[Thor and Loki] catching up

[st_ratagem]

The agreed-upon drinking together 'next week' had turned into more than two weeks of very little of Thor. It had been relaxing, more or less, but Loki had gotten used to his brother being underfoot on a regular basis. That he all but disappeared was... odd, for him, enough that the reminder of his promise to drink with Thor in hopes that 'maybe you'll be less cranky' had come as a relief. (Also a relief: the reminder had been about drinking, not about his promise to talk about the frog thing. Not that he wouldn't! Just that it wasn't something he looked forward to.)

As he had the last time, Loki just settled to wait for Thor to show up. Also like last time, he waited to see if Thor would actually knock or if he'd just appear; whether he translated an invitation as 'I don't have to knock'.

Comments

[st_ormbreaker]

Perhaps to Loki's surprise --

Thor knocks.

He'd at least remembered some of the night he spent, more than a little toasted in Loki's room. His brother's request for privacy was one of the things he remembered, along with the promise of drinking and the story behind the whole frog thing.

Maybe he'd get lucky and Loki would divulge those particular details tonight. Thor hoped, at least, that the tale was amusing. He could use a little humor right now.

[st_ratagem]

The watch-spell on the door, in the form of a stylized eye, opened and blinked twice at Thor before disappearing. In the room, Loki nodded slightly, then gestured at the door to open it without getting anywhere near it. Thor wasn't knocking with his head, there was no chance he'd fall over. "You remembered, brother. Thank you."

[st_ormbreaker]

"I try to, anyway." Thor steps inside and looks around, though Loki's room is the same as always. "Are we drinking here or headed to the bar?"

[st_ratagem]

In answer, Loki pulled a bottle - whiskey, one of the good ones - from over there and tossed it in his brother's direction. "Here. I don't think you'll complain about my stash this time, brother. I've been collecting for some time."

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor catches it easily. "Thanks."

He heads for the balcony door, reading the label on the way. If they're drinking, they might as well drink somewhere with a nice view.

Thor slides open the door, sits down in one of the slightly-uncomfortable metal seats outside and breaks the seal, depositing the crinkly plastic on the table. He looks out at the night view, decides a little rain is appropriate, and clouds quickly begin to move in. The rain starts soon enough.

"I thought I'd be the one inviting you for drinks," he says, a moment before taking his first swig.

[st_ratagem]

Loki followed him out, retrieving another bottle - vodka, this time - from over there, and took one of the other chairs. He rarely used them when he was out on the little balcony, preferring to either stand and lean on the railing or just use the little place as a path to the rooftop.

Rain, as scenery, was definitely better than emptiness, if only for the novelty. "I thought I'd be a little unexpected. Not a bad time, is it?"

[st_ormbreaker]

"Is there ever a bad time for drinking?" Thor asks, smiling. He tilts his drink towards Loki and gently taps the neck of his bottle against Loki's with an audible ting!

"How are things going in the infirmary?"

[st_ratagem]

There were a few bad times, but Loki wasn't inclined to start an argument that petty. Yet. "As ever. Nothing really changes. When I run out of books I'll have to take on the practical, which I'm certain will be fun for everyone. How goes whatever you're doing?"

[st_ormbreaker]

"Well enough," Thor says, vaguely. He wonders if his brother noticed his absence. Probably. Thor's sure he was grateful for the peace and quiet.

"You and Tony still holding your lunch dates?" he asks. It's the most discreet way he can get to asking if Tony gave him the notebook without outright asking as much. He doesn't want to ruin their drinking night.

[st_ratagem]

"Sometimes, yes. Less now that he's stacking up projects, of course." And after two months, he surely had less to prove to himself. He was well aware that he could live and be in proximity to Loki without a hitch, there was no real need to test it quite so thoroughly. "All in all, it's been a rather peaceful couple of weeks for me."

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor grins at his brother. "No healing practice, then?"

He takes another drink.

[st_ratagem]

"No. For some reason it seems like it would be a bad idea to practice on people who may not be inclined to accept 'well, that's not meant to happen' when they're worse instead of better." Finally, Loki cracked open his own bottle and took a healthy drink. "And limiting myself to one magical frustration at a time seems prudent also."

[st_ormbreaker]

"Still trying to make things frosty?" Thor asks, gazing out at the rain. "I'm sure you'll figure it out. You've always been magically gifted."

And then, he turns his sights to Loki and grins. "And when you do, we should make snow."

[st_ratagem]

“You probably don’t have to wait on me if you want snow,” Loki pointed out, then took another drink. A certain radius of cold air and that burning-cold touch, those clearly were entirely innate, they tended to just happen whenever he forced Odin’s enchantment away and assumed frost giant form. The rest involved training and knowledge that he didn’t have and had little resource to correctly guess.

Frustrating. “It’s likely to take me a while.”

[st_ormbreaker]

"Thor leans over and pats his brother on the back. The pat is less tough, less energized than it normally is.

"We have plenty of time," he says. Or at least he hopes. He settle back in his chair and goes back to looking out at the rain. "Just keep at it."

Thor goes back to nursing his drink.

"I'm trying to figure out father's powers," he says. "My powers now, I suppose."

[st_ratagem]

“Well outside your wheelhouse.” Odin’s main stock in trade had been knowledge of all kinds, including foreknowledge. A hard road. “Better you than me, and I wish you luck.”

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor lets out a laugh at that.

"I thought you wanted to be king of Asgard," he says.

[st_ratagem]

“I never wanted to be king. I wanted to be equal. I wanted to be good enough.” As opposed to what he actually was, which had felt like ‘nothing to anyone’. He’d pursued it badly, letting anger and grief at betrayal run the show, but on that one point Loki was clear: he was more than fine with not being king. “Later, I wanted to spoil Odin’s work.”

[st_ormbreaker]

On some level, Thor understands it; when he was younger, he wanted his father's approval. He only grew out of it when he began to feel like he knew better than his father.

And unfortunately, that eventually caused an entirely different problem that resulted in him being stripped of his power and cast down to Earth.

On the other hand...

"I don't understand why anyone else's opinion matters to you," Thor says. "You wouldn't believe it if someone told you you were good enough, anyway."

Thor finishes his drink and sets it down on the table.

[st_ratagem]

Loki shrugged, pulled another bottle out of over there, and passed it to Thor. “Believe me or don’t, brother. I didn’t say I still want that.” Certainly it all hurt less, or he’d adapted well enough to make no difference.

[st_ormbreaker]

"Then what do you want now?"

Thor opens the bottle and takes another swig, watching his brother carefully.

[st_ratagem]

“Nothing.” In the larger sense, anyway. There were littler motivations like the ice magic or the daily and weekly tasks he set himself that still existed. “Why, are you worried what I’m up to?”

[st_ormbreaker]

"Should I be?"

[st_ratagem]

"It's not a bad idea in general. At present I'm not up to anything." Loki paused, mock-considering as he downed more vodka, then amended his statement to, "I'm not up to anything unusual."

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor tilts the mouth of his bottle towards Loki.

"If you're up to something usual, then you're up to no good." Thor gestures to his eyes, then gestures at Loki. "I've got my eye on you."

He cracks a smile at his usage of the word eye. If you're going to spend the rest of your days with one eye and one synthetic one, you might as well be good-humored about it.