thor odinson isn't wearing his mother's drapes (thundering) wrote in thedisplaced, @ 2018-09-21 10:23:00 |
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Entry tags: | loki odinson (mcu), thor (au) |
WHO: Loki Odinson (MCU) & Thor Odinson
WHERE: Tumbleweed, TX: Thor’s House
WHEN: September 8th, 2018
WHAT: After Thor arrives in Tumbleweed, Loki shows up at his house to catch him up on some important events back home.
WARNINGS: None
STATUS: Complete
Never let it be said Loki had no appreciation for his brother. He found Thor infuriating, but he’d missed the familiarity of filial antagonism. He’d also missed Thor, should one catch him in the mood for truth. The face didn’t matter. The memories only mattered a little. So long as the god of thunder didn’t hate or ignore Loki Odinson, then he was his brother. Loki didn’t have it in him to stop caring about the fool (the inconvenient and intelligent fool who was becoming far too wise to Loki’s tricks). Tonight, the god of mischief was in no mood for it. He called Einar to heel, retrieved his keys from the kitchen counter, and headed for the address of Thor’s supposed house. Munin settled on his shoulder to share the journey. Above, Loki heard Hugin take to the air. He could imagine Frigga usurping the dog bed before his odd procession made it so much as a hundred feet from the front door. The walk to Thor’s home allowed Loki time to think. Thor had once again been rude enough to surprise Loki, this time with a nephew. Worse still, he had no idea about Thanos. Loki dreaded telling his brother what had become of their people. Thor, with his quick temper and unfailing devotion, took failure poorly. Perhaps Loki ought to delay ... Munin stretched his wings and “accidentally” hit Loki in the face in the process. When the god opened his mouth to reprimand the bird, he interrupted, “Bored.” Loki rolled his eyes. “You didn’t have to come. In fact, I don’t recall inviting you or your friend.” In reply, Munin relocated to the top of Loki’s head. “Bored,” he repeated, bending to stare Loki in the eye upside down. Which is how Loki found himself still playing word association games with a bird by the time he set foot on Thor’s front lawn. It was late when Loki showed up on Thor’s lawn. The house that had shown up for him and his son had been the one he had painstakingly built by hand for his love, Jane Foster. It had taken months, but the effort had been well worth it, the physical manifestation of his love for the woman that had birthed his son. It had not been enough to keep them together, but it was still a reminder that they had something special and would always have something between them, even when they were apart like this. It was the home that Finn had grown up in and it pleased Thor that it was here for Finn as long as they were stuck here. This world...it wasn’t anything new for Thor, unfortunately, to be ripped from his home to be put in another. But as used to it as he was, he was glad there were familiar faces around. Sort of. The only one he really knew was Torunn, but the others were close enough, were still versions of his friends and family that he knew and loved. Even if Loki was about ten shades paler than he was used to, he was still the smarmy asshole he knew and loved. And it was no surprise to see him show up, while Thor was sitting on his porch, leaning back in one of his rocking chairs. Inside, Finn and Torunn slept soundly, after their reunion. “Loki,” Thor said, making no move to stand. There was a rocking chair opposite of him, that he now gestured to. “Sit. Though your birds can leave.” They had always been too much, too talkative, too curious for Thor’s comfort. “They’re not mine,” Loki corrected, with barely a pause in his argument with Munin. “No, Groot is not cheating. It’s a language, it uses words, and it’s not my fault if you’re offended by trees having an opinion.” The bird glared before he treated Loki to face full of feathers on his way up to the roof. Rolling his eyes, Loki joined his brother on the porch. “Now they’re going to spy. I hope you’re happy,” he told Thor. The chair soon found itself turned to face the elder brother, and Loki propped his feet on top of Thor’s lap when he settled into his seat. Einar curled up on the porch at his side, for now leaving Thor alone. “I trust your son is asleep.” Pinning Loki with a pointed look, he smiled wide and then shoved his chair back quickly to let Loki’s feet fall off his lap. And as if he wasn’t just a huge jerk just then, he answered Loki’s question. “Aye, he and Torunn fell asleep hours ago. It’s been a long day for all of us.” Shifting into a new world was a new experience for Finn and Thor had yet to adequately explain the lack of Jane in this world to his son. That heartbreak would have to wait another day longer, as Thor tried to find words to express that information in a way that wouldn’t scar the toddler. Ignoring the birds, he stretched out on the chair. “I know you didn’t come here to make small talk, brother.” Thor didn’t say anything more, trusting Loki’s inability to keep quiet to give him some form of an answer before long. “In point of fact, I came here to annoy you.” Loki disappeared from his seat only to reappear sprawled across Thor’s lap, fingers laced behind his head and knees hooked over Thor’s arm as Loki grinned up at his brother. “You’ve been gone for weeks. It’s been frightfully dull. Except for the party. I do throw an excellent party. Though the invitations were in your name, and I’ve not yet forgiven you for not showing up.” Loki conjured one to hand to his brother. “I’ll have to redo them for next time. I like the look, by the way. Long hair suits you. And I prefer the two