Thor Odinson (boomfizzle) wrote in aafterthebattle, @ 2012-08-26 22:14:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | loki, thor |
What: Thor demands, Loki doesn't answer, and then Thor fears. All in all, Loki doesn't appreciate Thor's concern, especially when it comes to Thanos.
Thor still gripped his journal as he stepped into the room, the pages open to his and Loki's conversation. He said nothing as he bolted the door behind him and set the journal down on a nearby table, staring at the words. After a while, he sighed and went to sit down.
"Mother does want to see you," he finally said, "but she does not wish to push you."
Loki sat by the window, though the curtains remained drawn, and his journal closed on his lap. He looked up at Thor, considering him, and said nothing.
"She is afraid that if she comes here to see you, you will feel trapped and unable to leave her if you wished to. So she will wait until you are comfortable to see her."
"She said this?"
"Do you doubt me?" Loki only shrugged and Thor pushed himself out of the chair and went to stand by Loki. "Tell me about the Tesseract."
He folded his hands. "What of it?"
"Do not play me the fool now, brother."
"I wouldn't dream of it."
"Then talk to me."
"The Tesseract is quite complex. I could tell you any number of things and not even begin to touch on the significance. You must be more specific."
"Tell me about you and what happened, then." Thor reached a hand out as if to touch him, but hesitated and pulled it back at the last moment. "The... hatred for us."
Loki only considered him. For a moment, his eyes may have flashed blue.
Thor wasn't looking at his face and hadn't caught it. "The hatred for me, I suppose," he murmured.
"There is no hatred. Only resentment."
"But why?"
"For being constantly in the dark of your shadow, perhaps."
"You placed yourself in that shadow," Thor insisted. "I did not place you there."
"No. You did not. That was the Allfather's doing." Loki stood. "You said you mourned me. Truly?"
"Aye. Every day." Thor stepped back slightly to give Loki more room. "Why would you blame me for father's doing?"
He ignored the question. "You grieved for someone who was not your brother. Did you know that? Did they tell you of my true heritage before or after they lit the pyre?"
"I was told and I still mourned because, despite what you may think, you will always be my brother." Thor did reach out to Loki then, resting a hand on Loki's arm just under his shoulder. "Nothing will change that." Loki shrugged him off, but Thor continued as if he hadn't. "You once told me to never doubt that you loved me. Does this still stand true?"
"What do you think?"
Thor tried a smile. "I have yet to stop doubting, despite what you tried to do."
"You truly are a fool." He sat again. "Tell your father that the Tesseract served as my fuel, but he served as my inspiration. He'll love that."
"I will tell our father nothing until you have told me everything."
"Your father," Loki corrected again. He ran his fingers idly over his journal.
Thor let it drop, not wanting to get into that argument at the moment. "Do you not love me anymore, brother?"
He arched an eyebrow. Thor waited, watching him.
Loki just shrugged, spreading his hands. "You need ask?"
"I have yet to stop doubting," Thor repeated. "However, it would be nice to hear it."
He sighed and rested his chin against one palm. "You are quite sentimental."
"Perhaps..."
"Would you like to see?"
"See what?"
"How well I love you, of course."
Thor wasn't sure he wanted to face the truth if Loki didn't, but he nodded his agreement anyway. Loki stood, then, and stepped close to Thor, whor continued to watch him, silent. Loki undid the buckles and straps holding on Thor's chest plate and armor, pulling it away. Then, with the armor gone and Thor left in his woven shirt, he lifted that and pressed his fingers hard against the wound he'd left in their battle not four days before.
Thor hissed and tried to moved away from the fingers. He hadn't bothered to do much but make sure infection wouldn't set in, and the wound was still tender.
Loki persisted, still pressing. "This. This is how well I love you, brother."
Thor grabbed Loki's wrist, pulling the hand away. "And yet you did me no real harm. You could have done worse." He pushed Loki back, putting distance between them.
"Perhaps."
Thor placed a hand over his wound, frowning. "I don't understand."
"You wouldn't, no."
"All I have ever done was love you. I did not expect this in return."
He shrugged. "And yet, this is what you received."
"It is unfair when your fight is with father rather than me."
"And why is that?"
"Because I have done nothing to deserve this." Thor pulled his hand away to check his wound. He decided it would be fine, so he picked up his armor.
"You choose to be Odin's messenger. Therefore..."
"I am not speaking of what is happening now. I am speaking of before. When you let the Jotuns in to our home. When you tried to kill me."
"You were in the way."
"Of what?"
"Of me."
Thor frowned. "Did it never occur to you to ask for my assitance?"
"Would you have offered it?"
"Depending on how you phrased it? Yes."
"Hm."
"You tongue always got you what you wished, so I am sure you would have convinced me."
"Someday, perhaps, we will test that theory."
"I am here, allowing you to use me as your messanger. Isn't that test enough?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"There will always be tests."
