.-.

Beneath

Chapter Two Hundred Eighteen – Lucas

"Lucas?"

It was Selby. The one Loki's eyes had gone to first, the one who'd frozen him into inaction until it was too late.

It wasn't just Selby, of course. It was also Austin, Carlo, Sue, Wright, and Tristan, who was sitting behind a laptop as the rest stood around him. They were all looking up at him now.

"Hey," Austin said, the first to recover from the shock. He took a couple of steps toward Loki and Jane. "How was the party?"

"Party?" Jane said, heart still racing.

"Yeah, that's what I heard," Austin said. "You went to Asgard for a party to celebrate the end of the war?"

"Yeah, um…." With everything that happened after the party came to a screeching halt, the idea that she had gone there "for a party" was surreal. But it was also true. "It was good. Good food. Lots of people. Lots of drinking. Good mead cake. That—"

"Honey cake," Loki put in with a tight smile, taking a few steps forward to Jane's side. It was too late for escape. And he wasn't afraid of these people.

"Honey cake, right. I keep forgetting. But they should really call it mead cake. When they cook it, somehow the alcohol…um…." Jane paused, swallowed, told herself to calm down. To slow down. "It doesn't cook out."

"She got drunk from the cake."

"I did not get drunk," Jane said to Loki before turning back to the others. "Maybe a little tipsy."

"We can trade recipes later. Let's talk about your guest first," Sue said.

Jane nodded. Though Sue wasn't always easy to read, she didn't seem angry, or afraid. Jane appreciated her bluntness, and the honesty behind it. They had a right to know what Loki was doing here. Selby in particular deserved that; he and Tristan both looked nervous. Before she could speak up, though, Loki was doing so instead.

"I apologize for showing up unexpected. I left some things behind in my room, as well as out in the Dark Sector Lab, and Jane reminded me that disposing of them would be a burden on the station. I came to collect my things."

"And a late-night snack?" Sue asked.

Jane turned to Loki, as curious for his answer as Sue must have been.

Loki hesitated, but only for a few seconds. He hadn't planned to do this in front of an audience, but he wasn't opposed to doing so, nor to seeing the good will it may garner him from a few of the people he'd lived here with. He came further into the room, Jane following him, and stopped in front of the middle of the serving area. He opened up his storage area, peered inside, tugged – it did take a little more effort with something bigger and heavier – and set the waist-high basket full of oranges on the floor. He pulled off the lid and leaned it against the basket.

Murmured comments followed as the others drew around him and Jane and the oranges.

Loki chose to ignore Carlo's "How did you do that?" and respond to Wright's "Are those for real?"

"They're real. Oranges from Vanaheim, similar to ones I've had on your world, though these are quite fresh. There's nothing unusual about them…except that they weren't grown on Earth. As such, bearing in mind station rules, you'll want to take care in how you dispose of them."

"Can we eat them?" Carlo asked.

"Right now?" Austin added.

"Of course," Loki said with a flourish of his hand, stepping back to get out of the way.

"You got oranges for us, too?" Jane asked quietly.

Loki gave a small shrug. "I thought I would. I thought it could serve as an apology of sorts."

"As South Pole apologies go, this one is going to be hard to top," Wright said, peeling off a section as he spoke and popping it into his mouth as soon as the words were out.

"Um, speaking of apologies," Tristan began, pausing in his on efforts at pulling away the peel, "I was…I'm sorry I was going through your stuff. I didn't think you were coming back. And all the drawers were open and…I couldn't resist. I was looking at your drawings of Alfheim."

"Jane told me. It's fine. I gave you permission to enter. Had our positions been reversed, I'm sure I would have taken a look around, too."

"I thought I would find weird things." Tristan gave a nervous laugh. "You being an alien and all. Everything seemed pretty normal, though. Not that I was digging through everything, just what was on your desk," he hastened to add.

Loki's chest pulsed with his own breathy laugh. He didn't feel like an alien here. He didn't even entirely feel like an outsider here, even now. Perhaps it was merely the uniform of black overalls and bright red jacket he and Jane wore. "From my perspective, you're the aliens."

