driftfleet | Libuscha IV System Mingle (no. 1)

[Thor looks back over his shoulder at Loki, and huffs. Show-off. With a shrug he sits down on the edge of the pool.]

Yes, I know. I was mostly joking.

[Mostly. His mood has been stormy enough to prompt that kind of thing a few times, and he hasn't cared to immediately get it under control. Every now and then he just wants the growl of thunder to vent his own frustrations.]

I imagine that joke had some truth in it.

[ loki quietly joins him at the edge of the pool. ]

What have you been doing all this time?

[Thor crosses his legs on the ground, resting his chin in one hand.]

Looking around, mostly. The towns are all preparing for some festival in a couple of weeks.

[ hmm. ]

And nothing else?

Not so far. There is little that needs doing on the ship after the last world, and our crew hasn't changed much.

[Finding things to do - productive things - proves difficult at the best of times in the Fleet. Thor shrugs one shoulder.]

You know what I usually do on new worlds.

[ loki hums, thoughtful. ]

Run around joyously at having free space?

When you put it like that, it sounds stupid.

[Which Thor most definitely does not think it is. He doesn't run around, exactly, but - well, he has a lot of energy most of the time to burn. There's no pretending he doesn't launch himself out of the ships as soon as possible.]

[ innocently. ]

Nonsense. It suits you perfectly.

I should shove you into the water.

[He won't, because that would put a literal damper on what Thor set out to do tonight. But it's very tempting.]

The people here are very welcoming. It seems to be something about this season, but they throw feasts every day and give out gifts to everyone who walks past.

[ loki scoffs. ]

It's a frozen rock. No doubt the people here are desperate for any kind of levity.

I don't know, they don't seem desperate to me.

[ what would thor know? thor who looks for the best in everyone. but loki can't — will not look deeper in a place like this. a place too riddled with similarities for loki to ever be comfortable here. his shoulders hunch up briefly. ]

There is only so much one can do with . . . this place.

[He sighs, without any heat behind it.]

You've only been here five minutes, Loki. Maybe you ought to talk to some of the locals before deciding if they're hopeless or not.

[Their kindness had been enough to at least blunt Thor's own prickly mood earlier in his stay. It's not gone, just shoved to the side. Having something else to focus on is good enough for him in this moment.]

[ loki looks down at the pool, pensive. ]

. . . Perhaps.

[Well, that's something. Thor knows Loki doesn't much want to be on this planet - he had said so to his face, after all. That biting comment about Frost Giants earlier was more than enough to tell what's on Loki's mind. His brother rarely bring up what he is.

Glancing over at Loki, he just says it how he sees it.]

We haven't been here before, after all. We know nothing about them.

[There's a point there. This isn't Jotunheim.]

[ loki remains quiet for a while. ]

Father said my birthright was on a place like this. That was my fear in those early days, Thor — That you'll come back and he would simply just . . . banish me. I'm not an Odinson. Even Hela had that.

Coming to a place like this is not easy. Because it is that simple to be left behind.

[A stretch of silence falls in the wake of Loki's words. Thor can't argue that Odin wouldn't banish Loki. It would be laughable to try, and Thor wouldn't quite believe it either. Their father had banished both Hela and Thor at different points - it wasn't a tactic he shied away from.

But there are thorns here that Thor refuses to leave stuck in the skin. He's heard it before - 'I'm not an Odinson' - and Thor had said nothing then. Enough of that.]

It didn't happen, though. You weren't banished. [They both know well enough what happened instead, so Thor ploughs on.] There's no one left who's going to do that to you.

[He turns then and pins Loki with a hard stare.]

You're the only one who says you aren't an Odinson. No one else is saying so. I'm not. Hela's status granted her no favours in the end either. If you ask me, blood isn't the measure I would count it by.

[ there's a small snort at thor's remark on banishment. it's a technicality and they both knew it. yet it was unimportant compared to all the other things thor does say, things loki has been hesitating to acknowledge ever since asgard imploded behind them. loki, who is still piecing together the more. ]

Well it's not a name I can pick up with impunity.

[Thor opens his mouth to ask why the hell not, then shuts it again with some effort. Loki's reasons are inscrutable and often tangled, and Thor doesn't think himself that adept at unpicking them.]

I hope you aren't waiting for someone to give you permission.

[Because it's never going to come. Odin is gone.]

[ loki stares at the pool, or forcing himself to stare at it when his voice wavers. ]

Can I ask for yours anyway?

[He straightens up suddenly, staring at Loki's hunched shoulders with surprise. It had been a throwaway comment, one Thor himself only half took seriously. The Odinson name isn't one Thor himself feels is his to give or take from his brother. It settles uneasily in his stomach, a strange power dynamic he isn't sure what to do with.

Far stronger is the eagerness he feels at Loki wanting to claim it. Because he must, mustn't he? To even ask this way, as though afraid he might be told no? Thor takes a breath before exhaling, nodding to himself.]

You don't need it. [Not from Thor, not as some give or take from on high.] But if you want it, then - of course you have it. You always did.

[ no, it's certainly not thor's responsibility to give it to loki. but it adds a certain legitimacy to it. after all, loki still isn't sure whether he deserves to have it, not after everything. it helps, to know at least thor believed that even if loki remained unsure.

his shoulders relax slightly as he looks at thor. ]

Thank you.

[Reaching over, Thor squeezes the back of Loki's neck lightly.]

Don't thank me yet. I have something to give you first.

[ something to give him? is it a stabb — no probably not. still, loki squints. ]

What for?

[He takes his hand back and starts rummaging around in his pocket.]

I told you, the locals do a lot of gift-giving here. I've had a lot of time on my hands, so I thought I would do the same thing.

[Finding what he's looking for, he draws it out and holds it out on his palm for Loki. In his hand is a woven leather strap, capped at one end with a golden stone. Interwoven with the leather is a strip of familiar red fabric.]

Edited 2018-12-15 10:00 (UTC)

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