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

[worldsaway]

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.]

Comments

[dothelokimotion]

[ 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. ]

[worldsaway]

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.

[dothelokimotion]

[ 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.

[worldsaway]

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.

[dothelokimotion]

Good.

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

Make him suffer.

[worldsaway]

[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.

[dothelokimotion]

[ 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.