(closed) tell me you've never loved me, tell me it was just a lie

[ikols]

who: loki and billy
what: escapades
when: llllate because NERDING OUT HAS NO CURFEW and neither does thievery
where: sanctum sanctorum
warnings: tba

[ With the sleeves of his shirt smoking and hair singed, a burn stripes down one side of Loki's face from temple to jaw as he barges into the Sanctum at ass o'clock, stripping off his coat to stamp on the blackened parts. Shit. The shadowthread will need reworking. That's going to be time-consuming. His hot vest makes a loud clatter when he dumps the too-warm scalemaille in haste, climbing the stairs as he makes his way toward a working bathroom (not the acid one). By the time he passes multiple doors and makes it to his destination, his eye is stinging and Loki drops to his knees by the sink, elbows hooked over the edge.

When he isn't so dazed he stands and peers into the mirror at the mess several would-be Hel Hounds have made of him, their breath particularly nostalgic from a bird's-eye perspective but never so close up. They weren't purebreds, of course, some moon-twisted Silent Hill remake of Thori, more like split-mouthed hyenas than anything ...

He's glad those jaws never took purchase. He would have totally shredded his coat, never mind his arm.

Making more noise than usual as he goes about washing his wound, disorientated, the godling yelps and curses without any volume control because either Sam is around visiting Stephen and will come by to help or Loki is home alone while the sorcerer is off with his squeeze on a horrendously normal date. Blood drips red onto ceramic, a sheen of blue caught in it when the electric lights shine a certain way.

Above all, Loki sincerely hopes there is some ice cream left in the unchained fridge. ]

Comments

[ikols]

I'll be in even more trouble if they think I was corrupting you! Shady-As-Shit-Loki, it's a thing. Trust me.

[ Oh, Ymir. Why couldn't he have found something cool and magical instead? Guns are so depressing. ]

How about we, uh, go home and watch a movie now? I'll stash this until I can hand it over.

[wiccant]

Good! You should get in trouble. You're the one who insisted we open it!

( that's what loki gets for being an awful influence who encouraged billy to steal stuff and then open it. )

Yeah, sure. ( hands off the box--it's loki's now. ) We're going to go watch a nice movie. Maybe with some popcorn.

[ikols]

You didn't stop me!

[ He sets all the boxes together in a pile, waves a hand to teleport them to his bedroom at the Sanctum, then turns back to reach for Billy's hand. ]

I'll ... I'll cook to say sorry, okay?

[wiccant]

I tried to stop you! And then you cut into it and-- ( there is no point to arguing with him about this. loki is right. billy should have stopped him. he should have insisted harder. the godling gets one hand, but he's shoving the other against his face. )

No, you're going to return all the other boxes to where they belong. By hand! With apology letters for opening them and snooping.

[ikols]

I can't do that until they're repaired! [ Oof, give him that hand, he needs his face to speak. ] The drones were wonky anyway, no one's going to miss their mail for one night.

[wiccant]

( he's fine, he doesn't need to speak. but he can have that hand too, billy supposes. instead he'll just scrunch up his nose and give loki his best disappointed face. the words that come out of his mouth don't quite match it though. )

You make milkshakes and you cook?

[ikols]

[ Loki holds onto Billy's hands between them, thumbs running over his knuckles in an anxious, unspoken apology. ]

I can cook anything you want. It'll be a really great lunch, I promise. [ Wow, he doesn't like that disappointed face, ugh. ] I'll translate runes for you to revise while you wait, then you can pick whichever of my books you want to borrow. Yeah?

[wiccant]

( this is what you get for making bad life decisions, loki. disappointed looks and a disappointed billy. the fact that there was a gun in it only makes it worse, yes. but it doesn't make the fact that they snooped into other people's things any worse. and why was there a gun in a package with cheesy romance novels? look, now he's questioning the taste of some unknown, space-gun receiving person somewhere on this moon. )

If you think sucking up to me is going to work, you're wrong. ( maybe it is a little. ) Lunch and a movie. Runes can wait until later.

[ikols]

Okay, sure. [ But he sucks up so well after so much practice! ] I'm guessing Stephen cleared you to teleport straight into the Sanctum, yes?

[wiccant]

Yes. Which is great, because I really hate throwing up.

( he does suck up very well. which is why it's working a little. )

Why?

[ikols]

Take us to the kitchen, if you wouldn't mind. [ He should probably explain why he isn't teleporting them back. ] I, er, manage my magical output these days, if I can.

[wiccant]

Still not the all-powerful God of Mischief you once were?

( but it's fine. billy's got a fairly high amount to burn himself, and knows his limits. . okay. the whole vomiting whenever he goes overboard makes it pretty obvious when he has, too. his fingers uncurl in loki's grip, straighten as he murmurs a spell soft under his breath and teleports them straight into the kitchen. )

At least aging up got you a bit of a power boost.

[ikols]

No, no, I could go nuts with magic ... but it's best for me if I don't. Big red button ...

[ Self-awareness is a funny thing tied in with sanity, like that. In the kitchen his armour reverts to jeans and a hoodie, the latter of which he strips off and tosses at Billy in all its galactic glory. And never fear, he has a tshirt on beneath. ]

The house will take a while to heat up, you can wear that. What do you want to eat?

