[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.”

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[st_ratagem]

“I am not,” he confirmed.

[st_allionofdoom]

Valkyrie sauntered up to her oft-roommate, taking the hair he’d so carefully brushed behind his ear and tugging it loose. “You dress like one.”

[st_ratagem]

Before Valkyrie pulled her hand away from his face herself, Loki pushed it away and down gently, so his fingertips slid down the inside of her wrist to her palm. Then he bent slightly to put his mouth nearer her ear - retaliation for her earlier surprise attempt - and murmured, “Regardless, I’m not one.”

[st_allionofdoom]

"Is this you trying to cast a spell upon me?" Valkyrie murmured back, angling the point of her knife right into the skin of Loki's throat. "Be warned, witch. Dragonfang cuts through magic trickery and grows stronger with every drop of blood she touches."

[st_ratagem]

Loki grinned but didn't back off even slightly. If she was going to cut his throat, well - it was a fun enough lead-up that would probably be worth it. "If I'd been trying to cast a spell on you, guard, you wouldn't have enough free will left to ask, much less to feed your sword."

[st_allionofdoom]

Valkyrie held steady, keeping their gazes locked, even as her lips softened into a leisurely grin. The blade dug ever so slightly deeper, testing the limits of his skin. "If I deemed you even a slight threat in that respect you'd not have a head to recite your snake-tongued curses."

[st_ratagem]

Loki was fairly sure he was going to end up bleeding, but that had never been a deal breaker. In fact, he pushed it a little more by leaning an infinitesimally small amount closer, digging the blade in a little more, without breaking eye contact either. "When was the last time you heard me speak a spell?"

[st_allionofdoom]

"So those lips of yours are just for talk. If I take those, then I suppose you've got no reason to complain." When she tightened her grip on the handle, the skin beneath the point gave and drew a bead of blood. Valkyrie didn't flinch.

[st_ratagem]

Loki didn't flinch either, but closed his eyes and hummed a little at the blooming pain. It wasn't much more than a sting, but as he'd been all right with the idea of his throat being opened, enjoying something much smaller as proof of a reaction seemed appropriate. "No reason whatsoever."

[st_allionofdoom]

Loki’s minutely quickened breath and the sight of his blood, despite her best efforts, had a vicarious effect. A rush. The thrill of knowing better and yet simply doing it anyway. Not too long ago she’d have pierced his throat and thought little of it, but now...

There were two ways to end their strange little encounter. Pull back or up the ante. And Valkyrie didn’t fancy herself such a coward she’d shy away from such a clear challenge, prince or no.

“This is a dangerous game you’re playing, Your Highness.” A final warning as she turned the blade. Due diligence.

[st_ratagem]

“The best kind.” Part of the danger of this game, of course, was in not actually knowing, not for sure, what the game was. If he actually was risking a slit throat or if Valkyrie was playing her own game. Or both. Or whether the answer mattered at all when he was enjoying it either way. “If your blade is supposed to be telling me something, it’s not being especially eloquent.”

[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.