"That's deep, man," Wright said with his mouth full. "Did we seem weird to you?"

"I can answer that," Sue said. "This place is full of people who volunteered, and by 'volunteered' I mean 'begged,' to be all but cut off from the rest of civilization at the bottom of the Earth where nothing can survive on its own, no family or friends, no movie theaters, no malls, no walks in the park, no going for a swim, no—"

"Hey, we have the Pole-Mart!" Wright said.

"And that projector and big screen for the gym," Austin said.

"And we make new friends," Carlo said.

"Right," Sue said. "But my point was…we are weird."

"But we own it," Wright said with a big grin.

"Yeah, we do," Sue said.

Loki smiled. He did not find them "weird." Not any more so than anyone else, at least. Saying so, however, would be far too trite, and too sentimental.

"Hey!" Wright said, perking up from his relaxed stance. "Jane said you had a sword. I mean that you had one here. That all the kids learn to use them on Asgard, like ancient Sparta."

"I don't know about ancient Sparta, but yes. Everyone on Asgard learns to be proficient with a sword, and I was no exception."

"And you had a sword here."

"Wright, let it go," Austin said.

"I would never have raised it against any of you, if that's what you're thinking."

"No, I just always thought swords were kind of cool. Errol Flynn and all that. I can't believe you had one here this whole time."

"Swords are cool," Carlo said.

"Not the whole time…." Curious eyes were fixed on him. He couldn't explain that, of course. "Would you like to…." His gaze fell on Selby, and stayed there this time; he'd grown increasingly aware that Selby was the only person who hadn't spoken up. The only person who hadn't taken an orange, though he'd looked at them like everyone else. The only person who still looked nervous. "I should—"

"I'd like to see it, yeah," Selby said, the words rushing out.

Loki lifted his chin in the barest of acknowledgements. "Have you recovered well?" he asked. Everyone here knew at least the broad outline of what had happened; there was no sense in pretending otherwise and ignoring it for the sake of false comfort.

Selby nodded. "I'm fine. Not even a scar. You?"

"I'm glad of it. The same."

Silence followed, accompanied by awkward looks and fidgeting. Loki was about to again try to suggest it was time for him to go, when Wright spoke up again.

"So can we go see the sword?"

"Yes. But there's no need to go anywhere." Loki angled his body away from the others so that he could reach with his right hand and withdraw the sword safely. He'd be lying if he said their wide eyes, open mouths, Austin's soft swear, and Sue's less-soft swear weren't gratifying. They were very gratifying.

"How…?"

Loki waited a moment, but Austin wasn't getting anything else out, and Loki knew what he was asking anyway. "I change its state, just enough so that it's out of equilibrium with the primary phase, and then I place it into a little storage area I constructed long ago by similarly shifting a bound enclosure of matter. It's like a little pocket with infinite volume, visible only to me, tethered to me, entirely weightless. When I need something from it, I peer into the pocket, reach for the item, and shift its state back to its normal parameters as I remove it."

"That is way more than you told me when I asked," Jane said

"Out of equilibrium? You're talking about phased matter?" Carlo asked.

"This is a lot more complex than ice versus water," Austin said.

"Did you ever use this on anybody?"

Everyone looked at Tristan, then at Loki, and even if they didn't physically step back from the sword – from Loki – they leaned away almost in unison. Selby took a step back. Then Wright.

"I mean, I don't think it's an unreasonable question," Tristan said, sounding more nervous than seconds earlier.

"It isn't," Loki said, motioning with his left hand for them to step aside, then set the sword down along the tray slide. "And yes. But not on Earth. And only to defend myself, if it makes a difference to you. It's not actually my sword, or it wasn't, until recently. It's standard equipment, sized to its Einherjar owner. Ah, the Asgardian equivalent of a professional soldier."

"Standard issue sword. Geez," Wright muttered. "Can I hold it?"

