2019-06-24 - Curses Abound

Summary:

Loki drops in to speak to Astryd. Sif arrives not long after that.

Log Info:

Storyteller: None
Date: Mon Jun 24 04:56:50 2019
Location: 74-36 62nd Street

Related Logs

None

Theme Song

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siffenrislokiastryd

Loki appears…though downstairs in the living area, rather than anywhere more private. Immediately he calls out, "Astryd, it is I, Loki! Do not attack me with anything." And he holds his arms out to either side, stiff and prepared to move swiftly in case Fenris comes bounding in.


Astryd appears from the kitchen when Loki appears. The blonde is wearing an apron and the smells from the kitchen are delicious. It's all very domestic, really. It might be quite jarring. At least she's not carrying a frying pan - so Loki is probably safe.

So too is the look of the Valkyr. She looks tired and drawn. Not well, really.

"Welcome to our home, Loki. I extend guest right. You're just in time for some lunch, you're timing is impeccable."

Does anything phase her?


"Who is…" Loki's caution is well advised because Fenris comes in from the front door. He had sensed something arriving but hadn't known what. Fortunately he recognizes Loki quickly enough that he doesn't attack.

"Oh." Fenris is likely one of the few that don't have an immediately hostile reaction to the one called Liesmith. "Loki. Welcome. We had invited you over as I recall. Can I get you a drink? We've got some godsmead secreted away."

He doesn't offer that to everyone. It's not easy for him to get.


"Yes…and yes." Loki answers and relaxes his posture after both Asgardians have shown themselves. He seems a little worse for wear, generally. There's a sunken quality about him that suggests maybe he's not having the best 'go'. "I like to come when I'm invited almost as much as when I am not." He grins crookedly, but not with his full spirit. He lowers his hands and draws in a deep breath. "Good to see you both, of course."


"There you are, my heart. I swear your nose is better than ever…" Astryd offers Fenris a tired smile. There's a pallour to her usually pale features that's highlighted by that. "Let me serve lunch while you get the drinks. Loki, you look as good as I feel, what have you been up to." It's like they do this … a lot.

As she turns, the Valkyr manages to bump the display cabinet that stands against the wall. It shakes and one of the display pieces starts to tumble. It's uncharacteristic for Astryd to be so clumsy and Loki might detect the slight pressure of magic that seems accompany the action. Not by Astryd but from her.

"Not again …" she sighs, in a defeated way.


"It tends to be when I don't have a cold." Fenris chuckles. "Good to see you Loki. Please, have a seat. Let me get some things."

Drinks are, as promised, asgardian meat. Lunch is cold cuts, that sort of look like they're form a deli but are not. The cheeses are, no one has time to make cheese right now but Astryd does like the smoking and curing of the meats.

"So what brings you h- Astryd. Easy. Take a seat. I'll get lunch."

That's unusual but Fenris seems rather concerned.

Anyway. Lunch is served promptly.


|ROLL| Loki +rolls 1d20 for: 13


Loki is quick enough to catch the piece as it falls, though not as gracefully as he could have. Setting it back on the shelf, he knits his brows faintly. "You have not managed to pick up a curse, have you? I swear by Odin's Beard, there are so many curses flying about…" He looks over to Fenris and nods faintly. "Well…I heard…that the mission to find the bow was successful."


And then, as if on cue, there's a heavy knock at the door.

Outside, Sif waits patiently for someone to reply, a canvas bag slung over one shoulder, and a cheery red and green cylindrical tin in her hands. Gifts for the hosts, of course. She feels a bit accomplished, actually, having selected the tin entirely without assistance to bring to the home of Astryd and Fenris.


Astryd catches her breath as the artifact falls. Something from one of their wanderings about the Realms. She's about to sit when the door sounds again. "Let me get the door first, my heart." beat "Ah Lady Sif, come in please. Lunch is just about to be served."

Without much bother, Sif is seated - the gifts handed to Fenris to accept, and another plate served.

"A curse, I believe so. When I stood of that light beam from Balor. It has marked me and it's proving rather difficult to remove." Bad luck? or something else.

