Growing Shadows (open thread, tagging boldygoing for sure)

[smartass_captain]

George Kirk is a Starfleet legend for the Federation. A hero to his crew. A good husband and father to his family, or so Jim Kirk has always been told.

The shadow he cast even in death swallowed Jim up before he was even old enough to understand why his mother cried whenever he smiled a certain way. Refused to look at him or even come back to Earth more than she had to while he was young. He tried to fight it, rebel against it. Baring his teeth. Willing to become the antithesis of George Kirk so long as it meant someone would see him. Anyone. It didn't matter who.

To a young James Kirk even being labeled a criminal was better than being labeled as George Kirk's Son.

Pike ruined all of that. Drug Jim right back into that shadow and told him to embrace it. Encompass it. Dared him to be better. An impossible challenge surely. Every struggle Jim waded through made in the gloom of a reputation he could never hope to live up to. When he finally came out the other side and stepped into the light again a year older than his father ever got to be he was lost. His own accomplishments and reputation stood on their own merit but to what end?

"Dammit, I thought I was past all of this."

Thought he'd moved on since arriving in Yorktown. Found a place all his own that he belonged, no matter what George's reputation was. It turns out self awareness can only go so far. Meeting a Norse God who wears your old man's face isn't the sort of thing he'd been prepared for. He has a pile of ignored PINpoint messages staring accusingly up at him from the screen. Jim's been ignoring people for the last few days since his run in with Thor in the Nexus.

Some people are harder to dodge than others, of course. He picks up the device and starts to rifle through everything he's missed.

Comments

[smartass_captain]

The new text doesn't really catch Jim's attention until he realizes it's from an unknown number. Immediately he's sitting up straighter in his seat, skimming over the contents of the text with narrowed eyes. The fierceness shatters apart completely when he sees the accompanying message, twisting into a sick panic at the screen.

How did he get Jim's number? Why him?? No, he doesn't want to talk to Thor. Thor is the reason he's having these goddamn spiraling thoughts in the first place. The captain sits over his PINpoint for several minutes. He might be able to find some answers as to who this guy is if he agrees though. More importantly if he refuses Thor may run into his counterpart in the Nexus and assume they're one and the same.

That would be every kind of bad. His younger self has enough shit on his plate right now.

Sure thing. Meet up at Crossroads? It's the bakery I sent you guys to last time. I can be there in fifteen minutes.

[coldsong]

Yes, a fine place. I enjoyed their krumkaker!

Hopefully they will not be dismayed to see me back so soon. I will await you there.

Loki wasn't paying full attention to what exactly Thor ate when they were there, but he did a pretty good number on the place's stock and Loki himself enjoyed the krumkaker, so it's a safe bet his brother did, too. He is sure the staff at the place will remember the broad-shouldered tower of muscle that threatened to empty the bakery case.

He's wearing Thor's form, of course, before he even gets close to the building. The eyepatch is a new wrinkle; he doesn't like it. He can see through his own illusions, as needed, but for some reason, the weight of it sits heavy on his face. It must be psychosomatic; seiðr is, in actuality, lighter than air.

When Jim arrives, he will see Thor at a table with a cup of coffee and a plate that's heavily-loaded with croissants, danish, and whatever else Loki could find that looked like something that would catch Thor's eye. He has no intention of eating most of it; his appetite is not a match for his brother's, ever. Still, he's paid and will tip like any good guest of an establishment should. Maybe he'll bring the sweets to Thor later, or give them away in the Nexus.

He beams when Jim appears, standing up at his chair. It's more the smile of greeting Thor would have offered in the old days, before Loki fell, before so many sad and terrible things happened to them. Maybe the trickster's performance is a little rusty, but his quarry has no way of knowing that. "Thank you, friend. I appreciate you agreeing to meet me here. Will you drink?"

He gestures to his coffee.

[smartass_captain]

The owner of the cafe is a lanky Japanese man who will greet 'Thor' with a reserved smile that really doesn't do justice to just how excited he is to find a customer who appreciates so many different variety of sweets and baked goods. Katsuya will be sure to make the offer to box up anything he's not going to eat now for ease of carrying and sharing later. Or not--he did see just how much the god ate last time they were at the establishment.

It's a smile that diminishes slightly when Jim walks in. Turns a touch frosty and more businesslike and normally Jim would return the look but right now he's too busy holding in the mother of all grimaces at the warm greeting Thor is giving him.

