her.  And if you're going to sneak out, remember what happened with the chimney last time.

"Will Loki be alright?  That was a heavy blow to the head," said Heimdall, sounding utterly disinterested.

KaitouFrei:  I'll get up real early and use the front door.  I wouldn't want to miss the sale!

Freyr continued tapping away at his keyboard.  "It's not that bad," he commented.  "Loki has a hard head."

MasterChefYamino: Mayura wants to know if she can come with us and says to say hello to Heimdall.
KaitouFrei:  Just don't bring Fenrir, he bit me last time.

"Like some other people here," said Heimdall dryly.  "You do know that I can see what you're typing, of course."

MasterChefYamino: I'm sure Niisan will be happier staying home.  There's no food involved.

"...."  Freyr looked up with a half-fearful expression and closed his laptop on his fingers.
"You are not shopping for furniture at that store with Loki's keeper."
"Insane Gadgets doesn't sell furniture!"
"Then you aren't going there at all."
"But I have a Frequent Shopper card!" Freyr whined, opening the laptop up again.

KaitouFrei:  Busted, dammit! .

"I see," said Heimdall darkly.  "Remind me then, if you do, why you insist on buying cheap food, if you obviously have the money to buy trinkets."
"I only buy bargains!"

MasterChefYamino: Well...tell him that there's a furniture store next to Insane Gadgets?

Heimdall gave Freyr a Look.  "Right."

KaitouFrei:  He's going on about the food thing now.  I'm in it up to my neck.  See you when you get here--ja.

"Seriously!  Insane Gadgets is a factory outlet store!"
"You do know that I can still see what you type, I'm sure," said Heimdall.
Freyr shut the laptop down completely and shoved it under the TV.  Heimdall sighed and turned to Hel.  "He's as bad as your brother."
"Sou desu ne," Hel agreed again.
Heimdall turned back to Freyr.  "We're going furniture shopping tomorrow.  We are not shopping for useless junk."
"Gadgets are not useless junk!  And anyway, I was going to use Loki's credit card number, like I always do."
"Oh.  Well, then, we can go to the gadget store for a while, but we're still getting furniture."
"Of course!"
Heimdall looked around.  "And wallpaper."
"I want to come, too," Hel said.
"I think we'll have to ask your father first.  At your house."
Hel gave Heimdall a look that suggested her father wasn't going to be an issue regardless.
Heimdall sighed.  "Well, can we at least pretend to ask him so he sputters when you go anyway?"
"Okay."
There was a knock on the door.  Considering that the door was in the middle of the yard, this was somewhat amusing.
"Oniisan?" Hel questioned.
Yamino and Mayura walked into the house.  "...he broke through the binding spell," Mayura explained as she looked around at the remains of the room.
"Fenrir-oniisan probably chewed through it, I bet," Hel commented.
Yamino offered a hand to Hel.  "We brought you some clothes to change into," he said.
"Arigatou," Hel said, taking the clothes and locking herself into the bathroom to change.
Mayura and Yamino knelt next to Loki and Mayura helped Yamino haul Loki onto his back.  "Sorry he was so much trouble," said Mayura.
Loki was still out cold.  Freyr rubbed the back of his head and said, "Well, at least he's concerned about his daughter...what's that ring you're wearing, Yamato Nadeshiko?"
Mayura hid her hand behind her back.  "...ring?"
"That opal ring on your left hand," Freyr agreed.
"Oh, that's just...um..."  Mayura stared at the floor.  "Loki and I kinda got engaged."
Yamino nearly dropped Loki.  Freyr toppled over sideways, and Hel came out of the bathroom, her dirty clothes wrapped up in a neat little bundle, and said, "It's about time you told us."
Mayura blushed.  "He said he wanted to throw an actual party."
"So Loki's getting married again, hm?" said Heimdall mildly.
Mayura stared at Heimdall.  "............again?"
"Otousama and Okaasama divorced centuries ago," Hel said placidly.
"He didn't say he was married before..."
"A lot of things tend to slip Loki's mind when it's inconvenient," Freyr muttered uncharitably.
"I'm sure he'll have a very good explanation," said Heimdall cheerfully.
"Mayura-san, we should go..." said Yamino hesitantly.
"It's dark," Hel noticed finally.  "If we're going to go shopping tomorrow, we should sleep."
Mayura nodded, glancing sideways at Loki.  "Let's go home."
"Heimdall, do you think we should fix the door or something?" Freyr asked, watching Loki and his family about half a block away.
"Tomorrow.  Just prop it up for tonight," said Heimdall with a sigh.

