whose_son_am_i | Labyrinthum IC Inbox

Eilonwy took the cup of tea as Loki handed it off and then made himself comfortable on the floor. Taking a small sip, she nodded at the tea and found it pleasant.

"It's.. it is difficult, yes." Another drink of tea as it started to work on her headache. "I don't feel ashamed by that, I just feel.. Suddenly very aware of myself compared to some adults that I know. I've heard about things I could never even fathom, spoken of easily! Even hearing that you've traveled no less than three times to entirely different areas is.."

Eilonwy looked at the tea, but didn't have more. "It's amazing, and confusing both. So I try to compare all of this to Llyr or Prydain where I can, which has helped, along with the friends I've made." There was an appreciative smile.

"Those three times were not by my choice really, if that helps at all?" Loki offered, although he had a feeling it wouldn't. The first honestly might or might not have been choice, as he had been certain he was going to die from letting go of Gungnir. Not be flung to the far corner and worst parts of a universe.

"Honestly you've shown remarkable resilience and adaptability, and that's something to be proud of. Yes, you may be very aware of yourself, but that makes it all the more remarkable. You are not breaking; you are, in fact, coping very well. You're not turning hateful, or distrustful, or mean. You're not giving in to fear from that confusion. It speaks to a strength of your character which I'm not at all surprised by."

Eilonwy had another quick drink of her tea. "It's.. It wouldn't be kind of me to reduce what happened to 'it was still traveling', so I'm not going to do that." she said simply. The headache wasn't fully gone but the tea was noticeably helping along with the mental shields.

With a faint smile at the sudden compliment storm, Eilonwy fell quiet for a moment. "I'm proud of myself!" she assured him, "But my strength comes from my character as much as it comes from my title. A leader needs to know when to use their heart along with their head." She giggled suddenly. "Even if there's telepathy involved. Your compliments are very kind, Loki, and honestly something I did need to hear."

The cup was warming her hands and Eilonwy shifted her position very slightly to make sure the heat was somewhat evenly distributed.

"I'm not surprised by your strength either--" a beat. "No, that's completely not true. I'm very surprised by your physical and magical strengths. But not by your emotional strength at all."

"Not all leaders are so responsibily-minded or trained so well. They can be arrogant, or prone to letting their emotions over-rule them. They can insist they are always right and correct, as that is part of why they are the ruler." But Loki was proud of her, and nodded. He'd thought she might need to hear the compliments and reassurance.

On the one hand, she very much was an adult--certainly by her people's standards. At the same time though, she was still a child learning to be grown-up. And not simply because Loki was very much older in years by several centuries. So he walked a delicate balancing act, but was trying hard to do so. He respected and liked Eilonwy, considered her a friend.

Then it was his turn to raise an eyebrow, and look somewhat surprised. "Oh? Any of that, I will credit to you and other friends I've made here. I was not very strong emotionally before arriving in this place."

"They can be, it's true." Eilonwy had met a very good example of that kind of ruler in the Horned King, but she'd also met other arrogant monarchs. It had been a very good test of her communication skills. She smiled at the nod and took another drink of the tea. The headache was getting quieter by the moment like an ebbing current.

Loki wasn't the only one dealing with balancing acts-- as much as Eilonwy was herself first and a princess second, she rarely allowed herself the luxury of forgetting what being a princess meant. She could rarely afford to, but she also equally liked Loki and had respect for him.

"Then I'm very glad that all of your friends have helped." Eilonwy smiled at the surprised expression Loki wore and had some more tea. "I hope we're able to continue to do so." She looked towards her bed for a moment and then back to where he was sitting on the floor.

"Would you like a quilt to sit on?"

Loki blinked, looked at the floor he was sitting on, then laughed to himself. "Right, I'm indoors and can make myself more comfy. I was a bit distracted." Getting to his feet, Loki twisted a hand and a large green cushion appeared. Which he then proceeded to settle on, still on the floor and grinning at her mischievously.

Edited 2024-03-28 19:57 (UTC)

"That does--" Eilonwy's sentence stopped before it could finish as Loki just pulled a cushion out of thin air. She watched as he did in fact make himself comfortable and laughed, thankful she hadn't taken another sip of her tea.

"That does happen, as I was going to say. But I also don't think I should be very surprised!" Eilonwy had seen her share of traveling spellcasters and performers who were just skilled at slight of hand. She shook her head. "You're the god of mischief, and that also fits."

That brought a good chuckle and he winked at her. "I'm a god of many talents, if you couldn't tell. Any you want me to pull out to amuse you, currently? While you're resting and recovering, since the hard part has been completed."

"I did have an inkling, yes." Eilonwy answered with an amused smile before she thought for a moment. "You've already shown your skills in medicine and conjuring objects.. I know you can also sing but it'd be rude to ask you do that after you've made yourself comfortable, so I won't request a song."

Eilonwy finished the tea in her mug and nodded as she thought of a topic. "Since I'm having tea, do you have any favorites you like? Ones you can't find here, maybe?"

"I'm not actually that skilled in medicine, this is just what I remember my mother and the healers doing. For me or others, but especially for me when I had headaches of the kind you describe." Loki explained, entirely comfortable. "Tea has always been just a drink for me, so no real favorites other than those that have a hint of fruit to them. It was always something to be drunk when sick, or when you were avoiding Mead or Wine for whatever reason. Which was rare. Do you have any favorites?"

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.

"How is your head?"

"It's very true." Eilonwy agreed. As her floor was replaced with a meadow of wildflowers she leaned forward a bit to admire them.

"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.

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.

"The castle would be at home in any forest."

"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.

"That's amazing!"

Edited 2024-03-29 01:14 (UTC)

"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.

"Regret is a terrible thief."

"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.

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cw: brief suicide mention

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