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As Thor departs, Loki settles back into his seat and remembers the whiskey in his hand. He swirls it around for a moment thoughtfully and then finally looks back towards the warrior woman, "If you do go with him, Sif, then please hold rein to your emotions. A sword's blade ultimately solves all problems, but it tends to breed them as well." With that said he downs the liquor and sets the empty glass upon the table nearby.
His lip curls a bit and then he gestures to the side, "Though shouldn't you be off as well? I am sure you have better things to do tonight than to entertain me."
*
Sif watches after him as Thor departs, her eyes lingering upon the space as she turns to face Loki, her head nodding in slight agreement as well. Though this time, her empty glass was soon taken up as she sits upright, pouring herself the.. close to the last drops of whiskey. "I will be his pillar. And silent." She states, a quiet promise made. "I wish to go with him if you allow. But only as his guard and nothing more." She lifts her glass in agreement, then leans back to take an idle sip.
"I would be off, yes." She admits. "But there are times that I do miss you, even though you grate on my nerves." She grins then, lifting her glass in a salute. "But there is something that I wish to ask of you.."
*
"Of course," Loki refills his glass from another bottle and offers to do the same for her, "And who am I to allow or disallow aught?" The prince crinkles his nose slightly as he looks away towards the doorway that Thor used so recently. He looks back to her and then at her jape and allows his smile to slip into more of a smirk. Yet unlike her or Thor he does not turn to hurling food stuffs in retaliation. Instead he crosses his leg over his knee and slouches.
But then she offer her last few words and curiousity overtakes the umbrage, his head tilting to the side as he looks to her. "What is it you would ask, Sif? Shall I give you the speech I give to all the mortals who ask me too much of myself? About how questions carry a price? But no, assuredly you know such a universal truth." His lip curls.
She drinks. And it was quick. This was nothing like the mead that would quickly put her upon her ass. But it was delicious. So when the offer is made, she leans forward, arm outstretch to receive the offering put before her. "Stop it." She states. That knowing smirk.
"Yes. I've known since the moment you sought to truss up my poor, golden locks." She grips her dark hair, allowing it to fall along her shoulders, though there wasn't a hint of ire in her words. Only teasing. "I know better than anyone that questions come with a price, aye. However, this one is not directed to your person. No. It's Thor." Once her glass was filled, she leans back in contemplation.
"With everything that happened.." She pauses. "..I -am- worried. To see him removed as protector, I sense no.." She gestures around a bit. "..sadness? Disappointment? I've yet to see him ease into his role as diplomat, but lately he lives his days with a joy that I've long missed." She grins a touch. "But still, the worry is there. And the worry for you as well. Tell me that the brothers two are alright? I've no worry for Balder. He is as he does."
*
"What is it you fear, Sif?" Loki looks at her curiously, his head tilted to the side with that inquisitiveness so openly given. "I admit I did not expect for Thor and I to in essence trade places. Though really I had been absent so long that my role was retired ultimately." He looks to the side, "Perhaps as it stands he is enjoying the change in responsibilities. He has always been the type to to go over things in his mind especially if he could not take immediate action to address it. Being protector is by its very nature a sort of passive role in some ways. You must await, you cannot attack. Or, at the least, you shouldn't."
He takes a more measured sip of his glass. "I think in part it may be that Odin feels that this change is required for the future in some ways. For Thor to gain facility with himself and with diplomacy. But perhaps a time comes… soon, that will require the protector of Midgard to make difficult decision. Decisions that we know Thor might not have the easiest time with."
A small smirk develops out of his smile, "While we all know how Loki will not second guess himself nor endure grief nor conscience. So it is safe to give him duty that would give ill times for others."
"I fear that if he really is truly saddened by this, he'll bottle and boil over." Sif says evenly. "You -are- aware what he is like when he is angry, yes?"
Thor could probably punch a mountain with his bare hands. Wreck all of Asgard with a shout. At least, that possibly what most children of their land believes.
But she listens to him, and listens well. The worry set at ease with a bob of her head and a sip of her drink. "You call him Odin, why not your father?" But nevermind that, nevermind that at all. "Surely you jest, Loki. There is a heart within you. You do not make decisions lightly. This much I do know."
*
A small sour look twists his features and Loki looks to the side, his hand coming up to scritch at the small goatee that he wears at times when between his identity as the Prince and Louis King. A turn back to her and he answers her, "Because I know in some ways it irritates him, and so if he is eavesdropping on me then I take heart in that small irk that it might cause him. Consider it a vague flicker of rebellion offered by one ever in his shadow."
But then she presses on and he sets his glass down upon the arm of the chair. He considers it for a time, then reaches for the glass of olives on that liquor cart, picking one up and casually rolling it around in the palm of his hand. "Sif, do you really know that?" He looks to her then, green eyes meeting her gaze. "Do you truly think that is how I am, or is it perhaps more that you hope so?"
*
A glass is risen, another salute given to Prince Loki and his defiance. And his sleuthing. He does it well. But the glass was soon lowered, and as he plucks an olive from the cart, she returns the glass to it, half drained and needing just a little bit more.
She watches him with her eyes, cold and blue as they were, her fingers soon steepling before her as she considers. Their last conversation, private, honest as it were, was starting to reflect in the here and now. "I do not know." She states. Certain of this. Honest.
"I've lived a long life by your side, Loki. A very long life." Her head bobs faintly. "I truly think that yes. You consider each, and every option you make, no matter how grand or small, and operate there after. I also believe that you deflect more than I do with my shield in battle." One shoulder lifts in a faint shrug as her fingers break off, which soon dips into her corset at the bosom to retrieve that chained locket, toyed around her fingers. "Maybe it is hope, my brother." She says, her voice distant. "A weak spot in a hardened heart of a goddess."
"Sif, you're drunk." And with that oh so masterful deflection he lets his smile break into a grin, even as he tosses the olive into the air and pops it into his mouth where he chews for a moment… then swallows. "Come, off with you. Go find a paramour or terrify a mortal lover for a night. Let your thoughts rest and trust that the fates have much in store for both of us."
Loki rises as well, casually nudging that drinks tray out of the way with the toe of his shoe before he starts to step over towards the door, his footsteps calm and even. "But in answer to your initial question," He turns back to face her and says gently. "I have a great place in my heart for my brother. And there is little I would not do to aid him or avenge him. Does that suffice?"
Sif grins, she knew that it was time to be off. There was a little laugh as she slowly kicks herself upright, with a slight grunt as if she were old and a stumble as if she really -were- drunk. Which she wasn't. Though her stomach does burn just a little. She takes a stretch, her arms lifting into the skies as she rounds her way around the chair. "I'd rather not." She states quietly. "I'll just saunter up towards the Thunderer's room and grace your horrible ears with the sounds of his delight." Her brows wriggle, plenty snitching on themselves that she just did.
"But yes. That does suffice. And know that he feels the same as you, aye? And I. For you both." There was a slight shake of her head as she approaches him, then draws her arms up and around his shoulders to bring him into a hug. "Do try to visit, when we are not playing star and professor, yes?"
*
She'll hear him huff a bit as he remains stiff against the hug, but almost grudgingly gives in to give her a pat on the shoulders. But it's a pat that draws her closer and for him to rest his head beside hers so their heartbeats can be heard. He smiles faintly, turning his head slightly to kiss just above her ear and then he draws back and pushes open the door.
"Alright, get out. You've worn out your welcome. Go go go." He smirks and starts to walk away back to his chair and the cart of booze. Ah home.