It was quiet, perhaps a little too quiet and all together making Loki feel uncomfortable. His ball and chain pet was never this docile unless unconscious and even then she snored like an asgardian warrior sleeping off a barrel of ale. He could not help but be suspicious as he watched sneakily over his teacup. She was chewing her lip, jaw shifting from side to side as she rested her cheek across her bracing palm. A quill twirled a sultry dance across the desk in her fingertips, a plate of cinnamon rolls left untouched by her side and the glistening eyes of one well rested searching out the lines of writing on the book in front.
What was she up to? The god of mischief shifted in his chair ever so casually, one leg switched from down low to over knee as he sipped from the lukewarm cup held between forefinger and thumb. He knew trouble when he saw it and Karian Motter reeked of the stuff at all hours.
"What, pray tell, has my typically impish servant such a pleasant resonance of silent and obedient?" He watched her with a predatory green gaze.
"Hmmm?"
The teacup was barely spared an unfortunate encounter with the overly polished floor below as the prince fought to maintain his grip on the handle and keep intact his neutral persona. That was not the hum of plotting thoughts, more so the wistful sigh of a woman in love. Balder, he was back in the palace was he not? Who else would she be so abruptly mentally consumed by? Certainly not Heimdall any longer.
"I believe I ordered you to desist from seeing that noble bore whilst under my employ." Loki's tone could of sheered sheep of their wooly coats with how quick and snappish it sounded.
"Hmmm?" Kari casually flipped to the next page of her book only distantly aware of the trickster's company.
"Answer with words not sounds!" He rejoined, teacup steadied on his desk before he found time to have a little accident. "Are you a beast or a woman?"
"Oh, what's got your dick out now Loki? I'm reading the stupid book!"
"The case may be so but do you retain any words but your lovers?"
"My lovers? Oh, that's what you're all freaking out over." She giggled, turning in her chair to give him her full attention and the benefit of a woman's wisdom. "Look, I'm sure there are plenty of lovely court prostitutes and wenches that would love to be hanging off your arm if you were just a little nicer to them and-"
"Enough!" He barked, slamming his fist down on the surface between them and startling his pupil into a disinterested eye roll. "Stupid mortal hussy!"
"I think your insults are getting lamer, perhaps I should get you a thesaurus for your birthday. How old are you anyway? Fourteen? A hundred and fourteen? I'm sure there's a fourteen in there somewhere, you certainly act like a teenage dick."
"Motter!" The god of mischief sucked in a soothing breath as he leaned back into his chair; all the better to steady his resolve. "There are but three days until you are pitted against your enemy, where your life will be on the line," he lifted a hand to silence his companion from her mouth widening imminent retort, "and you wish to spend your final hours consorting with a man so lost in his own thoughts of another that he could never care for you beyond a reminding shadow? Whatever you may think, I am the only one within this realm trying to keep you safe and all I ask in return is that you do as you are told."
"Loki… you're the one that got me into this trouble by betting with your bimbo brother so kindly shove it." She leaned forward to retain the less than breeching gap between them, expanded by his retreat, and threw in a few wide arching hand gestures for emphasis. "And as for Balder… what are you even talking about? We have fun; he's nice to me. It's nice to have someone being nice to me around here. Why the hell are you always trying to stop me from having a moment of…" She trailed off; could it be? He was certainly behaving in a peculiar manner even for Loki the lying dick princlet. "Are you in love with me?"
"Do not delude yourself with such fanciful thinking, woman."
"Have I hit a nerve?" She was leaning back into her chair now - equal parts terrified caution and plotting bemused. "You really are like a teenage boy aren't you?" A loud bout of chortling escaped between her upturned lips as her body went like partially set jelly under the influence of an intoxication called hilarity. "You like a girl so you try to get her attention by being a dick? Oh this is precious."
"If you are quite finished with your daydreaming I expect a working demonstration of that which you have learned from reading today?" He was up onto his feet, clothes straightened with a tired exhale of boredom and reproach directed at his sniggering, barely house broken, mortal.
"What?" Well that ruined her fun – a pop quiz. "Argh, I've not finished the book."
"It hardly matters if you read it or not, not once have I seen you demonstrate either practical ability or knowledge after finishing a single tome."
"Then why do you keep making me read them?"
"One can live in hope that wisdom will finally penetrate your moronic defenses."
"Repeating the same mistake over and over is a sign of insanity you know."
"And how you test me." Woe was Loki's life, forced to interact with such inferiority.
