log; Loki & Keith WHO: Loki & Keith WHEN: March 9, following the tinder post. WHERE: Way Out. SUMMARY: Loki & Keith meet up, check each other out, and decide to take it to a room. WARNINGS: Flirting. PG-13 at most.
At best it was a diversion, but a diversion was exactly what Loki was looking for. He'd wandered around most of the ship at this point, keeping in mind some of the posts he'd read that suggested that poking into things was likely to get you into trouble. That he hadn't yet, was no sign that he wasn't willing to poke around, so much as it was a sign that he was in an information gathering period. He didn't like moving into anything without feeling certain of how the situation would operate and right now, he was lacking that knowledge.
But in the meantime bed sharing of the non-sleeping variety would provide him with a different type of information, which made it a diversion that was both fun, and potentially useful. Beings of many types tended to be more willing to share information in the post orgasmic stage, and Loki wasn't above using that to his advantage.
Granted there were a number of people who were watching him here, who didn't trust him, and someone who trusted him enough to let him into their bed for a while, had its own appeal that, honestly, had nothing to do with usefulness in the informational sense.
He'd dressed himself in a deep green tunic, a dark black jacket over it, with tall black boots that had a bit of a heel on them, which provided a couple of extra inches to his already formidable height. His hair was dark, glossy, and loose around his shoulder, and he stopped outside of the restaurant Keith had mentioned, staring at the language which he'd become aware of the fact that nobody seemed to know - oddly. As he waited, he folded his arm over his chest, and let his mind wander.
Keith hadn’t really expected much to come from the whole Space Tinder post. He wasn’t good with words in stuff like this. It made him miss the Blade where everything was more action and less talk. But he’d been thinking about how to move on and the post came up, so he just jumped on in. And when someone actually seemed interested, well, he jumped right on in there too. Habit even after all these years.
Maybe this was a bad idea. That certainly flitted through his head when he spotted Loki. The coloring was off: black instead of white, cream instead of purple, green accents instead of blue and orange, but the styling and stature were familiar enough to remind him of exactly why they’d hassled Allura about his resemblance to Lotor. Maybe a bad idea, but he was here now and he trusted his skills enough that if this turned into a different sort of stress relief and distraction, he could handle himself. Especially when his sheathed blade was strapped to the small of his back like always. Another habit.
Hooking his thumbs into the pockets of his tight black pants, he stepped up beside Loki, unintimidated by the height difference. He wasn’t short by any means, but he was used to dealing with the Galra who ranged from a foot to two taller than him at any given time. He’s pulled his hair back into a messy ‘ponytail’ to keep his bangs out of his face and the rest of his outfit was a red and black motorcycle jacket over a black t-shirt, fingerless gloves (one hand flesh, the other silver with green accents), and his tall red and white boots. He raised an eyebrow as he looked between the man and the sign.
“If you can actually read that, you’re going to be the most popular guy on this entire ship,” he pointed out.
Loki cocked an eyebrow in return, and glanced over and down (just a little), as his lips turned up in a smirk. "Alas, it's not a language I've seen in the Nine Realms," he told the newcomer. There was a beat as if he were considering it, although in reality he was really only considering the man in front of him. "And I've studied a fair number of them."
This was true: Magic, histories, languages, he'd gladly spent the time learning his lessons, an area he'd excelled far more easily in than he had the warrior swordplay that came so naturally to Thor, along with their father's attention. Loki shook the thoughts away, neither Odin, nor Thor, had any place in this conversation, and the fact that either of them might be missed at all, was certainly not relevant here.
His gaze turned to the sign and considered the words for a beat more and then he turned his attention fully to Keith, taking in the dark hair, violet eyes, the scar and jawline, and then letting his gaze wander to the jacket and … the full picture was definitely pleasing.
"I'm Loki, and you must be Keith," he stated. "You said there was food you recognized from home, what of drinks?"
Keith couldn’t help the snort of amusement coupled with a twitch of his lips at the answer because, ok, yeah, even if this Loki was not the one that had been there before, the similarity was definitely still there. Which maybe should have made him bail on this entire thing, except… somehow it made this more interesting. Familiar but completely foreign at the same time, but the familiar part felt like it was giving him a good idea of what he was getting into. What would be involved and that it’s exactly what he wanted. Or maybe needed. Especially considering…
He caught that look. The assessment. His chin raised, another habit. A challenge or defiance to whatever decision was being settled on. Even so, he appreciated the attention. It’d been too long really and… His eyes flicked down and up, taking in the angular features, lean but solid body, and elegant hands… yeah, he could definitely appreciate the attention.
“Must be,” he echoed, the amused smirk twitching back. “Unless you’ve been setting up another meeting.” He nodded though as he unhooked his flesh hand to wave at the menu. “I can’t tell you what they’re called, but the food back home we know mostly by sight anyways. Drinks…” He shrugged. “I can definitely tell you one to avoid.” That one he at least knew the name of considering how strong the memory was. A memory he didn’t really want to think about now when the whole point of this was moving on. A brief shake of his head to dislodge the thought before he shifted to face Loki more head on. “I know some worth trying.” His eyebrow raised again. “If you’re thirsty.”
