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[sassgaardian]

When his mother and her two best friends manifested in the bathroom mirror,* Loki knew he was in for a world of trouble.

A sword? They wanted him to fetch a sword? And not just a sword, but five keys, scattered to the winds by dear old dad. Naturally, Loki prepared himself for an endless search across the cosmos.

Naturally, four of the five were on Midgard.

Because of course they were.

But at least he had an excuse to go spend money in a casino for a while. Until it became time for running. Honestly, the whole thing was just entirely too easy. The hardest part was climbing the mountain, but with a pair of Seven League boots giving him a little extra traction, even that wasn't much of a struggle in the end.

But he has the sword, and now needs to get on with the second part of this mission. The part that requires him to use the sword. But there's time to kill before he needs to get to work. Enough time, for instance, for a few drinks and a meal. When Loki walks into the bar today, in full armour and his horns, it's with the sword in his hand. He leans it against the Bar as he takes a seat and gets started with a beer.

*They've really got to stop doing that.

Comments

[vexingmesmer]

Well, that sure is a tall drink of water. Not that Vex is short, per se. He is distressingly average at 5'10". Still, that is certainly a tree made for climbing.

Today he has come by in a shirt only made out of straps, a classic leather jacket, leather pants in thigh high leather boots. (He was feeling particularly fancy today, thank you) and when he sees Loki in full armor and horns he realizes this is a man that's quite possibly not human (why are there so many of them here?) and smiles at him from over his posh lunch that he eats simply for the joy of consuming food instead of another person's will.

"Been to a war, or going to one?" Vex asks. The accent is Welsh, the tattoo just under his eye is a star, and the smile is appraising.

[sassgaardian]

Loki takes a moment to consider the fellow in front of him, before throwing a quick glance to Gram. It's not a small sword either, forged by gods, for gods.

"Running a quick errand," Loki says, casually enough.

[vexingmesmer]

Vex is not a sword guy. Plenty of people who are, but he' not one of them. He's more of a manipulating, control-stealing bastard sort of guy. Do the work from a distance. Help your prey stab their friends with the magic sword. You know, fighting smarter, not harder.

"Quite an errand. Hope you're getting paid well to lug a piece that big around," Vex replies, musing as he lets his eyes rake over Loki in a secondary appraisal.

[sassgaardian]

The attention doesn't skip Loki's notice. He leans against the bar casually, and picks up the sword, hefting it like it weighs nothing.

"I really should get a scabbard for it, oughtn't I?" he says.

He holds it so the runes stamped into the blade are visible. Not quite Norse. Something older than Norse. The language Norse came from.

[vexingmesmer]

That is... Old.

Older than Vex, certainly, and he's seen centuries -- nearly ten of them. Not uncommon for Fae as a whole, but as the last surviving Mesmer, well. That's pretty goddamned good.

Vex's brows knit as he lets himself read it -- or approximate it -- and then read it again.

"That's old magic, my friend. And you say you picked it up on an errand, did you?" Vex's gaze is now appraising again; this time threat assessment. How dangerous is this man and is he flirting with someone who is too dangerous to flirt with?

[sassgaardian]

"Very old," Loki agrees. "Doing a quick favour for my mother."

He gives it a little twist in his hand before setting it back down with a heavy thunk.

"You've seen it before?" he asks.

Loki looks this fellow over in turn, not even trying to hide his gaze. He's got a magic of his own about him, but one Loki can't quite place.

[vexingmesmer]

"Mmm, something like it," Vex said, dark eyes flicking up to meet Loki's gaze. "You really ought get a scabbard for it, yes,"

Things like that - left free - tend to leak power, influence people, that sort of thing. Primal energies in stuff like that, from which the world was hewn.

"Your Mum's either got fine taste in blades or she's got something terrible planned for her enermies. Maybe both," Vex adds, well aware that he's not speaking to a human -- and definitely not a Fae.

At least, not a Fae like him. Something... older.

[sassgaardian]

Loki's eyes, vibrant green and full of fire, seem like they can look right through a person.

He leans against the bar as casually, like it's perfectly normal to walk around with a relic of extraordinary power. As if he isn't one himself.

"I'm going to stab my brother through the heart and see what happens," he says, still casual as ever. As if that isn't a completely psychotic thing to say, do, or even think about.

Surely, he must be joking.

[vexingmesmer]

No, Vex isn't sure he is.

"I mean, that is one way of dealing with family conflict," Vex says as lightly as possible. "Heard of worse, honestly."

[sassgaardian]

Loki isn't sure who, or what the fellow standing before him is, but he's in a mood, still giddy and high from adventure in foreign realms. It's in a mood for games, and doesn't care if the person he plays them with is entirely willing.

"Yes, well. When the God of Thunder starts being boorish and cruel, something needs to be done."

That will either mean something, or it will mean something.

Loki takes a drink of his beer, making sure to hold himself just so, to maintain just enough eye contact to seem playful.