"Were you marked in the same battle, Loki?" She's picked that much up. As to the bow she nods slowly. "Thanks to some rather ingenious mortals, an Elf, my heart and Lady Sif, we prevailed."

With any luck Sif has that package as well.

"Tammuz was not happy when we reclaimed your property." Fenris had to rescue her.


Fenris smiles and greets Sif as well. "Ah thank you Sif." Not many mortal guests are quite as courteous these days, the traditions of gift giving having died off in mortal cultures. Or some of them anyway. The Japanese, for example, are still really big on gifts and the appropriate time to give them.

"Tammuz was not and had to be taught a lesson about claiming ownership of things that are not his." Fenris' lessons come in two forms. The 'talking to the really old being' form and the 'I'm going to bite your hand off' form. It's not hard to guess which method he had to apply.

"In any case yes. And you've chosen an interesting time to come ask about it." Partly because Sif is here and partly because well… that means something is up, doesn't it?

The Old Wolf looks to see what it is exactly that Sif has brought and if any of it should be set out for immediate consumption.


"I am certain that he was not happy. And no, of course I was not cursed. Its the rest of you going around getting cursed, plus so many mortals. I have other things to deal with. So, obviously something is going on with all three of you." Loki surmises and wanders closer to Fenris to be able to get his drink when its ready. "Sif." He greets, though its a bit chilled. A calm gaze remains on everyone, though he seems more subdued than usual.


Sif offers Astryd a smile and a warrior's bow in greeting as she enters the Valkyr's home, and hands off the sack and tin readily enough. The canvas sack clinks heavily, as if containing multiple heavy bottles of liquid.

At Astryd's prompting, she ohs and nods and reveals the last item she'd brought along — a modern Midgardian longbow case in deepest green, with Loki's bow tucked safely inside. The weapon appears to have been carefully unstrung and meticulously cleaned, though by someone who may not be the most skilled with such a weapon.

"I was unsure if this was the proper way, so I did my best."


|ROLL| Loki +rolls 1d20 for: 15


"Curses are so everyday, are they not." Astryd smiles, grey eyes observing Loki and the way he looks. "If not cursed, may I ask what has you looking so tired? Is it simply a surfeit of beautiful maidens or handsome men?" Has she heard about his tramping over Faerie mounds?

The blonde is direct at the very least.

"Lady Sif, we have not had time to catch up since Balors attack. Are you well? And the others?" That Astryd hasn't been out speaks volumes.

"Tammuz was indeed taught a lesson, Fenris. And I'm glad I'm still your Raven." beat "But the cost of the interaction was nearly too high."


"The cost of inaction would have been higher." Fenris murmurs quietly. That's the dilemma they often face. When doing nothing costs too much it forces you to accept the risks of doing something. Even if those risks are realized, ti's better than an apocalypse.

"You were at the confrontation in the park were you not? I wonder if the mortals are starting to remember why you were venerated for being so damn clever." It's not just brute strength that wins the day after all.

The Wolf God peers at the sack and grins and then starts to set the bottles out. One of them seems to have a snake in it. AND a scorpion. Fenris pours a couple of fingers for everyone and passes it around just to see how it is. "Oh I think you did it just fine Sif. Thank you."

"I wish I could say that the threat was passed. That one is but I doubt very much that Balor was the brains behind that whole plot." Mostly because… Balor. Astryd is already asking some other questions which he wants to hear the answers to.


"No…the opposite. No matter what I do…it makes no difference. I am not trusted, desired or wanted by anyone." Loki says in a dismal tone, though he's not terribly descriptive. He does look over at the others for a moment. "Do you mean that acquiring the bow almost cost a life…or…the incident in the park? I know about the beam. You were right to do it. There was no other choice…though, there very well could have been if Baldur were not such a fool all the time." He takes the case from Sif and lifts it up to lay it on the counter. He runs his pale hands along it. Then he figures out there's a zipper, and he unzips the case and finally, after a breath, opens it. Its clearly a personal moment for him. He hesitates before even touching it, then gently, caresses his right hand across the wood. Its a peculiar sensation for the others, too. Much like Mjolnir, the bow has a special relationship to Loki, except that it doesn't emanate lightning…but rather the gut-twisting sensation of treachery, like the bow itself has a destiny. Which, of course, it does.


