The picklock, picklock, picklock tread. ((backdated))

[coldsong]

Under the walls we gnaw like mice
Virtue is unmasked
The hands of the clock betray your vice
They give what none has asked.
For they have burrowed beneath the graves
and found what the good gave most:
Refuse cast by the righteous waves
In fossil, wraith, and ghost.

V. Watkins, Ballad of the Mari Lwyd

Does the Nexus remember the Mari Lwyd, or the four giggling children that led her through the streets last year? This year, she is decked out in even more fantastic ribbons, skull painted with colors and glitter, with a mane of braided greenery over the shroud that hides her puppeteer. Peeping out from the tangles of plaited evergreen are bright loops and shimmering clusters of ice crystals--frost flowers, but enchanted to hold together in a way that this phenomenon never does in its natural state. All in all, the Mari is more grand and glamorous than before; a higher bar is set.

The children, like their horse, are in bright colors and jangling bells, and the girls have multicolored ribbons in their hair. They know exactly what they are doing, after the playful run last season. They sing loudly at the door of each house they approach, demanding to be let in and fed in the name of the Horse of a Thousand Stars. Loki is nowhere to be seen, but surely someone is beneath that colorful shroud, making the head bow, the glass eyes roll, the skeletal jaws snap and dart at any who stray too close.

(It would be rude to peep beneath the cloth, but if you do, you will see nothing but shadow, and hear the echoing laughter of a god.)

Those who are kind enough to let the children in will get chased about in their own homes--in play, of course--and the horse will caper and threaten as before, until Agnarr or Sigrid takes the ribbon bridle in hand and guides her back into the snow. Behind them, the children will leave oranges, apples, nuts, or sprigs of evergreen tied with glittery cords and bows.

Locked-out lepers with haloes come.
Put out the clock; the clock is dumb.

This is, in a way, just a prelude, a warning. A loving parody of the chaos that will ride in the dark nights to come. The Mari is not a tradition of Asgard, but Loki understand the message and the story she tells on a level so deep they may as well be part of his bones. For this one moment in the year, the outcast emerge to claim their own. The lords of misrule oust the righteous, the safe, the comfortable, and take their place for a breath of time. Memento Mori.

In the evening, the children are all bathed and fed and cuddled. Stories are told by the fire as dusk deepens. At length, though, the time for Something Else draws nigh. Loki tucks a sprig of mistletoe behind the ear of each of his little girls, and takes them by the hands. Una is old enough this year.

Transforming as they leave the house for the meadow, Loki stands ghostly-still in a white dress, evergreens wound into her hair. For about half an hour, she sings short kulning calls and cries for the girls, letting them imitate and praising their efforts. Sigrid is very good. Una is excited and eager, but her attention span is more limited, and when she shows signs of wanting to go play in the snow, Loki calls the lesson closed for today. She herself sings the ghostly call that invites the Hunt to her side. And then she kisses the girls on the cheek and sends them inside to sleep.

This is about to be no place for children.

As before, Loki cannot allow herself emotion for this event, in which anyone caught outside is at risk of an unfortunate experience. She casts the same spell as before, with some regret. She will recognize no one except Thor, and whatever actions she takes for the sacredness of the season will be utterly impartial.

When the Odensjakt emerges, there's a crack and roar of air displaced, the skies split to permit thousands of shadowy steeds and riders to emerge. Skurge is at their head, and Loki notes with interest that he's not wearing his plate armor this year, only his leather jerkin and a loose cape. Maybe he no longer feels the need of that visual reminder of his status. He's not an ex-soldier or a failed executioner now, but the shepherd of the dead.

"Will you lead this year?" Loki invites him, leaping lightly onto the back of a spectral, red-eyed horse. "Or shall I?"

He looks deeply flattered, and maybe a little tempted, but he shakes his head. "You lead. I'll bring up the rear and keep the formation together."

It would do no good to say so, but Loki is proud.

Skurge takes his place at the back of the Hunt, and gives a sharp, shrill whistle. Then the onslaught begins, the loud chaotic ride through the darkness. They will enter unguarded buildings and turn things upside down like vandals. They will damage and break things left outside in the roads. Unlucky wanderers (or perhaps, some who seek them out deliberately) will be grabbed by icy hands and tumbled through the night with the wild ride.

