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With Fluffy walked and running around the manor house, sticking his nose into all of the new unique smells, the little white poodle seems to be enjoying his recent adoption. Loki watches the little creature for a time, so different than the wolfhounds of Asgard. He simply stands there, hands upon his hips, one eyebrow piqued as he looks at the thing rush about the place and then make a beeline straight for the kitchen.
A small 'hmm' comes from him as he turns and lightly hangs up the leash upon the coat rack near the door at the embassy, though he does not undo his own jacket. Instead he moves into the room further with the small dog's collar jangling faintly with a silver clink as it charges into the kitchen. "Hilde, please do be so kind as to look after Fluffy while I'm out. He's been walked, and has eaten, but I'm sure could use some further training. If Hogun is around have him glower sternly at it or something."
"Of course, Lord Protector."
The prince of Asgard smiles a touch and then sweeps a hand over his jacket, clearing some of the white fur from the lapel. Once the gesture finishes he flashes out of view and then suddenly reappears…
Before the entrance to the House of Bellator. The front door, of course. He knocks.
*
One would think that an exciting time for the Asgardian's would be wrought with a feast and many tankards of mead. And yet Sif was home, wandering aimlessly around her own home with almost nothing to do. Nothing to fight as of yet, no one to train as the young man is out. No one to talk with as Scarlett was off elsewhere and.. well, Lady Sif wasn't much of a talking type.
Though the Bellator sings with life of construction crews working to repair the counter-isle in the kitchen, Sif watches from afar.. disappears, then watches yet again with a curious gaze. She almost thinks to send the men to the rear grounds to repair or make sturdy the fence that Thor built with his own hands. Ah well.
The knock of the door is heard, and with a turn upon her bare feet she lightly jogs towards it to tug it open with..
..is that a smile?
Nope.
"Were you followed?"
*
"Lovely," Loki says easily enough, his eyebrow lifting as he considers the place. But then his smile touches broader as he meets her eyes, the mischievous green gleam is there and he cocks his head to the side. "So quick with the insults already, Sif you wound me."
Should she grant him leeway he'll step inside, but if she keeps him out in the… well not quite cold since the Autumn is still here though on its last legs, but there is a bit of a nip in the air at this time of the night. "But I came right here, though if you leave me out here long enough I'm sure the news crews will find me. Now usher me inside and ply me with liquor."
*
Oh, she knows. But were she in a joking mood, she'd say so outloud. She'd even preen and primp her hair, but such was not the case. She was a wee bit irritable. A little bit impatient. She wanted to sit at her newly created counter top to peel apples and drink her mead!
But she wastes no time, drawing the door back so that he could enter, her gaze shifting left and right until he breaches the main part of the manse. (Small manse, of course.)
Once the door was shut, Sif, she actually brightens, and with a quick little joyous rush, she drops him cold with a hug that wraps around his neck. "I am unsure of your intent, but the execution was magnificent!" Speaking of his performance. It warranted a hug at least. Once no one looked, that is.
*
Eyes widening as he's caught and he actually makes a loud 'ack!' of sound as he's so terribly mauled by the good Lady Sif. Oh there are a few around him that he allows his guard down a touch, and Sif might be one of them simply due to their youths so ill-spent. But when she releases him he rounds on her with a smirk and an arm at her shoulder to pretend to shove her away just after a small return of the embrace.
"Bah, I am glad you enjoyed it. It was, in small part, for you. Or at the least to aid in providing something of a premise should you still wish to follow this madness of evading Heimdall's eyes and the All-Father's." He steps back and looks around the foyer, eyes lighting from this to that, noting the cardboard boxes.
"Why have you not gotten some servants to tend to all this? Paranoia?"
*
The light shove was met with a merrilous laugh, Sif reaching a hand upright to rub her shoulder as if it were to hurt. "Ow." She teases, but then she drops the false act to gesture towards the seating area. "You say small." She finally says, strolling towards the area, obviously ignoring his need for a drink in favor of her selfishness. "Though I suppose it came as an afterthought." She acknowledges him that much. "There is still much to think about in that regard, I am currently attempting to figure out all angles of such an approach, and a proper means to approach Thor with the prospects before I agree."
Though she does stop in her path to look around, she continues on, finally reaching the seatings so that she could flop down upon the long couch, feet kicked up in a relaxing state. "Nay, not paranoia. Laziness. Sloth am I in settling down. One is used to always on the go, tents and the like. My quarters in the great hall, filled with life. I suspect I am attempting to fill the rooms with life before the rubbish is cleared, I am after all, hosting the God of Wars son for a time until Ares is satisfied."
