This was a bad idea.

He'd been repeating that to himself for the last week, since he'd made the decision. This was a really bad idea. There was an ache in his gut that told him that. There was a buzzing in his head that confirmed it. And there was an overwhelming sense of dread for what he was about to do.

( This was a REALLY bad idea. )

There wasn't any reason for Idun to be here. Yes, she brought apple wine, but that was nothing more than an excuse. The truth was far simpler; she missed Loki. For as long as she could remember knowing him, she'd adored him. She had heard about him, of course, all the women talked about him. It was never like that between them. Maybe because she was so devoted to Bragi, or maybe because their ages were far enough apart, or maybe it was just the way they clicked. Whatever the reason, he was a dear friend and a chosen member of her family.

To her mind she'd not seen her friend nearly enough since he'd left the cave. She was busy, he was busy, it was how life went. Today it seemed she had a lttle time on her hands, and the man she thought of as her big brother popped into her head. Which was often how it went with Idun. She got an idea, and acted on it, rarely thinking it through. Sometimes that had consequences, prices she had to pay for per impulsiveness.

Today that was unlikely. She'd pop over to Loki and Sigyn's and see if he was around. If only Sigyn was there, she'd have a nice chat, leave the wine, and Loki's wife would tell him she stopped by. If no one was there, she was out a short trip. No big deal.

The bag of wine bottles (canvas bags with dividers for wine were an ingenious invention!) in her hand, Idun rang the bell.

Odin needed a cup of coffee. And a good piss. But the toilet in the corner was almost too far away right now. More than all of those things, he needed a hot shower. The stink coming off of him was offending himself. It was no wonder they'd thought what they thought of him. A couple Tylenol and a jug of water would also go a long way toward righting the old god.

He tipped his head to peer through the bars, groaning at the pain that shot through his head. When had humankind come to this point? There was also no denying it was his own fault he was still here. He could easily remove himself, but his current hangover made him cringe inwardly at the idea. Any effort was too much at the moment. But it was easier to blame the mortals for forgetting what he'd tried to teach them.

What had happened to the days of common decency and hospitality? Men forgot to care for each other. To fear who they might offend if they refused entrance to a humble man in need of refuge and sustenance. Gone apparently were the days when people believed it really might be a god at the door. So what if it wasn't? Didn't any person in need deserve kindness?

( Not any more. )

Bes stared at his phone in disbelief. Not because he'd never seen snow, or experienced it himself. What he couldn't understand was why someone who had the ability to live anywhere would actually choose to stay in that shit.

The pictures Loki had been sending him had initially left the Egyptian amused. But the snow banks continued to grow. While Bes could appreciate some of the pictures of some of the things Loki had created with that snow, it didn't make him desire to share the experience. While he understood his buddy was naturally warm, it made him shiver each time he thought of enduring that cold.

This one, finally, made Bes take action. The picture must have been taken looking out of one of the windows of Loki's home, and it looked like an outright blizzard. That was it. No one should endure that if they didn't have to.

Bes' reply to Loki's text was simple. ( Get out of there and come see me! )

The place was packed, which was how it was supposed to be. There were costumes everywhere... also exactly how it was supposed to be. Because it was Halloween. It was also Chicago and Americans went all crazy for the holiday. On top of that, it was Thirsty Thursday, something everyone in the American Midwest was familiar with. Professional drinkers, this lot, and Ninkasi loved them for it. Most of the costumed were immortal in some way, not just gods but nymphs and the like as well, but she was clearly allowing an occasional mortal in as well. There were rules outside to her bouncers for screening them properly.

Shortly, the specialty taps would be opened and her private brews would begin to flow. Which is what, she was sure, Kratos was hoping and/or waiting for. ( Wherever he was. )

Loki didn't get to enjoy Halloween last year. It both did and did not have to do entirely with the situation in his pantheon at that time. He couldn't fault any of them for what had happened, but he did miss out on the opportunity for socially acceptable shenanigans. And while right now his plans included being home in order to give candy to kids that came by -and he hoped it was in hoards because he loved kids, decorating, watching scary movies and trying to talk Sigyn into modeling that set of black lingerie she had taunted him with a photo of when he had been out too late with Hermes. He was not going to rule out the need for some sort of costume, though. There was absolutely no telling what his friends were going to come up with last minute.

