[Loki and Val] beach time!

[st_ratagem]

The increasing frequency of sunshine and warmth meant Loki spent slightly more time at the beach than he had before. It was true that he could make (or repair) nets anywhere, and the only one other than himself who was inclined to use them was the girl Moana, but it seemed... appropriate, at times, to work on nets near where they would be used.

Besides, he'd always found the ocean peaceful. Somehow solitude never seemed to turn into loneliness by the sea... or perhaps it did, but the loneliness didn't cut.

Regardless, it was far from unheard of for Loki to disappear from the immediate Inn grounds to go sit on the sandy beach with his projects. Despite the sunny near-summer weather and the increasing heat on the beach, he dressed more or less as he normally did; a long-sleeved buttoned shirt and slacks. His sole concession to the sunny beach was bare feet rather than shoes.

Comments

[st_ratagem]

He’d arrived in late summer, and summer was coming on again - no doubt he’d eventually venture outside the Inn only at night, when it was cool, but for now... well, leather in Asgard’s summers had been miserable, and he’d managed to survive those without a lovely Valkyrie sharing her water. This sun was uncomfortable, but not unusually so.

Also, teaching would be distracting. “Next, make a knot at either end. You can also tie them to something or pin the ends down, but that takes space you may not always have.” A few quick motions twisted the ends of the cut twine into knots like little balls.

[st_allionofdoom]

“Have you ever fastened His Majesty to something successfully?” The sense she got was that Loki was practiced since his youth. He was long lived and his fingers were already quick as it was, but the sense of familiarity of the craft suggested something more.

[st_ratagem]

"Oh, once or twice. Nets are a little less bloody than my traps for Thor have tended to be." He was more prone to stabbing, pit traps, and the like. "Once, when we were... oh, fifteen or so, I think, I convinced him that there was a treasure hidden in a room in an unused part of the palace. The whole wing had been abandoned just because whatever it was was so very dangerous - that guaranteed he'd insist on going. It wasn't, of course, before I got there. I made a number of very fine nets, almost like cobweb, and decorated them with little hooks and a sort of distillation of formic acid. So as he crashed around through the 'webs' he got cut and stung while finding nothing. And for a bonus, I believe at least one of his friends suffered alongside him." Had it been Fandral or Hogun? Likely not Volstagg; he'd been slightly older and calmer.

[st_allionofdoom]

"The knowledge of missing your childhood antics fills me with regret and relief." And she'd imagined it more than once, her chest swelling and falling with a soft laugh. Then again, any child of Odin's would have been light years ahead of the one she met first.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same, all that."

[st_ratagem]

"I believe that one to have been one of my kinder tricks, actually," Loki mused. "There was, after all, only minor possibility of injury and no chance of it being lethal while still being very fun for me." Thor, he recalled, had not agreed. Probably still wouldn't.

For his own part, Loki could only feel relieved that he and Valkyrie had meet as adults. How awkward would his current feelings be if she'd been anything like a nanny to his child-self? He dismissed that musing with a slight headshake, then took up the twine and dagger again. "Next is the most tedious part. Measure out lengths of twine, double the length you want your net." He demonstrated, measuring a rough twenty feet and then cutting it. "Keep doing that until you've no twine left."

[st_allionofdoom]

Valkyrie made short work of the measuring and cutting, laying out precisely measured pieces until there was no raw materials left.

“You’re like Eir.” She murmured, so softly as if she hadn’t meant it to be heard.

[st_ratagem]

"Who?" Not one of the goddesses he'd met or heard of, so... a fellow Valkyrie? If so, the comparison was a compliment, especially from this Valkyrie. Her sisters were all the dearer to her for being memories.

[st_allionofdoom]

“A sister. Her sense of humor wasn’t unlike yours.” If easily less violent. “Her penchant for magic made her tricks all the more confounding.”

[st_ratagem]

"Ah." It was good to be right. "Well, I'll continue to try and avoid being boring."

[st_allionofdoom]

"She was a healer as well. Made the switch to the Valkyrior all the more surprising to those in her circle." Valkyrie continued to reminisce, fastening the twine as she followed Loki's lead.

In the days of stillness at the inn, more and more memories seemed to resurface naturally. The more Valkyrie had tried to force them, the more they slipped away. Certain words, certain faces, even passing scents would trigger flashes and all the emotions they brought forth.

