"Witty Disclaimer" I do not own any of the characters involved in the Ragnarok manwah or the RO game. If I did, volume 15 of the manwah would be out by now and there would be much Fenris/Lokiness XD
Sorry about the lateness and non-updation everyone! School sucks .
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Prontera was humming even louder with excitement and anticipation, in one day the festival would start. People of all kinds, even those who were usually dignified were having trouble working. Shops were closing up early to prepare their booths for tomorrow, others wouldn't open at all. Children ran amok all over the town, causing havoc and trying to escape from another bath. Iris could have been mistaken for one of those children as she knelt down in front of Fenris, wiggling a little. The warlock pursed her lips at the antsy cleric. She was trying to measure the girl's head so she could make an oak-wreath for her to wear,
"Really Iris, hold still. The sooner I can get this done the sooner you can go back to fussing." Iris crossed her arms and pouted,
"I am not fussing! I just can't wait for the festival is all, it's been a really long time since we've had a chance to have fun like this. Besides, I hate wearing those things." She made a face, "They're itchy." Fenris half-smiled.
"Well I'm sorry Iris, but it's tradition," she told the cleric, "And it would be an insult to the gods not to wear one during Midsummer." Iris made another face,
"Yeah, yeah I know..."
"There! That should do it!" The warlock lifted the string from Iris' head whilst smiling. "Now you can go and look at jewelry or something before the shops all close." Iris grinned at the idea,
"'Kay! I'm gonna take Chaos along so I don't get lost!" Fenris sighed a little as she watched Iris leave. A few minutes later, she could hear the muffled sounds of an argument between the two. She put aside the string and put her hands on her forehead. It's so obvious that they feel for each other, I'll never have a chance.. I never had a chance...No! She put her hands on her knees, I am not going to dwell on this, not now, not during midsummer. She stood up, putting her wreath-making supplies under her arm gently. I still need to measure Loki's head.
With that she opened the door and walked across the hall in front of Chaos and Loki's room. Her palms were suddenly damp with sweat. She bit her lip as she raised her arm up to knock. Her hand stopped a few inches from the door, then fell slowly back down to her sides. She shook her head. What's the matter with you Fenris? Just knock on the door already! She raised her hand again and again, but found each time she could not make contact with the door. She had just about raised her hand once more when the door opened unexpectedly by itself, Loki standing behind it. He looked at her for a moment before saying,
"Did you need something Fenris or were you merely amusing yourself by standing there?" The warlock's heart had skipped a few beats,
"Ah! Loki! Don't scare me like that...I did in fact need something, may I come in?" The assassin nodded once and opened the door, standing aside to let her in.
The boy's room was identical to the room that Fenris and Iris were sleeping in. Two beds, a table, a small wardrobe, a stool, and a window. Fenris placed her things down on the table. She sat on the stool and gestured to the floor in front of her, "Er, if you could kneel please? I'm making the head wreaths that we shall wear during the festivities, so I need to measure your head." She felt odd, giving him a command. He nodded and sat down on his knees at the indicated area, somehow, managing to look composed as always. Fenris shook her head and unwrapped a new length of string. The process was much quicker than with Iris, as Loki was not given to restlessness. He stood up after she was finished and watched her curiously as she set to work. She had constructed two of the bases for the wreaths when Loki suddenly broke the stillness between them.
"Is there something I can do to help?" Fenris looked up surprised,
"I.. I suppose.. do you know how to make midsummer wreaths?" Loki shook his head sitting down kitty corner to her,
"I can learn." Fenris nodded and handed him one of the twiggy hoops,
"You can start weaving the leaves in on this one, be gentle with it." She picked up a sprig of oak foliage and showed him how to weave the leaves in securely. He gingerly took the crown and stared at it, Fenris had already gone back to starting the other two. Loki piked up a likely looking bunch of leaves and held them in his hands for a moment. He narrowed his gaze at the curious wreath in his hand. This shall prove to be a more difficult task than I anticipated... He thought bemusdely to himself. He had barley threaded them through a space between some twigs when Fenris sharply reprimanded him, "No, no! Not there, it'll break apart and fall off if you put it there...Here, I'll show you again." She scooted her chair over to his and held the twigs. She held his hand in a deft manner that was both firm and delicate. She put his hands through the motions, explaining it again out loud, but he was only half listening. The assassin was distracted by their closeness, the touch of her skin on his, they way her arm was brushed up against his, her calm, sweet, liquid voice. The vague smell of mint in her hair. It must be the mint extract they put in the soap here, he thought absently. Fenris had already released his hands and scooted back some. "Now, let me see you try it." Loki grabbed another leafy handful and preformed the maneuver again, this time perfectly. Fenris smiled "Good! Just do it like that and it'll look great."
She sat back down at her previous spot, brushing her hair behind her ear, before placing her palm on her chest to check her racing heart. Goddess, what's come over me? My head feels so hot all of a sudden too.. why am I so nervous? It's just Loki.. She swallowed a little, shaking her head to clear her thoughts and to get rid of those mysterious symptoms. It occurred to her that he was asking her a question.
"Is something amiss Fenris?" She looked up startled,
"Oh! Why no I, I was just thinking." She nodded, as though satisfied with that answer. Loki tilted his head a little, almost as if to get a better look at her, to decipher if she was lying or not. He opened his mouth for a moment as though to say something, but then he thought better of it, and looked down at his hands, moving them rapidly and efficiently. He asked her casually,
"Where did you learn to make Midsummer wreaths Fenris?" The warlock smiled reminiscently,
"I used to make them every Midsummer with my mother. I haven't gone to a Midsummer festival since I was a child." She smiled a little bigger, "I suppose it might be interesting after all, give us a break." Damn, she thought. I'm turning into Iris. If this keeps up I'll be frolicking through the streets tomorrow with no sense or regard for dignity--
"I have never been to a Midsummer festival. What goes on?" Fenris looked at him surprised,
"Well, many things, there are feasts and banquets, contests of all sorts, games, vendors, dances, there's a play, and.. well just about anything you could imagine. The greatest events I remember are the evening feasts, the play, and the Sundance."
