Rope the South wind; Canvas the Stars

[coldsong]

There is an ocean in the Nexus--at least one, maybe many--that comes and goes. It has been seen frozen over in the winter, laced with sand and amusements in the summer. Sometimes it's within sight of the Plaza, but more often one has to seek it out in the Wilds, tracking it by the cry of the gulls.

Today, it's close enough to smell the salt-spray.

No one is called, no one is compelled to wander closer, but should the adventurous depart the main Plaza and follow a pebbled path through long grass and winding trees, they will come to a place where the ground rises into a gentle dune, then drops into an expanse of sand and rock sketching out a sort of cove. Indigo water laps the shore there, low waves splashing froth onto the shore. And in the water there is something that could be called a ship, if a ship could be made of ice and bone; if a ship could be strange and hard to look at, if it could stretch up so tall toward the sky it seemed eldritch and unbalanced.

The prow is sharp as a blade, and when the wind sings in the ropes, the noise is high and sweet, like siren song.

Loki is on the shore, and his children are with him. Agnarr and Una are playing in the sand together, the elder stacking rocks and building castles for the younger to knock down. Sigrid and Eindrid, though, are on the Ship itself. A casual observer can see the form of Loki up there with them, guiding them gently as they explore, but he is also below, seated on a heap of driftwood to observe his other two children. Bilocating.

He glances up and nods at whoever wanders close, polite, if protective of the kids.

"Do you believe in birthright?" he asks. "Something beyond the gift of existence itself, to which a person is entitled just by entering the world?"


((ooc: Just to warn, my tags will be VERY slow!))

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[the_rebel_son]

The devil often travels to the ocean for many reasons. His love of the vastness as it disappears over the horizon and more personal memories that bring him to the beach over and over. He hears the children long before seeing them. He does pause to watch them and will great the children if they come close. He has a strong parental streak himself and loves children. There is little reason for Loki to bristle as he does but the angel understands all too well the reasoning that may be behind it. He's lost children and knows the lingering pangs that make him aggressive over the ones that are left.

Lucifer is glad to see the god. It has been awhile. Though they don't actively hang around each other, the two have a stable and growing friendship, perhaps even respect for each other. He smiles at Loki and nods.

"Kaliméra, apateónas" He addresses first. He has been spending time among the Greeks recently and it shows in his language and voice. "I think it exists but I am not sure it should be classed an entitlement that one has regardless of action."

He stops to turn and look at the ship. It reminds him of Kharon and he wonders how that god fairs. "Living under an oppressive God who believes firmly in birthright over behavior, I am perhaps not the most fond of the idea. I have one myself as a creator but the God who flaunts his love of birthright seeks to take it away."

He sighs and looks curiously at the god. "Is it truly a entitled birthright if someone can strip it away? It sounds more like an office or title when you consider it in this light more than a part of creation or existence inherent to a being."

[coldsong]

"Kaliméra kai se séna," Loki replies with a grin, a blend of the Allspeak and genuine familiarity with the Greek language assisting him. Now that he sees who has come to speak with him, he relaxes. The children are as safe with Lucifer as they are with him, if not more so.

Agnarr, especially, seems happy to see the angel, though all four of them are better acquainted with Sin than with her father. Still, they know a friend and benefactor.

"Being entitled to something doesn't mean one necessarily receives it," he says. "Especially not without insisting on it." He pauses to watch as Una chooses this moment to practice cartwheels in the sand, smiling and applauding her efforts before looking back up at Lucifer.

"I was thinking of my own father, oddly enough," he tells him. "I was raised as a prince, and taught early on that my right was royalty. And then I displeased him and he told me that my birthright was to die, and I would be nothing had he not stolen me from my own kind."

"I don't believe either of those things any longer, but it makes me think. Especially now, in light of this." He nods at the ship. "This was made by Eindrid and Sigrid's mother, with the help of their father. It's theirs, indisputably, but is it a right, or a gift, or a responsibility?"

[the_rebel_son]

Lucifer has an open love for children and Loki's benefit from that more than others. The smile that appears is brief with the passing thought of playing with them for a time after he has addressed Loki's questions.

"Being entitled to something does not mean one wants it either." Lucifer adds thoughtfully while his eyes drift out to the ocean and the boat. The commentary on Odin brings his attention rushing back to the god nearby.

"There are some to whom fatherhood is a part of their spirit and others who use it as no more than a tool to extract what they want." Lucifer doesn't have much appreciation for having a father though he is one himself. "I am not surprised other deified fathers behave the way my own has."

Lucifer follows Loki's nod to consider the ship once more. "Is it your place to answer that question for them or what was left to them by their parents?"

[coldsong]

Loki laughs at that observation, because it's unexpected yet very true. "Thank you; I hadn't considered that, but you're quite right there. I thought I wanted a rulership for a while. Now, were it offered me, I would politely decline."

He has a better idea who he is now, and he works better from outside the halls of power.