[st_ratagem]

There was a difference between reminiscing and getting stuck in the past, and Loki judged this to be the former, at least at the moment. Not that he minded jolting Valkyrie back to the present, since the most effective way to do that was generally a kiss or a touch, just that she didn't need the jolt at the moment.

The cut lengths of twine were folded in half and attached to the original line by way of a lark's head knot, letting the even ends dangle and sliding the knots so they were about two inches apart. The lark's head was simple, and he was very aware that Valkyrie knew knots already. "I'm sure she was better at healing than I am."

[st_allionofdoom]

“A bit.” Valkyrie agreed good naturedly, eyes trained on his fingers. However tedious the task was for Loki, watching his focus had the opposite effect. She enjoyed it in the same way she enjoyed displays of brute strength from The Hulk and even Thor or a well matched game between two competitive minds. With Loki, there was the added element of patience she found as intriguing as she did.

“She swore by the power of a good sauna.”

[st_ratagem]

Loki laughed again. “There she and I differ. Saunas are too hot for me. At least this,” he gestured at the sunny day, “is both somewhat cooler and a dry heat.”

[st_allionofdoom]

"Could I get you to agree to a warm bath?" Valkyrie scooted closer, bumping thighs.

[st_ratagem]

“That’s very possible.” Loki leaned the now-shorter distance to murmur into her ear, “You could probably persuade me into nearly anything.” It was true enough, but only because Loki was confident that Valkyrie would never ask him for something he couldn’t do or live with.

[st_allionofdoom]

Valkyrie honed her focus so as not to forget the twine and the way she knit it together, though the sound of his smooth voice made that an active effort. “I’ll use that power for good.” She turned her head and pressed a kiss to the bridge of his nose.

[st_ratagem]

“Or for fun, I trust.” His own hands were busy knotting strands together, so touching her would have to wait, but he tilted his head to press a quick return kiss to her lips.

[st_allionofdoom]

Satisfied with the lack of distance, Valkyrie simply followed after him in silence for a time, knot after knot. After finishing off an end, she set the burgeoning net down and stretched her arms high, her light coat catching the breeze.

“Water break, Your Highness.” Adopting her faux-formal affect, she took up the wide-set bottle and offered the open mouth to Loki.

[st_ratagem]

Ordinarily, from anyone else, Loki might have rolled his eyes slightly at the formality, prickled over an implication that he couldn't look after himself, or both. From Valkyrie, he did neither - from her, both were only readable as expressions of care and affection. That being the case, he took the water bottle, drank from it, then handed it back. "Worried I'll dry up?"

[st_allionofdoom]

“I can’t return to the masses with news one of their gods died such a pitiful death.” Clearly making reference to all the fish, Valkyrie took a swig of her own.

[st_ratagem]

Loki laughed. "If the sun does somehow kill me, please feel free to make up a more impressive story. I hate the possible future mythology involved with, as you put it, such a pitiful death. They're forming cults, they deserve a better story for their fanatical belief."

[st_allionofdoom]

“You were bested by a lion on a chariot of fire.” Reaching into her large blue companion bag, Valkyrie plucked out a papaya spear and aimed it at Loki’s lips. “You will be reborn in six generations to a fish with golden eyes.”

[st_ratagem]

"Much better!" And, it didn't have to be said, fairly good incentive not to die by sunlight. Loki had very little interest in being reincarnated as a goldfish, after all. "But make it eight generations, that's a better number."

He accepted being fed the fruit without a fight; Valkyrie had odd turns where she seemed to enjoy feeding him despite knowing that he honestly didn't care what he ate. Possibly it was an expression of worry that he wasn't eating enough, possibly it was an effort to annoy him. Possibly it was just entertainment for her. Regardless, it was a more than good enough excuse to keep practically no distance between them, and that was always worthwhile.

[st_allionofdoom]

“It will be a truly proud day when I can match the insanity of the tales you’ve fed humans.” She balanced a banana chip on the bridge of his sharp nose, bearing absolutely no shame about playing with her food in such a way.

“I’ve been asked if I’m related to the creature that carries her own head as she rides.” A type of fairy?

[st_ratagem]

Loki removed the chip immediately and ate it, just to make sure it didn't get placed anywhere else. (Likely part of the point of balancing it.)

"The Dullahan, maybe?" He looked her over, as if speculating instead of appreciating. "While I could see you using a human spine as a whip, I don't think throwing gold at you would necessarily make you go away."