Neutral Omens

And now an attack? Great. Mictain stepped out of the way, only barely avoiding Loki. Grasping on the other's shoulder, he tried to make Loki stop. "Don't be such a fucking idiot," he snapped. "Fighting without a reason is the easiest bloody way to get yourself kicked out."

He let go of the god almost immediately, though, taking a step further away from him. He wouldn't attack, but he'd be damned* if he didn't at least try to defend himself -- or keep out of the way. If the god insisted on continuing like that, he was more likely to harm himself than Mictain.

*Not literally. That had already been taken care of.

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Loki stumbled as the not-god caught him and twisted away to the side while kicking at the back of the not-god's knee. It was a badly aimed kick, that probably wouldn't connect in the right spot to bring him down, but it ought to at least hurt.

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Loki was right; the kick could not bring Mictain down. However, the demon certainly felt it and cursed (not that much was needed to achieve that). "Look, now fucking stop, will you?" he growled. How was he going to stop the god without risking being accused of attacking him?

...Well. Taking a hold of the god's arms would only cause him to try kicking again. But then again, it wasn't like he hadn't been kicked before...

Stepping close enough to grasp on Loki's upper arms, he lifted the god into air. "Fucking calm down!" he yelled. "I haven't done anything to you, have I?"

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Loki did not like being held. It meant being captured and being captured meant pain and death*. He twisted and struggled and once again attempted to kick a not-god in the groin. It hadn't worked on Uriel, but had been a splendid success with Crowley. Couldn't hurt to make another attempt.

*So yes, maybe he had a few animal instincts. It wasn't a wonder with all the shape changing.

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Unfortunately for Loki, Crowley and Mictain, while both being male-shaped demons, were quite different when it came to certain things. For one thing, Mictain had six millennia of experience of fighting with demons. And most demons tended to use dirty tricks.

Now, while Mictain certainly considered himself male (and nobody probably had ever questioned that), he knew better than to be making an effort in a battle. Therefore, Loki's kick had as much if not less effect on him as it had had on Uriel.

"When will you get it?" he growled. "I. Don't. Want. To. Fight. With. You. But at the moment you are making me quite reconsider my view on that point!"

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Mictain's words were wasted. Loki was by now much too panicked to even hear him. The kick had been futile, so he now kicked about blindly, but as hard as he could. He felt his feet connect with the not-god's legs several times.

Somehow he managed to twist close enough to the hand holding his right shoulder and bit hard into Mictain's closest finger. There! He wasn't going to let go of that finger until the not-god let go of him.

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The kicks were nothing bad; Mictain was used to such things. He doubted they'd even leave bruises, given how good his body had got in self-healing during his long existence. However, the bite was not something he had expected.

"Fuck! What are you, a fucking rat?" he snapped. The god didn't seem to be willing to let go, either. Well, not that he knew much of the subject, but as far as he knew the best way to make a trapped animal less agressive was to set it free. So, he let go of Loki. He'd have liked to shove him away, too, but that was quite impossible with Loki's teeth still clinging to his finger.

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Loki closed his eyes and concentrated on sinking his teeth deeper into the not-god's finger causing his kicks to slow down and weaken. The blood tasted surprisingly good. Maybe he should bite people more often?

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Fuck. The god wasn't letting go. What was he supposed to do, break the idiot's jaw? It didn't seem like Loki even really heard what he was yelling at him.

"You bloody fucking idiot!" he yelled anyway. "Let go, do you hear? Or have you really lost your fucking mind?"

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Uriel didn't like what she heard when she approached the library. Not at all. Mictain was yelling, and that hardly promised anything good.

She should have stayed out of there, she really should. And she would have, had it not been for the fact that Loki was quite probably in the library. And she couldn't let him alone with Mictain.

Throwing open the library door, she was met with a quite unusual sight. Loki was delivering weak kicks at Mictain's legs with the demon cursing and yelling. As Mictain heard her approach, he turned towards her, red eyes blazing.

"It's about the bloody time you show up!" the demon yelled. "This fucking idiot attacked me when I'd done nothing to him! Now make him let go of me before I really have to hurt him!"

She was actually inclined to believe the demon. If Mictain had done anything to Loki, she'd have seen it. Mictain rarely was one not to leave any marks, preferring to use his claws and fangs rather than fists when he didn't have weapons. But why would Loki attack him?

"Loki!" she exclaimed, rushing to her brother's side. "Let go right now, you know fighting's not allowed!"

Loki didn't seem to hear her, though. He just bit into Mictain's finger like a panicked animal.

...Animal? Uriel remembered Loki purring like a cat on occasion. Were those two incidents connected?

