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_ratagem]

“Happened a long time ago, got used to it a long time ago.” Loki opted to leave aside the ‘also, not actually Asgardian’ argument. His mind was Asgardian, more or less, and that had always been the more important part to him.

[st_ormbreaker]

"Getting used to it doesn't make it any less unpleasant," Thor says. He nods his head towards Loki's staff. "Can I pick it up? It won't do anything to me, will it?"

[st_ratagem]

Loki turned the staff in his hands, then shrugged and tossed it at Thor. “It shouldn’t. I doubt it will feel pleasant to you,” it was almost Loki in inanimate stick form, and he was not a pleasant person, “but I put no locks on it.”

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor catches it and by reflex braces his arm, as if expecting it to do something despite his brother's assurances. As much-improved as their relationship has been lately, Loki was still the God of Mischief and magical items were still magical items.

But, when Thor's fingers clamp down around the staff, he finds that there's nothing more than the normal expected magical enchantments. It's cold and unhappy and feels like Loki even though it's just made of wood and blood and magic.

Thor turns it around in his hand, feeling out the weight of it. It feels solid and strong.

"So how much practice do you need to get in before we can make snow?"

[st_ratagem]

“I don’t know.” That he could do it was no longer a question, but the degree of strength or stamina that would need to be involved was unguessable. A fairly small area of freezing cold had been a strain, but if the ice really was like muscles, the more he did it,the more he’d be able to do. “Maybe a week or two for a decently-sized area, if I push?” He intended to push either way. “If all you want is a small proof of concept, we could try for snow just on us right now.”

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor's light up at the suggestion. "Really?"

[st_ratagem]

“It’s a muscle. The more I do, the more I can do. I should take any opportunity.” Yes, really. “But I’ll need the staff back.”

[st_ormbreaker]

It's not until Loki points it out that Thor realizes he still has the staff in hand.

"Oh, sure," he says, and he passes it back over to Loki.

As he does so, he begins to pull a cloud above them, then tugs a piece of it off like a piece of cotton candy. It drifts towards them and settles directly above them. Thor beams up at it.

[st_ratagem]

Snow wasn’t simply freezing rain, the cloud itself had to freeze such that tiny crystals clumped together, and the area around had to be cold enough that they didn’t melt when they fell. Adding moisture and rain to the cloud would have to be Thor’s job in addition to corralling the thing in the first place.

But the freezing, that Loki could do. Once again he yanked at the resistance to the freezing power through the staff (was it actually easier, or just in his head?) and pointed the staff at the cloud. Again the runes flared as soon as the resistance broke, and the water in the cloud turned to tiny ice crystals while Loki radiated freezing cold.

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor can feel something change within the cloud and he takes that as his signal; moisture begins to fall from the cloud overhead.

[st_ratagem]

It fell as snow. Big heavy flakes, speaking to the fact that Loki hadn’t quite gotten it cold enough for powder. The roof, too, is still warm enough that the flakes melt almost soon as they land.

But it was snow, recognizable and definite.

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor reaches out to grab one and just as his hand folds around it, he can feel it shift back to liquid against the warmth of his palm.

He spins, eyes bright and his smile broad.

"Loki!" He holds out his hand to show his brother the melted puddle of snowflake.

"You did it!"

[st_ratagem]

Loki caught a snowflake as well, but in his hand, of course, it didn’t melt. He also didn’t smile. “You were here, too, Thor.”

[st_ormbreaker]

"What do you mean?" Thor asks excitedly, clearly not getting Loki's point.

[st_ratagem]

“Snow doesn’t happen without clouds and potential rain, brother.” For all Thor’s ego, he picked odd times not to claim credit due.

[st_ormbreaker]

"Yes, but without you, it would have been ordinary clouds and rain," Thor points out. "You could have waited for an ordinary rainstorm and done the same thing without me."

[st_ratagem]

“It’s winter. You could have waited for it to be cold enough without me.” Loki shrugged. “We May have to admit it was a team effort. I’m sure it will get less horrifying the more we say it.”

[st_ormbreaker]

"We made a great team," Thor says. "We still do."

Thor presses a hand against the side of Loki's shoulder and pulls him towards him in a sidehug.

[st_ratagem]

Loki didn’t fight the side-hug, but he did turn his head to look at Thor. “You realize I’m still blue. You’re risking your arm with this.”

[st_ormbreaker]

"Worth the risk."

[st_ratagem]

“You are an idiot.” Loki let Odin’s enchantment flood back, warming both his skin and the air around them, turning the snow into rain.

[st_ormbreaker]

"I would have been fine," Thor complains at Loki's turning. The rain overhead stops as abruptly as it started and the little puff of cloud dissolves into the night sky.

[st_ratagem]

“You’re already down an eye, you don’t need to lose an arm as well.” Loki was very sure of this point.

[st_ormbreaker]

"You're exaggerating," he says. "I'm sure I wouldn't lose an arm." Thor gives his brother one final squeeze, then lets go.

[st_ratagem]

“I’m pretty sure I could do it, though.” He wouldn’t, at least not without an extremely good reason. Possibly not even then. But still! The possibility existed in some form,