riverviewlogs | (open) In all the hells and worlds, the time has come.

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(open) In all the hells and worlds, the time has come.

who: Thor and anyone
what: Returning from a round trip home (IW spoilers)
when: 7/8 roughly
where: In the city center and outside the wall, in the jungle.
warnings: Pain, mostly.

i.
[Thor arrives back in Riverview late. His wounds are checked and he's kept still for a long time, making sure he doesn't have more significant injuries. He's accepting of it, he feels no reason to fight the nurses off as they dab at his grazes. There's no point in pushing them away, really.

By the time he makes it out of his point of arrival, it's very late in the evening. 3am is a time when good, sensible people are asleep. Generally speaking, his friends are good people, but they've never been sensible. Thor is in the town center when he raises his axe in the air to summon a storm, the sudden pour of rain might be a good indication that he's back but it has nothing on the loud rumble of thunder that shakes the foundations of people's homes. It probably sends a cascade of dogs howling and barking, Thor doesn't hear that. He's courteous enough to summon a bright, powerful beam of lightning from his axe, cracking the sky and giving away his location.

It's faster than a group text.

He waits there for a long while, sitting on the edge of a large fountain that occupies the center of town. Rain is falling pretty hard, but he's content to sit in it.]

ii.
[It's not the most appropriate time to be playing with his new toy, but Thor can't imagine doing much else. He's struggling with the concept of going back to his "home" and getting into his bed. It's such a strange concept, he feels himself rejecting it.

Thor takes to the jungle beyond the walls to practice with Stormbreaker. Most of it seems innate to him, when he wields it, it feels right. Perfectly balanced. Made for him. He grips the wood of the handle tightly, trying not to let his thoughts drift to where it came from.

He's starting fights with the beasts in the jungle, very pointed and precise in his execution of them. He doesn't waste time with lightning or thunder, he's aiming for the head when he drives his axe down.]

iii. Closed to Loki
[It's not long after he leaves the facility that he heads to Loki's apartment, there's a low rumble of thunder to alert him. Just not enough time to really escape before he's knocking on the door. In the crevice of his mind, he's aware that turning up to Loki's door in the middle of the night with a great, big axe resting on his shoulder is a little foreboding. He can't think of anyone else he'd rather show the weapon to.

Especially because Valkyrie is far too likely to steal it.

He doesn't wait too long before he's pushing on the door to try open it himself. He's lacking in the patience department.]

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[ Loki opens the door promptly because no matter what kind of changes Thor has gone through, the chances of him blowing down Loki's door is still too high to leave to chance. He's nervous all the same and it took everything he has not to flee. ]

Brother.

[Seeing Loki's face again is confronting. He knew he would die, he's seen him die twice before. There was something about it he couldn't have ever prepared for, the sound of his last breath and the thud of his body on the floor.

More than that, Thor feels that overwhelming sense of powerlessness again. When everything in him is screaming and all he can do is watch. The eye that belongs to him is fixated on Loki's face with burning intensity and the other eye is.. well, it's there and looking in the same direction.

He pushes past Loki, lifting the weight of the axe off his shoulder so he can set it down and rest it against the wall. Then he turns, running through everything he thought he might say if he ever saw him again before he chooses to say nothing. Instead, he steps forward into Loki's space and wraps his arms tightly around him, bringing him as close to himself as he physically can.]

[ Loki exhales as his body shudders from the motion before curling his arms around Thor as well. He came back. Loki thought he would — maybe even believed it in a corner of his dark heart but it exceeded his expectations for Thor to come here and find him again. The edge of his eyes prick with tears and Loki blinks them away. ]

You came back.

I did.

[It's a curt response, only because it's harder to blink away tears when everything is so fresh. He can feel the ache welling up in him, the frustration at the injustice of it all.

He breathes in and it shudders, he tightens his grip on Loki and he leans his face against his head, cheeks wet with tears. Why hold it back?]

Of course I did.

[ Loki gives him a tear smile. ]

Of course.

[ He hadn't made Thor promise. Loki broke most, if not all of his promises and there's no reason for Thor to come back to him. And perhaps, he thought Thor would change his mind once he saw what happened for himself. But he was here and Loki's old fears melted away. He rubs his brother's back, trying to soothe away the aches and pains. ]

Thank you.

