Final steps

[st_ratagem]

Loki had spent the last hour or two before sunset preparing, and the first hour afterward. He’d taken ruthless advantage of the fact that the Inn staff was desperate to give people towels and had carefully interwoven the. On the floor such that there was no chance of getting at the actual carpet below without effort. He’d selected a dagger from his collection - a very old one that he hadn’t actively used since childhood, one of a pair given to him by his mother - and sharpened it to an almost perfect edge. He’d opened up the balcony door to let the early-winter night chill in. He’d even out together a little aid kit (disinfectant, pads, bandages, needle and thread) for afterward.

In many ways, the hardest part was settling on the towels with the in-etched staff resting in front of him and forcing Odin’s enchantment away, knowing that he wouldn’t be allowing himself to go back to normal possibly for hours. And that, as soon as Thor arrived with a bowl and his hands, it would all have a witness.

Comments

[st_ormbreaker]

"It has mostly been theory thus far," he says. "Studying. I haven't actually tried performing it myself." Thor could be a man of ego who refused to acknowledge limitations, but there was some small part of him that doubted his ability to perform when it came to magic. He might have lightning and brute strength, but his brother was the spellcaster.

[st_ratagem]

“You’ll be fine.” Magic had a strong belief component, and Thor was hesitant enough that maintaining the belief that he could, that it was possible, might be difficult in the face of failure. “I would say make sure you’re understand the theory thoroughly before trying, but there’s no real fun in that.”

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor was the sort who pulled an item out of the package and immediately tossed away the instructions. Thor wasn't one to fret over the details; he preferred to learn as he did.

He really was trying to make an effort to learn properly now, though. If only because he could imagine how, precisely, things could be messed up worse if they went wrong.

Things had already been pretty bad before Corbie came around with her wards.

"For once," he says, directing a newly-warmed finger at Loki, "I'm trying to follow the book."

[st_ratagem]

“I wasn’t arguing.” Was he? No. And yet the finger-point seemed to be a challenge. “Start by learning and following the rules. That’s the only way to learn which parts you don’t need.”

[st_ormbreaker]

"I didn't think you were," Thor clarifies with a grin. "I'll let you know how it goes. I need something to do between all my other hobbies."

Which included annoying both Loki and Tony.