dear_mun | Mun is posting from work; muse doesn't approve.

Do my ears deceive me? Could this really be my dear, oafish brother, acting as the the glorious future King of Asgard he's supposedly to be?

Your father must be so proud of you.

Edited 2013-12-13 20:41 (UTC)

...Loki.

[Truth be told, he looks as if he is torn between rushing at him to hit him in the face with is hammer because god Loki he thought you were dead, and rejoicing that Loki is there in front of him... because again, god Loki he thought you were dead.

In retrospect, he really ought to have suspected this. Thinking Loki dead is almost as good an indicator of him being alive as seeing him in person is.] How is it that you stand here in front of me?

[...of course, that could be taken to mean "What the hell are you doing out of your cell," but hey!]

[He was more put-off by the fact that Thor seemed to complete ignore his mockery and provocation. Because how dare he.] Well, I certainly wasn't going to ask for audience, now was I?

[But fine, he can roll with it. He's not at all surprised that Thor looked ready to attack him again, but the part where he looked... glad, now that did not fit at all.]

Forgive me for not confining myself to that dungeon in the pits of Asgard, but-- [He quirked his head and shrugs.] I didn't really want to.

[Thor's brow furrows. Well, he can hardly deny that there might have been a teeny, tiny chance of Odin throwing Loki right back in jail should Loki have made it back alive. He had allowed Thor's return to Asgard, but his punishment had only ever been banishment. Odin had wanted Loki killed; imprisonment was as much leniency as he would really be given.

...even if Thor isn't sure that's what's deserved, now that all is said and done. Should he take this to mean that Loki had survived - but only just barely - and had not made his survival known to avoid being recaptured? But then, why come to him now? Loki is all about tricks and schemes and Thor wishes he didn't have the slight suspicion that his brother was plotting something, but, well... he does suspect that.]

You should know that I cannot stay silent about this, brother. I must tell Father.

Have you always been such a slave to the rulings of Odin? And here I thought you still had one bearable quality.

[Eh. He doesn't really look all that bothered by it-- by this point, it's expected, and he remains firmly nonchalant with his hands folded behind his back.]

You should know in return that I have no intention of returning to imprisonment. Betray me to your king if that's how you please, but I shall return to my rightful place when the time comes.

I have not, as you well know!

[He'd left Asgard against Odin's orders not once but twice... though of course, Loki was only aware of the first time. Thor, though, is not quite aware of that even if he does think his brother's current attitude is a little strange.

...then again, it is Loki. How had Tony Stark phrased it again? He's a "full-tilt diva," always imagining slights and offenses against him. These oddities can be chalked up to that.]

Your rightful place is at home, brother. It's what Mother would have wanted. [Now how were they to convince Odin of that...]

[The outburst and the emotions garner nothing but a look of bemusement.] Now where have I heard that before? You're a fool bound by his own sentimentality, as always. And here I thought you'd finally given up on me.

[But that last part.... he'd made off very well abandoning his own sentiments, but the mention of...Thor's mother is enough to stay his steely resentment for the time being.] ...Is that so?

...From the sound of it, she must've finally surrendered to the popular consensus as well. Shall I ask Odin for the writ of my homecoming execution, then?

[Cutting, but there's far less humor to his jabs now.]

[He can take the jabs at himself; he's long since grown used to them. But hearing Loki lump Frigga in with the rest of the Asgardians that Loki has professed to hate just makes him angry

He makes a grab for Loki's collar, having every intention of holding him up as he - essentially - yells in his face.]

You will not dishonor Mother's memory with lies! She cared for you to the very end, you fool!

[It really was exasperating that he was so used to his older brother trying to rough him up by now, to the point where he hardly flinched. He's used to brute force, but biting words were never Thor's forte (no, that had been the part where Loki vastly exceeded him their entire lives).]

Memory? [He.... he doesn't like the implications of that. If anything, the claim just makes him suspicious-- and a little angry, as his tone becomes much more threatening.]

You are daftly unsuited for lying, brother. If you think I shall be swayed by your-- oafish stories of tragedy, then you yet again misjudge me.

I am not lying!

[It's less a shout and more a roar, really. Thor has never been skilled at keeping his temper under control; it's gotten him into trouble more times than he can count. He wears his heart on his sleeve and right now, remembering Frigga's death, that heart is breaking. It's plain to see in his face, in his eyes.]

You know this, Loki. This can't be the first you've heard of it. Was it not you who told me to trust not you but your rage, when you discovered what had been done to her?

[If there was one thing about Thor, it was that he was entirely earnest even when committing treason; honestly, Loki really hated that, but he appreciated it for its predictability, and he knew enough to know that this was no fabrication. Frigga was for Valhalla while Odin reigned, and Thor remained free to lord it over his head while Loki was sentenced to rot.