"What's this?" Kari glared at the glass holder placed in front of her filled with a deep red wax.
"Truly? You no not of candles?" He was skeptical of her intelligence in general but even this seemed beyond her normal ridiculousness.
"Don't be… I know what a candle is!" Really? Seriously? Could he possibly be stupid enough to think she did not know what a candle was? "What I don't know is why you put it in front of me."
"That should be obvious." He leaned forward, sleeve tickling the side of her cheek as he plucked on the wick in the centre of the candle and straightened it to face upwards. "You will light the wick with your knowledge of fire magic."
"Hah! Now who is delusional? I don't have knowledge of fire magic!"
Loki went silent, keeping his eyes fixed on her as he picked up the book on her desk and turned it over so the front was showing. There was a pregnant pause as Kari looked from the trickster to the book cover then to the candle in a series relay without fault – an Olympic winner. With a triumphant smirk, he tapped on the title in large gold letters on the cover, which only made his apprentice frown as he dug the knife in a little deeper.
All right fine, she had been reading a book on fire magic all morning but how was she supposed to know that? Stupid Loki, stupid books, stupid candles, stupid fire magic and stupid Loki always being right about important things.
"I hate you." She ground out beneath a rather sulky looking scowl.
"I know." He simply agreed sauntering his escape off towards the bookshelves. "Light the candle, Motter."
"I don't even know how!"
"Use the word for fire."
"You know, the main reason all my spells go to crap?" She continued to frown at his back, her words hindering his getaway with a forehead-rubbing groan – almost a month solidly teaching was starting to wear even him out.
"Because you are incompetent."
"No." She did not like the way he phrased, what should have been a question, rhetorically. "Because I don't understand this stupid word thing. Why can't I just say 'fire'? Fire means fire!"
"Only from your limited point of view." He sighed, about turning to slide back into his chair for a conversation most five year olds should have already mastered. "You understand of course every living thing is made of three equal parts?"
"Err, like a mind, body, spirit festival? They do really nice wheat grass smoothies there and all this amazing-"
"Motter."
"Right yeah, living stuff, three things." She counted to four on her fingers.
"For your intellectually diminished sake," he held up his hand to hold at bay the angry red in her eyes about to spill from her mouth, "let us refer to them as mind, body and spirit. The word 'fire' is merely a description. A shell, the body of fire given name. Without the other two aspects it is an incomplete being with form but lacking in power and behavior."
"Wait. Fire is alive?"
"Everything is alive to some degree, Motter." He nodded as the hamster wheels in his pupil's brain started to turn.
"My chair's alive?"
"Motter."
"I'm serious." Kari groaned, stamping her foot to release some of the frustration of being spoken to like a naughty schoolgirl retaking mathematics for the fifth time. "Alright fine. Blah blah blah, alive, three things, fire is body. So this word in this book is its soul?" They both nodded in unison, Loki's expression hooded by the concentration he was putting into studying her every little contemplating flutter of movement. "And it's brain is what? Scientific Latin talk for combustion?"
"Combustion is a description of its behavior." Even he had to take a moment to sound impressed she managed that leap on her own.
"Ooh, I'm smart today."
"I think not. Hazily intellectually challenged, a step above fatuous."
"I am not fat!"
"Karian Motter." He could not help but express amusement, as her uncomplicated augmentation, arose with such a cascade of humorous misunderstanding.
"No, stop laughing at me! You called me fat!"
"On my honor-"
"No, la la la, not listening!" She slammed her hands over her ears to block his prince of asgard oath making. Did he seriously think she was going to listen to his lies?
"Light the candle, Motter." He spoke softly, prying her hands from her ears despite her warning glare – all the better to hear him.
"Fine." She ground out betwixt a nostril flaring pout though almost instantly distracted by a flash of thought brought about by firing neurons – or perhaps the tingle of his hands clasped around her wrists. "Loki? Why is it only the soul word works in magic?"
"To control a living things soul is to have absolute power over it. Where the soul leads, the mind and body must follow."
"So it's slavery?" A strange sense of foreboding trickled up her spine like thawing ice, a haunted look not unnoticed by her wizarding master.
"Think of it as indentured servitude." He placated, releasing his grip on her body and taking a step back to redeem breathing room.
"No, no, it's slavery." She shook her head, recovering a defiant streak to her countenance. "I'm kind of well acquainted with slavery you know." Her brow knitted, gaze darting to the right as she inhaled a new wave of thought out of the predators cage. "I don't get why I can't just ask fire nicely to bring its body and stuff over and have a party on the wick. You know, nice like. Well, maybe you wouldn't know…"
"Magic is not diplomacy. It is a strategy of acquiring and moving your pieces where you need them to be."
