Good weather was merely a question of the right shape and while Loki didn't have some other gods' powers over rain and sunshine he had no problem coping with either. He was hopping happily back towards the manor after a refreshing swim in the pond when he heard someone speak in a language he didn't speak, but that still sounded familiar. It had been a long time since he'd heard from Bast or Anubis, but when he looked around he was disappointed to find that it was merely Gabriel.
Gabriel holding a cat that was quite obviously not the sweet little kitten Loki had found in the Judeo-Christian's room. Had something happened to his furry friend?
Concerned Loki changed course and took a long jump towards Gabriel.
To his eternal embarrassment, Gabriel actually gasped and jumped back at the sudden amphibian attack. Somehow, he managed to hold on to Ta-Miu, who was not pleased and proceeded to make it known by digging her claws into his chest. He gasped again, the pain adding to his spiking heartbeat.
"Sshh. Please let go, little one, it's alright. I'm sorry. Sshh," he soothed her, petting her and taking deep breaths to steady his heart. The claws retracted, and she squirmed. He let her jump out of his arms and rub against his leg before sniffing at the frog that had caused this in the first place. Gabriel hoped she wouldn't eat it; the skin might be poisonous.
Ta-Miu merely sniffed the frog and then sat back, staring at it expectantly.
Gabriel frowned, taking a closer look at the frog with other senses besides sight. "You're not really a frog, are you?"
He'd frightened the cat! That hadn't been his intention, but if Gabriel had done something terrible to the grey kitten, she was most likely in danger as well. Unfortunately she didn't escape.
Gabriel blinked. "Loki?" Of course. The Norse god was a shapeshifter; he'd done some research after their encounters. " How can you really be a toad if you're, well, human-looking in your natural form?"
Ta-Miu had leapt back in surprise at the shapeshift; hiding behind Gabriel's legs, she hissed.
"Natural form?" Loki asked surprised. "They're all natural. This one's just the one most practical for communicating. That doesn't make it any more or less real than the toad shape."
Okay, he did identify more with this shape than the toad one, if he were being entirely honest, but the same was true for the horse and fox shapes. The toad simply wasn't one of his most used, but that didn't make it any less him.
"Stop trying to distract me, though. What are you doing with this cat?"
Interesting. "But what was your original shape, then?" Gabriel asked.
He knelt to allow Ta-Miu to leap into his arms, then straightened. She leaned out from his arms, trying to sniff Loki, and he let her, remembering the Norse god's gentleness with Earl Grey.
"I found her in a tree, and she seems to like me, so I'm adopting her. Hopefully she'll get along with Earl Grey - that's the grey kitten." The god sounded suspicious. Gabriel's lips twitched. "Do you suspect me of animal cruelty?"
Loki shrugged. "I was born a Jötunn, a nature spirit, not that I can remember my birth. We're shape changers as you've noticed."
It was a bit of a misdirection, but not actually a lie. He couldn't remember his birth, but he'd been told often enough how pathetically small and human he'd looked.
He held out a hand for the cat to sniff. Oh she was an elegant and lively one and her fur looked wonderfully soft.
"Just watching out for my young friend's interests. Cats do not usually desire much company from their own kind and your room isn't that big. Where will they be able to retreat when they want to be alone? Have you thought about that at all?"
Oh dear, he was starting to sound like Odin when he explained why Loki couldn't keep whatever animal he'd set his eyes on just now.
(don't be insulted. Ta-Miu's aloof with most people, but she'll let you touch her)cattygabrielAugust 2 2009, 22:49:24 UTC
Gabriel frowned. "But if you are the American facet of the original Loki, do you truly share the same history, the same mythology playing out in America, or merely the memories of it?"
Ta-Miu tentatively sniffed Loki's hand, and sneezed. Gabriel couldn't help but smile. She fixed Loki with her gaze for a moment, before apparently deciding that more doubt wasn't worth her time, turning away and burrowing into the crook of Gabriel's arm, shutting her eyes.
"I don't eat cats, you know," Gabriel grinned. "I leave the window open, so they'll be able to run off and hide on the grounds if they feel like it. I'd leave the door open as well, but the other Manor inhabitants might not like cats." He looked into Loki's eyes. "I'm not keeping these cats prisoner, Loki. They can stay outside if they wish, but they have my room as an option, to come back to if they want to be sure of a meal and a comfortable place to sleep."
"I split away from the original Loki when they brought me to America, but I still remember what went before, yes." well, maybe. Or maybe America had altered his childhood and he didn't even know. He had memories of the past before coming to America in any case. He'd call them real.
Loki withdrew his hand and fixed Gabriel with his best impression of Odin's sternest look.