"I suppose I should have known that."
"Probably, yes."
Thor was quiet a moment. "Mother will wish to know if you dislike her as well."
Loki sat again and drummed his fingers against the arm of the chair as he mulled it over. "No. I do not."
"She will be glad," Thor said. Loki shrugged, so Thor continued. "You hurt her moreso than you hurt me."
"And how did I do that?"
"She is your mother. She fears for you, just as she fears for me. She will not tell me, but I know that she was hoping both of us would survive the war on Midgard. You, perhaps, moreso than I."
"She got her wish, then. We live yet."
Thor frowned. "You are blind, brother."
"Am I?""
"If you think that is truly all she wished for, then yes."
"Then tell me what else she wished."
Thor stared at him for a moment before shaking his head. "Ask her yourself, brother."
Loki only smiled at him and Thor settled on the edge of his bed, quiet.
"What else do you wish to know of the Tesseract?"
"What more will you tell me?"
"Now now, Thor. That is not how a trial goes. You ask specific questions, and I answer them. You do not throw your queries into the void."
"You will simply twist my questions," Thor said with a shrug. "I figured this would be simpler."
"No, Thor. Think. Were you in combat, you would not throw Mjolnir about at random and hope to hit your target. You would strike your target straight-on. Do that with your questions."
"This is different than battle."
"Not really."
"Of course it is. You are not my enemy."
"It is a metaphor. Try to keep up."
Thor frowned at him. "I understood it as one, brother. I am simply saying that it does not fit."
Loki spread his hands. "The reasoning is sound, however. Ask pointed question. It will yield better results."
"Tell me the real reason you choose Midgard, then."
"Why not Midgard?"
"Loki..."
"They could use some order. Or someone to put them to right. You weren't doing much for them, despite claiming them as your protectorates."
Thor looked away from him. "You cannot simply... fix a race such as theirs."
"But you agree they require fixing."
"Not the way in which you intend to do it," Thor said and Loki shrugged. "Do you intend to try this again once your punishment is over?"
Loki considered that. "To be completely honest -- and you may laugh at that later, if you wish -- I am not sure I intended to go about it as I did in the first place."
Thor arched an eyebrow. "How so?" Loki just spread his hands and Thor wrinkled his nose. "Loki, I cannot continue asking things if you do not answer me. How did you intend to go about this?"
"My way would have been somewhat more subtle."
"Your way? Were you not... Loki, were you following someone?" Thor stepped closer when Loki simply frowned and rested a hand on the juncture of Loki's shoulder and neck. "Talk to me, brother."
Loki hesitated, glancing up at Thor. Thor rubbed his thumb across Loki's cheek, watching and waiting.
"...Thanos."
Thor's hand tightened slightly. "You met with Thanos."
"Yes."
"Why would you do that?" Thor leaned forward, resting their heads together. Loki shoved Thor away from him and stepped back. Thor let him, but he didn't let him go too far away. "Will Thanos come after you?"
"Likely, yes."
"We must tell father."
"Fine, do so. I doubt he'll give it much care."
"Loki, he will."
"He'll be concerned over Asgard's safety should Thanos seek me out here. That is all."
"That is not the only thing he will be concerned about."
"We shall see."
"Do not put yourself down."
He frowned. "You remember the stories we were told as children, do you not? Of Thanos? How his might rivaled the whole of Jotunheim, and that if we did not obey he would tear us from our beds?"
"Of course I do. That is why I fear for you."
"If you knew how much those stories left out, you would know better than to waste your time."
"Then perhaps you should tell me." Thor sat, pulling Loki to sit next to him. "Tell me what part of history I am missing."
Loki frowned at him. "If you knew the full power to which Thanos can wield, and to what purpose... You would skip fearing, Thor. You would mourn."
"I have mourned enough. I am tired of mourning a brother I won't lose again."
"We shall see."
"Tell me what I can do to help."
"Nothing."
"There is always something."
"Not this time."
"Do not tell me that."
Loki turned away from Thor, curling a bit in his chair. "You should leave."
Thor hesitated. "You wish me to leave?"
"Yes."
He didn't want to leave, but Thor stood anyway. "Of course. I will be telling father of Thanos."
"Naturally."
"He will help." Thor hesitated before stepping close to Loki and placing a gentle kiss to the top of his head. "Sleep well, brother, and trust in me."
Loki jabbed his fingers back into Thor's side, into the wound, and twisted. "Leave me, Thor."
Thor winced, but forced himself to stay where he was. "When will you learn that no matter how much you aim to hurt me, I will never doubt the truth." He pulled away and went for the door.
Loki flicked his fingers and sent a chair flying toward Thor's head. When it hit, Thor hesitated just a second before clenching his fist and leaving the room. He bolted the door behind him. Loki turned to face that direction again, frowning. That last act had done little to lift his mood, and now he was short a chair.