1st Strike [Video]

[godofpancakes]

[The video opens on a large blond man, shirtless, staring with open confusion at the PORTAL. He pokes at the screen, then looks over at the mirror, a frown starting to tug at the corners of his mouth.

He appears to think this is audio, not video.]I have been informed that this is a dream, yet I can not seem to wake up

Comments

[godofpancakes]

Thor notices Loki's reaction--it sends a shot through him, again of hope. Not a shrugging off, not a sneer. Something calm and stilling. Giving a squeeze, he lets his hand fall away, moving to face the table and the food on top of it.

Listening to his brother, he nods, once. "...that Yggdrasil branches in ways we do not understand..." He looks out over the woods surrounding him. "I can understand that." Perhaps before he would not have considered it, but with all that Jane spoke of, and the unknown paths that Loki had used...it is all possible.

On the topic of dreaming, Thor chuckles, raising an eyebrow. "Is that what you did at first, brother?" A good natured smirk--how easy is it to fall back into their old ways?

But still he nods again, falling back to a serious face. "I shall try. Should I--close my eyes?"

He closes them anyways, without an answer, and tries to do his best to imagine up that particular white fish he enjoys so much from the palace kitchens. Wishing and demanding that it would be on this table...

...and when he opens his eyes, there it is. Eyebrows shooting up, he shakes his head.

"...strong sorcery."

[forbastards]

"It's not sorcery, not in the way I know and use it. It's something else entirely." There's an undercurrent of repressed curiosity in his voice. As much as he loathes being pulled away from what he'd rather be doing, Loki can't deny that this place does give him something to do besides go mad while falling through space.

Madder, perhaps.

"It will taste the way you remember and is as real as anything else here. Troubling, isn't it?" It would be best not to ask what else Loki has already tried to make.

[godofpancakes]

"It is, especially if it is unknown to you." Thor looks over at Loki, his eyes saying more than he probably wishes to. "You are the best sorcerer Asgard has known."

He turns away, and moves to cut them both some bread, as well as the fish, placing a plate in front of Loki. Yes, he is serving himself, he has manners. Jane has taught him a great deal--all of his new friends have. He no longer takes things for granted, that he once might have.

"Have you heard of a way out, yet. I was told that I should speak to the King and Queen. That they might request me an audience."

[forbastards]

"Not yet, brother. I still have much to learn and will continue my studies once we are free of this place." Perhaps, he will be able to leave this realm for Midgard or any one of the other worlds he knows -- it might be wise to spend some time studying foreign magics before returning to Asgard.

"They might, but I fear they are not kings and queens as we know them. She forces the mask on us, he removes our power to speak at sunset. Capricious beings, aren't they?"

[godofpancakes]

Thor nods, trying to mask his surprise when he dug into the food, finding it to be indeed as good as Loki had suggest it would be. "I have faith in you--you possess some skills others might envy." He gives Loki a smile, trying to reassure. He is trying his best to give the other assurance, confidence, support--things perhaps he had neglected before. Thor had come to realize in the past months that yes, he had taken Loki for granted. And look what it got them.

"They are--but we have dealt with worst, brother, you and I." Thor gives him a bigger smile, nodding. "We will find a way out."

[forbastards]

"Your confidence worries me," he says while taking up an apple and peeling it in a single, long strand with a paring knife. "And your faith."

"Tell me, brother, what happened in those few weeks that I've been gone? What has made you so generous with your praise?"

[godofpancakes]

"And why is that?" Thor raises an eyebrow slightly, keeping his blue eyes fixed on Loki's green. "Have I not always had faith?" He may not have shown that--he knows that now. But Loki had always been included in their travels, as Thor knew that out of all of his group, Loki was the only one who might temper him.

Though it doesn't always work.

At the next question, well. Thor has never been a skilled liar, as his brother. He hates to do it--so he shall try half truths. "I spent some time on Midgard, and met a few humans that...changed the way I look at things." He smiles brightly, covering up whatever falseness as best he can. "It was necessary, and I am glad for it."

He is, really. If only he hadn't lost Loki in the process.