James T. Kirk never got to see his father smile at him like that. Or at all. But he's seen that smile in holos, in photographs of his family from before he was born. For just a moment he feels tears prick at his eyes before Jim's biting the inside of his cheek hard enough to nearly taste blood and gathering his wits about him. He needs to do this. Needs to find out more about this so called god.

Thor is not George Kirk, and Jim needs to cement that in his head for his own sanity as much as anything else.

"Sure. I'll get us refills. How do you take it?" However it's requested Jim will buy them drinks though he takes his own straight up black and takes a seat across the table. "I'm surprised you came to me, honestly, though I imagine with just getting here you didn't really have much for options." How did he get Jim's number to begin with? So many questions and his is an ever moving mind.

[coldsong]

Goodness. Again, a more intense reaction than Loki expected. Were he a better person, he might feel some pity here. It is an effort to read thoughts, but it is not an effort to sense emotions, not in a human. They all but project them; it seems to be a species trait. There are exceptions, of course, and then there are a brilliant few--like the Natasha Romanoff he encountered--who are able to feel sorrow, guilt, horror, able to project them, and yet dissociate from them and operate flawlessly through the experience. Jim Kirk appears to be attempting to control and work around his feelings, but they seem to be a weak point nonetheless.

It will take a little time to work out why this face prompts that sorrow, he imagines. Even a human unaccustomed to the supernatural will notice if his thoughts are rifled through too roughly. Care and patience are imperative.

"Well," 'Thor' answers, leaning back in his seat in such a way as to make the legs creak with protest. Asgardian body tissues are more dense than they look. He's well over 600 pounds of muscle. Loki is only a hair over 500, but a challenge for standard-issue furniture even at that rate. "As I said, it's more a matter of my brother than myself. He is a schemer--I care for him dearly, of course--but his reach has been known to exceed his grasp. The version you met is not, as I understand, from my world. Indeed, he is from a short while in the future, as compared to me. But he has taken it into his head to assist me in any way necessary."

Such warmth and loyalty from baby-brother Loki! Such tender generosity. What a good sibling he is!

Thor looks troubled. "He has concerns about the longevity and suitability of our vessel. I know not, for he will not tell me, why he frets so. Possibly his own Thor and our people ran across some difficulties and he does not wish to burden me with fear of a dark fate. Someone, a young woman, mentioned the Enterprise to him in casual conversation,"

This is, in fact, true, and while he won't be using the tidbit of information quite the way she intended, he's grateful to her for the tipoff.

"And he has skill in ferreting out information, particularly since you yourself mentioned Starfleet. He understands you to be in command of a vessel better suited to carrying a large population than our own. He will not tell me what he plans to do with that information, and Loki..." Sigh.

"His plots can be grandiose and fanciful, but he might honestly consider anything from barter to outright piracy a fair course of action if the lives of our people are truly at stake."

[smartass_captain]

A little brother who schemes and gets in over his head, you say? For all the pain Jim is trying so desperately to cover up with a stoic facade of calm and in control he seems to be somewhat relieved of it at this description. Jim knows someone who fits that description perfectly, someone very close to him in fact. As depressed as seeing ghosts of his dead father in the man before him makes the starship captain nothing can lift his spirits quite like being reminded of Felix Caelus even such a small way as this.

The next smile Jim offers is much more sincere, though it is somber. The subject at hand is a cry for help at best and a thinly veiled warning of a threat at worst after all.

"Yeah, I'm from a time and place where space travel is not only common but essential. Where humans are a prominent part of the Galactic stage. Ships are...I know ships." Better than most even considering his position. Engineering was always a favorite subject of his back at the Academy. "His first stop should honestly be the Nexus. If anywhere's got a place with a for-hire staff who can help fix up a ship at the drop of a hat it would be here."

He's sure Scotty and Chekov would love to take a look at another ship too but for a man Jim Kirk barely knows it's best not to tell just how much he's willing to do or help with just yet. The word 'piracy' hangs in the air. Jim understands though. When it comes to looking out to you and yours, there's a level of desperation at play. Just as he will look out for his own.

"If you have schematics of the ship or any questions about how to improve it or what to look for though I wouldn't mind at least taking a look. Seeing if your world does ships the way mine does or not."

