Tally Marks

Chapter 8 - Who Is Loki?

Loptr sat on top of his bed as Brunhilde put a few minor stitches on the bridge of his nose and wiped the blood off his skin.  Loptr just sat there, staring straight ahead, his red eyes not flickering.  "You fought well today.  I'm glad the Midgardian forfeited the victory to you without further need for bloodshed," Valkyrie admitted.

"Who is Loki?" Loptr asked and Brunhilde froze.  He looked at her.

"Who is Loki?" she posed in return.  Loptr's hand went out and he batted hers away.

"Who is Loki?  The mortal I fought today called me Loki.  I know that I wasn't always Loptr.  That was the name the Grandmaster gave me; but how would a human know me enough to call me by a name I do not recognize, unless we met previously," Loptr said darkly.  

"The Midgardians have these things called Dopplegangers: two people who look almost exactly the same.  More than likely you look like somebody he used to know, and he mistook you for him.  I don't think humans have good eyesight," Brunhilde tried to reason.  She could tell Loptr was not buying what she was selling.  He was giving her his judgmental look.

"I might not have any recollection of who I was before I was the Grandmaster's, but please never treat me like I'm stupid.  You can do that to other people, but not with me," Loptr said.  It took all of Brunhilde's self-control to not grab Loptr by his hair and drag him back to bed.  Instead, she stood up, dropping the bloody rag and cupping his face in her hands.

"You are whoever you say you are.  Loptr... Loki... does it matter?  As long as you're still the man I love, I don't give a f*ck what you call yourself," Valkyrie said.  Loptr pulled her close and buried his face in her neck.  It hurt his nose, but he did not care.  This was the woman who had given him purpose again.  He would do anything for her, up to an including dying for her.  Brunhilde wrapped her arms around him and inhaled his musky scent, which was laced with the iron tang of blood.  "Come on," she said, pulling away from him.  "Let's get you cleaned up."  Loptr allowed her to guide him back to the bed.  She finished cleaning away the blood before she removed his shirt and ran over his skin with a wet rag.  Loptr leaned into her touch, closing his eyes and trying to envision what his life would be like without her.  And, he could not see it.  "Hey, where are you?" Valkyrie suddenly asked when she saw he was drifting.  He did not respond and one her hands fell along a scar.  Loptr jumped a mile, looking at her with wide, red eyes.  "You're alright, I'm here," she said soothingly as she carefully put the cloth down and rubbed up and down his arms.  Her callouses caught on many other scars; for his body was a patchwork of them.  Raised lines in groups of five covering every inch of skin from his neck down to his toes.  

When Brunhilde had first seen him after he was delivered to En Dwi Gast, she had been horrified by what she found.  The Asgardians had done this to a person who had once been a member of their royal family.  And they did it without hesitation and qualms.  He was scarred for life now, but at least, he could not remember how he got that way.  Touching certain scars always got a reaction out of him.  She forgot that this was one of them.  Brunhilde lightly pressed her lips to it and she felt Loptr calm down.  He looked at her and smiled again.  "I'm alright.  You're here," he said back to her.  Brunhilde laughed a bit and kissed him, dragging him back down to the bed.

Loptr opened his eyes the next morning with Brunhilde's head on his chest.  He glanced down at her and saw that she was still asleep.  He carefully extricated himself from her grasp and walked over to a mirror in his chamber.  He looked at himself, studying the scars that were all over his body for no rhyme or reason.  His fingers lightly skimmed over the raised skin as he wondered what weapon could have marked him so.  Loptr's eyes suddenly narrowed and his fist went out, almost breaking the mirror, but he stopped himself.  It was almost as if he hated what he was seeing.  

That was when there was a knock on the door and Loptr turned around.  Valkyrie started to sit up, but Loptr threw the sheets over her saying, "Stay down."  He went to the door and opened it.

"You awake, whitey?" Topaz asked.

"Do I look asleep, cow?" Loptr posed in return.  Topaz frowned at him as she glanced over his shoulder and saw the lump in the bed.

"Trash?" Topaz wondered aloud.

"No," Loptr retorted as he slammed the door in her face and threw the deadbolt into place.  He stalked back to the bed and drew the covers back, crawling over Val and kissing her passionately.

"If you don't go to prepare for your match soon, the Grandmaster will come to get you himself," Brunhilde said when he pulled away so they both could breathe.

"Then he'll wait too.  I'm tired of concealing you.  I'm tired of keeping up this facade.  I'm tired of pretending like I'm not cognizant," Loptr explained.  Brunhilde made them sit up and she cupped his cheeks.

"You know why we agreed to this.  When we first came up with the plan, we knew that you had to pretend to remain En Dwi Gast's loyal puppet.  You may... never regain your memories from before you came to Sakaar, and that's probably for the best.  You suffered so much so that you could be remade, and we wouldn't want to travel backwards.  We must be forward thinkers.  I love you and we will pull this off.  You just have to be patient," Valkyrie told him.  Loptr nodded, resting his forehead against hers for a moment.  

"Then I will continue to follow our original plan.  No matter how much it grates on my nerves," he admitted.  Val chuckled dryly before she wrapped her arms around Loptr and felt the warmth of his embrace in return.  They stayed like that; in their own little world... if only for a few moments.