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The first time they ever met she was ten years old and he was well over a thousand by then, at least by any human timeline. He had appeared out of a storm, brooding and, dressed in leather. She had been climbing a tree when the storm had come up and was left by the other neighborhood children who ran home as the wind blustered and lighting changed the late afternoon sky. Not your average ten-year-old tree climber she held tightly to the branches as the wind threatened to dislodge her from the oak tree that had been growing there since before anyone knew.
When the man had gracefully looked around, his eyes a shockingly blue color rimmed in the raw pink of unshed tears. She leaned slightly to get a better look at the strange man. The leaves that had been concealing her rustled ever so quietly and the man turn sharply those eyes finding her instantly. Held in his gaze the girl leaned further out of her hiding place until gravity demanded she move lower. She let herself fall from the first branch to one a few feet lower catching with strong little fingers against the rough bark. Her feet, bare, hung off either side of the thick wooden support. She was only a few feet from the top of the man’s head now and closer she could now see the inlays of green in the leather and the fine green linen of his shirt.
They watched each other for a moment assessing the other with clever eyes. Taking in the unruly curls cropped short to the girl’s head and the windswept coal black mane swirling around his face. As if deciding something the girl swung underneath the branch she had been clutching. Hang upside down from the tree she addressed the stranger.
“How’d you get inside the storm?” her eye bored into the man’s with the unflinching curiosity of youth.
The man didn’t smile or growl or show any emotion at all he answered her in a deep, accented voice, with the same matter of fact tone she had addressed him.
“It isn’t a storm it just looks like that from this side,” He cocked his head to the side and continued talking to her. “It is really a bridge that allows me to cross over into your realm. I come from somewhere very far away.”
“Are you some kind of alien?” she was still holding on to the underside of the branch a good ten feet off the ground. He nodded solemnly. “Are you going to abducted me or something?”
“What use would I have for taking a child?” the man was still a blank slate though the glassy stare was slowly being replaced by interest.
“I don’t know,” She let go of the branch completely and dropped the ten feet to the ground with fearless ease. It was something the man envied, the way she fell without worry. She stood brushed off her hands and looked up into his eyes once again. “I’m not an alien so why would I know what you do with kids. Maybe you like people soup and you want to eat me.”
She didn’t seem very scared by the situation she had presented to himany more than she had been to fall from the branch. The whole moment was ridiculous enough to break through the barriers he had placed the second he had realized he was not alone. His mouth turned up at the corners.
“My name is Emerson,” She stuck out one slightly dirty hand to him,” Do aliens have names?”
“My name is Loki son of Odin,” He took the dirty little hand in his and smiled a real full smile. “I believe my people are the ones who first taught you to name, but that was before I was born.”
“Loki,” she paused thinking over the name. “I like it. Emerson is boring I want to change it to something cool like that.”
Loki let out a bark of laughter and stared down at the girl.
“Emerson is a very nice name,” He frowned again getting lost in his thoughts. “Besides you don’t want to a name like mine. It only ever disappoints.”
“Is that why you were so sad when you got here?” Emerson’s eye widened with genuine concern and Loki felt a bond form between himself and the girl twisting through his loneliness. Her hand still in his, Emerson moved to sit under the tree. Loki allowed himself to be moved along with her.
“I was sad because where I am from I feel like a shadow to my brother,” he sat next to the girl his hand still in hers, feeling a bit silly for confining in a mortal child. “He is the golden son of Odin and I feel barely even a son to our father. My brother, he is a great warrior and he has a good heart, but he out shines all of my accomplishments with his victories and his ego.”
He looked down at the girl still cupping his hand. She sat there listening intently to his miseries. Her mouth was closed, thoughtful, waiting for more of his story. Loki thought of how this child was an oddity of any realm he had visited. So many felt the need to flee his presence or coward away from his voice, but this girl with her wild eyes, like a forest during a storm, faced him with no preconceptions. She reacted with empathy and kindness where others had flinched.
“What kind of accomplishments?” She asked without the hint of boredom he was so used to from his brother’s companions.
“Here let me show you.” He didn’t release Emerson’s hand, but as she watch another Loki appeared in front of her and another sitting on the other side of her. All three grinned at her squeal of shock.
“That is awesome,” Her eyes were shining in excited delight. “Can you do other things?”
Loki smiled at her. She had given him what he had so desperately wanted from his family in Asgaurd. He showed her trick after trick impressing her in the way pulling a quarter out of her ear never could. Hours rolled by as Loki talked with Emerson letting go of the insecurities he had been building up over the years of feasts in his brother’s honor. He told her of the parades on the streets of Asguard when his brother would return victorious. Loki told her about the horned helmet that his father had given him as part of his new armor, that he saw no point in having since he was not a warrior. She had told him the she thought horns would certainly make him look scary. Loki described what it was like to be at court, with all the fancy clothes, she smiled at that, saying that she didn’t wear fancy clothes. Emerson listened to all of his stories, replying with odd little comments about some Midgaurdian thing that he didn’t quite understand. She would explain as best she could; the gap in their respective knowledge keeping the conversation interesting.
The sun began to set behind the roof lines of the houses in the distance and Emerson sighed sadly. She looked at Loki. His shoulders straight and his eyes clear from the sadness he had been carrying with him when he had arrived.
“I have to be home by the time the sun goes all the way down.” He looked at her as she spoke. “I live in that house over there if you ever want to come back.”
She pointed to a large house in the distance another large tree in its front yard with an old wooden swing hanging from one of its branches. Loki smiled at her, his teeth gleaming in the setting sun.
“I will be back darling,” He leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead.
“I wish you could stay,” Emerson mumbled against the leather sleeve of his long jacket. “You are so much better than any of my friends here. I want to be your best friend.”
Loki felt the bond they had been forging tighten and he wondered at it and the bold honesty of Emerson’s words. He had never been anyone’s best anything. That she wanted him to be her closest confidant, a true friend meant a great deal to him. He wanted to take her with him to keep this sliver of friendship as close a possible, but he knew that taking her would send the All-father over the edge.
“Here take this,” He reached up and pulled the golden torc from around his neck. “Keep it with you. Now you will know I will come back. Until I see you again my friend.”
He stood up and reached his hand out towards her. She accepted his help, her other hand clutching tightly to his gift.
“Best friend,” She said with a nod hugging him tightly. “I have to go.”
He watched her walk towards the house she had pointed towards and smiled to himself making a mental note of her where she went. He would be back soon enough he was certain. Taking another moment to watch the girl’s retreating back, he called for the gatekeeper.