I do wander everywhere/Swifter than the Moon's sphere ((for handsofwinter))

[coldsong]

Well, that was damned exhausting.

Not that the affair was unsuccessful, at least from Loki's perspective. Some of the conversations were friendly, very few were openly hostile, and in the end he not only got a solid answer, but the answer he hoped for. Some might accuse him of manipulating the conversations--and maybe he did, a little bit--but he was genuinely braced for a worse outcome. Loki never expected the Nexus to openly declare war on the Eliksni, but he wouldn't have been shocked if no agreement had been reached and he'd had to go back to Pelsor and lie to save Ghost.

He also rather expected, as the messenger, to be shot at more.

All in all, he's glad it's over, and he'd extricate himself from the position he's in, except now he needs, really needs to be in the middle of this and monitor the potential for hostilities. Because the last children of Asgard are now in the Nexus, and if something happens to them, he will have to burn down the universe himself.

He approaches the Eliksni camp invisible until he reaches the edge, at which point he unveils himself to the nearest guard and politely requests to see the Baroness. As promised, he is conducted to her with no threat of violence, although he fancies he is once again getting a lot of funny looks. (The Guardians thought he was an Awoken, did they not? He has no idea what that means, but if it's something they could mistake him for, perhaps the Fallen might, as well. He'll ask someone, sooner or later.)

He is alert once more when he enters the throne room, less afraid of attack, but half hoping to see Ghost in his miniature prison, somewhere. Either way, he gives Pelsor a graceful bow. "It was a strange conversation," he tells her, "but the short version is no one especially wants to fight any longer, everyone wants Blaze back, and they don't trust you but they do accept your terms. Also, I have gifts for you."

Comments

[coldsong]

He chuckles softly. "You needn't tell me. Most of the time, I live as though rules are for other people."

Mostly. Not always. Some rules can't be broken without backlash. The Big Rules, like Death and Time, for instance. Something has to give somehow, as far as Loki knows. He's not sure what that something is in the case of Blaze and her ilk, but he's sure there is something. Maybe no one knows but their Traveler, their Light.

A price must be paid for a miracle, even one that happens so often people start to take it for granted.

"The part of me that is Jotun, I think, is Winter's kin, or Winter's child. That part will always sing with welcome for the Spirit in his season, and that part owes him for the strength it gained this past Winter. But I'm more than just Jotun. I am Loki."

He grins. "It's for the best you don't understand me, I'm sure. That's the real trouble, isn't it? You can't trust me if you can't predict me. It's not just that I've been rumored to have done terrible things in the past. It's that no one can be sure what I might do going forward."

"You and Blaze have so many true friends in the Nexus. I am a mere acquaintance, one you may even dislike, but here I am, bringing you home."

He shakes his head and gives a helpless shrug. "I couldn't have predicted it, either."

And he can't predict what will happen with this other god, but he must assume she will be aware of his interest. If not now, then soon. He's about to kick another hornet's nest.

"Mm...incidentally, it's not my place to speak on Agent Romanoff's behalf, and she'd be disgusted I would try," Which is probably why he's doing it, "but I will say this: she was ready to stalk into the Eliksni camp and rescue you herself, single-handedly if necessary, though she seemed to think Rogers would insist on coming along."

Determined to wipe out that red in her ledger. He hopes they can get past this.

[rekindledtitan]

So much there to analyze. He's analytical by nature, designed to take in everything and understand anything that might be relevant to his Guardian's mission. What did this Winter do to change Loki? Is that why he's still wearing this strange blue form? What is a Jotun, in his world, outside of the myths?

So much to try and learn, but he isn't Blaze. He'll pick his moments.

“Lots of people are difficult to predict. Most of them don’t have an actual history of invading the planet that we were created to defend from alien invasion. I would be a terrible Ghost if I ignored that. And Blaze is… I don’t think she can.” He gives a fretful little whirl. “But… I’m glad you did get involved, this time.”

