st_ratagem: (reading)
[personal profile] st_ratagem
The beach hadn't been in Loki's original plans for the day, to the extent that he planned days ahead in the Inn. They were all similar enough that there seemed little point. But after a message from Thor arrived while he was spending his few hours in the clinic (no more than a few, as he was still primarily trying to stuff information into his head and it turned out there actually was a limit to how effective that was on a daily basis) his not-plans had shifted.

The message had been simple, almost innocuous. Anyone else would have read it as a simple 'hey, we should talk!' More of Thor's sporadic clinging. But Loki had a longer baseline, and a few things had put him on edge.

It wasn't going to be a conversation that should have an audience. There was a chance it wouldn't actually be a conversation, per se - he'd have thought 'lecture' if he'd actually done anything worth lecturing about. (Surely putting a small child on a very low to the ground tightrope didn't qualify.)

But that was how he'd come to be seated on the beach (easy enough to reach within the border timeline if he shapeshifted to a wolf) with a neat coil of twine beside him, tying it into the right series of knots for a decent fishing net and waiting for Thor to turn up.

If nothing else, he'd know if he still remembered how to make nets properly.

Date: 2018-09-12 06:18 am (UTC)
st_ormbreaker: (Defeated.)
From: [personal profile] st_ormbreaker
Thor laughs hoarsely at that, and he doesn't even know why. Perhaps it's at the absurdity of the situation. The entire story is so unbelievably tragic that sometimes, even Thor had a hard time believing it was real, and he remembers every detail -- from Asgard to those last few moments with Thanos with such clarity that the events might have happened yesterday.

"I don't really know what you were doing," he says. "The Hulk came barreling out of nowhere at your cue." We have a Hulk. "You retrieved the Tesseract while Hulk fought him."

Thor briefly presses his lips together.

"And lost."

Much as he tries not to, Thor hand shakes lightly on Loki's back. He pulls it away, then wrings his hands together.

Date: 2018-09-12 06:30 am (UTC)
st_ormbreaker: (Defeated.)
From: [personal profile] st_ormbreaker
Thor suddenly wishes he could go back home, but even if they were trapped here, there wouldn't be a home to go back to. The best he could hope for is to return to Earth, but even then, what would be waiting for him there?

Thor swallows, and for the first time since he mentioned Thanos' name, he manages to look over at his brother.

"Do you want me to keep going?"

Date: 2018-09-12 06:51 am (UTC)
st_ormbreaker: (Defeated.)
From: [personal profile] st_ormbreaker
Thor turns and looks out at the ocean, his hands still sitting in his lap.

"Heimdall sent the Hulk to Earth with the Bifrost. Thanos killed him," he says. "Thanos got the Tesseract back. You offered to work for him, pledged your undying fidelity." To him or to Thanos? Even now, Thor wasn't sure. It somehow felt like Loki was talking to him, even as he addressed Thanos.

"But then you attacked him with your dagger. And then --" Thor feels something catch in his throat, and he turns his gaze away from the ocean and down to his hands in his lap. "-- he killed you."

Thor takes a breath and forces himself to look at Loki. He doesn't know what else to say or what to do, but he hopes that once he sees some shift in his expression, the right words, the right actions will come to him.

Date: 2018-09-12 12:36 pm (UTC)
st_ormbreaker: (Defeated.)
From: [personal profile] st_ormbreaker
Thor tries not to think of it. The sounds of Loki gasping for air; his brother struggling against Thanos' grip; the sharp crack that followed it; Loki's thrown out in front of him; No resurrections this time; clutching his brother's body and it feeling different than the last time he held his brother when he thought him dead.

He utterly fails at it.

"I'm sure."

Thor brushes away the start of tears with the side of his hand and for not the first time tonight, gazes out at the ocean so he doesn't have to look at Loki.

Date: 2018-09-13 12:54 am (UTC)
st_ormbreaker: (Defeated.)
From: [personal profile] st_ormbreaker
For a few moments, Thor doesn't react to the press of his brother's lips to his forehead, nor Loki's arms when they fold around him. They should; his brother has never been especially affectionate to anyone but their mother, even when the two of them were boys. This uncharacteristic physical display of kindness should be enough to rip Thor from where he is, but it doesn't.

Not immediately.

But when it does, he wraps his arms around his brother and pulls him him close. He rests the top of his face against the top of Loki's shoulder and for once, doesn't say anything.

Date: 2018-09-13 02:42 am (UTC)
st_ormbreaker: (Defeated.)
From: [personal profile] st_ormbreaker
Eventually, Thor finally manages to pull his face away from his brother's shoulder. "You know," he begins, trying to make it sound more like a joke than it actually is, "I'm really tired of the people I love dying."

Date: 2018-09-13 03:34 am (UTC)
st_ormbreaker: (Neutral.)
From: [personal profile] st_ormbreaker
Thor lets out a hoarse laugh at that, then finally relinquishes his hold on his brother.

"I'm not going to stop loving people just to make it easier," Thor says."I'm too hard-headed."

Date: 2018-09-13 03:57 am (UTC)
st_ormbreaker: (Neutral.)
From: [personal profile] st_ormbreaker
Thor wishes his brother didn't feel the need to acquire it. He watches as his brother busies himself with his knots and wishes he had something to do with his hands, too. His hands were never as deft as Loki's were, though; his brother always had the finesse he lacked.

"I really do love you," he says after a moment. He's sure that his brother knows that much from what he said before, but he might as well clear up any doubts.

"I wish I had told you that. I thought I'd have all the time in the worlds to do so, but..."

Thor trails off.

Date: 2018-09-13 04:09 am (UTC)
st_ormbreaker: (Neutral.)
From: [personal profile] st_ormbreaker
"I know," Thor says, and then he corrects himself. "I knew. I guess the two of us were sometimes bad at showing it."

Date: 2018-09-13 04:45 am (UTC)
st_ormbreaker: (Neutral.)
From: [personal profile] st_ormbreaker
"I haven't known you to be bad at anything you truly tried at," Thor says.

Date: 2018-09-13 05:26 am (UTC)
st_ormbreaker: (Confused.)
From: [personal profile] st_ormbreaker
Thor turns to look at Loki, his expression perplexed.

"So you try at it?"

Date: 2018-09-13 12:30 pm (UTC)
st_ormbreaker: (Neutral.)
From: [personal profile] st_ormbreaker
"I liked you then," Thor insists, watching Loki carefully. "And I like you now, too. Don't act like nobody likes you."

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