If there's no one beside you when your soul embarks...

[coldsong]

It's customary to have a Wake after the subject thereof dies. Even Loki knows that. But this is a special occasion. Ego-death is coming to his alternate, and the idea of letting him go off to perish alone, uncertain he will even be mourned, is too dark a proposition even for a flawed and callous person to contemplate.

That, and this Loki has been in a melancholy mood since speaking to the spirit of Frigga. He anticipates a dark choice of his own, sooner or later, and where the fates will send him after that, he can't know. Maybe oblivion, although even at that rate there may be worse places.

What's important right now is that no one dies unremembered. And honestly, any excuse for mischief a party. The first text rolls out to Harley, an innocent enough invitation to join them for milkshakes. Cricket is next, because it occurs to him that Cricket has plenty of liquor, which is good for a reckless celebration.

Things snowball from there.

As long as they don't destroy too much property, they'll call the night a success.

Comments

[chiron_survivor]

It's both flattering and intimidating to draw Loki's attention like that, enough to make her duck her gaze shyly, but she does smile for him, and her hands don't automatically start twisting at her scarf. Progress. "Hi, Loki. A milkshake sounds great, thank you. One for us to share, maybe? This is my boyfriend, Caspar. Caspar, this is Loki."

"A pleasure," Caspar says evenly. He wraps an arm around Adia's waist. It's blatant posturing, but the look on his face makes it clear that he knows that.

Talk of a dangerous stranger distracts them both. "Oh, no, I haven't met or sensed anyone like that." She pauses thoughtfully. "I did meet a creature named Venom. He has sharp teeth, but he's small and goopy and not magical, so far as I can tell."

Caspar looks at her like this is the first he's heard about it. Then looks at Loki again. If the God of Mischief is bothering to warn his girl of potential danger, perhaps he can tone down the wariness. At least overtly.

"Make sure the milkshake has two cherries," he offers, unprompted. "So we both get a shot at this stem-tying trick."

[coldsong]

He notes that progress, and while on some level he does enjoy being unnerving, it's probably better in the long run that they be on comfortable platonic terms. Plus, her companion is clearly being protective. Or proprietary. He gives them both a too-bright grin, but doesn't loom, and there's something warmer than usual in his eyes.

"Welcome, Caspar. You'll have to tell me what flavor you like. I favor peppermint, but everyone else seems to be getting chocolate and strawberry." There is no accounting for taste.

He raises an eyebrow at the description of Venom. He's met Eddie, in fact, but Venom didn't bother to chat with him so he doesn't have that clear an idea what he'd be looking for. "Small and goopy. I'll keep an eye out for that." Sounds potentially like a shapeshifter.

"And if you do pick up anything worth sharing, you know where to reach me," he adds to Adia. But that's all he feels needs to be said for the moment, and his expression lightens at Caspar's comment.

"It shall be done!" He laughs. "So far Harley owns the record. We'll see how the rest of us fare"

[chiron_survivor]

Oh, it's definitely both. He's already wary of gods who take an unnatural interest in Adia, but Loki has the additional qualities of being handsome, silver-tongued, and several inches taller than him. His concerns in that regard, however, appear to be unfounded, as she cuddles right up into that side embrace, a soft smile on her face that is for him alone.

"That's up to Adia," he says, in regards to flavors. "It's her milkshake, I'm just the lucky guy who gets to share it with her." He looks at her hopefully. "Although I wouldn't say no to coffee."

"Coffee sounds great," she agrees. "Ice Bear has so many flavors back there, it's impossible to choose sometimes. Loki, if you ever meet Venom, he likes chocolate a lot. And, um... people, too. But someone told him that he's only allowed to eat bad people and he responds well to redirection, so I wouldn't worry about it." As for the reminder of their deal, she nods earnestly. "Of course, I'll let you know as soon as possible." Via text, unless it's a true emergency. She can use the prayer hands emoji if that helps.

Mention of Harley gets a chuckle out of Caspar. "Of course she does," he says with genuine affection. "I think the best anyone else can hope for is a distant second."