"Like cluedo?" Kari grinned, raising an eyebrow of interest at the prince's words.
"Like checkers." He corrected with authority.
"I prefer cluedo. It has tiny weapons in it and a ballroom and people named after colours."
There was a moment of silence – possibly to commemorate the death of some of Loki's brain cells – blue eyes staring blissfully ignorant at speechless green. The silly girl liked tiny weapons and people named after colours. What more was there to say on the subject? Nothing, no absolutely nothing. He was just going to turn around, walk away from this and read a book.
"Light the candle, Motter."
"'Light the candle, Motter.'" She repeated mockingly behind his back as the prince disappeared into the wilderness of literature.
Kari flopped back into her chair with a hearty groan. Being a wizards apprentice was far too much hard work and reading – especially when Loki was the one in charge of her every waking moment. She could not recall the last day she had to herself, a few hours here and there between the god of mischief's preoccupation was the best she could manage in the way of a social life. She could not believe how long it took him to figure out Balder was back and most definitely hovering around her scene. Three days to go, three days until either death or victory. If she should pray to a god for divine intervention then why not worship at Balder the brave's temple.
Chuckling at the thought, Kari drooped across her desk and clucked her tongue suspiciously at the unlit candle in front of her nose. This was definitely not like the Hogwarts books. Sitting up a little straighter, cheek resting once again on her upturned palm, she turned her attention to the task at hand. What was that stupid word in the book again?
"Chen-nuh." She repeated what she believed to be the pronunciation revealed in chapter one of the book of fire. "Chen-nuh." Nothing was happening, not even a spark or something. "Chen-nur?" A bit of an accent could not hurt. "Chun-nur?" Still nothing, no smoke, no flames, no essence of cherry stinking up the place. "Chun-noor?" What was Loki doing with a cherry scented candle anyway? "Chen-nuoh?" Maybe he was gay after all. "Fire?" Or maybe it was one of his girlfriends. "Chen-nuh-fire-combustion?" Plausible, but Loki was into surprisingly fabulous items. "Cha-cha-chan-nuh?" Argh, what was the point of all this? "Stupid candle. I bet you're one of those fake ones and that dick is just teasing me." Kari groaned, pushing away from the desk to pout in her chair with arms crossed. "What am I supposed to do with this anyway? Light some scented candles and run my opponent a hot bath? Yeah, that'll defeat him. Maybe we can hold hands, skip through fields of sunflowers and sing show tunes. We could plait each other's hair and make daisy chains. Whatever, I never wanted to be Hermione Granger anyway." She slouched further into her chair, picking up the quill on her desk mid-slide. "Chen-nuh." She tried again with the swish of her feather wand to no avail.
It was pointless, she did not want to be here doing this and Loki knew it. How could he expect her to put in the effort when she was miserable? Sure, her life was on the line but that was hardly an incentive when a boy was involved. Balder was probably out in the yard at the moment, sweaty man chest glistening under the afternoon sun, as he played with his sword topless. That was certainly a nice mental image.
Why was Loki always calling her fat anyway? She was hardly big, or at least Balder certainly did not seem to mind if she had the odd squishy bit. Maybe it was the mischief-makers way of trying to make her cry. He liked making girls cry it would seem.
She stared at the quill in her hands, running a finger along the length of the feather until the natural build up of grease on her skin began to cause protein strands to stick together. The quill was certainly starting to look sorry for itself by the time she was done stroking it. With a giggle, however, Kari was up on her feet and skirting the edges of bookshelves in search of her prey. He was standing besides a selection of geography books, flicking absentmindedly through the pages of an atlas, when she came upon him. It was too far of an open spaced stretch to sneak up on the trickster from her hiding spot but still a prank was called for. If only she were a real sorcerer, or at least knew something other than how to turn someone's clothing to wax from a distance. Well she did know a couple of fictional spells at least.
"Crucio." She whispered, flicking her quill in the prince's direction only to witness his casual 'hmm' at a particularly interesting location in his book. "Expelliarmus." She tried again with a continuing no effect. "Aw come on, it can't all be fake. Expelliarmus!" She gave it a little more feeling and volume; granting her a peculiar green-eyed look over her intended victims book. Perhaps he would have said something, or merely continued to stare until she felt uncomfortable and left, but with the amount of focused concentration she was putting into mumbling 'come on, please' to the air around her, things got a little bit distracting. "Expelliarmus!"