So that's how it goes.

The anger-- the sorrow, which he tries to hide with his anger, was clear in his eyes even if he should want to hide it, and he wrenched Thor's hand off his coat so he was free to take a few steps away.]

You think I'm mad, and yet here you stand accusing me of words I've never spake?! You, who yet robs me of my victory and forces me back to Asgard to waste away?! I have no such thing to offer you, simply because--!

[Because Mother was dead?]

...Because you come to me hoping to-- repair something, simply because she no longer lives, and you feel a debt to her foolish wishes.

And what game, exactly, would you wish to play? [How about the, oh-hey-brother-I'm-totally-not-dead game? Because Loki has been dying to play that for days, now. Playing Odin is getting both boring and lonely, though Thor doesn't need to know that.]

I wish to play no game at all. Now you will tell me what game you are playing, brother.

I thought you dead!

[And he really did mourn, he promises. :c ]

[Thor is visibly getting more and more upset. He has never been one to hide his feelings, and Loki should know that well enough by now to know that an eruption of some kind is mere moments away. He clenches his fist, longing for the feel of Mjölnir in his hand. If this were some other situation, he could raise it and smash away whatever was bothering him.

He can't do that to Loki now, not when - as far as he knows - Odin and Loki are the only immediate family he has left in any of the nine realms. He cannot strike down his brother after his brother gave his very life to save him.]

It was never about debts.

[Though in a way it is, because he owes a debt to Loki as surely as he owes a debt to Sif and the Warriors Three for helping to save the nine realms, as surely as he owes a debt to Jane Foster and Erik Selvig and Darcy and her intern for helping him face Malekith, as surely as he owes a debt to the Avengers for helping him to put an end to Loki's mad schemes on Earth.]

I can see that our brotherhood is beyond repair, as it once was. You fool - how can you have forgotten everything?! Or are you really so blinded by your rage that you would ignore the way we worked together and fought together to avenge Mother's death? Is this about the throne again, Loki?

...were you up to one of your tricks all along?!

Yes, because you were trying so hard to repair it before, weren't you?

[The sarcastic and flippant jabs were back-- at least as Thor got more worked up, it was easier for Loki to bring his own composure back. Better to focus on... other things, than matters of maternity.

That situation's actually getting so ridiculous that he got help a small shrug and a bit of a joking smile.] Honestly, I know not what you want me to say. If I speak in truth, you'll tell me I'm ill of the head! Not that I blame you.

[Basically he really does have no idea what Thor was talking about.]

I will concede I have many tricks, but do you really believe Asgard would see one bound for the axe on the thrown just after their Queen's passing?

[He'll just let Thor take whatever he wants from that.]

Yeah, pretty sure there's an app for that. I mean really, who still buys calenders, it's like not we're stuck in the Victorian Era.

No offense.

I did try. [He always believed the Loki that was his brother was in there somewhere - right up until the fiasco on Earth.] I tried to reason with you before you unleashed a swarm of Chitauri against the mortals! Do not say I didn't try.

[Thor is known for being stubborn, but Loki, too, is stubborn in his own way. Thor is well aware of that.]

"Just after," you say. Then you really have forgotten it all. [He heaves a heavy sigh. Whatever progress they had managed to make up until Loki's "death"... it isn't there any longer.] Or perhaps there are others up to tricks of their own.

[He doesn't know which of the nine realms this "Dreamwidth" is in, after all. Who knows what sort of powers the natives could have?]

[Yeah, he has no idea what an app is.]

No offense is taken, my friend. This job is not of my choosing, and this Era of Victory is not of Asgard. Asgard's victories are not so fleeting that we must name entire eras after them.

[...Thor no that's not what the Victorian Era is.]

[There are so many things wrong with that sentence he doesn't even have any idea where to start.]

Right. Asgard, vikings, hurrah. [That may have been the least enthusiastic 'hurrah' ever uttered.] Look, big guy, I know you're new around here, but if you're gonna go around dressed like that, you could at least acquaint yourself with the time period you look like you're imitating.

Here on Earth, long flowing hair and fancy drapes look like they're from the era of Black Plague and Pretentious Loquacious Theahtre.

Actually getting to know the conveniences of this time period would also be a bonus. Just saying.

Throwing me out of a plane isn't really what I'd call making amends. [Though that's actually more sarcastic and in jest than really mocking. It almost put a dent in his plan, after all!

Still, he's suspicious. Why does Thor seem to know so many things he doesn't?] I'm not really fond of falling for others' tricks.

How else was I to get your attention before the mortals tried to stop me?

[Look, he's not very good at the whole stealth infiltration thing, he proved that back when he was trying to reclaim Mjölnir. At least when he'd grabbed Loki, his brother was the only one he'd roughed up.

