Do Gods Work Out? {Loki}

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Astrid was punching things. Yes, I know, that is very surprising and not at all what you'd expect her to be doing in her spare time. Astrid was very unpredictable like that. All chaos and randomosity, that girl. At any rate, she was giving a punching bladder a run for its money. You'd think she had issues to work out or something.

She did, actually. Mostly involving gods. Yes, gods, plural, because Astrid was starting to think that she should change her name from Astrid Hoffersson to Astrid Godstouched, given her current run of luck. According to her mental ledger, she owed Loki a favor, she had caught Thor's attention, and she'd agreed to some sort of discipleship with Artemis. She wasn't sure how many more gods there were, but she had a sneaking suspicion she was going to run into her share of them before things were done. It was the latest encounter, the one with Artemis, that had her punching a bag ferociously now.

And you thought the bag deserved it.

Yet even Astrid could not punch things forever. She stopped, taking a step back and several deep breaths. A hand, clad in a leather wrapping to prevent chafing, reached up to brush back a lank strand of blonde hair. She dared a glance around, noticing the others. There were a few people who looked out of shape, but most were like Astrid: lean, warrior types. She nodded to a few she recognized, before catching sight of one impressive looking man: very well muscled, almost uncannily so.

"No," she said. A hand went up to slap the bladder. "No, it can't be. Gods don't work out. They just don't. They're, like, perfect or something." she hit it a few more times, then stared again. Yep, that was him. Or someone who looked just like him. Sighing, Astrid stomped over to where he was.

"What are you doing here? It can't be working out, can it?" she demanded. Yes, Astrid would demand something of a god. It sort of went hand in hand with that whole punching tendency, really.

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Truthfully, they didn't. Or rather, Loki didn't, he'd leave that sort of thing to his brother - Thor was the sort of person who trained because that was just what warriors did, because of nobility or...well Loki didn't really know most of the reasons his brother did what he did, a lot of the time he just zoned out. The fact was that Loki didn't train, he wasn't a brute strength sort of person, he wasn't a warrior unless it was absolutely necessary. It wasn't that he couldn't hold his own, he just preferred not to get his hands dirty.

He did, however, rather enjoy confusing people, or showing up macho idiots, or being where he was least expected, which was why he did occasionally go to the school gym, just to shake things up a little.

He was rewarded when Astrid came storming towards him, and he met her angry words with an innocent smile.
"Can't it? And why not?"

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"Because you're..." Astrid flailed, both verbally and physically. Her hands waved toward the man for a few moments, as though she could magically grasp the words out of the air. The magic must have worked, because she did manage to pop something out: "godly. As in you're built like a god. Isn't it, in your nature to be fit and such?'

Though, come to think of it, Astrid could readily picture both Artemis and Thor exercising. It struck her as something those two would actually want to do. Loki on the other hand, Loki was the type not to do anything unless he had about three other reasons for doing so. Which made Astrid, already slightly paranoid thanks to the near exhaustion that seemed to be a constant friend for her, even more paranoid than normal.

"So what are you doing here," she pointed at the ground. "Is this about that favor or whatnot? I did my part: I voted for you. Besides, you'll have to get in line if you want a piece of me. Apparently I'm popular. Must be the war or something."

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"Well thank you," Loki smirked, technically it wasn't a compliment, but simple fact - calling a mortal godly was a compliment, high praise, but calling Loki godly was like calling a mortal personly, it was just a statement, but accepting a compliment when one wasn't intentionally given had the tendency to irritate and/or fluster people, and he greatly enjoyed doing both of those things.

"Oh, such arrogance you mortals have," Loki shook his head with mock-despair "why do you assume I am here because of you? You were the one who approached me, I was simply minding my own business. Now that you mention that little favour, however... you really think voting for me makes us even?"

He loved mortals, they were just so easy.