[wiccant]

( big red button for what. he's got an idea even without asking, so he'll refrain from opening his mouth to ask silly questions. then there's the whole, if loki could go nuts with magic, why didn't he when billy needed him to question--but that also answers itself, doesn't it. loki was in it for power originally. and maybe he couldn't back then regardless.

his own clothes return to civvies when the adventure is over, hand catching the hoodie when it's thrown but he's not putting it on. rather, he's just. looking at it. )

Something warm? Sandwiches? ( does he even trust loki's cooking. )

[ikols]

[ Pressing a hand to his forehead like a parent who just asked their child what they wanted to eat and instantly regrets it, he waves Billy off. ]

I'll make Verity's favourite. You go and ... explore, snoop about. Watch TV. I'll call you when the food's ready.

[wiccant]

( look, he lived on a space ship for a little over three months, and spent who knows how long going from dimension to dimension after chasing down some weird horrormonster wearing patriot's uniform in an effort to save tommy. what kind of food he wants to eat hasn't been on his mind in a very long time. )

Fine, I'll go find Freyja and Elliot. ( slipping the hoodie on over his head after another moment and. making his way back towards the library. they're probably fine. they're both very responsible adult animals. )

[ikols]

[ ... In that hoodie, Billy looks more delectable than anything in the kitchen. Sigh.

Freyja may have knocked a whole row of books onto the library floor and be reading all about the different kinds of snakes in the Multiverse, although it isn't clear whether she's trying to include Elliot or not. She doesn't mind the company of the furball, at least.

After a half-hour, two plates are ready on the dining table; mayo-mixed mashed potatoes, butter-soaked salmon, and steamed vegetables. The kitchen is a lot warmer and Loki's pots and pans are heaped in the dishwasher, a tea-towel draped over his shoulder as he finishes setting the cutlery, and two bowls of fish await the animals. ]

All magical boys to the table!

[ His voice echoes throughout the house, wherever Billy may be. ]

[wiccant]

( maybe loki shouldn't have handed him the hoodie, then. it is very comfortable; other him has good taste in hoodies, as expected.

billy takes his time in the library, picking up the fallen snake books and putting the ones he'd unshelved back where they belong, too. how does a snake even read is another question he's shelving in the stack of questions that will be remained unasked. but it's fine, unlike some losers in this building, none of them are ripped or missing pages, so.

the call doesn't go unanswered, but he is rolling his eyes at the sound of loki's voice, calling back to freyja and elliot to follow him back to the kitchen. he doesn't open any closed doors, doesn't snoop, even if he very much wants to. )

You know that magical boys and witches are two entirely different things, right? ( of course he does. billy sits down at the table in front of a plate, looks to the food before looking up to loki himself. still wearing the hoodie but much less out of need for something warm. )

When did you learn to do this?

[ikols]

One and the same under this roof. Hello, Freyja! Grub's up, dear. You too, Elly-belly.

Ah, you don't know ... [ Fussing with pouring out drinks, an ale for himself and a juice for Billy, he settles down in his seat with a shrug. ] I left, after the whole Mother thing was resolved. I set up camp in Manhattan for a couple of years and realised I couldn't afford to eat at diners every day, not even a god can do that in New York, so I set about teaching myself how to cook whatever I wanted. I never knew it was so interesting, there are so many other things on Earth than breakfast meats and barbecue. I think I went off meat altogether for about a week when I discovered veganism, it was all so exciting.

[wiccant]

( elly-belly, that's cute. "magical boys" is a little less cute, but he can live with it. billy picks up a fork, digs it into the potatoes with a thoughtful hum. )

And you even put the dishes in the dish washer? ( surprising, but pleasantly surprised? who knew loki could clean a kitchen and cook. ) You've grown a lot since I last saw you.

( more than a lot. loki's different but not alternate incarnation different. he's grown. changed. in more than a few ways, too. the clinginess, the honesty, cooking and cleaning. . )

[ikols]

I'm not chasing nightmares, anymore.

[ They dog him but his stance is forward, not back. No more trying to be a copy of a bitter old man, he's better than that. Always was, in a way, just ... being written into a single corner by poor choices and wounded emotions was never going to be healthy for a God of Chaos who needs options. To be good or bad, or live in the grayscale, Loki can't do without the full spectrum or ...

Big red button.

He eats happily enough, flicking some broccoli into Freyja's bowl. ]

I do normal things, including operating dishwashers. That's what impresses you? I'll go on a hoovering spree.

[wiccant]

( the fork goes into his mouth and there's a flash of surprise in his eyes at the taste; loki can cook, and it's not just. potatoes mashed in a bowl and thrown onto a plate. maybe they did just pull a gun out of a box and loki cooked to try and apologize for it but. it wasn't a bad method.

it's working a little. )

I'd stay to watch that. ( loki operating a vacuum cleaner sounds absolutely amazing. even the mental image coupled with the taste of the potatoes is enough to get a smile back on his lips. ) Do you dust, too? Do your laundry in a normal washing machine?

[ikols]

[ What the Hel, why is Billy so weird. You know what, Loki has played this game before with Verity and he serenely, solemnly asks, ]

Do you want to stick around the toilet for when I poop, too?

[wiccant]

( if it were possible to choke on mashed potatoes, billy would be choking about now. thank you for that. instead, he just raises a hand to his mouth and coughs, loudly. takes his time to swallow the food in his mouth before responding: )

No! Domestic chores and using the restroom are two entirely different things!

[ikols]

[ Laughter bubbles up so hard that he has to hold his middle, willing the potatoes to stay down. Loki wipes his eyes, shuddering with snickers. ]

Had to check! [ Just to tease him that extra mile, ] Your kinks are so domestic, Billy.