[Loki's room was fairly sparse in some ways as he was building up more creature comforts. Bed, along with nightstand and wardrobe-dresser, a spare comfortable chair and a rug, some tapestries on the wall that were patterned. Window closed firmly, and cleaner clothes laid out on the bed. On top of thick blankets and a good number of pillows. There was a bowl of water and a washcloth on the dresser part of the wardrobe, along with a comb and small jars of toiletries.]
Why does that sound ridiculous?
[Because it made perfect sense to Loki, knowing what he did of the younger man. Door closed behind them, he turned to the other.]
I spent the afternoon sparring with Blake. Do you mind if I wash up a bit while we talk?
[ He looks flustered, awkwardly walking over to the chair and sitting. He takes a little breath. ]
It's that...I always knew who I was. CEO. Big brother. High-ranking duelist. Manipulator of a massive economy. But none of that's relevant anymore. I'm just one human against the wilds of whatever's out there.
We have shared a hot spring, I didn't think you'd mind.
[Kaiba had already seen a lot more of Loki than just removing his shirt would do. At least he wasn't going to change fully.]
You were ten when your current life at home was mapped out for you. I'm not surprised you didn't go through the usual adolescent troubles of figuring out who you are.
[Shift off, Loki is taking a moment to laugh.]
Mind, for an age comparison I'd be in my mid twenties so I'm not entirely that ancient in some ways. You're also far from the only human here.
My life turned upside down about 6 years ago after a prank on Thor. That prank had effects and consequences I couldn't predict and altered both of our lives in ways that...I'm still figuring out. Remember what I told you about Thor and the frost giants and Jotunheim?
[Loki focused on that washcloth and basin now, moving to give himself a sketchy wash as he talked.]
Thor was banished to Midgard, and deemed 'unworthy' although Odin sent Mjolnir with him. Should Thor prove himself worthy once more, he would be able to lift it. Meanwhile, Father was asleep and I was next in the line of succession. They gave me the throne, though I wasn't sure I wanted it. Once I had it though, I thought of a way I could solve things and make Father proud of me. But I needed Thor to stay on Earth.
I visited, keeping myself and my presence unseen except to him as he'd located Mjolnir in the middle of a secret quick compound set up by a government of that nation. He'd been unable to lift it, and so they were questioning him. I told him about father, but lied about whether he could come home. His friends--who had always been his friends more than mine, and Sif... they petitioned me as King to allow his return. I refused it, as it would not do for me to countermand Odin's order as my first act as ruler of Asgard. They had always been suspicious of me, distrustful. They hadn't appreciated that I had saved our lives on Jotunheim by telling a guard, before we left, to get Odin.
In any case, they went to Midgard to find Thor and bring him back. I sent an advanced Asgardian weapon known as the destroyer after them. I also went to Jotunheim, secretly this time. To pretend to betray my people, by inviting Laufey to come and take his revenge on the vulnerable Odin. I knew the einherjar could handle the frost giants easily, and Laufey took the bait. I was there to intercept him once the threat was real--and I killed him. It would have been perfect if only Thor hadn't come back. Somehow he'd become worthy again, wielded Mjolnir, and returned.
Just by returning home, he ruined it. We fought, as he tried to prevent me from wiping out the Jotun completely. It was a great fight, but even were I wanting to stop--what I'd started couldn't be stopped. Except by destroying the bifrost, which Thor did. It took us both by surprise, dangling on the edge of it though Odin had awakened and caught Thor. Who held onto Gungnir, the spear--which I held on to. I pleaded with my father for approval...but was denied it.
I let go.
[A pause, and Loki pulled out the band from his hair. Cupping his hands in the water, cloth placed aside, he splashed it through and over his hair. Ruffling the black mane with his head tilted so that Kaiba couldn't see his expressions.]
