Pictures of last night ended up online, I'm screwed

[ofmyth]

WHO: Thor (ofmyth), Loki (selfimage), a bunch of booze, and everyone!
WHERE: Safehouse 2.0
WHEN: Late afternoon, evening, night on the 28th.
WHAT: Some people took down the monster, some people kept the group safe, some people snuck off to steal booze. They can all celebrate together.
NOTES OR WARNINGS: This is a post-event mingle! Loki stole a bunch of alcohol and Thor is going to make sure everyone gets some. Debrief, have fun, get wreckt, prepare for tfln the next morning.
Tag your own/check individual threads for specific warnings.

[When Loki hears the news of the Godzilla's demise, it takes a moment to sink in. There were doubts when a handful of the refugees wanted to run out and play hero, especially with their lack of abilities (for those who had them). He expected Thor to come back content on his involvement at best, broken and nursing his own failure, at worst. This? This is better than the best, and it's worthy of celebration. I's hard not to be pleased, hard not to congratulate; it's Thor's victory post the fall of Asgard, and Loki's sure that he's reveling in it.

Then, comes the booze: all different bottle shapes and sizes, some dark with lighter liquid, others opaque filled with something that has a more amber tint. It's unloaded carefully by all of them, messily lined up on the frames of one of the cots..

Thor looks to be almost a different creature than the moping, sullen thing he'd been since they arrived in the safehouse. Getting to his feet he stands taller, shoulders held back, a bright look in his eyes. Loki backs him up, tinking a metal spoon against one of the bottles to get everyone's attention. As Thor speaks he looks around the room, seeking out the eyes of everyone present.]

Seven days ago we were strangers. We were brought into an underground bunker, unsure of who we were and how we had come here. Some were angry, some afraid, others unsure. It's thanks to the aid and kindness of Gaby and El that we survived at all, here in this foreign city. Today, we have proven we will not merely surivive here.

[Thor hasn't met everyone here, but that's ultimately not the point. In his mind they are in this together, for better or worse. There is a 'we' who celebrate together now just as much as there is a 'they' who are responsible for their being here.]

Today we have repaid Gaby her kindness. Today we have protected not only her people here in the safehouse, but the people of the city. Today we have proved our strength to ourselves, to the city, to any who are watching us. Today, we set fear in the heart of our captor. [He seems to relish that last one most of all.]

Seven days ago we had little to celebrate. Today we raise a toast—[Up goes his bottle, held high and triumphant.] To us! To what we have done today! To victory!

[Loki chimes in, shaking the little bottle in his hand.] To New Amsterdam!

[Thor's arm is held high while others raise their drinks, then Thor upends his to drain it in a long pull.]

Comments

[deicider]

Sniper quirks an eyebrow. "Where exactly were you this whole time?" It's mostly a rhetorical question; Clearly Loki was looting booze, which seemed like the sort of thing the god of Chaos should be doing. Sniper had done their fair share of looting, too, but it was necessities: weapons, clothes, etc.

"It made a lot of noise, but it was hard to tell sometimes under the explosions. Shook the ground, too. Have you ever seen anything like that?" Presumably Loki, being a god, has been around the block a few times.

[selfimage]

There's a grin that gets a little wider, either at the deliberately rhetorical question or the explanation that comes after.

"All too common," from fire giants to dragons, the Ten Realms had their share of towering threats. "Among the realms and Earth itself. I take it that it's not where you're from."

It's odd, come to think about it—even odd here how uncommon it is. There were no heroes to save the day, aside from this rag-tag band of traumatized kidnapees. It said something about this world.

[deicider]

"No. Relative to this place, I'm from an alternate Earth." Sniper leans in a little closer, curious. "Do you think it could have come from one of Ten Realms? Did you ever take one down?"

In Sniper's mind, the appearance of a reality-defying monster and a batch of cross-dimensional kidnapees were obviously linked, but more confirmation would be nice.

[selfimage]

Sniper's proximity to Loki's personal space doesn't seem to bother him, but he does lean in to take the bottle, mostly because it's time for another sip.

There's a noncommittal shrug. "Ah—who knows? It seems all too sloppy to me. Inter-dimensional travel takes some finesse. Inter-realm travel, less so, I suppose, as long as you know where to look. This Earth could have its own Ten Realms." He trails off, but doesn't finish that thought. "The myths have an inclination to include a variety of high-profile and very large beasts for the slaying—so, perhaps."

Myths are myths, and memories are memories; somewhere, they're one in the same.

[deicider]

"Sloppy," Sniper repeats, turning that in their mind, how exactly Loki might mean that in the context of an interdimensionally-displaced monster. They take the bottle back, tipping it up for a longer drink, foot tapping idly against the table they're sitting on. It was frustrating, having all these little piece but being unable to resolve them into a whole. Probably Loki would have spoken up before now if he knew anything that might be useful, but there was the impulse to want to shake everything out of him, Just to make sure. An impulse they knew better than to act on. Finding out what brought them looked like it was going to be slow going no matter what.

"Is this not your first time visiting another dimension?"

[selfimage]

Probably. Loki would have probably spoken up. While the circumstances here aren't ideal (and he hates the loss of autonomy and the loss of his own physical senses and abilities), the alternative still sucks. He'd rather not go back to Asgard.

"No, I did a long road-trip for a while, but those were mayflies." He pauses, then continues, making a gesture with long painted fingernails. "Dimensions not fully formed, like the skeleton of an thought. They're unstable, and usually collapse beneath their own weight."

It's so casual just talking about how the fabric of reality works.