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Arrogance? What was with people and claiming that Astrid had that lately? Especially gods. Gods were, like, the gods of being arrogant. Astrid was about to say exactly that when she caught Loki's next bit. The words died on Astrid's tongue, and she stared at him, almost incredulous.

"What?" was all she managed. It was one of those flat whats, the kind that come out of someone when she is too surprised to say anything else. Astrid's brain, not exactly the best at its peak, sputtered and spat, and her lips nearly did the same. "It's not like you saved my first born or blessed me or anything! It was just a simple favor, like scratching your back or something. I voted for you, so there you go. Trust me, I would have rather voted for Th---thomebody else."

Yeah, probably not best to mention the brother right about now. that would be what they called a "bad idea."

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"A simple favour, yes," Loki agreed pleasantly enough, although there was a mischievous glint in his eye that spelled trouble "but it was a favour that you owed me, so why should it be you who decides when the favour is repaid? I didn't gain anything from your vote. I didn't win and I regained my old position comfortably enough that your vote made no difference, so how, exactly, have you done me a favour?"

In all honesty he would be happy to let her off, if she could argue her way out of it he'd be willing to concede her the point, impressed with her boldness and not having really lost anything. He argued against it for two reasons - one, because it was fun and he'd come here looking for some entertainment after all, and two because if she couldn't argue her way out of it, he was still owed a favour, and he did so enjoy being owed favours.

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Would punching a god get you in trouble? Probably, and worse yet, Astrid could remember some very recent advice regarding her anger, advice that she really knew she should be paying attention to at some level. So instead of giving into her urges, she took a deep breath, and merely looked at Loki like she wanted to punch him instead of actually doing so.

"The favor wasn't done for a deed or anything like that. It was just an agreement you got out of me on our first meeting, and that was mostly because you were the first god I'd met. It's different now," she folded her arms, drawing herself up more. "I'm a Valkyrie training with a goddess now. So as a Valkyrie, I did you a favor that cost me little in exchange for you doing nothing but impressing me."

Astrid so wanted to add a "so there" or a "and I beat up your kids too," but she was tactfully reserving those comments. She needed some ammunition for later, after all.

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She was making a valiant effort, but Loki wasn't about to go easy on her, not only was it far more fun to keep the argument going, but he also wasn't inclined on giving in without a fight. People thought that Loki was different to the other gods, that he wasn't viking-like because he refused to get into physical fights, and was quite happy to resort to all sorts of backhanded means to save his own skin. What they didn't realise was that he just fought in a different way, he played to his own strengths, but he was just as stubborn as any other god, and just as unlikely to back down.

"How or why you offered me the favour doesn't make any difference," he dismissed with a wave of his hand "my point is twofold, I'll explain it again since you seem to be having trouble grasping it, firstly you don't get to decide what the favour is, but more importantly, voting for me was not a favour. I gained nothing, thus you have done nothing for me, it's quite simple."

"A valkyrie, hmm?" he added thoughtfully "Who's training you?"

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"It's a matter of balance!" argued Astrid, feeling her anger flare up. She had to pause, taking a few deep breaths. This was exactly why she didn't like Loki. Or any of his kids. Suddenly she was glad she'd tried to beat up Fenrir (and would eventually get into an argument with Jormungandr, too). Since she couldn't have the satisfaction of punching Loki in the face, she'd have to settle for his children.

"You got to keep your position; and again: not like you did anything for me," she argued again. She already felt like she was losing it, and she wasn't sure that she really could win against a god like Loki. Fortunately, the subject changed, and Astrid was more than willing to follow that trail. "I train with Artemis, Grecian goddess of the hunt, fairly regularly. That's when I'm not studying under your brother or picking fights with your kids."

Okay, that almost made it sound like she was directly opposing him, and Astrid wasn't sure she wanted that. Then again, this was Loki: he probably already knew everything she'd just told him.

