IC Inbox

[heliophilic]

This is M. I'm most likely out punching someone. Don't worry, they deserve it.

Probably.

I'll call you back later.

TEXT | VOICE | VIDEO

Comments

[mischiefsmith]

Of course, what is it that they teach in your mortal educational systems abstinence-only. I wonder how that actually works out.

[Loki doesn't seem terribly put out, actually. He's never really had much parental obligation to his children. Odin threw his eldest into the ocean of Midgard...talk about an abusive grandparent. They are all entirely grown and self sufficient and he has no interest in anything more than what he has. He's interjected on the behalf of his mortal daughter, but she's alright. He has few memories of them and most of them were created in a past life under nefarious ambitions.]

Ah, well now I just have to tell you. The Bobbsey Twins are characters in a book, Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey had two sets of twins--Nan and Bert, Freddie and Flossie...though in retrospect I suppose there's nothing Nan and Bert about us. [Too wholesome and that's just the start.] I enjoy flipping the script, but it's no fun unless you're feeling thoroughly yanked. Which begs the question, what qualifies as a good time? I'm thinking something more robust and action packed.

[heliophilic]

Never went to school, but my way of "men-only" seems to be doing a wonderful job of keeping me childless.

[That... might have been an explanation but if it was again M misses it. Okay so they're twins from some sort of book. Do the twins dress the same? Why is pop culture so annoying?]

I'm happiest when I'm breaking every bone in another man's body.

[He follows that up with a sip of wine. This is a normal thing talked about at the dinner table, right?]

[mischiefsmith]

Probably a good thing that you are a mortal, having man-bits isn't always fool proof depending on the pantheon.

[Let's see if Loki can disturb you before the evening ends.]

You're bringing the entertainment next time--you break bones, I'll watch. It's always more fun when it's not happening to you anyway.

[And Loki has no problem shoveling down sauerkraut as if they weren't talking about beating someone senseless.]

[heliophilic]

You know, I think I'm better off not knowing about that one.

[Especially considering Loki just admitted to having who knows how many kids. It's not a judgement thing, it's more he feels he's better off not knowing the details of how that would work.]

I'll be sure to put you on speaker.

[Really the best relationships are built on food and violence, are they not?]

[mischiefsmith]

Probably, but I would like to know if the whole cleaving Zeus in half with a Hammer was real or Grecian embellishment. Might have to ask Hercules...[hmmhmmhmm]...on second thought, I have a better rapport with Apollo...

[Loki actually thinks about that one...has he done anything to piss Apollo off? Probably...

...as for the unsavory details, magic is always behind the impossible and if Loki has ever had any children in that way he doesn't remember. Not that it would be part of his skill set.]

Nothing like a little ambiance to set a relaxing mood.

[That would explain much of the male bonding experience.]

[heliophilic]

[The word "Apollo" makes him sit up in his seat just a little bit straighter.]

You know Apollo? [He pauses for a second.] The actual sun god?

[It makes him wonder what his Apollo would think, meeting his namesake.]

Not many people share our sentiments on that.

[mischiefsmith]

[The Greek Gods get all of the recognition.]

One and the same: God of light, music, poetry, prophecy, medicine, and inspiration. He radiates heat and has this halo-y thing going for him due to his ability to manipulate energy...or it could be a Greek God thing...not entirely sure. Anyway Asgard was once at war with Olympus, but we've sorted ourselves out.

[Apollo should really thank him for the plug.]

My tastes tend to lean more towards macabre, though not depressingly so.

[heliophilic]

[More like that one very specific greek god.]

So the actual god has the little halo too... Interesting.

[He says it more to himself than anything, but still doesn't bother to drop his voice.]

Gallows humor?

[mischiefsmith]

[Something that Loki notices and can't help but to poke with a stick. Which is why he grabs the closest pencil and pad of paper. Something is usually within reach, and begins sketching.]

