Well, sooner than I thought, here's part two. I honestly was meaning to work on my other story! *sobs*
Oh well, this one's turning out to be fun, and I have lots of a later part written too, now I just have to connect them up.
Still no posting schedule for this, parts come out when they decide to.
Enjoy!
Loki's Plan pt 2
While Mayura was chatting with the boys (and fawning over Ecchan, whom she had proclaimed to be the cutest "Mystery" she had ever seen) in Loki's room, Loki retired to his study to think. He had a lot to think about, too. He hadn't been able to detect any residual spells on Mayura, but his skills had never lain in the detection of latent spellwork. He needed to take her to someone he could trust who could tell if Odin had left them any nasty surprises. The only trouble was that of all the Gods presently in Midgard, the only ones he could trust not to betray him to Odin were Thor, Freyr and Freya... and, since the trouble with Hel, maybe the Norns. Thor was out, since his spell sensitivity was virtually nil. Freyr had plenty of sensitivity, but he went all to pieces around his "Yamato Nadeshiko", so he was out too. Freya... well, if it had been anyone male who had been attacked Loki might have gone to her, but she would be sure to see Mayura as a rival and might do more harm than good. All that left him with was the Norns.
"Right. I guess this is as good a chance as any to test the level of their contrition." Loki said finally.
So that was one step, anyway.
The other thing on his mind was the apples Idun had sent. The thought that he might be able to keep Mayura with him for more than just a few years was oddly reassuring. Loki wasn't used to feeling so... not dependent exactly, but he definitely wanted her around as much as possible. It was impossible to be lonely around her, and, Loki freely admitted, he'd been lonely far too long, even when he was among the other Gods back in Asgard.
"Are you sure you're feeling better now, Mayura-san?" Yamino asked Mayura when he noticed her surreptitiously rubbing at her temples.
"Aa, just a lingering headache." she said with a wave of her hand.
Fenrir hopped from where he had been sitting on Yamino's lap over to the bed and gave Mayura a thorough once-over, sniffing her hands and face, and everywhere in between.
"Gah! Niisan, what are you doing?" Yamino objected on Mayura's behalf, since she was shocked into silence.
"I'm checking to make sure she's okay." Fenrir explained in a disparaging tone. "Keh! She stinks of Odin, there must still be some of his magic within her." He sniffed a little more, and his tail started wagging. "I smell Niichan! He must have been the one who brought Odin down here."
"Niichan?" Mayura asked.
"Our older half-brother, Sleipnir." Yamino explained. "Odin rides him when he needs to cross the worlds."
"Rides?"
"Sleipnir-aniki is a horse, the same way Niisan here is a wolf."
Fenrir jumped down and, without another word, trotted out of the room to report his findings to Loki.
"Daddy..."
Loki's musings were interrupted by his puppy-son.
"What is it, Fenrir?"
"Mayura still stinks of Odin. In fact, your scent is being actively erased by his. I don't know what it means exactly, but..."
"It means I need to get whatever nasty 'gift' he left us dealt with as soon as possible." Loki frowned darkly. He hurried back to his room, with Fenrir at his heels.
He arrived in the room just as Mayura was rubbing at her temples again, and sat down next to her.
"Mayura, I've been thinking about Odin. I'm almost positive he did more than just give you some knowledge, so I want you to come with me to see the Norns."
"They're the ones who were 'White Night Fortune Telling' right?"
Loki smiled at her to conceal his worry. "That's them."
"But weren't they against you?"
"For a time. But they were manipulated by Odin, and there is little they resent more than being someone else's pawns. I'm sure that if we ask for their help for your sake they will at least be willing to discuss the idea. Are you feeling up to a little walk?"
Mayura nodded and Loki kissed her temple and wrapped an arm around her waist as she got up. It was a good thing he did, too; the moment she stepped through his bedroom door she screamed and clutched at her head, and would have collapsed to the ground if he hadn't been holding her. He wrapped his other arm around her and carried her back to the bed, where she sat panting and whimpering.
"Mayura...?" Loki asked softly.
"It hurt... so much... Like my head was going to explode." she whispered.
Yamino's jaw dropped almost as much as it might have in his true form, and Fenrir stared openly at her. Poor confused little Ecchan floated nervously around Mayura's head, trying to figure out what was wrong.
"Daddy, did she just..."
"What did you say, Mayura?" Loki asked carefully.
"I said I felt like my head would explode." she said a little louder. She was also speaking Japanese this time.
"Yes you did, but you were speaking my language, Old Norse, not your natural Japanese." he told her.
"I was? Mystery!" Mayura said excitedly, then winced at the volume of her own voice.
"Loki-sama, what's going on?" Yamino asked.
"Probably the only reason Mayura even woke up in the first place was the extra wards on this room. Odin's spell obviously wasn't finished running its course, and as soon as she got outside the wards it kicked in again. I can't counter Odin's power myself, but I also don't want to leave Mayura... Yamino-kun, would you be willing to find the Norns and bring them here?"
"Of course, Loki-sama." he said, and quickly left.
"Daddy, I'll guard the front door." Fenrir offered.
"Thank you Fenrir." Loki nodded.
Ecchan followed Fenrir out of the room as well, and after they were gone, and the door shut behind them, Mayura bowed her head.
"Loki, I'm sorry." she said, her voice trembling on the verge of sobs.
"What on earth for?" he asked, pulling her into his lap and bringing her face up so she was looking at him.
"This is all my fault. If I hadn't been so anxious to find out about you..."
"Odin would still have found some way to hurt me through you." Loki finished for her.
"But I said it out loud - that I wanted to figure out about you - then he was there... It was like I called him!"
Loki chuckled wryly. "Even the great Odin can't cross the worlds with that kind of speed. Most likely he was already here on Midgard just looking for an opportunity to hurt me somehow. He might even have been following you for a while before he made his move." He smiled at her. "Besides, taking the blame like this isn't like you, Mayura."
She laughed a little. "You're right, it's not."
Having succeeded in diverting Mayura's feelings of guilt, Loki decided to distract her from her lingering headache by kissing her slowly and languorously, taking his time to enjoy the lips he'd wanted for some time now. Even before he realized his true feelings, there had always been some physical attraction on his part, and he was glad to be able to fulfill at least part of that urge.