[coldsong]

Loki is listening, weighing and considering every flicker of body language, every change of expression, every bit of emotion Kirk projects. It's downright startling to realize the description of himself he's just given sparks such warm thoughts. Not for Loki himself, of course--that would be abnormal. But for someone of a similar temperament and bent of mind.

That's almost charming.

"Sometimes," the false Thor admits slowly, "I think he chooses illicit methods for achieving his goals even when simpler options exist. For amusement's sake. But your suggestion is good, if I can get him to see that."

He picks up a pastry and turns it in his fingers a moment before taking a bite. And that is not a particularly Thor-like habit, but Loki is thinking on multiple tracks at once. "I do not carry schematics, but I can obtain them easily enough."

Right. It's best Loki go ahead and address the elephant in the room before painting himself into a corner, which is a terrible mix of metaphors, but seems appropriate to the Nexus anyway. "I'm grateful to find you so willing to help. I had thought, perhaps, I offended you in some way at our last meeting. You left in a hurry."

[smartass_captain]

"Have some faith in him. If he cares about your people the way you say, then he'll come through." Seems like a universal constant that little brothers get their intentions questioned. Their efforts under appreciated. Jim doesn't pretend to know this Loki, but as a fellow little brother he feels like he has to add in the remark either way. "I can understand your situation. If I can help I'd like to."

It won't stop him from keeping an ear to the ground. Threats against his world must be taken seriously after all. But he's not going to to look to harass Thor's brother simply from hearsay. This time the comment makes Jim clench his jaw and fist at his side tighter but otherwise he doesn't allow himself to react. The shock has more or less worn off, leaving a pervasive ache in its place and that is a pain Jim Kirk is no stranger to. He can ignore it long enough to get through the meeting.

"You...no. That's not. That's not your fault. You surprised me is all. I thoguht you were...someone else for a moment."

[coldsong]

Do what? Have faith in him? Oh, well done, Jim Kirk; you're really challenging Loki's ability to cling to this role he's selected. Part of him wants to laugh out loud, and another part wants to read out a litany of his own sins just to make sure the other man knows exactly who and what he's talking about. Neither of those are things Thor would do, though. He keeps his recriminations light, as if Loki's worst deeds involved stealing the last piece of pie, not threatening the lives of millions.

It's an effort to keep his expression neutral. Hopefully it comes across as pensive rather than shocked or grim. Apparently they're shaking one another up in this conversation, though, and the sight of Kirk clenching his jaw is enough to remind Loki of what his goal in prompting this chat was.

"Someone important to you?" He ventures to guess, and his one visible eye is cool and analytical. "Someone no longer present in your life."

A loss, then. He's guessing, extrapolating based on what he sees and senses, but he doesn't doubt his guess. He looks back into his coffee cup, sparing the other man the piercing stare. "A strange quirk of the multiverse, then, to provide the same face for different people."

[smartass_captain]

"...Sort of. It's kind of difficult to have someone you've never met be important to you in the sort of sense most people think."

But Thor's come out here and is concerned enough to make Jim feel bad for how he's been acting. It's not the Asgadrian's fault that Jim's got every kind of hangup when it comes to the other's looks. One a lot easier to deal with than the other. He wishes it was just a shallow vanity issue. It would be easier to stomach. Instead he withdraws a slim glass device from the inner pocket of his uniform and calls up the public domain bio on George Kirk before handing it over. It's easier than talking about it overmuch.

"My father." A hero of Starfleet who died at the captain's birth. The savior of the Kelvin. Like Loki, the man who wears this face has cast an impossibly large shadow for his relation to be living in. Just, a son in this case.

[coldsong]

Now they're getting somewhere, and Loki finds it's not quite the where he feared it might be. He dusts his hands free of pastry crumbs and accepts the device carefully. The flicker of surprise that crosses 'Thor's' face is not feigned. That's not just a resemblance, it's as if someone made a mold of Thor and carried it off to Jim's world to be used to create a duplicate.

"That certainly explains a lot," he says mildly, in Thor's voice, and reads through the information twice, thoroughly, searching for further nuance.

He has a vague sense he should feel guilty about provoking this. He can't be completely unsympathetic to a man with issues related to his parentage. He can't be unsympathetic to loss and 'what might have been', and he can't be unsympathetic to spending one's life in a bright shadow. "That is not me," he says quietly, in Thor's voice, in case that was in doubt. "I have no connection to this man that I am aware of, for whatever that's worth."