"Sundance?" He repeated curiously,
"I have never heard of it." Fenris shrugged,
"It's old, almost ancient. Some say that the Sundance is what the annual play is based off of, but there are vast differences between the two..." "Ah." Fenris half smiled as she idly began weaving leaves into the crowns,
"The Sundance was my favorite part, I was too young an immature to appreciate the play, so I don't actually know how different they are really. I always found the dance more interesting than the drama." Loki could hardly imagine a child-like Fenris, let alone a feisty, spunky one who was easily bored by intellectual matters. Loki had finished one wreath and reached for another hoop,
"Do you know whose is whose?" Fenris smiled a little,
"We'll get it sorted out, but the one I'm working on right now is mine. The one you just finished should be Iris'. You must be doing Chaos' then I think.. I'm not positive on that one..." She continued to work, nearly done with her first. Tch, prattling away Fenris, I'm sure you're boring him to no end! Not to mention the fact that you're becoming inefficient! Loki cast a doubtful eye over the wreaths, "And... why must we wear these?" Fenris covered a grin with one hand. "Tradition my friend, tradition. Besides, it would be an insult to the harvest gods not to wear them. If you refuse to honor them, come fall time there will be no bounty of golden corn or grain, or whatever they happen to grow here...Or so the legends say anyways." He made a noncommittal noise of understanding.
Silence fell between them like a thick blanket, and they worked silently for a time, until the wreaths were done. Fenris sorted out Chaos and Loki's wreaths and place them on the table, taking hers and Iris' on her arm. She nodded to Loki, "Thank you for your assistance."
"It was no bother." Fenris stood up. The assassin mirrored her action, "I will accompany you to your room." Fenris raised a brow and pointed out,
"It's just across the hall."
"Danger is everywhere," the assassin answered back seriously. Fenris' expression was somewhat blank for a moment, then she broke out into a smile,
"Alright then, if it pleases you." Loki nodded and opened the door for her in a gentlemanly fashion and let her into the hallway first. She opened the door to her room before he could do that for her. Loki put his hand on the door frame, in a gesture for her to wait a moment,
"Fenris there is something I must say to you." She turned to him and tilted her head curiously,
"What is it?" Loki murmured softly as he tried to remember the exact phrase,
"I.." He paused, what was it that Chaos had said last night? "'I got it bad.'" Fenris started at him, nonplussed. If anything she looked greatly confused. She repeated his words dubiously,
"You 'got it bad?'" The assassin nodded and repeated emphatically,
"Got it bad." Her lips parted as though to say something, then they sealed back up. What on earth is he talking about? She shook her head a little,
"I.. see...well good day Loki.." She stepped into her room and shut the door. She shivered a little, as though his eyes could see through the wood that separated them and rested on her still. She walked over to the window, looking down at the streets. "What on earth was all that about?"
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When Chaos returned shortly after noon, Loki confronted him as soon as he stepped foot within their room.
"We need to talk Rune knight. Now." Chaos stepped back a little, intimidated by the shorter man's sudden vehemence.
"O-okay! Just chill! Relax, what's all the hubbub?" Loki crossed his arms,
"I told Fenris about it." Chaos blinked,
"You told her? Told her ...what?" "About my 'having it bad'" Chaos grinned,
"Oh really? What'd she say?" Loki half curled his lip before answering,
"Nothing. She had no idea what it was I was talking about."
"What did you say to her?" Loki told him exactly what happened. Chaos sighed and rubbed his temple. "That's really.. not the way to declare your feelings to a girl..."
"You said.." Chaos sighed,
"I didn't mean that you should use my words to confess your feelings to her Loki. Look, don't take my advice anymore, just do what you think is right, and use your own words." Right, thought Chaos, that's great advice.. I'm not sure if his vocabulary extends past threats, greetings, and '...' Loki stared hard at the Rune knight, looking for a brief moment, almost as though he would've liked to strike him. Instead Loki turned his back and said clearly,
"Good night." Chaos was bewildered.
"But it's day!" The assassin didn't respond, Chaos walked around him to find that his head was bowed down, eyes closed, and arms crossed. "Hey Loki!" No response. Chaos sighed and patted him on the shoulder, "Good night then..." He walked away from the assassin, disturbed by this random behavior.
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W00t! End of second chapter, not sure if I like how Chaos and Loki's little exchange there ends, but here's a few notes to clarify some things I imagine Loki as having perfect body memory, this is why he can oggle Fenris, yet still have learned how to weave the wreath at the same time.
In Planet Ladder there is a character the Mad Prince Seeu, who has grown up without human contact at all, and is the last survivor of his planet. At one point when he's captured Kagura, the Princess of Choosing, she tells him of a person she met that knew him long ago in the past. He falls asleep while standing then slumps over. It turns out that Seeu is a broken man, "whenever he experiences as large emotional swing, his brittle, fragile spirit just breaks. In defense of itself, his body shuts down to avoid any further stimuli from the outside. Then he sleeps just like this." Not to say that Loki's spirit is fragile by any means, but it's applying that same principle of self-defense sort of thing...I hope that made sense ::sweatdrops::