Loki hesitated. He should have seen that question coming, and perhaps he had, for it wasn't particularly surprising, but he hadn't expected any of this and it was all careening ahead so quickly he couldn't get ahead of it. He was not in control. He could not wrest control away by any of the means he normally might, nor could he simply sit back and quietly observe as he once had here. He was the center of all attention in a way he'd never been at the Pole. Even on his "birthday," he'd been just another Polie, one of no particular interest compared to anyone else, and after they'd sung that simple song and watched him blow out tiny candles, the group had split apart and the extra attention on him had been sporadic and fleeting. He should extricate himself from all this. Leave.

He glanced at Jane, as it struck him that this was surely what she had dealt with in the days since he left. She must have been deluged with questions, many she couldn't answer. Questions and accusations. The least he could do for her was to accept that attention now, without trying to back away from it. To grant her this momentary reprieve. He was leaving, but Jane was staying.

"Go ahead," he said. "But everyone else stand back. And be very, very careful with the blade. The alloy it's made of is not found on Earth, and I'm not certain your weapons crafters are capable of making so fine an edge."

Wright wrapped a hand around the grip, lifted it a little, then quickly got his other hand around the first. "Heavier than I thought," he said, while Loki motioned for Jane to step back further, and did so himself, too. "Are all swords this heavy?"

"They are on Asgard. I cannot speak to Mid—. To those produced on Earth."

"Midgard, right?" Austin said. "That's what you were going to say? We've all read the mythology now. At least the Wikipedia version of it."

"That's what the other realms call it, yes," Loki said, keeping an eye on Wright, who was now extending the sword out, pointed toward the covered windows and away from everyone else – and giving it a horrifically unsteady and altogether undisciplined thrust. Loki was certain the closest the man had ever come to holding a sword was playing with imaginary ones as a child, if Midgardian children even did that much. "In case you were wondering, no, I've never given birth to a horse. Or anything else, for that matter."

Wright broke into laughter and the sword started to drop and arc with his movement; Loki darted forward and cupped a hand around Wright's to steady it. "Thanks, man. Sorry about that. I got it."

"I'm glad you clarified that," Austin said, laughter lingering in his voice. "It was keeping me up at night, trying to imagine how that happened."

Wright snickered but kept better control of the sword this time, only bobbling it a little.

"It didn't, so you can stop trying to imagine it now."

"He's just yanking your chain," Sue said. "Jane already told us that most of what's in Norse mythology isn't true. And believe me, I already asked about the horse thing. I bet we all did."

"You actually needed to ask?" Loki said, fixing her with a raised eyebrow and exaggerated look of distaste.

"You can't take anything for granted around here anymore."

Wright was lifting the sword up higher, the strain on his arm muscles showing on his face.

"Going for He-Man?" Tristan asked.

"But some of it is true, isn't it?" Carlo asked.

"Some of it," Loki said, paying little attention to the others now that Wright nearly had the sword up over his head. Baldur's death was in that mythology, he remembered. Baldur's death, his own guilt.

"I have the power!" Wright shouted.

Loki narrowed his eyes, worried less about the cultural reference he suspected he was missing and more about the possibility that Wright would fumble the sword and split his skull open.

"What about the one where you have a…pull of the rope?" Carlo asked.

"Tug-of-war," Selby supplied with a grimace. Sue was laughing, and then Austin joined in. No laughter from Jane, Loki saw out of the corner of his eye; she gave him a smile and a shrug.

"Tug-of-war," Carlo repeated. "The one where you tie one end of a rope to a goat's beard and the other end to your balls and have a tug-of-war?"

Bursts of laughter exploded around him and Loki was so taken aback that the sword tip was on the floor cutting through the carpet panel, Wright hunched over it, before Loki could catch it. He extricated the sword from Wright's appallingly loose grasp and pushed the man back upright enough to make sure he hadn't somehow managed to impale himself. Finding no blood, Loki left Wright to his heaving laughter and faced the others, with Jane – who he dared not look at – to his side. The laughter quickly died out.

