Ben Reilly (teamclone) wrote in the100, @ 2016-04-17 16:26:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log/thread, !mount weather, ben reilly / spider-man (94), loki laufeyson (616) |
Mount Weather
WHO: Ben Reilly and Loki
WHAT: Everyone is back and Ben goes searching to make sure a certain god is among them. Feels commence.
WHEN: 4/17, Sunday, after everyone arrives.
WHERE: from tech to the blast doors to a secluded hallway
WARNINGS: schmoop? feels?
When the news spread around that a large group of people had appeared, there’d only been a second’s pause. That brief stare moment where your brain actually processed that you had heard what you thought you’d heard for real. Once that clicked happened though, projects and tech were quickly abandoned. Maybe not the best work practice for the second and the second’s second to go with, but the news was a whole lot of fresh water to the little bit of hope that’d been Bear Grylls-ing it for the past few weeks. There was no way they weren’t going to latch onto that and run with it.
The trip to the blast doors went quickly and then… well… divide and conquer. The crowd was large and, not for the first time, Ben felt that keen lack of his city. Even if the people he was scanning for had some pretty distinguishing features, what he wouldn’t give for a building to just perch up on and get a better vantage point. To get a better idea of the situation. Something to stop the rollercoaster ride his stomach was on. He wandered through the people, searched, mentally checked off glimpses of people he saw. But after a few minutes, there was still one person missing from that list. His mind scrambled to latch onto a good maybe. Maybe there were people other places… Maybe there were waves and more would come later... Maybe… Maybe… He blew out a sigh, wondering if going to check on the room at this point would just be torture or not.
Then the wind shifted.
His breath caught a moment before he closed his eyes and breathed in deep. Yeah, there were plenty of people, but that familiar scent of mint and old books was easy enough to pick out. Fresh. Not the stale scent lingering on all his possessions… Or maybe his mind was playing tricks. Only one way to figure that out.
Wolverine he wasn’t, but after awhile, he got the hang of it enough to head in the right direction. As soon as he caught sight of the familiar tall, black-haired figure, a wide grin spread across his face, the relief so strong he didn’t even care about the faint twinge that stretch sent through the black eye he’d earned the previous day. The smile was quick and bright before he reeled it back in, trying to keep his face as neutral as possible. There was no telling what this Loki remembered and… well… this was a game Ben had played far too many times and he gave a quiet, quick prayer he wouldn’t be playing it again.
“Loki?” His voice managed to stay soft and even, the hope instead staying behind stuck in his throat, making him feel slightly nauseous.
Whatever it felt like to others of a magical persuasion, to Loki it felt like walking through a steaming city sewer. You might look fine on the other side, but that didn’t stop you from that visceral discomfort of heat and stink. That was what it felt like when someone else’s magic overlapped your own.
And more than that, there were memories. No, they weren’t all clear, but the last two weeks felt crisp and in-focus, still. He’d slipped away from the mass of people by the blast doors for some quiet; away from the celebrations and reunions. It was quieter down the hall, and there he pulled one particular memory on the surface of his mind. For a shapeshifter, this was old hat. The changes weren’t dramatic, though: his hair was neatly combed and trimmed, tooth -- yes, that was present and accounted for. An inspection of his hands revealed a level of pristine and care that was foreign. And the suit was…
Not wholly terrible, but it really wasn’t a selection based on comfort. Loki thumbed at a cufflink, pulling a small grimace. But that stopped upon hearing a voice behind him, calling his name.
He turned, brows lifted as his mind traveled down another avenue. The voice was familiar, as was the coat the man was wearing. The face? The face looked a bit worse for the wear, which prompted a short tilt of the head.
And there went his stomach straight down the rollercoaster. Or would it be an inverted dive? The loop-de-loop? Ok, maybe not the best analogy, but wherever his stomach was on the ride, it was definitely a very not fun part. Ben still didn’t have a full answer to his first worry and now… The suit was an odd choice considering how Loki usually dressed, but that could be hand-waved. Who knew where they’d been and, well, it’s not like Loki had much on him when he disappeared. The rest though… The mannerisms still spoke of Loki even if the rest of him was more put together than he’d ever seen him. Which just added another worry on top of whether the memories were still there…
Which Loki was this?
