gotta make an entrance

[foolyoutwice]

A door swings open. Beyond it, a glimpse of swirling blue-green shot through with fire, and the coldness of space. All the air in the room--and definitely all the loose papers and bar cloths--seems to rush towards the door. And then someone hurtles through at high speed. He skids across the floor and rolls into a crouch as the door slams shut behind him.

It's all very dramatic, in other words. Big budget special effects.

The man pulls himself up from his crouch and takes in a slow shaky breath. So. A place. He's in...a place. It might even be real, a real place, not just something in his head. He smooths his hands down his sides and comes away with a sharp knife clutched in one.



So like....hey Milliways. What's up.



((Oof, all right, bedtime for now, but I'll be back tomorrow! Thanks for the threads and good night! baaack <3))

Comments

[ownerless]

"No violence in the bar!" Pearl sings out when she sees him draw the knife. It was the gust of air that drew her attention, that glimpse of space-cold nothingness, but-- since she's here, might as well mention the rules!

[foolyoutwice]

He rounds on the source of the voice immediately and stares. "Violence," he repeats, rusty-voiced. "In the bar."

Sorry, Pearl, but he looks like someone who's more from the Yes-violence-in-the-bar camp.

[ownerless]

And she looks like a pretty and decorative not-quite-human who would probably be among the first casualties of any violence in the bar. Her chirpy voice and fluttery gestures do not dispel this impression.

"No violence," she corrects. "So you won't need that knife!"

[foolyoutwice]

Lots of violence in the bar actually, says his expression! She doesn't look like a threat, but Loki has been staring at his own imagination for a very very long time, and she could be anything. Real or not.

"Violence in the bar," he repeats, sounding a little more comfortable with speech. And breathing. "What...bar."

[ostro_goth]

"That was rather dramatic."

This comes from an equally pale and dark-haired man sitting near the fireplace playing a small harp, with three cats asleep in various spots close to him.

[foolyoutwice]

He whirls, blade out, and stares. Person. Small animals. What are those things, again? Foxes, is that the word? Rabbits? They all look real, and not like something he'd imagine, but it's hard to be sure. He's very good at imagining things.

Loki takes another shaky breath, which sets him off coughing, but he doesn't take his eyes off the group by the fire. "--You there. Tell me where this is."

[ostro_goth]

The man picks up the smallest of the three not!foxes, the one with grey fur, and strokes it.

"My name is Teja," he says mildly, "and this is Milliways, the tavern at the end of the known cosmos. Apparently, it is new patron season, so let me welcome you to it all. Nobody is going to harm you."

Pause.

"At least you're not adamant this is somewhere you know, within your world, which is an advantage. May I ask your name?"

[feminine_menace]

This is all very unsettling for YT, since this dude's trajectory brought him to within a meter of where she was standing. Was being the operative word, because she's backing away from him now.

"Dude. Do we got a problem?"

This isn't just a question. It's a code phrase. If YT were wearing the Knight Vision goggles hanging around her neck over her eyes instead, she'd see amber text in the lower left-hand corner of her vision - text reading DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS: READY.

They're not armed, yet, but they could be in a hot second if needed.

[foolyoutwice]

Small and backing away, that's good. He stalks towards her, not really conscious of it, but the knife stays back. "Problem." He hasn't heard his own voice in a while, and almost startles himself. "Problem. I...don't have a problem."

[feminine_menace]

YT realizes that backing away, being scared, is the kind of reaction New Guy expects. That kind of pisses her off so she switches tactics and stands her ground instead, meeting New Guy's eyes with a stony expression. "We're gonna have to agree to disagree about that, bro."

If he charges, she can dodge him, shimmy under that table over there, and counterattack with the Liquid Knuckles or her bundy stunner.

(These devices wouldn't do more than annoy an Asgardian, but YT doesn't know that.)

[cottoncandypink]

Well, this has the potential to be entertaining. Wilford doesn't step in right away, or even at all. He does laugh, just a little bit, from a seat by the fire. And people call him dramatic. What the hell was that entrance even supposed to be?

It's probably obvious that he's looking at Loki, though. That pink moustache is really hard to miss.

[foolyoutwice]

There's a lot to take in right now, and a pressing question of Is this at all real, so Loki's gaze skims past Wilford and keeps going around the room before coming back to him.

He licks his lips and breathes in like someone who has to remember to do it. "You. Tell me what this is."

