dreams in digital

[thespaceopera]

[ Calibration Rooms ]
( for A-M characters )

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ROOMS BY CHARACTER

A - C Akeldama Alisha Diphda Allura Baku Ben Douglass Belthazar Carl Grimes Connor

D - F Escha Malier Eithan Paine Felix Gaeta

G - I Glenn Rhee Grievous Haggar

J - M James T. Kirk (OU) James T. Kirk (AU) Kaname Bucanneer Keith Kitty Pryde Kogarasumaru Kolivan Krolia Lance Leia Organa Leilani Lavellan Libra Loki Lordon Gesh Lup Maggie Rhee Magnus Burnsides Manji Messer Ihlefeld Mikleo Mirage Farina Jenius

(last updated: 1/21/19)

Comments

[abracafcku]

[Okay no, this? This is the "what the fuck" moment of the day. Never mind this room, these memories that flood his mind leave behind feelings that are all too familiar, all too painful and Taako jerks back from the Tesseract as if burned. His hands fly up to his head, clamping his ears shut as if that might stop the pain and the ache that spill over into his own soul.

Or the feeling of hands around his neck.

Gods, is that? Is that how Loki died?

The pain fades to a dull ache and Taako draws in a ragged breath. How did Loki go from that impish child Taako met on the First Breath to...this? He knows, in a way, because Taako knows what sort of hurt being abandoned leaves on a person, knows all too well, but he wonders - Thor is there, isn't he? Thor seems like a good brother. Loki shouldn't have been alone through all that. He died trying to save Thor of all people, so why that period where it seemed like they were at odds? In a war? A war that Loki was bringing?

The questions that swirl in his mind have no answers and he glances over to where Loki is teetering on the edge. There's something so melancholy about him now. Where Taako covers up his loneliness with bravado and rudeness, Loki has a quiet smugness - but both of them are just defenses.

Gingerly, he approaches the god, rubbing his temple against the throbbing pain that still sits there, ebbing away.]

So what's so interesting out here, huh?

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki seems a little … different. Someone seems to have taken a brush to his face, because there are swathes of blue in a zig-zag pattern and one of his eyes seem to be a dark, blood red. His form seems to flicker on and off as if he’s not truly there and his voice tends to distort, like radio static. When you step onto the bridge, you can hear the siren song of the V̵̙͓̦̺͆͗̋ͩ̒ͅo͓͓̹͎̪ͪ͂ͧ̓ͨ̋͞i̭͎̹͍ͤ͊̆d͏͓͔̭̜͚, calling for your oblivion. He cocks his head at Taako. ]

Nothing. That is what makes it interesting.

[abracafcku]

[Well that's?

Taako stops a little shy of the edge, not wanting to get closer and narrows his eyes.

What the fuck? Is that darkness calling out for him? Nope, nope, NOPE, that thing can fuck right the fuck off. Taako flips it the bird with both hands and then focuses on Loki - or tries to. He has a static covering him in an uncomfortably familiar way, making it hard to concentrate on him as he speaks.]

Yeah, I can see that now. Gotta say, my man, I really don't see why you goth hotties have it so bad for fucking... [He gestures to the Void, giving it another finger afterwards.] Whatever that is.

[dothelokimotion]

[ his brow furrows as he tries to make sense of that. he doesn't seem quite like loki, more akin to a sanitized view than the sharper, snarkier version. ]

The Void?

[abracafcku]

Aptly named.

[Can't argue with a name that is so spot on. It feels like a Void, nicely earning its name. Taako takes a moment to look again, before quickly changing his gaze back to Loki.]

So what're you doing here...? Staring into it? This some old hobby or something?

[dothelokimotion]

[ loki cocks his head. ]

No. I always find myself here. Between this place and the calling of the Void.

[abracafcku]

Is that, yanno...healthy? Because it suuuure doesn't seem healthy.

[His eyes track back to the darkness and his ears pin back against his head. The way it calls for the end of all things is unnerving and it makes Taako feel like he's being dragged down into it.]

Yeah, definitely not a healthy thing to do there, bucko. You should probably take a few thousand steps back.

[dothelokimotion]

[ well, nothing about loki has ever seemed healthy. but he steps back at taako's behest. ]

Is there something you wanted?

[abracafcku]

Uhh....

