𝐄𝐓𝐎𝐈𝐋𝐄 ━ loki laufeyson¹·¹

7│SEE PAST THE MASK

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❛ ᴇᴛᴏɪʟᴇ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ sᴇᴇ ᴘᴀsᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀsᴋ ꒱


❝ HONEY, YOU'RE WEARING
A BATHROBE ❞

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V A N A H E I M

"Tell me about your father's quest, then," Eleanora said, speaking for the first time after a long period of silence. Neither she nor Loki would be getting any sleep that night and she would rather talk to him than stew in her thoughts.

"Well. . ." he began, trying to think of all the plans that he had come up with to succeed and finally— maybe—be better than Thor at something in their father's eyes. But now that he knew how Odin had treated the last Star, he would never wish that on someone, even someone as infuriating as the Star in front of him. Though, of course he wouldn't tell her that, so he sighed and admitted instead, "there's nothing more to tell you."

She watched him thoughtfully from her place on the opposite side of the brig. Her stardust eyes observed him with curious interest and it was only years of being at court that kept him from shifting under her intense gaze. "I don't know a lot about family dynamics and even less about what it's like to love someone. But the little I know about both of those things is that love— especially from a parent— should be unconditional. It's not something you have to earn by proving yourself."

"Hang on," Loki huffed. "Where in the Nine did you get that notion? This was just a way for me to fulfill my father's demand. I don't care about his love."

Her gaze remained on him unwaveringly. "Yes, you do. You may not care about it consciously, but deep down, you do. Everyone wants to be loved and accepted by their family, no matter how much they deny it. Just look at how pursued this quest— you've turned your brother's friend into a frog just so you could continue unchallenged. If you didn't care about your father's love, you would've just let Fandral take me to Asgard."

He wanted to tell her that that wasn't the entire reason for his actions— that winning his father's mission was second to trying to protect her. The vision the Stars had given him was still burned in his mind when he closed his eyes, except the fallen girl on the battlefield no longer had red hair— she had blonde, the color of wheat. Her eyes behind her closed lids were stardust-gray. He wanted to tell her that this version of that image made his heart twist in his chest like someone had buried a knife in it. But, again, that would mean sharing things that he wasn't even ready to come to terms yet himself.

So, instead of saying anything about that, he only replied, "well. . . look, pet, you'll understand when you meet him. Provided we don't get murdered by pirates first."

"Murdered by pirates. Heart torn out and eaten. Meet your father. I can't quite decide which sounds more fun."

The spark she'd had even moments ago when arguing her point about familial love had disappeared. She sounded so miserable and forlorn that it made even Loki's expression soften. The Star certainly had been through hell and back the last few days with hardly anything good happen in between. Coming to a decision— and against his better judgement— he stood from where he'd been sitting on the far side of the brig. At his motion, Eleanora looked up and watched him with apprehension, her face guarded as he came closer.

Seeing her reception of him, the god paused and pointed to the empty spot next to her. "May I sit?"

When she nodded— though her gaze still remained uneasy— he folded himself neatly next to her with his legs crossed. His lips were faintly quirked as he met her wary eyes and he held out his hand, palm up, between them. She became more curious than suspicious and looked down at his palm with interest. "Now, pet, I know you haven't been given the best experience involving seiðr, but you should know that it's more than just destructive and hurtful. In fact, it can be. . . quite beautiful."