[Loki's hand on his back doesn't solve all of his problems, but the gesture alone is a salve for the wounds he's wearing. It relieves some of the ache, and he doesn't think too hard about why that might be.]

How much do you know about the future beyond what you saw?

[ A pause as Loki contemplates what he wants to say. ]

Not . . . much. Stark said that Thanos succeeded and — You survived, correct?

[ His voice cracks at the last part. ]

I survived, yes.

[Thor confirms. He feels he should be happier about it, but it weighs on him. He feels guilt, and the fact that he's survived this long almost seems like as much a burden as a blessing.]

Very few did, in the end.

[ If Loki was a better person, he would care that other people died. He still feels a strong pang of loss from the deaths of the other Asgardians, another piece of guilt he'll carry with him. But Thor survived. He presses his forehead against Thor's, refusing to let him go just yet. ]

But you did.

I did.

[And he's not sure whether to take it as a vested interest in his survival or as a reminder that he ought to be grateful for it. For all he laments being powerlessly trapped in Riverview, it would certainly be far harder to accept his death and inability to influence the futures he visits.]

I didn't want to die until I made him suffer every ounce of pain he's inflicted himself on everyone in his wake. [Thor's mouth tightens, the last few moments are fresh in his mind.]

I drove my axe into his chest.

Good.

[ Loki just holds him close. Thor is here and he came back. It's more than Loki deserves. ]

Make him suffer.

Edited 2018-08-16 03:44 (UTC)

[Loki's response makes it all the more difficult for him to own to what happened. He considers, for a brief and bitter moment, letting it end there.

But if he can't be honest with Loki when he needs his counsel more than anything, then he truly is lost. So he shakes his head when he responds.]

He lived. He got every stone and his wish.

[ ah. guilt. that's what makes thor a better person than loki. even though he regrets so much of his life, he cannot regret this end, the only one he chose and fought, to save thor. and thor survived thanos' madness. still loki rubs thor's shoulders quietly, trying to navigate them closer to the couch. ]

Then take his wish from him. The stones will continue to exist.

You are a God. You can use them.

[He knows that Thor went home, to find out everything that went down, so when the sky lights up with thunder and lightning, Taako can absolutely put two and two together.

But that doesn't mean he's going out in the rain, so he sends a text instead. He doesn't know if Thor's picked up his phone again yet, but he'll get it eventually.]

Are you like, competing with Loki for the title of the most dramatic Asgardian? Cause I'll say you're the winner if you quit it with the thunder, some of us need our beauty sleep

[How dare someone have the audacity to text him when he's in crisis mode!! The buzz disturbs him from his brooding.

Of course it's Taako. He dignifies it with a response.]

Certain occasions warrant dramatics.

You want company, or are you wallowing?

I'd like both, if that's alright with you.

[He doesn't bother replying, since he's in the process of getting dressed and calling an uber (he doesn't want to waste his teleportation spell for the day), but luckily it doesn't take too long for him to show up.

There's no real greeting, Taako just joins Thor at the edge of the fountain. Despite giving Thor shit over text, his tone is gentle when he asks:]

You survived it, right?

[He needs to know, for his sake and Loki's.]

[Somehow, Thor knows that the vehicle that shows up has something to do with Taako. This is confirmed when he steps out, and Thor allows the rain to soften some as a kindness for his friend.]

I think I remember the furthest of anyone. [Thor muses, contemplative.] It got worse, would you believe.

[The lessening rain is much appreciated. He could use his umbrella to keep dry, but it always feels a bit off to use it as an actual umbrella, knowing what he does now.]

I got one of the canisters, a while ago, and it showed us all, uh, fighting John-- the Hunger, I dunno how much you know about that shit but it's not important now. Our healer was down, Magnus was like, bleeding heavily and kind of on fire and then the flames hit me and it was over. I thought that was it for ya boy, there was no way outta that one.

[He remembers Lucretia screaming and John laughing, but that's not a detail he wants to share.]

And the Hunger was bad fucking news, my man, like the end of every single bit of life kinda bad. But I woke up, we all did. I dunno exactly what happened, I think maybe Pan hooked us up with some godly healing so we could kick John's ass. So like, I know I'm not usually an optimist or whatever but dont-- it's not over until you're cold in the fucking ground, yeah? No matter how shitty it is, there's still hope.

[Well, it was an attempt at a pep talk. At least he tried.]