Sif studies Astryd and Loki each in turn, mentally noting how they both seem … diminished, somehow. And then she notices that Fenris is pouring from the bottle that she and Ambrose both considered and set aside, and is clearly fascinated to try it.

Loki's looking over his bow seems a bit personal to her, so she quickly turns to give him a moment of seeming privacy and uses the time to study the tumbler of beverage.

She lifts the drink and looks at Astryd and Fenris. "To fending off Ragnarok for a bit longer?"


"Both." Astryd answers Loki. "Tammuz captured me when I distracted him to let the others get away. If Fenris hadn't come for me, I would be chained at his feet as his till the end of time." She doesn't mention the beating and the torture that he'd administered to the wayward Valkyrie. "Then I stood in the way of that beam in the park."

"I would do both again and more to see Fenris, Midgards and others safety." Loki gets a look from the woman "Mortals have an interesting view of tricksters. But I point out, you are welcome in our house at any time." Not, not wanted by anyone. He's welcome here.

The bottles as they're displayed get the Valkyrs attention and she looks curious, taking a glass as Loki opens his bow. "May Fate not twine too tightly around you and to the return of Godkiller to its owner."


Fenris reaches out and actually pats Loki on the shoulder. It's a very… well human thing really. But it's not restricted to humans, that desire to be accepted. Approved of. It's difficult to be cast as the villain. It wears on the soul if one is not careful. he knows.

"Baldur is as he is. As is Hod unfortunately. Fate wraps around them like chains." He shakes his head and lifts his own glass.

"To those who stand with us, be it with strength or cunning. May they find the freedom to chart their own courses."


"Thank you for your welcome…but that is not all that I desire of late. I am unlucky in other regards." Loki lifts the bow out, finally, holding it at the grip. "Tammuz…I wonder if he fears retribution. In what state did you leave him, Fenris?" He asks curiously. He plants the bow on the ground at one end, then lifts the bowstring to hook it over the top. When he lifts it up again, he just holds it there in silence, at a crossroads of deciding if he should just…embrace what everyone thinks of him, or continue the struggle.


Sif remains quiet in the face of Loki's musings, having seen from several Midgardians lately that just perhaps possibly she might not have been as … understanding of the younger Prince than she could have been? She's rather certain he'd not accept any offers of the sort from her, so she simply refrains from offering words either way.

Turning her attention to the glass in her hand, she considers the innocuous-seeming liquid before venturing a sip. And … can't help but think it seems rather underwhelming.


Astryd smiles into her tumbler as her God Wolf does a surprisingly human thing. He's come far, this Asgardian since the days she guarded him as chained wolf.

"What else is it your desire then, Loki?" Astryd wonders what Gods could really want. She watches, her grey eyes stormy, as the Mischief Maker struggles with his decision. Is this going to bring trouble to her home? She doesn't say anything, not yet, but her hand rests gently on Fenris' shoulder.

"Hear hear." She agrees quietly to the toasts made all round and takes a sip. "This is not bad for something that is Midgard made." Underwhelming, yes.


"Alive and with all his limbs. He yielded the fight when he lost and I abide by the old ways." Hospitality. Offering quarter. All that. "Still, I do not think he will be eager to repeat the experience."

After all, Fenris had WON the fight after all. It's a good thing neither of the gods present saw what Astryd did, how burnt he was after taking those lightning strikes or that sword stroke.

Fenris has had a lot of experience with mortal brews and this one is… well it's okay. It's got a nice tang and the presentation is certainly good. It's not godsmead but really… few things are. So, yes. He agrees with Astryd. Shocking. When she rests his hand on her shoulder he smiles over at her.

So when he drains it Fenris finds that bottle with BB-8 on it and starts pouring everyone some mead.

"You're awful quiet over there, Sif."


