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

Steve knows what happens next. From Loki's shrug either Thanos doesn't exist where he came from in the same way that he did in Steve's universe or maybe they hadn't gotten to that point yet. Loki from the Fleet had shown Steve the memory during Calibrations. Back when everyone's memories were flayed out and exposed to anyone else to see, Steve had seen the best and worst of what Loki had. It was what cemented their friendship.

That shrug leaves him feeling nervous and saddened, though. It's not his place to say more but a huge part of him wants to.

"I am sorry. I knew about Asgard but I am still sorry it came to that. Thor was lucky to have you at his side to help."

"I can't think of where else I would be," Loki says softly. Partly it's just to cement his identity as Not Like The Other Lokis. But it is also a truth. Even when he isn't physically with his brother, he still thinks of Thor. Of the best way to keep that lummox alive. Even being in places like this is an exercise of figuring out how to get back home so he can be in his proper place.

He bows his head slightly. "But I appreciate your sorrow. It had to be done, but it was still..." There aren't words even for his silver tongue to adequately describe his feelings. He hasn't had a chance to sort them out yet, even. "... difficult." But of all the humans, he expects Steve and Natasha to come closest to understanding, if from very different angles.

"Sacrifice, even when it's necessary, is still sacrifice. Sometimes it's harder when it's necessary; you never really have the choice. Just the illusion of one."

Steve knows it well. Dropping the plane into the ice was the only thing to do. He had drowned and froze for others to live but the heroic sacrifice was really the only option available then. Steve gets credit for being a hero but, when you're not prepared to be a killer, moments like that choose to make heroes. Not the other way around.

Steve gets it. Probably from a different perspective than Loki might have imagined. But if he wants to reclaim his friendship with what had been his best friend, before, he needed to be open.

No movie theater full of memories this time. Now sharing has to be done the old fashioned way.

"Ha. Yes. The illusion." Steve hits the point dead on, far more than Loki had even come to expect from him. It's a particularly distressing thing for someone so good at lying to both himself and others. There's no lie big or complicated enough that he could tell to escape what had to be done. It might be a comfort that he didn't decide alone, but it's a smalll one indeed.

This has gotten far too serious... and, he reminds himself, this is not the Steve he knows. He must not get too comfortable. "At any rate. 'Tis good that I will have a friend or two here."

Friend in the diplomatic sense, of course. Someone that he can work with, at the least. He's definitely not going to make assumptions. But it's no doubt a language choice that Steve will like, and that is useful as well.

Steve can't help it. His face breaks into a smile at the sound of Loki calling him a friend. He missed his companionship with his own Loki terribly. Missed all the ways that Loki would call him out and the talks they used to have. Steve has to remind himself that this is not the same man he'd had before. The history is erased here. But if it happened once, surely it could happen again? Surely there was at least hope.

And that let his smile spread.

"Yes. Yeah, a friend, for sure." He thinks to the antagonistic relationship his Loki had with Bucky and brightens up all the more at the chance for a fresh start, there. "And I am sure Buck would love to get counted on that list, too. We should get together soon. Yeah?"

"Oh, is Bucky here as well?" Though not, of course, the one he knew on Midgard. And, considering Steve's tone, definitely not the one that was in Proles, which Natasha had asked him not to poke with a verbal stick. Natasha so rarely asked for things, he had felt he owed her such a small favor.

"That would be well, I think."

"Two Bucky, in fact." Steve extends his hand to shake Loki's, still smiling bright. "But one goes by 'Winter'. Still a good guy, though.

"We'll all get together soon. Can't afford to keep distance. Besides, clearly I need tutoring in...math?"

The equation had a lot of letters to be math...

"Algebra?"

"Goodness, two? I don't think I have the strength." Loki knows how to do a good handshake; firm without making it a stupid contest of strength. Not hanging on too long. He's dealt with enough humans now.

"That would be... nice, I think." Loki laughs. "Technically, I think your people would section that off into physics. Which is only semantics."

"Yeah, clearly," he says with a roll of his eyes. He releases Loki's hand just to clasp his shoulder tight for the span of a second. It gets a firm pat and, finally, Steve steps away to go.

"Till then, Lok," he says, slipping into the old nickname he'd had for the other man. "Stay out of... well. Stay in minimal trouble."

"Don't I always?" he asks, offering Steve a courtly bow.

And then he vanishes.

Message in a Bottle

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Steve can be sneaky too, sometimes...

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