Indeed...not that I would call his little...not in an angelic sense...not that angels have halos. [None that he's seen anyway.] He's what you'd expect of a Greek God, tall, classically handsome, built like someone you'd want to try and wrestle to the floor, even though you know you lose you want to try anyway...for reasons. Tends to favor white and yellow...or gold...the whole chariot and horse bit...all true. Why didn't I come with my own chariot and horse?

[Withdrawing from the pad and laying it down on the table he came away with something that looked a bit like this, no color of course, very sketchy.]

Memory is a bit vague, but that's Apollo as I remember him.

[Not that he trusts his memories, but still.]

Yes! Gallows humor, I've been told I have issues because of it, but I've always had issues, so it's alright.

[heliophilic]

[M can't help but chuckle at the description because of how accurately it describes Andrew. Well, everything but the chariot, and thank god for that. It makes him picture Andrew googling pictures of the guy and taking fashion cues from him.]

...Is that a tiara?

[M takes the pen from Loki and flips to a new page before sketching a picture of his own. M doesn't exactly have artistic talent, but it resembles this enough in spirit.]

This is what I think of when you say Apollo.

[Translation: He knows you're curious.]

So have I, so nothing to worry about on my part.

[mischiefsmith]

[Loki is trying not to make a face because he sort of has one too, not quite as delicate looking and, but still. After a moment he relents and summons his...cirlet, it looks odd with his modern clothing, but he doesn't seem to care]

Most gods have some kind of head gear, often makes you think twice about headbutting.

[Loki flips between the two pages once M is done before carefully tearing them out and laying them side by side. Placing his index and middle finger on each drawing he pulls the concepts from their prospective pages. It takes a bit of creative liberty on Loki's part, but he flushes the figures out, gives them color, and he makes them look like they are real, three-dimensional, small beings. He's able to scoop them each standing on the platform of his palms, they have autonomy, they move a bit and stand without falling. It's an illusion, but it it also real, just call it weird trickster magic shit.]

Either my creative liberty is running away with me, or you have good taste.

[Loki gets it.]

Not from me, I have an iron clad stomach.

[Speaking of which, he'll set the miniature sized models on the table to wander as they please while he attends to what's left of his meal. When one of the Apollos wanders two close to the edge of the table Loki gestures with his finger to bring him back around.]

You can't fly yet, you'll look awfully silly falling to the floor.

[heliophilic]

Depends on what angle you do the headbutting.

[Trust him on this, he is a huge fan of headbutting. In fact, one day, once he goes home, he will headbutt a bullet through a demon's skull. Never doubt his headbutting skills.]

Still, there's a huge difference between yours and that guys. Yours actually seems practical.

[Any time there are spikes he's always going to be fan. He kind of misses his spikes.

M watches Loki in curiousity, idle at first but getting his full attention once Loki began to work his magic. He's seen a lot in his very eventful life, but this was a first. He looks at them from all angles, studying them, trying to figure out how it all works.]

It better be good taste... Still, you got most of his costume right. I'm impressed.

[He reaches out a finger towards the mini Apollos, only to suddenly pull it away, as if realizing it was a bad idea.]

[mischiefsmith]

[Loki will consider M for a moment, almost curious about this skill he possesses, but then he wisely let's it go]

I'd say give it a bash, but my body isn't as dense as it used to be.

[A fire extinguisher gave him a black eye, he's pretty sure M could do some damage.]

That's the difference between Norse Gods and Greek Gods, we're more practical. [Brag brag brag!] I'd recommend your friend change his name to Frey...but it doesn't have the same gravitas as Apollo.

[Not nearly as attractive either.

And Loki is quite a fan of his own head gear, Asgardians can get pretty outlandish, his is very simple by comparison and effectively thematic.]

I figured your Apollo was a white and yellow sort of man as well.

[Loki picks up on M's hesitance and smiles, not entirely certain where it comes from but he can guess.]

It's okay you can touch them it won't hurt and they're completely harml-

[Just as he said that both Apollos grabbed a sausage each from Loki's plate and began swinging at one another.]