Edited (when u forget one whole word ) 2018-08-15 05:27 (UTC)

[What's sleep? Something for other people and definitely not something Wanda's doing at 3am. So mission accomplished: Thor's managed to get her to come running (well, flying), only stopping long enough to put on shoes and something a little more presentable than her sleep clothes.

She's also extremely worried - a lightning bolt like that could only come from one person and her brain has gone straight to imagining dangers that could prompt Thor to send a signal like that.

He'll see the glow of her power before he sees Wanda herself. She lands in a spray of scarlet energy, a shell of power still protecting her from the rain. Wanda glances around - no trouble, then - and trots over to Thor.]

Thor? Are you all right?

[Thor is patient enough to wait for his friends to be decent enough to come and see him, although he does find himself getting antsy. He starts to pace back and forth, rolling the axe on his shoulders as he does.

He glances up at the sky in time to see the red glow in the sky, and though he narrows his eyes for a moment it doesn't take him long to realise who it is.

Thor looks weathered, much wearier than he has in all the days they've run into each other over coffee or at parties. His face drops when he sees her, trying to recall the last time he saw her on the battlefield. It's all a blur, and it feels like a horrible surprise that he needs to share with everyone.]

Wanda. [His voice is level, low and serious.] We need to talk.

[She doesn't need her powers to know that something is very wrong - it's so obvious in his face and voice. Why is he looking at her like that? The tension must be palpable even to someone without powers like hers.

She can't relax knowing something has him so worked up, and the shell protecting her from the rain extends to cover him as well. All the better to shield them both if she has to.]

What's wrong? What happened?

I went home. I went back home.

[He needs to say it twice, as if he anticipates that she'll need him to clarify. He's not even sure where to start, what part should he lead in with? It's all bad news, he doesn't want to lay it upon her but he respects her too much to hide it from her.]

We're facing bigger threats than Ultron. Much bigger.

[Whatever it is, it must be bad on a level she can't imagine to have him this worked up.]

Do you want to show me? Or do you want to tell me?

[It doesn't seem fair to not offer him the out, whether he chooses to take it or not.]

[Thor weighs the pros and cons of her offer. There's little control if he shows her, he doesn't know what might slip in. He can word things more delicately, but there's so much to say he doesn't know how thorough he can get.

He doesn't remember the last time he saw her on the battlefield in Wakanda. He flew in and he only saw Thanos, he was only focused on allowing his axe to meet the titan.

And he's hesitant again, because he feels a sense of deep failure surrounding that moment, but he makes his decision.]

I'll show you. [Thor nods, calming himself. He doesn't know if a calm mind will influence what she sees, but he hopes it does.]

[Wanda takes a small step closer and her eyes go eerily distant. She knew he was upset, she can feel it rolling off him, but there was no possible way to be prepared for what she saw.

First, she sees a battle somewhere on Earth she doesn't recognize, Thor landing full of lightning and fury and shouting for 'Thanos.' It's not a name or a face Wanda knows, but she can feel Thor's hatred.

She's less interested in the battle itself than why, and that's what finally makes Wanda recoil with a pained sound as the makeshift umbrella vanishes. The ship...all those people...his brother...

No wonder that particular kind of hatred felt so familiar. Wanda stands in the rain speechless for a long moment, casting around for something, anything, to say.]

...I'm sorry.

[It feels so inadequate, but what is there to say?]

((ooc: lmk if you want me to change anything!))

[Somewhere in the general vicinity of the rainfall, Spider-Man is flopped over on a roof after nearly getting shocked like a bug in a zapper and catapulted into the side of the hospital in his novice panic. He has no clue the emotional strife going on with his fellow superheroes, and won't know about Thanos for nearly two weeks more with Tony's help... but, you know.

I just figured you'd want to know about the time he almost face-planted a building in the sudden onslaught of rain and thunder.]

[The rain and lightning being used to convey a message instead of using a phone like other people is such a Thor thing to do and Tony had been hoping that wasn't one of the aspects where they were alike. Thor sulks, smashes his phone and Tony shows up later with a new one while enduring lectures of how they suck and how capitalism was ruining everything.

It doesn't stop him from going out in the rain anyway to welcome his friend back. He brings an umbrella with him, but Tony doesn't stand close enough to offer Thor shelter as well. Thor literally brought this on himself, he could keep himself dry.]