[vexingmesmer]

To his credit, there's no piss trickling down Vex's leg, or quavering. Cowardice has kept him alive, but this might be the sort of person who finds fleeing prey more interesting. He didn't survive thing long by taking stupid risks.

"Don't you just hate it when your siblings get uppity?" he replies, keeping his eyes on Loki's. His are impossibly dark, a brown so deep they're almost black.

[sassgaardian]

Interesting.

If Loki were a different man, he might needle and push farther. But it doesn't take piss and quavering to signal that a person is afraid.

"Relax," he says, a little less playful and more sincere. "Unless you've committed grevious crimes against Asgard, you're not on my list."

And he gets the feeling this man hasn't done any such thing, because Loki doesn't know who he is.

[vexingmesmer]

"I mean, in some circles my very existence is a crime," Vex says, waving one had as if his crimes are many. "What do they have against the Welsh, anyway?"

The laugh is practiced, but the underlying humor strangely sincere. His existence is a crime, a singular mistake of Fae 'justice.' But he has survived all these long centuries, and he's not about to stop here.

"I'm Vex. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

[zenigatcha]

The doors to the kitchen behind the bar swing open, and out come Zenigata in a frilly apron and absolutely no shame.

He is not baking (that is sunshine's job) but on a whim, he's putting out the fixings for Bloody Mary's, a veritable buffet. Only once it's set up does he notice who's at the bar.

"Good-- morning? Evening? Never know with people," Zenigata greets. He's usual gregarious, good natured self. Also, sober. Which is a huge improvement over the last time they parted company.

[sassgaardian]

"You didn't die," Loki says.

He seems almost surprised. He is surprised. The man knocked back quite a lot of Asgardian brandy the last time they spoke.

"Good. I'd hate to find myself wanted for murder so soon after finding this place."

It might be a joke. He's in a mood today, apparently.

[zenigatcha]

"Take a lot more than two glasses of brandy to put me in the ground," Zenigata said, letting his voice expand with a slightly more forced joviality. His liver probably looks like shoe leather, but like the rest of Zenigata, it refuses to give up so easily.

"Seriously, though, might invest in a bottle of the stuff," Zenigata muses. Get shitfaced drunk and then ask for more? Why yes, he does have a drinking problem, thank you for noticing.

[sassgaardian]

A man after Loki's own heart in that regard.

"Don't tell anyone who tipped you off to it," Loki says. "I don't want that blame anywhere near me."

He picks up a piece of celery from the spread and takes a bite.

[zenigatcha]

"I'm going to have to keep Lupin from stealing it. He's got almost the same capacity for liquor that I do, but... He gets stupider, faster." There's that fondness for his prey again. It frequently sounds like he likes the guy.

He doesn't. (He loves him, it's complicated.)

"But the secret is safe with me," Zenigata says as he starts doctoring his own Bloody Mary, keeping his eyes on Loki. There's something lurking in that tone: Are mine, with you?

[sassgaardian]

"Buy him one of his own so he doens't have to. That's the obvious answer, isn't it?" Loki says.

He sees the look Zenigata gives him, and knows precisely what it means. But he takes a different approach entirely, by responding with a look of abject confusion.

Absolutely nothing was said. Nothing at all. From either of them.

[zenigatcha]

An inch of tension leaks out of Zenigata, his shoulders loosening and settling into a more natural slope. "You think that'll stop the thief of thieves? He'll find he likes it, and next thing I know mine will be gone!"

[sassgaardian]

Loki doesn't miss the tension that comes off Zenigata, but he doesn't acknowledge it either.

"Then construct yourself a box of finest quality. Fit it with five locks, and scatter the keys as far as you're able."

It didn't work for Odin, so it probably wouldn't work for a mortal, but it's an idea.

[zenigatcha]

"Even if I dropped one into the Marianas Trench, he'd have it by noon on Thursday and the booze by Friday," Zenigata laughs, before he swirls his Bloody Mary with his celery. "If Lupin wants something, he will find a way to get it."

He's a legend for a reason, and Zenigata enjoys some of the same status. After all, the second best thief -- having stolen all Lupin's playbook -- is likely Zenigata himself. (But only because Albert d'Andresy took himself out of the running by going into politics.)

[sassgaardian]

"And if you don't scatter the keys well enough, they somehow all wind up in the same place anyway," Loki says.

Almost as if he's speaking from experience.

Honestly, old man. Do better.

[zenigatcha]

"I'd borrow some friend's doors to get other worlds and times, but... well, he knows my friends, and he's not above slipping into other worlds to steal things," Zenigata said with a warm chuckle. "Which turns out useful when you're rescuing someone from captivity but not much else."

Ah, Lupin. Zenigata loves that clever, stupid, brilliant idiot so much.

[sassgaardian]

"I don't know him," Loki says with a shrug. "And if he wants to steal from the source, he'll have to get through a bunch of very beardy men even bigger than me."

Loki is rather on the scrawny side, when it comes to Asgardians. It's a fact he's leared to live with.