[Loki and Val] unofficial arbor day

[st_ratagem]

Without an axe, breaking down a tree was a tough proposition. Loki worked a transformation on one of his knives, rendering it serrated, close to a saw. Breaking down the tree to component parts was a challenge, but it had to be done. Ash branched vertically from the trunk on a true mountain ash, which this was, which meant that any branch could conceivably make a decent staff. There was no ‘smaller branches at the top nonsense’.

Because he’d asked for help hauling, Loki was handling the breakdown himself, which meant that he was more casually dressed than usual in jeans and a t-shirt; his usual Asgardian leathers or Midgardian suits were not for working in.

He’d hacked off two branches by the time he became aware he had company. “If you’re not Valkyrie, you’ll just have to cope with the hallway being full of tree.”

Comments

[st_allionofdoom]

“Too vague for your comprehension? Then let me be clear.” Valkyrie turned other wrist inside Loki’s grip and twisted it free, exchanging her blade for a swift chop to the throat and another kick to the wall. Sorry as she was to say, she relished watching the bounce when he smacked into things.

Before he could get his bearings or rise to his feet, she slammed her foot into his abused ribs and dug it there to keep him pinned. “I talk with my blade when I want things to end quickly. Lucky you.”

[st_ratagem]

Loki laughed, more than a little breathless from the rapid blows to throat and ribs that pulsed more pain and knocked the breath out of him, unable to catch said breath completely thanks to the foot keeping him pinned. It was the work of about a second to determine that the worst he'd walk away with from this were bruises, if that, in addition to the little puncture wound at his throat. Nothing broken, barely any marks.

There were any number of ways to fight and get out from under her foot, but Loki opted out of all of them. If the Valkyrie had been genuinely angry, she'd have opened that puncture wound to something far less trivial. She hadn't, so this was a game. A game she was very, very good at, and one he definitely didn't object to playing. "In that case I recommend you read your audience. The knife really doesn't bother me, but a simple 'back off' might have done wonders."

[st_allionofdoom]

“Quite the gentleman.” Valkyrie was amazed she could keep a straight face saying it. If Loki was content to stay underfoot, she was content to lean her weight into the point of contact, bouncing it off of his chest a bit. Finally relenting, she stepped back a pace.

“I helped you move the tree. May as well keep you in one piece to finish whatever you had in mind.”

[st_ratagem]

Loki stood up and stretched a little, just to double-check that his ribs were intact. (They were.) It also gave him a moment to breathe, so that when he spoke his tone was almost a purr. "Next time, then."

[st_allionofdoom]

"Maybe when you've got your staff. Spice things up." Valkyrie gave a back-handed pat to where she'd dug her foot in not a minute ago and strode to the door. The job was done, and she'd got a bit extra out of it to boot.

[st_ratagem]

“It’s a date.” If she wanted to be a practice target for ice magic, Loki didn’t object. Assuming he could work something out by then, of course. Otherwise he’d probably need a backup staff for when her Dragonfang split the first one in two.