Piss Off, Ghost

[st_allionofdoom]

When the polite knock came at her door, Valkyrie was there waiting beside it to open it in short order.

"You came." She gave him a thin smile and a little cock of the head--the subject of her ire fretting about in the background, popping in and out of view. Every reverberating phrase was like chicken scratch on the inside of Valkyrie's head. It did not cut deep but it was incessant. Valkyrie rolled up the sleeves of her loose sweater and stepped to the side to allow her guest entrance to a one-ghost-woman choir of grumbling at the male presence.

"This is a friend of mine. He'll be joining us for the afternoon." Valkyrie's announcement fell on indignant, incorporeal ears but she announced it purely out of spite.

Comments

[st_ratagem]

“Hmm.” Another speculative hum. Chains could be interesting... though of course there was little chance it had been, that first time he hadn’t gotten to yet. Loki was more than intelligent enough, more than self-aware enough, and possessed of enough Sakaar fact to realize he and the Valkyrie had not gotten along in her past.

A pity. Chains could have been promising. “I’ll bear that in mind.”

[st_allionofdoom]

"It wasn't a challenge." Valkyrie's breath was visible as they entered the shade of a large pine. She was petite enough that she hadn't needed to duck any branches. "If you find yourself in a predicament of your own design, I have no intentions of lying when His Majesty comes searching."

[st_ratagem]

Loki alternated pushing beaches out of his way and ducking, depending on the size of the branch. “You wouldn’t need to. My brother knows me well enough that it likely wouldn’t fool him if you did try.”

It suited Loki to protest his innocence sometimes, but on occasions when he specifically aimed for consequences he didn’t bother.

[st_allionofdoom]

As they made their way around the perimeter of the hotel, within eye's view came the stables. Valkyrie strode on with a spring in her step. She'd become acquainted with one of them during her stay, and she saw fit to greet him as they passed.

"I wouldn't lie to His Majesty, anyway. If I needed permission for each and every action I took, nothing would get done. I'm sure he's got that much clear." Jogging up to the wooden railing, she splayed out a hand to grab the attention of a white steed cantering about.

[st_ratagem]

“I lie to him regularly, lest he make the mistake of accepting anything from me at face value.” That actually qualified as almost a lie; Loki omitted things and kept secrets, but he’d kept outright lies to Thor to a minimum.

Loki opted to lean against the railing, but made no move to call over a horse himself, in favor of watching the woman and the white horse.

[st_allionofdoom]

The steed had made its way over to Valkyrie in moments. He shook his head and pricked his ears forward as he nudged his nose into her palm, tongue seeking a hint of sugar. She may or may not have already spoiled him rotten with such offerings.

"You've not lied to me. At least in a practical sense." Valkyrie had no way of knowing if he'd uttered any untruths thus far. Every bit of advice or knowledge he'd given had been, to her experience, true. "You've been rather decent to an essential stranger."

[st_ratagem]

“And that’s largely a matter of practicality.” Not entirely, at least in some cases. Mostly Thor, but somehow Valkyrie was already a ‘some case’. Fortunately people almost asked about what wasn’t included in ‘largely’. “In a confined space like this, outright lies don’t last long. Omissions and misdirections are where I have to stay, and soaringly, because it’s better to stay on comparatively decent terms with fellow inmates.”

[st_allionofdoom]

Taking the horse's nuzzle between her fingers, Valkyrie pressed her nose against his. She roused a contented, fluttering sigh from the steed.

"I heard you reduced the hotel to a volcano or some such thing."

[st_ratagem]

Loki laughed. “No. I can’t really do elemental magic.” Even the one kind he should be able to do. “I cast a very convincing illusion of the floor being lava. For a game. Sadly, very few people had any sense of fun.”

[st_allionofdoom]

"So what kind of magic do you do? You seemed rather more apt to come at me and others dual wielding." Valkyrie pressed a little kiss between the steed's eyes.

[st_ratagem]

“Illusions, mind magic, summoning and banishing, a little necromancy, a little conjuration, a little abjuration. Telekinesis. Healing, but I’m generally terrible at it.” Loki shrugged. He was proud of his skills and learning, but they weren’t often useful in combat. He was used to other Asgardians - Thor excepted, at least sometimes - looking down on them. “It’s easier to say what I can’t do. Precognition, which is a nightmare talent I do not want, and most forms of elemental force.”

[st_allionofdoom]

Valkyrie hummed in approval, sending the steed off on his way. "Healing...is that where the book from the other night came in?"

