verse four is audio

[allsongs]

[a little night music, Exsilium?

this feed comes within the midst of some, with Simmaeri idly grazing her fingers across the face of the tablet. she's taken to song while she waits for some sound – more fresh voices from the machine. but it's rather late (say, 2am? shush i can forward date if i want), so there's few stirring.

those who do have the network open can hear, though. some foreign song with foreign words, somehow conveying something about silver ladies and faraway cages...sleeping kings and a girl on fire (who isn't alicia keys). slow and soft, rather sad.

it tapers now and then to a humming refrain, the last of which ebbing to quiet with the end of the song.]

Comments

[falsehoods]

[He hops closer.

I would know your name.]

[allsongs]

Simmaeri.

[she speaks rather than sings it, pressing a hand to her chest. and in talking, picking a tongue favored by people who lived very close to nature, filling it with the same spells woven through her music.]

To the men of many places and ages, I am Simmaeri. But I do not know what name the birds may call me, here or there.

[falsehoods]

["Simmaeri", the strange woman who sings enchanted songs. He stores that name away in his mind and makes a note to keep tabs on this one. Magic, in all forms, is a fascinating topic to him and he's seen little of the magic of music.]

We call people by many names, as we ourselves go by many names.

[Loki speaks now, his voice having the same rusty croak. He chooses to speak in the All-Tongue, the language of Gods that is heard with the heart rather than the ears.]

If you wish for me to call Simmaeri then I shall.

[allsongs]

[her fingers curl slowly into a weak fist, feeling a bit of a throb in her chest at the way the bird's words make sound in and out. it's almost nostalgic: like the language of her birth through a great distortion and shrunk down, coming out of a harsh throat.

but she smiles, pleased. it's not every day she finds conversation in a bird, so she ought to enjoy it while it lasts.]

What name shall I call you?

[falsehoods]

I am Sky-Traveler.

[He preens as he says this. It is not, he reasons, a complete lie. He had indeed been called this once, in a time when the other gods spoke of him with fondness rather than unbridled frustration.]

[allsongs]

I am honored to know Sky-Traveler. [her eyes crinkle a little, watching him preen.]

What skies have you seen? Where is your home?

[falsehoods]

I have the seen the skies of many worlds. I have seen the passing of many peoples.

[He avoids mentioning Asgard or anything else too specific but there is pride in his croaking voice as reminisces. Loki enjoys any opportunity to talk, even if he considers most beings unworthy of his company.]

The very clouds themselves are my home.

[allsongs]

Are the clouds where you take your rest?

[there's the faintest note of amusement in her question, folding her hands in her lap as she readjusts, sitting forward to better give her attentions to the little bird on the ground at her feet.]

You are a different sort of bird.

[falsehoods]

[His head twists to the side, giving her an inquisitive look.]

I am a magpie. Why should I be anything else?

[allsongs]

All of your breed speak in this way? I know of only so few... [as she leans she, rests her chin in a hand.] And of those, some were never truly birds at all.

[falsehoods]

[He lifts his wings out]

Perhaps you simply have never met a bird as well educated as I! For if I were not a bird, what would I be?

[allsongs]

I know of gods who slip into the skins of many things. [her head tilts a little, squinting her eyes a moment.] Stories of many. Some true, some only some of the truth.

[falsehoods]

[If a magpie can ever seem intrigued, this one now does!]

Do you think me a god?

[allsongs]

Perhaps. [it's a light, airy note, her mouth quirked.] But I cannot think of what a god would need of me, can you?

[falsehoods]

Neither gods nor magpies are above simple curiosity.

[allsongs]

No? [she sits back slightly, folding her hands anew.] Rarely have I thought to compare the two.

[falsehoods]

Because you are not a magpie

[He caws out a rattling sound that might be laughter.>

[allsongs]

[she squints at that, giving a hum.]

And are you, or aren't you?