InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "feinted rules!"

Loki | MCU (subtletrick) wrote in wariscoming,
@ 2014-08-28 12:07:00

Entry tags:

loki

Who: Loki & Ward
What: Contemplating killing everyone. FOR THE GREATER GOOD THO!!
Where: Panem, somewhere woodsy for optimum brooding/pensiveness
When: Today sometime
Rating: Character death!
Why: I blame the fever.
Note: Info updated!

It felt as though there were a layer over his skin, something just-there, making him thick and slow and clumsy - or perhaps it was the opposite of that: a layer removed, leaving him raw and vulnerable and cold, making him weak. Things like hunger were rarely relevant to him - while he could feel hunger, it was rarely a requirement that he eat to survive; he would prefer not to, but it was normally possible to go many days without sustenance, supplementing his energy levels with magic. The same was true of sleep - he could keep functioning for at least a reasonable amount of time without rest.

Here, however, in his present state, and given the amount of tension and stress and the physical exertion, he was at a disadvantage. He was tired - if he remained still for very long, his eyes felt heavy, rolling and shuttering like they were going to betray him - but he had not yet slept longer than two hours at a time. It did not seem wise. Not with the nature of this place - and with Ward here. Not with the dangers the outside forces who watched them were capable of being.

He had seen the films with Darcy - half-watching, not truly interested in the fictional story taking place at the time, though now he perhaps wished that he had paid closer attention - and he had met some of the "tributes" from this place... long ago. It had always sounded like a terrible place to have come from - a terrible place to be. He had never thought he would be there. He had never expected to be thrown head-first into something like this, left without even the most basic protection spells or offensive magics.

He was fairly sure it would end when there was one left standing. One victor. Yet with deaths being impermanent, it would have to be done quickly, before the dead returned. It would have to be a gathering of everyone and then murder of people he knew just to get them all home... assuming it would work that way. But they were scattered, here - some keeping away by choice and some by this place's strange ability to split groups into fragments - and Loki did not know if he could do it. Even if they were all here, together, and even with his magic - he was more than a little bit hesitant. He had been fighting the monster that he knew he was capable of being for so long now that it felt like perhaps he had won out over it - he could think about the idea theoretically, but anything further...

It felt impossible. He knew it was not. It was entirely possible, if he caught them off guard and removed the more skilled fighters first... and it was important. If they all wanted to get home, this was how it had to be. It was temporary, impermanent. They would return from the dead, and it may provide a way to get them all home. It was... a means to an end. They would hate him later. Of course they would. But they would be home - he would accept that.

The birds - the ones who screamed with the voices of his loved ones, bungeeing between them like someone had taken everyone he loved and was tormenting them - seemed to grow louder. It was as if the voices were warning him away from his thoughts, reminding him of the reasons he should simply ride this out - or perhaps providing the motivation for them. What if they were here, too? Unseen? The seal could have done that. Perhaps they would be returned only when this "game" was over.

It was time to end this "game".

He had to convince the rest of them to meet in one place. Then...

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notanazi
2014-08-29 01:08 am UTC (link)

Woodland. Place like this, it brought back memories for him, and not great ones at that. He'd been weak, useless. Nothing. He'd been nothing, and Garrett had given him a chance to be something better. He wasn't naieve enough to think the man hadn't had his own agenda. Everyone had that. But he'd been loyal. He'd never waivered.

He'd joined SHIELD and he'd played the role he was supposed to. Years of assignments, years undercover, crossing off enemies. It had built on the logic he'd been taught to stand by. Love was a weakness, friendships, trust. It made you weak and it made you nothing and in a place like this arena, it would get you killed. Especially given who he was up against. Oh he'd thought about it, how to kill them all, the easy ones, the harder ones, the ones that would beg and cry and the ones that would face their death easily. Even knowing they'd come back. A part of Ward wondered if he got enough of them...maybe this place would shake things up a bit. Maybe it would send him home? Maybe he could see Skye again.

All he could do right now was hear her scream. And he remembered seeing her hurt before. After a gunshot wound from Ian Quinn and a miracle cure. He never wanted to see her hurt again. Another weakness.