[forbastards]

"If you feel it was a needed thing, than so be it." Loki watches him carefully, unsure if he ought to be pleased at the half-truth or irate that he wasn't able to catch his brother out in a lie. He'd seen the thread with Pepper and knew that his brother had come from the same timeline as he.

"Once I was gone, did our Father...," he trails off, turning his face away out of shame and motioning that he needs time to rebuild his impassive facade. "Did our Father tell you why I've been trapped here? Do you know what I'm being punished for? What crime have we both committed to be thrown from Asgard? From Yggdrasil itself?"

Comic!Thor apologizes for the poor stitching, Loki.

[godofpancakes]

If Thor catches why Loki turns his face, he doesn't make any indication. He is becoming more observant, but he misses things; Loki is more nuanced when Thor paints in broad strokes.

"I don't--This is something else, entirely." Thor frowns, shaking his head. He doesn't have to lie, not about this. "Odin--Odin would not do this to us."

Not after what he did to Thor earlier. Not for...telling Loki no. Thor refuses to believe that this is Father's doing.

[forbastards]

"No? Odin Fjölnir would not?" While Loki hides his anger, he doesn't bother to conceal his doubt. He knows full well that if it was politically expedient Odin would cast him aside in the deepest, darkest well of nothing that could be find. Midgard, or any of the other nine realms, would suggest the hope of redemption or rescue. "Then we must consider that the lord and lady of this land are powerful enough to snatch us up and away from Asgard."

[godofpancakes]

"No, he wouldn't. Trust me, dear brother." Thor's tone is firm, and his blue eyes stay trained on Loki, trying to give the reassurance he isn't quite sure he can give. He is the one for optimism, always, even in the face of overwhelming odds. Even in the face of Loki's discomfort.

"That has to be some plan--some trick to all of this." He frowns, taking a large bite of bread, trying to remember not to speak with his mouth full (but mostly failing). "I mean to speak to them in the coming days."

[forbastards]

"Brother, be cautious? If you die on the steps of some stranger's palace, I'll never forgive you." It's never been easy to tell if and when Loki is joking, but Thor likely knows him well enough to understand that while he may be flippant, he rarely speaks entirely in jest. "And then what would happen? I'd have to follow you into death itself and bargain for your release and you wouldn't want me to be beholden to anyone in that manner. Truly, keeping yourself alive and whole is in your own best interest."

[godofpancakes]

"It will take more than a dreaming King and Queen to kill me, Loki."

Thor grins widely at Loki's words. He hopes it just seems like he's just being cocky again (as the Thor he knows has not gone through such trials), but he can't begin to express how good it feels to know Loki doesn't want him dead. Especially not a month ago, he had been killed by a wave of Loki's hand.

The thought of Loki traveling through death to save him, however, sobers him, and he nods quickly. "No, I would not want that for you. Besides," He leans forward slightly, again sincerity in his voice, "We work best when together. I'd rather work with you on this, than charge blindly on."

A change from the Thor Loki knew, perhaps, but a necessary one. Loki needs to know he is needed. That he is an equal. If that is all he has ever wanted, Thor will try to give that to him, now.

[forbastards]

"How magnanimous." Now, now, Loki doesn't want Thor dead on the steps of some stranger's palace. Were he to once again have his own palace, that might be a wholly different matter.

"I said I had information for you and if you've eaten your fill, I'll share it. You won't have stomach after I'm done."

[godofpancakes]

Thor nods, pushing his plate away from him. Not having a stomach for food after the stories is more than a bit worrisome; he is not the eater that Volstagg is, but it is rare that something can cause the loss of appetite.

"I am listening. Tell me what you know."

[forbastards]

"There are others from Asgard here," he says raising a hand to forestall the questions he knows are coming. "But they are from an earlier or a different cycle of time. Two of them claim to be my children, by the jötunn Angrboða, and I know the taste and weight of lies. They speak the truth, brother."

"Just as I now speak the truth when I say that telling you this will hurt you, as it is meant to, but it is my hope that it will pain you less than if you were to learn this from their own mouths." Loki may not know his children as a father might, but if they are truly his, then they know how to cut with a word as much as with a blade. "I spent time with the wolf, Fenrir, and we spoke of many things and he told me of the Ragnarök coming to his world."