[st_ratagem]

“Ah, no. I spent my first two weeks here as a kitten, so I didn’t check in and get my room key until day fourteen.” Loki smiled. It had been entertainingly being a kitten, and he didn’t regret taking the time to learn before being obvious. “Apparently that offended the Inn, so I was ‘sentenced to community service’ - those daily clinic hours I mentioned before. It’s something to do, so I don’t mind.”

[st_allionofdoom]

"So you've a...proper job." Valkyrie quirked her head and carried on, bumping Loki with her hip as she passed. "In a manner of speaking."

[st_ratagem]

“In a manner of speaking,” he agreed. As much of one as it was possible to have with exclusively book and self-training.

The hip check was more interesting, and Loki watched her walk past for a second or two before moving to catch up. Valkyrie expressed herself through physical contact, clearly. Patting, punches, and so on. Strange but... oddly, not unwelcome. “It kills time, at any rate.”

[st_allionofdoom]

They ascended the slope of the hill that lead away from the hotel, and Valkyrie squinted against the cold sun. "I'm sure we can find other means of entertainment. What say you?"

Despite the antics from earlier, she had little intention of bucking the rules of the hotel. But she wasn't content to simply kill time. The frustration of being torn away from her people and her mission would boil over if not given an outlet.

[st_ratagem]

“I’ve never been one to turn down options.” Particularly options on entertainment. ‘Work’ could be dull, entertainment never. “I take it you have something in mind?”

[st_allionofdoom]

In a flash, Valkyrie was wielding a knife. Instead of pointing it at Loki's head, she spun it leisurely on her finger.

"I'm not looking to get rusty and neither are you, I surmise."

[st_ratagem]

Loki smiled brightly and pulled two knives from over there. “You surmise correctly.” He wasn’t a ‘real’ warrior, but he had enough skill to get by, and even that much required practice. Which had been in short supply, as only Thor was easily available as a sparring partner, and they gained nothing fighting each other. They were too different. A Valkyrie who favored knives, though... she’d force him to improve. And knives were just fun. “I’m happy to try and keep the rust off.”

[st_allionofdoom]

"Oh, were we doing this now?" Quick to the draw, a flick of the wrist and Valkyrie had a matching set. The armor she wasn't donning mattered little. She'd fought and won plenty a battle in her nothing more than her skivvies, anyway.

"Go on. I'll let you have first swing."

[st_ratagem]

“Were we waiting? Did you need to stretch?” Armor had only ever slowed him down, and when speed and flexibility were prime, being slowed down was never a good idea. “Find a better setting, light a few candles?”

The questions were clearly rhetorical, as he slid within range and tried a quick slash and stab to test her defenses.

[st_allionofdoom]

The déjà vu was immediate. Loki had used a similar maneuver during his attempted interrogation on Sakaar, and Valkyrie responded in kind, pivoting and knocking his blow off center with her palm.

"If you like. I've little appreciation for such things." In the same breath, she went in for a strike aimed right at his pale neck.

[st_ratagem]

“Really? I’m quite fond of candle wax under the right circumstances.” Loki pivoted the reverse of her, to catch her blade with one of his, force it away from his throat. There probably shouldn’t have been, but there was a little thrill in realizing that he didn’t actually know if she’d have pulled her strike had he been too slow to catch it.

He struck low next, reversing the blade not trapping hers for a stab to her abdomen. “To the eyes, for example. Much better than sand.”

[st_allionofdoom]

Valkyrie angled her body perpendicular to Loki's but kept it nice and close--trapping his arm in return in the grip of her elbow and locking it straight.

"Look at you, giving me ideas." She purred, unfazed by their little stalemate. Their limbs were tangled, though hers weren't tense. Sloppiness was the friend of excessive tension. "If you'd said so sooner, I'd have saved some of that candle for you."

[st_ratagem]

"Next time," he promised, entirely uncaring that the 'next time' was for blinding him with candle wax. It wouldn't be permanent.

Fighting with knives on both sides was often a lot like dancing. Faster in places and with much higher likelihood of bloodletting, but being close-in and twisted around your opponent was part of it. Also similar to dancing, being tense or overexcited tended to ruin things.

At the very least tension locked muscles, which would have prevented his next move. He crowded a little closer to her, somehow, using his greater height to advantage, then slid one foot behind one of her ankles and pulled. Against an amateur or unskilled opponent, it was a solid trip, but against Valkyrie he expected to put her slightly off-kilter for a half-second at best, and use that time to reclaim one or both arms' freedom of movement.