They circle the Plaza, turning things upside down, and then they ride out into the Wilds like a storm, screaming into the wind from the sheer joy and adrenaline rush of the Hunt.

When the sky turns watery gray overhead, when the sun creeps toward the horizon, they quiet slowly and break apart like clouds. Skurge stays to the last, sitting up on his horse as Loki stands in the snow beside him, Jotun-shaped, all blue and red and white frost.

"I don't think this is exactly how Odin did it," Loki comments quietly as the sun glints off distant tree-tips. "But it feels right. What do you think?"

"Didn't really know him," Skurge says thoughtfully. "But I'm good with this."

"Until tomorrow night, then," Loki smiles up at him.

"Wouldn't miss it," Skurge gives a cheeky grin, and dissolves into the air, back to Hel.

Loki bows, and sings him a brief farewell, only a few high, crystalline calls. And then he turns toward home, and family, and the warmth of his own hearth.


----

((OOC: So, I am bad at keeping up with things, but this is important, so: same deal as last year.

Please feel free to tag in with your character(s) reaction to any of the above. They can encounter the children, they could hear the sounds of the Hunt, or for a more lol-like experience, they could join or be caught up in the Hunt themselves.

Two things should be noted. First: Loki will not recognize any character except Thor, potentially not even his own alternates. He did that on purpose so his fondness for certain individuals cannot get in the way of what he considers a sacred duty. If you get close to the Hunt, even if you’re on good terms with him and don’t wanna go, you’re coming along. Feel free to yell at him later. He may or may not be remorseful, but probably not.

Second: People who either join the Hunt voluntarily or gain control after being snatched up are essentially invited to participate. Feel free to smash some stuff up, steal food or drink in small amounts, etc. Please assume all vandalized stuff belongs to NPCs not other player characters, unless you have that player's permission! The Hunt’s purpose is not to kill or maim, but to frighten and disrupt. Anyone who gets too personal or otherwise overly enthusiastic risks falling out of synch with the rest of the Hunt. If that happens, the character may be yeeted out of the group and find themselves in a corner of the Plaza or Wilds they didn’t start out in.

For each tag-in, I will respond with at least one prose-heavy tag (maybe more, depending on time or inspiration) detailing what the character is likely to have seen, felt, or experienced in the Hunt or during the visit with the hooden horse. It is also okay with me to handwave that your character observed/got caught up in this, as long as rules of the Nexus comm are respected.

Additionally, if you want some crazy shit that is not Nexus canon, PM me and we can talk it out. I can't promise anything because I'm constantly behind on all my threads these days, but I'm willing to talk it over!))

Comments

Mari Lwyd - Megatron (for Loki & Harley intro, before the procession)

[adpacempertyrannidem]

Megatron appears at Loki's house about ten minutes before he said he would; he would have preferred to be earlier, but he knows that getting the children ready for things can take some time; at the same time, he is always happy to see what he has, whether he dares to say so or not, begun to think of as his family.

He is a little (all right, a lot) nervous about the possibility of finally meeting Harley. He knows that he would be irritated if he were in a serious relationship with someone, and they came back from a long absence with a spark-bonded lover, with whom they had clearly been spending a great deal of time. And at one point during the Dawning it seemed like she was around every third corner he passed, and he dared not speak to her; if he said something he would sound like an idiot, and how would she react later if she found out the situation after he tried to befriend her without saying anything at all?

It's not like he could pretend he didn't know who she was until they started talking; Harley Quinn is not the sort of person you could mistake for someone else. And when he's all nerves, he is likely, he knows, to say something appalling, simply because he has no fragging idea what normal is even for his own species.

This is complicated and he worries about it, because even though Loki seems to be sure it will all be fine, he is continually reminded of the mess he made with Ravage and Soundwave.

But all that he can really do is show up shined and buffed and properly mass-displaced, with toys for Una and Eindrid and translations of books for Agnarr and Sigrid, and be very, very polite, and try very hard not to look or sound threatening at all. If Harley were Cybertronian he would know exactly what sort of apologies need to be made, and what gifts should be given, but he doesn't; so he can only bring flowers from the half-wild garden at the house by the sea for them both and hope he does not seem too much like an idiot.

Because it was one thing to ask Loki's permission to court him without having met them, but another entirely to bind themselves to each other so deeply, even though they did not set out with that intention in mind. And he does not know what Loki's other lovers can sense, but it is not the sort of thing one could hide from a Cybertronian partner, especially not during interface, or when the two of them are together in his other lovers' presence.