*
"A Greek?" Loki's brow furrows as he positively sweeps into the main room, his long black and green coat swept behind his legs as he rests his hands upon his hips. He continues to look the place over, even going so far as to poke around at the boxes, pulling one or another open and digging around its contents with the open curiousity of a trickster god. "Should put him to work unpacking then."
He crinkles his nose as he holds up a dagger of some sort of exotic make, drawing it from its sheath for a moment and looking at her with a quirked eyebrow, then slapping it back into its scabbard with a click. He tosses it back inside the box. "In truth your request led me to perhaps ham it up a little more than I would have. But the atmosphere created is definitely a recipe composed with your wishes as an ingredient."
*
"Yes." Sif answers, watching him. Most of the items in the boxes were meant to be upon the wall or otherwise, some gifts and baubles thrown together by those who did not wish to see her depart when she considered leaving the cadre. The walls were thin, arguments must have been heard. "The young man is not so bad. But it seems as if he's holding onto his mortal 'coil', as it were. High on himself. Cocky. Faith instilled in himself which is a good thing, but detrimental to his discipline. You should meet him. And good idea."
As he reverts the conversation to the reveal, Sif purses her lips tightly, her eyes closing as she draws in a breath, exhaling it softly. "You are a showman, and a skilled magician. A force to be reckoned with. Even if I did not seek to ask that favor of you, I imagine you still would have been elaborate as you were." She grins then, her head tilting.
"Though what if my path changes? What if I no longer wish to hide what I aim to do, to operate out in the open with Heimdall and the All Father's eye upon me. What have I to fear of my brother? Odin?" Her hands slap down upon her legs, one crossing over the other in finality. "What if I think to give up upon the search for now?"
*
Rounding back to her he crosses the way. She can see emotion touches his eyes as he moves closer, shaking his head slowly as he heaves a small sigh. Resting his hands on his hips he looks down to her, taking a deep breath as if he were about to try and impart some deep philosophical wisdom upon her. And then he says, "You are a terrible hostess. Where is the booze?"
He looks away as if trying to espy the room anew, as if he somehow missed it. But then he looks back, and answers her for true around that mocking smile. "I would assign your fickle nature as a flaw of the differences between genders, then proceed in much the same way. But I would simply advise you to speak with my brother, be honest with him. He will do naught save try and support and advise you in turn."
A gesture to the side is given, "Your desire for subterfuge, honestly, was not entirely clear to me. Yet I felt you must have had your reasons."
*
She was waiting for it. The wise words of the Lord Protector.. and she got that?
She felt cheated.
Though as he lingers and speaks, she shakes her head.. throwing her feet from the couch to stand not too far away from him. "I plan on it." She says faintly. "It is the issue of stealth that I struggle with. I know Thor loves the All-Father, and to think the one he may marry one day wishes to hide from him would be suspect." She reaches up to give him a little push, then steps aside. "I will tell Thor all. Even my dreams. It's a matter of pinning him down and not attempting to maul him to near exhaustion."
As she strolls towards her quarters, she doesn't answer him right away. She felt that he wanted an answer for her reasons, and she had to lay her heart upon her sleeve just so that she could speak. And it takes time, especially around one so light-hearted as he. And as she disappears behind the door, no more than a minute later she's carrying a barrell of mead upon one shoulder. What a brute!
She was careful at setting it down, a little grunt given as it finally touches the floor, and a wandering off towards the kitchen where the door is open, and the sound of a saw is heard cutting through wood. It vanishes, then reappears as she emerges yet again, closing the door behind her to approach with a spigot and two glasses.
She was stalling.
"Fear." She finally says. Admits. And a look was cast towards him to not make a joke of the situation, lest there be a battle afoot.
*
Whens he returns she is much as she left him. Some might have taken the chance to nose around the room further, but it's as if he had gathered what he needed in his brief survey. Instead he had simply watched after her and awaited the return with the barrel. At the sight of it however his smile broadens and she shakes his head, "I do plan to imbibe but perhaps not quite so much."
He stalks over to rest a hand upon it, then accepts a glass when it's proffered. He'll not stand on ceremony, he'll see to his own drink and then offer to hold the spigot while she does so as well. "Fear has never troubled you in battle, only in the playing at love with my brother."