Oh he was reminded of those too. Every step he took he could hear it, John, telling him he was weak, he was nothing, he was a waste of space that should still be locked away. The little broken attempted murderer. It was true though. He was weak. He'd never stood up to bullies. Not his brother and not the man he spotted sitting not far from him. Another bully. Oh he'd read the reports, first from Germany and then from New York. He'd talked to Coulson. Someone who had died at Loki's hand. And of course, he knew this was a Loki who was responsible for none of it yet. A Loki from before the madness. But Ward knew too, if faced with his brother again. Or his parents before they'd had kids. He'd kill them too. He'd make it slow. He'd make it last.

But Loki...he wasn't stupid. He wasn't even weak without his magic. Ward had watched him enough to know that. He'd need to play it differently. A bullet to the head would do it, but then the bastard wouldn't suffer.

No, this needed to be something else. His hand rested for a moment at one of the pockets on his jacket. Berries from a tree he'd tested. Oh the rabbit that had tasted these had lasted ten or so minutes. Maybe a human would last more. But he died, painfully, organs bubbling inside. Seeing Loki suffer. He couldn't deny he'd enjoy it. Hydra or not, the thing's he'd seen in the aftermath of New York. The look Coulson would get sometimes when it was mentioned, when Lorelai had attacked. That same look, haunted. He didn't hate Phil Coulson. The man had given him a chance too, and he even respected him.

Enough to see this through anyway.

He stepped into the clearing weapon out, he'd been running before now, so it wasn't so much of a shock that he sounded out of breath.

"Oh thank..." he began, pausing at the sight of the Asgardian. "Seriously, of all the people, I find you? Where are the others? How far out are you? There's a pack of those Mutts headed this way. I was gonna suggest teaming up with whoever I found but I really don't trust you. So, y'know, I hope you die."

It was a risk. Make Loki want him to stay. Make Loki make the offer. Establish trust, however tenuous.

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subtletrick
2014-08-31 12:02 am UTC (link)

Loki's head turned quickly towards the sound of the voice, expression one of wariness as Ward stepped into sight. In Lawrence, Ward had made no attempts to hide his distaste for Loki - and given when he was from, perhaps that was fair. But here, in a place like this, Loki did not trust him. Of course, it mattered little - if he died, he died, it was likely only going to slow down returning home, nothing more - but it was the principle of the matter. If he were to die, he did not want it to be at the hands of this man.

"Seriously, of all the people, I find you? Where are the others? How far out are you? There's a pack of those Mutts headed this way. I was gonna suggest teaming up with whoever I found but I really don't trust you. So, y'know, I hope you die."

Loki bit back the barbed comment that immediately rose to mind, keeping his features even, "The others are just on the other side," he inclined his head towards the forest in the direction of the clearing they'd been staying in. "Perhaps a five minute walk, unless this place has altered things..." It would be most unfortunate if it had - if he and Ward were now far from the others, alone. Not only because he had to get them all together in one place - but he truly wished to keep his distance from Ward.

If there were more of those creatures coming, however, it may be in his best interests to stay nearby. Whatever else he may be, Ward was certainly not a terrible fighter, and given the circumstances he was certainly better adjusted to fighting as a human than Loki was.

"How many of them are there?"

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notanazi
2014-08-31 12:50 pm UTC (link)

Ward paused, Loki had asked a question, meaning of course he didn't want to be on his own here. And probably knew he was in the company of one of the few not missing skills from being in this place without magic or extra strength. No, everything he had he'd earned. He turned back, noticibly rolling his eyes. "Maybe six. And the direction they came at me in, I'm pretty sure we're not where we were a while back. Or the area around us isn't."

Next the begrudging team up offer. It really was so easy to play people, even the trickster god. Loki was worried, wrong footed, still arrogant but without his magic he wasn't at 100%. And he didn't trust Ward. Of course he didn't. He'd have been an idiot to do that. But he'd go for the team up because he'd want to keep from dying. And cause he wasn't stupid enough to turn down the help. Ward shook his head as if considering and dismissing something to himself and went to turn away before fixing the Asgardian with a glare.

"So we're clear? I could care less what happens to you. But ultimately, the people here want us to kill each other, they want a show and I'm not a damn performing monkey. I want to ruin their fun and get the hell back to Lawrence, and I can't imagine you feel any different. So stick close, don't screw up, and don't make me have to save your life cause neither of us want that."

