Loki lies and gets answers as a prize!

Nevaeh stood there for a moment taking deep breaths filled with adrenaline. She had missed this! Looking at them, lying down there, the truly pathetic primates who knew they had it coming. They were moaning in pain, muttering something under their breaths, not daring to attempt standing up on their feet.

Heading back to the house, she realised that in her moment of anger she had revealed to Loki what she was, and who now knew that she was far from normal. In part, she didn't have a choice as that man was outnumbered and in danger. Besides, she was going to tell him about her family sooner or later, but she never thought it to be like this. But Loki's arrogantly presumptuous sentence had led her to show him that she knew exactly how to deal with people, and her way was a little violent, so he had to be careful while speaking to her.

On the terrace, she found Loki exactly where she had left him. He was sitting there looking as calm as a monk. Nevaeh thought whether he was freaking out internally while pretending to be just fine. She hopped on the edge and sat next to him. He tilted his head to silently stare at her.

'I was going to tell you before, I just – wasn't sure if you needed to know,' Nevaeh said.

'Why lie?' he asked her quietly.

'I didn't lie! I just didn't correct you when you called me a mortal,' she said defensively.

Loki scoffed. 'I called you a mortal about a dozen times, yes?'

'I need you to not take this personally! I don't share anything about myself unless I have to. You and I – we just got so close so fast, but I needed to be sure before revealing anything. And I don't tell this stuff to anyone so – you should feel flattered right now,' she finished, lighting another cigarette.

Loki looked at her. Now that he knew exactly what she was, he was even more intrigued. 'You were in an unknown land. I was a stranger. You almost died and yet you didn't think of telling me that you are a sorceress?'Loki asked disbelievingly.

'When did I almost die? And I am not a sorceress! That sounds a little evil.'

'Hey!' Loki said defensively. 'Sorceresses aren't evil! My—'Loki came to an abrupt standstill; both physical and verbal. He was about to speak of his mother, who didn't exist as far as Nevaeh was concerned. 'My opinion. That's just my opinion. Also, sorceress is the popular word for female beings who shoot other people with glowing, magical blasts,' Loki said laughingly, running a hand through his hair, secretly wondering if it was too late to say, inch-pinch, and tell her all about his own magical, glowing blasts, which could in fact do a lot more damage than hers.

Nevaeh was taken aback by Loki's aloof reaction of her being a witch, and his eyes reflected nothing of her being an abnormal, crazy person. After a long silence, Loki again asked, 'but, why did you lie? Honestly?'

Nevaeh hesitated a moment, but figured that after Loki's unexpectedly pleasant attitude towards her revelation, he deserved the truth.

'I really wanted you to think that I was normal' she admitted. 'When Daniel found out about me, he was totally freaked out! That was the era of his transformation. A jerk blossoming into an even bigger ass,' she finished.

Loki took her empty bottle and filled it with the malt he had brought, sharing equally between them and handed it to her.

'You are not normal, Nevaeh. That much is certain. What you are is extraordinary. And extraordinary beats normal – every single day.' Loki raised his bottle, and clinked it to hers.

Nevaeh found herself smiling widely with a hint of blush. 'Cheers, bud.'

Now that Loki was in the loop, Nevaeh admitted how she'd healed Crystal and the pigeon, and beat up the creatures that gave her the device that Loki traded his life for. He listened carefully to her stories, getting a little pissed that she didn't tell him all of this before, especially since he'd wondered out loud many a times in her presence about how she managed to befriend the baby demon, to which she'd always given vague responses, at times completely ignoring his questions. But he was mostly glad that she was finally revealing her little deceits.

'I get that from my mom. She is a healer,' she said. Nevaeh felt as though a burden had been lifted from her chest. It was so freeing. Especially, since people weren't freaking out by her revelation.

Loki listened intently, with his ears sharply focused to grasp anything that he might need.

'My dad is the Master of defensive magic, and Raphael is the master of Makademik arts. He is also great with medicine,' she continued. Loki was familiar with Makademia; it was a branch of magic that relied mostly on books and theories to use spells and coin new ones. He always thought of it as a tamed way of managing mysticism. As much as he would've loved to boast about his extensive knowledge, Loki made sure that he continued to stand on the interrogative front of this conversation.