Theoretically some sort of weird cross-universe hereditary link is possible, but it sure isn't probable. (Norns, what if it were, though? What if Loki were talking to his great-great-great grandnephew or something right about now? He would have to feel very sorry for Kirk, in that case.) "A peculiar coincidence," he says gently, handing back the tablet. "I have no explanation. However--"

Once the device is out of his hand, Loki decides to drop the illusion, shimmering green-gold and dwindling to his own normal shape. "Perhaps this face will make you more comfortable conversing. It's me, not Thor, but you must understand: I had to know. Thor always sees the best in people. I do not. But I am satisfied that in this case, my concerns were unfounded."

Surprise! This probably seems like a real dick move to Kirk, Loki assumes. But he's not going to apologize. He has, as always, his own reasons.

[smartass_captain]

"My old man didn't talk like you do. Nor did he have your kind of stature." No doubt the Kelvin tragedy would have gone a lot differently if his father had been some kind of God. It's such a ridiculous thought that Jim has to swallow a laugh. It wouldn't be one of humor so much as hysteria and James T. Kirk is stronger than this. Than the ghosts standing in front of him who are and are not important to him.

"Like I said, it's not your fault. I'm just--?!" Jim takes back the data pad with a furrow of his eyebrows but whatever he was saying dries up when Loki reveals himself. He doesn't drop the device but it's a near thing. He's seen this kind of magic before. Felix's brother is a strong wielder of it but never has Jim seen an illusion done so easily as though it cost Loki nothing more than a breath to command and discard at a moment's notice.

"I..." What the fuck. "What the Fuck?"

It's a good thing he's already sitting down.

[coldsong]

"Well, naturally you find it unsettling. That's no one's fault," he says, and watches the Captain's reaction to his change.

He'd be lying if he tried to pretend he wasn't looking for surprise, if he denied (at least to himself) that the stammer amuses him. He wasn't looking to make the man swoon or go into shock, though, and he'd rather not make him an enemy. So while there's a flicker of unmistakable laughter in his eyes, and his lips twitch briefly, he's quick to school his expression to something more neutral.

"I'm a shapeshifter," he says. "I suppose I didn't get around to mentioning that. Thor is not, however, so his uncanny resemblance to your father is not his doing, nor is it mine. Do you need a glass of water?"

[smartass_captain]

"You're a..." Easy Jim. Best not let your mouth run off making threats you can't back up to a god. His flash of anger is more thanks to do with his already shot nerves and shock more than it is real rage. Jim Kirk shakes his head and looks down at the table for a moment. At least, when he looks up again Loki is still Loki for now.

"Let me get this straight. You jacked my personal information, pretended to be your brother, called me out here, casually threatened my fleet and her people....all to get a better gauge on whether or not I would be a threat to a fucking God?"

The offer for water is kind but Jim's got his coffee and he's going to help himself to it and probably drain the rest of it while he tries to stand back metaphorically and see all the pieces on the chessboard of this whole debacle. Tries to understand the capricious whilms of a god.

"I don't know whether I'm impressed by your dedication to him or if I want to punch you. Which wouldn't do me any good and that is not helping."

[coldsong]

"Indeed." There is almost no word that Jim could finish that sentence with that Loki hasn't heard directed at him before now, and he takes the aborted insult calmly. This is actually the part of a prank he likes best: the outrage of the victim. Not that this was just a prank; there is more at stake here than a laugh, or, as the case may be, a momentary psychological breakdown.

"That's more or less the size of it," he admits, leaning back in his chair again. "There are many forces at work in my world. I had to know if you were associated with any that were likely to come around and bite us in the collective arse."

That might be paranoia. "For what it's worth, the threat of piracy was merely a red herring. The Statesman is, as far as I can tell, a solid enough craft to get her people from one point in space to the next." And even if not, that's a moot point.

There's a flicker of something more grim in his eyes for a moment.

"I'd rather you didn't punch me, but there's no call to be impressed, either. This is what I do. This is what I am."

NOTHING TO SEE HERE MOVE ALONG

[smartass_captain]

Jim sets aside his empty mug and takes a long, deep breath. He'd been set to be annoyed. Even angry at this turn of events. And then the god had to go and keep talking.

This is what I do, this is what I am.

