Small Talk (Tag: Vidar and Philotes)
Even though he had not actually seen many of them in ages, Bragi's family trailed the end of his thoughts like the last scarf in a magician's sleeve. He missed them terribly. That alone hadn't quite pushed him to seek them out more. It wasn't his family's fault but after everything had exploded in on itself, Asgard had started reminding Bragi more and more of cheap grape juice. The kind that tasted good when you started drinking it, but left the bad aftertaste of overly ripe grapes on your tongue forever afterwards. Overly ripe grapes that were almost raisins, but not quite. Bragi thought it best to stay away from that unless he was summoned. He figured if they wanted him, they'd call.
That morning though, Bragi had decided it was time to seek his brothers out. After all, some of them didn't have wives with apple orchards to tend in Asgard and probably spent even less time there than Bragi did. Bragi tried to keep tabs on them. He respected the power of the loop. But the more years that passed without first hand sources, the less reliable the loop became. Bragi knew this firsthand. Sometimes he was the loop.
In any case, enough was enough. Maybe it was because speaking to his phone and hearing it answer in that garbly girl computer voice reminded Bragi how much time had passed better than any calendar. Or maybe it was because Bragi now felt like his work in Midgard was basically done. Bragi didn't know. He just knew it was time to reconnect. Starting with Vidar.
Bragi had half a mind to just show up at Vidar's hall or his home in New Zealand. But if he did that, there was always the chance that they wouldn't leave his hall, or his home, and that didn't appeal to Bragi. He wanted to be out with Vidar. He wanted to show Vidar off to the public. Bragi didn't get to do that as much as he'd like. Sometimes Vidar seemed to burrow into his secluded forest hall like a vole that never stopped hibernating. It was like finding the poems of Dickinson and burying them before anyone got the chance to read them.
So instead, Bragi left Vidar a message to meet up with him that night at a new coffee shop that had recently opened and had caught Bragi's eye. It was an independent shop that had very good coffee, but hadn't quite found it's niche or steady clientele yet. Meaning there could be a few people here or there, but not crowds. It was about as private as public could get.
Bragi did not expect Vidar to show up until the time he'd indicated, but Bragi himself, arrived a good forty five minutes early. He scouted out the menu, and a good booth for them, then spent the rest of the time meeting the patrons and employees. When the time for their meeting actually arrived, Bragi was so engrossed in his conversation with one of the baristas at the counter that he didn't notice.