He started to move in the direction of where the camp had been. It was a start. Loki would follow.

He just had to gain enough trust from the monster to stop for food. Just a hour or so. If even.

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subtletrick
2014-09-05 02:49 pm UTC (link)

Six. Loki could, perhaps, have handled six of these creatures on his own if he still had access to his magic - it would still require effort, even then - but as he was? He would hardly be able to handle one. His only weapons were the three small knives he'd found, which would hardly take down one creature, let alone six, even if he were not feeling weak and slow.

Even less pleasant was the information that the area he had stepped away from for a few moments was now relocated. He should have stayed where he was. He hadn’t thought it would happen that quickly - or perhaps, he simply hadn’t thought. This place was something else, different from what he was used to or expected. There was a piece of him that wished to be within the inner workings, to be the one manipulating such a grand arena - to finesse the pieces into place and watch the pieces fall….

...he pushed that thought away. There was nothing good about this, and he did not truly wish to take part in the slaughter. If there were no consequences - if it were truly a game, certainly - but this had consequences. Final or not, people still died. It would damage them, they would be scarred from this. He did not want to assist in creating those scars.

Still, it was a little bit fascinating.

>"So we're clear? I could care less what happens to you. But ultimately, the people here want us to kill each other, they want a show and I'm not a damn performing monkey. I want to ruin their fun and get the hell back to Lawrence, and I can't imagine you feel any different. So stick close, don't screw up, and don't make me have to save your life cause neither of us want that."

Loki's eyes narrowed slightly, considering - wary. He could easily refuse - it certainly would not break Ward's heart to have his... "offer" turned down. It would be inconvenient to continue alone, however - for either of them - and despite the fact that the other hated him, he did not wish to condemn him to death by the monsters that chased them any more than he wished to face six of them alone.

“Very well.” He chose to keep his response simple, rather than to put his own conditions upon this arrangement, or to protest the attitude the other was exuding - it would do nothing more than raise tensions and waste time, doing that. He leaned down to gather up his small bag of supplies - dwindling quickly, but still important - and moved to follow.

Some time of trekking through the trees passed - perhaps an hour… it was difficult to tell with the artificial environment and his senses so violently cut off from him. Time was ...difficult, with only mortal constraints to detect it’s passing. He had been tired in the first place, weak and human as he appeared to be. There did not seem to be anything close on their trail - at least, nothing providing audible clues, though Loki would not put it past this place to have silenced the sounds of the approaching creatures, once the fear their sounds approaching caused ceased to be amusing for them. Still, it seemed unlikely. Perhaps they had lost the trail for the moment - surely not for long, not given the ability to see them wherever they were that those controlling the game had - but for the moment, at least...

“We may have lost them for the moment. It would be wise to take a break while we still can.”

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notanazi
2014-09-08 12:10 pm UTC (link)

And he agreed. Of course he agreed. Loki wasn't stupid but Ward knew how this would play out. Every movement planned by someone who had been living a lie all of his adult life. Hell, all of his life. God forbid the family and its shameful secrets ever have been revealed. He found lying easier than not. But this, this was something he could do that was good. If Coulson ever showed in this place he could point at it and say he'd done that. The man wouldn't forgive him. He didn't want forgiveness. But it was a choice he made, for himself. And that in and of itself was a step.

They treked through the trees. Ward more amused than anything else at just how twitchy Loki was without his magic. Tired and listless and needing a break. Ward could probably have done another few hours but the circumstances were perfect. "I'll get us food. You get water." he said simply with a look that implied it was a great gesture of trust for him to take water found by the other man. If he even could find anything drinkable in a place like this. Ward wouldn't drink a drop of it.

Though Loki shouldn't have trusted him either.

He found other berries of course, edible ones, for himself, spotted a few animals he could shoot down when Loki was dead, he found enough that he could work it into a good source of energy. But of course Loki got a mix of berries. Good and bad in equal measure. Dead was still dead.

He handed over the findings, taking some of the good ones for himself and eating them casually, they didn't look all that different after all, were it not for his knowledge of surrvival, his trick with the animal eating both kinds, he'd never have known. It was fairly fast acting but not instant. He'd suffer for a few minutes first.

Now all it took was waiting

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