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‘I’m not who I should be,’ said Loki, staring at himself in the pool.
Thor glanced over thoughtfully. Loki was dark-haired today, pale skinned and taller than he was sometimes.
‘It’s not right,’ said Loki. He tipped his head back and his hair turned blond from the roots, growing longer as it did. His features thinned, his eyes shifted slightly apart. When Loki opened his eyes they were the same brilliant green as ever and Thor felt a surge of relief.
‘Maybe you should just pick a form and it’ll feel right once you’ve been in it for a while,’ he said.
Loki shook his head in dissatisfaction, hair suddenly tumbling down his back in ringlets as breasts budded under his hands.
‘It’s starting to upset people,’ said Thor. ‘They never know what you’ll look like tomorrow.’
Loki’s skin was surging and rippling as he moved from male to female and back, from body type to body type, and the effect on his face was worse. It was like watching melting wax or shapes in flames and Thor had to look away with a shudder.
‘I just never get it right,’ said Loki, settling abruptly as a slender red-haired man and throwing himself down to lie supine in the grass. ‘Do you feel right in your body?’
Thor looked at him, puzzled.
‘Think about it,’ Loki demanded.
Thor obediently scrunched his eyes closed and thought about his body. Normally he didn’t, it was just there, solid and reliable. Strong. Not something he took for granted so much as something that didn’t need to be pondered on. ‘I suppose so,’ he said, opening his eyes. ‘I’d feel very odd if I wasn’t me.’
‘And there’s what you do. You’ve got the right kind of body for hitting things. Big and slow,’ said Loki.
‘Not that slow, or they’d hit me,’ Thor protested. ‘I need to be strong, though. To defend Midgard.’
Loki sighed and rolled over onto his front, propping his chin on his hands. ‘I’m not who I should be,’ he murmured.
‘Are we still talking about bodies?’ asked Thor uncertainly.
Loki flashed him a wicked smile. ‘Who knows?’