[semi-closed]

[rebuildyourruins]

Who: Thor + various
Broadcast: no
Action: the First Breath, some other places
When: May 20th - May 27th

[After engaging in some extremely extra behaviour with a bunch of other extremely extra immortals, Thor came down with a brutal fever on the First Breath and has been holed up in Loki's room ever since. Still, there remain some things he needs to do.

If you want your character to find Thor during this time, hit me up on PM/dudemeister and I'll toss up a starter for you! Otherwise if they would just try to call or message him, feel free to use this post to do so.]

Comments

[watermarks]

Yes. [ Agreement, but a qualified one. After all, neither of them are dead or seriously harmed, so it looks like he has done fine. ] But now you have help, so it's silly not to take advantage of it and exhaust yourself further when your body needs its strength to fight off the sickness.

[ Still, she doesn't move to touch him and help him without permission, for any number of reasons. Part of it, honestly, is strategic. If he's wearing himself out doing something that is essentially harmless, he's far less likely to do something harmful later.

...Katara has dealt with a lot of sick, powerful boys. ] So if you do need help with something, please let me know.

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki squints but the effort to maintain this level of distrust is exhausting, even on him. And he had spent most of his energy helping Thor through the worst of it. ]

Fine. Your support is . . . noted.

[watermarks]

Oh, good. [She bites back: Now, where do you keep your extra pillows? Instead, she moves toward Loki to just... rearrange the pillow vertically behind him so he has better support.] I'll get you your soup.

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki tentatively leans against it. ]

. . . Thank you.

[watermarks]

[ The pillow entirely fails to vanish. Katara's back is to him as she is moving to retrieve the soup, but she casts a smile over her shoulder at him. ] You're welcome.

[ She retrieves the soup and moves it back over to him. ] Here you go.

[ She glances around to see if there is a side table she can move over so that he won't have to continuously support the soup. ]

[dothelokimotion]

You seem practiced at this.

[ He watches her movement like a hawk, fingers twitching. ]

[watermarks]

Carrying soup? It is a major staple in the south pole.

[Teasing? Yes. But that might be in part response to his Suspicion Levels, and she's starting to wonder if she should leave him be completely. The energy he's expending in watching her has got to be comparable to what he'd expend in just reheating the soup himself... unless he was weaker than he looked, which was probable, considering he was letting her do this at all.

Hmm... IS there a small table or a large book about that she can ask about using for a tray for him?]

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki rolls his eyes. ]

I meant care-taking. I take it you've done it fairly often?

[watermarks]

I've done it enough. [She doesn't want to get into those stories. The first thing she thinks of is Zuko, and that horrible month after he'd been tortured - electrocuted to the point his chi pathways had been burned and depleted - and how scared she'd been that he'd never be able to bend again. And how awful it had been, to tend to him, after his betrayal in Ba Sing Se, after Luceti had made them think they'd fallen in love, after he'd run... and he'd been such a lousy patient. Oh, she'd definitely had practice.

Frowning a little, she grabs the side table and brings it directly adjacent to the bed. That will do.] I told you I've had training.

[Although the type of medical training she'd had was much more along the lines of 'cutting someone open and reattaching necessary parts' than serving soup, so his implied question was perfectly valid.]

[dothelokimotion]

So you enjoy this?

[ Training isn't synonymous with enjoyment. People do things because it's what they're used to or it's how they feel wanted. Necessary. Loki is familiar with all those motions. ]

[watermarks]

I'm good at this. [ Simple. There were too many things involved in this to say 'enjoy', honestly. ] I enjoy when people get better.

[ It was small comfort, seeing them get better, when she'd rather be able to stop them from getting hurt. ]

[dothelokimotion]

And that is enough?

[ His gaze is sharp and knowing. ]

[watermarks]

[ Her brow furrows. She knows that he's digging, that's evident by his gaze, and she has no interest in revealing more of herself to him than she has already. Her pain is currency that she'll spend when it's worth it, when it's time to try to bridge a gap between enemies or when she needs resilience to push beyond her limits; her pain is not for others' amusement, or to satisfy idle curiosity. ]

Enough for what? [ She glances pointedly at his soup. ] Your soup's getting cold.

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki flicks his fingers and it starts heating itself. His magic is rather weak but it's still there. Loki would be panicking a lot more if it had vanished during his illness. It's how he managed to get Thor on the bed when he fainted. ]

Enough in general terms, of course.

[watermarks]

Most of the people needing care feel that it is. [ Because that was surely what he meant. Her face was a study in mildly quizzical neutrality. ]

Although the steps to recovery can be frustrating.

[ Like staying in bed. Actually eating the soup. She nudges it closer. ] Speaking of, you should really have some soup.

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki gives the soup a pointed look before slowly reaching for it. ]

I don't care all that much. I would have been fine.

[watermarks]

[ The soup, being soup, remains unaffected and delicious. ]

I'm sure you would have been. But hopefully this will help you get better sooner, since you'll be able to rest and worry less about Thor.

[Since she'd be there to keep both of them in bed, for at least a few hours or so. She leans in conspiratorially.] You'll probably need the rest to keep him in bed once I'm gone and he doesn't feel like he needs to be polite anymore.

[dothelokimotion]

[ There's a flicker of understanding in his expression. ]

You'd think he'd be more mature about it.

[watermarks]

[ Oh good, that might have worked. ]

In my experience, no one is very mature about being sick.

[ This wry look and roll of her eyes is clearly referring to Thor, because it could not possibly also be referring to Loki, that would just be silly. ] Has he been awful about staying in bed?

[dothelokimotion]

The worst. He keeps getting up and falling over.

[ While Loki is by no means, a good patient, he has enough sense to know not to push himself too hard. Granted, they are on his ship, which might be why Thor is feeling restless. ]

[watermarks]

[ She tsks. ]

You'd think twice would be enough to stop people from doing that. When it's the fourth or fifth time, it's just so tempting to leave them on the floor.

[ She doesn't, of course, but... you know, it is tempting. ]

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki huffs. ]

I certainly would.

[ Maybe. Probably. ]

[watermarks]

[ And yet Thor was in bed and not on the floor, so... Katara supposes his real answer to this is: it depends. ]

Well, fortunately it looks like it hasn't come to that. I'll leave the soup in the kitchen for you to warm up the extra later.

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki waves it off. ]

Fine. We'll make a note of it.

[watermarks]

[ She bites back a sarcastic comment. ]

I'm glad to hear it.

[ Then, since Loki has the soup and she's interested in monitoring their symptoms for a little while longer, she simply nods and moves away to let him eat in peace. ]