driftfleet | B'lire Game-wide Mingle

[He's quick to order something strong, having been in here for a while already. He knows what he likes. With an agreeing hum, he turns around to lean back against the bar.]

It was insult upon insult, really. Typical of them. But at least I was able to really show them how I felt afterwards.

[With extreme force.]

Yeah, no kidding.

[She raises her glass as a salute.]

It was fun to watch- you and that hammer, wrecking shit.

[He doesn't bother suppressing the grin. Thor will never turn down a compliment like that.]

I'm glad it was entertaining. Not nearly as glad as I was to actually land blows on that cursed ship. I had tried it once before and didn't cause any lasting damage.

[Picking up his glass, he raises his eyebrows at Lup.]

You did no small amount of damage yourself.

I'd be mad at myself if I didn't, so yeah.

[Not enough damage, sure, but it was at least satisfying.]

That's what a lich looks like, if you were curious.

A ghost-y thing? I assumed as much, once I figured out who you were.

[It wasn't foremost on his mind at the time, filled with righteous fury as he was.]

Obviously not something that requires breath.

Mm, nah. Dead things don't need to breathe.

[He already knows this much, so might as well clarify. He seemed chill enough with it when he saw it, so...]

Oh, well. [That's unnerving to think about. Still.] Fair enough.

It's what we spoke of in your dreamstate, wasn't it?

Oh, you remembered? it kinda felt like a mixed bag on whether or not people kept 'em in the morning. That, or no one wanted to talk about it.

[Which is relatable. She certainly hadn't wanted to chat about what had happened all that much at the time.]

Yeah, that's the end result.

I don't recall everything, I think. Certainly I don't remember all that happened in my own.

[Not the actual place, at least. Try as he might he can't muster even a hint of what his 'room' looked like. The memories, though... those are clear enough.]

It is not the easiest thing to bring up in conversation.

[Both the calibrations, and the 'so, I know you're a dead thing' ... thing.]

Mm... no kidding. Kinda sorry I missed yours- bet you had some wild times.

[She did see Loki's, though... she considers bringing it up, quiet for a moment, but ultimately she keeps it to herself. This place is a little too public for the things that she witnessed.]

If you've got any questions about it, come at me, I don't mind. But if you've got a beef then we should take it outside.

[He'd been chill enough in the dream, and she doesn't think he has that kind of issue, but sometimes people are different in reality. Mostly she doesn't want to get charged if someone throws a table at her or something.]

Oh, of that I have no doubt.

[But something about the look on his face is telling of his relief. Thor is old; older than most. Most of his memories aren't so bad. He knows full well though that his more recent ones? Are not the kinds of things he wants anyone to experience, even second hand.

Thor blinks, brow creasing a bit as he looks over at Lup.]

No, I don't have one. You would know it if I did. [He is not a subtle man.] How long have you been that way?

[She takes note of that expression, and she gets it. Plenty of memories in that place she hadn't wanted anyone to see, either. Looking back, she was probably one of the lucky ones- the worst of her dirty laundry hadn't been aired, as fair as she can tell.]

Going on thirty years, now. Gods, I haven't thought about the "when" in ages... sometimes it feels like a lot longer than that.

Yeah, I know the feeling.

[The past eight years of Thor's life have felt like half a millennium. It's a shock sometimes to realise how little time has past. Thirty years is a long span by most mortal measures - though he isn't certain how long the elves of Lup's universe tend to live.]

Is that a long time for your people?

Nah, not even close. Elves can go for 7 or 8 centuries- I'm over 250 at this point. ...Though liches themselves are basically immortal, so it's kind of a moot point.

[She gets why he asked, though- and thirty years, in the grand scheme of things, is barely a blip. In her case... well, it had been a rather harrying time, so it feels a bit different.]

[That all makes sense, so he nods as he sips at his drink again. He remembers Lup talking about the time distorted century she spent on her mission, but that gave little clue as to how long a span that would be relative to her life.]

Ahh, I get it. It's hard to tell sometimes with other races.

[Every human he knows is young as hell compared to him.]

...I already know, because I saw it in your mind. But it was no small thing to make that choice, was it.

Yeah, for sure. And to somebody like you, everyone must seem pretty young.

[Gods often come across as ageless and otherworldly. It's actually weird to meet one that isn't. (nevermind two!)

Her expression sobers somewhat at the rest, though, and she pauses to nurse her drink, taking a long swig.]

We spent almost an entire year debating it, working on theories, cross-referencing magical texts, studying new runes and spells... probably one of the hardest things I've ever researched. Have you ever tried to read an entire necromantic library? It's the stuff of nightmares.

[She goes quiet again, fingernails scraping gently over the surface of her mug.]

...It's not just necromancy. Liches are... supposed to be evil. The sort of thing you warn kids about to scare them into going to bed. They steal the souls of the living to fuel their immortality. But they're powerful, too- you saw it, that day outside the Marsiva. They can do magic most people can't even dream of, and at the time we needed power to save everything. We were cornered, running out of choices. So nah, that part wasn't so hard. The hard part was... doing it in a way that meant I could stay as myself. I didn't want to become evil to stop evil, y'know?

[He grimaces at little at the idea of spending a year reading any library, much less a necromantic one.]

No, thanks. Not really my kind of thing.

[But this is a serious matter and deserves to be taken as such. Thor's heard of beings like liches before, though never met one in the (so-called) flesh. There were many faded tales in Asgard of horrors beyond the known realms, ancient evils and the like. His own half-sister had the power to raise corpses to do her bidding. He'd fought the things, and there was nothing left of what they had been in life.

Lup is not the same manner of being. Whatever else she is, she's a person too.]

It would be pointless to do so. If you ceased to be yourself, you would be of no help to anyone. But I know how it feels to push beyond what's sensible in pursuit of what must be done.

[The spectre of Thanos ever lingers behind him now.]

Yeah, that was my thought. And that's why it was so important that we figure out a way to hold on to ourselves- why it took years before we even seriously considered the idea. Becoming a lich? That shit's permanent, no takebacks. If we did it wrong, we'd never get another chance.

[Her hands tighten around her glass again.]

It's because of Taako that I can be the way I am now. If I didn't have him, I don't know if I'd ever have risked it.

[It's a little strange, being in the middle of Lup and Taako's situation. He knows pieces of it from both of them. And he knows that certain things just can't be said, because of Taako's state. As always he can't help but try to imagine how he and Loki would manage if they were facing the same dilemma.

In likelihood? They wouldn't manage at all. And Thor knows in his core how well he's managed being without Loki at all.

He lets out a breath, letting the sentiment settle around them.]

You're all the more fortunate, then. That you were able to make it through such a thing with his help.

Don't I know it.

[Her lips quirk, expression musing. Even with Taako the way he is now, she's lucky. Some people don't have anyone they know, and here she has two of the most important people in the world to her.]

It's fine, though. I mean, it's been a huge benefit in the long run. We'd have been super fucked plenty of times otherwise, and if I wasn't a lich, then going home wouldn't be an option for me. So no regrets, yeah?

[A smile flickers over his face in the wake of Lup's attitude. It's an admirable sentiment, one he values in other people.]

No regrets. And you will get there, I'm certain of it.

Hell yeah I will. Failure isn't an option for this gal.

[She flashes him a grin and a thumbs up. Death, destruction of worlds, pain, loss- if all of that can't stop her, what the hell can? She's gonna get back everything she lost, and then some. Damn the rest.]

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