It was almost 8:30 the next morning before Loki stirred and opened his eyes with a groan.  Yamino noticed through Loki's bedroom door and brought him some tea.  "Good morning, Loki-sama.  Mayura-san is upset with you again."
"...what for this time?" Loki asked, sitting up and holding his aching head in his hands.
"For not telling her about Okaasama."
"..."  Loki sighed and got up.  And just as promptly sat back down.
"You had a pretty bad concussion, Loki-sama," said Yamino, sounding concerned.
"This is one of those things that's really inconvenient about being mortal, isn't it."
"Mayura-san says so."
"...I think I like it less than sunburn, if that's possible."
"Mayura-san also said that this reminded her that you shouldn't drink alcohol, if you were thinking of it," said Yamino.
"Gods are not spared hangovers," Loki said dryly.
"I told her that, Loki-sama, and she asked for stories."
"Did you tell her any?"
"I said that I didn't feel right doing so," said Yamino.  "...but she was going to talk to Neesan."
"Hand me my pants," Loki said immediately.  Yamino did so.

Hel was seated in the dining room, reading her book, when Mayura came in.  She looked up with the tiny not-quite-smile she wore when she was pleased to see someone.
"Yamino-kun says that gods get drunk but he won't tell me any stories about your father," said Mayura.
"Otousama sparkles when he gets drunk," Hel said after a moment's thought.
"Eh?  He said he didn't remember ever sparkling."
"He told Okaasama that, too," Hel recalled, "when Oniisan wanted to know if she could sparkle like Otousama."
"...what happens when he sparkles?"
"When he took us to visit in Asgard, he started an orgy," Hel revealed.
".........." said Mayura.
"And he wore a very pretty dress."
"...what color was it?"
"It was pink," Hel recalled, marking her page and closing her book.  "He took it from Frigg-sama.  I was supposed to stay in her bower, but after Otousama took the dress I followed him.  I watched it all from under Odin-sama's chair."
"And there was an orgy," said Mayura, very much in the tone of someone trying to comprehend something without their brain breaking and failing.
"Well, there usually was when everyone got drunk," Hel shrugged.  "It's why I was supposed to stay in the bower.  I was only six, too young for it."
"...were you safe under the chair?"
"I got stepped on twice, but nobody found me," Hel said.  "Frigg-sama kept a closer eye on me after that, though."
"You're Loki's child.  I'm surprised she didn't expect you to go," commented Mayura.
"Fenrir-oniisan was chewing on her shoes," Hel explained.  "And Midgardsormr-oniisan crawled up her skirt to hide."
"Oh.  ...what did Loki-kun do when he found out you went?" Mayura asked.
Hel shrugged.  "Nothing," she admitted.  "Frigg-sama had already switched me, anyway."
"Sou ka..."
"Besides, he was busy being sick until Odin-sama called us."
"...oh."
"And that was the last time I saw Otousama until I came here," Hel finished.
"Why?  What happened?" asked Mayura.
"Odin-sama sent me to Nifelheim to be the Queen of the Dead, and Midgardsormr-oniisan to the bottom of the sea in Midgard, and Fenrir-oniisan he chained up in Asgard."
Mayura was taken aback, and she just stared at Hel for a long moment.  "How could he do that to you?" she finally asked in a hushed voice.
"Odin is afraid of Ragnarok," Loki's voice broke in.  He was dressed, more or less, in jeans and a v-neck white sweater, and barefoot.  He was also leaning heavily against the wall, and his hair was even less brushed than usual.
Mayura looked over at Loki.  "Ragunaroku?"
"It's a Norse word," Loki explained, making his way one slow, careful step at a time to the table.  "It means ending, destruction...rebirth.  Most of the gods and most of mankind will die, and only a handful will survive to return life to the nine worlds."
"But...why would being afraid of that make Odin do all of that?"  Mayura rose to support Loki over to the table.
Loki closed his eyes and leaned against Mayura; the world stopped spinning so badly when he did.  "There are prophecies that say I and my children will bring about Ragnarok," he explained.  "Very old, very stupid prophecies."
Mayura helped Loki into a chair.  "Mou, what kind of moron would think that making you feel like all your old friends hate you would make that less likely?"
"Moron is a good word for Odin at times," Loki said dryly.  "He has so much wisdom at his fingertips because he never uses any of it and hoards it like a dragon's treasure."
"...wait, so the reason Kazumi-kun came here to kill you is that?"
Loki hesitated.  "Not exactly.  Or rather, not directly."
"...well, it was also because of his eye, right?"  Asked Mayura.  She frowned.  "But..."
"Odin is the one who sent me to take his eye," Loki reminded.  "Rather than taking it himself.  Because if he had, Heimdall would have given it to him freely.  The only reason I can think of for him to send me...is to cause even more bitterness between us."
Mayura wrapped her arms around Loki's shoulders.  "So he might have been planning this?"
"I think he must have been."
Mayura pressed a kiss to Loki's temple.
"I could almost be grateful to him, sometimes," Loki said after a pause.
"Eh?"
"If he had never sent me here, I would never have known you," the ex-god said with a soft smile.
"Oh," Mayura breathed softly.
"You might," Hel said, turning a page in her book, "even still be married to Okaasama."
"That's right," said Mayura.  "You didn't tell me you were married before," she said accusingly.
Loki gave his daughter a sour look.  "Mayura, it was almost twenty-two hundred years ago," he tried.
Mayura crossed her arms.  "You were married before."
"Twenty-two hundred years ago!" Loki repeated.  "I don't even know where Angorboda is anymore!"
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I haven't even thought about Angorboda in centuries!"
"...Even when you see the children you had with her?"
"Yes, even then," Loki said patiently.  "I think of them as my children, not Angorboda's children."
"I see."
"Considering that as far as I know she never even tried to see any of them after she divorced me, I don't see why you think that's a problem."
"It's just...there's a lot about you I don't know."
"Mayura," Loki said softly, "we're more or less even on that field."
Mayura sat and blinked at Loki.  "Eh?"
"All I know about you is what I've learned in the time we've known each other.  I'm neither omnipotent nor omniscient.  I've never been able to read your mind--believe me, there were times when I wished I could!  The only difference between us is that I've lived a few more years than you have."
