driftfleet | [closed]

Entry tags:

loki,
thor odinson

[closed]

Who: Thor and Loki
Broadcast: no
Action: somewhere on Drade
When: now

[There's only so long Thor can stand a mutinous silence. Even if he's the one who started it. A part of him had been hoping that Loki would come to his senses and come talk to him about their confrontation. After so many attempts to reach out over the years, Thor's been burned many times and a certain exhaustion with it settled into his bones. But that had been before Hela, before Sakaar. Before Ragnarok. Regardless of how maddening his brother can be, this endless frustration needs to stop.

Only a visit to the First Breath finds Loki absent. Really, he should have expected that. New system and all. It wouldn't surprise him if Loki had his feet kicked up in one of the theatres with a drink in hand.

He tries calling Loki instead. No good. Well, if he's at the theatre, he won't respond. It's only later when another call fails to connect that Thor starts to worry. Surely he wasn't being ignored that thoroughly. (Wouldn't be the first time.) A few random enquiries in the market square later finally turns up an answer: "Oh, that shady looking guy with the dirty hair? He took a ship off north. Heard there's some good treasure in the mists, the maniac."

Thor takes a few seconds to curse before sprinting back through the markets, stopping only to buy two masks. Who knows if Loki already has one; Thor will gladly throw a spare at his head just to make a point. A few (admittedly stupid) ventures into the mists himself without a mask had already taught Thor that he shouldn't have scoffed at the tales the locals tell.

He grabs his shuttle and sets off for the island: small, isolated, half-sunken below the mist line.]

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[Okay, bafflement is giving way to insult. Mist illusion or not, no one has the right to go barging around with his face and say things like what he's heard. Thor draws away from the other, stepping closer to Loki's side.]

There's no 'we' to be had here. Not with you.

[Thor draws his sword with a sharp ring of metal.]

[ The other Thor merely folds his arms, looking at Loki. Loki, who was trembling slightly but kept his dagger up.

"He'll send you away," the other Thor says conversationally, "You've done nothing of value and you never will."

The other Thor turns to Thor, a quiet smirk on his lips, "After all, there's no trust, is there?"

Loki says nothing, still as stone. ]

[Loki's silence isn't as jarring as the other Thor's words. Thor's hackles are up immediately, lips curling into a snarl unseen beneath the mask. He doesn't like seeing this come from his visage, hearing it come from his mouth.

He doesn't like that some of it resonates, even faintly.]

Now that is a lie.

[Vehemently. Thor glances back at Loki, whose pupils are so dilated as to make his eyes black. He reaches up to yank his mask down, the better to talk to his brother.]

Don't listen to this thing. I've never-- I'm not going to send you away. Why would I want to?

[ Loki swallows tightly. ]

Because I'm a setback. You can't trust me and it would be foolish to. I may have gotten the ship but then what? It doesn't fix me.

I'm not an Odinson. Or an Asgardian.

[ He looks up at Thor briefly. ]

If I have nothing to show for it, why would anyone keep me?

[ Loki exhales. ]

Maybe I can't be more. Maybe I never could be.

[Thor just stares at Loki, shaking his head briefly out of reflex. An automatic disavowal of the picture Loki paints.]

Of course you can -- Loki. [He fully ignores the other Thor, who continues to smile coldly at the both of them. Thor steps in front of Loki, blocking his view of the illusion and forcing him to look at the real thing.] You got the ship to Asgard. You rescued all of those people, and started Ragnarok when I asked it of you. You saved Jane from the Dark Elves - and me. You came back when you didn't have to, helped me with the funeral rites when you didn't have to.

[He reaches out to grip Loki's shoulder, giving it a little shake.]

And you scraped me off the floor of your ship when you didn't have to take care of me either. Do you think I would have stayed there at all if I didn't trust you even a little?

[As he says it, he feels the weight of it himself for the first time. Because he hasn't trusted Loki, knowing himself how that blind faith has burned him in the past. Has burned him as recently as a week ago when Loki rushed into danger without letting Thor know, and it still chafes at him.

But Thor has wanted to. "I wish I could trust you," he'd said once, when things were so much more bitter between them. Thor's pragmatic enough to hold his trust in reserve now - only he's released some of it back.]

[ Loki purses his lips. ]

I —

[ "He's lying, Loki. He didn't want to stay. He had to stay with you. Eventually you'll run out of uses. You think this is your birth right? Or have you forgotten?"

No, Loki hadn't forgotten. He's not foolish enough to expect Thor's or anyone's trust. He wouldn't be so ludicrous as to expect that. But Loki knows the line he is treading on is thin. Loki shakes his head. If he had done the Marsiva part correctly, none of this would have happened. If he could just get it right and keep doing so, then none of this would be a problem. Loki just needed to do it right, not like himself. ]

— I am trying.

[Thor spins on his heel and snaps a lightning bolt right through the other Thor.]

You don't speak for me, you bastard!

[Of course it does nothing, which only makes Thor want to barrage the shade with more lightning strikes. That won't help though, so Thor turns back to Loki instead, reining in his frustration.]

I know you are. [Thor's not blind to it, even if he doesn't always comment.] You can keep trying, Loki, however long it takes.

