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Tweak says, "You give me something."

Loki did a terrible slash upon the internet. (lie_smith) wrote in snapthread,
@ 2019-03-17 23:23:00

Entry tags:

america chavez (616), loki (616)

Who: Loki and America
What: Magic and Might
Where: The field behind the town
When: March 17, evening
Rating: Lowish

There weren’t a lot of people out there who boasted inter-dimensional travel via star-portals, and so it had taken Loki zero effort at all to figure out that the person he’d been speaking to on the communications network had been America. A little more digging had uncovered that this place was chock full of Avengers of one variety or another, although he wasn’t certain that he knew them all or that all of them knew him. He’d work those details out later, even if he didn’t usually consider himself a one thing at a time sort of being.

They’d arranged to meet in an empty spot - the field behind all the quaint little houses and buildings that was mostly being used for a scant amount of crops. He’d make sure whatever carrots were around remained relatively undamaged while they tried to work the scientific process into the workings of magic and heavy kicks. After all, what was the worst that could happen?

Well. It probably wouldn’t surprise anyone that Loki was at least vaguely interested in finding out.

He tucked some hair behind his ear and poked at the dirt with his boot while he waited for her — not unaware of the fact that he had not given his name and couldn’t be one hundred precent certain that America had realized who he was in the first place.

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Loki / America

lie_smith
2019-03-22 10:39 pm UTC (link)

Had he ever seen anything like this? Loki had been a lot of places, and dimensional doors weren't exactly unheard of, and also weren't that had to find if you were keen and in the know. America knew that just as well as Loki did, considering her usual mode of travel. But had he ever seen an entire house that boasted doors like that -- ones that, if closed and then opened again, offered more than one avenue? "Not so much," he had to admit, and did not even remotely like doing so.

Doors like these would be interesting if there was a -- fire exit. Some other way to leave. But there wasn't, and unless he decided he very much wanted to live in some alternate dimension with no outs, this was always the place they'd have to return to. It wasn't great.

At her question though, Loki smiled, crooked and amused. "Not so much," he allowed, because more often than not there was something that wasn't to plan. It made things exciting, in any case. He tossed the shield directly at her, making it grow larger as it went until she was fully enveloped in the bright blue. It was see through, though, which was more for Loki's sake than America's. He was rather aware that this had taken some might and courage on her part, considering she trusted him (and his magic) much less further than she could throw him.

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Loki / America

starsandhearts
2019-03-22 11:45 pm UTC (link)

It figured. It would have been too convenient for Loki to show up and have all the answers, and America doubted she would have trusted it if he had either. Loki was many things, but a source of all the answers she needed had never exactly been one of them. But a part of her was disappointed that he didn't have more to tell her about this, she kind of hoped maybe just this once there was something he could share.

America rolled her eyes, a grin on her face when Loki agreed that they were always just kind of winging it, just like old times. She steeled herself, as he grew the shield and then tossed it at her, letting it swallow her up and closing her off from the world that they were trapped in. And for a moment she hoped that maybe this would be it - the answer they were seeking. And that if it was true then she would still be able to come back and bring the rest of them through. She didn't stop though to think about all the questions and ifs and all the things that might rise up and keep this from working.

She took a breath and then she punched, and her star portal opened, though it flickered in the same way it had been since they arrived. And she frowned letting it close. "Let me try it one more time." She said this time going for the kick that Madrimar had taught her, with more force than she could put behind the punches and portal opened. And unlike every other time that she'd opened one it was solid, it didn't flicker it didn't look like it was in danger of closing before she was ready.

"Dios mio." If she was being honest she hadn't expected it to work. But here it was - bright and shining like she'd never lost the ability to open them in the first place. "I - I'm gonna go through." She said finally looking at Loki, not totally sure if he could hear her through the shield. But hopefully he'd get the idea.

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Loki / America

lie_smith
2019-03-25 12:57 am UTC (link)

Oh. Loki had to admit he was -- well. Not surprised exactly. But he hadn't been expecting it to work. Not because he didn't trust in his own skills (or America's) but because it felt too easy. For all the heroes who were trapped in this place right now, Loki showing up and casting a simple force field on his first day to solve the problem seemed a little lackluster. Not that he was complaining, but it certainly wasn't a proper mystery to solve by any measure.