Mind churning into overdrive, an easy grin slid onto his face. When in doubt, go with friendly. “Hey, so, guessing that’s a yes to the Loki thing, yeah?” he said, playing for the good samaritan that could easily be brushed off if… he really hoped there wasn’t an if… “Y’know, randomly appearing, it’s got to work up an appetite, right? Right now is probably the best time to hit the mess hall. Grab all the great food before the rationing slams back down and all.”
The tilted head paved the way to a skeptical brow raise, as Loki watched Ben fumble through what he probably thought was a smooth save. It took a second to realize why he was doing it at all, but the answer soon clicked. Whomever had cast the magic spell that did this must have set in motion other things. By the look of Ben -- namely Ben’s layer of scruff and a hint of delirium -- it must have been a few days at least since they’d last spoken. Time was often a disconnected line for most who inhabited Mount Weather, and that made him hesitant to trust the number he was guessing at.
For a moment, the exterior Loki was sporting was forgotten, elsewise he would have changed out of it by now. He glanced down the hallway, and, after satisfying himself that no one was coming, heaved a short, frustrated sigh. “How long?”
Still not helpful, but at least Loki was talking. And hadn’t hexed him. That could easily happen, right? But at the same time… Ben couldn’t help that tiny flicker of hope that eased some of the tension from his body and pulled him a step closer to the god. Maybe he was grasping at straws again. Maybe Loki had something entirely different in mind with that question. But showing up in a strange, new world and having some weird guy who knows your name talking to you about food should bring other questions to mind first. Where is this place? Who the hell are you? Why are you trying to talk about food and rationing at a time like this? Not how long… Right?
Even so… He shrugged as he stuffed his hands in the coat pockets. “Maybe a few hours? It’s gotta take them a bit before they realize just how many people there are again and panic because that’s a lot of bellies to fill.” Keep it light. Joke a bit. Stop himself from fully latching onto this being the situation he wanted it to be when there was still plenty of room for things to go horribly wrong.
And yet, hope still gleamed in his eyes as he took a deep breath and answered the question he wanted Loki to be asking in a soft voice. “Almost two and half weeks. It’s April seventeenth. They thought…” He shook his head, his throat feeling tight. “Loki…”
He paused and then snapped his mouth shut around the follow-up question. Asking would just put himself out of his misery, but he wasn’t sure if he was ready for a negative response. Even if the uncertainty jangled his nerves, there was wiggle room here at least. Weave around. Pretend a bit. Find his footing on his own.
Skepticism yielded to a twinge of annoyance, although, without specifying context, Ben was providing a fair answer. And Loki had been ready to correct him, but the moment turned and twisted. He stopped the words on his tongue and watched Ben’s morph from kidding to looking far more frayed around the edges than Loki could recall. That certainly wasn’t the sole effect of that black eye, which begged a set of questions all on its own.
But Ben had given the answer Loki was after, and with that came a pause. Two and a half weeks? It churned a hostile emotion, but that ebbed upon a closer inspection of Ben’s face. That face deserved no anger. In fact, it made a hundred times more sense now why Ben was wearing his coat, and that particular realization came with a softer set of Loki’s otherwise sharp features.
An arm was stretched out. “Come here,” Loki told Ben, invited him closer. “Come on, it’s okay.”
A laugh of disbelief bubbled up in his throat as that bright grin returned. Sure, it wasn’t a verbal confirmation or anything so easy and straightforward, but the words and gesture were so familiar that Ben couldn’t help himself. Loki soothing frayed nerves. Loki trying to redirect his energies. His Loki offering comfort. Maybe it was dumb to trust something so simple, especially with a trickster, but the wash of relief was too strong to keep holding back and playing it safe. Almost like it had been an actual physical weight. All of Mount Weather heaped on top of him and now shaken off and he was light and maybe a bit dizzy.
Quick steps closed the distance between them. He could have just gone for the hug. He could have. But it had been two and a half weeks of hanging onto scraps of hope, that growing anxiety of having to face the moon alone, and then the battle yesterday. His fingers twisted into the suit jacket while his other hand went up to cradle Loki’s neck. It didn’t take much to tug the god down enough so he could crush his lips against Loki’s. Also, maybe not the best idea if he’d misjudged, but he needed this. That point of contact. Giving an outlet for that relief and gratitude and just Loki being back and there. And, well, if he’d missed the mark, his backbrain would warn him soon enough to get out of dodge.
