milliways_bar | (no subject)

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Enter Loki.

Actually, please don't. Especially if it involves a chainsaw. Just...stare at him, since he's pretty. Or, you know, talk to him. That would work too. Because he just came into the bar and he's sitting just at the end of it nursing a cup of tea.

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"Lochiel and I had almost come to a point where we were both over the things that happened, and could talk again like normal people - but since he fell in with Eris, he snarks at me and treats me with contempt and infallibly manages to make me look like an idiot to whoever might be there, Apropos or Esk or whoever. Well, Eris is the goddess of discord, so of course there would have to be some of that between her new follower and his former god."

Asar-Suti is really hurt by this state of things. If you're truly over somebody, you're supposed to get along with them civilly, aren't you? And Lochiel simply won't.

"You're welcome to see it like that."

And that's all he says about it.

"Apropos? Esk?"

"I have never been given another explanation, so all I can do is improvise my own," Asar-Suti simply says.

"Apropos is a fellow who works in the kitchen, one of Gil's helpers - fellow with very red hair and a lame leg and the snarkiest tongue ever, but it doesn't bother me, because Apropos isn't personal. He just snarks at everyone except GIl, whom he respects. And Esk is a friend of mine who does the library and the trilobites with me, a female wizard - on her world, wizards and witches are very different, and she's both, but mostly a wizard - the witch only comes out occasionally. We can talk for hours. I once tried introduce Lochiel and her when we all found ourselves by the fireplace, and the result was - extremely embarrassing."

"Ah." Fun.

He grins.

"Both seem like people I might want to meet."

Fun? Well, Apropos and Esk are, in their way; Lochiel and Eris most certainly aren't, not for Asar-Suti at this moment, at least.

So better just talk about the pelasant part, especially as Loki is growing increasingly more monosyllabic and cryptic about the other.

"Oh, I am sure you'd like them - especially Apropos. If there were international contests in cynicism, he'd win them all. Esk, though - hmmm. She#s not very impressed with gods. Especially not active ones - she likes me and can excuse that I am one. I'm not godding much these days, after all."

Asar-Suti looks at Lokie earnestly.

"But I do realise that I am a god and will not cowardly call myself a 'former Dark God' again - meaning that the Darkness is past, but giving the impression I've cast off all divinity. I'm a god of magic. I know this will sound very weird..."

He smiles.

"No, it sounds very good. I'm glad you've realized a few things. There are parts of myself as well that I don't like to trot out very often, but...I don't think I'll ever be able to leave them behind."

"There are those in everyone, not just gods. But you know how I realised that? I recently woke up and remembered talking to you in my dream, or whatever it was, and just knew that whatever else I had been or might do or people might expect me to be, I am a god of magic - that simply. I have a library of magic here, people who do magic gravitate towards me, simply because that is what I am."

Asar-Suti sighs. "It felt more solid than a dream, and less solid but waking, human reality, but now you actually seem to agree with the sentiment."

He smiles, a little sly, a little mysterious.

"I like to agree. It makes life simpler."

"It really does - unless it's against your conviction. Of course, in that case, polite and cryptic evasion is just as good as speaking out and aiming for collision course, as I sometimes do."

"Indeed."

Asar-Suti laughs. "See - classic example! You are definitely agreeing, but it's up to my guess wich part of my speech you are agreeing to - that I tend to speak out and aim for collision course, for example? No, I don't expect an answer to that, I'm not going to try and nail water to the wall."

Loki is the way he is, and to be accepted or avoided that way. Asar-Suti has no problem with the accepting now he has at least an idea of what Loki is about.

"Flame."

He looks a bit sour.

"Flame to the wall. I am never...ever...water."

Asar-Suti doesn't mind water - he even enjoyed it during the lake party, or in penguin-shape. His kind of fire isn't exactly hydrophobic.

"Oh - sorry. Nailing flame to the wall is even more difficult, I should guess."

"You'd burn your hands if you tried."

"I'd burn the wall, the nail might melt, and the hammer might char, but not my hands," Asar-Suti says, turning into pure godfire for a moment. This, after all, is his most basic shape - fire will not hurt him.

"But I wouldn't try, anyway, as to avoid said collateral damage."

He grins.

"Indeed."

Asar-Suti returns to his more usual shape - there are people who might view spontaneous purple conflagrations in the bar with worry.

"I think there is an old Earth tale about a demented knight who tried jousting with windmills..." Asar-Suti says, by way of finding another metaphor for the futility of defining a god of transformation.

"Don Quixote."

"Yes, exactly that one."

Asar-Suti smiles. he#s read much, but some of it is rather superficial.

"Listen, I should get back to nailing much less elemental things to wall, or rather, conjuring the nails for people to do so. I'll see you soon, I hope, and will come over to Tokyo; I think Gil is getting over his misgivings towards you."

He gives Loki a lazy smile that says, One day, I will touch your wings yet, and walks back towards the staff quarters.

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