Unbelievable, he thought. I made a good faith effort to conquer their realm, to become their king…and they laugh at me, right in front of me, over some ridiculous tale involving me tying a rope to my testicles and challenging a goat to a tugging contest. A smile spread over his face. Laughter bubbled up in his throat, puffs of air escaping through his nose, until it burst from his mouth and he laughed aloud at the absurdity of it. Then everyone else was laughing with him, even Jane – who he still dared not look at, but he heard her.

"So is it true?" Austin asked.

"Of course. And before you embarrass yourself by asking who won, I should tell you about the fine fur collar I had made from that goat's beard."

"You mean you're such a sore loser you lopped off that poor goat's beard in return? That's really low," Austin said.

"Low," Wright echoed.

"Wait…it's not really true, is it?" Tristan asked.

Wright shot him a look and Carlo gave him a shove to the shoulder.

"Come on, how am I supposed to know what kind of weird things they get up to in Asgard?"

"Please," Sue said with an eye-roll. "Here, hand me that sword. I want to play."

"It isn't a toy," Loki said, though he wished he hadn't as soon as he did. The words sounded condescending, he thought, and he didn't want to condescend to these people. Even though it wasn't a toy.

"Tell that to He-Man over there. Boys and their toys. Girls want to play, too. Jane?"

"I'm good," Jane said with a quick headshake. "But sure, yeah. Girls should get to play, too."

"Wait, wait, I need it back. Just for a minute, then it's all yours, I swear."

Loki stared at Wright and his outstretched hand for a few seconds. As if it was Wright's decision who "played" with his "toy." Still, he held out the sword, cupping it on either side of the cross-guard so Wright could get a hand around the grip. No one, including Wright it seemed, had noticed the slice through the carpet tile, so Loki peered down at it for a moment, then did a rough job sealing up the cut. If someone pulled it up to inspect it the damage would be obvious, but it wasn't particularly noticeable from above.

Wright was holding the sword up, with both hands as before, and pointing it in the general direction of the others. Exactly what Loki had advised him not to do. Why does that seem so familiar? he wondered, shaking his head.

"My name is Inigo Montoya," Wright said in an accent not his own. "You killed my father. Prepare to die."

Loki joined the others in laughing, though his – prompted by the habit he'd developed here of pretending he understood all of their arcane references – quickly died away. He didn't have to pretend anymore.

"You haven't seen it, have you?" Sue asked.

"Of course he hasn't seen it," Austin said. "Hollywood movies get much play on Asgard, Lucas? Uh, Loki?"

"Not much, no."

"You haven't seen The Princess Bride? Yeah, of course you haven't," Wright said, moving to hand the sword over to Sue. Loki stopped him and motioned for Wright to give the sword to him first, so he could safely transfer it to Sue. "How long are you staying?"

Loki faltered, with Sue reaching for the sword. "I'm only here to pick up the things I left behind. I'll be leaving tonight."

"Oh my gosh, this is really heavy," Sue said, struggling to lift the sword.

"Tonight, huh? Well…what do you think, guys? Little reunion?" Wright asked to mixed, but mostly skeptical, responses. "It's The Princess Bride. 'Have fun storming the castle.' Rodents Of Unusual Size. One of the best sword fights in the history of film. And, uhhh, and Lucas here."

"I don't think it's a good idea," Loki said.

"I'm going to have to start lifting weights," Sue said over grit teeth.

"Why?" Loki asked, grateful for the distraction. "You aspire to wield an Asgardian sword?"

"I aspire to be able to pick one up without worrying I'm going to drop it because my arms gave out."

"Just pick up some more snow-shoveling duty," Tristan said.

"Not the same muscle groups," Carlo said.

"Please don't do that," Loki said, ignoring the others and watching Sue more closely now. "Don't drop it."

"Because it could hurt me?"

"Yes, badly."

"Can it hurt you?" she asked, looking up at him from the sword and holding his gaze.

All levity was instantly sucked out of the room. It was convenient – even pleasant – for everyone to forget for a moment the reality of who he was, who Loki was. To pretend to forget, rather. But every fictional story had its end. "Yes."