Even if Loki did it to serve himself above all. The little bot is cautious about getting too grateful – and they aren’t back yet. But it matters. It will matter to him and his partner both. And speaking of taking account…

“Steve would.” It’s a momentary note of affection that breaks his uncertainty about how to respond. Natasha’s actions are something to be settled with the spy herself, really. Ghost shoots Loki a look that plainly wonders why he’s putting in a word for her at all.

”Trust me,” she said.

“Natasha is our friend,” he says quietly. “Her choice was tactically, logically sound.”

[coldsong]

"You don't know the full story there," he tells him, sobering abruptly. "No one does. Not Rogers, not Romanoff, not even Thor."

He takes a breath and lets it out in a long, tense sigh. "But one crisis at a time is enough. And this is the one of immediate concern."

They're almost back to safe territory now, and Loki starts to pay closer attention to their surroundings, on the off-chance of a final ambush. Whether by the Fallen or the crows, he doesn't know.

"We give the people we love so much leeway, even when they do things we do not understand," he says. "Please don't tell her I said anything on her behalf. It will only make her distrust me even more."

Which is hilarious most of the time, but sometimes it gets a little tiring.

He sighs. "In the meantime, I could claim a favor for this. You know that, don't you? The spell I made for Blaze; she still owes me for that. A minor favor. But for this, I am willing to clear the slate easily: protect the children of Asgard. I assume that will be a request that will in no way conflict with her natural inclinations, or your own, and right now it is truly all I want."

[rekindledtitan]

Ghost turns fully to look up at him, the light of his gaze searching Loki's expression for a few moments. No, they don't know the full story. They know what Steve told them, and so primarily they know that Loki has demonstrated the capability - practical and psychological - to pose exactly the kind of threat they guard against. That he hurt at least three people they care about personally doesn't help.

Why Loki did any of it remains a bit of a mystery (at least beyond the fact that conquering other people is a perennial favorite as pastimes go). At the time of the telling, with Steve just returned to the Nexus as a man reborn, it hadn't been close to the most important detail on their minds. None of them had actually been expecting Loki himself to show up. And now understanding his motives suddenly seems much more important to Ghost, but the Trickster of legend doesn't seem inclined to elaborate on his deepest darkest thoughts just now. At least not to Ghost. And why should he? As Blaze likes to say, everyone has secrets.

Still, he makes a note of it, like he makes a note of Loki's request not to share this conversation with Natasha. Ghost makes note of everything.

He draws closer to Loki as they go, sensing the man's heightened watchfulness and inferring a need for caution. Some of the trees here are painted with Fallen sigils - territorial markings he recognizes from Venus, mostly - but he's quickly distracted by the word favor. He looks up again sharply. Yes, he knows. He's extremely conscious of the potential debts being incurred. But his alert stare softens as Loki specifies what he actually wants.

"We can do that." Maybe provided Blaze is allowed to keep a respectable distance from the actual small Asgardians, but if needs must Ghost knows the Exo will push past her own hangups. Protecting the innocent is the thing that matters.

Not much farther now, and they'll come to what must be a boundary marker. It's a tall metal pole with a sturdy base, the top of it glimmering bright and electric. It's the frame for a long, downward-hanging House Winter banner, acid-worn but recently mended in places. Ghost gives it a quick look, but keeps moving.

[coldsong]

Loki hurt a lot of people, and his compassion for them is minimal. He didn't particularly want to harm anyone, but he didn't have much of a choice. What did it matter, anyway, a few hundred dead, in light of Thanos' future plans?

And now he knows the Scepter was influencing him, making holes in his memories and rearranging emotions as if saw fit. He doesn't actually want to talk about that. There is a fine line between his villainy and his victimhood, and he doesn't really want to bring it all out in the open for debate, because he's honestly not sure now whether he was more under his own control or the Mind Stone's. It's complicated.

It's easier to say he was tortured and physically coerced, and if Rogers and Romanoff and their ilk want to decide that's no excuse for what he did, so be it. He's not looking for forgiveness anyway, just some comprehension. Some respect.