I wasn't finished with that [The Olymian Apollo looked up at Loki as if to say "I'll give it back."] I don't want it back now that your little paws have been all over it...go on then, assure me victory!

[But the distraction was enough for M's Apollo to bring his own sausage down on the head of Loki's Apollo. He looked silly, now, with his head stuck inside of the sausage.]

Oh, now I'm just embarrassed.

[heliophilic]

Relax, I only hurt people who deserve it.

[And right now Loki's done nothing to deserve such treatment. Not after cooking for him.]

"Apollo" has special meaning to him. And I'd tell him if I remember any of this when I get back... only I'm fairly certain he'll never want to see my face again.

[He doesn't want to think about the possibility of Andrew showing up here. Not that Andrew couldn't handle himself in any situation he might find himself in, but because M still wasn't ready to face him again.

Not that he dwells on the thought long, because yet another first unfurls before his eyes as the two miniature Apollo's engage in a duel with... sausages. Out of everything he's seen, explaining this to a stranger seems like it would be the least believable. And he once helped fight the moon.]

Looks like my Apollo can beat the gods after all.

[mischiefsmith]

Oh, no, I'd do it for the morbid curiosity factor. At full tilt I'm not quite the same as I am, it would take a lot to really hurt me...as I am now...well.

[And yes, Loki would take a headbutt just for the lulz, but as he is? There is no room for doubt that M would hurt him.]

Fairly does leave room for doubt.

[Loki's relationship advice is bad and given that he's pretty inadequate at his own relationships, particularly with his brother...scared, in fact he's really not given to long, preachy bits of advice.

Besides, there is a brutal sausage duel unfolding in front of them and once little god Apollo unstuck his head he lifted both the sausage and M's Apollo off of the table before tossing both into Loki's sauerkraut.]

I was done with that anyway. [Loki's whining goes completely ignored as M's Apollo shanghai's another of Loki's sausages, a larger one this time, and away he goes.] What is this fascination with my plate anyway? There's another one. Over there!

[M has a plate too! But yet again, Loki goes completely ignored as the great sausage duel continues.]

[heliophilic]

How about I promise to headbutt the guy I bring next time for entertainment?

[M already knows exactly how hurt Loki would be if they took this seriously, and he'd rather not just for a laugh.]

Maybe to you.

[Still, he'd be lying if he wasn't hoping himself.

The least he could do was watch this version of Apollo skewer his namesake with a sausage. Oh the things Freud would say about that, if Freud wasn't dead and a quack.]

Clearly they know better than to mess with me.

[He stabs a sausage with his fork and brings it over the heads of the duelling Apollo's to put on Loki's plate.]

Luckily for you I share.

[mischiefsmith]

Well if you're promising.

[As he is now? Loki's certain he'd be struggling to fight back the tears, because it would sting quite a bit.]

That's me, the eternal skeptic, doubting everything. You never know when something might crop up that might not appear to be what it seems.

[Like the scene folding out before them, who would have thought that this had come from simple images sketched into paper? An outsider might think they'd gone completely mad.]

Right, because I'm such a pushover.

[But Loki, you are a pushover, if you took more things seriously your own creations wouldn't be so inclined to walk all over you.

Loki's trying his best not to look too delighted by M's gracious offering of food.]

Thank you good ser, your contribution to my stomach will not be forgotten.

[They quickly looked to Loki and his new found bit of fortune, but before they could get any ideas the god of mischief raised his plate out of their reach...as if he could really stop them and just as suddenly he was the mountain in a vigorous round of king of the mountain in which both Apollo's were vying for the highest spot.]

I might be regretting a few of my life's choices.

[heliophilic]

[M runs a hand over his stomach at the mention of things not appearing as they seem.]

I'm more than aware of that.

[Considering right before he got here his non-Apollo boyfriend ran a knife through him, he's acutely aware that appearances can be deceiving.