[cottoncandypink]

Wilford looks like he's about 90 pounds soaking wet, but it takes more than whatever the hell this is to intimidate him. It's a perk of being from a world where death is rarely permanent.

"This is a bar," he says, as though it should be evident. "I think the costume party is next door."

What? He's bored, and this guy looks like he's looking for a reason to make a mess.

[buh_bye]

"That was a bit over the top, don't you think?" asks what appears to be an old man sitting at a table drinking tea. That is what most humans would see unless they have some ESP or sensitivity. Some, with the power, can see or feel his actual form dwarfing the very building but somehow fitting in this tiny man.

[foolyoutwice]

Loki's pretty definitely not human, and can sense the creature's form. It's interesting. But it's also just a little too much like the warped swirling void he just escaped, so he's going to just...do a little wary watching for the moment.

And nah, he doesn't think it was over the top. Loki doesn't believe in over the top.

[buh_bye]

Death shrugs and dips a cookie into his tea. He was considering ordering something more substantial.

[gravity_shifter]

That's quite an entrance and it almost makes Sikozu lonely for the vastness of space. But not too much.

So here, Loki, have neon green eyes looking you over from a creature that probably isn't human.

"Running from a fight?"

[foolyoutwice]

It's good to hear unexpected words: they make him that much surer that this isn't just in his mind. But still, he tilts his head curiously. "A fight?" Wait. Yes, actually, there was a fight, wasn't there. But that feels like a long time ago. He wipes a hand across his jaw. "...No. Not running from anything. Where is this?"

[gravity_shifter]

His hesitation makes her think otherwise, but that's none of her concern. For the moment.

"Milliways. Where, I couldn't really tell you. It seems to exist outside of time and space." Or, science she hasn't figured out yet.

[cutting_edgex23]

Hey, Loki.

X is already moving in his direction, footsteps silent on the floorboards -- at least until she gets closer.

The star-shaped scar on her palm, hidden by her black fingerless gloves, burns ever so slightly.

"It is better to put the knife away. Here."

She's just saying.

"You are not hurt?"

[foolyoutwice]

She's gonna get your basic wild-eyed stare while he gets his bearings. Put the knife away? Uhhh, no? That doesn't sound better at all?

In fact, because he's good at making choices, he's going to point the knife at her as his eyes focus. "Tell me what this place is."

[cutting_edgex23]

X seems completely unbothered by this, largely because she is.

"It is a bar."

Obviously.

"At the end of the universe."

There is a faint pause at the end of this. Then --

"I am X."

[mjolnir_retriever]

There's a lake out back, and mountains, and forest. Not the biggest vista in the world, but respectably varied for a self-contained little pocket realmlet. Big enough, for example, for someone with good weather control to fly around in a storm -- a relatively tame one, without much in the way of lightning bolts and crashing thunder; he's burning off boredom, not temper -- without being particularly noticeable from the bar, if he keeps the stormcloud small and over by the mountains.

And then after a while, the stormcloud dissipates, and a bolt of red and silver shoots through the sky to land on the lawn outside.

Loki can be forgiven for not noticing any of this. There aren't exactly a lot of windows to the lake area, and there's a lot else going on in here. But what he very likely will notice is a familiar, broad-shouldered, golden-haired form striding through the door, hammer in one hand, casual everyday armor gleaming.

And then stopping dead in the middle of the doorway.

Thor's certainly noticed him.

He's only frozen for a moment, and then he's striding forward, long legs covering the distance fast.

[foolyoutwice]

Yes. Yes, Loki definitely notices that. He's had a chance to prepare himself mentally--and now he has a chance to brace himself physically.

Hey brother. What's the plan. Hugs? Stranglings? A bit of both...?

[mjolnir_retriever]

There's certainly an option on both! Loki is very good at making stranglings (or at least punchings) a desirable conversational tactic! But for right now: Thor's definitely aiming for hugs.

"Loki," is all he says, low and rough.

This is what Hal, in his poor human (dead) body, could only ever be a shadow of: Loki, all green and gold and black, and Asgardian (Jötun) power and pride, and every gesture, every expression, heart-stoppingly familiar.

He clasps Loki's shoulders, without the careful delicacy a human would get, and just looks at him for a moment. His eyes are damp, but he's starting to beam. Once more, louder, with a dawning joy: "Loki!" And then, whether or not Loki's still holding that knife, Thor pulls him into a hard embrace.

Of course they have matters to settle between them. But that can wait. Everything else can wait.