Especially Bes. Okay and maybe Hermes. Alright, Mac, too... ( Hell, all his friends. )

The viewer will see a large desk with Hermes behind it. A whiskey bottle is off to his right beside two glasses.

Hermes: Hello, again. Welcome to another episode of Coffee, Tea, or Whiskey- where the answer is always whiskey. I'm The Messenger, and I will be pouring out the drinks, as well as serving up the latest gossip. For those of you joining us for the first time, or for those of you who got drunk with me in the last episode and don't remember, I have a couple of disclaimers. The people are real, but some of the names are changed to protect the innocent...namely, me!

Also, not everything I tell you is the truth. As I get drunker, I'm more likely to lie. Or maybe I'm lying now, and more likely to tell the truth as we go along. I leave it to you to decide what is fact and what is fiction.

Today I have a special guest with me in the studio. He got a bad rap many years ago, and is finally oot and aboot again, and I for one am glad he's back. The world was a little duller for a while there, folks. With that, I'm very happy to introduce my old friend, The Torch. Say hello to the viewers, Torchman.

( Camera pans out to reveal Loki behind the other half of the desk. )

To Hel, it felt like it was a recipe. Though for disaster or success, only time would tell. The recipe would read something like this:

Take one father
Add a freakish daughter
Mix in one stepmother
Optional: add a generous portion of loss and heartache
Add one pinch of hope
Blend

That's what they called what they were. ( Blended families )

And now they waited...

Bes' friendship was proving to be such a, for lack of a better word, godsend that Loki wasn't sure where he'd have been without him. It gave him a better grasp on how the world had changed and gave him a change of pace when he needed some man-time. Sigyn was amazing and he loved her, but sometimes... sometimes he needed a friend who wasn't anything more than that. Odin and Thor had once filled that need, but then things went horribly wrong. Plus his kinsmen seemed to always have qualifications attached to their friendships with him -they were his friend as long as he was useful to them. So far, Bes seemed to not have qualifications in their friendship. It was a foreign concept to Loki but one he was glad to experience.

So, when Loki needed advice on what he should add to his man-cave... he called Bes.( he called Bes. )

Boston wasn't a bad place to be meeting an old friend. Manannan quite liked the city, he quite liked seafood, and he quite liked frigid air, reminding him of the Otherworld, and of many nights in the cold Atlantic. And, Boston made it oh-so-easy to get seafood and people-watching was far too enjoyable. So, a bit like a loon, he was sitting on a park bench at the edge of Christopher Columbus Waterfront park. He had a bowl of hot lobster mac and cheese from a shop in Faniuel Hall, as well as a crabcake burger that he was noshing casually as he watched boats casually cut through the water.

( His appetite had certainly improved since his encounter with the Egyptian Goddess Bast. )

Loki didn't mind winter. Actually, he sort of looked forward to it with a fondness one might have for an old reliable friend that came by the same time every year. The cold was a nice break from being too warm, a definite problem when you were a fire giant. But, even though he was used to and loved the cold, that didn't mean that everyone was. So while the idea of stoking up a nice bonfire in his backyard in February appealed to him -after all that was what you did when in the Norselands part of Midgard in winter or Jotunheim at any time of year, he was fairly certain it would earn more than just an odd look from his neighbors.

Besides, he was aiming for company and this wasn't the sort of company Sigyn was going to be too happy about allowing in the house to use the can. In fact, there was the risk she'd stand in the doorway with that spiked baseball bat she had. What the hell did she have something that medieval looking for anyway? ( She should at least have invested in a gun, it would look less barbaric. )

Well, this sucked.

Loki felt helpless. He couldn't help Idun. He had no idea where to look next for Bragi, what to do, what to say. She was in Asgard, or so he thought, and he couldn't even go in to check on her. He was... stuck. He was sitting on the couch in the living room, bag of pretzels on his right and a small plastic tub of spreadable beer flavored cheese in his hand. Sigyn wasn't home, so his feet were on the coffee-table, and a bottle of beer was sitting just two inches shy of the coaster on the end table to his left.

He hadn't had anyone come by yet to see the house and time alone was still hard to swallow -after so long on the rock the relative silence when Sigyn would leave occasionally was unbearable except he had no choice but to bear it. So, with his wife out, and being unable to do much more about Bragi at the moment, Loki contemplated sending a note to Hermes to tell him to drop by. And maybe to send one to Bes as well, he really could use to get to know the Egyptian a bit more. He could send one to both, but what if the two didn't get on.

