the cuckoo's child, by invitation

[purposeful_glory]

It is obvious from the time Loki learns to walk that she is not going to be very good at it. Normal toddlers fall, and often; she does it more, and longer. She has been practicing at walking for years before she can cross a floor smoothly nine times of ten, even if she does not sprawl completely every time she missteps.

She winces when she trips, not so much out of embarrassment or because she's hurt herself, but because the reactions are never good.

Falling is not a princessly thing to do.

Comments

[alicornucopia]

"Yes, Mother," Loki murmurs meekly, and she goes as best as she can without its support, hand on the wall.

[pythbox]

Her father, of course, is at his loom.

[alicornucopia]

"F-father," stammers Loki, "Mother said - I should go to you and - 'see what your magic would make of me' - I don't understand - there was an open door, in the hall I was going down, and a pretty thing - and I'm not supposed to tell anyone else about it -"

[pythbox]

"Come here, child," he says, turning away from the loom and holding out his arms. "Start from the beginning."

[alicornucopia]

She leans into the embrace. "I went down the sixth floor west hall, the one with the room for all the old musical instruments that's usually the only thing open, and I was tapping my scepter on the wall, and one of the doors opened, and I went in, and there was a pedestal, with a pretty blue cube, and I liked it, and I wanted to pick it up."

[pythbox]

Frigg's arms tighten.

"What happened next?" he murmurs. "Oh, my dear girl..."

[alicornucopia]

"I'm okay," insists Loki. "It - told me things, I don't know how to say what things but there were a lot of them, and it put me on the floor, and I wanted to touch it again but Mother came in and picked me up by my tunic and put me out in the hall before I caught my breath, and she said I could have died, and to go to you."

[pythbox]

"The Tesseract is very dangerous," says Frigg, smoothing down Loki's hair. "You might have been hurt in ways you wouldn't notice."

[alicornucopia]

"Was I?"

[pythbox]

"I'm going to look at you with magic, to make sure you haven't been."

[alicornucopia]

"Okay."

Loki waits.

[pythbox]

Frigg hugs her and pets her hair. Nothing obvious happens, but then, with magic sometimes it doesn't.

[alicornucopia]

Hugs. Hugs and waiting.

[pythbox]

"...Well," he says eventually. "It changed you, but I don't think it hurt you. You are a very lucky girl."

[alicornucopia]

"Changed me how?"

[pythbox]

"I'm... not sure," he murmurs.

[alicornucopia]

Loki tilts her head curiously. "But I'm different now, some way?"

[pythbox]

"Yes."

[alicornucopia]

"Maybe it changed my nature," suggests Loki. They were only just talking about natures, which did not seem to be made of anything sensible.

[pythbox]

"That is not," says Frigg, "how natures work."

[alicornucopia]

"Oh."

[pythbox]

"And you should not touch strange magical artifacts you know nothing about," he adds. "The next one may not be so kind."

[alicornucopia]

"I didn't know. The door was unlocked," says Loki unhappily.

[pythbox]

"It should have been locked and warded so that none but Odin could pass it," says Frigg. "But even so, not all doors that you can pass are doors that you should."

[alicornucopia]

"How do I tell?"