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.

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[st_allionofdoom]

When the fabrics had burnt a sufficient amount, she cranked the water on. Steam hissed and consumed the view of the bathroom. Emerging from the mist, Valkyrie tossed the items about the room aimlessly.

"Décor." She regurgitated the phrase she'd come to hate over the past few days as she tossed each article, a melodic little cadence to her light murmur. "Décor over here. Décor over there."

When she was done, there were sopping, blackened bits of bedding and decorative linens every which where. Plucking a bit of perfume off the shelf, she spritzed the air as if to spruce it up, though it only added to the nauseating effect. Perfect.

"Right. She deserves a rest. Go on." Valkyrie nodded at Loki once to release her. The ghost seemed speechless in every sense at what became of the room deemed 'Elegance.' The resignation was apparent, even in her hazy eyes. "What have we learned about touching our roommate's things? Good girl. That's the way."

[st_ratagem]

Loki snapped his fingers. The gesture wasn’t even slightly necessary to dispel the chains, but he’d learned a long time ago that unless he was going for ‘that’s creepy’ (or creating illusions) it was best to tie action to some sort of movement. The chains popped out of existence, releasing the spirit, but he didn’t give her voice back.

It would return on its own, and he suspected ghostly weeping, should there be any, would be as annoying as spectral screaming about décor. “I suspect you don’t want to put yourself in line for a second lesson,” he advised the ghost, mock-kindly.

[st_allionofdoom]

The ghost floated to the untouched couch and pouted with little else to do, staring at the charred remains. Valkyrie pitied it little after giving it a ten-day grace period.

"You may have my bed for the night. I'm not without generosity." Valkyrie informed the spirit. She had little intention of sticking around for the stench, after all. Armor and sword mounted to her back, motioned for Loki to follow. "I'm headed for a walk. Clear my nose. Join me if you like."

[st_ratagem]

“I’m certainly not staying here.” Loki unfolded himself, slid off the bed, and followed her. Burned cloth stench and a pouty undead was far, far less interesting than clean air and fascinating company.

[st_allionofdoom]

Closing the door behind them, Valkyrie tapped her running shoes against the floor. She was still adjusting to the odd fit. The logo emblazoned in glitter along the side of it caught the light.

"Looks like I'm camping out tonight." She smirked, apparently unbothered. "A relief, really."

[st_ratagem]

“I’m not surprised, from the company you’ve been forced to keep.” Anyone would find anywhere else a relief. After a moment, though, he offered, “My room has three beds, you’re welcome to take one if you don’t fancy outdoors or whatever your plan was. Alternatively, if you asked Thor I’m all but certain Stark would agree to lend you his room for the night. Mind you, I’m not certain he ever got around to clearing out all the dead mice and cat vomit.”

[st_allionofdoom]

Stark. The man Thor was dating. She hadn't yet made his acquaintance, though she certainly didn't care to impose on a man who managed to apparently be an even bigger slob than herself.

"Fulfilling a request and offering me a stay in your chambers? Will I owe you double for this, Your Highness?" Valkyrie rolled her sleeves back down as they approached the door leading to the outside. It was getting to be chilly.

[st_ratagem]

Loki occasionally dressed for the chill to fit in, because he didn’t necessarily want it to be obvious that he didn’t feel cold, but not today. Mostly because he hadn’t expected to go out. Hopefully it wasn’t quite cold enough that slacks and a button-down shirt would be remarkable.

Not that he wouldn’t eventually have to have that conversation with her. “Two small favors or one medium favor. Or one small favor total, with the understanding that I do like a good revenge.”

[st_allionofdoom]

She surely must have been a great fool, willingly indebting herself to Loki, of all people. There wasn't a ready explanation for why she reached out to him without mulling it over, first. Loneliness? She didn't fancy herself the soppy type.

"I do wonder what service Your Highness has need of that I could provide." Valkyrie laced her fingers and gave a great stretch towards the sky as she wandered the stone path.

[st_ratagem]

“I don’t need anything from you, at the moment.” Need? No. Want... maybe, but Loki was used to ignoring a lot of that. Being owed a favor by the only Valkyrie left in the universe was likely to come in handy at some point. To himself if no one else, he had to admit that future usefulness wasn’t why he’d requested the favor; being owed a favor was a decent excuse to associate with her at least one more time.

The idea that the favor itself was the favor was one he didn’t care to think about and absolutely declined to speak out loud. “If I did, you wouldn’t have to owe me.”

[st_allionofdoom]

"Know this, Your Highness." Valkyrie motioned with her chin at the tall figure beside her. "Any attempts to hold it over my head will be met with a lesson in manners."

[st_ratagem]

“Hmm.” Loki tilted his head, considering. “Describe what such a lesson might look like. I’m curious.”

[st_allionofdoom]

"Your future self endured such a lesson." Valkyrie shrugged, the intrigue on Loki's end duly noted. Why not keep the mystery alive? "Consult him."

[st_ratagem]

“I can’t see the future, I’m not a witch.” It was intended to be informative, not a complaint. There were two ways he could think of to get the information. By far the easiest was goading Valkyrie into delivering the lesson, but if he didn’t mind possibly traumatizing Emma, he could see if she would be willing to consult her cards for him.

[st_allionofdoom]

"Chains were involved." Alright, just one hint. See what that took the imagination. 'Though this isn't quite the intended effect.'

[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.