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Tweak says, "Uh-oh...."

uǝɥdǝʇs (strange) wrote in dunwichgame,
@ 2025-04-11 15:11:00

Entry tags:

!log/thread/narrative, marvel (tv/film): loki laufeyson, marvel (tv/film): stephen strange (au), ∙ plot: april 2025

Strange & Loki

Sometime this weekend | Around Pickman, then the Crown Plaza

"You busy?".

⚠ TBD.

Stephen had spent the entire morning fixing problems around Pickman. Nothing terribly pressing, of course. Burnt out light bulbs, creaky doors, a leaky faucet. Even when things went 'wrong' at Pickman, it was always something that could easily be handled.

But this particular day had been nonstop and Stephen needed a break from those minor inconveniences. Which, of course, meant it was time to go bug Loki.

Stephen always knocked before he came into Loki's office. They may have been together, but this was still a place of work and Stephen respected that boundary. After knocking, he opened the door enough to lean in the entryway, greeting his partner with, "Hey, you busy?"

He even craned his head a little, nosily trying to see what was on Loki's desk.

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timevariant
2025-04-11 11:06 pm UTC (link)

"Husband," Loki greeted, somewhere between fond and teasing -- only because it was pretty clear from the knock and lack of any real urgency that Stephen didn't really need anything. He was probably just bored. Even when Dunwich was being odd, Pickman was rarely very out of sorts.

Theirs were not jobs that took much in the way of mental effort, most days.

Which was probably why after the paperwork and the random shopping and all the rest, Loki tended to spend their days behind some form of entertainment. Usually a book, but they weren't ashamed enough to not play video games or movies on the computer, either.

Today though, Loki was picking at the coding of their Tempad. It was also boring, but probably in a different way to changing lightbulbs.

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strange
2025-04-12 04:41 am UTC (link)

A smile curved on Stephen's lips, unable to help it. He would never, ever grow tired of hearing that word out of Loki's mouth. Hundreds of years could pass and he would still be madly in love with the one he'd married. Nothing in this world or any world could convince him otherwise.

He stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

"Wifi's been acting screwy," he spoke, slowly crossing the room and kneeling down at Loki's side, his eyes settling on the Tempad, "I'll take a look at the router when I get a minute."

Definitely later's problem, especially since it didn't appear to be impacting Loki's work. Stephen's attention shifted from the Tempad to Loki's face, asking, "Trying to get us back to Bermuda?"

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timevariant
2025-04-13 02:06 pm UTC (link)

"Someone's probably downloading big files again," Loki said, an absolute guess because Loki only really tended to care about the wifi when they were the one using it. Otherwise, A selfish outlook, but Loki would be the first to be find with that accusation.

They reached over with one hand -- the other still on the buttons of the Tempad, poking away -- and ran their fingers through Stephen's hair. "Maybe not Bermuda. I'd prefer more choices than all that-- ah," they said, frowning at the Tempad and pulling their hand back to fiddle with more focus. "There's no reason it shouldn't --"

Work. That should have been the next word. But that cut off by a door opening. Of the time variety.

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strange
2025-04-14 04:50 am UTC (link)

Stephen closed his eyes for a moment, leaning into that touch and humming a faint noise of contentment. There might have even been a pout upon his features as Loki pulled their hand away, but that expression was short-lived.

His eyes flew open, his body turning in the direction of the time door.

A beat followed and the time door appeared to be stable. Stephen looked up at Loki, curiosity on his face. "Where were you trying to open a door to?"

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timevariant
2025-04-15 01:38 pm UTC (link)

That curiosity was echoed on Loki's face, even though they had been the one to open the portal. Accidentally, that expression said.

But who didn't love a happy accident? Loki had learned through late night television that oft times, happy trees came from that sort of thing.

"I wasn't," Loki said after a beat. And then, because they were chaotic even if they'd been suppressing that lately, they raised an eyebrow. A challenge. "Shall we find out?"

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strange
2025-04-16 04:59 pm UTC (link)

The grin on Stephen's face gave away his answer before he ever opened his mouth. He stood up from his kneeling position and offered his hand out to Loki. "Mm, let's."

There could have been anything on the other side of that door. Somewhere worse than Dunwich, for all they knew. But maybe Stephen enjoyed a little bit of chaos himself. Of course he was eager to see where the mysterious door led to.

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timevariant
2025-04-17 02:14 am UTC (link)

Loki took that offered hand, no hesitation in the way their fingers curled around, between, Stephen's -- their other hand snatching up the Tempad before they walked through that door -- Loki tugging Stephen just slightly behind so that they'd both fit through at nearly the same time.

Where the door led could have been anything, any place.

But it wasn't just any place.

It was a familiar place. Distractingly familiar, even. Enough to make Loki fail to notice the door closing behind them without any prompting on their part.

"Stephen," they said, eyebrows raising. "This is--"

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strange
2025-04-18 06:45 pm UTC (link)

Stephen hadn't noticed the door had closed behind them, either. He wasn't sure if it was fear or excitement that ran though his system as he finished Loki's sentence. "..the Crown Plaza."

He unintentionally held his breath as he looked around. How fucked up was it that it felt like seeing home again? Nothing had changed, from the sight of it. Stephen looked at Loki, trying to gauge how his partner felt about all of this. "You wanna take a look around? Y'know, for old time's sake?"

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timevariant
2025-04-19 02:34 am UTC (link)

And so it was. With its giant lobby and high ceilings -- the rooms that had once housed many weren't visible from this spot, but Loki knew that they were a few stair ways or an elevator ride away.

They wondered if their room was still there, inviting and slightly messy. Had any time here passed at all? Were others still around?

Or was it as it should have always been in the first place? Abandoned, dusty, haunted?

There was only one way to know. Loki reached behind to steal Strange's fingers in a tight grip before leading the way past the front desk, familiar.

"Do you think anyone else is here?"

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strange
2025-04-19 03:01 pm UTC (link)

"Let's go find out," Stephen spoke with a grin, his hazel eyes bright with the thrill of being there.

Stephen had also wondered if their room was still there. Or his mini sanctum. Or any of the quirky little rooms that liked to appear and disappear as per the hotel's will.

As they wandered deeper into the hotel, he was starting to get the impression that no one else was currently kidnapped by the Crown Plaza. It was far too still and quiet for his liking. Which made Stephen wonder when the time door had brought them here, either before the island started bringing people in, or after it had sent everyone away.

"Shame we could never figure out the mystery behind this place," he spoke as they drifted down the hall, nosily glancing into one of the open rooms. He suspected they'd never figure out why Dunwich liked to kidnap people, either, but Stephen liked to believe that there was an explanation out there somewhere.

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timevariant
2025-04-20 09:46 pm UTC (link)

"Do you know how frustrating that is?" Loki asked, running a hand through their hair and changing appearance all at the same time. The younger face suited them more here, familiar as the bones of the hotel itself. "I've seen endless timelines, new beginnings and old ends and never this, not properly. Dunwich either."

There shouldn't have been something out there that was outside of Loki's purview. And yet --

"Our room or the roof?" they asked, head tipping toward Stephen with the question.

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	strange 2025-04-22 02:47 am UTC (link)
	"Mm, maybe one day we'll crack it." The whole mystery of the kidnapping location was maddening at times. But right now, Stephen couldn't bring himself to overthink it. As for Loki's question, his smile only grew wider. "Our room first, then the roof." He had a feeling that once they were up there, it would be a long time before they decided to come back down. (Reply to this) (Parent)