Straightening he steps back and to the side as he drinks. "You need say little more if you wish, I understand."
*
After the glass was taken and the spigot screwed into the barrel, Sif waits until his own glass was poured before she takes a pour of her own with his help. "Aye." Sif admits. "I ever tell you my means of leaving the cadre?" She asks quietly. "I had means to die in battle when Balder marched to Jotunheim." She grins then. "I am a rash woman, Loki. And this matter is so important to me that I slow my steps and look upon all angles and ask all questions that I dare to ask myself. And fear."
She takes a quick drink, quick enough to drain the glass. "Fear is what stays my hand. Fear is what wishes me to hide."
She sniffs, her nose twitching as if she were ticked. "I fear what would happen if I were to actually find my mother and father. And I ask them, why did they not want us? And the answer, an answer given that would be so terrible that Heimdall's heart would break and scatter across the nine realms to never be recovered." She sighs.. "I fear that Heimdall knew of their departure, or that even Odin himself hath wisked them away.. or perhaps they were killed in such a fashion that there is much shame to be had by all of Asgard.. I do not know. And I fear it."
She pours herself another glass, then drinks. And another. And drinks. It was with the fifth glass that she finally stops to take a seat to savor the taste of the mead.
*
It's to Loki's credit that he sticks with his one glass, no real need to rush through such a brew. "Well, Sif. Whichever you decide you know I'll stand with you as I can, no matter how wrong-headed and foolish you may be." At the last his smile shifts to a smirk, it's only then that he drops into a seat some five feet from her and a touch to the side so she has to look askance towards him, almost as if he were giving her counsel in the manner of such a stereotypical psychiatrist.
"I have no idea how I would handle such a revelation, or to approach such a thing." He looks to the side, letting his words drift from him as he seems to turn a touch inward. "To have no support structure to rely upon can do such things to an individual. At the least you have Heimdall, my brother, myself."
There's a pause as he looks at the bottom of his glass and then seeks it with a swallow. "A difficult bridge to cross."
*
"I know this." She grins, then loops her arm back around the couch. As he takes a seat, she shifts a little more in his direction, her arm dropped down to hold along her glass, both hands now, near clutched. "Neither do I. I am not the poetic sorts to describe how much my heart would break, how much it would shatter me and He both.."
"But.. yes. I find myself wondering, are you and Thor enough? Heimdall? Frigga and .. by the grace.. Odin?" She makes a little bit of a face, her lips poked out just a touch. "And what do I say to Thor? Mayhap your family has murdered my own and raised their children as a means of forgiveness." She snorts loudly. "How presumptuous of me to think of them so, how foolish and wrong. And yet.. I think of it." She inhales then, finally taking a sip of mead. "I shall require time. Though if we do see a need other than finding my mother and father.. is that offer you propose still upon the table?"
*
Hands spreading, Loki furrows his brow as he looks towards her. "It is no small thing you ask. Thor would find the whole matter ill suited to us or our family. For a moment he looks aside, then just a second later looks back, "If he forbade me to aid you in that way, then I would not."
But then he takes another swallow of the drink, resting it lightly on the arm of the chair as he settles deeper into it. "If you broach the topic with him, I would suggest telling him it would aid your efforts, but also pointing out that now would be a good time for us to have someone able to operate on Midgard in such a hidden way."
A breath is taken as he looks aside, "Forces rally against us. When I discharged my obligation to the university, their Director of SHIELD was awaiting me to chastise me as if I were some minion of hers."
*
Sif grunts faintly. "If I broach the topic with him in that way, Loki. It would be a lie." She states. With a slight lean forward, the cup was soon placed upon the floor as she slides forward. There were choices to be made. Though.. protection of Asgard was something that took a little bit more precedence than her finding her parents. It was a land that she loved and served with her heart of hearts, so to think of it in this way made things a lot easier.
"If you are certain that they do rally against us.. then consider this not a favor, but my duty." She states with confidence. "I will have words with Thor, to gain his perspective. Even though at times I consider him a ball of nuts that I love, he is wise." Though, aside.. aside!
"You actually let a mortal chastise you?" That.. was shocking.
*
"Having you be able to freely move about, safe from prying eyes would be very useful." And she can see as the notion takes him, becoming… more interesting. The trickster cocks his head to the side, "With a few changes it could provide you with a few more advantages than the initial casting I placed on myself."