"I guess so..."
"Besides," Loki said in a teasing tone, "I thought you liked mysteries."
"Yeah, but the more I find out about you, the more there are!  ...like sparkling orgies."
"......"  Loki glared at his daughter, who was smirking into her book.  "I should turn you over my knee, Hel, and spank you until you can't sit down."
Mayura smiled.  "Are you coordinated enough to do that right now, Loki-kun?"
"And you, as well," Loki retorted snippily.
"That seems more like something Kazumi-kun would do, from what I've heard of him," said Mayura blandly.
"If Heimdall ever spanks you," Loki said with saccharine sweetness, "I will personally remove all future possibilities for him and Freyr to enjoy each other."
"Otousama will not touch Hel's friends," his daughter said icily, looking up.
"Kazumi-kun is only interested in Kaitou-san anyway," Mayura pointed out.
"Hel, go to your room," Loki ordered firmly.  "You are not allowed to threaten your father.  You know that."
Hel sulkily got up and stomped up to her room, where she slammed her door loudly.
"How's your head?" Mayura asked after a moment.
"Somewhat better," Loki allowed.  "The room isn't spinning quite as much."
"Are you sure you should be up?"
"No," Loki said wryly, "but I am anyway."
Mayura stood and offered Loki a hand.  "You're going back to bed."  Loki started to protest, but before he got a full word out, the front doorbell rang a dozen times.
Yamino hurried to answer the door.  "Freyr-san!  ...Heimdall..."
"I tried to sneak out, but he slept on top of me," Freyr said mournfully.
"Because I knew you were going to try to sneak out," retorted Heimdall.
"You have boring taste in furniture," Freyr complained.
"I prefer to think of it as 'sane,'" said Heimdall.
"Oh," Loki said weakly as Mayura herded him past the door.  "The Fruit Patrol is here."
"We're here to take your keeper and your fiancée furniture shopping and your daughter home to watch dramas," Heimdall informed him.
Loki was feeling poorly enough not to argue.  "Fine, go ahead.  Take the dog, too, if you want."
"Daddy!" Fenrir protested with a wounded look.
Despite not hearing exactly what Fenrir said, Loki got the message.  "Sorry, Fenrir.  I'm just not feeling very good today.  Please go with them."
"But we can't leave you alone in the house like this!" Mayura protested.
"Why not?" Loki questioned.  "I'm going to take a nap on the couch until you get back."
"You don't leave people who have concussions alone."
"I'll be fine," Loki protested.
"If that's all that's bothering you, Yamato Nadeshiko, I can fix it," Freyr offered.
"No!  No," Loki said, backing up several steps.  "The cure is worse than the disease when it's your cures."
"...well...I suppose leaving you to your own devices for a little while couldn't hurt," said Mayura doubtfully.
Heimdall muttered something about the inadvisability of ever leaving Loki to his own devices.
"Did anyone ask you?" Loki snapped.
"Otousama should take medicine," Hel said from the top of the stairs.  She had changed her clothes, wearing an outfit more similar to one Mayura had worn two days before (as in, identical except for the color), and for once she didn't have a book in her arms.
"Why?" asked Yamino, sounding puzzled.
"Because it won't be fun to shop if Mayura-okaasama is worried," Hel explained.
"Geh," said Mayura.
Freyr was already busy brewing something that looked vile and smelled worse.  Gullinbrusti, it seemed, came equipped with a Bunsen burner and a selection of glass flasks.  Where Freyr was getting the ingredients it might be best not to ask.
"Do you have helmets?" Heimdall asked Yamino.
"........" said Yamino.
"I'm serious."
"........." said Yamino, again.
"Almost ready," Freyr said cheerfully.
"I am not drinking that," Loki said flatly.
Mayura looked doubtful.  "...will that really make Loki-kun feel better?" she asked.
"No," Loki said.
"Of course!" Freyr said at the same time.  "It's the same one I gave Thor all the time when he was younger."
Mayura looked to Heimdall, who smiled.  "I'm not getting blamed for this one.  It's up to you whether you badger him to take it or not."
"Well..."  Mayura glanced at Loki.  "If it would make you feel better..."
"It won't," Loki predicted.
"Otousama will take the medicine," Hel said confidently.  "He can't run fast enough to escape right now."
"Try it, Loki-kun?" Mayura implored.
"Do I look crazy to you?"
Freyr started to chuckle evilly.
"No," said Mayura, "You look like you have a concussion.  And really attractive."
"Flattery will get you nowhere right now," Loki retorted.  "I'm not particularly capable at the moment."
"It's ready!" Freyr announced in an evil scientist voice.
"Oh," said Mayura sounding disappointed.  "Even if I scandalize Kaitou-san and say 'especially when you're naked'?"
"You might find it painful when my aim was off," Loki said crudely.
"...." said Freyr.
Heimdall coughed and looked to Hel.  "Do you want to completely immobilize your father to make this easier or should I?"  Hel blinked.  Heimdall sighed, set up a protection around himself, then tossed a binding spell around Loki.
It took Freyr almost five minutes to pry Loki's jaws apart and pour the potion down his throat.  "...you're really not feeling well, are you?" Freyr noted at this.
That was when the Technicolor show started, and everyone got to watch Loki turn six or eight different colors before his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell limply to the floor--still bound, one might add.
Heimdall removed the bindings.  "He should feel better soon," he noted.
"...at least he didn't hit his head on the coffee table on the way down," said Mayura finally.
"Dump him on the couch and let him sleep until we get back," Freyr suggested.  "He'll be in a better mood then."
Yamino got Loki onto the couch after a few moments.
"Are you sure he'll be okay?" said Mayura for the fiftieth time in those few moments.
"Absolutely," Freyr assured her.  "He'll wake up in about half an hour, probably throw up, curse at me for a while, and then be right back to normal."  Freyr spoke from many, many, many years of experience dealing with people recovering from his potions.
"...Shopping will take more than a half-hour, right?"
"All day," Freyr said happily.
"Yay!" said Mayura.  She promptly hurried past Heimdall out the door.  Heimdall dashed after her.  "You don't even know where we're going..."

