Here we have the moment where Loki learned the power of charm. He was eleven years old.
Two swear words.
Loki Saberhagen- District Seven
Outside the orphanage, people picked on me for being a foundling. Inside the orphanage, they picked on me for whatever they could think of. Because I was smaller than them, maybe, or just because when the cliques first solidified, I was caught on the edges, and once those walls are formed they never open again.
It wasn't all of them, really. Most of the others were indifferent to me, and some of them even played with me now and then. I'd just managed to catch the eye of the orphanage bullies. There were three of them. Leif and Jack were only lieutenants. It was Axe who ruled the orphanage with an iron fist. He was the one that decided who lived and who died.
"Hey, Chokey!" Jack yelled, noticing me all the way across the orphanage grounds. It wasn't even a witty name. So much mythology and personality to go off of, and they went with a schoolboy rhyme that didn't even make any sense. I took off running, evading them in the woods and escaping with only a dirty shirt from the rocks and clods they'd thrown.
Enough is enough. Enough scrapes, bruises, ruined clothes, destroyed possessions. It was obvious I couldn't fight back, but I was ready to try something desperate.
"Hey, Axe." I sidled up to my sworn enemy just after dinner, while his cohorts were busy terrorizing someone else- occasionally they moonlit.
Axe glared at me and glanced at the door, checking for witnesses before he launched into whatever torment he was about to unleash. But no one was there. I'd already checked.
"You're in for it now, squirt," he said.
I held up my hands defensively and smiled. The gesture was old news, but the smile was new.
"Wait! I have something for you," I said.
"What is it?" Axe asked, instantly interested in the possibility of benefit.
"It's a secret," I said.
"A secret? Are you stupid?" Axe asked, clenching his fist.
"About Jack and Leif," I said.
"What, that they're failing school? There's nothing secret about them," Axe said.
"It's about Moira."
That changed things. Moira was Axe's girlfriend. I thought she was only in it for the power, but it didn't matter to Axe. Moira was beautiful and willing. Maybe, if I was lucky, too willing.
"What about Moira?" Axe said through gritted teeth.
"I heard them talking after they locked me in the closet two days ago. They said Moira was too much woman to waste on one man. That maybe two was better," I said. I could already see the blood boiling under Axe's skin, and I pressed on.
"They were talking about how good her ass would look between them." The words flowed out of me, like I was born to do this. I knew Axe loved Moira's rear, and I also knew he was jealous. Truth didn't matter at all. What mattered was what mattered to Axe.
"You're lying," Axe said.
"I'm just trying to help you out. You were already on to them. Nothing gets past you. I'm just backing you up" I said, and wheels started to turn in Axe's head as he convinced himself he'd come up with all of this, and that I was his ally instead of his target. "You know how everyone looks at Moira. They're just the only two dumb enough to make a move."
"Like hell they will," Axe growled. He shoved me aside, stomping toward the door. Behind his back, I smirked. Axe was convinced that he knew Jack and Leif were after Moira. The more they denied it, the more infuriated he would be that they were lying to him. I wasn't worried they would come after me, because Axe wasn't dumb enough to confront them together. He'd come in the dark like the coward he was, and when he was done, they wouldn't come for me. They'd be in no condition.
Axe stopped, gripping the doorway as he turned back to me. "Hey. Thanks for telling me."
"Anything for a friend," I said.