He leans forwards towards her, meeting her halfway so they can meet eye to eye. "I have only hidden myself from matters arcane for the most part, scrying, far-sight." Loki gets a faint smile, "It would be possible to perhaps alter the casting enough to hide you from the technological marvels the mortals possess. Their cameras, their sensors…" He scratches his chin for a moment. "Though, to be fair, it could also cause you some minor inconvenience. You would be unable to use their telephone devices. No recording would capture your voice."
For now the topic of the chastising is allowed to simmer.
*
Sif could see this. If she were hidden from the magical world as a whole, there would be nothing that could stop her. She was already a formidable warrior, yet this would make her terrifying. A prospect that she was even more kindly to than to find her parents.
Her priorities are all fucked up!
"Nay. To go such farther to limit me from technologies is a hazard." She states quietly. "Tactical means require such devices, as much as the mortals use them I feel that they would be beneficial to us as well." She leans back then, nodding her head seriously. "I like this.." Indeed.. it would be a new venture.. and it was exciting. "I shall speak with Thor on this. And you shall speak of that mortal woman bickering towards you so that I can laugh myself to sleep.."
*
His mind is already racing with the thoughts of how this could be implemented, but then at her feed back Loki's head bobs for a moment as he murmurs. "Indeed, their benefit could be of more use then." But then he lifts a hand, "This would not protect you against spells cast directly upon you, from line of sight as it were. But you would not be able to be scryed, nor focused upon from afar. Though there are still… rituals that can be used to summon those of us Asgardians more tied to the spiritual and divine."
Yet even as he cautions her he is already making a mental list of what must be done, what must be acquired, and who may have to suffer. His lip twitches.
But then her final words draw him around and he addresses them with a dismissive wave. "For Thor's sake I tolerated it initially. He had wanted to work with them on some level. I did what I always do. Made light, threw words her way to raise her ire and ideally send her off in impotent rage."
Yet then he grimaces, "However, she mistook her place. Sought to take me by the ear and chastise me as if I were some school boy."
*
Speaking of spells cast directly upon her.. she nearly forgets to regal him with the tale of Fandral's trickery. But that was saved for another time, for her head shakes almost immediately. "That is enough for now, I'm sure such a weakling as yourself cannot protect me from -everything-." Tease. Though she knows well of those rituals, she catches the twitch of the lip and remains silent so that the tale could be told.
"Wait." Sif murmurs faintly, one hand drawn up. "She -actually- grasped your ear?"
Where anyone else would be willing to have words with this woman, there was a little hint of pride that swelled there. But it was small. Like a speck of salt, small. But then again, that was -Sif's- job! She should be so insulted!
*
"She attempted to do so," Loki crinkles his nose slightly as he leans back, drawing himself to his full height. "You know how things are when our tempers flare. Mortals are so clumsy compared to us in some ways, so slow. I could see it in her eyes."
There's a pause and he scowls. "It was what was in her eyes that pushed me to wroth. She has this role, and she believes she is protecting humanity. Truly believes it. But she's a jumped up martinet. I have seen the same look in the eyes of the generals in their air conditioned manor houses five miles behind the lines when they're told of some unfortunate event."
Loki shakes his head, his gaze distanced, memories in his thoughts as he tells her. "Her anger wasn't for the danger, or the potential loss of life. It was for the insult that was given someone daring to go against her and hers, for the loss of control. Ego."
A lip quirks as the return of his thoughts to the here and now, then he looks back to her. "She reached to touch me, I grabbed her by the throat and told her she forgot herself."
*
There was ever such a silence as Loki begins to tell his tale. Where there would be jokes, snide remarks, and a little bit of laughter, Sif was mildly annoyed at this woman. And yet, seeing that look within his eyes was unsettling. It was that distant gaze that told of the lingering danger beneath. Sif could see it well. Read him well, almost as well as she could read Thor.
"I've seen time and time again the play of words aimed towards you and your brother, all times meant to cut. But hardly ever a harsh reaction such as that once the ego was delivered a 'supposed' blow." Sif frowns slightly, then rises from the couch with a bit of a grunt. Sif is getting old.
As she approaches, both palms were made visible as she reaches out to touch his shoulders, her fingers tightening in a reassuring stance that he has done no wrong in her eyes.
"As you were right to do, Loki." She honestly meant it. "But, as Lord Protector of Midgard, son of the All-Father, brother of my beloved. If someone dare reaches for you not in kind, not in earnest, meant to do and inflict harm, you need not but to call me." Her voice was quiet now.
