whose_son_am_i | Labyrinthum IC Inbox

"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.

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."

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cw- implied starvation mentioned

Re: cw- implied starvation mentioned