"She is quiet because she is intelligent enough to know that she is part of my problem." Loki suggests to Fenris, coming out of his musing to unstring the bow, without incident, and sets it into the case again. Then he takes up the drink that is his to sip of it. "A mortal recently said to me that he would need to 'ask Sif's opinion of me before he did any business with me'." He purses his lips. "I want what you two have…its so simple. Or, at least to show up to /anything/ and not be immediately judged by mortals." He lifts his chin.


And, Loki has hit the nail on the head. The Midgardian Ambrose did indeed ask for her opinion about Loki, and she offered very little in the end though it did set her to wondering about the younger Prince in a manner which she had not previously.

"If it helps in any way, Loki, I believe at most I informed him that you are known for being unpredictable. Though, in turn, he was unwilling to tell me what prompted his question as he felt it was dishonorable to speak of the situation without you being present." She looks at him squarely now, though the scorn and dismissal that used to be so prevalent in her regards has … faded considerably. It's almost completely absent.

"Would I be permitted to ask what he referred to when he mentioned 'questionable decision-making'?"


"What we have." Astryd looks a little shocked. No one has ever evinced to them. What they have. Prehaps Loki means what she has. The Valkyr has an ability to arrive and be accepted. Even with the reputation she has. "We are fairly solitary, really. Maybe it comes from having each other as constant companions over the century. We try not to interfere in the affairs of the Midgardians and only if we feel it will drive my Lord to his final Fate."

She's not sure what to say. She knows that often it gnaws at Fenris that he is seen as the Monster and not the 'Man' and is treated as such.

She's silent on the rest of the discussion, that is between the other two.


"What we have came with thousands of years of exile and isolation. Learning to blend in. Learning to integrate ourselves into their society. It's… not perfect. When they know what I am, they tend to fear me. But…"

But he can pass. He can pass as just another sort of intimidating man. A lot of them won't ever know any different. He can see why Loki would want that.

And Astryd's explanation. Well, it gets a nod. She knows. Knows how he fears becoming what he was foretold to be.

As to the rest? Fenris is silent too. He just waits and watches.


"Its not what I meant, actually. I meant…what you have in each other." Loki looks between Fenris and Astryd and grins faintly. Then he turns back to the case to zip it up and hoist it to his shoulder. "I have no idea what is meant by questionable decision-making…I treated him just fine."


Again, Sif is very careful here. This is more that Loki has revealed about himself than she can remember since … since her hair was turned black. She can tell, the slightest wrong words, and it would be like crushing the delicate hoarfrost forming on a leaf.

"I did not get the impression he thought you had. But perhaps I misunderstood, Loki. As I said, he was unwilling to explain in any detail, and I dared not press further." Not just for the sake for Ambrose's honor. That was the least of her reasoning for backing off of that line of thought.

Her eyes flick over toward Fenris and then Astryd, and she accepts the mead from the plastic BB-8 container just a bit too gratefully. She had not come here expecting this heavy a conversation.


"What we have in each other." Astryd smile and a touch of colour actually enters her cheeks. It pushes the pallor away for the moment. "I am grateful for each day we have together, Loki. It wasn't always so. When Odin banished me, I was flung to the farthest corner of the realms, the Bifrost closed to me with none of my weapons."

It had taken many years for her to meet Fenris again.

She shakes herself and leans into the dark haired man by her side, pressing a kiss to his cheek before rising. "Let me clean up here and I'll get dessert."

Of course, given the luck she's been having, Fenris might want to help her.

"Keep looking Loki, be open to the possibility. One day you'll find that person just as I found my Lord again."

Sifs look gets a nod as the Valkyr moves the bottle closer and then starts clearing the table.


"I mean, that took a long time too." Fenris says with a chuckle. "But, if you're open to the possibility, I recommend Valkyries."

Of course he does. Loki may want a group of people more likely to value cleverness though. They're out there.

Of course there are a few Valkyr around in New York too, so there's that.

Fenris also rises to help clear the table. "If you stay there's dessert. But if not you are always welcome back."


Loki stays to chat a bit about anthing else, and has lunch and booze, and tries his best to get drunk!


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