eyes. Very un-Odin-like.” From his place on the floor, Einar sneezed. Loki shot him an annoyed look. “No comments from the peanut gallery.” Thor was not used to this newer version of Loki - clingier, wanting to spend time around him, full of compliments, and missing him. They had made strides in their familial relationship during the ordeal with Hela and Ragnarok, but the strides had yet to reach the level of comfort Loki was displaying. Conjecture told Thor that this was a result of whatever happened after they left the space rocks that was once Asgard and the time Loki had spent in Tumbleweed. It was the only logical explanation. Which made Thor wonder if something even more terrible than losing their parents and losing their home had happened. Casually shoving Loki off his lap and ignoring the noise of the filler words spewing from his brother, who was speaking as fast as he breathed, he looked down at the invitation. The amusement was clear in his face. “You must have been deeply bored to go to these lengths, to throw a ball.” The amusement slowly slid off his face as he placed the invitation on the arm of his chair. “But this is just a distraction. Speak, Loki, for the hour grows long and I long for my bed.” What was that phrase? Oh yes, like herding cats. Loki could be impossible at times. It didn’t help that Thor was about 90% sure that Loki wasn’t even there, that he was only dealing with the illusion of his brother, who liked tricks so much. Loki dissolved a flurry of green and gold sparks before he hit the floor. The real one coalesced with little fanfare a few paces down the path, far enough from Thor to be safe in invisibility. He spread his arms and smiled. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, but I prefer to avoid your fist in my face. I wanted to be certain.” He mounted the steps to the porch and took the empty chair in truth, patting Einar between the ears when the dog raised his head. Silently, Loki conjured a heavy bottle from the pocket of space only he could access, and set it between himself and Thor. Frost crept across the glass from beneath his hand. “The cold gives it a little kick. Not enough to get us drunk, I’m afraid. You may not thank me for keeping you up tonight, Brother.” A pair of tankards appeared in his hands, and these found their way to either side of the bottle. “You don’t seem surprised over the ocular commentary. I expect I can begin with the Statesman. Do you recall a rather large ship approaching us?” Rolling his eyes, Thor was growing wearier by the minute. There was a time and a place for him to be amused by his brother being dramatic and ridiculous. This wasn’t it. To lose his home once again, with no guarantee he would see the loved ones he had left behind? It was something he hadn’t a chance to mourn properly and his brother’s antics weren’t helping. But finally, finally Loki sat and began to tell him about what happened after the last of the memories Thor had of home. And finally, Thor could realize the true horrors of what awaited him, should he ever get the chance to go back to their original universe: Thanos and death. Thor took it all in with a grim face. Once the tale was done, Loki poured both of them a drink. He chilled the tankard almost to the point of frostbite before he handed Thor’s over, to give the alcohol more potency. The mead came from Midgard, so it would do little to dull the ache of his history and Thor’s future. “Do you understand now why I am pleased to see you?” Thor knocked back his drink like it was water, poured himself another tankard, and pounded that back too. It did very little to affect him and he was disappointed. If there was a time to drink, it was now. “You aren’t pretending this time? You’ve truly died?” “Who says I didn’t the other times?” Loki pointed out. “But yes. So far as I know, this time is permanent.” He shrugged as though he didn’t care, only to toss back his own drink at a speed to rival Thor’s. “Certain aspects of the memory are hazy. Mostly I recall intending to buy you time.” That, and the way it had all felt. Loki chose to keep some of the worst details to himself. “I’m afraid I wasn’t at my best. I never have been against the Titan. For that, I’m sorry.” Thor sat quietly for a long time, not quite knowing what to say. He lost his whole family, had maybe a quarter of the Asgardians left alive somewhere, and no idea how to set any of it right. It was a lot to take in, especially since he wasn’t even in their homeworld to set things right. Standing, he pulled his brother up with him and hugged him tightly for about a minute. Then he thumped Loki on the back, disengaged, and picked up the bottle of alcohol that Loki had brought. “There’s nothing to be done for it, for now. It’s late, we need sleep. Come, you can have a guest room.” Thor smiled brittlely, knowing that he wasn’t going to be able to keep up a calm demeanor for long. Taking a swing from the bottle in his hand, he turned and started to head into the house. “Your birds are not welcome,” he added over his shoulder, entering the house and leaving the door open to allow Loki entry. The abrupt movement startled Loki. He nearly slid out of Thor’s grasp out of instinct, but for all that Thor looked different, the embrace was familiar. Loki clung back (still shorter than Thor, and that was not fair at all), content to let Thor stand between him and the rest of the universe for a few moments. When Thor released him, he followed. “They’re not my birds,” Loki grumbled. Einar snorted at his heel, darting through the front door before either god could refuse him. Loki might not admit to appreciating the off of a guest bed, but the dog had no intention of turning it down. |