[He clasps the back of Loki's neck, hanging his head for a moment and letting out a heavy breath.]

You drive me mad sometimes brother, but I've always wanted you around. I still do.

[ The Other Thor is still speaking, but its voice is muted now, like shouting through a dense fog. Loki's breath hitches slightly. He can keep trying. It was like a weight had finally lifted off his chest, letting him breathe. Loki leans closer, dropping his head on Thor's chest. The other Thor curses, slowly dissipating. ]

[Thor shifts his arm around Loki's shoulders, holding him there while he calms down. Twisting his neck he can see the fake Thor dissolving back into the mist. He purses his lips and considers shouting back at it as it retreats. There are plenty of choice things he could say to it. It's gone before he can come to a decision though. ...probably for the best. These mists give rise to dark thoughts.]

What an ass. Didn't even sound like me.

[Okay, he can't let it go without muttering something.]

[ Loki huffs, a wry smile filtering through. ]

I told him that from the start.

[Thor squeezes Loki's shoulders a little before pulling his arm away.]

These mists aren't so good at imitation as you are.

[Which reminds him. He unhooks the spare mask from his belt and honestly just - shoves it right onto Loki's face.]

Put this on. What even possessed you to come out here?

[ Loki fumbles with the mask before putting it on. ]

I thought if I could face the mists, it would get . . . easier.

[Thor still hasn't replaced his own. He's forgotten about it for the moment.]

They are treacherous things. I didn't think anything of them at first, but...

[He trails off, lips thinning into a line as he watches the curl of mist around them. He had underestimated what the strange weather here could do, the stories the locals told.]

I tried calling you and you wouldn't answer.

[ Loki reaches out to adjust Thor's mask before replying. It took him a moment to realize that he had worried Thor and he felt oddly guilty for that. ]

My apologies. I hadn't realized.

[Thor blinks and then pulls the mask tighter. Right. How long ago did he take it off...?]

You should take it off silent mode then.

[Or at least put it on vibrate. He waves a hand, starting to walk back in the direction he thinks he came from with the expectation Loki will come along.]

Well I found you anyway, despite that.

[ His lips twitch faintly. ]

I suppose we were being rather loud.

And it isn't that large an island. It's just the damned fog that makes it--

[Thor cuts off abruptly as he feels a change under his feet. A crunch. Only there aren't any trees on this island to leave branches here, nor sand to grate under foot. It sounds more like........

Within the next second, two things happen. Thor suddenly shoves Loki out of the way with both hands. And the ground shatters underneath him, dropping him quickly out of sight down the hole that opens up where they had both been standing.

There's more than one reason this island has a dangerous reputation.]

[ Loki yelps as he is tosses aside, immediately scrambling to his feet. He peers down the hole, trying to squint through the dust and rubble. ]

Thor!

[It's a long drop, a few seconds at least before Thor hits the ground with a yelp. He rolls down the rubble-strewn slope, coming to a halt in darkness and dust. Such a fall doesn't do much more than jar and disorient him. Still, he takes a moment to stagger to his feet, heart hammering from the adrenaline.

Coughing a few times (his mask? must be somewhere, who knows, he would have torn it off anyway) he tries to get his bearings in the dim light. It's not wholly dark down here. There are shafts of light penetrating here and there, illuminating the ever-present mists and the metallic walls. Thor's on the verge of calling up to Loki when recognition sinks in.

He knows these walls. But that's impossible, not here.]

It can't be, [It mutters to himself, inaudible from above.]

Thor, I'm coming down!

[ Loki descends, using his powers to cushion the fall. He lands on his feet, brushing the dirt of his knees when he glimpses the walls. ]

Is that . . . ?

[Thor's already moved away from where Loki lands, a couple dozen paces away down the length of the spaceship. A spaceship they both know well: the Statesman. Only it's never looked like this.

The long run of the ship's main room is dark and empty. Some emergency lighting flickers along the ceiling, showing only the absence of any living soul. There's a mournful, abandoned air to the place that creeps along Thor's skin, screaming wrong directly into his mind.

He jerks around at Loki's voice, staring at his brother for a moment with confusion before he turns back towards the empty space in front of him.]

This is-- no, there must be a mistake. [What happened? How did the ship end up here? Without its passengers? Thor sucks in a breath and starts running for the front of the ship, calling out as he goes:] Heimdall! Valkyrie!

[ Was this Thor's greatest fear? It's not surprising by any means. How much loss could they shoulder? It seems to never end. And they were all on one lonely spaceship, trying to find a home. Loki inhales softly, collecting those thoughts and putting them aside. He moves quickly to catch up to Thor, resting a hand on his arm. ]

Thor. This isn't real.

[Thor whirls around, panic making the move too abrupt.]

I don't have time for this. I have to find out what happened, I--

[It's hard to see Loki in this darkness, with only one eye. Thor's gaze skitters away over the dusty floors and empty hall again. It's been how long - five months? Six? That's how long he's been gone, it's enough time for the Statesman to leech itself of any warmth the Asgardians' presence had given it.]

Nothing has happened.

[ Loki's voice is insistent as he shakes Thor's shoulder instead. ]

This is not our ship.

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