OTA LOG: ACID RAIN EDITION

[ikols]

who: loki laufeyson (616) and you!
what: prompts taken from the july tdm
when: post-july 20th
where: all over
warnings: tba


1. RESCUES IN THE ACIDIC RAIN.

[ Whenever Loki ventures out into the foul weather he conjures a green magical shield, the same he last used when Leah's construct was attempting to sever his head in Mother's dimension. Droplets that spatter all over it flash a pale lime-gold so that it appears he may be walking around in a glittery bubble, but the fact remains he only dons the protective enchantment to get from Point A to Point B; reaching outside of it is an unpleasant experience even for him.

That's how it starts, anyway.

He eventually finds himself an inadvertent taxi service for anyone caught in the downpour. Whether it's a person hunched down against an abandoned vendor's cart, someone shrieking in a panic as their tenth umbrella of the day turns to tatters, or reluctantly agreeing to ferry food from one household to another (no good deed is too menial for him this week) the God of Mischief is obliging to those in need.

But he doesn't decline any rewards for services rendered, either. ]

2. FIREFLY AT 2AM.

[ The magical shield also happens to glow in the dark, making it a point of interest for anyone with eyes who happens to spot Loki moving around the Quarantine like a mobile nightlight, along the streets and up the glassy walls of skyscrapers. Green orbs swish overhead and light his way as though streetlamps are bobbing along at his request.

If anyone wants one, they are free to shout him over from their hidey-hole. There's not much else to see out there that wanders around so casually in a corrosive downpour, let your curiosity take over. ]

3. A REAL BOAR OF A TIME.

[ With his spellcraft invulnerable to something as ordinarily challenging as acid rain for everyone else, one way or another word gets out about what Loki can do and he feels compelled to help some of the teams ranging out into the jungle intent on setting up their scientific dohickies. The most important turn of events, he feels, is that with his full-body bubbleshield there is no need for a fugly bodysuit, while on the flipside his permanent shimmer in the drab conditions mean that Loki is often requested to head up the front of a party.

When boars attack, the green glow of his shield is joined by the crimson glimmer of his ancestral blade Laevateinn, slashing down their beastly opponents in two or three nimble strikes. Curious why it doesn't take much more effort than that? Loki himself will shrug and tell you, ]

The blade cuts through any hide.

[ It can be intensely handy sometimes when people can bear to have such a dangerous thing around, much like Loki himself. Additionally, he provides marshmallows for those hard at work in the jungle. ]

4. DRAINED.

[ A near daily, constant use of sorcery has Loki on edge during rare moments, rubbing his head as he takes refuge in shops and under eaves of buildings when his headache worsens. He can be found with his feet up on overcast veranda benches, taking a break from supporting his own shield and the magical orbs loaned out across the city, tired-eyed and usually nibbling at a snack for an energy boost. Not that he needs to eat anything, it's more a comfort thing. Mental rousing.

Anyone who spots him will find he doesn't leave in a hurry when approached and those who depend on his magical orbs are free to call him up and find out why their rooms have suddenly gone dark. ]

Comments

[metalmenace]

[He takes a drink of his coffee while watching Loki. Victor has his guard up, but then again, he always has his guard up. He doesn't any of them and he knows from experience that even the smallest thing can cause someone to go after him. Personally, he doesn't think Loki will do anything, but he's not going to test it.]

You wouldn't tell me even if something did affect you. I could use it again you, after all. [That's sarcasm. Very bitter sarcasm.]

Even I need to take a break every now and then. I don't wear my old armor anymore, so I can't use its functions to allow me to work without breaks.

[There's a pause and he looks right back at him.]

Shouldn't you be at your club gorging on bacon bits or whatever you make there?

[ikols]

[ A blithe smile doesn't voice any disagreement to the sarcasm; Loki wouldn't admit a weakness to Victor if they were the last two standing on the moon (and who knows). ]

This svelte figure doesn't keep itself trim.