[sweetcandygirl]

Since this is the second time that Harley has attended a Mari Lwyd, she knows a little more about the adventures of the evening. And as she knows that the children and Loki will be in costume, Harley has decided to wear her own Town Crier outfit.

After Loki had told Harley about his courtship with Megatron, she had needed just a little time to herself to process what he had told her. She was not mad at Loki. Nor was she upset with Megatron either. It sounded to her that Loki found someone else who had a hard life and needed someone who could relate. And they got close to each other through getting to know each other.

What had upset her was the vague description of the bond that had seemed to have happened. To her, it meant that Megatron already had a much more serious relationship with Loki than she had. And there is nothing she could do to match that connection.

It was just not fair that closeness came so naturally. Does that mean she has to fight to reclaim what she had.

She doesn't want to do that. Doesn't feel like she should have to.

And really, after some alone time on her aerial silks, Harley came to the conclusion was that Megatron was someone special to Loki. So all she could do was try to get to know the other a little. The main thing was that Loki felt safe and cared for.

Approaching the house, it was not difficult to figure out that the tall robot creature waiting by the door was Megatron. And it looked like he had bought out a store for the kids.

Well that was a good thing. She guessed.

She did not assume the flowers were for her, as she was not someone who enjoyed getting flowers.

"So you must be Megatron. Huh?" She reached into her belt and placed a piece of bubblegum in her mouth. "I'm Harley Quinn."

[adpacempertyrannidem]

"...yes, that's correct. I've seen you in town. I wanted to say hello, but..."

Megatron winces. But I'm five million years old, and I sound like a blithering idiot.

The flowers he is carrying are not from a flower shop; they're wildly-coloured alien flowers, from a garden that hasn't been tended--he probably picked them as he left wherever he was before.

"I wish I could have met you earlier," he finally says. "I feel I have done you a discourtesy, and I did not mean to. I am delighted to meet someone else Loki loves. I should have brought a gift for you, but I had no idea what you would like. There are presents for the children; the flowers are just...for the household, a token, for both of you, really. That I respect you, and your place; and that I love him. We are not yet friends, but I hope that we shall be. I gave him my oath that I would protect him and all that he loves, and everything he has told me of you...I have very much liked."

He sounds like a character in one of the terrible books Ravage reads. A character who is probably a pompous aft.

[sweetcandygirl]

"Ain't nothing done that was discourteous to me. Don't know how you got the impression that you did something like that."

Harley shakes her head at the offer of a gift. "You do you. If your oath was made to him. Keep it for him."

"What did he tell you of me?" She tilts her head. There is always a part of her that wonders what Loki tells people about her.

[coldsong]

Is this a bad moment for a skeletal horse to emerge? Loki has no idea what they're talking about, but he saw them both approach and suffered a moment of mild panic because he wanted to control these first impressions they're getting of one another and make sure it was okay. Despite being a chaos god, he fights against chaos in his own life rather harder than he should. Sometimes Loki's dual nature gleefully turns around and bites him in the ass.

In any case, a shrouded figure has emerged from the back room of the cottage, glittering with ribbons and jingling, and Loki's legs can't be seen beneath it just now, but it pretty much has to be him beneath it. The children are still putting on shoes and socks, with the help of Mrs. Hedgeworthy.

Jingle, jingle-snap! The Mari does a sly little dance and bows in greeting to each of them, then pauses uncertainly. Half in the role and half in his own head, Loki clears his throat, then speaks while puppeting the horse's jaw to the cadence of his own words. "God Jul! I...was going to introduce you but it looks as though I missed my window. Herla, you look lovely."

Not that Megatron doesn't; he's very shiny, but Harley loves to dress up in colorful clothing, and Loki loves to see her do it.

[sweetcandygirl]

Harley beams at the sight of the skeletal horse. The glittering of the ribbons and the jingling makes her smile even more. And she softly laughs at the shy little dance.

She has never seen Loki shy before. It is endearing.

"Thank you, love. Alex helped me prepare the outfit."

meg. meg you talk too much.

[adpacempertyrannidem]

Megatron smiles broadly, a little in relief, and a little at the memory of the conversation. "He told me that you are a warrior spirit, a Valkyrie, and that you too are sworn to protect him, and that you are very, very brave, and understanding. He loves you very much, and...if I were a weaker mech, his words could have made me fall in love with you too."

