Chapter Text
Day 1: Introductions
AHeckin’Mess: “I sense and adventure!” “Yeah? I sense a restraining order.”
Loki
He's a young prince troubled by restlessness. He travels to Alfheim and hears of a gathering. He steals a precious jewel, not for its value or because he desires treasure, but because he wants to watch the chaos when it comes up missing.
For years, Loki tried to fill his role as second prince, until the restlessness drove him to seek adventure through the cosmos. Meeting Marin only makes the adventures more interesting.
Marin
She's a young woman, daughter of an elf laird, and blind. Her whole life, she's been told she's weak, frail, sickly, and hidden away "for protection". But her father has a secret. Long ago, an ancestor had a love affair with a dark elf and soiled the light elf lineage. They've been able to hide it through breeding, but every few generations, a child is born with dark elf traits. The laird isn't hiding her because of her blindness or supposed illness, but because of her white-blond hair and ice-blue eyes.
For years, Marin bought into the lie of her sickliness until a prince stole from her father. Meeting Loki gives her an opportunity to break free and discover what she's really capable of.
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The grand house was buzzing with activity. It’s expected of a laird. He had many responsibilities to fulfill. So his daughter was once again shunted to the side.
“Vitri, can’t we stay out a little longer? It’s warm and sunny and pleasant,” Marin pleaded.
“No, child. Your skin is too delicate. Your father would never forgive me if I let you burn.” Vitri held the parasol carefully over the young woman’s head as she escorted her charge inside.
“The guests are already here. I can hear them!” Marin enthused. “Will father permit me to greet any of them?”
“I wouldn’t count on it. You know how excitement wears on your nerves. Warm milk and a nap are what you need after the excitement of the garden.” Vitri led her into her room and carefully sat her down in a chair by the window.
“But I’m not tired. The excitement in the house will make it impossible to sleep,” Marin complained as she removed her shawl.
“Warm milk will help, it always does.” Or so the nurse-maid thought. Marin heard the clink of the glass of milk placed gently on the little table and the soft hush of fabric when a servant bowed respectfully.
“Thank you,” Marin said despite the servant not announcing herself. Vitri was quiet while Marin sipped the milk, but she could feel the older woman hovering. She drank quickly so Vitri would be satisfied.
“You drank all of it? Good girl. Now, let’s get you into bed.” She reached for Marin, but the young woman was already standing and starting to cross the room. “Careful! You’ll hurt yourself. You know I can guide you better than you can guide yourself.”
“Vitri, I’ve made the walk a thousand times. I know it well,” Marin complained, but she let her nurse-maid take control and tuck her into bed.
“There, safe and snug,” Vitri said indulgently. “You sleep for a couple of hours and I’ll come back to check on you.”
“Yes, Vitri, thank you. Good night.” Marin listened carefully for Vitri to leave and the gentle click of the door closing shut, then she scrambled out of bed and reached under it. There, she found her notebook and pen. Well, the pen had no ink, but it needed none. Marin only needed it to scratch into the paper so she could feel the markings. She sat on her bed writing prose instead of napping.
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Loki could feel the excitement in the air. His youth showed on his features, but he blended well with the long-limbed elfs. He’d heard of a valuable trinket that would be here today. All he needed to do was avoid being noticed and it could be his.
“Ladies and Lords, welcome to my home. Many of you have traveled from distant towns and villages to dine with us this evening. We hope you find it worth your while.” The speaker was of middle age and dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, just like most of the guests. Luckily for Loki, some had black hair or medium brown hair, so his black hair didn’t stand out.
“Some of us have come a lot farther than that,” he whispered under his breath, scanning for his prize. A sparkle of gold caught his eye. That’s it! He made no sudden movements as he slipped between the guests. As a prince, he knew all the social etiquette so he wouldn’t draw attention to himself.
“... the largest cut tanzanite on Alfheim,” an old man was explaining to a couple of younger guests. “Been in the family for generations. It never leaves my side.”
We’ll see about that, Loki thought as he listened. He could be patient. He could bide his time until it was right to make his move.
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A brief noise against her door caused Marin to cram her book under her pillow and lay down, feigning sleep. It was too soon for Vitri to come check on her, unless something was wrong. She heard the soft click of the door latch, the hum of the guests in the hall, the click again and silence. Marin stayed still and quiet. This was not Vitri.
Loki slipped into a nearby room with a closed door, only to stop short and stare at the back of a woman in a bed. Sleeping this time of day, she must be sick… or elderly, since she had white hair. Loki held his breath and watched the rising and falling of her breathing. His entrance didn’t wake her. He pocketed the trinket and paced to the window. Stealth was key so as not to wake her.
“You shouldn’t be in here,” Marin said sternly. Loki froze in place and turned slowly toward the woman. She still looked to be asleep, but she definitely spoke. Perhaps if he didn’t answer, she would think she was alone after all. Loki activated full stealth mode and sank back into the closet.