The Bifrost was what allowed inter-realm travel between the nine. With it broken, there was no set way to know where it might drop one. I let go...and fell into a wormhole that transported me somewhere else in the universe. I had not expected to survive.
Nowhere good. I spent a year effectively moving through the dregs of the galaxy with only what I had on me and my wits and skills to survive. No kindness was shown to me that wasn't ruthlessly bargained for and often at great cost. Eventually, I found my way to a being known as the Mad Titan. Gamora knows of me from my time in his service, but it was the a desperate bargain I'd made. He offered me a thrown--to use his army and conquer Midgard, if I would only secure a certain relic known as the Tesseract for him. I took the offer and invaded New York. Not outright at first, but more subtly and by taking control of a few government agents in good places. I infiltrated and caused what I had hoped was an irreparable rift among their defenders. In the end, I was defeated and sent back to Asgard by my brother in chains. Father sent me to prison, though I told him if it was to be the axe for me then to hurry up. Instead...prison. Denied my mother's presence as well, although she found her ways to talk with me. Made me as comfortable as she could. But the last time I saw her alive we fought, she and I.
[Now Loki raised his head up, and took up the comb. Turning so that he was in profile to Kaiba. Comb in his left hand, he filled with it with his right as the pair were brought up in front of his waist.]
I wasn't freed until Thor needed my help to rescue Jane Foster and stop the Svartalfhar. That is, the dark elves. The other ancient, and thought to be extinct, enemy race to the Asgardians besides the Jotun. His desperate plan worked almost. We freed Jane Foster, from Asgard and from the Aether that the dark elves sought inside of her. Thor obviously did not trust me after my invasion of Earth, and we used that to an advantage. I pretended to betray him, to get the Dark Elf Wizard Malekith to free Jane from the Aether, and then I helped protect her. I nearly died again. Thor had already thought me dead once before I showed up in New York seeking the Tesseract. Here he thought I died again, but einherjar had come looking for us--followed my secret way to Svartalfhar.
I killed and changed one of them, to take my place--went home, told Odin that Loki was dead while Thor went to deal with the Dark Elves on Midgard presumably. How he got there I don't know. Father figured out that I wasn't the einherjar he'd sent rather quickly, but I had no desire to go back to my prison cell. I enchanted him by modifying his memory, and found him a home to live in for elders on Midgard in New York. He stayed there for 4 years while I ruled Asgard, pretending to be him. Thor was, again, the cause of my being found out by his return to Asgard. We went to Midgard to find Father, and he'd broken the enchantment at some point but had stayed where he was.
[Loki's eyes look down, and his expression was decidedly neutral.]
He said mother would've been proud of it, my spellcasting. I was young, angry and hurt and confused.
There's more that I could go into, but the part that I think you'll find most relevant is when I was again knocked out of the bifrost while we were traveling in it. I fell through a wormhole again, and ended up on what was the Universe's planetary trash-heap. There was only a pocket of civilization, otherwise you were left to cannibalistic gangs of raiders. That pocket of civilization was also ruled over by a mad god-like being know as the Grandmaster. His tastes in entertainment ran towards parties and bloodsports, with his ego being massive and his moods volatile and capricious to an extreme. Trying to gain and stay in his favor was like constantly dancing on a knife's edge. I was there for months before Thor showed up again.
[Loki gave a snort.]
In any case, Father had talked with Thor and myself, before the trip to Sakaar. He was dying, so had little time. But he said he was proud of us both, using 'sons' plural. I...was not sure how to feel about that. I'm still not. During our escape from Sakaar, as well as by a bonfire here, Thor and I have talked--and he gave me even more to think about.
[That was the point he was getting at really. Face still down turned slightly, although he realized he was fidgeting. A small frown, and he moved to start combing through his hair instead.]