Hel noticed a strange aura around Heimdall, and found it odd enough (for anyone else, it would have been alarm) to reach out and tug on his sleeve lightly.  Heimdall turned to her.  "What is it?" he said, with less annoyance then he turned on most people.
Hel blinked in surprise as she realized she was actually looking down at Heimdall.  "..." she said.
Heimdall belatedly realized that he was looking up at Hel.  "...the Norns," he said flatly.  "...am I still in a dress?"
Hel shook her head no and pointed at a nearby freestanding mirror.
Heimdall looked in the mirror.  He managed, with not a little force of will, to keep from screaming.  "...you know," he said in an eerily calm voice, "I can't wait until the Norns come back to Tokyo."
"H...Heimdall," Freyr said in a choked voice, having turned away from a discussion with Yamino and Mayura about a couch.
Heimdall was, at the moment, wearing a wide-brimmed, stiff white hat with crosses on the brim and two feathers coming out of it.  That was the most noticeable thing.  The oversized red coat (with cuffs to match the hat) had a bow that put Loki's to shame, held by a red brooch.  And then there were the black boots and presumably pants (it was hard to see under the coat.)  ...and the gloves and the epaulets.  The glasses, however, seemed an unnecessary addition.  As did the cloak.
"....kawaiiiiiiiiiii!" Freyr shrieked, glomping Heimdall.
"...death is far, far too good for the Norns," muttered Heimdall.
Freyr was so enthusiastic in his glomping that he actually picked Heimdall right up and squeezed him a la Elmyra.
"It's cute," Hel said when she was absolutely sure she wouldn't laugh.  Yamino managed to cough rather than laugh.  Considering that Heimdall was struggling to breathe, he was fairly safe at any rate.
"What happened to Kazumi-kun?" Mayura asked.
"He shrank," Hel said solemnly.
"The Norns returned me to my sealed state," Heimdall explained once he could breathe somewhat.  "...and changed my clothes," he added darkly.
Freyr rubbed his cheek against the back of Heimdall's shoulders, beaming.
"...I bet they left me with only dresses in the closet," muttered Heimdall.  "Dresses that fit my kakusei form."
"More shopping?" Hel asked.
"Once Freyr puts me down," said Heimdall.
"Oh, yeah, we found you a couch!" said Mayura brightly.
"It's a nice couch," Freyr confided, still holding onto Heimdall.  "Good for..."  He trailed off and abruptly dropped Heimdall in horror.
Heimdall sighed.  "You know, I'm sure this day could get worse.  Much, much worse.  However, if it does, I will not be responsible for any innocent bystanders."

