first one to make that doctor who joke loses

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Who: Everyone! All of you!
Broadcast: Maybe!
Action: Definitely!
When: Anytime during the toxic moon event!

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[boy oh boy, isn't everyone just so excited to explore this... charming... place...?

this is a game-wide mingle and the timeframe isn't super-important, so throw in with whatever you want! play war games, go shopping for gas masks, get lost in the wilderness, hide up in the Iskaulit and refuse to set foot on the moon, anything goes.

here's the main event info post for reference! have fun!]

Comments

[complicatedliar]

He stepped back into the room immediately, not even bothering to open the door first. Magic was very useful that way. He had his cup of tea in one hand and a dagger in the other, just in case. He was read, if some sort of strange attack had occurred.

[touchofrogue]

There was nothing there, just Rogue sitting on what they had made to be their bed, the communicator on the ground in front of her. She was several shades more pale than normal, her shoulders tense and posture taut. Perhaps more worrying, however, was just how long it took her to look up at him, to realize he was back.

Oh.

Her throat worked, and she swallowed, trying to speak but not quite able to find the words through the sudden devastating wave of emotion.

[complicatedliar]

"What is't?" He asked, relaxing slightly as he saw nothing overtly threatening. He slid his dagger away, into its pocket dimension.

[touchofrogue]

And then, anger, Rogue's first defense. It burned hot and low in her belly, and she stood up abruptly. Taking a few paces forward, she snatched up the communicator as she hissed a word between her teeth: "Mystique."

Maybe she was wrong. She hoped she was wrong.

[complicatedliar]

He'd seen her angry before. He knew this. And he was certainly in the revenge business, himself. "I shall be pleased to watch your back whilst you see to your business."

[touchofrogue]

She wasn't wrong. It was Mystique, and not the sort of gentle version which called herself Raven, no. This was an anger she knew, an anger she had born inside and out. Rogue had no doubt that this was the woman who'd raised her and then set her psyche bare for the ravaging of her mind and soul.

She was trembling. Rogue felt it in a strange, disconnected manner. She never trembled, not like this, not anymore, but it was as if the whole of her body was gathering up all of her considerable force of will to simply deny Mystique's existence, to blot it out entirely as if it would somehow change anything.

It wouldn't. And then she heard Loki's offer and it skittered down her back with icy fingers. She'd murdered her mother once in the heat of her rage, betrayal, and loss - and that had almost destroyed her. To do it deliberately... she'd killed since then, true, and many times, but that had been battle, that had been against insane cultists out to torture her to death, that hadn't been personal (death is always personal to someone). War wasn't murder. She didn't want to murder.

That, at least, was made abundantly clear by the tone of his offer. Her lips trembled before she pressed them into a flat line, drew a deep breath and slowly exhaled, trying to find clarity in any other thought. "As soon as I know what that business is, I can't think of anyone else I'd rather have at my side."

[complicatedliar]

Murder was very personal. He'd murdered Odin and felt no real pang of regret over it, but that wasn't something he was sharing around. But he was also keenly aware that he and Rogue had very different perspectives on this. "Whatever you like, I shall be ready."

[touchofrogue]

Well, there was a comfort in that at least. She stood there for a full half of a minute, trying to think of any response, more than anything wanting to simply deny that this was happening.

It was happening, and she didn't know what to do about it, and she hated, she hated, she hated it.

Finally, Rogue drew an abrupt breath between her teeth and turned to face Loki fully. Her communicator was still clutched in one hand, her other was a fist curled at her side. "You won't be able to tell who she is by scent, she's evolved past that. But you should have enough magic on me" what with the ward and the necklace and everything "to always be able to tell, right?"

Her eyes were still hot, and though she was no longer trembling there was something off about her posture - almost as if she looked as though she wanted to anything but stand still.

[complicatedliar]

He nodded. "Yes, that is correct. I have many ways of knowing you." And a few of the others that are important to him now--Remus and Leto, particularly. He cocked his head slightly. "If I had some of her blood, I think I could make an artifact that would identify her."

[touchofrogue]

"That's good," she mumbled, breaking their gaze to glance down at the floor and then move backwards to sit on the bed.