[ He sips his coffee, watching Victor right back. Licks off a foam moustache. ]

You haven't been over to say Hi. Any place with links to me is hardly a constant hive of Avengers, if that's the reason.

[metalmenace]

[Victor gives Loki a look that's very "are you serious right now"]

You're a shapeshifter, Loki.

[And then he looks away.]

I've been busy lately with the masquerade and what you call my knock-off Iron Man suit.

[ikols]

Exactly, this is my body.

[ Said as if he's clearing up any misunderstandings while not really doing anything of the sort. He can't shapeshift two-hundred pounds away, that would have to involve some illusions and that wouldn't really count as 'him'. ]

Busy how? Do tell, I have a grande latte to get through.

[metalmenace]

And whatever it is you're drinking is better than what you can get at your club how?

[Because if Loki wants to keep his figure, that drink isn't going to help, clearly.]

Unless you want to hear the thrilling details of how to put together the money needed to run a party even when you're cutting corners by using magic, I think I'll pass on talking about that. And on the matter of my suit, it requires maintenance to be up to the standard that I expect from anything I build.

[ikols]

[ He treats himself to an eye-roll that sits him back in his chair, arm hooked on the back as he moves the conversation away from the size of his (shapely, fuck you!!) hips. Loki has always scorned Victor to his mask-come-face and isn't about to stop now, he's nice and honest in that one way. ]

How long are you going to keep running with the Iron Doom thing, really? You know that it has to end, don't you? It's not your legacy, Victor.

[metalmenace]

I know it's not my legacy.

[There's a hint of the old Doom anger coming out. No matter how hard he tries to do better or change himself, he's still the same person underneath.

He takes a deep breath, smooths out the anger until it's back to calm and steady. Victor might not wear a metal mask anymore, but he still has masks to hide behind.]

Stark is dead, Loki, and for now, carrying on his legacy is something I need to do. It's only temporary, but it will give me the time I need to figure out who I am now that I'm not Doctor Doom.

[ikols]

[ If Loki wanted to share the story of how he followed in the footsteps of the Old Man Loki for a year, before discovering he wasn't the same beast, now would be a good time. He could relate to Victor with an emphatic reasoning as to why he understands, what matters in reinventing oneself (never straying too far from the truth of who you are), but all and any generous unboxing of emotion is stymied by the news Stark is dead.

Tony never phrased it like that. There were hints he wasn't doing the best job of heroically whatever-ing around back home, but.

Does he intend to stay in the Quarantine permanently, as does Loki? Is that why he has lowered his standards to fraternise with him, now that he has no hope of going home? Maybe Tony views Loki as a mental shrug and thinks he has nothing to lose anymore, so why not play with a former nemesis? Has he been using Loki to distract himself from the grisly truth? Surely with Victor here, he intended to impart that rather salient info sooner or later, right?

Or perhaps he just doesn't trust Loki enough to tell him anything of worth. ]

Don't you have some actual mortal qualifications? [ Loki only pauses for a moment (where his insides turn to ice as he debates the matter of Tony in a chilly heartbeat), drawing up less personal suggestions for Victor; he simply isn't Loki's priority, deliberately unruffled though the godling appears. Falsely invested. ] Why don't you use those for the betterment of humanity, instead of being a showboat all over again?

[ He takes a long sip of his coffee, needing something to fill up the ache inside so he can better concentrate on Victor. ]

[metalmenace]

[If only Victor knew what he had done, then he might have explained that Tony learned of his future death from him and Tony trusting him is not something that ever happens. But he doesn't know what's going on in Loki's head and can only deal with what's being said to him, so he'll focus on that instead.]

I am still a scientist above all else. [His job may have him focusing on magic, but science was what he was better and more comfortable with.] I could always invent things to make the world a better place. If I returned home, I'm sure there'd be a place for me to do so, since Stark and Reed are not around.

[The expression on his face is mixed, to say the least.]

Not that it matters what I do there. What's waiting for me upon my return is a SHIELD holding cell.