It sounds like a load of slag and on some level Megatron even knows that, but he is actually quite serious.

"Una has a lot to say about you, too. I am told that the pink glitter is yours and yours alone, and I assured her that I prefer purple." He laughes, a little nervous yet. "I also have a sense of you, through our sharing, just as he has a sense of Ravage, and Soundwave. Although I am no longer their lover, I will always be very close to them. And I liked what I saw of you through his eyes, but I will endeavour to remember that his opinion is not completely impartial and to take care to form one of my own."

He ex-vents softly. "I am glad you take no offence. I told him when I asked to court him that I hoped for a place in his family and his life, because I knew I was already beginning to fall for him. But we did not intend for things to happen so quickly that neither you nor Ian had a chance to have your say."

[sweetcandygirl]

Harley pauses slightly, taking a moment to reflect on the that first sentence. It would be too complicated right now for her to rant on her feelings about love. And for Loki and Red -- it took time, and reflection, and understanding to feel that way.

Love is not something easy. That one should feel just after hearing a few sweet words. And it makes her more aware of Meg's emotional balance.

She flinches slightly when he speaks about have a sense of her. And has to speak about that.

"You might not know this... but when I was caged in Arkham, I had guards and more dangerous criminals watching me. All the time. I had a nano bomb in my head, so someone could keep tabs on me."

"I do not like feeling watched. And I do not welcome it."

"I am not going to interfere with your bond with Loki... but you are going to have to build a strong sense of trust with me, before I even want to think about you sensing me."

"Listen Megatron." Harley turns to him. "You are courting Loki. And it really doesn't matter if Ian nor I had a chance to say something about it. Your relationship with Loki is between the two of you."

"Just like how I respect the relationship between Ian and Loki as being something between them. I don't have a romantic relationship with Ian. Nor do I plan to."

"I only want to be with Loki these days. And I will accept others who make him happy, because it is his happiness that matters."

"I really hope you don't think you have to build something with me. When at the most we are just going to be friends."

Mari Lwyd - At the Decepticon Embassy (residents present, please ignore last 2 paragraphs =^^=)

[dontpetmeibite]

Ravage has been told what to expect so that he can have treats for the children, who cannot eat anything Soundwave or Esmeral makes, and has told the guards what to expect, and to let them all in. Glit has been forewarned as well, and has made the decision to let Lotor greet the children without him, for now.

Thunderflare, the baby elephant, is inside the house today, because she's rather well-trained and it's cold out.

Still, this is all a sight to see, and while the members of the staff and household are bound to enjoy the story (and Rumble and Frenzy are bound to take part in the chaos), he does need to take Loki and Megatron aside.

"I would be remiss if I did not let both of you know that you are in Decepticon sovereign territory here. We are willing to grant our former Lord Megatron free passage here for today, despite the formal charges that our were made against him by our previous government. Please do not be offended. I mention this primarily so that the two of you know that should the Autobots decide against you, or Megatron's double life is found out and he is forced to leave his service under parole...I can and will tell Optimus that he cannot leave the Nexus, because we will not extradite anyone who is charged with offences against Destron; and he will surely know that I have no intention of punishing anyone, and that he cannot make me do it."

Ravage smiles, with all of his teeth showing. "In fact, I rather think I'd enjoy telling our old friend that he can't have you back--not to murder in public, nor any other strange thing that he as the bloody Prime might think he may do with you."

[coldsong]

The visit starts with a knocking at the door and a chorus of children singing what sounds like any old caroling or wassailing song:

Here we come calling
In innocent amity
To ask your leave, to ask your leave
To ask your leave to sing to thee!

Very few people in the Nexus know this tradition well enough to respond in song, and no one expects the Decepticons to bar them out, since they're expected. Once inside, the children scamper about, but they're more circumspect here because there furniture is strange and oversized, and Loki has warned them not to get in a position where the occupants of the place might step on them. In a way, though, their smallness affords them some playful options here that they don't have in other places. Whoever sweeps corners and under the furniture will be finding holly berries, nut-shells, and pinecones for weeks.

The Mari bows and dances and makes snapping darts at all the Decepticons regardless of how much larger they may be, and there is something there that is not just a puppet, but a living story embodied by a living story. The energy that circulates around Loki and the Mari is distinctive and elemental, the mischief of a sharp, winter wind that heralds a snowstorm.

