[closed]

[rebuildyourruins]

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.]

Comments

[dothelokimotion]

[ It is not Loki's nature to run into dangerous places.

He has a rather healthy survival instinct after all. He doesn't fight creatures bigger than him, more powerful than himself. His talents lies in undermining them, slowly weening away power where he can until he finally has the upper hand. No lure, no greater power would have Loki forsake that instinct.

Usually.

But the wounds from the Marsiva, along with his fight with Thor has him needing — wanting something more concrete under his skin. He wanted confidence, he wanted power, he wanted to stop feeling like he was replaceable, that one wrong slip and it'll be over. He had felt this way ever since he had come to the Fleet. He wanted the fears bubbling under his skin to stop and let him breathe.

He breathes in. The mists fill in his lungs. He twirls the knives experimentally in his hands, testing his grip. According to legend, gifts lay at the end.

Loki can do this. ]

[rebuildyourruins]

[Thor flies past the island at first before realising it lies under the mist. There's an outcropping peeking above the fog, the faint arch of a crumbled structure. A frown settles over his features as he lands the shuttle. The mist closes in around the vessel, higher than his own head. If one was going to challenge the madness of the mist, they couldn't have picked a better place.

Which makes it all the more confusing as to why Loki would choose to come here.

Thor straps his mask on and checks the sword at his side before exiting the shuttle. The spare mask he hangs from his belt. It's eerie walking straight into the pearly fog. He takes a deep breath, uncannily loud within the confines of the mask. He remembers what it felt like when the effects of the mist set in. Shadows, shudders, the spectre of flames all around him.

He sets his jaw and starts walking. The mask makes it annoying, but after a few minutes he calls out into the empty twilight:]

Loki!

[Maybe he'll get a response. Or a clue.]

[dothelokimotion]

[ Thor? Loki spins around, squinting at the direction of the voice. Why would Thor be here? Was it the mist playing tricks on him already?

But he hears it from another direction.

"Loki."

Thor's appearance slowly becomes visible from the mist. Loki relaxes slightly, his arms lowered. ]

You oaf, don't do that.

[ Thor comes closer, his gaze steady and . . . dark. Loki takes a step back (not out of fear, of course not), his hold on his daggers not faltering. He didn't like that look. It was a look he had only seen in dreams, not like this. Never like this. His throat bobs, even as Loki stands his ground. ]

Thor?

[ "Why are you here?" Thor rumbles, "Is there no end to mischief? Can't you do anything right?"

Loki flinches. ]

I — Of course I can. I don't need to prove myself to you.

[rebuildyourruins]

[There are voices nearby. Thor halts, turning his head to try and pinpoint where it's coming from. This Norns-damned mist makes it difficult, deadening sound and flattening all echoes. But he thinks he hears Loki... and someone else?

He waits a beat before veering right, jogging after the noise.]

Loki, are you there?

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki doesn't hear Thor, his attention fixed on the brother in front of him. His hands tremble, his grip slowly slipping. Thor wouldn't mean that, he wouldn't say such things. Loki knew that, didn't he?

But what Loki didn't know could fill an abyss. And Thor doesn't stop there.

"Don't you?" Thor queries, "You really think I wanted you here? And your 'help?'"

Loki blanches once more, turning his gaze away. There is truth there that Loki cannot deny. He hadn't accomplished much and who knows where his actions will take him? Loki isn't capable of good, the kind that lasts, the kind that matters. His gaze slips downward. Thor doesn't stop there, looking at Loki with a sharp gaze, not unlike Odin's. Loki grits his teeth. ]

You're lying. This — this is a trick.

[ Thor snorts ungainly, "The best trick is the one you played on yourself. You'll never make it up, Loki. You'll never be better than what you are. Father was right about you from the start."

Loki's face falls. ]

That's not true. It's not true.

[rebuildyourruins]

[You know what they say about hearing your own voice recorded - it never sounds like you. So as Thor approaches through the mist, he can hear Loki properly at last, but it doesn't click that this other voice is meant to be his own. All he can tell is that someone is talking of tricks and their father. Which is odd, and unsettling.

The other laughs, humourless. "I'm not the liar here."

Abruptly, Thor plunges through a thick patch of mist and right into the middle of Loki and - himself. He looks at his mirror image (not quite the same, there's no mask, and there's an ugly expression on its face), then at Loki, before turning back to the other Thor. Baffled, he says the only thing that makes sense:]

What the hell?

[dothelokimotion]

Thor?

[ Two of them?

No. One was the mists, playing tricks on Loki. He looks furious, pointing the dagger at the other Thor, ready to cut him down. Thor continues to look down at Loki, impassive. Mists swirl around them. ]

You'll not best me so easily, figment.

[ The other Thor laughs. It's not a pleasant sound.

"Or perhaps this will be your greatest fear come true. Shall we tell Thor ourselves?"

Loki inhales sharply, his eyes darting back at Thor. ]

[rebuildyourruins]

[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.]

[dothelokimotion]

[ 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. ]

[rebuildyourruins]

[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?

[dothelokimotion]

[ 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.

[rebuildyourruins]

[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.]

[dothelokimotion]

[ 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.

1/2

[rebuildyourruins]

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

You don't speak for me, you bastard!

[rebuildyourruins]

[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.

[dothelokimotion]

[ 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. ]

[rebuildyourruins]

[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.]

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki huffs, a wry smile filtering through. ]

I told him that from the start.

[rebuildyourruins]

[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?

[dothelokimotion]

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

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

[rebuildyourruins]

[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.

[dothelokimotion]

[ 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.

[rebuildyourruins]

[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.

[dothelokimotion]

[ His lips twitch faintly. ]

I suppose we were being rather loud.

[rebuildyourruins]

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.]