You could have called.

[Tony pulls a new phone out of his pockets and offers it.]

I did call.

[Thor gestures upward at the sky, defiantly. He takes the phone anyway, frowning down at it before he tucks it away for safekeeping. He values everything Tony gives him, even if he has a habit of breaking things.]

Did you miss me? [He asks, the humor in his tone is weak but it's there.]

Drama queen.

[Tony doesn't know what happened, but it's clear it's serious. If he had to hazard a guess something happened to what remained of his people and likely Loki. Unfortunately Tony isn't great at comfort and more often than not pretends nothing is wrong or throws money at them.]

Of course I did.

[And then he offers his hand as if he could possibly pull a brick wall up.]

I've earned it.

[He's dry in his responses. Tony may not be overtly comforting, but there's something natural about the way he interacts. It's almost like nothing is wrong, and maybe that's not the best approach, but Thor doesn't fight it.

He takes the hand, although he mostly hoists himself up. He reaches out to place a hand on his shoulder with a soft smile.]

I thought, for a moment, that I might not see you again. That I might not return.

[It seems like every other month, someone goes missing, and it's down to whether or not they come back to decide how Val feels about it. This time, she feels like she's been socked in the gut, but the breathless feeling never quite fades; even going about her daily business like she did for millennia is harder than usual. It's like she was fine pretending nothing mattered to her when nothing really did; now that there's something...someone...she cares about, it's harder to pretend.

Mostly, she just natters around the house much in the same way Thor had after Loki came back, wearing mostly underwear and drinking...a lot. A lot for Valkyrie, which is enough to give most people alcohol poisoning, and mostly subsisting on beef jerky in the meantime.

But she hears that thunder strike, louder and more jarring than anything she's ever heard on this moon, and immediately Val peels herself off the sofa, throws on a pair of pants, and sprints out the door with her sword on her back, beelining straight for that raincloud in the center of town. Relief and alarm are coursing through her in equal parts, a queer sort of joy she hasn't felt truly in quite awhile, because she knows with a certainty who she'll find at the center of that storm.

And sure enough, her king sits there, happy as a duck in a pond to be sitting in the middle of the downpour. Val only slows when she knows for a certainty that it's him and that he's alive, and she stops a few feet short of Thor's position, suddenly all too aware that she has no idea what to do or say. So she stares for a long moment, breathing heavily, and then blurts the first thing that comes to mind:]

Just 'at' me next time.

[Taako is a Bad Influence.]

[It's hard to see through the downpour, hard to figure out exactly who is approaching this time. He's had a number of conversations, all of them bad, all of them giving him little incentive to shut off the rain and go home.

As Valkyrie's figure becomes unobscured by the rain, Thor feels his chest tighten. The last time he saw Valkyrie in their own world, they were coping with loss but experiencing tremendous victory. He looked at her and he saw hope. He saw that nothing and nobody stays broken. Their future, though uncertain, was brighter than any sun or star in the galaxy.

Or so he thought.

The corner of his mouth lifts at her greeting, but he can't make himself smile. He stands up to stand in front of her, expression mostly blank as he searches her eyes and hopes she understands without him having to speak. Thor lifts a hand to rest it on the crook of her neck and shoulders, dropping his head so his forehead can rest on hers.

His mouth tightens and his eyes fall shut, squeezing tighter as he feels the deep, mourning ache well up in him again.]

[She knows the moment it comes out of her mouth that she should have stayed silent, that words aren't necessary. Not always. Not every silence needs to be broken. But she can feel the pain radiating from Thor, can feel it just as surely as the rain on her skin as she looks back into his eyes and tries to ward off the sense of impending...dread? Or is it doom? Their conversation about Thanos from before makes her think it's more likely to be the latter. She knows without him having to say it that he's been home, or more accurately, been back to their world. Whatever's left of it. Grief weighs as heavy on her own shoulders, suddenly, as it does his, and when their foreheads press together, Valkyrie squeezes her eyes shut, trying to rid them of the sting of salt and water that wants to rise to them, for the first time in a very long time indeed.

She doesn't say anything for a long moment, but her opposite hand comes up to rest against Thor's shoulder, mirroring the hand on hers, holding him there in the most comforting grip she can manage. Her breaths are deep, slow, trying desperately to stay steady, and when she opens her eyes to look up at him again, her stony expression is betrayed by the visible wetness in her dark eyes. When she speaks, her voice is soft and small.]