The moment lingered a little longer, and then Sue let the sword hang downward – Loki watched the blade and her legs intently – and rounded on Wright. "You stole my line. I wanted to say that."

"So say it! It's very satisfying, trust me."

A smattering of laughter followed, but the mood from a minute earlier was gone.

"Okay, okay." She rolled her shoulders, gripped the sword, lifted it again. "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

"Good, yeah?"

"Would've been better if you hadn't stolen it first."

"Aaaah, okay, keep going then. Say it again."

"My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!"

"Stop saying that!"

Sue shifted her stance, firmed up her grip on the sword, and, entirely unexpectedly to Loki, she repeated the lines again, this time more fervently.

"No!"

"Offer me money," Sue said.

Loki watched in fascination as an exchange played out that was clearly already known to both Wright and Sue, and, from what he could tell, to everyone else present as well.

"I want my father back, you son of a bitch," Sue said with an incongruent grin.

When she moved as though to lunge toward the others with the sword, Loki deftly wrested it from her grasp. He was certain she wasn't going to intentionally harm anyone, but if she were to trip or otherwise lose control of the sword it could be disastrous. Loki's intervention didn't stop Wright from grasping his belly and overdramatically feigning a stab would. He thought it in questionable taste, with Selby standing right there, but Wright showed no awareness of it, and Selby seemed to be enjoying himself, too, at least on the surface.

"What, do you have the entire movie memorized?" Austin asked.

"Used to," Wright said with a shrug. "Probably still do. My sisters and I used to watch it practically every day. Robin Wright was my first crush. I thought it was meant to be because she wouldn't even have to change her name to marry me."

"I can only do that scene," Sue said. "Oh, and the 'mostly dead' scene."

"You would make a fine warrior, Sue," Loki said. "In fact, you remind me somewhat of a particular warrior I know."

Sue nodded but said nothing, and the moment turned awkward; Loki hadn't spent nearly as much time with her as with the other scientists, and he didn't know her well. But then Carlo asked to hold the sword, and Loki carefully transferred it. The tension broke.

"What were you all doing in here anyway? It's really late," Jane said as Carlo took his turn with the sword.

"Tristan was showing us the first clips he's edited for Midwinter," Wright said.

"Clips? That sounds like more than GIFs."

"Oh, right, you missed that," Tristan said. "Everybody was really getting into it, so we decided to go a little longer. I'm trying to get enough footage for the whole song. There's not much time left, but I'll get as much done as I can. Got a few people helping out."

"We should do Princess Bride," Sue said. "We've got a real sword."

Wright shook his head. "There's no music in Princess Bride. Not band music, anyway. But what about Robin Hood? We're doing 'Everything I Do.'"

"I'm afraid I have to take the sword with me," Loki said, remembering Selby playing the tune of that song on the piano, a tune he'd found unobjectionable. They'd wanted him to play the recorder with them on that one.

"It's a nice sword," Carlo said as Loki helped transfer it from him to Austin. "I wish I could test the blade on something."

"Oh, hey, what time is it on Asgard, the part of Asgard you were in?" Wright asked, his clear disappointment from a moment before vanishing.

"About five hours later than here," Loki answered.

"You must be exhausted," Tristan said.

"Adrenaline is a wonder drug," Jane said.

"And you're still going out to the Dark Sector tonight?" Carlo asked.

"Yes. It won't take long. I only need to gather a few things." He took the sword from Austin and offered it to Tristan, who accepted it.

"That's stupid. You should get some sleep and go get whatever junk you left out there tomorrow."

Loki turned to Wright in surprise, forgetting for a few seconds to monitor Tristan. "I can't do that," he said quietly, eyes back on the sword.

"Sure you can," Wright said. "It's not like they reassigned your room. Nobody to reassign it to even if they wanted to. It's all still there, your own bed and everything."

"You should," Austin said. "You left here so suddenly, when everything was still in chaos and we were all shell-shocked. Nobody had a chance to say goodbye. If you stayed the night, then everybody could do that."

"I have no wish to inflict further chaos and shock on the station's residents, and this is exactly what would happen if I stayed. It's not a good idea."

