and Grille some years before, and I was enough of a regular there to have certain privileges. I had tasted Ambrosia, although I do not remember it – I had to be told later of my cavortings and exertions, in an ecstasy that lasted from one Full Moon to the next – even Vulcan admired my stamina, which he said was far above most Mortal capabilities. It was that adventure, which earned me my small place here - I sat on my usual barstool, third from the left, and watched as Loki ordered up yet again, and Vulcan and I exchanged knowing glances.

Loki is my favorite amongst the Old Gods – he is the most real of all of them, the most human, and yet the most godlike. He feels everything so intensely, as gods do, and yet what he feels are human emotions, with godlike intensity. None of this makes any sense, I know, but having lived in this world and dabbled a bit in theirs, I question whether anything ultimately makes any Sense…

On this night, Loki was looking at best – disheveled. He was sweaty, and grimy, and not good-smelling sex-sweat, but stale sweat from not having bathed for several days, and grime from one too many ruttings in the field. His eyes were bloodshot and unfocused, his hair was matted, and his usually sexy stubble had lengthened into an unkempt short beard that was decidedly un-sexy. He was in a bad way, and it showed, which is rare for the gods. Even in their present state of non-worship, they are usually able to keep up appearances before us Mere Mortals – although, as a Gypsy, I can usually see through them. The Gypsies don’t have many privileges or benefits in this world, but that is one of them: to see through appearances, and Magick, and Glamour, and all the false flummery with which Mortals so love to surround themselves, and of which the gods take such frequent advantage. For the Gypsies, our blessing is that, like the gods, we can see through it all. Our curse is that, unlike the gods, we cannot act upon it in the slightest – not in any meaningful way.

Because I like Loki – love him, in fact, and worship him as much as I do anything or anyone else – I was distressed by his current state. Loki was in trouble, and he knew it, as did Vulcan and me, and for me – a Mere Mortal - to have known it, was a Very Bad Sign, indeed...

Loki is one of the most beautiful of the gods – young, lean, handsome, strong, and prone to laughter and happiness, not gloom-and-doom like Jove, or Juno, or Wotan. I would give anything to spend the rest of my mortal life in the presence of his Immortal being, so full of energy, of quick wit, of laughter, and of roaring sexuality. It is sex that fuels his energy, his Life Force, and not merely the act of sex, but the Pleasure of sex – that’s what makes him different from the other gods. It is that for him and through him, sex is a pleasure, neither a duty nor a religious rite, or a stepping-stone to some other form of Preferment. Loki would inspire an entire generation in the 1960’s with his own godly Credo – “Anyone, Anyplace, Anytime”. For Loki, It’s All Good…

But Loki was