" . . .And if you dont take care of her and treat her right. . .*hic* . . . I swear I'll kill ya!" Loki slurred in a drunken stupor, slamming his drink down and glaring at his friend with a mean, unhappy look.

Roland sighed and rubbed his eyes wearily.

They were in Loki's office drinking a variety of alcoholic beverages that left Loki in his current state as he drowned his sorrows in nonstop cocktails of things that Roland didnt quite know the origins of.

It all began when Loki found out where Fenris was intending to stay from now on.

After several hours of shock and despair he tracked Roland down and tried strangling him while spouting curses in several languages. Which earned Loki a "gentle tap" on the head by the latter for the attempt.

Of course the attack from Loki wasnt a serious one.

What father would be able to calmly respond to the news of his daughter going off to live with a guy like Roland who had been known to have been with various women before?

Loki, who had always been quite over-protective of Fenris, was obviously distraught.

His reaction was perfectly reasonable, he had thought.

After calming down slightly he numbly took Roland, got piss drunk and started raving madly about how Roland had best take care of Fenris or else . . .Well, a variety of threats were used by the drunken father.

Honestly Roland was quite fed up at the moment. Loki's words made it sound as if the two were getting married or something.

He was totally acting like a father who was meeting his daughter's fiance for the first time.

Roland could only shake his head and sigh.

He had even pointed all this out to his friend.

" Che!. Might as well be getting married. Least that way I wouldnt. . . *hic*. . . have to worry over her becoming just another one of your. . . *hic*. . . conquests." He spoke back , his mood souring even more as he chugged down the purple-ish liquid from a glass bottle.

It was almost comical. Since Loki was in his child form, his boyish looks coupled with his flushed face and slurred words was an interesting sight. He looked like a drunken thirteen year old prattling on like a man four times his age.

But Roland was thoroughly annoyed now. " Dammit you make it sound as if i was some kind of womanizer in the past. As if you have the right to judge anyway. You always act like a dog in heat, chasing women left and right on your off time." He looked at Loki in condemnation. " Besides, I may have been a bit more lustful than normal because of the way my body matured, but I was certainly never so callous towards women like you make me out to be." Roland said, irritated.

Loki sobered slightly and jumped up, albeit swaying a bit as he stood. " Gah! You dont understand! How am I suppposed to take this then? If it was the you of just a few years ago then she might already have to try on wedding dresses or picking out baby toys! Ah, It would be one thing if you were some stranger but dammit you're one of my best friends!" He despaired, slumping back down in his chair.

"Loki, seriously, you have to stop with this bullshit. Nothing wil happen between us, got it? Stop overreacting. Even if it were the me of before I wouldnt touch her, because we're friends." He shook his head. " Since that is the case am i not like an uncle figure to her? No matter how attractive she may be, something like sleeping with a friend's daughter is wrong on so many levels."

Besides, Roland thought, even if we did start a relationship and it went well, with my circumstances it wouldnt be fair to her anyway.

Of course Roland had no romantic interest in Fenris, but assuming they did start something and fell in love it wasnt like he would be able to stay with her very long. Something like that would be cruel to her, wouldnt it?

He had no intention of creating real emotional attachments of that nature with anyone. Perhaps it would be possible someday, but currently it wasnt that time.

Loki raised a brow.

"So you admit you find her attractive? Great." He spoke sarcastically. " Shall I prepare the cradles and diapers now?" Loki then stared at Roland with a look of disbelief upon his face. "And uncle? She's old enough to be your great-to-the-whatever-power grandmother! How the hell could you be considered her uncle simply because we're friends?!" He asked.

"Then it would be her that would be seducing me wouldnt it? The cougar going after the young pup? Shouldnt I be the one worrying?"

"Bah, whatever! I dont care anymore. Let me wallow in my misery. I wish you guys a happy life together, damn bastard." He sulked.

"Yeah, yeah." Roland sighed once again and ignored him.

Truth be told, deep down Loki wasnt really concerned over the situation. For starters Roland did indeed have more self-control than he used to. It was even hard to connect him to the lusty boy from before. Almost like they were different people.

