on the events of today's issue, naturally.

[forcedreset]

.. ah.

Well, I cannot predict all, and for all of the betraying I have done I suppose it is my just deserts, to be betrayed in turn. I may play the pieces but I cannot control them; the willfulness of goats, and such. I had only thought that -

Ah, well, no matter. Thori's choices are his own, and I cannot - I mean to say that I --

Goodness, look what you've done to me, miss mundane, asking me to speak on this so soon after the blow. I think we would do well to change the subject!

Comments

[oskmey]

A tear might not be remiss.

[forcedreset]

Ah, I have shed more than enough of those for the time being, I think.

[oskmey]

No comfort?

[forcedreset]

There are none who would comfort Loki, but I appreciate your concern.

[oskmey]

'Tis not concern, precisely. You are not the Silvertongue I know.

Even so, there is a saying, is there not? Reaping what one sows. Those who are cruel to you now should take heed, as well.

[forcedreset]

Well, that is neither here nor there, I think. I am not so sure that idea holds water when the bullied are deserving of their punishment, but ah; how negative this conversation is!

[ofmyth]

[Funny how everyone keeps ending up speechless over this.]

[forcedreset]

[ .. oh dear, and now there's thor, brother now twice killed by his own small hands. a fine night this turns out to be! ]

If you are here to say I told you so, brother..

[ he may just have to find another magma pool to dump you into. ]

[loyalhandmaiden]

Does it really surprise you so?

[forcedreset]

And if I say 'yes'?

[loyalhandmaiden]

Then I would say you're being willfully foolish.

[forcedreset]

I can't expect you to understand, Leah.

Nevertheless, the point is moot, and it is what it is, yes? Sometimes even I am wrong!

[loyalhandmaiden]

Not at all?

I won't disagree with you.

[forcedreset]

I am terribly surprised. But ah, I was, at least, able to resolve some other sticky issues.

[loyalhandmaiden]

Inelegantly, but yes, you did. My writer just read your exploits today. She was quite pleased.

[forcedreset]

Was she? Why, of course she was. Loki does not disappoint!

[loyalhandmaiden]

On occasion.

[ofmyth]

Loki is for Loki alone. I should not have been so hasty to forget that.

[And it hurts, more than it should after all this time. But the less Thor says, the easier his hurt will be to contain.]

[forcedreset]

[ ouch. loki winces, but only barely just. ]

Ah. That is what they say, isn't it?

[forcedreset]

More than that, I think! Nevertheless, we've yet to reach what promises to be a most climactic ending, though it hangs close. Surely I still have a little more time to impress her.

[loyalhandmaiden]

Or watch as everything goes horribly wrong, knowing you.

[ofmyth]

[If Thor sees it, he doesn't react]

It is what I know. I need none to tell me who you are, brother.

[forcedreset]

You have such little faith! I always seem to make it turn out all right in the end, which is what matters most, yes?

[forcedreset]

It is quite a brag, to claim to know Loki. Even for you, brother.

[loyalhandmaiden]

As much as I hate to admit it, you do have a point. And you did save me. There is that.

[ofmyth]

[The once-again dead may make many claims]

You are who you are, as I am what I am. Do you deny this?

[forcedreset]

I did. And I would again, a hundred times, no matter the cost. That is what B.F.F.s are for, or so it seems.

[forcedreset]

[ aye, but they may be as wrong as the living. ]

I am, and I can be no other than I, but that is not to say that you know me. You have known Loki, perhaps, more than once, but we are none of us the same, and knowing one Loki is not knowing another, or knowing all. I am not he.

But do not worry, Thor, you are not alone - why, all of Asgard believes the same, so why not you as well? It is a safe way to think.

[loyalhandmaiden]

B.F.F.s indeed.

[ofmyth]

Do not mistake me!

[Thor's reply is quick and reveals the anger and hurt he is struggling to contain. Anger and hurt born of the way he both hates and loves his brother. Loki is right. He will never understand the mysteries of Loki's mind- and he may often hate him for what comes from it.