Freyr and Heimdall went straight home from the outlets, to await their furniture and plot the demise of the Norns.  Mayura was surprised Yamino hadn't actually bought anything, but was cheerful enough on the way home.  She walked through the front door in front of Yamino and stopped dead.
Loki was in the arms of a strange man.  ...that is to say, the strange man had Loki's hands pinned behind his back, and held his head by the hair and was kissing him.  A very undressed Loki, at that; the ragged remains of his clothes were tossed carelessly on the floor.
"Odin," breathed Yamino.  His tone was caught between fury and horror.
Mayura was simply staring, uncomprehendingly.
Hel blinked at Odin for a moment, then crossed the room toward him, a bright smile on her face.
Odin dropped Loki and backed away from Hel warily, as anyone even slightly sane would do.
Hel reached up and curled her fingers around Odin's right eye, which didn't match his left.  Odin jerked back and faded out of existence--but not before Hel ripped the eye loose.
Loki knelt on the floor, arms wrapped around himself, staring at the carpet.  Mayura ran over to kneel next to Loki and hold him close.
Hel licked at the blood on her fingers thoughtfully.  This eye didn't match the other one, but it looked familiar.
It took her a moment to think that it didn't match Odin's left eye, but it did match Heimdall's.  The bright smile returned, and she skipped out of the house merrily.
Loki shuddered away from being touched.  Yamino stared after Hel for a moment before getting a blanket and settling it around Loki.  Mayura now sat next to Loki, though not close enough to touch.
"I had thought that was over with," Loki said several minutes later, in an oddly steady voice.
Mayura reached out to touch Loki, then drew back.  "I shouldn't have left you alone," she sighed.
"What do you think you could have done if you had been here?"
"...I don't know but..."
"It's easier just to let him have what he wants.  It hurts less, and then he leaves me alone for a while."
There was a pause.  "...you lived like that?  Just...with him..."
Loki shrugged.  "It's the way it was.  Still is, apparently."
"...can I...can I hug you?"
Loki leaned against Mayura, burying his face in her shoulder and wrapping one slightly-shaky arm around her waist.  Mayura wrapped her arms around Loki.  She petted his hair gently.
Loki was silent for a long moment.  "I wish he'd make up his mind."