A rather unexpected gust of wind suddenly shot upwards between Loki's hands taking with it the atlas. Following the books ascent, he raised an eyebrow in curious wonder as it collided with the ceiling with a loud 'womp' then darted backwards as the hardback narrowly missed his person during its descent. The books spine was broken from the dual impacts, Loki's considering gaze following a steady path from the crash site to his hunched over pupil in the throws of snorting laughter.
"Motter-" He began his address only to find the woman in question scarpering out of sight - under the recognition she were no doubt in trouble.
Escape was never an easy achievement from someone like Loki however. Before Kari could even make it back to the centre of the library, or find a safe place to hide, the illusion specialist shimmered into existence ahead of her. The collision had been expected, his hands latching onto her shoulders and holding her prisoner. No escape, despite her squealing, shocked, stumbling attempt at shaking free.
"Get off all ready!" Kari whined pulling on her captor's arms as if it might possibly help release her.
"Calm yourself and explain as to what occurred."
"It was just wizard junk from a kids book. Disarm your opponent with expilliarmus."
"That is hardly a word of power." He sighed. "It sounds reminiscent of latin."
"Whatever, just let go. You're hurting."
"Explain this." He spoke slowly, releasing his hold fractionally, attempting not to spook his pet. "If you have mastery of something stronger than what little else I have seen from you, then it is imperative we use this to our advantage."
"'We', 'our', suddenly we're a team? Are you fighting with me?"
"Motter." Loki snapped his fingers in front of her nose, refocusing her attention with a frown of annoyance that soon melted into a relenting shoulder slump.
"Urgh, I don't know." She rolled her eyes, arms folding in a mutinous manner.
"Think carefully." He soothed, fingers tracing the side of her cheek causing an attentive surprise from the recipient. "What did you do? What were you doing?"
Kari shrugged, chewing her lip absentmindedly as her focus split into two separate lines of thinking – his placating touch and provocative question. What had she been doing? Pretending to be a wizard. Right that bit was clear but it was not working at first especially with the pain curse thingy. So, what did she do? Made the book go up before crashing down. Well that was a no brainer. Maybe, or maybe not, no, probably, definitely she had been concentrating pretty hard on the thought of wanting to knock the book out of his hand. She was pretty sure she was not telekinetic or whatever though. What else? Well, maybe her asking something nicely had worked even if stupid Loki liked to believe there was no room for diplomacy in magic. She could persuade people and spiders to do stuff sometimes. Could you persuade a book to jump up into the air and-
"Persuasion."
"Hey! Are you reading my mind?" She squirmed uncomfortably at his sudden outburst. "Loki 'Mischief' Odinson! Has your mother taught you no manners? You can't just walk into a woman's head uninvited!"
"Clearly, I can."
"I don't care! Get your hand off me." Furious, she slapped his hand away from her cheek. "My god, what next? Visit my dreams?" Her eyes grew wide as the god of mischief gave a short-lived toothy grin. "Loki!"
"An argument for another day, Motter." He dismissed the subject nonchalantly. "I believe I understand my fathers interest in keeping you among us clearer now."
"Oh god, how many times have you been wandering around in my head? Every time I see someone with green eyes, is that you?"
"Motter."
"Because that is sooo wrong."
"I apologise for your imaginative dreams."
"Whatever." She scowled, turning her back on the apologetic prince somewhat aware there was something misleading about the admission of guilt.
"Persuasion is typically a trait of gods and demi-gods. An ability to use a piece without the need to place a harness on it."
"Say what?"
"You can utilize something without needing it's word-"
"I got that bit. Did you say I'm like a god?" Kari snorted into life a disbelieving chuckle. "Seriously? You're losing it Loki."
"My statement was of 'typical' traits in relations to gods and demi-gods. You hardly apply to either. Perhaps you are some form of lower level throw-back through Fandral's ancestry."
"My grandfather's a god?"
"Your grandfather is a drudge and a braggart."
"Still better than your dad. Kidnapping girls, breaking promises and oaths and stuff. I bet my grandfather could take your dad in a clean sword fight." She scowled as the tricksters took a moment to enjoy the imagery of his charges fantasy. "Why are you laughing?"
"There is no end to the amusement you bring."
"Just you wait till I bring the pain!"
"It sounds excruciating." He responded flatly. "As for your study-"
"I know, I know. 'Light the candle, Motter.'"
"Clearly you have retained nothing from the tome on mind control and telepathy."
