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[realitywarped]

[Loki's in his kitchen again, leaning against one of the freezers.]

Hello, assorted crew of the Moira! As I was very recently reminded, thank you Chara, I seem to have a severed head in my freezer. If you'd like to reclaim it, let me know.

[He shrugs at the camera like severed heads aren't all that weird- and maybe they aren't. He remembers being one, once or twice, after all.]

Ah, and if you're after low-tech weaponry, do let me know. With the station so very dull for exploring, I seem to have a little downtime. I believe the armoury can handle the more exotic options, but if it's just a sharp stabby implement you're after, I can manage those.

[Read: he isn't risking people seeing his medical profile again- or the blood overlay he's heard about in the prison wing.]

Comments

[realitywarped]

It's not my fault if people choose to store unidentified body parts in my freezers, is it?

[Ah, there it is. He always was able to frustrate his brother by being deliberately off-hand. It seems very much like some things haven't changed.]

I'm not sure many of us do, frankly. Except, perhaps, for those of us for whom it's far better than going home.

[Loki may or may not include himself in that number.]

[draperies]

It may not be your fault, but it is hardly something to find amusement in, Loki.

[His eyes narrow slightly, thoughtful.]

And which are you?

[realitywarped]

What else am I meant to do? Scream? Be horrified? If your version of Asgard is aught like mine, dead bodies aren't that uncommon.

[He's seen some, caused more. Technically, he wears the one that forever marks him as guilty, now. For a moment it's so like talking to his own brother, the guilt creeps back, and he almost forgets which Thor he's talking to, distracted.]

Me? Always and never at home anywhere, bro- Thor.

[draperies]

I would not expect you to be horrified, Loki. I would rather you not use it in one of your games, in your mischief.

[They have fought, they have seen death... but still, he lets out a breath, eyes narrowing slightly.

He is as frustrating as his own Loki, yes, and the slip up doesn't escape his notice.]

I am your brother. A version of him at the very least...

[realitywarped]

Why not? What does a severed head from another world have to do with you? The person who brought it certainly showed it no reverence or fondness.

[Not shoved into Loki's freezer, in a common shopping bag, left there without attention until it was found by one small child. And that this Thor is acting so much the disapproving elder makes Loki slightly irritated. What right does he have?]

Have you learnt yet you and I share no blood in common? No blood, no history- what exactly makes us brothers?

[draperies]

It should be brought to the captains to do with what they will.

[Whether they like it or not, they are workers for this ship, and this seems more like a thing they would have an interest in.]

Whether we share common blood has never concerned me, Loki.

[realitywarped]

I'm not sure I trust the captains with their own ship, let alone anything outside that. Besides, they know now, what more do you want?

[Leave him alone Thor, he does what he wants, okay.]

No? How very magnanimous of you.

[draperies]

[A muscle in his jaw twitches as he looks at Loki. He can claim any difference he wants to his own brother, but some tendencies are outstanding.]

Does your Thor not feel the same?

[Because, as frustrating and dishonest as Loki is, he finds it difficult to believe any Thor would deny any sort of kinship with Loki over something like that.]

It isn't blood that we share that makes us brothers.

[realitywarped]

My Thor has come to the understanding I'm capable of deciding for myself what to do without "adult" supervision.

[He isn't a child, by any stretch of the imagination. And Thor certainly seems to be treating him as one right now...]

What is it, then?

[draperies]

[He's almost tempted to remind Loki then to stop acting like a child, but he thinks the better of it.]

My apologies. I meant no offense, Loki.

[He'd rather have a chance to know this version of his brother than squabble over things that won't matter in the long run. The question has him smiling wryly.]

Must you really ask such a thing? If your Thor shares any connection to me, then you should know.

[realitywarped]

[He sniffs, very deliberately, and deigns to accept the apology.

He's only half a child, anyway.]

Then I suppose none taken.

[He relaxes slightly, enough to give Thor a sly look, knowing and just a little malicious.]

You're both particularly stubborn. Maybe it's all the hair. Does it get tangled with your common sense?

[draperies]

[If Loki doesn't wish to be treated like a little brother, then he should cease acting like one. He lets out a breath and arches a brow.]

