Eilonwy listened, smiling at the mention of fruit. "That does sound familiar-- but most of our teas don't have as much of a flavor to them. If anything it tastes like light citrus, but I had one before from a neighboring kingdom that tasted like flowers and honey, it was very pleasant!"
Eilonwy thought back for a moment and laughed a little. "It did feel very different to be eating flowers instead of admiring them."
"Some of the floral ones are nice, but all tea with honey is good." Loki grinned, reaching out one hand to touch the floor. Letting it glow green, and giving Eilonwy an illusion of her cottage having a meadow with small wildflowers growing in it.
The illusion was very realistic visually and for how it felt, but there was no scent. "The tea should help, as should the shield, in keeping you from the worst of the headaches. You might still have a mild one here and there, but it'll lessen as you get used to things." Loki was smiling too, glad she was feeling better and glad to have made her smile.
"Good.. Hearing that does help me feel better about it. I'll just take the next day very gently to be safe." Eilonwy sat back properly in the chair and idly watched some of the flowers. "It must be quite fun to be able to do magic like this. I'd get nothing else done for at least a few days if I had the ability." She pictured covering her castle with flowers and laughed again.
"Would you prefer a different illusion?" Loki asked. "I won't say it's not fun, because I'd be lying. It comes in handy too, as I can make copies of myself and others as well."
"No, this one is very nice and I don't want you to strain yourself." Eilonwy blinked at Loki's last comment. "Copies? Are they like drawings? Or can they move and talk?"
"I'm nowhere near straining myself, Eilonwy." Loki reassured. Except it wasn't the Loki sitting on the floor cushion in the field of flowers, smirking to himself. This 'Loki' was over by her kitchen, moving to examine the broth things before turning to her with a smile.
"And no, not like drawings. Give me more credit than that." Yet one more 'Loki' said, sitting on her bed and crossing their arms. Close enough to reach out and touch, if she wanted.
"I'm glad, but..?" Odd, Loki wasn't speaking. She followed the voice and saw Loki in her kitchen. She gave a smile, a little embarrassed to have thought a god would be straining himself in the first place.
Eilonwy turned to look at her bed and jumped a bit in surprise at seeing yet another Loki sitting on it. She reached out and blinked as her hand looked like it was going to touch his arm but cut through it harmlessly. A small halo of green light came around her hand and faded out as she pulled back from the Loki on the bed. Eilonwy looked at her hand for a moment and then back to the Loki sitting on the floor.
"Thank you. It comes in handy in combat, as you might imagine." Loki--on the floor--replied. Letting the illusion copies both vanish as if they'd never been. "I could also visit you that way, if you ever felt sick but didn't want to have someone over. It's a form of projection I learned from my mother."
Eilonwy pictured the scenario easily enough, a weapon or a hand gliding through Loki instead of striking him and nodded. "Perhaps-- that would be a very good way to have company but without having to worry about getting you sick." She paused for a brief moment and then asked simply, "Can you get sick?"
At the mention of a parent, Eilonwy's expression softened. "How nice that must have been." she remarked, a little quieter.
"Probably, though I haven't in a very long time." Loki replied, then reached up to place one of his hands on hers. "My family is...complicated. But...my mother loved me, as if I were her own son. I see that now, and I regret heavily that my last time with her before she was killed, was with me denying her." Loki only hoped that if Frigga somehow were watching him, could see him, that he'd be making her proud now.
Eilonwy nodded softly. "I've heard that about families. My parents have been dead for longer than I want to think about, honestly. But they are, and my being aware of that is simply how it is." Eilonwy didn't know Frigga at all, but likewise she wondered if all of her work honored her own parents. She used that as one of her driving forces.
"It is. I'm sorry for your loss, but I think they'd be proud. Their daughter is a skilled ruler with a kind, but firm, heart and a calm mind. I'm not sure they could ask for more." Loki did not feel quite so paternally towards Eilonwy as he did Alice usually. But he could, thinking about it, say that were she his daughter--he would be proud.
"I think they would be, yes." Loki's comments helped along with Eilonwy's own reminders to herself. She worked hard, both for her subjects and friends and every time she did it felt like she was honoring them. Eilonwy loved that she could work hard, even if she pushed herself sometimes. But that was what resting was for.
She smiled again. "Thank you. I'm likewise sorry for yours." As the headache calmed down for a few moments, Eilonwy sighed. "There-- I think it's stopped for now. I've never had tea that's been able to do that, come to think on it." She looked back to her mug.
Loki gave a smile at her headache receding, but it only lasted for a moment, before his expression turned sad. Looking down, swiping his hand through the flowers of the illusion. "how...long ago did yours pass?"
She sighed. "Six years ago. Seven, technically, after my birthday passes this year. There was a bad winter when I was younger and they gave as much of their own food as possible to guarantee the kingdom would survive it."
Eilonwy idly swung her feet and then crossed her ankles, fidgeting a little. There had been a funeral, she remembered that as much as she remembered what they had been like. "They were mourned afterwards, but their efforts did help."