Also, Fenris had few boyfriends in her long life and none lasted longer than a few days. A few were even eaten. Literally. The last one had his hand eaten too.

Fenris, his daughter, never had luck with men for various reasons. One reason being no one could match up to her.

If it were Roland Loki thought that wouldnt be a problem. In fact, he almost--almost--liked the idea of them together. Having a guy like Roland in the family wouldnt be a bad thing. On the contrary it would be very beneficial.

If Loki hadnt known Roland and hadnt become friends with him it would have been different.

Now though it was just plain weird.

Not to mention this strange feeling he got. For some reason he couldnt explain, Loki felt like the two of them starting a relationship would not end very well.

He had an almost instinctive aversion to the idea of a relationship between the two.

Sadly, Roland was an alpha male who had more than enough strength to handle pretty much anything.

To Fenris who had never met one would could measure up to her own abnormal, cheat-like abilities, wouldnt that be an irresistable temptation?

Ai, that daughter of his had always sought a suitable mate. It was in her nature. She, even more than Loki, had many animal instincts and desires.

To have someone like Roland dangling before a person such as that, Loki didnt think she would even try to control herself once she knew more about him.

Although he utterly hated the thought, she was admittedly the type of girl to go after what she wanted relentlessly. If she wanted to suddenly jump Roland, she would. That was simply how she was. If it got to that point then Roland wouldnt be able to escape, even with his abilities.

Loki began feeling it was a mistake letting Roland and those four annoying mortals stay here. But he wouldnt back out now.

Afterall, it was way too interesting now~

Who knew what they would find at the end of all this?

And it was too late for regrets since the two already met.

He decided he should just ignore them for now.

Whatever happened between those two, Loki would try to turn a blind eye to. . .After a drink or three. Maybe twenty.

. . . He should probably just keep a steady supply at hand . . .

For now he would just let out (or drown) his woes and not think about it until he woke up the next day with a headache severe enough to cause permanent brain damage!

Nn, for now, that was best~!

He took another full bottle from the table in front of him and popped the top open, ignoring Roland's look of annoyance and such.

Let the drinking cont-!

Loki suddenly felt something off.

He tilted his head.

Looking at Roland, he asked with a slight slur, "Do you . . .feel that?"

Roland took a drink from the crystal cup in his hands and put it down calmly. He opened up all his senses and used his spirit energy to scour for anything unusual.

He felt something far off into the distance.

Roland looked curious. ". . .Feels like a Teleportation Array malfunctioned and drilled a hold in space for an emergency landing." He shrugged. "What about it?"

"No, not that, it's something else. . .Something familiar. Cold. . . Dangerous." Loki frowned. His own spirit sense was a fair bit wider than Roland's and so he was able to feel it.

His head, fuzzy from the excessive alcohol, began to clear as he circulated his power throughout his body.

Loki's face paled at first. Then his eyes flashed with mischieviousness.

Beneath that, however, Roland felt a certain frostiness.

What was this, Roland thought. Killing intent? From Loki?

"Loki?" Roland frowned

Loki jerked. "Huh? Ah, sorry. I got a bit distracted." He shook his head.

Surely that plague-like existence wouldnt show up here, Loki thought.

For awhile he ignored it, thinking it was nothing important or exciting. But for some reason, unlike Roland, he chose to keep his attention on the strange occurence in the distance.

Then, suddenly, he felt a great burst of power being unleashed that made him feel heavy as if the gravity had been increased. It was chokingly strong. And terrifying.

Yet faintly it reminded him of. . . He didnt finish the thought.

His thinking went a different direction.

A battle between gods? No, but close enough. And quite a bloody battle at that.

Loki stood up immediately and smiled mischieviously. "Hehe~ It looks like something interesting has appeared. Well, let's go shall we?" He grabbed Roland's hand.

Roland, caught off guard by Loki's unexpected actions, spoke out in a questioning voice. "What are you--"

He stopped. Roland looked over at the other person in the room darkly and said in a warning tone.

"Loki, dont you d--"

But before the last word escaped his mouth, the two were already gone.