driftfleet | System Mingle!!

[ he rolls his eyes. ]

It's a good thing no one calls you the Wise Thor.

There's still time for that. Besides, you can't know that no one does.

[It's a big universe. Thor takes another glass off a passing bartender and puts it on the table in front of Loki, given he's nearly done with the one he has.]

Were you just looking around the place then?

[ loki takes it without comment, having a sip. ]

For the most part. It's been a while since we've visited another planet and the last one was dreary.

[ mostly because it made him uncomfortable hearing people in the fleet talk about hunting monsters. ]

There wasn't much happening there, compared to this place. Even if the woods up top were kind of the same.

[Minus the giant wildlife. Thor's already tangled with some of the more aggressive ones here, for the hell of it. And because they were trying to bite him, which was just not acceptable. Thor finishes off his glass, tapping a finger against it.]

All this underneath is a big improvement.

It certainly holds more variety.

[ back to drinking. ]

Anything has more variety than a bunch of trees.

[Who says Thor isn't wise? He grabs another glass and has a drink himself, gazing out over the park below. It's nice to be somewhere livelier. More resources, more distractions. They'll never see everything this place has, that's certain.]

[ loki gives him a look that clearly says really. ]

You're just happy there's enough alcohol to drink.

[Yeah, he is, but when has that ever been in question. He's unphased by the remark.]

You're the one who walked into this bar, Loki.

[ loki points his finger at him. ]

I don't always walk into bars.

Hmm, no, probably not. No doubt you have other ways of taking the measure of a place.

[For Thor, he's always found bars valuable sources of information. It's an easy way to get a sense of the populace and where news tends to travel.]

[ his lips twitch. ]

By sneaking around and listening, mostly.

[He laughs into his glass.]

Yes, just like that. Plenty of places to do that in here.

[ this is nice. or it's the drink, slowly taking effect. ]

No doubt we'll both find ways to entertain ourselves.

I hope so. There are some things I ought to do for the ship as well, but... [He shrugs, lifting his glass again.] I know how this works by now. I have plenty of time.

[ his expression twists. ]

I suppose we do have that. Time.

[It buries itself in Thor's face too, the dark irony of it. He breathes out, looking away for a moment.]

...yeah.

[Maybe it's just a lie they tell themselves to forget that time's run out for both of them at home. Sometimes, Thor almost finds himself forgetting that Loki only exists here now. Then it comes back to him and it winds itself painfully around his heart.]

[ his expression softens. ]

I didn't mean to bring it up. I suppose it's been on my mind lately.

It isn't your doing.

[He can say that readily enough, with little thought. Loki's mere presence isn't to blame for everything Thor struggles with in this place. It's the opposite most of the time, a relief where there's so little of it to be found.

Squeezing his glass with his fingers, he looks up again.]

It's never far from mine either. Any of it.

[ oh. that's depressing. ]

Thor.

[He shakes himself, sitting up straighter and pulling back on his dour mood.]

No, it's fine. It would be stupid to pretend that it isn't, but it is not constant.

[ gently. ]

I don't think either of us are engaged at much pretense lately.

[He screws up his nose briefly.]

Must you put it that way?

[It's so... florid. Raking his fingers back through his hair, Thor does stop and think about that.]

I don't honestly know.

[ loki can't help it. he laughs a little, soft. he's always sought answers from the people he cared about; odin, thor, frigga. but the truth of the matter, the truth that loki has always shied away from is that they didn't have answers. not for him and sometimes, not for themselves.

but it wasn't so bad. or maybe he feels less lost now that he knows the end of the story. as far as endings go, he can't complain. ]

That's fine.

[And ultimately Thor doesn't want to know. Not really. If he's coming apart at the seams and everyone is too nice to tell him so, so be it. He doesn't need confirmation. He needs to-- keep at what he's doing. Until he can get home and do something about it, he needs to treat the Fleet as something to endure and eventually overcome. That's the only way he'll get both himself and Loki out of this mess.

He does roll his eyes a little, having a swig of his drink.]

As long as we both agree.

I see no reason to disagree.

[ he eyes thor's hair, remembering the way thor fiddled with it earlier. ]

Your hair is looking worse. Have you forgotten how to take care of it?

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