Edited (including cw for starvation) 2024-03-29 18:10 (UTC)
"Asgard never worried about starvation, so I'm sorry to hear it." Loki said, bringing one leg up to wrap his arms around and lean on. "My mother was murdered about four and a half? five? years or so ago. It's a bit tricky between here and where I was before here. My father passed a couple of months before I came here." A sigh. "His death, apparently, released our heretofore unknown Sister, who is the goddess of death. She set her sights on conquering the nine realms. We...had to destroy Asgard to stop her." a pause, and he was looking at all the flowers again. the illusion. "We evacuated our people, but half of them were slaughtered by the mad Titan Thanos. It's...likely I was killed by him too, as I was dying when I came here."
"Thank you. It's not a common enemy, but there are losses each year. If not from that, then from illness, or age, or battles." Eilonwy watched as he changed positions slightly and listened. Waking up in the garden had been confusing enough, Eilonwy couldn't picture doing it in the middle of death. Or in the middle of the fear of the Horned King, of worrying about her friends.. Before her thoughts could just spiral into an entire wellspring of ideas she didn't want to picture, Eilonwy was moving quickly.
She eased herself to the floor and moved until she could manage to hug Loki. It was awkward with the height difference between them both, but not by much. "I'm sorry. What heavy burdens."
Loki was only slightly surprised, moving to adjust so she could hug him. Unsure for a moment, before he let himself hug back and lean against her. "As far as I know, my brother lives. So do half our people. " But Loki had been repressing a lot, and now... Well, it was a sign that he felt safe, and trusted Eilonwy, that he let himself hide against her for several moments. Not crying, but letting himself feel. Hopefully so he could get himself back under control.
"That's something." she remarked quietly, not putting a name to it. It wasn't her place to define what that meant, if anything. After a moment of silence as she remembered the lyrics and beat, Eilonwy took a breath and began to sing, a little hesitantly at first but that eased up as she went ahead.
Singing would help her sometimes, and it was a gambit that it would help here, but it was the easiest thing Eilonwy could do without possibly restarting her headache.
Oh. Oh. It helped, but also made the fight against tears harder. There may've been a tear or two, but Loki was keeping himself remarkably under control while he listened. Honestly he was also very touched, and grateful. Somewhere along the way, Eilonwy had become more than his student, and she was still friend. But...now...now she felt like family. And that made him smile at least a little bit. Perhaps he could be that for her, as well.
The song finished and Eilonwy was quiet for a long moment. "Thank you again." she said simply. She pulled away from the hug but didn't move otherwise, and idly looked at the illusion. "Flowers are nice, aren't they?" she remarked with a light smile. "Maybe I'll see about planting some over the season."
Loki let out a little chuckle. "And here I was supposed to be comforting you." Murmured, but he reached out for and squeezed her hand gently. "Thank you, my friend. You're a treasure and a gift, and I am honored to be your friend."
"You have? You've done quite a lot to provide comfort." Eilonwy smiled at the hand squeeze and let her other trail in some of the illusionary grass on the ground. She looked over her shoulder, back towards her kitchen suddenly. "Should I check on the broth? You-- well, not you, but." Before she could get a headache from trying to sort out if an illusion was the same as real person, Eilonwy took a breath. "You were checking it earlier."
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whose_son_am_i) wrote2027-08-15 09:41 pm
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Eilonwy thought back for a moment and laughed a little. "It did feel very different to be eating flowers instead of admiring them."
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"How is your head?"
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"It's much better-- the pain isn't fully gone, but it's lessened. Thank you again." She looked up from the flowers and smiled.
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"The castle would be at home in any forest."
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"And no, not like drawings. Give me more credit than that." Yet one more 'Loki' said, sitting on her bed and crossing their arms. Close enough to reach out and touch, if she wanted.
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Eilonwy turned to look at her bed and jumped a bit in surprise at seeing yet another Loki sitting on it. She reached out and blinked as her hand looked like it was going to touch his arm but cut through it harmlessly. A small halo of green light came around her hand and faded out as she pulled back from the Loki on the bed. Eilonwy looked at her hand for a moment and then back to the Loki sitting on the floor.
"That's amazing!"
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At the mention of a parent, Eilonwy's expression softened. "How nice that must have been." she remarked, a little quieter.
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"Regret is a terrible thief."
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She smiled again. "Thank you. I'm likewise sorry for yours." As the headache calmed down for a few moments, Eilonwy sighed. "There-- I think it's stopped for now. I've never had tea that's been able to do that, come to think on it." She looked back to her mug.
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cw- implied starvation mentioned
Eilonwy idly swung her feet and then crossed her ankles, fidgeting a little. There had been a funeral, she remembered that as much as she remembered what they had been like. "They were mourned afterwards, but their efforts did help."
Re: cw- implied starvation mentioned
Re: cw- implied starvation mentioned
She eased herself to the floor and moved until she could manage to hug Loki. It was awkward with the height difference between them both, but not by much. "I'm sorry. What heavy burdens."
Re: cw- implied starvation mentioned
Re: cw- implied starvation mentioned
Singing would help her sometimes, and it was a gambit that it would help here, but it was the easiest thing Eilonwy could do without possibly restarting her headache.
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