(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

[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.

[wiccant]

That's what you think.

( without divulging any further into kinktopics, he's going for the salmon. it's good loki's cheered up again, too. this is going to take a bit to get used to. )

[ikols]

[ !! What a rotter. Now Loki's going to spend his showers imagining all sorts of sordid kinks, thanks. ]

Ahem, yes. Well. To answer your questions en-masse, I have an apartment and I've lived there for two years. Or I did, when I was back in our universe.

[wiccant]

( good. that's what loki gets for getting him in trouble and convincing billy to take part in his thieving. )

I can't imagine you dusting. Loki, God of Mischief, brother to Thor. . dusting. ( not that he minds the thought. it's just amusing. ) Did you have a roomba?

[ikols]

[ Are they sure Billy isn't the new 'of Evil' around here. ]

You realise I'm real, yes? Blood, hair, incredible legs? I do normal things, Billy. I had a life, for a while.

[wiccant]

I know how incredible your legs are, thanks.

( he's noticed. he doesn't need to be reminded. )

For the last. . however long we spent dimension hopping and spaceship riding, doing normal things was hard. I mean it wasn't like we just stopped doing them, but it wasn't something we did often. Who knows when the last time Kate sat down and vacuumed was--if ever. Having a life is a lot different when you're uh--part of something like that. I guess I just never saw you washing dishes and paying rent.

[ikols]

[ Every other thing Billy says is like catnip. ]

No, because I was trapped in a body I hated and trying to get back a way of life I didn't really want. Things have settled, since then. I've dated, gained back friends ... even Amora let me live after we broke up, which says a lot.

[wiccant]

I mean. . not any other Loki I've ever heard of back home seemed like the sort to get an apartment and--you know. I can't imagine Thor doing normal domestic chores either, so. ( thor washing dishes or wearing an apron while cooking dinner. . nice mental images.

he imagines it'd be a lot worse in practice. )

I'm glad to hear that you had that. And that she didn't kill you.

[ikols]

He wasn't always a madman, the Old Guy. [ The First Loki, his initial life that spanned the longest. ] He used to sit and ... and read, and eat nuts, ironically, sometimes napped in high places when he was away from his tower.

[ Not that Loki is defending or humanising the lunatic, it just bears saying. ]

But I've not been as lonely as he was, so I'm fine.

[ Learning how to cook every cultural dish in Manhattan passed the time. ]

[wiccant]

( he doubts even loki himself could maintain being as. . loki as he had been at all times. everyone has days. times when they're at their weakest, their strongest. he's not human, sure, but asgardians display human enough tenancies. emotions. loki must have had those. this loki definitely does. )

You've got a lot of friends here, don't you? Plenty of people to hang out with. ( there's a pause, another bite of food before he asks: ) Why did you leave the Young Avengers?

[ikols]

[ Poking at his potatoes, he shakes his head. ]

You all needed a break from me. If I wasn't me, I would've too.

[wiccant]

So you left? ( he doesn't think for one moment they told loki to leave. on one hand: billy doubts it would have been very effective, before. on the other: they're a team. they stuck together and didn't get too angry with billy when they thought it was on him, so. )

I'm sure we missed having you around yelling about breakfast meats.

[ikols]

That's a nice sentiment. Thanks.

[ It wasn't what was best for everyone, he's familiar with his own suffocating presence. ]

So ... which movies are we vegging out to today?

[ It seems safer to stay inside, somehow. ]

[wiccant]

The Sound of Music?

( it's one movie. he finishes off the veggies on his plate, moves onto finishing the potatoes. )

Your pick for the second.

[ikols]

Con Air.

[ You wanna play this game, Kaplan, he'll play. ]

Third?

[wiccant]

Les Miserables.

( why are we playing this game. )

And that's more than enough hours to burn.