(no subject)

[st_ratagem]

“It’s fine, Thor. Shoulder’s back in place, scalp stopped bleeding,” and so much for the idea that the amount of bleeding had been what touched off this particular fit of nerves, “everything else will clear up in a day or so.” Except the ribs, but Loki would have had to be truly brain-damaged to mention broken ribs to his brother.

After being fussed over by Liz and cleaned up enough to feel more or less like a living being instead of an illustration of scrapes, all Loki had wanted to do was go to sleep. But no, Thor had tumbled to the illusion Loki hanging around the battlefield and come running to hang off his actual self. “Did my illusion not tell you to see to your human?”

Comments

[st_ormbreaker]

"I don't believe you," Thor pronounces, giving his brother a probing poke in the arm, and then another in the shoulder. Looking for weaknesses, some small hint of pain.

"You have deceived me many times before." Thor pokes him right between the collar bones. "I will not let you do so again."

Thor raises his finger again, its next target Loki's side.

[st_ratagem]

Before he thought better of it, Loki shoved Thor’s hand away centimeters before it reached his broken ribs. It would have been better to just set himself to take the pain, because avoiding the touch proved Thor’s point. Damn it. “Stop.”

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor withdraws his finger.

"Stop saying you're okay when you're not," Thor says. "No one is ever going to believe if you say you're fine otherwise."

Thor sets a hand to his brother's back and gives it an affectionate actually-light-for-once pat.

"Besides," he says. "Stark might be my boyfriend, but you are the only brother I've got."

A beat.

"Unless father had any other siblings he neglected to tell us about."

[st_ratagem]

“I am fine.” Loki glared, on principle rather than for any specific reason. Thor was being actually gentle, the pat hadn’t jarred anything. For once. “If he did, they’re not younger.” If Frigga hadn’t been dead, she might have been prevailed upon to answer. She’d never betrayed Odin’s secrets, but if they’d known the basics and pressed her....

Ah well. “And from what you’ve said of our sister, do you honestly think she’d have suffered any rivals as well as you did?”

[st_ormbreaker]

"Probably not," Thor says, withdrawing after Loki's glare makes it point. "If she knew about them, anyway. She threw us off the Bifrost. I thought you were dead, you thought I was dead, and we reunited on Sakaar where you promptly pretended that you didn't know me."

Typical Loki.

[st_ratagem]

“That makes sense. You’re terrible at schemes.” Assuming there was a scheme involved seemed safe. And interesting that Thor would choose this time to edge closer to his secrets.

Showing too much interest would spook him, too little would let him off the hook. “Sakaar?”

[st_ormbreaker]

"The scheme went south pretty quickly, once the Grandmaster figured out we knew one another."

Which was pretty quickly, after Thor insisted they were brothers, and Loki quipped Adopted.

But what does Thor say about Sakaar?

"It's a trash planet," he says. "Ruled by this psychopath I'm pretty sure you were sleeping with."

[st_ratagem]

Psychopathic ruler of a trash planet called ‘Grandmaster’? Oh yes. “That definitely sounds like me.” Something to look forward to, that was nice. “You, I assume, did not do as well.”

[st_ormbreaker]

"I probably would have done better if you had helped me out of my chair," Thor huffs.

[st_ratagem]

“What chair?” Loki smiled, almost fond. Opportunities for simple mockery had been few and far between. “Did you forget how your legs work again?”

[st_ormbreaker]

"The chair I was cuffed to when I was sold to the Grandmaster! He had this thing --" Thor curls his fingers into a circle and presses his neck against where it once was on his neck. "This obedience disk that would shock me whenever I did anything somebody didn't like."

Thor's getting prickly just thinking about it. The lack of sleep he's had since battle's end was probably not helping much with his moods, either.

[st_ratagem]

Obedience disk, hmm? There were several unproductive paths Loki’s thoughts wanted to take, but that could wait for later, when there was no Thor to prod. “I feel certain I’m missing a fair amount of context.”

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor raises a brow at that.

"Why are you suddenly so curious all of a sudden?" he asks. "I thought you were convinced our futures wouldn't be one and the same."

[st_ratagem]

“And if I know, I can make sure of it.” That was obvious, wasn’t it? Forwarned was forearmed and so on. “There may be some things I choose to keep, but why would I not want to know ahead of time before I decide?”

[st_ormbreaker]

"Do you really think we will remember anything when we return?"

There's genuine curiosity there in Thor's words.

[st_ratagem]

“It doesn’t matter. It’s a possibility, that’s good enough for my purposes.” So it was Thor’s sense of responsibility making things difficult, it seemed. Loyalty to a past-future he didn’t even seem to like. “Idiot.”

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor plops down in a chair. Loki raised a point.

"What context do you need?"

[st_ratagem]

“If I knew, then I wouldn’t have to ask. How did you end up in the chair? Sold, you said, yes, but how, why, what for?” The ‘sleeping with a psychopath’ thing neatly explained why Loki hadn’t been subjected to any of that, so he didn’t ask. “Just keep talking, brother, I’ll ask questions as they occur.”