...until the man in a can showed up, anyway.]

I am not trying to trick you.

I am imitating nothing. I am dressing like an Asgardian!

[He doesn't get what the big deal is, Tony. He really doesn't. What on Earth is a theahtre, he wonders, and would Jane like to go see it? She did like big words.]

If it bothers you, you could teach me.

[On the plus side, it means you can also give him a dunce cap when he inevitably fails.]

[oh god no]

As much as I would... love, to be your personal nanny to the whims of humanity [He would so not love it], I don't have that kind of time. And I don't get paid enough-- actually, I don't get paid at all. Got a company to CEO, world-changing technology to build, robots to babysit, an energy market to dominate-- it's why I have a personal assistant. And a girlfriend. [S h r u g s]

Also why I don't do SHIELD's dirty work, not really any good health benefits for it.

Trust me, the thunder and cacophony was plenty.

[Because come on.]

Oh, I believe you-- you couldn't even trick the mortals into believing you were trustworthy after a week on Earth.

[The Avengers were way too transparent. He shrugged.] Perhaps you've simply suffered of your own delusions. It wouldn't be the first time someone in this family did.

[don't "oh god" me iron man you're talking to a god]

If it is money that is your concern, I could pay you.

[Thor, no, you can't afford him. ...well okay, maybe as the heir to the throne of Asgard you could, but...]

The treasures of Asgard would be yours to peruse for suitable payment!

And yet you were still tied up and at the mercies of the humans you so despise before I came for you.

[Which was part of his plan.]

I suffer no delusions, brother. If either of us is suffering delusions, it is you.

[r u d e]

[Two years in a cell, Loki thought, I fake my death and you ask why? After a moment, he did glance away guiltily, though. It had been a cruel ruse, and if he were to be honest with himself, he'd milked it for all it was worth, wanting to know how much his brother still cared.]

Admittedly, it came close.

[ok but he's pretty sure gods don't wear bathroom linens]

...How much treasure we talkin'?

[On the one hand it would probably ruin the local if not global economy to be saturated with so much new currency

on the other hand

He'd totally be even more rich.]

[It had been a very cruel ruse. Thor isn't sure what would upset him more - Loki actually being dead, or the situation as it stands now, with him having lied about it.]

Why - why, Loki - did you hide it from me for so long?

[thor is pretty sure he doesn't wear bathroom linens. jury's out on if odin does though]

Our treasures are numerous! Far beyond what petty things you have down on Earth.

[Ha, ha, ha.]

Even the one or two I could allow you to take with you would far outstrip anything you could find down there.

[The question brought tears of rage to Loki's eyes. A cruel creature he may be, but he'd had his reasons, and he didn't have the option of explaining them to Thor. Which left him in an uncomfortable state of either admitting everything and losing his throne, possibly to be tossed in the dungeon, again... or admitting nothing and losing the care of quite possibly the last person in all the Realms (or outside them) who gave a damn.]

[Perhaps he could admit to only a part of it? Perhaps fashion together a web of other facts with it, to make it seem plausible? Either way he'd have to make it fit with the tears in his eyes, because he could feel them there. Could use them for other purposes than to express the grief, loneliness and anger that they actually were.]

[For now, he stuck with half-truths. He wanted Thor to understand, even if all he understood was a little.] I cannot return. There is no where safe from the Chitauri, once I venture there. Besides, the dungeons were getting boring.

[Were he Odin, Thor may have made some quip here about how playing with powers that were beyond Loki's control was sure to get him burned. But he isn't Odin - he is Loki's brother through and through, and so his brow furrows in concern.

Of course. Loki hadn't acted alone in his assault on earth. He had made deals - promises, perhaps - that now, he would be unable to keep.

It's believable enough, when coupled with the tears in Loki's eyes and the expression on his face, and so Thor believes it.]

Our next course of action is obvious, brother. We must take steps to make you safe from the Chitauri!

[...which of course, to Thor, means fighting them. It's obvious from the overly-confident expression on his face. God damn it, Thor.]

[Okay, in retrospect, he really should not have gone there. Given how many ships had been assaulting the Midgardian city, Loki had been assured that Thor knew who the Chitauri were. But this... Thor would die. Everyone would die. Loki was honestly scared. He staggered back, away from Thor.] You will do no such thing! This is not something you can fix by pounding it to shreds with your hammer!

Look, I was lying, alright? I do that.

They require an item to know the day of the week? [Loki raises a sardonic eyebrow at that.]

It is probably a good thing I saved your Jane's life as they will need her to raise their average intelligence.

Mun is posting from work; muse doesn't approve.

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Hoping a 2nd Loki is okay to add here -- post TDW updated?

No objections at all! Sorry for the delay - work's been too busy to tag at!

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