Well, it wasn't exactly the warmest hug she'd ever received, but Ariadne decided not to dwell on that. Different cultures. Different rules.
But really, who didn't like hugs?
She smiled, shrugging one shoulder. "Well," she admitted. "It seems that I may now have some...magic." She still couldn't believe it. What would all of those children from her childhood say? How would they react? Zara, at least, would be excited for her. Ariadne was excited for herself, although still a bit...not nervous. That wasn't the right word. She searched all the languages she knew, but couldn't figure it out.
Apprehensive was the closest she could get. And it still wasn't right.
"Baba Yaga gifted it to me but...I have no idea how any of it works!" She wouldn't even have known she had it, if not for the change to the scent around her little treehouse.
"Like I said, it was a gift," she said, squirming a little because the whole thing was still quite surreal. "Last month, she caught up a bunch of us and tested us to survive her trial. And I did." She paused. She didn't want to sound like she was bragging--because she absolutely wasn't--but to clarify, she added, "Three times."
A few times too many, really. But Ariadne was still more than a little convinced that she'd never actually been in real anger.
The snake had saved her. Several times! And Varen and Lorna and Steve too.
"But I'm not sure about the type, exactly," she added. "I made three requests. And I've only figured out the one so far." She held up her hand. It took quite a bit of effort on her part--she still didn't know how to focus her mind the right way--before a small, swirling portal opened in front of them, roughly the size of a doorway. The space beyond was a watercolor of white, pink, and blue. "It's...empty. But if I go inside, the doorway closes and I'm alone."
A sort of magical escape room.
"I've been told that my ancestors could do such magic. And I said something to Baba Yaga about living up to them."
"Thankfully, I was only trapped there the once." But I was also successful. The latter were words she would hear in her mind, not her ears. He was still a new hand at his acquired telepathy, but he was learning. He couldn't quite sent thought yet that made any sense aside from words, but she needn't know that, either.
His eyebrows rose as she demonstrated her ability. "Very interesting." He looked to her. "And can this doorway be any size? Can you open it again from the other side? Can you choose the location?" He paused, taking a breath and clearing his throat. "Have you tried?"
It wasn't the first time someone put words into her head.
But it was the first time it had happened here. She blinked in surprise a little, her placid exterior cracking just slightly.
Loki was a bit like an Elf. Even with his round ears.
She cleared her throat. "Um...I don't know. I think so. I don't think so. And no. In that order. I think." She replayed his questions in her mind, then nodded. "Yes. In that order."
Beside her, the doorway flickered and snapped shut, blowing a gentle, warm puff of air over both of them.
"I also can't really control how long it's open. Yet."
She shrugged. "There are legends about my ancestors being able to do something like it. They used it to escape hunters, if the stories can be believed." And she more or less believed them. An oral history was a complicated and messy thing. But there was enough truth in it to satisfy her.
Not that she had the best relationship with the truth.
All that was quickly forgotten, though. Because she was startled to hear Loki...was he? Was he really offering to tutor her? Surely a prince and a god had better things to do with his time but...
That was certainly what it sounded like.
Me? She thought it, not quite realizing that she was projecting her thoughts toward him. Would someone like him really waste his time on someone like me? That would be beyond anything I could have hoped for.
Meanwhile, out loud, she nodded. "Yes, I am seeking an instructor."
an oral history was more what Loki was accustomed to, at least where the histories of Asgard and the Nine Realms were concerned, and he believed they should never be discredited, no matter what the reason.
"I don't see why it couldn't." But that was also beneficial. If it was an ability native to her people, it was possible she already possessed the control necessary to master it.
Her telepathic message wasn't directed at him, but it served to bolster his ego regardless, and he puffed up slightly, smiling.
She broke out into a broad grin. A big, nearly goofy one that at least had the benefit of reaching her eyes, making them shine like silver coins in a fountain. There was a reason why some mistook Ariadne for a pixie. When she felt an emotion--really, really felt it--it was with all of her whole being.
What an honor! To be taught magic by a prince and god?
It was impossible.
And yet here, in Folkmore, she was beginning to truly believe that anything was possible. Which was a heady perfume, one she admired very, very much.
If there was any reason to keep Airy around other than her generally being pleasant company, it was to make him feel better about himself. So many here judged him for his decisions, and rightly so.
Granted, she didn't know what any of those were, either.
All the better. Strange, though, that Steve hadn't mentioned to her how dangerous he was. Maybe she hadn't mentioned him to the captain? How fortunate.
"Thank you is a start, but we'll have to see how apt a pupil you are."
Eager to prove herself, she pulled herself up to her full height, raising her chin to a practiced, imperious angle. The kind that the ladies of court used when they were measuring up a suitor they deemed far beneath them.
It was a little bit of an unnatural look on Ariadne, but she felt that it made her seem a bit more confident.
"I was a good student for the missionaries," she said. "It took me less than a year to learn to read and write." Granted, magic was hardly reading and writing. But it was the best she could offer. "How do we start?"
