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Post by Loki Odinsson on Feb 8, 2020 18:30:37 GMT -5
"Oh, lovely. You lot knew even that before I did?" Loki said, more offended than anything.
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Post by Teja on Feb 8, 2020 18:32:59 GMT -5
"...excuse me?" she asked.
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Post by Loki Odinsson on Feb 8, 2020 18:35:25 GMT -5
"Where do your stories say I came from-"
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Post by Teja on Feb 8, 2020 18:36:13 GMT -5
"Jotunheim," she said innocently.
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Post by Loki Odinsson on Feb 8, 2020 19:00:46 GMT -5
Loki stared at her, his face growing slack. It stayed that way for so long, it started to look a little like he was having some kind of episode, but then he smiled brightly.
“Pardon me, please.”
He winked, stood up straight, turned, and strode right past the southwestern gate to the park and its gilded classical statues, into the darkness beyond.
A moment later, there was a loud whooshing sound, a blast of cold air and blue light from the park that set off a few car alarms and sent a few startled bats flying out overhead, accompanied by the sound of Loki shouting something that sounded suspiciously like “Are you joking?”
When he reemerged a few seconds after that, his hair had come entirely loose and his tie appeared to be jealously pursuing the same goal, but he was smiling again. Loki plunked himself down on the bench built into the gate monument, swung one long leg over the other, and patted the seat next to him.
“Do tell.”
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Post by Teja on Feb 8, 2020 19:11:56 GMT -5
Teja watched this odd display with a curious detachment. It should have been extremely off-putting, but it recontextualized a few of the things he had said easily.
Somehow, it was unnerving to know that their stories about the gods Asgard were true...and yet predated someone who actually claimed to be one of those gods. Someone who, it seemed, had only just learned that he was a jotun?
Most significantly, how could she spin this? How could she tell him what he wanted to know without his turning on her again - and what could she do to ensure he would tell her who he was? Because she wanted to know everything. She wanted to learn all he could teach her about this fantasy world she'd never dreamed was real.
Gingerly, she sat beside him.
"A thousand years ago, a man named Snorri Sturulsson recorded the myths and legends of the Viking people - those are nearly our entire history of that mythology, because the Vikings' own records were made on wood, and wood rots. At the time he recorded, that religion had died out and been replaced by Christianity. You know what that is?" she asked dubiously. "It's the one most of these churches are here for. Well, Sturulsson's records were heavily influenced by that model. But his biased record is all we have. So, if you're not that old, these stories here are older than you are, representing a pantheon that was worshiped by the people of Earth centuries before you were born. Maybe the prophets and witches of the Vikings were glimpsing the future. Or another timeline, perhaps. I didn't even know you were real until just today. Maybe all kinds of things are possible."
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Post by Loki Odinsson on Feb 8, 2020 19:49:49 GMT -5
Loki frowned again and picked at the palm of his left hand.
“I need to see these records,” he murmured.
And he looked at her and said, a little more stridently, reaching for her hand, “I need you to show them to me.”
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Post by Teja on Feb 9, 2020 1:18:02 GMT -5
"I don't know if there are any bookstores open just now," she said in surprise, "but... if you're patient... I probably own a copy..."
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Post by Loki Odinsson on Feb 9, 2020 18:01:42 GMT -5
"I need you to show it to me," he repeated. "It's all very well if it's tomorrow, but I need to know what I'm dealing with here-"
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Post by Teja on Feb 9, 2020 18:05:18 GMT -5
She bit her tongue on telling him to go to a library. Didn't she want him to stay in her life? Find her necessary?
"If you insist..."
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Post by Loki Odinsson on Feb 9, 2020 18:14:58 GMT -5
"-I need you."
Loki's eyes were wide and anxious, his brows making little dark inverted half-arcs against his pale forehead under the streetlamp. He held her hand too tight.
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Post by Teja on Feb 9, 2020 19:03:22 GMT -5
Teja took his hand, this space alien who was also a god, who was also a wily politician, who was also the best-looking man she'd ever sat close enough to really appreciate his face. Unromantically, she could feel her hand perspiring with nervousness.
"I promise to help you," she confided in a soft voice, tentatively laying her other hand over the back of his, like she cherished it. "However I can."
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Post by Loki Odinsson on Feb 10, 2020 14:05:58 GMT -5
"... thanks," he said softly. He grinned at her.
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Post by Teja on Feb 10, 2020 19:31:56 GMT -5
It was infectious. Helplessly she grinned back at him, then rolled her eyes.
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Post by Loki Odinsson on Feb 11, 2020 18:19:48 GMT -5
His smile widened to show a not-unusual number of teeth that nevertheless felt like it might have been too many.
"...well," he said, with a little cough. "We should probably go back."
He released her hand as gently as he could and pushed himself up from the bench, then extended it to help her up.
"You know, I hadn't even wanted to go to this thing, but I guess it wasn't all bad. I feel like I found the only mortals there who might actually be of any assistance."
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