Marin heard the soft ruffle of fabric telling her exactly where the intruder was hiding. “You can’t hide from me. You’re in the closet.” She sat up slowly and turned toward the main room. “Why are you hiding in here instead of mingling with father’s other guests?”
Loki was intrigued. He stepped out of the closet again. “You live here? Then I’m very sorry for the trouble I’m about to cause.” As if on cue, someone screamed in the hall.
“The tanzanite! It’s missing! Where’s my pendant?” Even the solid wood door couldn’t keep out that panicked cry. Marin turned her head to hear as much as she could. Loki moved closer to the window, grinning like a fool.
“Stand still!” Marin ordered. Her tone was sharp enough to startle even herself. Loki did stop. “You know about it, don’t you? Is that why you’re in here?”
“So what now, elfling? Are you going to turn me in? People could get hurt.” Loki cloaked his discomfort with a threatening tone.
“You wouldn’t hurt an invalid,” Marin recoiled. The door flung open and two of the laird’s guards entered. The screaming and running outside the room made Loki’s heart race. The panic rolling off these two men smelled delicious.
“Excuse us, m’lady. We must intrude. There is a thief in our midst,” One of them explained. Marin waited for them to drag the intruder out. He was standing right next to her chair by the window. She grew more confused as the guards searched various places in her room. “He’s not here. Sorry to have bothered you, m’lady.” They closed the door and shut out some of the sounds of chaos again.
Marin and Loki both waited silently for a moment. She hadn’t ratted him out and he hadn’t taken her hostage… yet. Marin moved first. She slid off her bed and padded over to where she knew Loki was standing, to where his footsteps last ended, to where she could hear the faint sounds of his breathing. “They didn’t see you. Why?”
Loki watched her come ever closer, right up until they were almost touching. Only then did he realize her condition. “You can’t see me either.”
“I can’t see anything,” Marin scoffed. At this distance, it should be obvious.
“That’s why you could find me. You weren’t looking for me. You were listening.” Loki studied the pale and foggy blue eyes. “They were looking, so they didn’t find me. I am cloaked.”
“Cloaked?” She ran a hand down his arm and felt only his leather sleeve. “With magic?”
“Yes. Is this why you call yourself invalid?” Loki reasoned.
“No. I’m sick, frail, weak. A blind invalid would make the perfect hostage,” she surmises.
“Indeed, so what’s to stop me from doing just that?” Loki asks. She could feel his breath on her face, smell the cake he’d recently eaten.
“My father treasures me. I’m never more than a few feet from a guard or servant,” Marin warned. “There’s one outside my door and one below this window.”
Loki put his hands on her thin arms, only the thinnest fabric between their skin. “Well, I’ll just have to gag you with my handkerchief and throw you over my shoulder. One punch will knock out the guard and it’s a short sprint to freedom.” A tremble ran down Marin’s spine, whether from fear or excitement she did not know. Loki saw the little reaction and felt similar confusion.
The door opened again and Vitri’s familiar footsteps entered. “There you are! Safe and sound. Did the commotion wake you? Don’t worry, child. We’ll keep you safe.” Marin was standing right in front of the man causing all the mischief, yet the nurse-maid couldn’t see him. Someone called Vitri’s name outside the room. “Stay here, child. We’ll get to the bottom of this. Stay in your room, it’s the safest place for you.” Vitri left again.
“Well, isn’t this interesting,” Loki purred with intrigue. “The only person I can’t hide from doesn’t turn me in. I sense an adventure.”
“I sense a restraining order. All I have to do is call the guards,” Marin threatened.
“We both know you won’t do that,” Loki countered.
“Just like we both know you won’t kidnap me?” Marin countered.
“You’ve had two opportunities to turn me in thus far and you haven’t. Why is that?” Loki looked out the window. First floor, hardly a fall at all.
“I’m sick, frail. Can’t do anything for myself,” Marin recited without conviction what she’d been told her whole life.
“Funny, you don’t look sick. Pale, perhaps. Do you get much sun?” He looked up and down the path under the window. Guards were already searching the perimeter.
“I sit by the window every day,” Marin confessed. Is her frustration sneaking into her voice?
“Facing the sun and feeling the sun are far from the same,” Loki reasoned. He moved away from the window back to the door. Marin, hearing him rustle, moved out of the way.
“Don’t I know it.” One of her favorite moments was on her walks in the garden when she could get far enough from the parasol to feel the sun on her skin. Loki opened the door a crack and let the sounds of the search play like music in his ears. “Are you enjoying this? Why did you steal that pendant?”
He closed the door before answering. “I am enjoying this. Does it bother you? That a man steals not for wealth or treasure but for excitement?”
“I could use some excitement,” Marin mumbled.
“Like I said, I sense an adventure!” Loki grinned.