Oh, Loki liked him. That chin raise, the smirk and the way his eyebrow raised again as he asked the question all were sassy, but the look he'd been given even without tapping into any of his powers suggested appreciation and that was enough.
He met Keith's gaze straight on, as he answered: "I'm definitely thirsty." He let the gaze linger for a moment and without breaking it, he tilted his head towards the restaurant. "Shall we?"
Really, with that answer and that look, the restaurant and drinks were the farthest thing from Keith’s mind. Skipping the small talk and getting right down to business actually seemed like a better plan. Maybe not the smartest idea to just drag him back to a room without discussing… something, even if he was pretty sure they were on the same page. But then he’d misread people before. Plus something to loosen up wouldn’t be so bad.
After another second of consideration, he gave a sharp nod before brushing past the taller man to go inside. He handled the drinks, ordering two of what he recognized more by smell than anything else, especially since seeing the liquid in a proper glass instead of whatever cups the Blade had lying around was still weird. Granted the glasses did make the liquor look a bit more impressive, showing off the opalescent sheen swirling through what otherwise looked like murky green tea. Which really didn’t relate that well to the taste. Yes, there was an herbal quality, but it definitely wasn’t in a tea way. He didn’t have any good basis, just that alcohol sting that didn’t upset his stomach like Earth alcohols did and the main flavor and scent reminding him of mint, but not in that overpowering toothpaste or candy way. Refreshing and warming all at the same time.
He handed Loki one of the glasses before raising his own. “Cheers. To…” He shook his head and let out an amused puff because what even was he supposed to say. “... quenching thirsts?”
Loki took the glass and considered the liquid. It didn't remind him of anything he'd had before, but obviously Keith's world was not his own, and this was not his own either. He tipped it just slightly and nodded his head, "I'll drink to that," he agreed, and then lifted it to try a sip.
It wasn't like anything he could compare it to from Asgard, and for all the time he'd spent on Migard, he really hadn't spent much of that drinking so there was no comparison there either, but it was good, refreshing, a little sparkling - and that wasn't just the sheen in the liquid either. He nodded his approval as he sat it down in front of him.
He touched the rim of the glass before looking up at Keith and considering him. "Have you been away from your home world long?" It was a more interesting question maybe than how long he'd been with this group, or in Texas of all places. And if they were going to share a drink, then learning something about the man seemed like an obvious place to begin, and Loki definitely didn't want to talk about himself at the moment.
Keith took a swig of his drink, his eyes closing and a breath hissing out in appreciation at the taste and pleasant sensation. Which made the question far too fitting considering it’d been far too long since he’d had a taste of this drink. He nodded before taking another smaller sip, his eyes lingering on Loki’s fingers before tracking up to his face.
“If we’re talking here instead of my home universe, yeah. Over two years. Home world back in the universe?” He made a face. “That gets complicated. You just got back here, yeah?”
Loki took another sip of his drink, and nodded. For a moment he didn't know if he wanted to offer much information, but then he had been here before, and there was the uncomfortable reminder that people had known him before and he had no remembrance of them at all.
"I've been here a few days," he finally said. That much was obvious from the network or boards or whatever they were. "Before that, I'd been away from home a bit." Not that there was anything left to return to. His gaze flickered away, half-wondering if there was something from Asgard on the menu, but that would be something for another time. "Did you know me before?" His gaze pulled back to Keith. That might make this awkward.
Keith pressed his lips together as he thought over the question before his head tilted to the side in a combination head shake and shrug. “Not well,” he admitted. “There were mutual friends, but…” He shrugged. Most of what he knew and his opinions were through Loki’s interactions with Allura, which… hadn’t always been the best. But then they’d all been in different places then considering… “He left over a year ago, so memories are a bit hazy too.”
He took another sip, leaning in a bit more towards Loki as he raised an eyebrow. “Does that change what you’re looking for tonight?”
Mutual friends could mean anything, really - could be ones from his world or ones who were here - and unfortunately he had no way of knowing which. And asking about it, would only pull that question further out, and potentially create awkward moments, which if he were honest he didn't want at all. Because what he was looking for tonight was some fun, and less thinking about any mutual acquaintances either of them had from Loki's world or otherwise.
He moistened his lips, and leaned forward. "No." For a beat he didn't move, then he brought his hand up, running a finger along Keith's hand nearest him. "What I'm looking for tonight does not involve mutual friends. It does involve another one of these, perhaps," he glanced off hand at the drink, before focusing back in on Keith. "And then I think somewhere a little more private, if that's what you're looking for."