[Eloquent as always, Taako just kind of stares at Loki for a moment, his ears twitching back toward the Void and the sound of it. He's glad Loki's stepping away, but now he can get a really good look at him and it's... concerning? A little weird? Not that weird considering he's dating a guy whose face is legitimately a skull half the time, but it's the first time he's seen someone stuck between two different forms like this. It's like whatever that blue skin and red eye belong to is trying to bleed through and can't quite get out.]

Dunno actually. I just showed up here? Not reeeeally sure what's going on other than if I touch shit I get some crazy trip down memory lane.

[dothelokimotion]

[ loki nods. ]

I keep my pain out here. Which can be difficult for others to deal with. It is not . . . dangerous, should you tread carefully.

[abracafcku]

[His hand unconsciously goes to his neck, but he quickly switches to rub at his shoulder instead. The memory of that giant purple dickwad choking Loki is still fresh in his mind, as it likely is for Loki too, considering it only happened not too long ago.]

Mmmyeah, kiiinda flubbed that one already. You got- [He glances back at the building with all its artifacts lying about, enticing and horrible in their own ways.] -a lot of that pain to seal up in there, huh, bud?

[dothelokimotion]

[ that he does. loki keeps all his pain out here. it's well hidden in reality, but in his mind, there are always traps. pain. but loki would prefer that to forgetting or pretending it never mattered. it's his love that is hidden, difficult to find. ]

There is a lot of history, I'm afraid, that comes with pain.

[abracafcku]

Yeah, I- [He huffs and sighs, running his hand through his hair and voice dropping low in a rare bout of empathy from him.] -fucking feel you on that one.

But there's gotta be some good shit in here, right? Like it's not just 1000 some odd-- [He pauses.] Honestly, I have no clue how old you are, but however old you are years of shitty shit all the time.

[dothelokimotion]

There was. But the narrative warped the truth. Things have improved but . . . [ loki trails off, uncharacteristically. ] . . . in here, it is difficult to make sense of it.

[abracafcku]

Living in a vault full of pain'll do that, noooo doubt about that.

[He moves a little so he can better look back at the observatory behind them. It's weird, in a way, locking everything up like this, but it also makes sense. Loki always seems like nothing bothers him, it's a carefully crafted persona and one that Taako, if he's being honest with himself, knows a little too much about.]

But things...well, they're not great since we're living on a spaceship while being kidnapped by fucking voyeuristic asshats, but they're not bad, right? Right now?

[dothelokimotion]

[ loki cocks his head, absorbing that. ]

No. But I died before things could truly change. Hence the cracks.

[ he gestures to them loosely. as one can see, they were close to healing, but they're still very apparent in this fabric of the mind. ]

[abracafcku]

Fair.

[It's not easy getting over death. Especially one as brutal as the one Loki suffered. Taako simply...didn't let himself think about his. He never talked to Magnus or Merle about it even though they all experienced the same thing. The likelihood of any of them giving a shit or taking it seriously was nil, and the likelihood of the conversation taking a deep dive into uncomfortable territory if they proved him wrong was too high for him to take the chance.]

Kinda weird that being kidnapped by space dicks is what gives you a second chance at healing though, huh?

[dothelokimotion]

Would you truly call it a second chance?

[ because loki isn't sold on that. ]

[abracafcku]

[He shrugs a little, rubbing the back of his neck.]

I mean, you're alive again, right? What else would you call it?

[dothelokimotion]

It is still something that can be taken away at a moment's notice. It does not belong to me. It belongs to someone else.

[abracafcku]

But that's life, isn't it?

I mean, second chances or no, that's how life is. [Whether they know it or not, death is always lurking around somewhere. Anyone can die, even gods, at any time.]

And death. I guess. In our cases, that's how death is, too. So might as well live it up while you got it.

[dothelokimotion]

[ bold words from someone who avoids making connections. loki squints at him briefly. ]

Is that what you do?

[abracafcku]

Pretty much?

[It's not entirely a lie? Taako lives by his impulses, doing what he wants when he wants to do it, taking what he needs and what he wants without regard to anyone else. It's an entirely selfish way to live and he's fine with that. He saves who he wants to save and is rude as fuck when he's slighted by someone.]

Don't see the point in wasting my time on this stink planet - or any stink planet. Taako's gonna live while the living's good.

[dothelokimotion]

[ it's really like looking into a mirror. this loki, however, just accepts this demurely. ]

Of course.

[abracafcku]

So why not you?

[He motions at all the stuff lying around, all the gateways to the pain that Loki tries to hide as hard as possible.]

A second chance is a second chance. If you hadn't been pulled here again-- Isn't it a blessing in disguise to be here? At least now you can keep on keeping on.