"The brain juice book? I know how to make a decent smoothie from it."
"I highly doubt your words." His skepticism rolled out flatly.
"A liar calling a liar a liar… wait, a liar calling a liar a… a liar calling a non-liar-"
"We shall use your ability to persuade to our advantage."
"There's that 'we' again." She groaned despite the fact he was hardly paying her mind any longer.
"I assume, by the gust I felt, you were able to utilize the air around us to propel the atlas skywards."
"Makes sense I guess. Air is like floaty molecules looking to fill spaces and spread outward. When one moves or expands when heated it's a cascading effect onto all the neighbours like one car hitting another, causing it to jerk forward and hit the one in front. And if you, like, knock a load to the side the ones behind will swell into the empty space to fill it up causing wind. Long as you put some energy into it, air will be your slutty state of matter."
"Despite the careless wording and odd analogies, your explanation is not entirely inaccurate."
"Yeah well… I was a waitress for nearly ten years. The only people that normally work as waitresses are people studying to get degrees in need of extra money for books and stuff. And they always babble on about their projects and essays and whatever." Kari shrugged with an irritated look radiating from her features. "Can't even get drunk after work without having to hear about the Galilean invariance or the drifting of Gondwana in the Ordovician period."
"Discontinue speaking." Loki also wore the mask of irritation, though, whether it was from her babbling or subject matter, taking nicks out of his opinion on the mortal, was a topic for old scholars to discuss.
Still, for the rest of the day and the next, the god of mischief moved their lessons outside onto the fields. It was a bit chilly, being December, and she could not go and play with the band of children lurking down by the river but at least the scenery and fresh air was a distracting change from a month cooped up in the library. Of course, being kept so far away from the palace, from dawn to dusk, meant she could not so much as catch a glimpse of Balder either but that also seemed to be part of Loki's plan. At least it would be all over soon with the added bonus of not having to see the prince for a long time if ever. She was getting given back to waitressing after this ordeal right?
The final day, before all the impending doom stuff, the leash was still firmly in place despite being back at the palace once more. Loki called it a day of battle plan discussion but really it was hanging out in his rooms whilst he was fitted for a new year celebration designer outfit. Some people really had it all. Her muscles were aching anyway from all the magic, sword and persuasion practice in the fields – not to mention all the no-bars held sparring with the green-eyed beast. He may have healed the broken bones but the bruises and her pride still hurt.
Perhaps it was because her life was coming to an end tomorrow or the fact, for the first time in weeks, she was doing nothing to occupy her mind from thinking about it, but finally everything felt as if it was catching up in one giant swoop. Kari sighed, drooping herself across the prince's comfy canapé as she watched him standing with his back to her and arms spread wide with a seamstress fixing his green and gold sleeves into place. He was talking; something about not getting pinned down but all she could muster was the occasional 'hmm' of agreement.
By the time all the tailoring was complete, Loki swishing back and forth as he viewed himself in a floor length mirror, it was already late afternoon. He need not turn and look to know she was asleep – the gentle nasal sounds were a dead give away – but that did not stop his feign of sighing annoyance as he sauntered across the room draping an unwanted cloak across the messy tangle of Motter. Seamstress dismissed, new clothing removed and hung away ready for glorious partying, the god of mischief continued an ordinary routine of bathing, eating and lounging with a book.
It was dark outside when Kari awoke, a fire burning off to her right mixing the room in shades of amber light. She hissed at the cramping of joints, unmoved in hours but awkwardly placed, and tried to stretch out beneath the deep green cloak over her. Where was she again? Right, Loki's rooms with the man-god in question, reclining cozy in an extra comfy looking armchair with added uncomfy looking horn adornments. What a dangerous diva-chair. All he really needed now was a white cat to pet in place of the book.
His gaze shifted from one page then to the other as she continued to study him. The entire, nothing to do thinking, finally having simmered down to a crescendo of blankness. It was strangely relaxing watching the ordinarily devious actor caught seemingly unaware being natural in his own surroundings. How quiet he was and how so like a wildlife documentary this felt.
He turned the page, pausing to lightly lick his finger to help with the task before something seemed to arise as amiss. Kari blinked in his silent stare, cheek braced comfortable on a cushion and body too warm to risk venturing from beneath her covering.
"I surmised you required rest for tomorrows impending battle and let you sleep." He answered the unasked question though whom had asked it neither were sure.
"Do you think I'll actually win?" There was a quietness to her tone that sought reassuring, like a small child, and did he oblige with an adoring smile.