Hel cupped the eye carefully in her still-bloody palm as she trotted down the street.  The police didn't bother her; they were too afraid.  She stopped, finally, at Heimdall's door and rang the bell.
Heimdall opened the door.  "Oh, Hel.  I didn't expect you by again.  ...why is your hand bloody?"
Hel smiled as brightly at Heimdall as she had at Odin, even as she grabbed him by the hair and shoved the eye into his empty eye socket.  "It does match," she noted.
Heimdall shrieked and clutched at his eye.  Freyr came running.  "Heimdall!"  He fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around Heimdall protectively.  "What did you do to him!?"
Heimdall took a few shaky breaths and said, "...she returned my eye."
"...eh...eh!?"
"Odin is only supposed to have one eye," Hel said solemnly.  "That one didn't match."
Heimdall still had a hand over his right eye as he looked up at Hel.  "You stole my eye back from Odin.  ...from Odin's face."
"Odin hurt Otousama."
"...he does that often."
Hel shrugged, glancing at the clock.  "...'Beauty and Sin.'"
"..." said Heimdall, then nonetheless extracted himself from Freyr's hold and turned the show on.

Loki gave Heimdall a distinctly evil look as he let the other god into the house.  Heimdall ignored it.  "Hel told me you wanted to talk to me."
"Actually," Loki said consideringly, "I considered applying any number of actions to your person, none of them pleasant, before I settled on talking."
"I assumed that."
"Would you mind explaining this?"  Loki shoved a credit card bill practically in Heimdall's face.
"Oh, that.  That would be Freyr's fault."
"No, that would be the other card," Loki said dryly.
"Then I have no idea."  Heimdall took the bill from Loki and started to read it.  "Huh."
Loki folded his arms.  "Cable TV.  Cable modem.  Assorted merchandise.  A brand-new computer that I am sure you'll be interested to note Hel has named 'Alec.'  What the hell is Beauty and Sin?"
"It's a drama," Heimdall said absently.  "I can't believe she named her computer after Alec."
Loki twitched.  "You've gotten my daughter obsessed with a television show."
"I am not to blame for your daughter's obsessive nature."
"Regardless, you're responsible for this obsession!"
"I don't see how."
"May I remind you whose house she is invariably in at 3:00 every afternoon?"
"It's nice to have her over.  She brightens the mood in the house."
"Heimdall," Hel said imperiously from the top of the stairs.  "Come and see Alec."
Heimdall sighed and walked up the stairs.  "You didn't put it in your father's study, did you?" he asked.
"No," Hel denied.  "In the room across the hall from my bedroom."
"Good.  I'm not going to die today."
"Otousama can't kill anyone right now," Hel said placidly.
"Well, he could try," Heimdall amended.
"Only himself."
"Sou ka..."
"Otousama feels pain here," Hel said with a small frown, touching her breast over her heart lightly.
"...really?"
"Mayura-okaasama says so."
"...you already call her that?"
Hel nodded.
Heimdall hmmmed. "What are they going to do when he gets his power back?  Once he gets resealed," he clarified.
Hel shrugged.  "Who knows?"
"They haven't thought of that yet, have they?"
Hel shook her head with a sly smile.
Heimdall smiled.  "Well, I certainly won't bother them with it..."
Hel walked into her computer den and turned on the monitor.  A very pretty wallpaper of Alec popped up.
"I can't believe you named your computer after him," grumbled Heimdall.
"Alec is pretty like Otousama."
"I suppose so."
"Or Odin," Hel said with a small, troubled frown, pressing her hand against the screen over one picture.
Heimdall scowled and said, "Odin spends too much time trying to cause chaos."
"It's supposed to be Otousama's job."
"Your Otousama hasn't been working very hard at it recently," said Heimdall dryly.
Hel smirked.  "Mayura-okaasama has been getting sick in the morning," she remarked.
Heimdall grinned.  It was not exactly a nice grin.  "Does your otousama know about that?" he asked sweetly.
"Iie."
There was a pause.  "Does she know what it means?"
"Iie," Hel repeated, glancing at the drugstore bag by the computer.
"...I suppose you won't let me have the fun of telling them."
"I'm going to send this to Mayura-okaasama's Papa," Hel explained, showing Heimdall the positive test.
"I'm not going to ask how you managed that."
Hel smiled mysteriously.  "Would you like to come with me?"
"...not when you smile like that."
"Why?"
"...you remind me of me, and that's not a good thing in this case."
"But it's not us who are involved."
"Innocent bystander rule."
"...?"
Heimdall smiled slightly.  "It would take a while to explain."
"You don't have to see the fireworks, then."
"...fine, I'll come."
Hel smiled with satisfaction, picked up the bag, and walked out of the room.  Heimdall followed closely, looking exceptionally cheerful.
Fortunately for their sake, Loki was sitting in the living room, staring off into space.
Heimdall decided that they should leave before Loki could ask inconvenient questions.  Like why they looked so happy.
Loki didn't even see them, despite having his face turned right toward them.  Hel frowned.
"He'll snap out of it," sighed Heimdall.  "He gets that way sometimes."
"Mayura-okaasama is worried."
"He needs something to snap him out of it is all," said Heimdall.
Hel glanced down at her bag.  "Mm," she said meditatively, pulling the front door open.
Heimdall followed Hel out and closed the door.  "Shall we go?"
"Hai," Hel agreed.