Admitting that he knew what she was talking about would change those roles. 'What does defensive magic exactly mean? And what is Mikedik?' Loki asked, feigning innocence, purposely pronouncing it wrong.

'It is Makademik arts,' she laughingly corrected him, receiving a sheepish smile from him. 'It is kind of like the academic arts, but for witches and wizards, or warlock, if you prefer that term. It includes spells, both verbal and non verbal, potions, Makacharms, astronomically dependent magic, etc, etc. It's a bit boring compared to others. Defensive magic is the kind we use to deflect the dark spells that can cause tremendous harm, or kill. It focuses on defence and protection, rather than offence and attacks, but it has its own limitations,' she explained.

'Why do you need a Master if your father can teach you?'

'Because they thought that I needed to know more. I learned healing from my mother, although I am not that good at it. My dad taught me protective charms and spells, and Raphael has been teaching me non-verbal spells since I was a kid. I am a bit of a whiz myself in that area. I even managed to convert my dad's spells into non-verbal charms,' she said proudly.

Nevaeh told him about how some things are difficult to achieve, like invisibility, which she had never tried. Loki suppressed the urge of instantly making himself invisible and vanishing in thin air to show off.

'Anyhow, I am just glad that you found refreshment after finishing those thugs,' Loki said genuinely.

'I didn't finish them, just knocked them out,' she defended.

'You don't need to be cautious in front of me. I see you, Nevaeh.' He stared into her eyes. 'You like chaos,' he whispered quietly.

'Liking chaos doesn't make one a bad person. Chaos can sometimes be – good,' she said smiling lightly. Loki was delighted by the fact that she didn't try to deny it. Maybe there was hope for her after all.

'You know, what else I think? I think that you under estimate yourself,' Loki nodded wisely.

'Really? How so?'

'I think I understand how you think. Like a lamb, I must say. Following whatever your elders and your Master taught you. Have you even considered discovering your fullest abilities? Stretching them to such an extent that you become the most powerful of all?' he asked in a chilly tone. 'I would have if I had any remotely special abilities, but I don't.'

'Hmm. Define powerful' Nevaeh said, narrowing her eyes a little.

'Powerful enough to rule,' shrugged Loki.

'Rule what?' she laughed. 'Look, when I first read about dictatorship, I was just a kid and I was so fascinated. One person to rule them all. But then I read everything about Mussolini and Hitler, and they kind of ruined it for me. The concept is enchanting, yet, history had showed us time and time again, that democracy beats everything.' Loki found the final part to be utterly anti-climactic.

'You found dictatorship fascinating?' he asked, quickly backing up the conversation a little.

'Oh, yes, very!' she said smilingly. 'But my allegiance is to the Republic! To Democracy!' she said loudly, and Loki understood this time that she was quoting Kenobi again.

'But what if the ruler is wise? If he has the throne as his right and he ruled the realm, not with brute, raw strength, but by his sheer intellect and cunning?' Loki asked.

Nevaeh gasped dramatically, making Loki's heart skip a beat; did he say a bit much? Revealed something more that made her realise that he is a big, fat liar?

'I forgot you have a king on your planet! Speaking of which, I totally forgot to mention that I ran into Thor!'Nevaeh said happily, slapping Loki on his back. The topic of their conversation jumped east to west so wildly, and the name of Thor made Loki lose his mind for a moment.

'Here? On Earth?' Loki blurted out, without thinking it through.

'What? No! On Asgard!' Nevaeh said. 'Why would he even come here?' she asked laughingly.

'Right.' Loki breathed a sigh of relief; he didn't want Thor to know anything about her, or what he was up to. They all were on the same planet, after all. This wasn't paranoia; it was just momentary, healthy anxiety. 'I don't understand,' Loki said, faking innocence, when in reality he was beginning to get the sense of what she was about to tell him.

'With everything going on, I totally forgot to mention him!' she said and started telling him how she met Thor and they fetched water while he offered her a ride. Loki listened patiently to her whole story, sighing every now and then, nodding politely, reacting as if he were learning this for the first time and had not experienced it first hand, till – she began describing him.