Then again, one doesn't always get what one wants, either.

His expression softens, and he nods a little at Lucifer's observation. The relationship between him and his world's God sounds to Loki far more complicated than his own with Odin, but there are certainly parallels. He takes the comment as sympathy offered and returns it with his own. "Indeed. But those who can learn what not to do from poor examples, and turn it to kindness, are a special breed."

"I suppose no, it's not my place to answer the question for them. But it's my place to guide them and protect them while they seek their own answers."

[the_rebel_son]

"God would have had me become a torturer if I had not told him to torture himself if that is what he wished to do." Nothing is as humorous as telling someone to stick it and Lucifer had done it more than once to a multitude of beings.

The sigh that comes out reflects Lucifer's inner turmoil over this subject. "I have always found it interesting that I was created to be a father to the other angels by someone who is obviously clueless about the way to be a decent one." A conundrum for sure but also amusing and probably true to the nature of the dynamic in general. "Once he was a better father, perhaps, before he began to rule what I created."

"All Children must eventually find their footing." Lucifer tells the god as he falls into contemplation while staring at the ship. "With time, guidance and protection can become a fence and yoke, though that process is slow and often unnoticed. Be sure your desire here is for their benefit and not your own need to remain the only strong one in the lot."

Lucifer is speaking from experience with his own children, and the angels in general. After a moment, the compulsion to speak pulls his eyes from the ship to gaze at the god beside him. "The Fall crushed the spirit of many angels and in my steadfast hate and rebellion, it became my place to be the Father, to.. for good or ill replace God for a time in their worlds. If I did not give them freedom when they could stand, I would be no better than the being I condemned and fought."

[coldsong]

"Odin would have had me become a conqueror," Loki says. "But he didn't like it when I actually made the attempt."

That's a rather dark joke, but the irony is still entertaining.

"One could, I think, debate about what the role of a father truly is," Loki says. "Beyond mere biology. Different mortal cultures approach it in various ways."

He frowns a little at the warning, thinking it premature. All of his children are quite young yet. Agnarr, the oldest, will be the one to chafe against parental protections first, and Loki believes that will be coming very soon, but the rest still want him to tuck them in and tell them bedtime stories.

Then again, the fact that he doesn't like what he's hearing probably means it's a fair point. He sighs. "I'll keep it in mind. I would like to say that my own rebellious streak ought to make me more sympathetic to their need to assert themselves, and therefore the warning is unnecessary. But given who I'm talking to, I suppose I don't have a leg to stand on there. Do you find it hard to let go?"

[the_rebel_son]

"Another commonality between your father and mine." Lucifer sighs and feels a sense of sympathy for Loki. A bad father is a crushing thing for any being and Lucifer can't help but think mortals have the better end given theirs may die and give them peace eventually.

"I am not biological or mortal; but I have seen all the cultures come and go since the beginning." Lucifer contemplated that thought for a moment. "We both bear another aspect that may cloud this topic. We are both father and mother, to varying degrees. Perhaps it is wrong from the beginning to speak only of fatherhood?"

That question though turns Lucifer's gaze away and visibly changes his body language to be fringed with nervousness, especially in his wings. "My situation may be different. My children are actively hunted and two have been murdered. One was murdered while I was forced to watch. I have come to a balance of being vigilant and defensive of their safety while allowing them to be free but never closing the door to my advice or comfort when it is sought. To let a child go does not mean to abandon them but a complicated interaction between freedom, protection, advice and trust." A breath passes, audible and deep. "Some of the angels are billions of years old and still find their way to me for advice as a child might. It is not black and white but we must be aware of our influence and actions."

[coldsong]

"Yes," Loki says thoughtfully, and then turns toward Lucifer with a brighter look in his eyes. "Yes. That's it, exactly, isn't it? The biological aspects are ambiguous or irrelevant when one is male and female and neither all at once. All that matters to me is...the emotional connection to my children."

He is immediately struck by the change in body language. He cannot remember ever seeing Lucifer anxious before, and the urge to comfort him is strong. He has no clear idea how to do that, though, alas. "It never really stops when they grow up, does it?" He reaches out and puts a hand on the angel's shoulder gently.

"Not if you do it right, anyway. I hope you've found some peace here."

[the_rebel_son]

"I am both. I have always believed that my position as a creator, while bearing both the masculine and feminine, has caused me to be a vicious parent when it comes to protecting my children and family." It went far beyond his children, beyond the angels even to the others who were close to his brood. There were many for who the Devil would throw down a gauntlet to protect.

"It does not even end when they die." Lucifer doesn't return his gaze to Loki even when he's touched, though he does not shy away. ""One part of being a creator I would not wish on any other is the way you can feel all that has existed and the emptiness left when it is gone."

"the Nexus has brought me many things and a small part of it has been peaceful." He finally glances at the hand on his shoulder and over into the god's eyes. "Has it brought you peace?"