"Take it," Tristan said, rubbing his arms as soon as he relinquished the sword to Loki.

That left one person. Loki hesitated, then approached Selby and held out the sword for him to safely grasp.

Selby, too, hesitated, ultimately putting out a hand to demur. "That's probably not a good idea."

"There's no danger."

"I know. But I've basically sworn off all extra-sharp blades. You should stay, though. Austin's right, there are people here who'd like the chance to say goodbye. And to thank you for what you did for the station."

Loki drew in a slow, deep breath, took a step back, and sent the sword away. "And there are people here who'd rather I simply stay gone. I don't wish to cause any unnecessary fear."

To Loki's surprise, a smattering of laughter came from the group; he didn't try to hide his confusion.

Austin, after exchanging a look with Carlo, spoke up. "Exactly how many seconds would it take you to kill every single one of us with that sword you were just passing around? That sword you made sure none of us accidentally killed ourselves or each other with?"

"That sword we could have just as easily used to kill you with, if you were telling the truth," Sue said.

Loki glanced over at Jane, who was watching everything but showing no intent to speak up. He knew the point being made; the idea of it still sat uncomfortably. "If none of you managed to run very far…probably less than twenty seconds. And I was," he added, looking at Sue.

"Not a lot of fear in this room, Sax Man."

"The entire station isn't in this room."

"Okay, Olivia wouldn't be happy that you didn't get approval first," Austin said.

"Hector was worried you might want to take revenge on him because he laughed at your ties," Carlo said.

"But you did look a total schmuck wearing a tie here," Wright said.

Loki shot Wright a sardonic look.

"I mean, didn't you notice that literally not one single other person wore a tie, ever?" Wright asked.

"I should dress slovenly because the rest of you do?"

Austin laughed. "That's the Lucas I remember."

He sobered immediately. Forgetting was too easy here. He shouldn't, and neither should they. "I'm not Lucas. I never was," he said, his voice and tone severe, reflecting an unexpected undercurrent of anger. But then that, too, wavered. "I'm not your brother. I never was," he'd spat at Thor amidst a fevered rage that now seemed more like the madness Thor said it was at the time.

"Are you sure?" Carlo asked.

It was a ludicrous question, yet the instant Loki opened his mouth to say so his thoughts ground to a halt; he could do no more than stare.

"Jane?" Austin said. "Help us out here. You've got to be beat, too, and look at you, you were obviously planning on going out to the DSL with him. Tell him to stay the night."

Jane took another read of the room, with everyone now watching her, except for Loki whose gaze had fallen to the floor. Sue had been ambivalent at best about Loki since learning the truth. Jane suspected that more than anything she had taken particular offense to being lied to all that time; she didn't seem afraid or angry now, and gave no sign of opposing Loki staying. Tristan hadn't spoken up, but also showed no reluctance. Wright, Austin, and Carlo had already made their opinion clear. Selby, when she caught his eye, gave her a nod. She'd remained a bit off to the side as the sword was passed around, but now went up to Loki.

"You already know I think it's a good idea, and I haven't changed my mind. You lived here with us for months and then you just left. It would be good for you, good for everybody here, to be able to say goodbye."

"To have closure," Selby said.

"Closure, right," Jane said. She knew what she wanted, but Loki deserved for his concerns to be taken seriously; if he stayed now, it wouldn't be a secret known only to the two of them. There were mixed feelings among the Polies. Negative ones, too. "I think everybody would be okay with it. Maybe everybody except Mari."

"I can talk to Mari in the morning, let her know what's going on. She's one of the really early risers," Tristan said.

"And it would be nice to get some sleep before we go out to finish up your packing."

Loki look around at the others; no one seemed either reticent or disingenuous. He would never have predicted this, and couldn't believe he was wavering and considering it. "It's almost as though the decision has been made for me."

"Yep, it has," Wright said. "You're spending the night."

"It's your decision," Jane said. "But you know where we all stand."

It was surely a bad idea. But with Jane wanting him to stay, and none of the rest of the small group here objecting – including Selby of all people – there was only one answer, and Loki capitulated. "I hope I don't regret this. But I'll stay the night."