Some of her blood... she was here...

Rogue really, really didn't want her to be here. With the passing of the initial rush of anger, she felt physically ill. She grew even more pale.

[complicatedliar]

Loki moved closer out of concern, but wasn't certain if it would be entirely wise to touch her yet. At times, she reacted very poorly to that. "If you tell me who else you might wish to warn, I can set up the message for you," he offered. It was something that would still have to come from her account, as no one would trust it from him.

[touchofrogue]

"I don't know if I wanna do that," she said quietly. She was almost surprised to hear him offer it, considering all the times he'd been the subject of that sort of message.

Rogue planted her elbows on her knees and ducked her head down, trying to fight off the nausea.

She didn't want this to be happening. She didn't want this with so much force it felt as though she was physically trying to move something even though she was sitting still.

[complicatedliar]

Ah, but the difference was, he was Loki. He didn't care a toss about anyone else. His ability to generally began and ended where it would help him manipulate someone, with few notable exceptions.

"It is your decision entirely." He also wasn't about to go high-handedly deciding that for her, particularly since the only reason he had to care about any of her friends was that if they died, she'd be distressed. (Well, other than Kitty. Kitty was provisionally all right by him, since she was trying to get along.)

[touchofrogue]

She was definitely not doing well, and he was being very practical and very considerate and that just made her feel foolish on top of the tumult of anger and denial - she didn't want this to be happening, she just wanted this to stop happening...

Maybe she should go. She shifted forward, but hesitated as her stomach lurched. Rogue took a breath and slowly raised her head, glancing from him to the door. "Maybe I should go get some air."

[complicatedliar]

Loki regarded her, reading her face closely. "I do not think that will help." Because she''d run, but there was no running fast enough. Or she'd hurt herself, which was no solution either. "Though all I can offer is the comfort of my company, if you will have it."

[touchofrogue]

Rogue hesitated. She didn't really want to feel this way at all, let alone have him as a witness to it. But hadn't this been the brick and mortar of their relationship, deliberate decisions to trust the other with their pain, with their broken places? Silently, she held out a bare hand in invitation.

[complicatedliar]

Loki took her hand and carefully sat next to her. He held his other arm out, a question of if she wanted to be any closer, since there'd been times when she hadn't reacted well to him just going in. There was still that gap in time between them, which made his reading of her far less certain.

[touchofrogue]

Rogue simply curled her legs under her and leaned against him. As he shifted to invite her closer, she gave him her hand, permission to move her as close as he wished. She felt physically weak, as if her body had somehow atrophied around her as she sat, and she was trembling faintly.

[complicatedliar]

Loki slid his arm around her and pulled her closer, lightly resting his chin on top of her head. He remained silent; there was little else he could say that would be at all honest in this case.

[touchofrogue]

She continued to tremble against his side. It might have helped if Loki was warm, but he wasn't - he was pretty much always just room temperature. Instead, Rogue did her best to curl in on herself.

I don't know how to deal with this.

And after a while, she whispered: "...I don't know how to deal with this."

[complicatedliar]

Loki fully wrapped his arms around her then, followed by working a bit of magic to make some warmth. He had to hope that would help. "I might be concerned if you did," he said after a moment. "This isn't the sort of situation one plans for." Not even him. "And even if such plans existed, they would not survive the reality."

[touchofrogue]

"I'm not any good at plans anyway," she said. An old joke, a tried one, she was grasping at straws.

It was true - she wasn't any good at plans. She did, usually, have an excellent instinct for what to do when a situation presented itself. She had no idea what to do now. No idea. None. She just wanted it to go away.

How was she going to live in an enclosed area with -- that woman? Gawd, why did she even have to show up here?

[complicatedliar]

"You do well enough," he said, smiling at her. Yes, an old joke indeed. "I think first you must decide what you want. One cannot plan without goal."

[touchofrogue]

"What I want..." What she wanted wasn't possible. "...ain't possible."

She drew her legs up on the bed and tried to shift forward to press her forehead against her knees, to become as small as possible.

[complicatedliar]

"I didn't say what was possible. I said what you want."

Because that was the first step, after all. Most impossible things weren't nearly that impossible. He stayed next to her, arms around her.