An appreciative sound rumbled in Keith’s throat. The set of his shoulders eased, relaxing at the confirmed promise that had started on the network instead of preparing to just shrug the entire attempt off. Plus the closing distance was nice as well as that simple touch. Maybe a little less than simple considering it felt like a bit of that extra sensitivity from the liquor was starting to kick in.
“Good.” His voice was firm and low, the edge taken off but a slight quirk of his lips. “The beds might feel too big, but I don’t think they’re really party sized.” Talking of beds just added more thoughts to that whole ‘a little more private’ comment. Which, ok, yeah, that was the whole point of this. Get a good distraction. Some really good feelings for a night. And now that impatient and impulsive urge to forget the drinks and just head to that ‘more private’ was back full force. So ‘I am’ was the only response to the proposed plan that Loki got before Keith closed the gap and pressed his lips against the other man’s.
There'd been something he had been thinking about saying. Something about beds and parties, something witty maybe even, but Loki was thoroughly distracted from any of that by Keith closing the gap between them and a quippy statement became no longer the point. He murmured his approval of this new turn of events and he turned towards Keith so that he could raise a hand, and slide it up against Keith's neck. His lips parted as an encouragement to keep Keith interested. "Or we could forgo the drink," he murmured into Keith's mouth. "Seeing as how we've had one."
Keith found himself missing Kosmo not the first time, but for a completely new reason considering the cosmic wolf’s teleportation skills would have come in really handy right now. Getting back to his room would’ve just taken calling the canine over and grabbing a hold as they got blinked from the restaurant to the room. Maybe even right onto the bed depending on Kosmo’s aim. But then if the wolf had been there, who knew if he even would have gotten up the courage to put a message on that Tinder post anyways. So, ok, they’d have to be doing this the ‘normal’ way.
“Room,” he mumbled against Loki’s lips, just feeding off that encouragement for a moment. Taking in the warmth from the kiss and the hand on his neck as well as resting his hand against Loki’s side. Some enjoyment now but also a promise of more to come. An idea popped into his head though as he drew away for a breath. A ridiculous idea, but hey, what did he have to lose? “But if you want one last taste…” He turned his head enough to bring his glass up to his lips and throw back the last of his drink. Then he locked his mouth with Loki’s again.
For a heart's beat Loki hadn't known exactly what Keith was doing, but then he found his mouth captured again, and this time with the taste of whatever that liquor had been on his lips, well on Keith's lips, and Loki found himself smiling into the kiss, and a hand coming up to slide behind Keith's neck and keep him there. Encouragement, yes, and maybe a hint of demand: Loki wanted those lips to stay right there, but yeah,the room.
He moved towards his feet, tugging Keith and his delicious tasting lips with him, Loki's fingers found skin against Keith's neck, and then he moved them to Keith's hand, always trying to find skin against skin, a reminder that there were yet good things to come.
"That was enough of a final drink for me." He hesitated. "Do you have a roommate?"
Keith puffed out an aggravated groan because, yes, he did have a roommate. Had they talked about this sort of situation? No, but then he hadn’t considered this an option until that post went up. Did he have the patience or brainspace to figure out how to contact his roommate on the network and wait for an answer? Also a very big no.
“Yes, but he’s out,” he settled on. Which if they got back to the room to find his roommate was actually there, well, they’d deal with it then. Unless… He raised an eyebrow. “You?”
The groan said it all, really. And it spoke very loudly, both about the roommate situation, and that Keith was definitely on the same page as Loki was right now.
"Alas, I have not been given quarters fit for a Prince of Asgard," he bemoaned with just a hint of drama. "We can check yours, and if it's occupied, we can check mine?" Loki wondered if he could actually magic someone out of their own room. If nothing else, maybe he could create a pocket of a room inside another room… Although he would be distracted if all went well.
He stood up, tugging on Keith's hand to pull him to his feet, and draw him in close. "After you?"
Keith leaned back into the tug. A habit of years of sparring and fighting. Making things just that little more difficult. Test out the hold and get a good read. Work for it a little, even if they both knew where this was going. But it also gave him that second or two more of time, considering, well, that answer was very Lotor. He could very easily imagine the half-Galran saying something similar when Voltron held him captive. That wasn’t what caused his head to tilt to the side and brow to furrow for a second. No, the similarities with Lotor were a thing long past. That underlying dramatics, though... Not much, but enough to spark familiarity.
A familiarity he really was not going to focus on right now. He shook his head to dislodge that train of thought as he shifted from playful resistance to pressing into Loki’s frame. His arm snaked under Loki’s jacket to wrap around his waist. A good guiding hold while bypassing a layer of clothing. “Are any quarters fit?” he asked before giving the taller man a tug of his own. “C’mon then. My luck’s been good so far tonight.”
Loki found his lips turning up into a bit of a smirk, the firm feeling of Keith against him something he wanted to chase just a bit. Keith was definitely attractive, and even if he could have hidden them there and forgotten the room altogether, there was some appeal to being seen leaving with someone like this. He turned his head towards Keith, and bent his lips to his ears, and murmured. "After you."