He nods soberly when Ghost agrees to his request. He didn't think that would be an issue. Commanding it as a favor means perhaps they will pay some extra attention in the event of danger in the Nexus, but there's nothing morally compromising about protecting children.

He glances up at the pole as they pass, without slowing his steps. Once beyond, he asks thoughtfully, "What is the significance to that House name? Do you know? Why Winter?"

[rekindledtitan]

“I’m not sure it’s even their own name. Not one they chose, I mean. There’s a House of Wolves and a House of Devils, but it’s hard to imagine they called themselves that back on their homeworld.” He gives a small chirp as he thinks. There’s nothing actually stopping the Fallen from stalking them out here, but stepping out of their territory brings a palpable sense of relief.

“Perhaps humans gave them that name back during the Collapse. Or they used to live somewhere cold back in their home system, and their name outlived its context. I always thought it was ironic that House Winter claimed Venus, of all places.”

[coldsong]

"If it isn't one they chose, it must still be one they accept," he murmurs thoughtfully. "I'd be curious to learn more, but if you don't know, it may be that only they do."

Congratulations, Ghost, Loki thinks you're the authority on the Fallen right now.

"I would like to talk to you and Blaze later, about all this. After you've recovered from the ordeal. I've had so many questions addressed to me, and so few that I can actually answer."

[rekindledtitan]

"That seems... fair." He wonders how difficult it was, stepping into the middle of a foreign conflict and acting as an emissary. Pelsor only said to relay a message, but in Ghost's experience it's not really that cut and dry. Not when there's so much neither you nor the recipients understand about the message, or the sender.

In his case, of course, he can't even talk to the Traveler. He's as much in the dark as the Guardian he's meant to watch over.

"...Do you use a PINpoint?" He hopes so. Ghost has no idea what means Asgardian gods might typically use to communicate and he never likes tampering with those summoning circles the Hive use.

[coldsong]

Well, it wasn't easy. Loki would love to think the hard part is over, but he's not that much of an optimist. He has very publicly labeled himself as someone who can talk to the Eliksni without getting shot, and he suspects questions will continue to trickle in here and there.

It'd be nice if people can start asking Blaze and Ghost some now, though, instead of him.

"Yes," he says, and produces it in his palm with a flick of the wrist, as if with sleight-of-hand. "I also respond to prayers, but there has to be at least a little genuine reverence, and I don't think we're there yet."

[rekindledtitan]

Despite having one optic and a few metal segments to work with, Ghost manages to give Loki a prim look, as if not sure he should find that last bit funny. It doesn't stop the little machine spinning his rear points and swooping in to scan the PINpoint. The rays of blue light run over it as he interfaces, without asking for an unlock; unless Loki's substantially upgraded the standard security, Ghost will barely notice it. He's playing nice, however: all he's doing is adding a contact under Blaze-37's name.

"I don't think we'll be leaving the Nexus much. Not for a while." The thought is relegated to the back of his mind, but it's there. There will be much to do, between the Fallen presence and the mess Winter made of their comm networks, surveying the situation in the Nexus... and reassuring their worried friends. That people besides their comrades might want to question them hasn't really occurred to him yet.

[coldsong]

It wasn't really a joke. Which is a little scary, in its own way.

Loki couldn't care less about his PINpoint's security. He's still adapting to using what is to him alien technology in his everyday life. Asgard had their own methods of doing things, and they were not much like the Nexus' at all. Spacecraft and hover vehicles aren't strange to him. These little communication devices, though? Not so much.

He should probably rethink his attitude. His communications aren't all that sensitive most of the time, but he does have ties to a credit account or two through his PINpoint.

"No?" He nods his understanding. "Well enough. I'll give you space before I start knocking on your door at odd hours of the night."