( Hrm. )

It was rare this time of year that he was able to sit down and put his feet up on the tasseled hassock in his study. Which was why, as he settled into the cushy plumpness of his red velvet chair, Santa began mentally reviewing his to-do list for today. Did he really have time to enjoy his peppermint hot cocoa, or had he forgotten something that would require his attention?

( The List )

Sigyn's front was pressed against a block of ice. Or maybe it was just the cold wall of a cave. She didn't want to open her eyes to find out for certain. Instead she tried to move closer to the fire that was warming her butt and back. Rolling over wouldn't help, in fact it would be worse. Because her backside was already so warm, it would seem that much colder when turned away from the source of heat. Wiggling a bit, still not really awake, she tried to get warmer without getting burned. But what she ran into wasn't a fire at all. It was a body.

( Loki. )

Loki was numb.

Not in the same way he was when his sons were taken from him, that was different. There was nothing he could have done to change that situation at the time. He had been in a net, Thor had him and no amount of fighting was going to free him from that in order to save his children. This situation was different. There were things he could do, things he was going to do and he could hopefully help this from becoming tragedy. What had him numb was watching someone very dear from him so... emotionally detached and not in a good way.

Idun was so bubbly and vibrant. Even when she was angry or upset, she still had a brilliance about her. Rather like a polished up bit of amber. Homey, warm, happy and sweet like honey. Loki couldn't recall how Sigyn looked after the incident, after they'd tied him down. He didn't know because he didn't look at her for a good long time. Not only out of his own shame and guilt, but because he knew damn well that seeing her in pain was going to just compound the pain in his heart into something he wouldn't have been able to bear.

( He was absolutely no good with emotions. )

Bragi was a god of many gifts. Punctuality was only sometimes one of them. But Idun knew this. She'd known this for a very, very long time. It didn't bother her, because she knew it was a possibility, and she knew that when Bragi did arrive, he'd bring with him a very colorful story explaining what had detained him in the first place. Listening to one of his tales was a hardship Idun had somehow learned to live with. It wasn't like she lived for all his pretty, pretty words. Wasn't like that at all. Besides, Idun never let Waiting be her primary activity, ever.

When Idun arrived at the aquarium first, she wasn't terribly surprised. They had made these plans, but time has passed between then and now. A budding genius was in dire need of creative inspiration in a university library somewhere. A struggling musician was stuck on the chorus of a song that would send tremors through the hearts of millions after a tiny shift in notes. There was always someone, somewhere, who Bragi could help. And even if he wasn't helping anyone, there were plenty of interesting people to talk to. If they hadn't decided to break into the aquarium after closing, Idun could only imagine how many visitors she would stop and talk to before she could actually get to the observation tunnel. Talking was a hobby they both enjoyed. Idun arrived, and as the shimmering blue glow of the water washed over her, she briefly wondered what conversation her husband was having right then. ( But then she let the thought go, and went about setting up their picnic. )

Idun didn't care what anyone said. Minnesota knew how to do malls. She hadn't spent much time in this particular region of this particular country, so Idun didn't actually know what else Minnesota was capable of, but she was definitely pleased with the mall. It was huge. It would never replace tiny village markets or ancient exotic bazaars in her heart, but the mall was still pretty fun. There were rides. There were all sorts of delicious foods to sample. And there was an aquarium. Idun spent an hour staring at seahorses. Now she had a milkshake in one hand and a gift shop bag containing a turtle-shaped hat in the other. There was no way to top a turtle hat. Rather than trying, Idun decided to spend the rest of her time in Minnesota window-shopping.

She hadn't expected to see an old friend through one of the windows, but, like the terrible window-shopper she was, ( once Idun saw him, she had to have him. )

Loki was... well drunk was a bad word but it was probably the right word to describe his current state. He had not the tolerance for alcohol that he once had nor the experience with modern alcohols to keep him from getting in that state. Oh, Sigyn was going to be furious. More so than she probably already was. So it was with relief that when he returned to their room at the hotel in Edmunton, Alberta, Canada he found that he was alone and most of their belongings were gone.

Well, either Sigyn had left him or she'd gone out and found a more permanent residence for them. Loki hoped for the latter but wouldn't have been surprised by the former given the amount of consideration he had given her in regards to his disappearance to see Hel. ( He was feeling rather... sad and cynical.  )