But he would not be Thor if he did not love his brother despite that. ]

I can and have already forgiven your actions against myself, even if I am unable to forgive what you have done against the many others your actions have harmed.

I do not know if you will become once again what you were, poisoned with all the twisted hatred which once consumed you. I do not long for it either- and I will not allow you to presume that I do.

[forcedreset]

[ loki is not unaccustomed to his brother's quick tempers, and the quick emotions that fuel them like a fire. thor is all heart, all action, his father's son no doubt.

and loki does not fear him, but he draws back nonetheless. his voice is measured, quiet. ]

You may not long for it, but you seem very much to expect it, brother.

[ a pause, and he presses his lips to a thin line. ]

Allow me to give you some food for thought, if you will. The things that you know of Loki, that Loki is for Loki and no other - you know all, now. Or most all. All that is important, I have told you, and my past self made his sacrifice in order to be free, in order to see change, so that Loki could be his own, unfettered by the chains of fate that made him who he was. And from that sacrifice, I rose, the different, the changed. Loki does not play games he is not certain he can win.

.. perhaps it is too much, to ask you to understand what I mean. You will never believe me, never trust me, and - ah .. perhaps it is for the better. I only - ..

..

[ofmyth]

[It is not without struggle that he holds his hope for Loki against lifetimes which would prove that hope in vain.

As he listens, forcing his temper to be cool again, Thor wonders. How much does this new Loki understand about what his predecessor intended? Can such youth understand the millenia-old ties of fate which it strives to fight against? If it were anyone but Loki, Thor would say it was impossible.]

It is only a fool who would take a Trickster's word as truth.



[And some have often called Thor a fool.]

[forcedreset]

[ true enough, loki has often considered that every word from ikol's sharp beak is a lie, that what he says were loki's intentions were in fact not, and that this now loki is merely a tool in the hands of his predecessor, being manipulated by loki as all the rest are.

and whether or not that is truth, falsity, or somewhere betwixt, loki does not think on it overmuch. he does as he does, as he will, and if ikol too betrays him in the end, well - he will not be terribly surprised. loki has confidence that he will wiggle through somehow, as he always does.

nevertheless, he falls silent for awhile, bites his lip, and wrings his small hands. ]

I am sorry, brother. For .. everything. I only do what I think is best.

[ for asgard, and for all. ]

[ofmyth]

[That best which led once more to his death.

Thor gives his brother a long look, as much to try to read him (an almost impossible task at the best of times) as to gather his thoughts.



He is a fool indeed.]

That is all anyone may do; mortals and Gods alike.

[forcedreset]

[ .. yes, well. that, too, was for the best. there was no other way to gain surtur's favor, and the dead cannot burn! now you can take down that big, ugly, horrible monster with your awesome dead army, yes? for glory! for asgard!

anyway, there it is: loki's slow and tremulous smile. ]

Aye. My brother speaks wisdom; it is one for the record books!

[ofmyth]

[Where Thor might have allowed a grudging smile to cross his face, there is only a stony look. He has no desire to dissemble and make play that all is now right, not right now.]

The coming events may long be remembered, it is true.

[forcedreset]

[ and that is fine; loki will make play in his stead, because that is what loki does, how he copes with this world that sometimes seems too big for him. ]

We shall see, won't we? Soon enough.

[ofmyth]

Soon enough, aye.

[But not even counting to ten will give this writer enough patience to see how things turn out.]

I should not wish you luck, Loki Free-born. Yet I do.

[forcedreset]

[ thor you're the best at combining insults with compliments, you know. it's all very confusing. ]

It will all turn out well, in the end. You will see.

[ofmyth]

[If it's any consolation, he means the compliment more than the insult.

He nods silently, not wholly convinced yet. But sureness is not something one can ever expect when dealing with Loki.]

I hope you are right. For all our sakes.

[forcedreset]

[ .. somewhat. ]

As do I! Otherwise, I will have a great deal of explaining to do. Not to say that I do not already have a great deal of explaining to do..