strangetrip | [EP/GP] Check-In: I Assure You We Are Open

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[EP/GP] Check-In: I Assure You We Are Open

The damp, cool, chilly morning clouded with fog seemed to fit the mood about the Madonna Inn. Nobody had been quite right since the undead invasion. Definitely not Vax'ildan. But for him, it was less about their sense of day-to-day calm and safety shattered, less about undead specifically. It was a lot more to do with losing Scanlan and Pike, and the new memorials installed in the Temple.

He wondered about it, not for the first time, even as he readied for the fresh arrivals that might be coming today - or not, because they didn't always. What decided who came and went? Was there any sense in how many and when or why? Not so far as he could tell, but he'd never been the brains.

Gathering up the great heap of cloth and rope in his arms, the lean figure summoned the wings of his armor, the black of his silhouette merging with the other dark and shifting shapes skulking about in the first light of dawn. With a crouch and a lunge from the roof, he spread his wings wide and circled through the air right up to the face of the main building, unfurling the massive banner he'd sewn of spare bedsheets and painted with dark dye to tie it up taut:

WELCOME NEWCOMERS
YES, THIS MEANS YOU
NO REALLY WE'RE SURE

Life kept going on around you, no matter how confused or scared or fucked-up you were. And the best thing, the kindest thing, the sanest thing he could think to do in all this was to start up the coffee machine, stack some decorated pumpkin-shaped cookies on a platter in the lobby, and prop open the doors for whoever would join them in being confused and scared and fucked-up today.

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"And here, no less." Rites of passage weren't uncommon, but most societies with them didn't exactly have a punishment for failure apart from 'stay a child'. "I mean no offense, but what are the odds you'll even be able to undertake these tests here, much less pass them?"

"You mean, other then the fact some days I want to suck every ounce of life from everyone I see? - and before you say it, that's not normal for me." She gave him a bit of a look. She knew what she was, but she wasn't a monster.

She shook her head. "I know I have to. I'm changing. It's the only way I stop from turning into an animal. But if I do... I do have a back up plan." She rolled her shoulders back. "Right now I'm trying to find stop-gap measures while Dyson, Sam, and Regina figure out how to get the first part to work."

"I wasn't going to say anything." He really hadn't been, for a wonder. No one helped how they were born, and he of all people understood both monsters and not wanting to be one. (And, in his case, having to be one anyway.) "Do tell about this backup plan and stop-gap measures. I do mean to pry, but in the politest way possible."

She considered how to answer that, but figured Loki wouldn't try to talk her out of her back-up plan. "My back up's your brother. If I get too out of hand, I know he can take me down." And she'd need to be taken down, not just subdued. "And the stop-gap.... thinking maybe it should be you."

"Second part. I would be entirely willing to help at any time." The impromptu and interrupted 'assistance', back in the clinic, would have been enough to convince him, even if Bo hadn't been charming company when not starving. Besides that, she was right: he was one of the best options, because he could stop himself, stop her, and it would probably be harder for her to kill him in any case.

"For the first... is it possible to convince you to switch that to me as well? I assure you I'm far more likely to make a clean go of it. He'd do it, but it would be a protracted messy business while he tried to 'save' you first." He'd do it, yes, but Thor would feel terrible and guilty forever.

Bo looked at Loki and thought about it. She uncrossed her legs and then re-crossed them the other way. Interesting, though, that for someone who liked to say he was an asshole, that he obviously cared a lot about his brother. "And how would Thor feel if you took over the duty instead?"

"I don't intend to tell him about it, and recommend you don't either." Loki leaned back against the counter opposite her, in front of the shelves. "Thor combines a literally legendary level of sentimental assery with a conviction that if something is important, only he can do it." Which of course meant he considered everyone around him to be inferior and incompetent, though of course he never thought of it that way. "I've learned that the best way to get things done without having to fight him every second is to present fait accompli as often as possible. Do what needs doing without letting him waste anyone's time and energy."

