planning stages!

[st_ratagem]

Loki had decided to solve a problem. It wasn't an active problem yet, but with Thor and Valkyrie both in residence, it was entirely possible that at some point alcohol would end up in short supply. Thor alone had managed to drink most of the alcohol in the Inn, and Loki thought that Valkyrie's tolerance was probably somewhat higher. That being the case, it seemed like a good long-term idea to start making booze. Specifically, Asgardian spirits strong enough to ensure that the king and his lieutenant had more efficient options than 'drink two whole bars'.

The only problem was that Loki didn't exactly know how the brewing and distillation process had worked. He'd never paid much attention to distilleries back home. Stills themselves were simple enough, according to a few books he'd collected from the library, but how the versions on Asgard differed... was it a matter of material? Ingredients? Something else?

It was almost certainly an area where Thor knew more than he did, so Loki sent a message inviting his brother to come up and help with a project. He made no particular effort to sound like he wasn't up to something, because it would be fun to see what conclusions Thor jumped to regarding the invitation.

Comments

[st_ormbreaker]

"There was no one in the universe that I loved more than you, Loki," he says, looking up from the book. "There still isn't. Your death off the edge of the Bifrost mattered as much to me then as your death on The Statesman matters to me now."

[st_ratagem]

"Yes. Well." Loki shrugged. "You'll have to forgive my lack of realization until recently. You did spend a significant amount of time exposing me to your friends' torments and laughing about them. Or mocking me yourself, though I'll admit that's different."

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor says nothing to that. He didn't think it was exposing his brother to torments at the time, but now...

He could definitely see where Loki was coming from.

"Did you really think I didn't love you?"

[st_ratagem]

"I thought I was... scenery, more or less. Part of the chorus, maybe: one more follower to show off the glory that was Thor, and thoroughly unimportant otherwise." Loki spoke slowly, weighing words before he actually let them out. It was difficult to describe this. "You loved playing 'big brother' and the respect and affection it got you from your audience - such a good brother to such a poisonous creature and so on. You loved your role, which translated at least to loving my presence in a way, but I didn't really exist to you. Without me, you'd just have to get respect and affection some other way, which would take, oh, six seconds at most."

[st_ormbreaker]

"I am your big brother and I like being it," Thor says, his brows furrowed. "There was never any playing at it."

[st_ratagem]

Loki waved a hand. “You asked if I thought you didn’t love me, the answer is both yes and no. I believed you thought you loved me, at the very least. I also knew you were only interested in things that were about you or when you were in charge. I loved you enough to be a bit player in your life, but in my life I was on my own. The mighty Thor was no one’s supporting cast, so to speak.”

[st_ormbreaker]

"Do you still feel like that now?" Thor asks quietly.

[st_ratagem]

“Yes and no. I grant your sincerity of feeling, but I also find that the mighty Thor isn’t one for supporting cast.” Loki smiled slightly. “It’s no trouble here, this need of yours to be in charge of everything. Virtually nothing here is important enough that I mind letting go, and when I do mind I dig in and you eventually get angry enough to drop it. You don’t outnumber me as substantially as you used to.” No Lady Sif, no Warriors Three, Stark and Rogers tended to stay out of the brothers’ spats, and Valkyrie... depending on the situation she might take Loki’s side. She was no blind supporter.

[st_ormbreaker]

"I don't need to be in charge of everything," Thor argues. Not that he doesn't want to be, though. Lately it feels like he doesn't nearly have enough control over anything.

[st_ratagem]

“No? Here’s an extremely recent example. I ask you to come help with a project. Five minutes or so later you’ve decided it’s a secret surprise for Stark, I assume from you, which you look forward to showing off once you’ve decided on a name.” Loki was genuinely amused, without a trace of bitterness. It was funny! “It’s nothing to me whether this is something I’m doing that you’re helping with or something you’re doing that I am. I have no particular attachment and it’s just as done either way, but surely you see how we’ve moved from one to the other?”

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor directs a finger at Loki. "I asked you for a name. And it's not just a surprise for Tony -- it's also a surprise for Val."

[st_ratagem]

"Also your unilateral decision. I had no intention of secrecy. And when I said 'there's no name' you insisted it needed one." Just for fun, Loki put on his most innocent expression. "Anything else?"

[st_ormbreaker]

"Yeah -- what do you have against having fun?"

[st_ratagem]

"Nothing whatsoever. You're just pouting that I'm right about your need to be in charge."

[st_ormbreaker]

"Nothing stopping you from saying no."

[st_ratagem]

"I did say no. But if you give in now you're just being petty."

[st_ormbreaker]

"You did not say no," Thor insists. Did he? Thor can't remember.

[st_ratagem]

"I assure you I did. To each item. But as I said: this doesn't matter. I brought it up only to disprove your ridiculous 'I don't have to be in charge of everything!' statement."

[st_ormbreaker]

"You tell me no to something and I'll agree with you." Thor is absolutely determined to show that he absolutely does not have to be in charge of everything.

[st_ratagem]

Loki rolled his eyes. "Of course you will."

[st_ormbreaker]

"All right, test me now."

[st_ratagem]

Loki just smiled and said nothing. Telling Thor he had no intention of coming up with a 'no' just so Thor could pretend he disproved the premise was, in fact, telling Thor 'no' to something.

[st_ormbreaker]

"Loki."

[st_ratagem]

“Yes?” Also, messing with Thor was always entertaining.

[st_ormbreaker]

"I know exactly what you're doing --"

Thor did not, but that wasn't the point.

"-- and it's not going to work on me."