He stepped a little closer, peered through the blue at America, who looked about as surprised as Loki felt. "Alright," he said, nothing contrary in his tone. Because if it was open, she ought to go through it. That only stood to reason.

Really, Loki ought to have been telling her to be careful, but that just didn't seem like the sort of thing he would say, nor like the sort of thing she'd want to hear. He compromised. "Make good choices."

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Loki / America

starsandhearts
2019-03-25 02:05 am UTC (link)

She wasn't sure that she expected Loki to tell her not to, to make some other suggestion, some remark, but he didn't. And America had to take a moment to rethink it because what were they going to do if she could get out and then what? Could she just open a portal right back? There were a lot of things to consider that she hadn't actually considered until now because part of her had been sure this wouldn't work, just like every other time she'd tried. But now here she was with a portal open and well - she had a choice to make.

And then Loki told her to make good choices and well that felt right, this was a choice she was making and they'd deal with the fall out later if there was any. But maybe this would be one of those times when everything worked out fine. "Always do, chico." She promised and then stepped through.

It felt right mostly, like any other portal she'd opened it didn't feel like she was lacking something, like she wasn't going exactly where she planned, which was back home again. Just because that was safe that was good, go home and then come back. Get everyone else out. It was a plan, maybe not a great plan, but not every plan had to be great, sometimes it just had to work.

Only when she came through the other side it wasn't home that she arrived in it was... "Joder!" She swore a string if expletives with her head tipped back toward what was growing to be an all too familiar sky, not too far from where she'd stared.

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Loki / America

lie_smith
2019-03-28 12:30 am UTC (link)

For a split second there, Loki was nearly sure it'd worked. When America disappeared, right along with her star portal, he made a lazy sort of gesture, banishing the shield in order to stare at the now-empty space.

He had, really, only a split second to feel concerned for America and the decisions they'd just made, even though he'd considered the options to the best of his ability in the short amount of time he'd had to do so.

But then America appeared again, only some few few away, and it was clear that it had not worked, and that she was not pleased about it.

It was somehow surprising and not.

"Well," he said, not bothering to raise his voice because the wind would carry it well enough, assuming America ever stopped swearing. "That's disappointing. And there's not even anywhere to get milkshakes to lessen the angst."

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Loki / America

starsandhearts
2019-03-28 03:35 am UTC (link)

America felt nearly on the verge of tears, it was not a state she often found herself in. But to have been in a place that felt so close to right, to exactly what she'd needed to get out of here only to have it snatched away at the last second - yeah that stung. And not only that but to have had that high and the resulting low right there in front of Loki who she hadn't seen in so long. It all just felt that much more overwhelming.

She sighed when she heard him, much closer than she'd have liked, but there was enough distance between them that she could take a few breaths and feel like she had a chance to pull herself back together before she closed the distance again.

"There's just that door." She said with a sigh finally. "Did Kate tell you where we ended up when we went through?" She asked, because if she thought about milk shakes or diners or anything else that they might have done back home the wall she'd built up around herself would come crumbling down around her.

"There's nothing here." That was the most maddening part, there was just nothing - just them and whatever they'd brought to this place. This wasn't the kind of life that she was made for, it was too still, to cooped up and she didn't know how to deal with that.

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Loki / America

lie_smith
2019-03-28 06:28 pm UTC (link)

Loki was not occasionally without heart - he wouldn't have judged her for any kind of emotional outburst that varied from her usual shows of annoyance and anger. This was something of a blow to both hope and ego, he found, and was rather somber about it himself.

The disappointment was nearly thick enough to reach out and touch.

"Yes," he said, wandering back over and plopping himself down on the ground beside her with no real attempt at being graceful. She'd seen him as an awkward pre-teen, there wasn't much reason for constant pretending. "Mordor. Or something like it. I assume there weren't billboard signs." Milkshakes were a more pleasant thought but for the fact that they couldn't have them.

Glancing around, Loki let out a little sniff of a noise, thoughtful and disappointed. "No," he agreed. There wasn't anything here. "And I've never wanted to try my hand at farming. On the plus side," he offered, because she seemed like maybe she needed something. "You are not without friends." Loki didn't know where Verity had disappeared to when he'd stepped through the door, and decided it was best not to worry about it.