Or perhaps we have simply learned to be that way. It takes stubbornness to deal with you at times, Loki.

[realitywarped]

[He hasn't had chance to be a little brother in over a year now. And oddly... despite Thor not being his Thor, it's an easy habit to fall back into.]

Who, me? I'm offended, Thor. I'm easy to deal with- if you possess a sense of humour, at least.

[draperies]

You know that few others have ever made me laugh as you do, Loki, but at times... few alive possess your sense of humor.

[If any, in his world.]

[realitywarped]

That's everyone else's problem, surely.

[He shrugs, all innocence. Okay, Thor has a point; sometimes, Loki's sense of humour leans towards the moderately unusual. Sometimes, perhaps, even the cruel. And right now, it's much more fun to pretend he has no idea what Thor is talking about.]

[draperies]

Loki...

[He had very nearly forgotten what his own brother was like at this age, frustrating and mischievous... though not in the malicious way he's grown to be.

It's a relief, even if Loki has always been talented at wearing on his patience.]

Surely you are at fault at times.

[realitywarped]

[It's all his fault, is the problem, and for a moment the game becomes hard to play as Loki's guilt sneaks up on him, the way it frequently does when he's talking to someone who he's wronged in one world or another.

It would have been so much easier if this Thor had accepted the distance. He always was so bad at taking hints, though- always a frustrating trait, but one Loki finds almost endearing these days.]

Of course not. When has anything ever been my fault, brother?

[draperies]

I hardly think you would enjoy that answer, brother.

[And it's certainly not anything he'd enjoy dumping on a version of his brother that is perhaps not quite as far gone yet.]

[realitywarped]

I've heard most likely worse, trust me.

[He shrugs, still managing to keep the smile on his face, although he can't help the way it twists. It sounds like Thor comes from another world where Loki burned, and he wonders how badly it was and how long.]

There was a Loki before me, in my world. And as we're all so prone to doing- he fell from one path to another. He was the bad guy, the villain of the tale, and he committed more than a few acts to prove it. And then he died, and I came into being. No few people have blamed me for his crimes, Thor. I'm used to it.

[Including his own conscience- but he's not about to tell this Thor about that.]

[draperies]

Then perhaps one day.

[He frowns though, brows knitting together in thought.]

My brother is dead, honorably, but I have my doubts that he will come back. [For all of their advances, for how the mortals enjoy referring to them as gods, death is as final for them as anyone else.]

[realitywarped]

[Loki has his doubts. Loki never dies honourably, after all, not without a scheme.

But this Thor is still young, still apparently has illusions about what Loki is capable of, and Loki... doesn't want to ruin that. Not yet. His other self can do that all by himself, he has no doubt.]

Then... I am sorry for your loss, Thor. Something I doubt few others said to you, frankly.

[He offers it softly, a moment of compassion for this not-brother, who he never hated to begin with and still can't hate now.]

But all the same, in my world, there must always be a Loki. Perhaps not the original, but- Loki, all the same.

[draperies]

[He gives a slow nod, appreciative. Few others have said that to him... others still have rejoiced. Hearing it from Loki himself-- he's not entirely certain how to feel about that.]

Then, tell me... how many Lokis have there been before you?

[realitywarped]

At least two. Perhaps more, given the endless cycles of Ragnarok. But... certainly one that everyone remembers. He made himself a little unpopular.

[The two is a slip, but... in some ways, it feels good to be honest. To acknowledge his child self existed, even if in only a fleeting and obscure way.]

[draperies]

You do have a talent for that, Loki, even in my own world.

[But there's almost a fond edge to his voice, lips quirking up slowly.]

Which are you?

[realitywarped]

Not that one, or at least I hope not.

[He shrugs, giving Thor a wry look. He hasn't even told his own brother yet that the old Loki and he are perhaps the same person, or perhaps not quite. Perhaps the ghost of his child self, the fragments of him that linger, the role Loki had taken from him and been trapped by just as much as any other tale- perhaps that's enough to make him someone else. He can hope, can't he?

Still, he's not telling his own brother, he's not telling this one, either.]

I can make myself unpopular all by myself, trust me.