2015.01.25 - Fate or Freedom?

Sunday afternoon and the best Nicky had in mind was asking Loki out. Not in the sense of a date though it could be considered something not unlike as she was the fangirl she was. No, she had secretly planned to lure Loki to SoHo, speaking about the fancy stuff that you could get there. "And then there is Luigi's icecream parlor, where they are said to make the best butterscotch icecream of all new york, and Fong's, which they say to have contracted some of the best youth designers in the city and..." Of course the way she tried to drag the young asgardian along was not without plan, as it was not too far away from Thor's residence.

Loki was indeed lured along. It really didn't take much convincing. He likes Nicky. She was with him when he came through the portal and helped ease his fears that first night in the abandoned house. "I like icecream. I have not had butterscotch, but it sounds quite good. So where are we going?" He traipses along after Nicky. "It is quite cold according to JARVIS. Are you certain you are dressed warmly enough?"

Nicky used the chance to stick out a tongue a moment, pulling the jacket around ehr closer "it's ok, and if it gets too cold I can warm myself with a certain guy in green." Which was refering to her plushie shape, not something lewd. "So we explore SoHo because I totally only know it from the tourist info and a single visit."

"Then you know as much about it as I do. I believe I have been here before but I am uncertain. I was just asking! It is polite to ask, is it not? I seem to have a high tolerance for the cold for some reason. I've even been to Jotunheim." He ducks his head and stage whispers "Don't tell anyone, I wasn't supposed to go there."

Nicky chuckles more "I come from Maine, if we have something then it is cold winters and colorful falls and nothing more. Oh, and Pet Sementary and the rest of King's books feature it." Nicky answered to the cold resistance, giving the young god a bump as he whispered "ohhh, a runaway are we?" and that was not pluralis maiestates...

Up the street, stepping out of a rather nondescript building is Thor. He is not wearing his usual armor at the moment, rather a trench coat and jeans, and likely a t-shirt under that, but unless your eyes are mistaking you that is in fact the God of Thunder. He glances up the street, and then starts walking, apparently heading out to cross to the other side of the road.

"Not so much a runaway as an errant explorer. You see, I discovered that I can see passages between the realms that others cannot. Heimdall is not even aware of them. So rather than raise an alarm where they would be spoken of and possibly used by our enemies, I decided to investigate a few of them for myself. The one to Jotunheim is on a rather precarious ledge, so I am fairly certain that if any Frost Giants can even see the portal, they would not be able to pass through it due to they being enormous lumbering dolts and the ledge barely big enough for my own feet." He kicks a bit of ice along the sidewalk. "I will take your word that the King of Maine's books are interesting. But what is a pet sementary?" He looks back, thinking he heard something, then focuses back on Nicky.

"Pet Sementary is a novel about some burial place which raises pets and people buried there as some mockery of life again. And oddly enough from German the title can be back-translated as cemetery of plushies" Nicky elaborated, letting her eyes wander over the people. Was that... the Thor-Guy? MAD brother who tried to strangle the cute Loki she hung around with?!

Thor crosses the street with a minimum of problems. The grid system that the city is built on affords him having to only look one way when crossing, and he shoves his hands into his pockets, apparently trying to look inconspicuous.

Looking back in the direction Nicky is looking, he steps behind her and puts his hands on her shoulders. "It's Thor...wh..what do we do?" Taking a step back, he shapeshifts into a pineapple. NOpe, no Loki here, just a random pineapple on the sidewalk.

Nicky in response blinks as the hand hold her shoulders a second, blushing, and then turns just fast enough to see the shift and quickly pick up the pine-Loki-apple. "That's not fair. Now I can't try to get under your shirt to get warm in ten minutes or such." Nicky teased the fruit, turning around to see Mister Asgard's Most Favorite.

Thor continues just walking up the street. If he noticed Loki turning into a pineapple, he does not make any mention of it. Just a guy, walkin along.

Nicky Steiff sighs a moment, then steps into Thors way "Hey, you happen to be Mister Odinson?"

Loki's leaves shake a bit. "If he coms naer," He telepathically says, "I can either..." The pineapple begins to vibrate. "Noooo nononooo whaat are you dooooing?" He can't receive messages telepathically unless the person projecting them is a telepath. "It was a pleasure knowing you, Nicky..."

Thor turns slowly to look down at the person who addressed him and says, "I am Thor Odinson, who asks such a question?" He studies the girl for a few moments, and then glances up and down the street again, seemingly gauging just how badly he's blown his cover.

A brief moment Nicky seems to look for something on his figure, then holds out the hand to Thor in a demanding gesture. "Nicky, and I clearly disapprove of you strangling young kids. Mind giving back that plushie Christmas present or apologize?" No, there was no fear to be seen on her, but mostly because blunt force was something she thinks she can handle if needed. After all a bunch of goblins only managed to mangle her plushie-shape because they had teeth.

Loki shifts into a plushie in Nicky's hands, becoming a plush wolf.  he projects to her. .

"That child as you call him, is over six hundred and fifty of your years old." Thor says, staring down at the girl who has confronted him. "I do not carry that...item on me, but rest assured I will return it to you as I will not apologize for my actions. I acted as I saw fit, and would do so again."

"You see it fit to choke someone far smaller than you? If a hero sees that as fit, he shouldn't be considered a hero. Or do you consider this... Punisher guy a hero? Be better than him." Nicky taunted a bit, fluffing the plush wolf on her arm, which had been a pineapple a minute ago. "And 650 or not - Didn't that news article said the Superman was sent into space thousands of years ago? Technically he was like 1000 when they arrived here as child."

"I see fit to protect Midgard from any dangers that may threaten it. If that danger comes in the form of a adolescent God of Mischief, then I will deal with it as needed." Thor says, eyes narrowing a little at Nicky.

Loki shapeshifts back to himself and looks at Thor sadly. "You don't even know me, Thor...or you don't remember. I had hoped we could be as we were when I was pulled from Asgard. Is there nothing within you that sees me as your brother?"

Nicky has to drop Loki as he shifts back, taking a protectivw stance next to him. "Mischief or not, he is a kid."

Thor crosses his arms over his chest and exhales slowly, and then speaks in an easy to understand manner, "As I have said before: while we are brothers and I do see in you some of the good you had in days of old, you and I are fated to play a role in the Raganarok, and I fear the day that you start to show the nature I suspect lurks within you. I hope that you will remain reformed, but I have been fooled too often in the past by the older version of you to trust you entirely right from the start."

"Fate is an invention of weak minds." Nicky claims, adamant in her face about that. "Loki, let's go... Seems like if you ever become what your brother fears he is the reason for it himself because he rejects you."

"I am not yet that man you knew. We were still playing in the Plains of Ida, sneaking into the swamp dragon caves of Gymirsgard. We played and adventured and yes we fought sometimes and mother put us in separate corners, and sometimes my envy of you got the better of me, but..." He looks down at the floor and shakes his head as he tries to think of what to say. His hand unconsciously reaches out for Nicky's for support. "Ragnarok is a cycle of change. Coming here through the portal changed things. I don't have to become bad...do I?"

"It may have done a great many things, you coming through the portal Loki, but I am no diviner. I cannot say what will come." Thor replies with a slow shrug. He does not appear to be too worried about Nicky's anger.