Loki stifles a grin at her attempted arrogance, honing in it being faked. He could understand. There was a time when he'd done the same in an attempt to appear equal to his brother. He's since realized he was appreciated for his own strengths by both his parents, but it was only too late that he learned it. Even Thor failed to communicate it, to everyone's detriment. The choices were his own, of course, but while he felt a great deal of remorse for his actions, no on else needed to know about it.
"We'll see if your magic skills prove as easy to master as your letters." He smiled, then. "Would you like to begin immediately?"
It was hard not to sound overly eager when she nodded and said, "Yes!" But Ariadne supposed there was nothing wrong with being an enthusiastic student. She'd come to the school of her own volition, after all. And made no secret of the fact that she liked Loki and enjoyed his company.
So she didn't let her smile dim. And didn't apologize for the way she was bouncing on the balls of her feet.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
But really, who didn't like hugs?
She smiled, shrugging one shoulder. "Well," she admitted. "It seems that I may now have some...magic." She still couldn't believe it. What would all of those children from her childhood say? How would they react? Zara, at least, would be excited for her. Ariadne was excited for herself, although still a bit...not nervous. That wasn't the right word. She searched all the languages she knew, but couldn't figure it out.
Apprehensive was the closest she could get. And it still wasn't right.
"Baba Yaga gifted it to me but...I have no idea how any of it works!" She wouldn't even have known she had it, if not for the change to the scent around her little treehouse.
no subject
It wasn't that he didn't like the hug, only that such things made him wary.
"Oh? What sort?" It would directly dictate the course of her education, of course. "How is it you know you have it? Have you made anything happen?"
no subject
A few times too many, really. But Ariadne was still more than a little convinced that she'd never actually been in real anger.
The snake had saved her. Several times! And Varen and Lorna and Steve too.
"But I'm not sure about the type, exactly," she added. "I made three requests. And I've only figured out the one so far." She held up her hand. It took quite a bit of effort on her part--she still didn't know how to focus her mind the right way--before a small, swirling portal opened in front of them, roughly the size of a doorway. The space beyond was a watercolor of white, pink, and blue. "It's...empty. But if I go inside, the doorway closes and I'm alone."
A sort of magical escape room.
"I've been told that my ancestors could do such magic. And I said something to Baba Yaga about living up to them."
no subject
His eyebrows rose as she demonstrated her ability. "Very interesting." He looked to her. "And can this doorway be any size? Can you open it again from the other side? Can you choose the location?" He paused, taking a breath and clearing his throat. "Have you tried?"
no subject
But it was the first time it had happened here. She blinked in surprise a little, her placid exterior cracking just slightly.
Loki was a bit like an Elf. Even with his round ears.
She cleared her throat. "Um...I don't know. I think so. I don't think so. And no. In that order. I think." She replayed his questions in her mind, then nodded. "Yes. In that order."
Beside her, the doorway flickered and snapped shut, blowing a gentle, warm puff of air over both of them.
"I also can't really control how long it's open. Yet."
no subject
"Well, it's something to work with. Is it new to this place, or have you know of similar abilities in the past?"
If the sudden closing of the doorway startled him, he didn't show it. "Noted. We can work with that, that is, if you're here seeking an instructor."
no subject
Not that she had the best relationship with the truth.
All that was quickly forgotten, though. Because she was startled to hear Loki...was he? Was he really offering to tutor her? Surely a prince and a god had better things to do with his time but...
That was certainly what it sounded like.
Me? She thought it, not quite realizing that she was projecting her thoughts toward him. Would someone like him really waste his time on someone like me? That would be beyond anything I could have hoped for.
Meanwhile, out loud, she nodded. "Yes, I am seeking an instructor."
no subject
"I don't see why it couldn't." But that was also beneficial. If it was an ability native to her people, it was possible she already possessed the control necessary to master it.
Her telepathic message wasn't directed at him, but it served to bolster his ego regardless, and he puffed up slightly, smiling.
"Well then, I suppose you've found one."
no subject
She broke out into a broad grin. A big, nearly goofy one that at least had the benefit of reaching her eyes, making them shine like silver coins in a fountain. There was a reason why some mistook Ariadne for a pixie. When she felt an emotion--really, really felt it--it was with all of her whole being.
What an honor! To be taught magic by a prince and god?
It was impossible.
And yet here, in Folkmore, she was beginning to truly believe that anything was possible. Which was a heady perfume, one she admired very, very much.
"I don't know what to say. Thank you!"
no subject
Granted, she didn't know what any of those were, either.
All the better. Strange, though, that Steve hadn't mentioned to her how dangerous he was. Maybe she hadn't mentioned him to the captain? How fortunate.
"Thank you is a start, but we'll have to see how apt a pupil you are."
no subject
It was a little bit of an unnatural look on Ariadne, but she felt that it made her seem a bit more confident.
"I was a good student for the missionaries," she said. "It took me less than a year to learn to read and write." Granted, magic was hardly reading and writing. But it was the best she could offer. "How do we start?"
no subject
"We'll see if your magic skills prove as easy to master as your letters." He smiled, then. "Would you like to begin immediately?"
no subject
So she didn't let her smile dim. And didn't apologize for the way she was bouncing on the balls of her feet.
Just a little bit.