Note: after this and this

Sigyn hadn't slept. She should have, and truthfully, she was utterly exhausted, but still, closing her eyes wouldn't bring slumber. She'd tried that. Every time she attempted it, all that ran through her head was the thought that Loki would think she was breaking her promise. It ate at her. The idea that he'd believe that of her, that she'd hurt him because he'd believe that of her, it tore her apart.

( She HADN'T broken her promise. )

OOC: Takes place shortly after Hel and her siblings are removed from Asgard in their various ways.

Loki fully expected to returned to Asgard, to come home after some time away -not even as long as it could have been, to find that there had been trouble. He would have been far more surprised to return home and find out that there hadn't been trouble. It wasn't like his sons weren't genetically predisposed to causing trouble when they were bored. Even though he had given them what seemed like an extremely simple task: watch their sister and keep her safe.

It had seemed simple enough. And yet, he arrived home and his children were no where to be found. His first response was not alarm. All three of them were extremely independent and often did things they knew they were not supposed to. Though, Loki had to admit there was something a bit unsettling about the look Heimdall gave him on his way back into Asgard. It almost seemed... maliciously amused. It could have been anything. They hated each other. It was nothing new.

No one else that he passed seemed to have been willing to meet his eyes or answer his greetings, ( which was more than just a little unusual. )

This was starting to get ridiculous. Sigyn was not a terribly impatient person, nor one given to fits of paranoia, but she was starting to feel both of those things creeping into her life at an exponentially expanding rate. And she didn't like it at all. Doing her best to keep from giving in to the urge to simply stalk Loki, she threw herself into attempting to better her skills with the sorts of crafts the other maidens had already mastered. Instead of distracting her, however, it was simply adding to her frustrations.

( Truthfully, though, she was starting to get a bit worried. )

Thor was wide awake. He'd been awake since it had been dark out, waiting for it to be light enough to get up and do something. Yet, despite the first grey light of morning coming through the window, there he laid, in his bed, staring at the ceiling. Which was far less interesting than it could have been. Maybe he should put some carvings up there. Maybe he should make some carvings up there. ( Maybe he should get up before he got some stupid idea like knocking down a wall. )

Thor loved feasts. Everybody got together, ate, drank, laughed, told stories and sometimes fought. It was the best of all worlds all in one room, and Thor couldn't imagine how anybody could have a bad time at a feast. Well, most of the time. There was one person he was pretty sure was having a bad time tonight. But really, ( it was for his own good. )

Thor was nearly bubbling over with energy. He paced around the large expanse of his hall, from room to room, irritating anybody he encountered with his exuberance. When that was not enough to keep him from feeling like everything inside his body was vibrating, Thor ventured outside and continued his bouncing walk, trying to expend some of the built up tension in his body. Every few minutes, he’d look at the eastern horizon, and then he’d curse. Because the sun was taking forever to rise this morning. And he’d been up far before dawn because he just couldn’t sleep.

(  There was an adventure to be had! )

It had taken Sigyn some time to get an idea of what Loki’s schedule might be. Mostly because she couldn’t simply ask. People would wonder if she’d started asking about a known philanderer, they’d want to know why she wanted to know. ( And she certainly couldn’t tell them. )

Hel was getting worried.

When Daddy brought them to Asgard, he told her and her brothers that this was their new home. She had figured that their mother would be joining them soon. At first, there was a lot to explore and learn about this new place, and filled with excitement, the days passed. Hel was too young to have any real concept of time, but she began to realize that her mother really should have been here by now. There had been too many sleeps, of that she was sure.

( So she went to find Daddy. )

Very shortly after this.


It was a quiet morning. Holda had decided to show off a bit for her guest, so there was a thick blanket of snow layered over everything, bending the boughs of the pines surrounding her home, muffling all the noises of the forest. Sigyn loved mornings like this, when there was nothing but cold air and wood smoke on the chill breeze. Her hands were wrapped around a mug that was heated by the contents within: hot, mulled cider from Holda's cellar.

( There was something about being home )

Loki was happier than he ever recalled being in his long life. Everything seemed to be finally going right for him. He had a bright, beautiful, brilliant wife whose smile, when she showed it, lit up both his heart and his hall. Her laughter was contagious and he tried very, very hard to remain faithful to her. He did falter from time to time, Loki well knew his own flaws, but he tried. Sometimes, he earned Sigyn's wrath. But she had given him two perfect sons. One of which was currently at his side while he walked from his hall to Valaskjalf to see Odin.

He loved all his children, but if he was completely honest with himself Loki would admit that he did have a bit of favor for Narvi and Vali. They were not malformed in any way and he wasn't ripped away from them or had them torn away from him like had happened with most of his other children. He had given Sleipnir to Odin of his own volition and he had no claim on Zisa's son -that child was as good at Tyr's as far as Loki was concerned. But these two... these two perfect sons had filled his heart with such joy he was sure he'd burst. ( If anything ever happened to them, or to any of his children, really, it would break his heart. )

(OOC: While Bragi is still courting 'Jondi.')

Thanks to the latest tender, romantic ballad written for Bragi's goddess, ( Idun now knew exactly what it sounded like when the Road God declared love. )

OOC NOTE: Before Loki and Sigyn ever even considered getting married.