/


/

With tomorrow now expected to be an extra-busy day – dealing with Loki's presence on top of the normal day's work that would still need to be done – the group scattered for bed. When Jane signaled Loki into her room, he followed.

"Masterfully played, Dr. Foster," he said once the door was closed. He kept his voice quiet, not bothering with a sound blanket.

"Huh?"

"You've got your sleepover after all."

"I never suggested it to them. That was all their idea," she said, tossing Big Red onto her desk chair.

"Exactly what would be said of a master."

Jane laughed. "Right. Are you going to be okay? Do you need anything?"

"I still have my bedding, and everything else I had here, plus what I was bringing to Alfheim. I shall be fine."

"What about that? Nadrith wasn't expecting you at a particular time, was he?"

"It was more of an open invitation."

"Oh, good."

"You didn't say much back there."

She shrugged. "I've seen you the last few days and I'll see you again eventually, and I'll be with them the rest of the austral winter. I didn't see the need."

"You never asked for the sword. Did you want to hold it?"

"I already held a sword. Half of one, anyway. Not a great memory."

"Mm. For me, either, really. Though you were entertaining."

Jane rolled her eyes, then felt the strong pull of a yawn coming and covered her mouth.

"You know, I'm glad I'm staying overnight."

"Yeah? Me, too," she said, the yawn still coloring her voice.

"I would have wound up having to carry you out to the DSL, and I would've had to carry you back here, too, lest you collapse outdoors and freeze to death overnight."

"Give me a break, I'm not that tired. Wait, what? What's wrong?" Jane asked when Loki grimaced as she spoke. He looked like he'd eaten something that had spoiled.

"Nadrith isn't waiting for me to show up. But someone else is."

Jane gasped. "Your mother." Poor Frigga was standing around on Asgard waiting for her son to turn up again so she could say a private goodbye.

"She must be so exhausted, and I can't imagine she slept much last night."

"Can you make a super-quick trip back just to tell her you're spending the night here?"

He shook his head. The mere idea of it had him swallowing to tamp down his own yawn. "There's no need. Heimdall, tell my mother I won't be back tonight after all. I'll leave here tomorrow. Once I have a better sense of when, I'll inform you so that you can inform my mother. Please tell her to go on to bed. And to sleep well. That is all."

"How do you know for sure if he's heard you?"

"If you call on him, he hears it. He would tell you he sees it. But in this case, he probably heard it anyway, because he's probably been watching me from the moment we arrived here. He's probably still watching now. Though he really shouldn't be," Loki added, sharply, for Heimdall's benefit.

"Soooo, what's up with that goat story? I haven't read that one."

Lok accepted the distraction for what it was, but it wasn't a topic he would have chosen. "Neither have I, so how should I know?"

"No basis in fact at all? No poems or partial truths?"

"Partial…no, Jane," Loki said with a grimace.

"It was just a question," she said with a shrug, finishing with a big closed-mouth grin. "Those old Vikings were sitting around campfires bored on long winter nights. They had to come up with something to pass the time."

"If I had known they chose to while away their excess time by defaming me, I would have shown up with some more interesting ideas for how they could occupy themselves."

"I'm sorry we missed out on those stories. Um…I think? Anyway, what do we do now?"

"Now? I suppose we go to bed. Less than an hour ago I was swearing to myself that I would never sleep in a bed so small again," he said, shaking his head. He'd meant it, too.

"Okay. Tomorrow's probably going to be hectic. Just, um…don't forget that you agreed we could take some time for ourselves before you go."

"I haven't forgotten. We can still do that in the jamesway."

"Lot of memories out there."

"Indeed." Loki paused, stumped by a question that had never before been much of a question here. "What time should we get up?"

"Maybe go to the galley at eight? I'm sure that's where everyone's going to expect to see you."

"All right," he said with a frown.

"Are you nervous?"