His thoughts become significantly lighter as he watches the two APollo's start their ascent up Mount Loki. Taking pity on the god, he reaches out and gingerly grabs the pari by the shoulders, one in each hand, and brings them back down to the ground.]

You two have perfectly good sausages right here to beat each other senseless with--

[He hands them each one of the discarded weiners.]

--Don't get greedy.

[The last words definitely sound like a threat, and the two paper Apollo's quickly decide these sausages are totally good enough.]

[mischiefsmith]

[Loki notices the gesture and he can sense that it has nothing to do with the fact that M was full from their meal, but he has enough tact not to as after it.

Quite possibly something painful. Personal. And serious.

Too serious for what was happening at the moment and that was the mini Apollos climbing him and M carefully redirecting their attention, berating them and they listen. They listen.

And here Loki had breathed life into them and Loki couldn't even persuade them to leave his food alone. At least he can finally set his plate back onto the table where it belongs.

They return to their own battle of the sausages and Loki takes the opportunity to eat M's offering to him at a pace that suggests he's trying not to look like he's scarfing his food down faster than they can think about it again.]

You cut quite the authoritative figure.

[That doesn't perplex Loki at all.]

That's the problem with magic, it can be wildly unpredictable...I can whisper magic into whatever I like, breathe a kind of life into objects with it, but what it does after that? Completely follows its own nature.

[Loki chews on a bite of sausage thoughtfully, swallowing before gesturing to the two Apollo's]

Don't understand what this is all about [the dueling with sausages] or why they seem to want to torture me, well torture might be a strong word...

[heliophilic]

More like people know better than to mess with me.

[A notion that extends to paper gods, apparently.]

Whereas you... I get the feeling you like the unpredictability.

[mischiefsmith]

With a face as sweet and unassuming as yours? I'm trying to picture it.


[Loki's just jealous because he doesn't have a truly stern expression in his repertoire. This probably stems from the fact that he's incapable of taking anything seriously for extended periods of time.]

Unpredictability is what keeps my little heart humming. You're having a perfectly pleasant conversation and suddenly--

[And suddenly one Apollo knocks a sausage out of the other Apollo's hand, hitting it out of the park and right into Loki's face. It takes effort not to look antagonized.]

--you find yourself confronted with a sausage dilemma of your own making.

[heliophilic]

[M can't help but laugh at the whole situation. It's just too absurd.]

Then you've certainly had an accomplished dinner.

[mischiefsmith]

[Yes, absurd, and the onslaught against himself was even more so, which was why he created a diversion. He didn't need to draw a picture in order to create a model of himself, Loki was his own frame of reference.

And so, joining the Apollos was a miniature sized model of Loki, but not the one sitting across from M, this Loki resembled the one sitting across the table in color scheme and the acidic green of his eyes only. Everything else seemed more sinister and hungry than the present playful, mischievous creature he is now.

Now that they had a villain Loki scooped up the miniature copies and set them loose on the floor, free to chase and do battle to the contentment of their own hearts.]

I've amused you, I suppose that was the goal, though perhaps not at my own expense, still if you feel like this evening was even marginally unpredictable then I will own the accomplishment fully.

[heliophilic]

[M watches Loki draw this new character, but decides not to ask about it. What with the similar color scheme and the clear "supervillain" body type, added with the fact he's mentioned a past life... It seems like something he should steer clear of.]

This was certainly an unpredictable dinner.

[He smiles as he takes a final bite of sausage.]

And you have no idea how rare that is for me.

[mischiefsmith]

[Fortunately, evil, villain Loki has the desirable effect in drawing the attention of the two Apollos...and if he was to be honest with himself he found it more amusing than he should watching them. Watching King Loki as he's batted around by sausages? Priceless, and he doesn't hide his snickering.]

Mmmm. We'll have to try it again, I'll shall endeavor to outdo myself with feats of magic.

[Finishing off his own meal Loki settles back with his wine. He could probably eat more, but he didn't need to.]

Ah, statistically, how rare? Curiosity and all that.