[st_ormbreaker]

"I was knocked off the Bifrost, landed in a trash heap, was promptly captured by scrappers, rescued by a Valkyrie, then captured by a Valkyrie, and after that, was sold to the Grandmaster to fight in the Contest of Champions."

[st_ratagem]

“A Valkyrie? Aren’t they all supposed to be dead?” Loki waved a hand to dismiss the question without waiting for a response. It was s stupid question. “A survivor. All right. Did you at least net her a decent profit for her effort?”

[st_ormbreaker]

"Ten million credits," Thor answers, trying not to sound too proud, but definitely feeling it. "And time works different on Sakaar. You and I were thrown off the Bifrost within a minute of one another, but weeks had gone by by the time we found one another."

[st_ratagem]

Weeks. That was something. “So just now, you pouted because I declined to throw away actual weeks of effort cozying up to a psychopath purely because you decided to show up. All right. Go on.”

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor's frown deepens. "I was pouting because you're clever enough to do both, but you chose to do what was easiest."

That wasn't the only time on Sakaar where Loki made the case for doing what was easiest, either.

[st_ratagem]

“Of course?” He didn’t think Thor was being entirely accurate. People willing to cozy up didn’t end up bolted to chairs and obedience disked. There were better than even odds that letting Thor out of the chair would have been bad no matter how he'd gone about it. “Go on anyway.”

[st_ormbreaker]

"Well, you didn't rescue me," Thor says, with a hint of accusation, "so I was shunted off to the gladiatorial cells, where I had my hair shaved off and was eventually thrown into the arena to fight the Hulk for my freedom."

[st_ratagem]

And of course Thor wouldn’t use that chance to his advantage. Gladiators had a certain amount of power, or could... but of course, Thor. “And after he stomped you, you had to find a new plan.”

[st_ormbreaker]

"He did not stomp me," Thor argues. "I had him thoroughly beaten when the Grandmaster realized that I was bad for the Hulk's winning streak and zapped me with my obedience disk."

It was important to ensure Loki knew the difference.

[st_ratagem]

“Of course, brother.” Loki didn’t believe that, but it wasn’t relevant enough to argue. “I note you don’t contest needing a new plan.”

[st_ormbreaker]

"Well, I guess the Hulk chose me as his prize because I wound up in his bedroom being tended to by two beautiful ladies."

[st_ratagem]

Or he’d been placed in the same room for other reasons. Either way, “That sounds about right for you.”

[st_ormbreaker]

"What part?"

[st_ratagem]

“Pick one. Does it really matter?”

[st_ormbreaker]

"I suppose not," Thor says. "In any case, I stole one of those obedience fob from Valkyrie, got the disk off, and escaped with Banner in disguise while the Grandmaster sent people to hunt us down. Then Valkyrie found us, and brought us to where she had you captured and tied up."

Thor can't help but smile at the memory.

[st_ratagem]

“I don’t suppose she explained how that happened?” Likely it had been simple physical overpowering, but it didn’t hurt to ask.

[st_ormbreaker]

"I didn't ask," Thor says. "You were our peace offering."

The details didn't matter much to him at the time, and they didn't really now.

[st_ratagem]

“Fair enough.” Standing or even leaning was getting difficult, his head was threatening another dizzy spell. Doing his best not to let on about it, Loki settled himself in a chair. “You declined to kill me, clearly, despite the invitation. Go on.”

[st_ormbreaker]

"It wasn't an invitation to kill you," Thor clarifies, because he wouldn't have killed Loki even if he were invited to. "Besides, you had the access codes to the Grandmaster's garage. We needed a ship to get through the anus."

[st_ratagem]

"After weeks in his bed, I imagine I had most of his access and security codes, full stop." If not, what had been the point? A palace coup was always going to be the most profitable plan. Far more so than relying on anyone's favor or goodwill. "How far did I let you get before turning on you?"

[st_ormbreaker]

"Oh, not long." Thor grins at that. "But I outsmarted you and left you on Sakaar."

Pride is practically radiating off Thor at this particular confession. As he replays the course of those events, he starts chuckling to himself.

[st_ratagem]

“Hah!” Apparently the other/future him had somehow not tumbled to Thor’s new ability to see through his little brother. But as always, it was impressive and oddly pleasant to be beaten on his own playing field. Even just hearing about it. “I’ll let you keep that, then. Don’t tell me more about it.”

Clearly, this was the end of the story. Thor was sentimental, leaving Loki to the questionable mercy of a ‘psychopath’ who called himself the Grandmaster was likely final enough for tears when Loki arrived in this place.

It hung together well enough for a Thor story. Loki put the effort into standing back up and moved to par Thor on the shoulder in passing. “I had intended to sleep before you turned up for story time. I believe I’ll go do that now.”

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor wouldn't have told Loki even if he had been asked to. Sometimes, it was nice to revel in your successes and know that maybe you'll get to trick your brother again in some other reality.

"Okay," he says. "Sleep well."

He has other people he should check in on before he sleeps.