"I hope you are aware that one of the cats might drive the other out forcefully then. Not that I have anything at all against a good fight among born warriors." He smiled at the cat in Gabriel's arms. "Cats are such fierce little darlings."
Gabriel nodded. "Interesting. Yet from the beginning, you were always aware that you were the American version of yourself and not the original Loki?"
He almost started at the sudden stern look.
"Indeed. You know, I don't think I've ever heard the phrase 'fierce little darlings' before. Not even in Sparta. I hope that such a thing won't happen, but if it does I suppose I'll have to make other arrangements for the unfortunate weaker cat, and ensure that it will be safe and happy."
"From the beginning of my life? No, I were just one entity then. It's only when they brought me to America and I also had to remain at home that I became the American version and the other part of me remained the Norse version." Was that really so hard to understand? It had always seemed obvious to Loki, but then he'd experienced it himself, though ...
"Don't you have other versions? I'm sure I read something about you in Islam and shouldn't the Jews have a different you as well? Isn't there one or two of you over in the Middle East?"
"Well, that's what you get for never visiting the Norse at home in their villages." Then again Loki had never been in Sparta either. Sometimes he regretted that.
"Well, yes, but if there is another me, then I don't know about it. I remember Muhammad. Of course, it could be the memories of another me, but..." Gabriel shrugged lightly, grateful that beings such as himself didn't get headaches. "I used to travel a lot, so it was always me."
He grinned at that. "Actually, I have been to see the Norse, but I didn't stay long. It was a bit too cold for my liking, and to be frank I preferred the desert lands back then. Even now I miss them. What about you? Have you travelled much?"
"But what of the different views the humans have of you?" Loki asked. "Do you just always change your personality? Doesn't that get kind of confusing?"
Loki laughed. "I'm a Norse god. Of course I've traveled. It's what we do. This is my first trip back here since I split away from my other version, though. I kept to America after that. So what I remember of England is from a long time ago. It's quite interesting to see how it has changed."
"I don't change my personality," Gabriel responded, a little confused. "I have many different functions, and I suppose it's only natural that my different functions in different religions should confuse them, but when you get down to it, some of their perceptions are simply wrong, like the one that I am the leader of the Heavenly Host and His Second - that would be Michael - so I sort of ignore that. But the other views they have of me, like different titles or roles in different religions, can co-exist because, as I said, they're all still part of me. "
Loki was talking to him nicely enough. Finally. Gabriel smiled. "Me too. I spent a lot of time simply wandering all over the Earth in the old days, spending a little time in one country and then taking off again, but eventually spent my last couple of centuries here, in Britain, taking the occasional trip to nearby places, and I haven't been down here in a century. Where else have you been
( ... )
"Their perception that I'm a fire god is wrong," he pointed out. "But it's given me power over fire." Not much, but it was good enough for him. Loki knew how to make the best of whatever he had.
"I went wherever the Vikings went," Loki explained. "They took me along on their ships and trading carts. That way I saw most of Europe - well mostly the places near seas and rivers - and some of the rest of the world. The Romans were helpful, too." He grinned at Gabriel. "They hired some of my Germans for their army, though I must say I preferred the Viking ships and wild seas to all that ordered marching. Besides Rome is already a bit too hot for my liking. I pity any version of me that has to live in your desert lands."
"Hmm. That's interesting. But your pantheon did not already have a fire god, did it?" Gabriel pointed out. "They could not attribute to you something that was another's function."
He nodded. "Yes, I remember the German soldiers in Rome. I rather liked the place. When I first came here, to Earth, I spent most of my time travelling in the Middle East, so even Albion was cold for me at first. You can imagine the shock I got when I flew to the Viking lands." He laughed at the memory; in hindsight it was funny, but at the time he'd hated it and had never been so glad that he could choose not to feel the cold. He generally preferred to feel what humans felt, but had decided that in such circumstances, using his powers wouldn't hurt.
Gabriel holding a cat that was quite obviously not the sweet little kitten Loki had found in the Judeo-Christian's room. Had something happened to his furry friend?
Concerned Loki changed course and took a long jump towards Gabriel.
"Ribbit!"
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"Sshh. Please let go, little one, it's alright. I'm sorry. Sshh," he soothed her, petting her and taking deep breaths to steady his heart. The claws retracted, and she squirmed. He let her jump out of his arms and rub against his leg before sniffing at the frog that had caused this in the first place. Gabriel hoped she wouldn't eat it; the skin might be poisonous.
Ta-Miu merely sniffed the frog and then sat back, staring at it expectantly.
Gabriel frowned, taking a closer look at the frog with other senses besides sight. "You're not really a frog, are you?"
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Long, elegant whiskers tickled slightly cold amphibian skin.