[ikols]

[ Victor actually makes it easier for Loki to concentrate when he looks so serious over such an easily solved matter. ]

No cell built by SHIELD could hold you if you didn't wish it.

[ Loki himself easily escaped the trap they laid for him, tailored specifically to his powerset though it was. Coulson hadn't enjoyed finding himself in Loki's place, naked and chained, but it had really served him right.

He cocks his head at Victor, who appears consternated to the point of eating his own armour were it present. ]

Which begs the question, why would you let them? [ His head tilts the other way, birdlike, and he keeps his tone to more suggestion than assumption, hoping to coax out a real answer. ] What are you feeling guilty about, Victor?

[metalmenace]

[Well, Loki's not wrong about a good many things having to do with Victor.]

That won't stop them from trying. They've sent out Ben Grimm to apprehend me.

[The question about guilt elicits a confused expression from him. There are a good many horrible things that he has done and he doesn't really feel guilt over them. Acknowledge that they are horrible things? Sure, he can do that.]

Why would I feel guilt over what I've done when I thought they were the best course of action at the time?

[ikols]

Ooo, Ben Grimm! How terrifying. Forgive me if I think him hardly an event.

[ Victor locked Loki in a box exempt from space and time just to look at him in his own personal museum, the Thing's fists seem like they would be handled easily enough. Hel, Loki would be mildly insulted if they sent anyone less than Stephen after him. ]

So you're not feeling guilty but you're going to admit you fucked up and sit politely in their cell for the sake of it? That's not taking responsibility, it's patronising.

[metalmenace]

He is insignificant, but I can note the symbolism of them calling upon him. It's not as if they can ask the competent members of the Fantastic Four to take me down.

[He doesn't feel like he needs to elaborate because everyone knows that the ones to worry about are Reed and Sue.]

Of course I'm not. I'm going to take down everyone I've ever worked alongside before I allow myself to be locked up.

[ikols]

So why worry over SHIELD expecting you to play nice?

[ Why bring it up at all. ]

[metalmenace]

Unfortunately, they tend to get in my way and it's not as if I can deal with them in the way that I normally would.

[aka toss them around and kill them for interrupting his weird little crusade against evil]

[ikols]

... The last time SHIELD tried to imprison me, I ensured the agent in question was stripped and locked in the cell they constructed for me. I'm afraid they best advice I can give is, 'avoid them'.

[ It's not as if Loki is going to suggest working alongside those hypocrites. ]

[metalmenace]

Sound advice as always, Loki. [Ignore that his tone is very dry when he says that.] I'll make sure to remember that on the off chance I return home.

[Because clearly he doesn't already do this or anything of the sort.]

Do you have any other bits of advice that you would like to share or is that it?

[ikols]

You don't plan on returning to Earth-616?

[ Hey now, mAYBE YOU SHOULD. And leave Loki his new home, free of people who know his worst deeds in a former life. ]

What if all of Latveria burns to the ground because you're gallivanting around a stray moon? Irresponsible of you.

[ Yeah, those are Loki's true concerns. ]

[metalmenace]

I don't believe it can be considered that anymore, but I don't plan on returning any time soon.

[Let me play this tiny violin for you since you're stuck with people who know all sorts of terrible things here.]

That is already the state of Latveria, as I abdicated the throne and a civil war decided to happen.

[He made sure there were provisions in place for a peaceful transfer from a monarchy, but nooooo, Bendis gonna Bendis.]

[ikols]

Everything happens so much! Each time I die, you all fuck it up! [ Can you even believe this!! He is so exasperated. ] What do you mean, it can't be considered ... what, exactly?

[metalmenace]

[He'll just not comment on that. Victor left his country because he felt he needed to and he doesn't want to have a discussion about it.]

Earth-616. It's not quite the way it was before, as it was destroyed and rebuilt.

[ikols]

[ ... Huh. ]

Right. [ The Avengers and co would take care of their own; Loki has one priority. ] And I'm suddenly reminded of your pledge to aid Verity. What of her?