Who I thought I was, and who I had expected to be... It all changed, and is changing still. Here, my situation was better than either previous time I'd been dropped somewhere, despite my being brought down to human initially. At first, my helping others and playing the good neighbor and all that? My survival strategy--it's unwise to make enemies unless you have to, when you have no real way to protect yourself from them. That later goodwill of others can also be valuable as many people don't want to see someone whom they view fondly as capable of a great many things.
Mm...I see. I don't think you need me to say it, but...my goodwill toward you hasn't lessened. It's grown, if anything.
[ Seto briefly smiles at Loki, then glances down at his phone to view the profiles again. He reads Loki's profile again in this light, then what the Oracle had chosen to expose in his own. ]
The power I had before isn't the kind that can be reclaimed in this world. My role has changed...I guess if there's one thing I have to hold onto, it's being stubborn enough to keep digging.
"I'm known for betrayal and a talented liar. I've killed many before, several whom weren't involved directly in the conflict." Loki pointed out, just in case Kaiba wanted to rethink things. "I am, ultimately, on my own side first at all times." But was that latter really true, considering he'd adopted Alice officially?
"You hold on to what you choose to hold on to. But think of this as a place to find out who you want to be."
[All while getting the worst snarls out of his hair as he half-watched the other. Starting from the bottom and moving upwards with the comb as the strands got less knotted.]
Seto would keep it in mind, but...no, he'd refuse to worry about it. He knew he wanted to stay by Loki's side, and he was a stubborn dude.
"...Mokuba begged me to let go of my bitterness about losing my title before. I'd staked everything on winning a rematch and reclaiming my glory, and failed again. It felt like a knife to the heart, but. My 'father' had been wrong. I'd lost, and was still alive."
He'd heard echoes of that in Loki's story, and it heartened him a little. He looked up, a little brighter.
"Mokuba asked me to remember how to smile, to work on our old dreams to make other kids like us smile. Maybe I can find something small and build on it. Share some dream, somwhere."
"Scars can be harmful, or helpful. They can stay with us, and remind us of our failures and our wounds. But they're meant to be healing, to remind us we survived, to help us grow." Loki was glad to see the other look a little more stable and happier.
"So yes, take being here as an opportunity. Learn what you can, and do what you can and what you want." Hair back in some semblance of order, Loki turned to the clean clothing on the bed and slipped into the undershirt.
"As for the dating aspect? No one says you have to use it that way. Use it to find enemies via the fight option, if you want. Or don't use it at all and pay it no mind."
Not just the physical scars he bore...but the mental ones two. They told his story, but he could be more than that?
He nodded, snorting as he tucked his phone away once more.
"I'm not just starting fights for no reason. It'd be a fool's errand. An intellectual competition, maybe...or I could throw caution to the wind and press the friend button?"
It wasn't usually his thing. He still had to suppress cringing at that word. But he could try.
"Presumably they want us to be more conversational than just pushing a button alone. Otherwise why have the option?" Loki pointed out reasonably. "It's a tool. Tools are only as effective as the person who knows how to use one."
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2024-01-13 04:25 am (UTC)[ He looks around a bit, folding his arms. Looking unsure of himself again. ]
It sounds ridiculous, but I'm not a hundred percent sure how to accurately define myself anymore.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-13 04:33 am (UTC)Why does that sound ridiculous?
[Because it made perfect sense to Loki, knowing what he did of the younger man. Door closed behind them, he turned to the other.]
I spent the afternoon sparring with Blake. Do you mind if I wash up a bit while we talk?
no subject
Date: 2024-01-13 04:37 am (UTC)[ He looks flustered, awkwardly walking over to the chair and sitting. He takes a little breath. ]
It's that...I always knew who I was. CEO. Big brother. High-ranking duelist. Manipulator of a massive economy. But none of that's relevant anymore. I'm just one human against the wilds of whatever's out there.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-13 04:43 am (UTC)[Kaiba had already seen a lot more of Loki than just removing his shirt would do. At least he wasn't going to change fully.]
You were ten when your current life at home was mapped out for you. I'm not surprised you didn't go through the usual adolescent troubles of figuring out who you are.