It's notable, perhaps, that the Mari does not approach the elephant. Loki sees no reason to startle a baby animal. The children will happily break character to pet her, though, if permitted!

Loki is still under the Mari when Ravage pulls them aside, and for just a moment the horse-head makes agitated snaps at the start of his speech. But then the jaw stills, and Loki twitches aside the shroud to peer at their host, green eyes very bright in the shadow of the fabric. And he smiles.

"I knew I liked you for a good reason," he tells Ravage pleasantly.

[dontpetmeibite]

Ravage grins, and offers a hug. "I like you a great deal, too."

He looks ...down... at Megatron, and can't help laughing. "Why are you still displaced here? I will never get used to seeing the top of your helm. At least you still have it on. I can't imagine seeing the crest from above." He shakes his head.

"Did you know that there are property taxes due on the house by the beach at Ran'ithil? I can pay them, it's not a problem, but Soundwave didn't know that I had owned a house with you, because it never came up. I thought you'd sold it ages ago, Megatron. After everything that went wrong I'm surprised you kept it."

Megatron's eyes widen. "I paid those when I signed it over to you. Has it really been that long, or are they just trying to extort you? And doesn't Soundwave know that he was half the reason we were there? We were worried sick about him. Anyhow, I'll pay them again; I've been using the place, and you haven't."

"I know." Ravage sighs. "You've been seen there." He shakes his head. "And so have you," he tells Loki. "You're probably safe as long as you stay in the house. They've no love for the Autobots there, so they won't report you off parole, but I still don't know what the DJD is up to these days. But don't go into the city again, and turn all the security systems back on. I don't know. If you're both going to go there, put wards up."

[coldsong]

Loki wasn't quite expecting to be hugged, but it's charming. He's slightly less comfortable in Ravage's embrace than in Megatron's, of course, but it's something of a moment of mild revelation for him, to realize his circle of friends really has expanded.

Mind you, it might be slightly awkward to hug him around the Mari puppet, and once Ravage lets go, the equine head snaps her jaw at him in a tease.

His eyebrows go up as the conversation continues, and he finds himself wondering how regularly property taxes become due for a species that lives millions of years.

"If you incur any financial difficulties, I have a number of...sources. Some are probably best not inquired into for the sake of plausible deniability, is all." He can launder money if you need him to, is what he's saying.

He seems slightly indignant to hear he's been seen. How dare people notice him! Not that he was being careful. "Hpmh. Wards can be arranged. As can illusions."

[dontpetmeibite]

Ravage giggles when the horse snaps her jaw at him and snaps his right back.

"I'll keep that in mind," Ravage says quietly. "I thought he'd sold the place off, not turned it over to me."

Megatron sighs. "Everything was kind of a blur at the end of the war. It was easier to put things in your name than it was to try and find someone who'd buy them and sell them back to me, or even just to buy them. Why does Soundwave care that we owned a house?"

Ravage rolls his eyes. "Because he and I never did? He's a communard. Technically, we still don't. We live on his bases, and he turned our house here into an Embassy, which was a smart strategic move, but while we have a little building that's ours, we still fuel in the refectory." Then he smiles at Loki. "I'll let you know if I need assistance. Also if you've borrowed anything of mine that I left behind, you can have it, particularly if there's any reason I might not want it back. Certainly nothing of Megatron's would fit you; some of my old things from when I was Glit's size just might."

He glances back and forth between them. "And yes. Wards and illusions should both be arranged. I am quite certain that the DJD is not prepared for anything whatsoever like you, Loki, but I am also quite certain that the DJD is not something you would enjoy having to handle. They're the secret police he trained when he was at max psychotic paranoia and they're evil fraggers and I don't know what the fuck we're going to do with them."

[chiaro_oscuro]

The poem attracted someone who listens to the words, someone who understands death in the way someone who's delivered and received it can.

Ben Solo isn't a creature of winter, exactly, but he's a creature forged of harshness and violence and survival - so this is his season, too, in a way. When he comes Morrigan is with him, but she's fully grown. She's taller than he is now, coated in black metal feathers that glisten as she moves. She's an adult Corviknight now. Too big to live in his home now, she makes her nest close by and comes when she's called.