'He was so tall and muscular! And his golden hair was shining so brightly! Didn't you say he looked like an oaf?' Nevaeh asked in an accusatory tone, as though blaming him for false advertising. 'Why did you lie, Loki?'

Loki's fist clenched, he hated being caught at a lie! 'I didn't really lie,' lied Loki.

Nevaeh shot him a frustrated look. 'Yes, you did! He had no oaf-y features! Actually, he was kind of gorge—'her word was interrupted by Loki who suddenly yelled, 'ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT!' making Nevaeh jump a little in surprise.

Loki knew he'd reacted rather neurotically, and that he needed to come up with something right now, really fast. He immediately sighed in sadness and looked at her through green eyes that were suddenly twinkling a tad shinier. 'I didn't want to tell you this, but – but Thor is – he is a bit of a pervert.'

'What do you mean?' Nevaeh asked quickly, eternally ready for gossip.

'Thor has a major crush on me. Quite obsessed, really,' Loki said, sighing in dismay.

Nevaeh stared at him. 'You are kidding, right? He didn't look like a pervert! His smile was so warm and—'she was again interrupted.

'Well, he is, and thank god you didn't mention my name to him'Loki said, faking relief, completely enjoying this lie more than the other ones.

'Wait, how do you know that I didn't mention your name?'Nevaeh asked suspiciously.

Loki froze, but thawed himself in a blinking second. 'Well – because – if you had – Thor would've compelled you to bring him to me! It was implied! I know Thor's brutal strength—'Loki said sounding genuine, while Nevaeh was gaping at him, clearly buying his story, '—and his demonic eyes.'Loki added with a shudder.

Nevaeh made an audible little squeak, clapping a hand over her mouth and staring at him through wide eyes. 'Oh my god, Loki! Why didn't you tell me this before?' she asked putting her palm over his shoulder and patting it, but not touching his back, giving her arm an awkward, chicken-winglike look.

He looked at his back and frowned at her. 'Who would want to admit that a huge, crazy guy with a hammer has a crush on you!' snapped Loki in indignation. She patted the top of his head by her palm.

Loki broke out in a snigger. 'What exactly are you trying to establish by your awkward pats?' he asked, perplexed.

'I am trying to comfort you, you poor, little thing,' she said, patting his head again.

'Well, you can't comfort me after making me uncomfortable,' Loki said, looking away sadly, as though she had committed a sin by bringing up Thor's name in front of a sensitive Loki.

Nevaeh paused a moment to look at Loki. Now that she knew Thor loved him, Loki somehow looked even shinier than before, or maybe it was just the moonlight. He looked so crestfallen at the very mention of Thor, and Nevaeh knew that it was all her fault. She had never seen him so sad, and she knew that she had to do something to turn his frown upside down. Maybe get him drunk, then finish watching the rest of Star Wars.

She quickly got off the edge, sliding onto the terrace floor, motioning Loki to do the same. He got down, too. 'Where are we going?' he asked as they started heading downstairs.

'To the bar.'

They went in the living room, past the couch, and she went till the bar. Loki figured she wanted another bottle in an attempt to drown Loki's pretend-sorrow. He sat down, sighing audibly, while Nevaeh just stood there, staring at the bottles.

'Can't decide what to drink?' Loki asked.

She looked at him, shaking her head lightly as though coming out of a trance. 'You can't tell anybody regarding what I am about to show you,' Nevaeh said, staring at him through serious eyes.

'What do you mean?' he asked.

'You just need to promise not to blab about this, as you did about Pablo – and yes, I know it was you!' Nevaeh added, shooting him a glaring look.

'Okay.' Loki said. 'What are you going to show me? Some kind of magical mead that allows us to stay drunk till we die?'

She took out her wand and gave it a flick. A marble tile immediately glowed; the engraved, diamond-shaped, golden outline appearing on it and the tile moved, revealing underground stairs. Loki's heart skipped two beats. He maintained his calm, desperately trying to hide the excitement and curiosity rising inside of him. It was finally the time to get the answers he needed...