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"Balance?" Loki repeated with a scoff "I would have kept my position with or without your vote, and it doesn't matter that I didn't do anything for you, you offered me a favour, you haven't done me one. But, you know, if you don't want to keep your word..." he trailed off meaningfully, and it was all he could take not to smirk. He loved accusing people of being dishonourable, it often made them delightfully angry.

"Artemis? You're training with a greek?" he started laughing "I hate to break it to you but funnily enough the greeks don't get to decide who becomes a valkyrie, you're barking up the wrong pantheon there - wait, did you just say you've been picking fights with my kids?" his expression grew unimpressed and he raised a questioning eyebrow, waiting for an explanation.

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"I already kept my word!" growled Astrid. She could feel the small hairs on the back of her neck bristling, and she had a feeling, again, that she was doomed to be beholden to this god till he decided that she no longer was. Great; that was... just great. All this stuff with gods was needlessly complicated, that much was sure.

Astrid did get some solace in the next bit. Not the bit about the Greek thing: she just folded her arms and rolled her eyes at that. "Training is training. If I'm a good fighter, I'll get picked, and I'll be a good fighter if I train with a goddess," she pointed out. She'd already sorted out the whole Greek thing herself, having decided that she needed to at least try and respect Artemis, if only for now. "Plus I've been training with your brother, so there's that."

And Beowulf. And Arthur, some. Which meant that Astrid was very, very quickly becoming a very, very impressive fighter. Now, onto the part that gave her some solace:

She shrugged. "There was the wolf guy first, and I think there was something involving a snake. You really do have a lot of kids, don't you?"

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"No, do pay attention, I've already explained to you - repeatedly - how you haven't done me a favour yet. Don't get so worked up, it won't be a large one, but it will be a favour." there was just the tiniest flash of steel in his last few words, although the rest of the sentence was casually amused. If she was going to continue to insist that she didn't owe him anything, he'd probably forget about it (eventually), but that didn't mean he couldn't have his fun, and maybe even convince her to change her position.

"A greek and Thor, how delightful for you," now his tone was dripping with derision, there was quite possibly nothing worse he could think of. He was aware that training with Thor was probably a great honour to a viking (though it hardly made them special in his opinion, Thor was the gym teacher after all), but that still didn't mean he had to like it. It was surprising she was ok with the greek, but he supposed her reasoning was sound, and besides she was a mortal so all the gods probably impressed her.

"Sometimes I lose count," he said drily, only the amusement in his tone was gone and something more dangerous glittered in his eyes

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Astrid's mouth opened, her tongue starting a protest way ahead of her mind. Then she remembered her arguments with Artemis. And her staredowns with Thor. Not to mention the encounters with Fenrir and Jormungandr (man, I'm hoping I'm getting my thread sequence right there). You could push the immortals to some degree. Prod them. Defy them. But there came a point when they slid steel into their voices, and you needed to let them have the win. Unless, you know, spending the rest of your brief life as a smear on the wall appealed to you.

There was a dangerous glint to Loki's eyes there too, and something that hinted at further problems. Again, Astrid knew she should keep her tongue. She even paused, folding her arms. But she couldn't quite help herself:

"Well, if you kept your trouser snake where he belongs, we'd have a lot less people to fight at Ragnarok."

See, that was the kind of stuff that resulted in bloody smears. Yet Astrid couldn't help it. She met Loki's eyes though, her own showing a steel still being tempered.

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That actually made Loki laugh. Derisively, but he was still laughing. Yes, a lot of his children were destined to fight at ragnarok, but then so was he. Of course he wasn't going to agree with her, they were all going to be fighting on his side.

"Believe me, if all my children were fighting at ragnarok, the battle would end quite differently," he smirked. Admittedly, he was still certain that he was going to win in the end, or rather, that the result of the battle would be what he was fighting for, but he would definitely prefer to remain alive to see it. If things went his way, he and his children would survive it, and a lot more of his enemies would not.

"But it cannot and will not. Ragnarok is pre-determined, little girl, no matter how many combatants my 'trouser snake' brings to the field."