As much as Bo didn't want to agree with Loki that omission was better than the truth, he was probably right. Though she didn't outwardly know it, there was a bit of the same thing when it came to her and when it came to Dyson. If she could spare Thor some anguish, it would be better, right?

"And what about you?" She wondered if people just thought Loki could bare things like this without realizing he actually had feelings too.

"I'm not sentimental." Whether it was natural, learned, or both, it was true enough. Whatever he felt or wanted, he did what he set out to do. "I'm used to going it alone, and I'm fairly good at pain. Those would seem to cover all bases well enough."

"I should probably be a little offended, but I guess that makes me feel a little better too." Though Bo wasn't sure she actually bought the idea that Loki wasn't entirely sentimental. The Morrigan said that too, but Bo knew better.

“Would you want sentiment from me?” Loki raised an eyebrow, genuinely curious. “I’d imagine the lack would be a relief, given everything.”

"That's a hard question, isn't it? You're right, if I knew you didn't have sentiment it'd be easier, but on the other hand if you're going to kill me I'd sort of at least a little bit so you killed me quickly." Plus she enjoyed Loki's company.

Loki nodded. The reasoning made some sense. “If I get sentimental, I’d only approach where my brother starts.” It would pain him to kill her, but unlike Thor he wouldn’t make a mess of it. “I’d kill you quickly either way, but there would be much more pain involved for me before, during, and after.”

It made sense to Bo, even if it meant it kind of sucked. But then, she felt a new worry. "....Do you think you'll be able to do that?" There was always a worry about sentiment when she slept with someone, but she was pretty sure that Loki could handle that part. "Maybe I should start being mean when we talk." Though how she'd do that, she wasn't quite sure.

Loki laughed. “Please don’t, I think that would make matters more difficult.” He knew himself that well, at least. But the clear concern on Bo’s face brought him back to seriousness. “Don’t worry. I know better, and I’m careful. In fifteen hundred years, it’s never been a problem.”

"Well, you feel yourself getting to close and tell me. I'll find someone else to take the edge off, if I have to." She paused. "Though before that happens I think Sam will want to talk to you."

“I don’t foresee a problem, but I’ll let you know.” He wouldn’t. If it was a problem, it would be his, to deal with in his own way. He remembered Sam, though. Likely the young man felt the need to threaten something for some reason. “That’s fine. I do like to know what I’m dealing with.”

She leaned forward a little which, yes, gave Loki a good view, though that wasn't her actual intention. She waggled a finger at him semi-seriously. "Try to play nice with him. He means a lot to me."

“If there’s any rough play, he’ll be the one to start it.” It wasn’t promising to be nice, because he wasn’t making any such promise, but it was something.

She almost quipped that she thought he liked the rough stuff, but instead went with, "Just remind him to keep that energy for me." She knew Sam could hold his own, but Loki was on a different playing level than most people at the inn.

“Depending on the tone of that conversation, that might count as starting something.” Somehow, even from the little he’d seen of Sam, he doubted the man would appreciate hearing ‘save it for your girlfriend’ from said girlfriend’s fuck buddy.

"Okay, I see your point." Despite herself, Bo's lips pressed into a little, amused smile. "Alright, alright. I'll try to stay out of it. Just know that if Sam doesn't give the go ahead, then I won't do it." And she'd probably get worse fast. "Then I'll have to end up trying to ask your brother and that'll be mortifying for all of us."

Maybe mostly her.

“Unfortunately for your purposes, my brother is monogamous and currently involved.” And even if he hadn’t been, Loki thought Thor wasn’t likely to approve of an arrangement like this, nor would he be able to remain unattached if he agreed.

Thor fell in love, it was an option for him. Loki knew better.

"Right. So, my point stands - try to play nice." She offered him a mischievous sort of smile as she hopped down from the counter. "I promise to make it worth your while."

“Oh, well, in that case.” It still wasn’t a promise, but when paired with a good smile most people would hear agreement anyway.

Re: Bo/Loki

st_unaligned - 2018-10-15 23:33 (UTC) - Expand

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