"Whilst I am sure that you have gotten your point across, I shall slay her." Was she kidding? Partly. "Or attempt to mend divisions for the betterment of us all. Your choice, Lord Protector."
*
"No," Loki's green eyes return to hers and she can see the furrow in his brow as if he were realizing where he is. His eyes widen and he gives a small nods, "No. I left her with no question as to our relation to the other."
His hand lifts to touch hers, fingers curling around her own as he shakes his head. "There is danger here, yes. Not entirely in her hands, as it were." Another squeeze then he draws back. For has that almost always been the way between them? He gains his feet, stepping away and using the emptiness of his glass now as excuse to move back to the barrel and refill it.
"The governments of Midgard may try to move clandestinely, to reestablish the status quo. An assassination attempt here or there. I would have you guard against that, though chances are they would not be able to muster up enough discrete assets to do me true ill."
Then he turns back, mug in hand as he attempts a casual half-smile, "The danger lies in that if I am underestimating them or the lengths they will go to, if I am injured or if there is any doubt as to my status, I would fear what my brother might do. For despite Odin's statement he is to be a force for diplomacy between the realms, I doubt his wroth would be withheld by his office."
*
"You say this, Loki. But did you leave that woman in tact? With all of her parts." Sif murmurs. "-All- of them?" It was almost chiding, for if she could reach behind him and smack the back of his head, she would. But Loki again, in her eyes, had done right. As he draws away from her, both arms slowly fold about the other, watching as he fills his glass, her own left upon the ground and forgotten for a time, which allows a tensing of shoulders and a lowering..
"Reestablish? They've never had the status quo since the first abnormal human touched these shores." She shakes her head then, the prospect that any come to harm any of the royal princes makes her cringe. Heimdall would be upon her in a second if that were to happen. "I shall return to Asgard and pick the best warriors to guard your person. Even if I am forced to do this myself.."
Which she would.
"Aye.." She murmurs though, turning ever so slightly, hesitating, then moves towards her drink to scoop up into her wanting hands. "I count the days of last incident when your brother was unable to be calmed by words. And to think that I had to compel Aerndis for such a skill, the berserker runs true in his blood."
*
A chuff comes from him, a stifled laugh as he looks away while he downs another pull from his glass. Turning back to her he answers with a risen brow as if she should know better, "Of course I did. Once again my strongest weapon was my harsh language."
But then he looks back and seems to have a small momentary inner monologue with himself before he adds, "I held her against the wall until she nearly passed out, then let her fall." He gestures to the side with one hand as if waving it all off. "She swore revenge of course or something along those lines, but in such moments the words of mortals are rarely worth their breath."
"Barring unforeseen occurrences, I see us making contact with the governments of the world. We have sent messages and will most likely hear back soon. I have made it obvious where we are, and where we can be found. I counselled Thor we should wait and see. So far we have done naught save to announce our presence and swear our aid."
*
"For who?" Sif's eyes glitter with amusement, finally drawing up the nerve to take the mead down within her glass but to a drop. But hearing as to how he rebutted the womans assault, she was clearly impressed. He learned well in the arts of battle, even if it was just against a meager woman. Women are the most dangerous creatures, after all. "We shall see to it then, that she does not hold true to her word. I'll depart for Asgard in the morning."
With that said, she returns to her seat, the drink not overcoming her, but the effects were well noted. It was a heavying thing, burning within her muscles, a certain tiredness due to the nature of the speak. Had they shared tales with laughter, her adrenaline would fire.
"All the more reason. I will not accept a nay in this. There shall be round the clock guard.. but I shall remove my belongings from such a place post haste. I never knew that I would value my privacy as such." She grins then, content to continue drinking. Or nap. Which ever comes first.
*
"I already placed two guards out in front of the manor," Loki looks to her and smiles as he sets his now empty cup down upon the corner of a still closed cardboard box. "As for a personal escort, I move around too much for that to be feasible and I do not want to project the image of fear. So if you must consider implementing a guard beyond the ones at the door… make them discrete."
At that Loki smiles towards her and lifts a hand, "As for me, now at this hour, I believe I shall begin gathering what I shall need for the casting of your enchantment. Follow up with Thor if you wish, or just come to me again and we will take what steps we can."
Sliding his hands into the pockets of his coat he smirks across the way towards the goddess of war, "Until then, Sif."
And with that he's gone as quickly as he arrived, leaving only the faint flare of light behind him for the scant seconds it takes to fade.
*