Would Jim not do whatever he could to protect his crew? Moreover, would Felix not do these things to protect Stratos' interests? Hasn't he already? It doesn't make a lot of sense for a God to be so worried about a single mortal but maybe the Gods have more to fear from ordinary humans in Loki's world than on Nirn. His own world, godless as it is, gives Jim nothing to compare any of this to.

"I'm not going to punch you. It'd be an asshole thing to do and since you're a god what good would it do even if I did, except potentially piss you off and make an enemy out of a man I can't even begin to understand the dangers of?" The captain sighs. Pinches the bridge of his nose where he feels a headache building just behind his eyes.

"You had reason to doubt me, and no one's been hurt because of this. I've got no reason to be mad."

[coldsong]

Oh, he has every right to be angry! Loki wasn't about to apologize, but he also wasn't inclined to dispute that Jim has reason to be annoyed, either. He's rather impressed, in fact, by how well he's handling the incident. Despite how rattled he must be, he seems to be maintaining his calm, even considering Loki's point of view.

That, combined with his earlier advice to 'Thor' to have faith in his little brother is almost touching. This is, he thinks, a man worth keeping a friendly eye on, assuming he hasn't yet infuriated him beyond forging an alliance.

"For the record, anything with a corporeal form can be punched, gods included. Just a bit of advice, should it ever come up in your future. The only question is whether the god will take more harm from it, or your fist." He's pretty sure Jane Foster came away with bruises from when she slapped him, but she did knock his head to one side. He's not immune.

"You have every reason to be angry, but it won't do either of us any good at this point," he further points out. "The question is do you prefer I explain your aversion to my brother and encourage him to give you your space, or would you rather I said nothing?"

[smartass_captain]

"Yeah but the last Better-than-human I punched turned to solid ice and royally fucked me up when I tried. Unlike some people, I can learn from my mistakes." Not a jab at anyone in particular, just a simple statement of fact. The more gods and god-like entities Jim Kirk meets the more he has come to school his temper and his tongue as best as he can. It causes more harm than good to treat them like any other person more often than not.

It's a little bit satisfying to hear Loki admit Jim's got reason to be mad. Seems like the guy isn't incapable of understanding things form a human's point of view. That's...possibly a good thing? Too soon to tell.

"If the whole space and ship thing ever becomes an issue, let me know, by the way. That was a real offer." He's no mage or god but science and engineering are things he's pretty good at. In this place full of extraordinary people it pays dividends to have a niche to fill. That and it's an excuse not to answer the last question immediately. Gives Jim a moment to think.

"No don't...don't bother him about it. It's no fault of his and I'll get used to it eventually. Was the shock more than anything that hit hard." He doesn't like it, but he's dealt with worse.

[coldsong]

"Solid ice, truly?" Loki frowns thoughtfully. "That's a form I stay away from, personally. Was that in the Nexus?"

If there are Frost Giants around, he might need to know about that. It could have been in Kirk's own world, though, he supposes, knowing little about it.

His frown softens at the offer, dissolving into something more like a weary smile. "I will pass that information along to Thor. Unfortunately, I will be unable to keep an eye on our ship in the world I come from. It...actually, I suspect it has been destroyed, but I dare to hope there were some survivors." Thor included, he hopes. It would be very like Thanos to slay one brother and deliberately leave the other alive. He was obsessed with equilibrium.

"But it was destroyed under enemy fire, not through any engineering fault. I would not request weaponry from another dimension. It's not my place, for one, and for another I suspect even the best firepower the multiverse has to offer would only buy a little time. Some battles cannot be won by fighting."

His own coffee cup is now empty, and he looks into it as if he can't decide whether he wants a refill or not. His fingers tap the edge of the cup idly, and he hums under his breath. "If you're quite sure. I'm not sure how my brother would react to the resemblance, now that I think of it. It might disturb him, as well. Or he might shrug it off as he does so many odd coincidences."

"For whatever it's worth, I am not unimpressed by your diplomacy." Something sly creeps back into his smile again. "Would you like one of these croissants? I cannot possibly finish them all."

[smartass_captain]

Captain Kirk gives a nod of confirmation.

"Reynard North's the resident winter spirit of the Nexus. He gets some pretty special powers during the season but he also becomes kind of a fickle asshole round that time. I've learned to try and stay on his good side." They're friends the rest of the year, but it's difficult to deal with him during Winter.

Talking about the potential destruction of Loki's ship and his people is disheartening and a reminder for Jim to keep a careful watch on things getting into his world from the Nexus. After the potentially catastrophic situations they've already faced the last thing anyone need sis another power-drunk despot.

