revivalproject | Message in a Bottle

Who: Loki and... you?
What: Getting the lay of the land
When: 5-6 days after people started arriving
Where: Proximal to the fountain, areas nearby
Warnings: None at this time; will update if necessary

It's a sad commentary on Loki's life that this is not the first, second, or even hundredth time he's awoken in a place with no idea where he is or notion how he got there. Until the last few decades, such awakenings had normally involved Thor, Sif, Iofast, and a lot of mead. In more recent times, it had gotten distressingly less about being tricked into drinking too much and more about being kidnapped, or having his mind overtaken by something, or worse.

His first reaction on opening his eyes is to feel frantically at the back of his neck as he sorts things through. No port. And here is his magic, still hot in his blood. And this is most definitely no ruined Proles, despite any outward similarities; the lack of dome makes that abundantly clear even before he gets a good look at the buildings.

And then there's that glowing sphere...

He finds himself up on his feet and touching the thing before he's processed that it might be a bad idea, and that takes his estimate of the situation from one of concern to near-emergency. Even as information floods his brain, unasked for and unwelcome, he's tearing himself away from the thing.

No matter how angry he is, this at least answers a few questions. He has to admit that in the privacy of his own head, even if he hates it. Loki retreats to the top of one of the nearby ruined buildings, hiding in an illusion, in order to brood.

He isn't the only one here. He hears the voices of others, even observes a few from afar. But he has no way of knowing how friendly they might be. Are there others from home about? Others from Proles? He can hardly dare hope. But standing in the square and shouting Hello is most certainly not his style. And this place appears to lack the convenient internet of Earth or network of Proles, which had made anonymously testing the waters much safer. His bread and butter is paranoia, and nothing that's happened to him in recent years has done anything but strengthen that feeling.

So, best to leave a calling card and see who might pick it up.

He waits until the square is deserted and returns to the fountain. It seems the best source of fresh water, so it will no doubt be visited often by whomever is around. After some consideration, he's decided that the assumption that most of the people he's observed are some format of human seems fair, so that's the best language to address his message in.

Using a bit of magic, he leave the following emblazoned on one edge of the fountain:

~ LINGORMR

Then he retreats back to his observational post to see what happens, again cloaked and hidden. The magical effect of it is obvious to anyone who has the skill; it would do well for him to see what compatriots--or enemies--he might have around.

[ooc note: the equation is the time-dependent, one-dimensional version of Schrödinger's equation.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Interesting. Definitely not the Wanda from his universe, then, which is unsurprising. He's never encountered someone who knew him from home.

Which probably means the Loki she does know... ugh.

The illusion Loki inclines his head politely and offers a conspiratorial smile. Loki knows about his other selves enough that he could pretend to be one of them... if he had a reason to. He's yet to find a compelling one in a situation like this. "Wanda Maximoff. I'm afraid you have the advantage on me. Where I am from, we've not formally met, as I'm far too busy being dead."

Excuse you, that's her friend...or was. Now it remains to be seen.

Wanda's a pretty good actress, but there are some things you just can't mentally prepare for. She can't hide the shades of disappointment in her expression as she shoves that warmth down and gets all her masks back in place. He'd said that they wouldn't meet again, and she hates that he got to be right one last time.

"I know," she says softly - Thor had been the only person whose condolences hadn't felt hollow after Pietro's death. "I didn't meet you at home. I was...somewhere else, before this."

She tilts her head at him. "You know, I am not going to attack you. Not unless you give me a reason."

"I, too, was somewhere else before I came here. Obviously a different place."

He waves the illusion away; it disentangles into strands of light and disappears. Then he steps from the roof and teleports the short distance to where Wanda stands. "I'll hold you to that. Even a little bit of murder will hurt my feelings quite badly."

Despite herself, Wanda ducks her head and laughs. This feels better and she's sure she's actually talking to Loki this time. "We can't have that."

He looks okay, at least. Definitely happier than the last time she saw him. "How long have you been here?"

"A few hours at most. I prefer to have as good an idea as I might of where I've landed before I start making noise." He smiles crookedly. "Most of the time, when I wake in a strange place, what follows is quite unpleasant."

"Some of the wildlife isn't friendly, but no one is actually trying to hurt us yet." Yet, because...well. "We haven't found the Agrii and almost everything is broken. If you want something comfortable to sleep on you will have to make it yourself."

She sighs. "But I am sure it could still be worse."

"I've done my share of living rough," Loki says, unconcerned. "Anyone who has been on a hunting trip or a war party with my brother has survived far worse than the lack of a bed." He grins. "Builds character, according to him."

He laughs. "The last place I was in had flesh-eating undead and an atmosphere that burned one's skin like acid. So yes, it could be far worse. This is almost pleasant when one ignore's the circumstances."

Spoken like someone who always knew he had a bed to go back to - but that's such a Thor thing to say that she can easily imagine it in his voice.

"I wouldn't call this a vacation but...no, it's not that bad. We still have our powers and memories and I think we still have a chance to get home." That hadn't always been a given on the Fleet, but Wanda's still not sure just how much power whatever the natives used to bring them here has over them. So far they don't seem to be interested in toying with them, just...odd.

"That we do. Another improvement. Before, I was... human." He makes a face. "I don't know how the mortals do it. Nothing smells right."

"We shall make our own chances." His smile becomes something more predatory.

Wanda makes a face. "Nothing would have smelled right in a place like that." Being human has nothing to do with it, she's sure...but if he'd lost his powers too, she could understand that annoyance, at least.

She doubts that look is directed at her and so lets it slide. "Do you feel anything strange here?"

He considers the question soberly, because it deserves full though. They are on a strange world, and there's the question of the storms and what other environmental difficulties happened to their kidnappers.

"There is something," he finally says. "But I don't care to give it a fully name, yet. It's..." He wrinkles his nose. Human word, incoming. "Oogy."

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