Who: Loki & Lina Inverse What: Loki decides to investigate the magic run rampant. When: After the 'earthquake' during her spree. Where: Remote woodsy area, off a highway. Rating/Warnings: Low. Status: Complete!
After she wove the last knot on the rope, Lina finally breathed an air of relief and took a step back, wiping her brow.
“Well. That was easy,” she mumbled, putting her hands on her hips to survey the scene in front of her. Three men sat bound together, unconscious with multiple bruises, cuts and burnt clothes and skin. She’d been chasing them through Westminster, trying to slow them down with her Dug Haut spell - the earth spell that caused the earthquake, and the spikes to come poking out of the ground - and when she finally caught up to them, it was an all-out brawl in a remote woodsy location off the interstate that lasted a whole three minutes.
Looting them lasted about fifteen, since she wanted to make sure she was actually taking the valuables. Jewelry and firearms to pawn, cash, and so on. Her cape had been a gift from the dreams, and it was enchanted to hold an enormous amount of things while still looking flat and feeling light.
Overall, Lina looked proud of herself. And a little silly, even. She was tiny but the get-up she was in seemed too big for her frame; gaudy shoulder guards, the black cape, and a sheathed short sword on her side.
She hadn’t used the damn thing yet, but one day. One day.
The thing, Loki supposed now, was that along with being some incarnation of a chaos deity, you learned how to pick up on a few things. It was easy for him to just feel the strangeness around Orange County, when it was rising or when it was disturbed or when it decided to be calm. This time around was a noticeable disturbance. Magic, Loki had thought immediately. It was a suspicion he’d had all but confirmed, and his curiosity was getting the better of him.
After all, it did well to keep tabs on people and things with power.
So when the earthquake had happened, Loki had decided it was due time to look into things. Driving out to Westminster, he’d been stopped by law officials from going much further, which was fine. He’d be much more effective on foot, anyway. He followed the feeling nagging at him until he finally found what he was looking for, and his eyebrow raised.
“Oh, please, don’t tell me you’re another costumed superhero of some sort.”
Lina didn’t expect anyone else around here, no. In all honesty his presence caught her off guard, but her only reaction was the turn of her body and the rise of a curious eyebrow.
Busted? Possibly.
“Cape’s enchanted to hold items, and these things can be used as weapons.” She pointed to the shoulder guards when she said ‘things.’ “Don’t judge the get up; it’s more functional than you think.”
Loki shrugged. “I’m certainly in no place to judge fashion choices.” Metal and leather, that was the Asgardian way after all. Curious thing about the cape, though. He watched her for a moment, then peered around her at the men she’d tied up.
“Vigilante justice, then?”
Whoever this guy was, he didn’t seem all worked up about the band of crooks behind them. She glanced over her shoulder, lips sealed while she hummed in thought, and turned back to Loki with crossed arms.
“Depends. Who are you, and how’d you find me? Stalking ladies isn’t very nice, you know.”
“There are some who would argue that, perhaps, given what you’re up to right now, you don’t really qualify for a lady.” Loki shrugged. “If I was stalking anything, it was that brazen trail of magic you’ve left in your wake. I’m impressed, really. It’s a shame you didn’t hit Stark Tower a bit better, though, but missed opportunities are nothing to cry about.”
“And here I was hoping to blame all that on bombs and natural disasters. Boo.” Lina didn’t seem as disappointed as her words would usually have someone believe and smirked, arms crossed over her chest. Stark Tower wasn’t her target. None of those places that got hit were supposed to be targets. They were just in the way, and Lina’s magic wasn’t meant for city-type places. “But you’ve found the source and your curiosity’s been fulfilled. Need anything else, creepface? I was in the middle of something.”
He’d been called a lot worse than creepface. Loki just shrugged, regarding her with a gaze that was outwardly passive but it was obvious he was making mental notes. His scrutiny was obvious. “It never hurts to know what’s out there. One never knows when they might need it, hmm? Enjoy … Whatever it is you’re doing.”
"You could at least tell me your name," Lina pointed out, sniffing the air and looking around before pulling out a snickers bar from her pocket. It was one of the nice little things one of the douchebags were carrying and she was getting hungry. "Kind of rude, following me and looking at me the funny way you are, and not introducing yourself. My guess is you have some of your own tricks up your sleeve."
At her words, he cracked a smile. It was more of a slight upturning of the corner of his lips, but that was all most people got. “Loki,” he told her. “And I’ll be keeping my tricks to myself for now, if it’s all the same to you.”
Loki.
That made both of Lina’s brows rise in surprise. “I’d ask if you were named after a trickster deity, but something tells me you might actually be him.” She’d already been acquainted with Thor and his well-beloved hammer, so that wouldn’t surprise her terribly. But it was still giving her the ‘oh shit’ factor of him possibly being a god.
Seeing as she’d already answered her own question, Loki didn’t see any reason to either confirm or deny it. “Now that we’re properly acquainted, I think I’ll take my leave.” He simply wanted her to know that he knew what she was, and it was a bonus now that she knew of him. Loki liked to keep his options open, since one never knew when something might become mutually beneficial. “I would suggest you work a bit on containing that power of yours before something truly disastrous happens.”
Lina took a bite out of her Snickers bar, watched him, and eventually rolled her shoulders into a shrug.
You have no idea, buddy.
Good to know that there was another deity in the area. More specifically, someone like him. And she often didn’t have beef with people unless they had beef with her, so as far as she knew, things were cool between them. “See you around,” she said, waving her little fingers at him with a cheerful smile.