Misao was not worrying about his daughter.  He was not stressed that she had not been home.  At all.  He was not, in fact, waiting on the temple steps to see if she would visit today like she had been on a daily basis.  At least, he tried to tell himself that.
Pink hair peeked above the edge of the steps slowly.  Misao glomped the pink-haired figure.  "Mayura!"
Hel froze, wide-eyed.  "....!"
Heimdall coughed politely.  "Hel, this is Mayura's father, Misao.  Misao, this is Hel.  I'm Heimdall."
Misao blinked at Heimdall, then the words registered and he let go of Hel.  "I'm sorry, Miss."
Hel took a step back and gasped as she started to fall down the stairs.  Misao reached out and grabbed onto Hel before she could fall.
Hel was still all wide-eyed and flustered when she regained her footing.
"Are you alright?" asked Misao.  "Come up to the shrine."
"U-un," Hel stammered, clutching the plastic bag to her chest in lieu of a book.
Heimdall waited until they were on level ground to add, "Hel is Loki's daughter."
Misao fell over.  "....what?"
Hel blinked.  "You are Mayura-okaasama's father and you didn't know about Otousama?"
"...I didn't know he had children."
"Four," Hel said.
Misao was glad he was already on the ground.
"Me and Midgardsormr-oniisan and Fenrir-oniisan and Sleipnir-oniisan," Hel said, counting herself and her siblings off on her fingers.  "Sleipnir-oniisan is Midgardsormr-oniisan and Fenrir-oniisan and my half-brother."
Misao now looked confused.  "Isn't Fenrir the puppy?"  He decided to try to get up.
"Mm," Hel agreed.  "And Midgardsormr-oniisan, who's calling himself Yamino Ryuusuke, is a snake.  And Sleipnir-oniisama is a horse."
Misao thudded back onto the ground.  "..............."
"Now we'll have to wait until he recovers to tell him," said Heimdall disapprovingly.
"Tell him that Sleipnir-oniisan has a different father than us?" Hel asked innocently.  Misao, luckily for him, did not have enough of his brain intact to hear the comment.
"He only touched you twice," Heimdall sighed.
"But he should know about the family he's going to be part of, shouldn't he?"
"Hold your comments until he can process them again."
Hel sighed and squatted down to poke Misao with a stick.  Misao groaned.  "Ojiisama," Hel prompted.  "Ojiisama."
Heimdall snickered as Misao came around to stare at Hel in horror.
"Ojiisama, are you all right?" Hel asked curiously.
"Why are you calling me that?" asked Misao suspiciously.
Hel blinked innocently.  "Shouldn't I?  You're Mayura-okaasama's father?"
Heimdall decided to help Misao out.  "Yes, he's your stepmother's father."
Misao twitched.  "...my daughter is not married to Loki."
"Yet," added Heimdall.
Hel upended her bag onto Misao's chest.  Misao picked it up, blinked at it for a few long moments, then got up and headed down the steps of the temple.  Hel clasped her hands behind her and assumed a cat-in-the-cream not-smile.