[Shift off, Loki is taking a moment to laugh.]
Mind, for an age comparison I'd be in my mid twenties so I'm not entirely that ancient in some ways. You're also far from the only human here.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-13 04:46 am (UTC)[ He raked a hand through his hair, still a bit agitated. ]
Well, how did you figure it out then?
no subject
Date: 2024-01-13 04:57 am (UTC)[Not the answer Kaiba wanted, Loki was certain.]
My life turned upside down about 6 years ago after a prank on Thor. That prank had effects and consequences I couldn't predict and altered both of our lives in ways that...I'm still figuring out. Remember what I told you about Thor and the frost giants and Jotunheim?
[Loki focused on that washcloth and basin now, moving to give himself a sketchy wash as he talked.]
Thor was banished to Midgard, and deemed 'unworthy' although Odin sent Mjolnir with him. Should Thor prove himself worthy once more, he would be able to lift it. Meanwhile, Father was asleep and I was next in the line of succession. They gave me the throne, though I wasn't sure I wanted it. Once I had it though, I thought of a way I could solve things and make Father proud of me. But I needed Thor to stay on Earth.
I visited, keeping myself and my presence unseen except to him as he'd located Mjolnir in the middle of a secret quick compound set up by a government of that nation. He'd been unable to lift it, and so they were questioning him. I told him about father, but lied about whether he could come home. His friends--who had always been his friends more than mine, and Sif... they petitioned me as King to allow his return. I refused it, as it would not do for me to countermand Odin's order as my first act as ruler of Asgard. They had always been suspicious of me, distrustful. They hadn't appreciated that I had saved our lives on Jotunheim by telling a guard, before we left, to get Odin.
In any case, they went to Midgard to find Thor and bring him back. I sent an advanced Asgardian weapon known as the destroyer after them. I also went to Jotunheim, secretly this time. To pretend to betray my people, by inviting Laufey to come and take his revenge on the vulnerable Odin. I knew the einherjar could handle the frost giants easily, and Laufey took the bait. I was there to intercept him once the threat was real--and I killed him. It would have been perfect if only Thor hadn't come back. Somehow he'd become worthy again, wielded Mjolnir, and returned.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-13 05:10 am (UTC)It's painful, to have to pretend to betray people when things matter. I've had to do the same.
But you'd built up to this one big purpose and...he tore it down?
no subject
Date: 2024-01-13 05:14 am (UTC)I let go.
[A pause, and Loki pulled out the band from his hair. Cupping his hands in the water, cloth placed aside, he splashed it through and over his hair. Ruffling the black mane with his head tilted so that Kaiba couldn't see his expressions.]
The Bifrost was what allowed inter-realm travel between the nine. With it broken, there was no set way to know where it might drop one. I let go...and fell into a wormhole that transported me somewhere else in the universe. I had not expected to survive.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-13 05:17 am (UTC)[ He looked down at his hands, imagining what being backed into that kind of corner would feel like. ]
And where did you land?
no subject
Date: 2024-01-13 05:35 am (UTC)[Now Loki raised his head up, and took up the comb. Turning so that he was in profile to Kaiba. Comb in his left hand, he filled with it with his right as the pair were brought up in front of his waist.]
I wasn't freed until Thor needed my help to rescue Jane Foster and stop the Svartalfhar. That is, the dark elves. The other ancient, and thought to be extinct, enemy race to the Asgardians besides the Jotun. His desperate plan worked almost. We freed Jane Foster, from Asgard and from the Aether that the dark elves sought inside of her. Thor obviously did not trust me after my invasion of Earth, and we used that to an advantage. I pretended to betray him, to get the Dark Elf Wizard Malekith to free Jane from the Aether, and then I helped protect her. I nearly died again. Thor had already thought me dead once before I showed up in New York seeking the Tesseract. Here he thought I died again, but einherjar had come looking for us--followed my secret way to Svartalfhar.
