realpolitik | Mockingbird

Entry tags:

Mockingbird | Loki

[ It has become almost something of a ritual: once every few weeks, Loki will seemingly randomly end up on Bobbi's couch, and they will spend a morning, or evening, eating expensive ice cream and watching cartoons. It is one such time, an early Saturday enjoying brain numbing animation, when Loki suddenly sits up from his ungainly sprawl on the end of the couch. He lifts his head like a pointer getting a scent. ]

Mockingbird.

[ He had been calling her Bobbi just to annoy her with the fact he knew her real name, but now it is her codename, quick and sharp. ]

Get your uniform on.

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So I now know.

I stand by my claim, though.

[and then the server is back plus crepes, so Mockingbird just settles back to eat, lips curving into a smile.]

Here comes the test.

[ Well, Loki certainly is not shy about eating them, so that can certainly be said for her taste. ]

[uh huh...

She just shakes her head before tucking into her own crepes.

Hey, if she had to end up in France, she might as well make the most of it. Mmmm, French food.]

[ Loki soon sits back, patting his stomach now that his giant's appetite is sated. He sighs in pure contentment. ]

...all right. I admit it. I think you win.

[She just chuckles at that, looking amused and popping her last bite into her mouth--]

I'm surprised you admitted it.

[mmm that's good. She just slumps in her chair a bit, nodding and arching an eyebrow at him.]

All right, so now you've got a choice. I can either ask highly invasive questions to get the answers I want out of you, or you can just explain it to me.

[ ...damn it. He was half-hoping he was off the hook, but he knew better. ]

That was Mia Fabron. She is seven years old. Currently attends primary school here and does very well in her ballet classes.

[ Pause. Loki begins sliding his spoon through the leftover syrup. ]

She is also my youngest child.

[never off the hook, loki, sorry, not sorry.

But an eyebrow arches at that, but she nods once slowly, as if everything is connecting now.]

Aha. Yeah, that explains a bit of everything.

[now she can try to probe deeper, but he told her that of his own accord and she feels like she should probably respect that--so she's going to tease him instead. The revelation is something she's going to have to go over more in her brain on her own time but...it's not the weirdest thing she's ever been told.]

Was that so hard? Five seconds of explanation and I would've been even more gung-ho about beating up those guys.

Edited 2014-01-14 07:39 (UTC)

Hey! In my defense, I was stressed.

[ Which is quite true, in fact. This blatant honesty thing is getting kind of weird and he has only been at it the past two minutes. ]

[...and she snorts, lifting a hand to pay for their crepes.]

Right, I forgot that telling the truth is traumatic for you.

[she knows he means his daughter, but she's really giving him an out.

it's okay, loki, you don't have to talk about your feels.]

Luckily, crepes have an all-soothing power even in the face of such a travesty as the Prince of Lies being honest.

[ Part of him wants to talk about his feels, because he never, ever gets to talk about his kids. It is a liability for anyone to even know they exist.

Yet there is also the problem of being allergic to the truth. ]

Is that so...

[is that an invitation to ask more? She's not sure--gods of mischief and lies are tricky to read. but well, you never know until you ask, and if he ditches her in paris, she's never getting him any ice cream again.]

So--kids. Any others I should know about? It must get exhausting keeping tabs on them like this.

[ There is a brief moment of hesitation as Loki struggles with himself, trying to decide what he is going to say.

But in the end, Bobbi is a hero. Who better to risk talking to about his kids than that? ]

... I have six mortal children living, at the moment.

[ The fact that his mortal children had such short lifespan compared to his was a point of grief, but then again, it was not as if he did not know they had chances after their bodily death. ]

[She's a superhero indeed--and she's already calculating. Six kids, six people to keep track of, gotta make sure they're safe, clearly they're all over the world, but maybe if Twitchy does a search--

Keeping people safe is her job, after all.]

Gotcha. Well, that's good to know. Between the two of us, maybe you'll be less of a mess and it won't be cut quite so close next time something happens.

[There's always a next time--and she notes that "at the moment", but it's hard to really think of a good way to bring that up, so.

After all, they're all human. She is too. The gods are the weird ones.]

[ Wait, what? ]

Wait, what?

[ Was she just offering to keep an eye on his children? Was it because she wanted to make sure they were not trouble? He feels a pang of defensiveness. ]

-- my children -- Fenrir excepted -- do not even know who their father really is.

[...and she just blinks at him, missing the unsaid there. she doesn't know why he's being defensive all of a sudden.

...???]

So? I can keep a secret as good as anyone, y'know.

So they are not likely to be any trouble.

[ He does not want to subject his children to some sort of survalliance just due to being related to him. ]

[DOT. DOT. DOT.]

Boy, you are a suspicious bastard. Look--I don't work for SHIELD and I don't work for the Avengers.

And I'm not worried about them causing trouble so much as getting into trouble.

[ ... ]

It's a one-time offer, take it or leave it, I won't be offended.

...oh.

[ Loki looks honestly surprised. Then, for the briefest second, bashful. ]

They are my kids and I am generally hated. You cannot blame me for being a little nervous having superheroes know where they are.

[ Pause. ]

...but I would like to keep something like this from happening again.

[She just snorts, shaking her head lightly.]

Thankfully, I'm just an average hero now that I'm not doing the Avengers gig anymore.

[And she looks at him side-eyed, before nodding.]

Then I'll have Twitchy keep an eye on them. That's it--just me and Twitchy. He's as silent as the grave.

Who is this Twitchy?

[ He has not bothered her about him before, but when it comes to giving him information about his kids, he feels he has a right to know. ]

[...she's quiet for a moment, pursing her lips, before she finally slumps a little, shrugging.

It's tough to give out this much information to Loki god of lies, but well.]

He's my handler slash techie. Helps run the WCA, and gets me out of sticky situations.

[ There is a long moment of silence. ]

All right. I will trust you and your Twitchy.

[ As difficult as that is. There is the unspoken "betray me and I will kill you," but that is just to be expected from any Asgardian. ]

Edited 2014-01-15 05:53 (UTC)

[And she just huffs a laugh and nods.]

If it helps, he won't know anything about who they are. Just that I want to keep an eye on them.

[And she just shakes her head, standing suddenly, stretching.]

Now let's get out of here. France is a bit cliche.