The Man With A Thousand Faces: Intermission
by redmoon
Intermission

“Have you met my friend Richard?” Loki shouted over the blaring music. The woman gave Alexius an odd look. “His friends call him the Lionheart,” the conjurer went on, throwing back another cement mixer; the specialty of the establishment. “Lionheart,” Loki addressed the knight, “do that thing you do.”

Alexius, his inhibitions lowered by the potency of the ale, drew his sword obligingly and with its flat side lifted the martini glass from the woman’s hand. He let the glass slide down the long blade until it came to rest at the hilt, at which point he raised the sword quickly aloft, almost as a salute, but effectively bringing the glass to his lips, where he drank its contents in one gulp.

“Bravo,” she clapped, eliciting a smile of pride from the knight. “Though of course now I need another drink,” and she turned resentfully and headed for the bar.

Loki shrugged his shoulders with an exaggerated sigh. “French,” to which Alexius nodded knowingly. Soon, however, another young woman caught the conjurer’s eye. “Have you met my friend Charlemagne?”

The woman raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Charlemagne?” she asked dubiously. She was obviously not drunk enough.

Loki nodded nonetheless. “Though, when he gets a bit sloshed, he will answer to Mary Queen of Scots.” Loki patted Alexius on the shoulder. “Mary, do that thing you do.”

The music grew louder, everyone grew drunker and the dancing commenced. Loki had danced with nearly every person in the club, not including the knight who was still showing a young woman the extent of his chain-mail coverage, when the conjurer got an idea.

With a series of deft movements, he climbed the table nearest the wall and, making spiderman proud, he crawled up the wall, beyond noticing, until he leapt out to catch a beam that divided the ceiling. There were several shocked gasps from below as people looked up.

Loki blew on the end of his finger, making it sparkle and flare, like a match when it first caught. He waved his finger around himself, leaving a glowing trail that lasted several seconds. A few people made half hearted attempts to clap.

“Do you love me?” He shouted down to them, drawing several laughs and even some catcalls. He pointed his finger and a small explosion of light lit the room. There were now more gasps and more bacchanalian laughs of approval. “I said, do you love me!” Now there was a chorus of yes from below, and nearly everyone was laughing at the ridiculous display.

Loki held on tight to the ceiling beam with his hands, then stretched his legs out horizontally, laying flat across the ceiling. It took an enormous amount of strength. “Ha ha!" He laughed, "How much?” and let go.

He closed his eyes as he fell straight down into them, feeling the ocean of hands and fingers catch him, lifting him and parading him around. Waves of euphoria washed over him. This was what it was to have a soul, he knew. Somewhere inside himself, he had forgotten he was different. He opened his mouth and let a full throated laugh escape.

He turned his head and saw Alexius disappear into one of the many private back rooms, led by the hand by the woman he had been talking to. Loki smiled even more, letting his mind go and falling away into bliss, the pounding music sending his consciousness spinning faster than he had ever thought possible.

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