I killed and changed one of them, to take my place--went home, told Odin that Loki was dead while Thor went to deal with the Dark Elves on Midgard presumably. How he got there I don't know. Father figured out that I wasn't the einherjar he'd sent rather quickly, but I had no desire to go back to my prison cell. I enchanted him by modifying his memory, and found him a home to live in for elders on Midgard in New York. He stayed there for 4 years while I ruled Asgard, pretending to be him. Thor was, again, the cause of my being found out by his return to Asgard. We went to Midgard to find Father, and he'd broken the enchantment at some point but had stayed where he was.
[Loki's eyes look down, and his expression was decidedly neutral.]
He said mother would've been proud of it, my spellcasting.
I was young, angry and hurt and confused.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-13 04:38 pm (UTC)[ He wouldn't say any more than that for now, patiently listening. No judgment here. ]
no subject
Date: 2024-01-13 04:47 pm (UTC)[Loki gave a snort.]
In any case, Father had talked with Thor and myself, before the trip to Sakaar. He was dying, so had little time. But he said he was proud of us both, using 'sons' plural. I...was not sure how to feel about that. I'm still not. During our escape from Sakaar, as well as by a bonfire here, Thor and I have talked--and he gave me even more to think about.
[That was the point he was getting at really. Face still down turned slightly, although he realized he was fidgeting. A small frown, and he moved to start combing through his hair instead.]
Who I thought I was, and who I had expected to be... It all changed, and is changing still. Here, my situation was better than either previous time I'd been dropped somewhere, despite my being brought down to human initially. At first, my helping others and playing the good neighbor and all that? My survival strategy--it's unwise to make enemies unless you have to, when you have no real way to protect yourself from them. That later goodwill of others can also be valuable as many people don't want to see someone whom they view fondly as capable of a great many things.
[Pausing, to be sure Kaiba was following along.]
no subject
Date: 2024-01-13 05:24 pm (UTC)[ Seto briefly smiles at Loki, then glances down at his phone to view the profiles again. He reads Loki's profile again in this light, then what the Oracle had chosen to expose in his own. ]
The power I had before isn't the kind that can be reclaimed in this world. My role has changed...I guess if there's one thing I have to hold onto, it's being stubborn enough to keep digging.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-13 09:28 pm (UTC)"You hold on to what you choose to hold on to. But think of this as a place to find out who you want to be."
[All while getting the worst snarls out of his hair as he half-watched the other. Starting from the bottom and moving upwards with the comb as the strands got less knotted.]
no subject
Date: 2024-01-14 01:14 am (UTC)"...Mokuba begged me to let go of my bitterness about losing my title before. I'd staked everything on winning a rematch and reclaiming my glory, and failed again. It felt like a knife to the heart, but. My 'father' had been wrong. I'd lost, and was still alive."
He'd heard echoes of that in Loki's story, and it heartened him a little. He looked up, a little brighter.
"Mokuba asked me to remember how to smile, to work on our old dreams to make other kids like us smile. Maybe I can find something small and build on it. Share some dream, somwhere."
no subject
Date: 2024-01-14 01:26 am (UTC)"So yes, take being here as an opportunity. Learn what you can, and do what you can and what you want." Hair back in some semblance of order, Loki turned to the clean clothing on the bed and slipped into the undershirt.
"As for the dating aspect? No one says you have to use it that way. Use it to find enemies via the fight option, if you want. Or don't use it at all and pay it no mind."
no subject
Date: 2024-01-14 03:35 am (UTC)He nodded, snorting as he tucked his phone away once more.
"I'm not just starting fights for no reason. It'd be a fool's errand. An intellectual competition, maybe...or I could throw caution to the wind and press the friend button?"
It wasn't usually his thing. He still had to suppress cringing at that word. But he could try.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-14 03:38 am (UTC)