When he comes, he's been warned of what to expect, and the warning does nothing to dissuade him. He's never been one known for good choices, and this is probably not a good choice - nevertheless, here he is. Morrigan caws in recognition. She lets Ben do the talking. She doesn't know what to expect, either. Ben remembers the warnings Loki gave and keeps them in mind as he approaches. The Hunt has its own rules to be respected.

He's here for the experience of it - that, and a way to get out some of the tension inside him in a relatively harmless way.

"I told you I'd come," he says, shaking white snow off a mane of black hair and a black cloak. He bows slightly, in honor of the host and the season. He can't pretend he's not nervous. "And I keep my promises. You have yourself a huntsman."

[coldsong]

The children have gone inside by the time Ben arrives, which is probably going to be a source of disappointment if Loki tells them about how tremendous Morrigan is now. They'll see her eventually, no doubt, but even as Loki awaits the approach of the Hunt--currently a feminine figure in white--she can't help but pause to stare at the corviknight with quiet admiration. Now that is a glorious creature.

She returns Ben's bow gracefully, and offers one to Morrigan, as well. Given her namesake, she belongs here as much as any of the ghostly riders.

"I will not recognize you once the horns begin to blow," Loki tells Ben. "And I will not be able to release you, if you change your mind. But you are welcome here."

[chiaro_oscuro]

"I hope the celebration went well? I'm sorry I couldn't make that, but I'm glad I'm not too late for the horns."

Ben's very proud of Morrigan. She's gigantic, and easily taller than he is now. She's unrecognizable from her smaller, cuter forms, the healthy sheen of her metal feathers an indication that she's been well cared for. That, and the fact that she evolved so quickly to her full form under his care. Ben gently scratches the back of her neck, and she trills.

"I understand the warning. You need to keep it fair." Ben nods. "I won't change my mind - I'm here for the experience - but thank you for the welcome." Morrigan came to offer him support - she won't necessarily stop him from making questionable decisions, but she's here to help.

[hybriddino]

The winter isn't usually a great time for dinosaurs, but one comes. The Indoraptor isn't as ungainly as he seems with his mismatched build, though he's more used to walking on all fours than he is on his hind legs - the side effects of spending most of his life in a cage.

He considers himself a family friend, of Loki's and of Thor's, though his true family is his pack. His mother, Maisie, Blue, Princess, Red. They're all different from each other, though most of them have raptor in them. Raptors come in many different shapes and sizes. Little ones, like Princess and Blue, and big ones like Red. He and his mother are only part raptor. He's made of the same DNA mixture as the Indominus, with more Velociraptor added in.

His voice comes in churrs and chirrups. He doesn't need to use his whiteboard in conversations with Loki and the Asgardians, he's found, something which delights him to no end. He likes using his own voice.

Hello, Loki! Good hunting to you. I hope the children are well.

[coldsong]

Loki is still in the guise of the Mari Lwyd when they encounter the Indoraptor, but to a creature like the Prince, his scent is quite noticeable. Even if the children weren't there to further identify their guardian, Indo would surely know who it was puppeting the skeletal horse.

The jaws snap at him playfully, and the head tosses with a pretty jingle of bells, but they're not at a door, and there's no need to keep too formal, so the children are quick to swarm over to their dinosaur friend and offer warm hugs.

"We're all well," Loki answers through the Mari's jaws, but in his own pleasant baritone. "May the blessing of the season be with you, my Prince. No, Eindrid, I don't think the Prince wants your orange peel, why don't you see if he would like some holly to wear?"

The littlest of the children has been eating some of the fruit, evidently.

[hybriddino]

Indo doesn't really want to eat fruit, so he gently rejects it with a churr and a push of the snout.

It's hard to fool the Indoraptor's nose. He's very proud of his sense of smell, and he knew who was under the costume as soon as he picked up the scent. He's thrilled to know Loki's there under the strange outfit.

Yes, I would like to wear some holly. What is the costume for? It looks interesting, but I don't know what you're trying to be. He gives Loki a smile. I was a skeleton for Halloween, and Maisie was turned into a hatchling like me. I never had a child of my own before. And I liked it.

[skyti]

Atreus may have been told about tonight beforehand, he's on friendly enough terms with the Aesir children... despite the whole Aesir thing. He started on a project though, and he's the sort that once he starts something much of his attention is focused on that and not other things such as time or other people.