"No," Loki said. His tone was defensive, and Jane's skeptical expression told him she'd noticed. Of course she had. "This place is just…different. From anywhere else I've ever been. What Carlo said…"

"About whether Lucas is really you?"

Loki nodded. "I don't know if it's true or not. It's not true, but I don't know how much truth is in it. Sometimes I think I was more myself here than I've ever been. And then I look at myself thinking that, and want to burst into laughter at how preposterous an idea it is. Whatever I am or am not – and I'm not much of an authority on that – it isn't a question of truth. Of reality. What matters is how they perceive me."

"You're worried about how they perceive you?"

Loki closed his eyes and looked away, jaw clenched. Yes. It was humiliating, but yes, he was. If they had not been quite friends, some of them had at least become something close to it. Perhaps closer to it than he'd wanted to admit when he lived here. "I liked how they perceived me before. A little prickly, a little eccentric, but…"

"One of them. One of us."

"I'll go now and let you finish this conversation by yourself."

"Hey, Mr. Prickly. Don't do that."

"It was a jest."

Jane laughed. "I know. I was pretty sure, anyway. Look, you're too wrung out for this. So am I. But I think it's going to be fine. Everybody in the galley wanted you to stay, and most everybody else will be glad to see you again. Gary and Zeke, Ken – he misses skiing with you, by the way."

"You have named three people, plus the six in the galley…you've left thirty-nine people unaccounted for."

"Elliot, Rodrigo, Jeff, Nora…do you want me to just keep naming names? Loki…don't you want to be able to say goodbye to them?"

"Lucas would like to. Loki…" – he paused for a sigh – "needs a good night's sleep."

"Yeah. Both of you go on and get that, then, okay?"

"I'll knock around eight," Loki said, hand on the door knob. "Oh, one question first: How are you? With the altitude."

Jane's eyebrows went up. She hadn't thought about it at all. "Fine, as far as I can tell. I guess I wasn't gone long enough to lose acclimation. Ask me after I've climbed a couple of flights of stairs."

Loki nodded. If she did need to re-acclimate, he would help her. This time, after asking first. "I didn't think I'd be saying this, but…see you tomorrow."

"Good night," Jane said. She stood in place for a moment after Loki left, enjoying the sense of relief that she would see Loki tomorrow, this this goodbye would not be tacked onto everything else from today. Then she grabbed a few things and headed for the restroom to get ready for bed. It was as though she'd never left, except that Loki would be sleeping just down the hall, and by morning, everyone would know it.

/


/

Frigga watched Heimdall go, stopping along the way to tell the young woman who'd arrived with Loki's horse that she could return Lifhilda to the stables for the night.

She smiled, and let her eyes drift closed for a moment.

Then she stood, made a reasonably neat stack of the pillows and blankets, and headed back to the palace.

/


Sorry for the long disappearing act! I was overwhelmed with work for a period, then got food poisoning, etc. etc. but back now and I hope you enjoyed the new chapter. I fell out of touch at some point during all this on reviews and PMs - if you haven't heard from me yet you will.

Dotting those legal i's (well...it makes my conscience feel clearer anyway!): I did not write The Princess Bride. Would that I had. William Goldman wrote both the screenplay and the book it was based on, so those quoted lines are his. I hope he isn't opposed to fanfiction. I can't tell you how many times I said aloud while reading the novel, "I could never write like this" (and I'm a decent style mimic). It's done in a clever way, with its own kind of story-within-a-story idea, different from the movie's. Worth a read if you're a fan of the movie.

The story date, by the way (I've been meaning to note it for a long time), is early morning Thursday, June 17, on Asgard, and very late night Wednesday, June 16, at the Pole. (In case you were dying to know that.)

Previews for Ch. 219: Let's just say that June 17, just like pretty much every other day recently, stands to be a long day, with a lot going on.

Excerpt:

"Last night, a question occurred to me. It was bothering me so much that it kept me from sleep. I consulted what records I could, and when dawn broke, I went to Adis, who consulted his records, and he confirmed my fear."

"What fear?" Thor asked before Finnulfur could continue. What fear could Asgard's First Records Warden possibly confirm?