[rekindledtitan]

It's for the best that Loki doesn't rely on such tech for sensitive matters: at this moment Ghost has extremely urgent things on his mind, but under any other circumstance taking the opportunity to capture some data would be instinctive. Most people here never realize how little a sense of privacy Ghost has, in that regard. Or how hard it is to keep him out.

He's eyeing Loki again: that's probably another figure of speech, he tells himself. It won't matter to them when Loki calls, either way. Their schedule is convoluted and has only the barest nod to any given diurnal cycle.

"Understood." He bobs a little in the air, and then turns his attention back to the path. The open ground between the woods and the Nexus settlement haven't come into view quite yet. But they're treading - well, crossing - familiar ground now, and he knows it's not far now. He can smell the trace pollutants on the wind. The chemical signature of people.

He's already flying faster.

[coldsong]

If Ghost hacked one of Loki's credit accounts, he'd probably think it was hilarious, but he would have to retaliate. The best conversations stored in his phone, though, are just exchanges of memes with his alternate.

The threat was definitely a figure of speech. Loki doesn't know where they stay, offhand, and he suspects if he actively harassed them he might be hearing from Rogers and Romanoff. But if he can establish an uneasy alliance, at the least, that's a good thing.

"Ghost," he says, noting the little robot flying faster. "Don't drift too far from me."

He picks up his pace to match with him. Loki is no longer especially worried about the Fallen changing their minds, but this is the Nexus and anything can happen.

[rekindledtitan]

"We're getting closer..."

But anything could happen, indeed. These are the Wilds, not a downtown garden. For example, when he ducks beneath the shadows of a rotting oak, a long clawed arm could unfold from the bark and grab at him. Ghost spins aside in a barrel roll, just out of reach. Then he ducks around Loki as the thing clinging to the tree unwraps itself. It's humanoid, after a fashion, but far too gangly, skin wizened into an ugly bark. The face is puffy, fungal-looking; less a face than something arranged to be face-like.

It moves out to swipe at Ghost again- but it might be bright enough to hesitate when it becomes cognizant of Loki's presence.

[coldsong]

Close to safety is exactly where Loki would expect something bad to happen. That's just the way the universe works. Still, even he was not expecting the sudden unfurling of claws from the shadows, the abrupt appearance of a creature he neither saw nor sensed. His reaction is swift; a flick of his arms to the sides and suddenly there is a bright little blade in either hand. That, coupled with the fact that he's still an oversized and looming figure may give the attacker pause, but if not, he is not afraid to meet its attack with pointy objects.

And just in case the body posture and knives aren't enough, he utters an eerie sound, a rattling, sibilant hiss, like sleet pouring down a mountainside.

"What is that?" he asks Ghost in the momentary lull, under the assumption that if it's that focused on the robot he ought to recognize its species.

[rekindledtitan]

"I don't know," comes the whisper behind his ear. "We've never seen it before." Ghost is peeping out at the thing, wary but not so intimidated as to hide completely. He's seen worse things, even if usually he has his own protector to fight for him. This creature, wrong and unsettling as it is, doesn't even come up to Loki's chest.

It doesn't carry any powerful dark energy, from what Ghost can tell: no wonder he didn't see it coming. Loki might be able to further discern that such life force as it has is entwined and blended with the remnant of the tree. It's swaying in place unsteadily, not-face turned toward Loki, before it retracts jerkily back toward the hulk of the dead tree behind it. It's not tangling with this much larger prey. As it retreats it wraps itself back around and into the opposite side of the decaying trunk, blending in seamlessly as if hoping this will be enough defense.

"There was nothing wrong with that tree last time..."

[coldsong]

"And yet it chose you as prey?" Loki isn't sure whether Ghost is capable of lying or not, but he doubts he has much reason to, under these circumstances.

He moves a couple steps from the tree, keeping between it and Ghost. His blades are still out, but if the creature chose to retreat so easily, it probably isn't a danger to them. Not unless there are a great many more like it around. "It's treebound," he says softly after a moment. "Like a blighted dryad."