Well, it was the only thing she could think of. Hugging the weakly struggling god as close as she could with her stomach, she cooed, "Now, Loki, do calm down. Everything's all right, see? Nobody is hurting you. Calm down and let go of Mictain, okay? Come on, brother dear..."

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Loki tensed at being held again. He should turn into something fast and fierce to slip away and defend himself, but he no longer could.

This touch wasn't rough, though. In fact there was actually a hand rubbing his back. Loki cautiously opened one eye to find that it was only Uriel holding him, but the dangerous not-god was still there.

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Now Loki seemed to actually notice her presence. Good. That was one step further.

"Now, Loki, please stop biting Mictain," she said gently. "He can't really get away from here with your teeth sunk into his finger, can he? I'm sure you want to get rid of him just as much as I do, so let's at least give him a chance, okay?"

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Biting? Mictain? Teeth? Oh right, he was still clinging to the not-god's fingers. But if he let go, the not-god would be free to attack him again. Or maybe even hurt Uriel.

Still, he could not sit here with a not-god's finger between his teeth forever.

He let go and pushed himself between Uriel and Mictain. "Don't you dare touch her!"

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Mictain was really happy to have his finger all to himself again. Taking a step back, he raised his hands in a defensive gesture. "Touch her? Why the Hell would I want to touch her? Attacking her without a reason would just get Adam mad at me and I've no bloody desire to touch her in any other way. You can fucking have her all to yourself -- as long as the brat doesn't come to any harm."

He then nodded at Uriel. "Try to keep that fucking rat of yours in check, okay?" he said. "And you might want to have him checked for rabies. Or maybe get him a muzzle." With this, he made his leave -- more to avoid the frustration of standing around with teeth in his finger for a second time than because he was afraid any true harm would come to him.

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"Well, it worked," Loki felt the need to explain his unusual methods of dealing with Mictain to Uriel. "I ... um ... Well, I can't turn into a wolf at the moment, but my bite still won the day."

That Mictain fellow probably thought him completely mad now and he didn't even want to think about what Uriel's opinion was.

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"Sure it did," Uriel said, who was convinced that if Mictain truly had wanted to cause trouble, one bite from Loki -- no matter how vicious -- wouldn't have stopped him. "Now, are you hurt anywhere? And just what led you to fighting with the one person in the Manor most capable of killing you with his bare hands?"

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"I'm fine," Loki snapped. "We wouldn't believe that I'll kill him if he touches my family. If he hadn't had that huge sword, I'd ... You don't believe me, do you?" He pouted. "You think that I'm lying."

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Uriel laughed a bit, shaking her head. "Look, Loki, it would be so much easier to believe if he had actually had that sword of his," she said, smiling. "But as far as I saw, it was nowhere in sight. However," she then said, smiling even more, "I think it's very sweet of you to try to protect me like that. Very Viking-like, too. I bet Odin would have done exactly the same." Although most probably with better results.

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Loki sighed. He'd hoped to make her laugh at him, yes, but it still hurt. She was humouring him like a child.

"No, Odin wouldn't have done the same," he admitted. "Odin would have been cool and sovereign and have had his spear on hand. He definitely wouldn't have freaked out and gone all animal on that Mictain guy."

Odin would have won and assured that Mictain never came close to Uriel again. That's what Odin would have done. He was a pathetic replacement. Just the abandoned, sick little brother.

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"Well, Odin isn't here," Uriel said. "You are here and that's what matters." She hugged him. "And if anybody's worth going 'all animal' on, it's Mictain. He rarely listens to common sense so maybe a bit of animal instincts are just what is needed. Besides," she then added, "Odin confronting Mictain would have probably ended up with a big, bloody fight that would have resulted with them both being thrown out of the Manor."

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"So we'd have gone somewhere else," Loki said a little wistfully. "All of us together. Maybe Odin would even have taken us home to his hall and the baby could have been born there and grown up like a real Viking."

Yes, so it was just a daydream, but it was nice.

"I'd have taught the kid to ride on Sleipnir and it would have played with the wolves and grown strong and courageous."

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"For the baby to be raised to be a Viking, you would have to accept the fact that I'm a Viking by adoption, too," Uriel pointed out. "And if Odin truly is going to come back for me and the baby, you will just have to survive until then to teach it to ride Sleipnir and grow strong and courageous. I'm going to teach it in the use of knives and perhaps a sword, but I fear that if you want it to master the use of a spear you will have to teach it yourself."

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Loki looked her up and down. He'd rarely seen a woman who looked less like a Viking. Besides he'd be dead long before the baby was born.

"Yeah, you're right. It wouldn't have worked," he agreed. "It was nice to imagine, though."

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"So let's keep imagining." Uriel smiled. "And maybe, one day, the reality will be even better than what we have imagined." She wouldn't let Loki die. She couldn't.

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