There's enough of a wind with make the wooden wards hung in the trees around his campsite rattle in the wind. His project was delicate and he doesn't want to risk mistakes so he's retreated into the shelter of his tent. When he fought and freed the corrupted Valkyries with his father, he collected several feathers after each fight. It's been his intention to turn them into fletching for a while now. He's not sure what kind of arrows they'll make but he's sure they'll be special.

Some time into the task he gets a... well he's not sure. There something around the edge of the stave his wards create. He has them up to protect his camp from any nasties wandering out of the Wilds... but this isn't... well he's not sure what exactly is going on but it feels vaguely spooky. It's probably nothing but... he reaches for his quiver and pulls out an arrow.

Moments later a translucent and faintly glowing wolf is trotting through the underbrush to investigate things on behalf of his summoner. If it's something interesting or dangerous he'll know soon enough.

Wild Hunt: Harley Stays Behind (don't mess with the babysitter)

[sweetcandygirl]

Harley was a little unsettled after the Mari Lwyd this year. It took a lot of reflection before the Wild Hunt was called, for her to decide where she should be this year. A part of her wanted desperately to be a Valkyrie for the Fallen Asgardians again. But another, bigger part of her, did not want to be part of the Hunt itself... when Loki would not recognize her.

Would any of it matter if he did not see her? Was she really needed?

She honestly felt a little lost by the time the evening came. And there had been a few times when she had to take a moment to herself, to hold back the Joker Toxin in her head from spinning everything out of control.

Harley knew that if she allowed herself to join the Wild Hunt, while the opportunity for playful violence might just be what she was looking for … it was too dangerous of a path to take this year.

Not with how she felt. Not with the steps she was trying to take to recovery.

As much as she wanted to be the Valkyrie... she needed to be a Survivor instead. Which meant staying behind. Avoiding the call of the Wild Hunt.

She had to channel her anguish and loneliness another way this evening. And still mark the spirit of the Wild Hunt, and the Asgardians who had passed, but in a different way. A silent way, with no one watching.

So after the Wild Hunt had left, and the small clearing in the woods was empty, Harley found a sturdy tree to support an aerial silk from its branches. And then on her own, with no one else around to watch her -- Harley performed a simple aerial silk dance, dedicating it to the spirits around her.

It didn't matter if she was unseen tonight. If she was not in the Wild Hunt.

She could still show her respect to the fallen in this way. And pay tribute to everyone who had once 'Had a Dream' that was lost to them.

After she was done with the dance, she would quietly pack up her supplies, and head over to the house. The rest of the evening, she would be a guardian over the sleeping children. Heaven forbid anyone who dared to mess with this babysitter. For while she didn't take the path of harmless violence tonight... she was now a protector. And would take any action that might be required.

[children_of_chaos]

When she comes in, the fire in the fireplace is stirred up to low yellow flames, and Agnarr is sitting on the hearth with two cups of cocoa and a bag of marshmallows beside him. He's got a couple skewers, too, having evidently intended to toast them.

He gives her a nod, friendly but sober, and gestures toward one of the cups. "Still hot. Sit with me?"

He props his marshmallow stick close to the heat of the fire to leave his hands free. "I used to wait up for my brother when he went out on patrol with the other Einherjar. It's hard sometimes. Better if you're not alone."

[sweetcandygirl]

Harley is more than happy to join Agnarr by the fire. "Are you just toasting marshmellows? Or should we find some smore ingredients?"

"Thank you. For thinking of me. A part of me didn't want to be alone tonight."

[children_of_chaos]

Agnarr smiles a little. "We're out of graham crackers but we have sugar cookies and chocolate. We could improvise."

He scoots closer to sit next to her, not quite cuddling--he's a little old for that--but comfortable with her, and companionable. "I will never ride with the Hunt. But I like to think about my brother maybe being with them. He was proud of what he did."

[sweetcandygirl]

"We certainly can improvise. Just be sure that you are not having too much sugar... start with one." Harley advises with a smile.

She smiles at him when he scoots closer. She places her hand out to him, close enough that he can place his own on top of hers, if he so wishes. "It is good that you know that you do not want to ride with the Hunt."

"It is a very emotional night. I got caught up with the emotions myself, that last year I never even thought of taking note of the others who were there."

"But while I can not confirm nor deny your brother rides with them... I am sure that he is honored and respected all the same."