Loki shifted back to human shape. It was still tiring, but at least he no longer looked like he was about to collapse after every shift.
"Of course I'm really a frog," he declared. "Well, toad to be exact in this case."
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Ta-Miu had leapt back in surprise at the shapeshift; hiding behind Gabriel's legs, she hissed.
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Okay, he did identify more with this shape than the toad one, if he were being entirely honest, but the same was true for the horse and fox shapes. The toad simply wasn't one of his most used, but that didn't make it any less him.
"Stop trying to distract me, though. What are you doing with this cat?"
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He knelt to allow Ta-Miu to leap into his arms, then straightened. She leaned out from his arms, trying to sniff Loki, and he let her, remembering the Norse god's gentleness with Earl Grey.
"I found her in a tree, and she seems to like me, so I'm adopting her. Hopefully she'll get along with Earl Grey - that's the grey kitten." The god sounded suspicious. Gabriel's lips twitched. "Do you suspect me of animal cruelty?"
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It was a bit of a misdirection, but not actually a lie. He couldn't remember his birth, but he'd been told often enough how pathetically small and human he'd looked.
He held out a hand for the cat to sniff. Oh she was an elegant and lively one and her fur looked wonderfully soft.
"Just watching out for my young friend's interests. Cats do not usually desire much company from their own kind and your room isn't that big. Where will they be able to retreat when they want to be alone? Have you thought about that at all?"
Oh dear, he was starting to sound like Odin when he explained why Loki couldn't keep whatever animal he'd set his eyes on just now.
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Ta-Miu tentatively sniffed Loki's hand, and sneezed. Gabriel couldn't help but smile. She fixed Loki with her gaze for a moment, before apparently deciding that more doubt wasn't worth her time, turning away and burrowing into the crook of Gabriel's arm, shutting her eyes.
"I don't eat cats, you know," Gabriel grinned. "I leave the window open, so they'll be able to run off and hide on the grounds if they feel like it. I'd leave the door open as well, but the other Manor inhabitants might not like cats." He looked into Loki's eyes. "I'm not keeping these cats prisoner, Loki. They can stay outside if they wish, but they have my room as an option, to come back to if they want to be sure of a meal and a comfortable place to sleep."
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Loki withdrew his hand and fixed Gabriel with his best impression of Odin's sternest look.
"I hope you are aware that one of the cats might drive the other out forcefully then. Not that I have anything at all against a good fight among born warriors." He smiled at the cat in Gabriel's arms. "Cats are such fierce little darlings."
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He almost started at the sudden stern look.
"Indeed. You know, I don't think I've ever heard the phrase 'fierce little darlings' before. Not even in Sparta. I hope that such a thing won't happen, but if it does I suppose I'll have to make other arrangements for the unfortunate weaker cat, and ensure that it will be safe and happy."
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"Don't you have other versions? I'm sure I read something about you in Islam and shouldn't the Jews have a different you as well? Isn't there one or two of you over in the Middle East?"
"Well, that's what you get for never visiting the Norse at home in their villages." Then again Loki had never been in Sparta either. Sometimes he regretted that.
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He grinned at that. "Actually, I have been to see the Norse, but I didn't stay long. It was a bit too cold for my liking, and to be frank I preferred the desert lands back then. Even now I miss them. What about you? Have you travelled much?"
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Loki laughed. "I'm a Norse god. Of course I've traveled. It's what we do. This is my first trip back here since I split away from my other version, though. I kept to America after that. So what I remember of England is from a long time ago. It's quite interesting to see how it has changed."
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Loki was talking to him nicely enough. Finally. Gabriel smiled. "Me too. I spent a lot of time simply wandering all over the Earth in the old days, spending a little time in one country and then taking off again, but eventually spent my last couple of centuries here, in Britain, taking the occasional trip to nearby places, and I haven't been down here in a century. Where else have you been ( ... )
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"I went wherever the Vikings went," Loki explained. "They took me along on their ships and trading carts. That way I saw most of Europe - well mostly the places near seas and rivers - and some of the rest of the world. The Romans were helpful, too." He grinned at Gabriel. "They hired some of my Germans for their army, though I must say I preferred the Viking ships and wild seas to all that ordered marching. Besides Rome is already a bit too hot for my liking. I pity any version of me that has to live in your desert lands."
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He nodded. "Yes, I remember the German soldiers in Rome. I rather liked the place. When I first came here, to Earth, I spent most of my time travelling in the Middle East, so even Albion was cold for me at first. You can imagine the shock I got when I flew to the Viking lands." He laughed at the memory; in hindsight it was funny, but at the time he'd hated it and had never been so glad that he could choose not to feel the cold. He generally preferred to feel what humans felt, but had decided that in such circumstances, using his powers wouldn't hurt.
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