[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]

"If it's that or fermented shark, I may make the effort. You know Thor would just be charmed by the effort at being 'traditional'." No matter how disgusting and best left to history it was. "Of course, there's always a chance he'll forget on his own."

[st_allionofdoom]

“It still surprises me.” Was surprise the right word? Valkyrie pressed the metal to her cheek. “The marriage.”

[st_ratagem]

"Engagement, surely? Not a marriage quite yet." Loki aimed a briefly curious look at her, then waved a hand as if dismissing it. "Thor has a decided type and he's the romantic sort. I'm only surprised it took this long for him to agree to promise fidelity 'til death to some human or other."

[st_allionofdoom]

“Right. Though I imagined his betrothed to be somewhat less...neurotic.” She shrugged, watching the waves as she let her body dry. “More surprising is the thought of any of us slowing down enough for that sort of thing.”

[st_ratagem]

"Thor would never attach himself to anyone he didn't have to take care of and fret over." That was almost certainly why the hoped-for attachment to Lady Sif, when they were all young, had never materialized. Sif took care of herself. Had they gone that way, she would have loved Thor, but never needed him the way he wanted. "As for slowing down, this place is all slow. It's difficult not to slow down to match."

[st_allionofdoom]

“Mm...” Valkyrie’s eyes grew distant in that way they sometimes did. She parted her lips a hair to speak, but closed it. No use would come of that speculation. Not in here.

“That being said...I can see the appeal.”

[st_ratagem]

The moment of reminiscence was brief enough that Loki didn’t spare more than a moment wondering where she’d gone, even if he did reach out and brush fingertips through her hair as if moving it back from her face. “Of which part?”

[st_allionofdoom]

The soft crinkles around her eyes relaxed at his touch. “Both.” The marriage. The slowness.

[st_ratagem]

“Ah.” The slowness was... restful, it was true. Peaceful, even, and actual peace was hard to come by. It chafed every so often, but on the whole the appeal wasn’t difficult to see. “I always assumed I would either have an arranged political marriage or none at all. Mostly the latter, as time has gone on.”

[st_allionofdoom]

“During my sane years I put the idea off.” To say nothing of her alcohol-fueled Sakaarian self. She offered the water her prince’s way.

[st_ratagem]

Loki accepted the water and drank, then handed it back. "Did you have a prospect and put it off?" That seemed horribly likely, somehow. Perhaps she'd thought there was time, and then reality and Odin broke it.

[st_allionofdoom]

"I did." She lifted her head towards the sun, letting the heat dry her bronze skin and her damp hair. "My sister in battle."

[st_ratagem]

"My condolences." Not so much for her death, but the missed opportunity for Valkyrie that said death represented. If she'd considered marriage as a future, she'd clearly loved this sword-sister of hers, as well. Condolences for that, too.

[st_allionofdoom]

"She gave her life for mine." She cast Loki with a meaningful glance. In her timeline, Loki was the only other being in existence who had seen the face of Róta.

"I tore myself apart for years over for the anger. At myself. At Odin. At Hela. At her. I couldn't forgive her for making such a pitiful trade for me, a woman who fled and drowned her grief with depravity." A breath escaped her with a sigh at freeing the words in her. She hadn't even confided in Thor this much. "All I can do is disappoint her less from wherever she watches."

[st_ratagem]

“Which isn’t nothing.” At least, if you believed in Valhalla and so on, which the Valkyrior were all but required to do... and, honestly, which Loki did even if it was a rather sad lookout for him, all thing considered. His kind, after all, had nothing but Hel waiting. “And in time you’ll see her again, and she can hold you to any account she wishes, yes?”

[st_allionofdoom]

"As is her right." Valkyrie agreed, shaking her hair out as the moisture flew away to frame her head. She collected herself and straightened up tall, leaning towards the sun and the wind. "Her name was Róta. And I am Brunnhilde."

[st_ratagem]

“I’ll remember.” For whatever that was worth. But Loki had to admit, at least to himself, that it was... pleasant, at least, that he knew his lover’s name, even if she didn’t care to use it. That she was comfortable enough to tell him. (Yes, they shared a room, bed, and custody of a large number of fish - none of that was necessarily an indicator of comfort.) “I’ve only got the one name, or I’d return the introduction.”

[st_allionofdoom]

His jet black hair caught the sun and she ran her fingers through it, diffusing the heat it'd caught and held. She briefly wondered if Loki might even catch a tan--if that was even possible for Jotun. She smiled.

"Loki." Valkyrie said simply to say it. She still rarely said the man's name so much as a title.

[st_ratagem]

Loki closed his eyes to enjoy the fingers stroking through his hair, a sensation he loved made better by the fact that it broke the heat a little, too. After a few moments, he caught her hand and kissed her palm before releasing the hand again. Just because he was quick enough to do it. “That’s the one, yes. Patronymic currently either undecided or rejected outright.”

[st_allionofdoom]

"A fine pair we make. You'll remain simply Loki, but I'm not about to give you up as my charge." Valkyrie leaned over Loki's lap to drag the netting back towards hers. "I'll even wrangle Stark with this should he threaten the dreaded Hákarl again."

[st_ratagem]

“Your charge, am I?” Loki quirked a smile and let her reclaim the netting. If they were going to wrangle Stark with it, potentially, there would probably need to be some kind on enchantment laid on it later, to deal with the armor. “Well, I can’t say I mind being kept.”

[st_allionofdoom]

"I'm glad we've come to an understanding." Valkyrie yanked both ends of a length of twine tight, readying it. "Now, show me how to finish this thing."

[st_ratagem]

“Of course.” Loki took up his own twine and started to go through the last row, slowly so she could see, making sure that all ends were tied off. They had half of an understanding, at least: what he was to her. The other half would be figured out in due time; it seemed more complicated than the nets.