[coldsong]

There are, in fact, gods who delight in homewrecking amongst mortals. Loki himself may not be above that, but even if it were possible, there's nothing to be gained by it here. He is charmed by Adia on the same level he was delighted by Jane Foster. She has every reason to distrust and/or fear him, but she has enough of a backbone not to let him get away with running over her roughshod.

Honestly, that's the kind of person he needs around him.

He's not sure what Caspar is like, but he's making a decent first impression thus far, and he approves of coffee-flavored ice cream. After honey, it's his second favorite. He slips past them to place the order, leaning against the counter to chat as they wait.

"A man-eating gooey monster that likes chocolate. Sounds par for the course for the Nexus." He gives her a mild nod, acknowledging her offer.

He also likes her because she's so useful helpful.

Caspar gets a grin for his reaction to the mention of Harley. He didn't realize they were good friends, but that's clearly the reaction of someone who knows her. "Well, I'm in second-to-last place at the moment, but I don't begrudge her the accolades."

[chiron_survivor]

Yep, there sure are. Like, practically an entire pantheon of them, where Adia's from. But that doesn't even cross her mind as something Loki might try, and once Caspar bears witness to Loki behaving himself, he also puts the thought aside.

Mostly. His posture relaxes, but he's not dropping that arm around her any time soon.

"He likes tater tots, too," she adds, not so much because she thinks it's important information, but because she finds it amusing. "But, anyway. Pretty typical for the Nexus, yes."

How funny that she doesn't sound the least bit scared of Venom. Well, he's not a god. That might be the difference.

"Only second-to-last?" Caspar asks, with a raised eyebrow. Harley is indeed a good friend of his. One of the few people he's willing to refer to as a friend at all. "Who's last? Or are you including anyone who can't do it at all?" He needs to know what the playing field is like before participating.

[coldsong]

Not here, not now. Although he might flirt with near anyone in the place once he starts drinking. That ought to be good and awkward.

"Tater tots," Loki repeats, and can't help but smirk. He knows exactly what they are, but there's something about the way humans name and rename things that's funny to observe. "Infant potatoes. I'll keep that in mind should I need an offering to propitiate the beast."

"Cricket's last," he deadpans. "He swallowed his cherry stem in the attempt and nearly choked on it. Since we can't verify what happened to it, we have to count it as a partial success. Anyone who can't do it at all doesn't make the list."

[chiron_survivor]

She almost tells him what tater tots are, specifically, but keeps her mouth shut at the last second, realizing that he knows and is merely expressing his amusement. Although she can't help but wonder if Thor knows about tater tots, also. She has a feeling he'd like them.

Her milkshake arrives, and Ice Bear has taken great care to make it look as delicious as it tastes. There is a cloud of whipped cream on top, along with a drizzling of sweetened coffee syrup and two bendy straws shaped into matching hearts. And, of course, the two requested cherries.

"That's setting the bar awfully low," Caspar remarks. "But okay." He plucks a cherry from the milkshake and offers it to Adia. "Ladies first. Please don't choke on the stem."

"No promises," she retorts, perhaps as a bit of revenge for Caspar not expressing any sympathy for Cricket. He nearly choked! But once she has the cherry chewed and swallowed, she is indeed very careful with the stem, rolling it carefully in her mouth while she tries to work out the logistics. If she bends it in the middle with her tongue, she can cross the ends... but no, she still needs to push one of those ends through the loop...

Caspar taps her on the shoulder. "Mmm?" she says, and he smiles at her, revealing the stem of his cherry that he has already tied into a neat little knot.

Adia grabs a napkin and spits out her mangled stem. "How'd you do that so fast?"

He shrugs and adds the tied stem to the refuse napkin. "I've had a lot of practice." He whispers something into her ear that makes her laugh, her cheeks turning as red as the the artificially colored cherries.

"That's not how that works," she protests, before adding, "Although you are very good at that." Now it's Caspar's turn to blush. She returns her gaze to Loki, trying to regain her composure. "Thank you for the milkshake, by the way."

[coldsong]

Thor has met very few edibles he didn't like. Loki is more than happy to tease him about his indiscriminate eating practices, although to be fair, he's almost as adventurous, himself.