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Loki / America

starsandhearts
2019-03-29 09:53 pm UTC (link)

"They're not big on signs in places like that, in my experience," she agreed. She felt almost hollow as they sat there together in the grass both stuck in a place that had no appeal for either one of them. To be without a part of her powers that she so depended upon without the ability to find a way back to them left her feeling out of sorts in a way that she didn't know how to deal with. You know other than shouting obscenities at the sky.

She and Loki had a complicated history, trust had never been a solid thing between them and even now it was a tenuous thing, but he had helped her - or tried - and that was something. And he was here even still, when it was obvious that her idea was not going to get them out, offering her a small measure of comfort in the reminder that she had friends here. Kate of course, but she looked at him for a moment and considered, it wasn't exactly that he'd claimed himself to be among those that she could count as a friend, but he hadn't removed himself from that space entirely either.

"Yes," Maybe there would be a day when they spoke to one another that she didn't feel like she had to consider everything she said, weighing how it might be taken and then used later. "I don't think I'd have been able to go even this long if that wasn't true." She itched to get out, to move and find something new, she liked to keep moving and this place kept her here - trapped in this one moment over and over again. "We're going to have to find something to do with ourselves here." And that was a slightly terrifying thought, she didn't know what she could contribute to this place. Coffee worked for Kate, it was pretty much who she was, but America - what did she do other than punch people?

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Loki / America

lie_smith
2019-03-31 03:05 am UTC (link)

Loki could have left, and it'd probably have been a lie if he said he hadn't considered it. But if they were stuck -- well and truly stuck -- it would have been a bad move. The kind that'd come back and bite him in the ass sooner rather than later. There were so few of them, and he and America would bump into each other again and it'd be truly awkward if he'd just left her high and dry when she was shouting swears into the sky and feeling sad.

So he stayed. And told himself that it was just a matter of being clever because self preservation went a long way.

She wasn't wrong -- this was the sort of place where friends were needed, because going it alone would be maddening. It was a strange thought because Loki often thought himself above friends (or maybe, if he was being honest -- which was not usually, unworthy of them). He might have to make more of an effort here. "Yeah," he agreed, a little wistfully. "What grabs your fancy? Not setting up a shop. Exploration, perhaps." It would be the closest thing to traveling and adventure, going through those doors.

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Re: Loki / America

starsandhearts
2019-03-31 03:44 am UTC (link)

America huffed and shook her head, no, Kate seemed better with the idea of a shop, but the thought of having a set place to be each day, at a certain time of day - no, just no. The thought alone was enough to leave her feeling trapped. But what else was there really, building a life here meant actually being here and that was something America never did very well.

She had only ever stayed just long enough in any one place before she was moving on to the next, but here in this space there wasn't leaving - not in the way she wanted. She'd have to face down these people eventually, not go with her usual punch first ask questions later, then bounce when she didn't like the answer. It meant people actually seeing her for who she was, and being that was something that America was still figuring out herself the thought of others getting a look felt vulnerable in a way she didn't enjoy.

"I suppose so." She said after a moment, "They'll need things to get this place going." To make this place more livable someone had to bring back the pieces to make it happen, the surrounding forest was well and good but it didn't provide the sort of things they were used to back home. "Kate is going to need more coffee sooner or later. What about you?" She asked, feeling a little too seen at the moment, "What will you do?"

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Loki / America

lie_smith
2019-03-31 02:03 pm UTC (link)

America had a right to be concerned. Showing ones' true face wasn't an easy thing to do -- but there was some amount of inevitability to it here, and Loki didn't care for it either. He liked keeping the cards close to his chest, to keep everyone guessing. His secrets were his own.

A place like this wouldn't have many secrets, not really.

He shook his head, considering. "The same, perhaps," he decided. Because settling in didn't seem to suit, not at the moment. Scavenging wasn't a thing he cared for either, but at least then he'd be moving around instead of staying still. "Someone is going to have to find tea, because those two wouldn't even consider it."

He stood then, because this had been enough, and neither of them were meant for heart-to-hearts. "But coffee will do for now. Come on."

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