Misao barged into Loki's house without knocking.  The fact that he was angry enough to have people scatter away from him on the street was probably why the door looked like Freyr had gone through it.
Loki blinked himself out of his daze and attempted to focus on his visitor.  Misao lit into Loki, first with a litany of everything that had happened to Mayura since Loki came.  Mayura was downstairs and staring within seconds and Yamino wasn't far behind.  It took Misao close to ten minutes to get to, "And you've gotten my only child pregnant!"
Loki turned his head to look at Mayura, seeking confirmation.  "...pregnant?"
Hel and Heimdall had snuck in the door (at Hel's insistence) and were listening from either side of the living room doorway.
Mayura looked startled.  "I didn't...wait."  She frowned.  "That makes sense, actually."
"You didn't know?" asked Misao incredulously.
Loki rose slowly.  "Pregnant?" he said again, considering it.  And then, as it broke through his funk that Mayura was going to bear him a fifth child, he broke into a wide smile, racing over to pick Mayura up and swing her in a circle.  "I got you pregnant!"
"......." said Mayura.  Her mind was shutting down, and not in the happy way at the moment.
Yamino beamed.  "I'll have another sibling, then," he said, stating the obvious in his joy.  He was already making up lists of things to order from his catalogues.
"...Hel-san told me..." Misao managed.
About that time, Loki's Father Sense™ went off.  "Hel," he said flatly to the left side of the doorway.  He glanced at the right side.  "And Heimdall, I'm sure you were in on this, too."
Heimdall walked in, looking Amused.  "I just came along to watch the fun.  Though it's probably not appropriate that I knew your fiancée was pregnant before you or she did."
Knowing exactly what her father was going to say, Hel pelted up to her bedroom and locked herself in.  She would, she thought, be winding up there, anyway.  Heimdall hurried from the room as well.  And out of the house.  And towards his own house, rather quickly.
"...Heimdall?  Is something wrong?" Freyr queried when his lover burst into the house.
"No.  Just watched Hel play a rather upsetting trick on her father and decided that I didn't need to be around to be blamed for my being there."
"What trick?" Freyr wanted to know.
Heimdall paused and eyed Freyr.  "You won't get upset," he said.  It was more of an order than a question.
"?"
"Hel took it upon herself to tell Mayura's father that Mayura is pregnant with Loki's child.  Mayura and Loki didn't know this yet," Heimdall explained.
"...Yamato Nadeshiko is pregnant?"
"Yes."
Freyr jumped to his feet.  "I must go!"
"No, you mustn't," said Heimdall firmly.  "Loki just found out he's going to be a father again, and Mayura is dealing with becoming a mother.  They need time alone right now."
"...not there!" Freyr said impatiently.  "Yamato Nadeshiko will need a proper baby shower!  There's no time to waste!"
Heimdall stared, then said, "You'll have to fight Yamino over it."
Freyr was already halfway out the door.
"..." said Heimdall.
"Are you coming or not?"
"...no.  I think I'll hide here."

Loki frowned in concern.  "Mayura?" he questioned softly, once everyone had left them alone for a bit.
Mayura had her face pressed to Loki's shoulder.  She didn't lift it when he spoke to her.  "It's just...sudden," she said.
"If you don't want to...there...are ways," Loki said with clear reluctance.
Mayura's head snapped up and she looked at Loki in shock.  "I wouldn't...I don't..."  She fell silent and took a deep breath.  "I want the baby.  I want your baby."
"I'm glad," Loki breathed with profound relief.
Mayura smiled wryly.  "I just didn't expect this so soon."
Loki coughed into his hand.  "I...can't say that I did, either," he admitted wryly.
"...what will I do about school?" Mayura murmured.
"You should probably continue to go for as long as you can," Loki suggested.
"Well, I planned that...but everyone..."
"Hm?" Loki prompted.
Mayura shrugged uncomfortably.
"What is it, Mayura?" Loki prompted more firmly.
"...people aren't nice to girls who get pregnant at sixteen," Mayura said finally.
Loki paused to reflect silently on the change in times, when a healthy sixteen-year-old woman was looked down upon for fulfilling her womanhood.  "...I see."
"And...I don't mind people thinking I'm weird for liking mysteries or just strange in general, but..."
"Even if you're married, they'll be that way?"
Mayura started.  "...less if I'm married."
Loki grinned.  "You can tell them your boyfriend kidnapped you and chained you to the bed until you agreed to elope," he suggested.
Mayura smiled slightly at Loki.  "If we're going to get married now, we have to plan it before Kaitou-san decides to help."
"How fast can you pack?  I'll even brave the train for this."
"Papa will kill me when we get back.  Five minutes."
"He can't kill you until after the baby is born.  Meet you down here in five, then."
Mayura dashed up the stairs.  Loki was about half a step behind her.  He stuffed three changes of clothes and all his credit cards and cash into a duffel bag, then raced back down the stairs.  Mayura was close behind going back down the stairs.  "...I can't believe I'm doing this," she said to the world in general.
"I can," Loki said, grabbing his fiancée and kissing her.  "We've got to hurry if we don't want to get caught."
"Un."  Mayura headed for the front door.

To Be Continued...