"Look, it's my party, I'm allowed to set the bar as low as I like," Loki responds laughingly. Technically, it's his alternate's party, but the point still stands.

He falls silent to watch their stem tying efforts with amusement dancing in his eyes, and frankly he feels he's only further rewarded by the exchange between them after Caspar spits out his perfectly-knotted stem.

The context may be completely innocent, but between her blush and the whispering, it's easy to surmise all sorts of wild things, and he can't bite back a delighted laugh.

"You are more than welcome," he tells them, gaze flicking from one to the other. "I feel I've been fully repaid already."

"Listen, the plan for tonight, for myself and the other Loki, is to move on to liquor when we have our fill of sweets. You are both welcome to tempt fate with us for as long as you like."

[chiron_survivor]

Ah, so it's that kind of party. "Maybe I should abstain," he says. "What's the saying? Milkshake before liquor, never been sicker?"

"That's not a thing," Adia replies breezily, nudging the milkshake glass into Caspar's hands. He takes an obliging sip, smiling a little around the bite of the straw. He'd be perfectly happy to leave, Adia's obligation to Loki fulfilled, but it's looking like she'll want to stick around for a little while longer, and he won't begrudge her a good time.

She takes her own sip when he's done, letting him keep hold of the glass. "We'll stay for a while," she promises Loki. She's not sure what the occasion is, but there doesn't need to be one. This could be his way of shining up his image, encouraging others to have a good time in his name. Or maybe he's bored. Either way, she's happy to support any positive behavior.

Caspar's expression sobers, his hazel eyes flicking over to Loki. "One thing, though. If you see a man here wearing a cage on his head, do not let anyone take it off. We're all going to have a bad time if that happens." He's not particularly worried about Loki causing trouble at his own party, but Crossroads Café has a bad track record. It'd be reckless of him to not at least offer a warning.

[coldsong]

"I've not heard of that, but if it rhymes there is undoubtedly a grain of truth to it," Loki says dryly.

"Good," he says. "And say hello to my alternate if you can get through the crowd to him. You'll like him, he's warmer than I am."

His eyes narrow at Caspar's warning, though. Adia did, in fact, mention the cage-headed man with extreme psychic powers in their discussion about her rune before. And now he's not sure whether it will force her to make unwanted explanations if he makes any indication they've discussed the matter, so he hesitates, brow creasing. "...Generally speaking, when someone is in a cage, even partway, it's a good idea not to remove them from it. I can say that; I've been in a cage."

Despite the sarcasm, he nods his acknowledgment. "I'll keep it in mind, should I see this individual." And he will. He's lost the inclination to poke bombs with sticks to see how big the explosion will be.

[chiron_survivor]

"Maybe if you're lactose-intolerant," Caspar concedes before taking another sip of milkshake. It really is quite good; if he had more of a natural appetite, he'd drink the whole thing.

Loki needn't worry in that department. Caspar knows about the impromptu moon rune assessment. "Point taken," he replies. His gaze drops briefly to Loki's footwear. "At least you keep your shoes tied."

That must be a comment on the cage-headed man's appearance, because Adia sighs a little at that. We can't all be fashionistas, Caspar. She's also a little concerned about all this cage business. Why was Loki in a cage? That wasn't in the myths. Who put him there? Was it a just punishment, or did he suffer?

She wants to ask about it, but doesn't. This is a party. People don't talk about being locked up at a party. (Not the kind of parties she goes to, anyway.) "We'll try to say hi to your alternate. It looks like he's having a nice time."

[coldsong]

"If you're lactose intolerant and drinking a milkshake, you're asking for whatever pain you receive, I think. Liquor or no."

He glances down at his feet when Caspar does, and gives him a quizzical look after. "I rarely wear shoes with laces, anyway. These have zips up the inside of the ankle and buckle in the back."

...look, if they're going to start talking about clothing, Loki has some opinions. And Thor has opinions about Loki's opinions. Perhaps it's for the best if they just focus on the celebration.

He smiles, looking over to where his younger twin appears to be talking to a crow. "I should hope so. That's all I wanted out of this."