Loki was accustomed to cold and winter. Not just because winter seemed to encompass over half their year but because he often ventured into Jotunheim with Thor so the Thunderer could smash in some frost giant heads for little to no reason. Really, Thor was a touch unbalanced. So ice, snow and bitter cold didn't phase him. In fact, even as he tromped through the snow pack as silently as he could in heavy woolen trousers, tunic and thick leather boots his cloak was open, exposing him to the elements and wind. He wore no scarf, no hat, no gloves. Loki needed them not. He was a fire giant by birth and naturally comfortably warm in winter.

He was hunting. Experience taught the Trickster that the snow that was falling would soon turn into a storm with heavy, wet snow. A storm that would probably turn into a blizzard if the wind kept up as it was. Already visibility was starting to wane. Sane mortals would be in their homes, bundled up before a roaring fire and weathering the storm safely indoors, but not Loki.

( Loki had ventured to Midgard on request from Odin. )

OOC: The quest to get Thor's hammer back from the giant Thrym. So it's a long, long, long time ago. When they were still friends.

“Thor, quit playing with your boobs.” Loki whispered from under his womanly dress and veil.

This was never going to work.

First of all, there was absolutely nothing feminine about Thor. He looked nothing like Freyja, no matter how you dressed him up. No matter that they veiled him so that his masculine face wasn't giving it all away. No matter that he had Freyja's necklace -that stupid thing had cause Loki enough headache in its time. No, Thrym was not going to buy any of this. Loki didn't buy it. Didn't matter that he was smarter than your average jotun, no, this plan was failed from the start and Loki had to go along so that Thor could get his stinking hammer back.

( It was ridiculous. )

OOC: Takes place when Hel, Fenrir and Jormungandr are young and still living with their father in Asgard.

Sometimes Loki felt like a shadow of himself. As if he were always bending and flowing with what was expected of him without so much as an actual thought as to what he wanted to do. He was expected to be lewd and lascivious. Which was sometimes the case, he wouldn't never argue that it wasn't, but while he was promiscuous -there was no denying that either, he did have some measure of control. He was not a man with an insatiable lust governed by what lay beneath his trousers. Most of the women that had actually shared his embrace understood that. Those who did not -whether by his choice or theirs, didn't understand and simply propagated his reputation.

It didn't matter that he treated women with respect, that he never went where he wasn't invited, or that he would never physically harm a woman no matter the level of violence she may show him -which if anyone observed his rather short marriage to Angrboda, they would know. No, what mattered to the Asgardian populace at large was that he rarely lacked a warm female body to share a bed with and that he was apparently quite skilled what he did when he got them there. ( At least he hoped the latter was being spread around too. )

Technically, he was not supposed to be doing what he was doing. He was suppose to train the animal and care for him, but riding him… Well, he knew he was supposed to ask for permission first. And even then, it had to be for something very, very important. But if he got caught (which had not happened yet) then he would just explain that this was part of the training. Every horse needed proper exercise. ( Especially when they had eight legs )

Note: Old days of Asgard. Before marriage to Angrboda but after Sleipnir. The Norse are young.

Loki wandered a great deal. It was a habit he got from growing up on Lauer, so detached from everything. It was a habit that was easily fostered by Thor and Odin as they took him with them on adventures that required a lot of wandering. Sometimes he just traveled Midgard for the simple sake of traveling Midgard. Sometimes he had a plan.

Currently, he had a plan.

Hermes was a good friend. Far from being the friend that Thor and Odin were, but Loki thought that with time he and his southern friend would build stronger ties. There were Greeks occasionally in Asgard. From Hermes and Iris -the latter of which he'd had the great pleasure of watching stroll into Odin's company from behind, to the others that occasionally migrated north for political reasons, Loki was familiar with some of the pantheon.

( And he was smart. )

Sigyn let out a low grunt, then lifted her hand to brush back the hair that was damply clinging to her forehead. A bead of sweat rolled down the back of her neck, then slid south to tickle its way down her spine. The linen of her underdress was itchy and sticky because of the moisture radiating off her body, and she stopped for a moment to lose another layer. She unfastened the brooches on the straps of her woolen hangerock and quickly pulled the overdress over her head. She had no fears about mussing her head covering, as she'd shed that very early on in her efforts. The overdress was dumped onto the cloak, along with the headkercheif, in a pile that was off to the side.

( If anybody came along at that point... )

The Valfather felt old. Older than he had ever felt in his already long life. Too much sorrow was weighing heavy upon his heart. He had lost not one, but two sons, one a favored among his children. Now, he was about to lose someone else, someone who was once more than a friend. His blood-brother. ( The end of the line had come for Loki )

It was cold. It was always cold. Her fingers were so cold they were numb, which should have been a blessing in disguise. It should have made it impossible to feel, but she did. Sigyn ached, from the base of her spine outwards, she ached. It ran down the backs of her legs, which sometimes trembled from the angle at which she had to stand. It ran up to her shoulders then down her arms, her muscles burning from holding still in the same position for hours. Her back itself felt like one giant hurting knot tied around the bones of her spine. ( But worst of all were her fingers. )