And now he sounds a little sad about that, although the question is whether the creature is an element of rot that killed the tree, or an element of the tree that is struggling to exist in spite of rot.

"Can you speak?" He asks, lowering his voice to something as close to gentle as he can get it. "I will not harm you if you speak to me."

He's probably not going to harm it anyway, honestly, but some incentive never hurt anyone.

To Ghost, he adds, "Last time what? Last time you passed it, or is this a tree with some significant history?"

[rekindledtitan]

"I'm a lot smaller than you." Ghost doesn't sound as if he finds it strange. In his experience, plenty of things see Ghosts as potential prey, whether or not they know what one is.

He waits with Loki, equally curious to see if there's a reply. The blight creature doesn't answer, at least not directly. After a moment there's a sound like a rough exhale, and a noxious stench blooms outward from the tree. It's the nauseating stink of musty decay and sickly rot, potent and fearful.

"We pass this way on patrol. This area's usually stable enough to make a good reference point."

[coldsong]

"Mmm. Fair point. With a delicious crunchy outer shell." Loki. Loki, don't.

The smell emerging is as good as a verbal response as far as Loki's concerned. He feels fortunate that Jotun are so poison-resistant. "That is very much a refusal to converse, whether it's capable or not," he says, backing up and nudging Ghost along with him. Can you get any readings on that tree? I can come back later, but I don't have your capability to scan and analyze."

And if there are more of these, or if this one is a blight that will spread, it could be important later.

"I haven't seen the like of that creature before. If it's come in since the last time you were here...well, that could be something that occurred during the Winter, or just a coincidence."

[rekindledtitan]

He can't see the little close-pointed Look Ghost gives him, but no doubt he can imagine it very well.

"I need to get closer for that." Which he's not willing to do unprotected, while his Guardian is down. If Loki's willing to give him cover, the little bot will happily zip in and run a scan. "But unless it's urgent, I can bring Blaze back..."

[coldsong]

He can imagine it, and he knows he deserves it, and if Ghost thinks that kind of thing doesn't delight him, he doesn't know Loki well yet.

He hesitates a moment, because he's not afraid of the creature. It retreated rather than challenge him, and it's clearly scared of him. But if there are more, or if they have it so agitated it blights the area around it to scare them off, that may be a counterproductive use of their time.

Besides, Ghost needs to get back to Blaze sooner rather than later. "Do that." He says. "It's better we get back to safety soon. If I don't bring you home, I believe there will be at least three or four people who'll be coming after me with extreme prejudice. Let's go."

Maybe he'll regret this later, maybe not. He'll remember the spot himself, though, and keep an eye on it.

[rekindledtitan]

Ghost gives an eager little chirp of acknowledgment, all too ready to slip around Loki and keep going. He's going to be a bit more cautious from here, however, as they make it out of the last stretch of trees and pass through some of the meadows that have burst into life now the snows are gone. Despite his escort, he flits from one side of the path to the other, glancing at everything along the way. It might be unrestrained curiosity, or the pleasure of being released from his tiny prison, but it does make it look like he's dancing on the end of his imagined tether, eager to go and reunite with his partner.

His patience holds out until they reach the edge of the buildings, at least. They're relatively close to Steve's home when Ghost halts. Looks around.

"I know the way...!" And he's off, heedless of making it easy for Loki to keep up, zipping past the small landmarks on the way as he homes in on the house.

[coldsong]

Safety or not, Loki swears to himself as Ghost zips on ahead without him. In this oversized form, especially, he's hard-pressed to keep up at a run. His agility doesn't suffer in Jotun form, but the streets are narrower and things are lower down by comparison, and he doesn't want to run into things. He also doesn't want to terrify some poor random Nexusgoer by barreling past them like a big blue bus on stilts. Instead, he takes a couple seconds to shift, dwindle, and ride the wind behind Ghost.

He lands again after his arrival at the house, and he'll only linger for a moment. Just long enough to see him enter safely.

After that, he's done his part. It's all on the rest of them from there.