....'s go home.

[ It seems to be a good moment for playing with new toys. Since the innocuous-looking arc reactor appeared on his doorstep, Tony's been bouncing between wanting to wear it all the time and never wanting to touch the thing again, but in the end the newest iteration of the armor is just too useful. So the arc reactor is back in it's place on his chest and Tony's been ignoring how he feels about it.

Which hasn't stopped him from taking it for a spin every so often. It's responsive in a way he hasn't quite forgotten about, faster and more dextrous, even without taking the upgrades into account. So maybe it's not quite putting it through it's paces as he twists through the air over the jungle, but it isn't entirely joyriding either.

At least not enough not to notice movement in the trees under him. It seems too purposeful for just animals moving, and Tony darts down just in time to see something nearly lose it's head to a broad...axe? Before the urge to put his own hands up defensively even registered, the familiar face at the other end of that weapon flickers into view on the HUD. ]

Thor?

Edited 2018-08-10 00:22 (UTC)

[Thor is wrapped up in the thrill of the hunt, he doesn't hear the gust of wind as Tony approaches and he barely hears him say his name. He wrenches the blooded axe from the creature and glances toward Tony, acknowledging him with a nod before he swings the axe down again. This time, it well and truly loses it's head.

Thor removes his focus from the beast once his axe is removed a second time, he steps a little closer to Tony, curiously.]

What brings you out here, Stark?

Just, you know. Taking a joyride.

[ The helmet suddenly melts away from his face, down his throat as he makes his way closer. There's just a slight hesitation to his step, but it's not because of Thor. Or not exactly. Not the man himself. Whatever's behind the look in his eyes right now, that's something to worry about. ]

I could ask the same about you.

Practising.

[The answer is curt, only because he's not sure what else to say. He gives the axe a gentle shake to clear some of the blood off, Tony should know that it's new even if he hasn't seen it before.

He considers saying something vague, but opts for once to be perfectly frank with Tony.]

I've been home. I returned last night.

Home? You --

[ Oh. Oh. Tony looks him over, catalogs the beaten-down exhaustion written all over him and just knows. How could he not? He's seen that exact expression in the mirror often enough. ]

How far did you get?

[Ivar is in the form of a small griffin when he gets buffeted by a very large deluge of rainwater. Pah. This is not was he was expecting when he decided to pick a form to fly in the middle of the night. He's got his little pleasures in life and being able to shift into a form that allows him to take to the air is one of them. He lands in a tree, soaked to the skin. He's very nearly shaken right off the branch during the dramatic clap of thunder and subsequent lightning. Well, there's only one person he knows of who would be producing such a racket. He wonders what could be going on with his uncle.

He jumps off the branch, spreading his wings, and awkwardly flapping through the raindrops hitting his fur and feathers. Sure enough, he spots Thor with his laser-like vision. He comes in and folds his wings, not so much landing in the mud as simply sort of dropping out of the sky with an ungraceful Plop! Landings have always been a little rough for him. There's too many limbs to coordinate.

He shakes most of the muck off and hops up next to Thor on the fountain.]

<What ails you?> [The voice is definitely Ivar's, though it is in Thor's head as opposed to being spoken out loud.]

[It's a bizarre creature, not one he's overly familiar with. Thor raises a brow as it drops to the ground before him, watching curiously as it moves to sit beside him.

The voice is familiar, but it still takes Thor a moment to put two and two together. He glances around before he looks back down at the griffin.]

I've just returned from a long trip. What of it, pigeon?

[Pigeon? Hmph, what a rude excuse for a god. Pigeons wish they were as cool as him. His ear tufts flip forward from their resting position on either side. He places a paw on one of Thor's legs.]

<You seem troubled and pensive. With a lot on your mind.>

[He knows the look. His father used to get it often, going somewhere inside his head that his son could never follow. Whatever plagued Ragnar Lothbrok had come from many years of sorrow and grief, too much of a toll taken on a single man. Granted, Ragnar had never caused a thunderstorm to express his emotions, but gods would be gods.]

Edited (HMTL....) 2018-08-15 05:28 (UTC)

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(open) In all the hells and worlds, the time has come.

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i but also a text

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Not even a a real tag, but—

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