"I know you shall."
"Self-important, believe in yourself, psychology aside, do you really think I can beat this guy?" She tried again, searching out honesty and finding it in the slip of his lip from skyward to flat. "Well that was a sobering pep-talk." Brows knitting in worry, she fought against the urge to remain still and began to sit. "I'm gonna get something to eat and go to bed."
"Wait." The prince commanded but the man requested as he rose ahead of her attempts to shake loose from her covers and reappeared carrying a tray neatly deposited on her half laying lap.
"Dinner in canapé, how very thoughtful of you. Now I really want some crackers and cheese." She fiddled with the plate of untouched cold foods, obviously having been brought especially for her if the amount of pastries and honey brazened ham cuts were anything to go by. "You haven't licked any of this have you?"
"It would not be the first time you have sampled my saliva." Loki chuckled politely, resuming his seating across from his guest with little inkling to divulge his secrets. "I doubt it would deter you from eating at any rate."
"Oh how well you know me." Kari snorted grabbing a hand full of pastry intent on having her desert before dinner. "Going to have everybody talking about me again when I walk out of here with bed hair. And could you seriously stop spreading rumours about me being a whore." She half garbled through a mouthful of mixed foods hardly stopping the intake of such for long enough to breathe. "I haven't even gotten laid since earth. I'm miserable enough."
"Is that a request?"
"No thanks, I don't need a pity fuck, especially not from you."
"What a shame and with the evening so dull to think we could have made it more interesting."
"You're weird you know that." She shook her head with an amused grin, teasing with the idea of dipping cinnamon rolls in savoury red sauce with green bits just for the experiment of it.
"From a creature as strange as you are, Motter, that is practically calling someone perfectly ordinary."
"And you hate to be thought of as ordinary don't you mister big bad mischief maker."
"I have never prescribed to being big or bad but if you desire a demonstration I am sure I can prove to you that even a lowly dragonfly as I can triumph over a dragon."
"Oh god, you're not still sore about that are you?" What was with Loki tonight? Perhaps making her laugh with innuendo was his way of cheering her up before a death sentence. "It was a joke. You were being a gigantic dick and needed putting back in your place."
"And you believe you are the one who needs to 'put me in my place'?" He leaned a little forward in his chair, chin resting atop his knuckles as he rested his elbow on the armrest to scrutinise the devouring mess in front of him playfully.
"I don't see anyone else stepping up to the mark. You don't even listen to your mother half the time."
"You wish to be my mother now, Motter?"
"What? No!" She gave a shudder filled sideways glance before chewing down on some seriously yummy ham.
"Then the next best thing? My wife?"
"Oh hell no!" That had her attention with a spluttering ham coughing disturbance.
"And here I was under the assumption it was every little girls dream to be a princess and marry a prince." Loki gave an over dramatic sigh of woe – as if his very dreams had been torn asunder.
"I've seen those Disney movies and I don't have run away from daddy issues or a man-beast to tame…" Kari paused thinking on that last bit a little harder. "Alright I don't want to tame you. There isn't even any singing teapots to convince me it's a good idea."
"Finish your meal." He hummed with amusement and the shake of his head before relaxing back into his seat once more. "I shall see about the teapots later."
"I take it back. You're not weird, you're creepy." She frowned at him, a mixture of confusion and over thinking the conversation having a detailed debate in her head. "And Balder is not Gaston. I've not seen him singing about or eating ten dozen eggs."
"Of course."
"Stop smirking. I'm going to bed before you give me anymore ammunition for nightmares."
"Rest well, Motter." He watched with a continuing grin as she left an interesting mess of crumpled cloak, crumbs and cutlery on his canapé.
"Ffff-yeah, whatever Locket."
"What did you call me?" His attention was immediate and intent causing her to slow her steps towards the exit and palm her forehead from a very sudden headache.
"Locket, because your name is…I uh… I… I don't know. I'm half asleep."
"So I see."
He remained seated as she rubbed her temples but divulged no more, hesitantly rising from his chair only when the door had closed behind her. Crossing the room, Loki paused at a cabinet, unlocking a single draw with a concealed key and opening it to display the solitary item within. It was still there, though its behaviour had changed. He reached in, fingers careful, gentle with the delicate globe as he brought it out into the light and watched the blizzard inside calming its activity in his palm. It was the proximity, it had to be, and she had been close to it all day.
A tired sigh escaped the trickster's lips, fingers spraying the snow globe's chain wide enough to place over his head before tucking the keepsake safely against his chest.