[deicider]

Loki's intuition to elaborate is spot on; Sniper's expression changes from uncomprehending to incredulous. "That sounds horrifying," And fascinating, probably. Every time Loki drops one of these tidbits Sniper's thoughts can't help but stray to home, how Mycroft or Jehovah would be eating this stuff up while they themself can't manage more than irritation at having to care about metaphysics at this stage in their life. Not much chance they'd be able to pass any of this on once they did get back. Unless they wrote a letter.

The idea actually cheers them up a bit.

They take another sip, figuring one bottle's probably not going to knock them out.

[selfimage]

"Well, it wasn't pleasant." Nor was remembering it, it had taken a toll on the whole group. All the Young Avengers had been dragged to their limit while reliving a horror show as they traveled from dimension to dimension in search of their missing friend.

It had given Loki leeway, time to connect with them on the level he needed to form some trust. He realizes after a moment that he's missing them, and dismisses the train of thought completely.

"Regardless, it's nothing short of dumb luck that we all made it one piece in a dimension stable enough to receive us. Of course, barring there are no eldritch horrors stowed away in surprise. I'd rather not deal with that."

Or a stray demiurge.

[deicider]

Wryly, "Good to know it could be worse. I don't think that's the last monster we're going to see, though." The question would be if another showed up in New Amsterdam or somewhere else. For Sniper, it was an almost optimistic thought: these monsters were visible clues to the situation. The destruction was awful, but...

But.

This wasn't their world.

[selfimage]

Reality was never so kind, both literally and figuratively.

"No, most likely not. I doubt we're the last we're going to see of whatever was done to us, as well."

He wonders idly if they're being sought after, searched for, or pursued. On one level, he welcomes it, as it becomes easier to manipulate their circumstances. If their captors had decided to abandon them, well, then it would be a little harder to find answers.

That earns him a drink, so he takes it.

"Mortals are never too good at gauging consequences when it comes to fiddling with the inner workings of the multiverse. I'd be surprised if they were satisfied."

[deicider]

"It's only a matter of time," they agree. They give the bottle a thoughtful swish, then tip it back enough to sustain a mild buzz.

"What are you going to do in the mean time?" With their release now imminent. Sniper was interested to hear the god of chaos' priorities, but also they wanted to keep tabs. Partly from Clarke's idea, that the connection between the kidnapees was important. Partly because all the good stuff happened around incarnate gods.

[selfimage]

Loki wasn't one to stay in one place for long, he was a creature of change, and he'd pursue his own freedom on his own terms. He'd be leaving as soon as he was able, even without a secure living situation.

"I'm sure I'll find a way to make myself useful," as in, he hasn't quite decided yet. "New starts always bring new opportunities. Tell me, have you a plan?"

[deicider]

Sniper shrugs. In fact they had a plan since day one, one of many as the situation rapidly developed. They don't know Loki well enough to tell if he's being vague to conceal his own goals, or because he really hasn't thought much on it. Or both. For Sniper this isn't a new start, it's an unwelcome diversion. Their own goals hadn't changed at all.

"Make some money, put a bullet between the eyes of whoever pulled this off, and go home."

And then save the world. Their world.

[selfimage]

Leaning his head on his palm, Loki tips it ward them.

"That sounds a bit boring," he says with a playful droll. "You didn't strike me as the type."

No, Sniper seemed a little bit different than that (one of Loki's, perhaps, but he can't tell yet).

[deicider]

Sitting on the table makes Sniper just tall enough that they can tilt their head and still have the height advantage. They laugh, cheerful. "Just a shot between the eyes, you mean? Sorry, it's my specialty."

[selfimage]

"I meant the rest," Loki rolls his dark nailed finger in a circle to compliment his words. "But we don't have to talk about it."

There was a lot of opportunity out there in the multiverse, brimming up along the edges. Perhaps it's easier for him because he doesn't miss home, and he's certain of his (eventual) return, so he can milk this for as long as he feels fit.

"Though I would like to hear about that. The shooting between the eyes thing, that is."

[deicider]

It wasn't that Sniper felt the need for secrecy on their immediate goals. They didn't think a god of chaos was going to have much issue with prostitution and they didn't have any reason to drop off the map as far as the other kidnapees were concerned—Quite the opposite. They just had an intuition it'd be more fun to keep Loki guessing, for Loki in particular.

Their smile is guileless, like they didn't just deliberately misinterpret Loki's previous question. Another couple sips of alcohol, and Sniper re-adjusting to tuck their ankles under their calves. A more comfortable position that puts their knee against Loki's arm.

"Do you know what the pentathlon is? The Olympics?"

[selfimage]

Loki would, essentially, find out if it turned into something useful. It was the push and pull, the game itself, that he always found fun. Loki is less deliberate when he wants to be, dancing somewhere between circumstance and calculation.

"Unfortunate that I'm aware of both the Olympics and the Olympians." Shut up, Pluto, where ever you were. "Please, continue."

While he takes another drink to wash away that association that he just mentioned.

[deicider]

"How I'm supposed to continue my boring story after a statement like that?" But they do continue, since it was a short point they were making. "Shooting is one of the categories for pentathlon. Since I'm not a very strong swimmer, I need it to make up my point differential."

And to do murders. Those who could knew marksmanship like that didn't come from sport could draw their own conclusions; Sniper wasn't going to be dropping the word assassin in a room full of people. Reveals like that went poorly, in their experience.

[selfimage]

With a tip of his head, Loki offers a charming (and skeevy) smile that says you'll manage. Once upon a time he might not even cared, concerned far more with winding himself up in grand schemes to thwart the afterlife and his own damned self-imposed divine role, but it's nice to hear a story from a mortal.

"It certainly beats swimming." He wasn't one with guns, none of the Asgardians were, but the Norse gods had an appreciation of weapons. "Did you win?"