Loki’s hand remained hovering outward, as it had been counting on something more along the lines of an embrace, but given that the direction Ben veered in wasn’t an unpleasant one, it soon found a place against Ben’s back. If this was the offering, then Loki was hardly passing it up. Although…
Loki edged back, eyes narrowed slightly. “Not that this isn’t welcome, but this is new. Did you have two and a half weeks of self discovery, or…?” There was a small gesture made, Loki loosely framing his face, which just so happened to remind him that he was still a few steps removed from what passed as ‘normal’ for him. The hand reached up to the back of his neck and fingers combed forward, mussing his hair in one swift movement. An added spark of magic took care of the rest until all but his green, well-worn coat was back in place.
That last bit of tension flowed from Ben’s body, his smile warming with amusement. More checks to the his Loki list. The familiar conversation topic. And then…
A soft chuckle as he shook his head and ran his hands over the green armored shirt he knew well, as if that’d somehow do some good at smoothing out the burns and tarnishes. “That self discovery? Nah… Sorry. Don’t think that bell’s getting rung. Not that I’ll say no to giving it a try again, but…” His brow furrowed slightly. “Not that self discovery…” Because, really, life getting turned upside down, even with throwing himself into work and being there for Peter and Benjy, there wasn’t any possible way he couldn’t be overthinking during that time. Maybe always being pushed onto the backburner, but that didn’t stop the pot from bubbling and boiling.
He blew out a sigh and reached up, fingers flicking at the newly tousled hair. “Two and a half weeks, Loki,” he said quietly. “Everyone thought…” He still couldn’t say it. The assumption had just been everywhere, hanging in the air, hidden under everyone’s words when they weren’t stating things outright and trying to scramble to get everything into some semblance of normal. His fingers traced past the horned crown, down Loki’s cheek. His thumb tapped at Loki’s lip before tugging it up slightly to expose that dark spot where a tooth should be. His mouth tilted up a smidge. “I’m glad you’re back.”
“Oh, stop making it sound like I died,” Loki sighed, waving away that notion with one hand and tugging his lip away from Ben’s explorative finger. “Even if I did, it rarely sticks.” Which was probably not the best of counter-arguments, but it was true. Like water on a duck’s feathers, really.
“Stop worrying,” Loki repeated, waving a finger of his own in Ben’s direction. “It’s over, and…” Loki narrowed his eyes, clearly having recalled something else. He reached forward and dug a hand deep into the right-hand pocket of his coat, even as Ben was wearing it. His scepter withdrawn, he gave it a test twirl. “And I think there’s a few things that need to be checked on. Coming with?”
His grin widened again as Ben shook his head in amusement. Ok, yeah, grim and sad talk. Maybe not talking like he died in the conventional sense, but… well, the two of them understood loss of self and memories a bit better than others did. An eyebrow raised at the scepter.
“I really need to check those pockets better,” he said absently before holding up a finger. “One: you’re talking to a brick wall there about worrying.” Another finger went up. “Two: I have sixty levels in starting over. I wasn’t looking forward to sixty-one. It’s not nearly as fun when you aren’t the new one rolling into a new town and making up a new story.” Another finger went up. “Three…” He frowned slightly as he looked up at the ceiling. “Actually… all I got is a one and two, so…”
He shrugged, looking Loki over again to make sure he was really there. Really the Loki he knew. Everything was in place. Well, except… He nodded as he slipped off the coat, turning it around and holding it up for the god to put on. “Lead the way, Mary Poppins.”
Loki looked up for a moment, seizing hold of the dangling string with a sort of gleefulness. This was his turf. This felt right. “You never thought to check the inner pockets? There’s a few dozen, you do realize. Why carry anything when you can put it in your pocket?” And with no more of an explanation than that, he took the offered coat and flipped it theatrically over his head. By the time it settled on her shoulders, she was already turning to start down the hall.
She only paused to give Ben a quick over-the-shoulder glance. “Well? Keep up.”