"If he gets worried about it, you can tell him I guess. I'll try not to give him reason to though. No promises on my...oh. Right. So, uh. There's actually two of me in the Nexus. He doesn't know about Thor yet." Three, actually, but Jim doesn't know about his older self and it's probably for the best he doesn't right now. This is enough to keep sorted."We look the same, but he grew out a beard for differentiating himself so it's kind of hard to miss him. I'll have to warn him."

[coldsong]

"Reynard North," Loki repeats thoughtfully. "A bit on the nose, but a suitable name, I suppose. And he becomes solid ice in the winter?"

He's not sure if that means this is someone he ought to introduce himself to or someone he ought to avoid at all costs. A Jotun ought to get along well enough with a winter spirit, except Loki very much prefers to be in charge of as much of his surroundings as possible. And if he is as irascible as Kirk suggests, there is no question Loki will annoy him. He routinely upsets even the pleasant and sweet-tempered.

Maybe he'd better see what Harley knows of this spirit.

He takes the news of Jim's alternate without a blink. It's not a surprise, in a multiversal Nexus, although it's sort of interesting that the two of them get along. "I would recommend that, yes. My brother is terminally friendly, and sometimes he misses some subtle nuances of social interaction. He would not be deliberately unkind, though. He is a well-meaning oaf."

Whereas Loki deliberately ignores subtle nuances of social interaction whenever it suits him, and has rarely been described as well-meaning.

[smartass_captain]

"He doesn't have to, that's just a thing he can do if he wants to mess with people. Like say, if someone decides to hit him for whatever reason." Even if he deserves it. Especially if he deserves it. Means he always gets to have the final say in any altercation. Jim's learned his lesson handily and would like his body to remain intact this year.

"My counterpart's about two years in my past though some things are different between us. I'm sure I can't enforce this request, but I"d appreciate it if you didn't tell him anything you find out about me. We're trying not to fuck his timeline over too badly." He'll have to warn his bearded companion about Thor as soon as he's done here. Better not to wait on this kind of a scare.

Jim's picking at one of the pastries offered his way. They're good but he's not really hungry even despite not actually sitting face to face with Thor again. Getting used to the coincidence is going to take some time. The implications of it still settle on old, deep wounds.

"He seemed like a pretty decent guy. Are all gods 'a bit arrogant' or is that just human perception?"

[coldsong]

A Winter spirit that can turn into solid ice to mess with people. Loki feels vaguely put-out now. He should have thought of that schtick himself, damn. Well, that settles it. Whether he should speak to this North or not, he's bloody well going to, if the opportunity arises.

"So much can happen in two years," he murmurs his understanding. "I will do my best to comply with your request."

He wouldn't want anyone telling a younger alternate of him all the madness that lies in store for him. He absolutely understands. However, being a god of mischief, he can't promise anything. Still, what he can and has offered is a good faith effort. Unless a good reason comes along, he won't betray any secrets to the other Kirk. Besides, there are always better pranks to be played.

Loki chuckles at the question. Was that a backhanded comment, or just a statement of fact? "I do not know all gods," he says. "But I would venture to say arrogance runs in my family, on Father's side."

[smartass_captain]

It's a fair answer. Jim's not expecting miracles nor other people to care about time paradoxes and branching multiverses as much as he and his counterpart do. Either way, it satisfies Kirk just fine. For all of his schemes and posturing there's an awful lot about Loki to like so far as Jim can see.

A big part of that is his projecting his own assumptions based on similarities he finds in the god to people he knows but that's hardly Loki's fault.

"Then yeah, he seems like a pretty decent guy, arrogance aside. And I imagine it gets pretty easy to be arrogant when you're statistically stronger than 99% of the people around you, even if you don't mean it." One doesn't need physical strength to be arrogant, of course. Jim's been accused of it himself and he's quite used to being one of the physically weakest in any given room.

[coldsong]

"He has mellowed somewhat, in recent years," Loki tells him. "He was raised as a warrior amongst warriors, the eldest prince of an ancient race of divinities, the heir to his father's immense power. His enthusiasm for battle was never discouraged, and it grew untempered for far too long."

"By most measures, his mistakes and transgressions are lesser than mine, but without intervention, he might have become the monster I am accused of being. And that would be a tragedy." An ambiguous statement. Almost like Loki's taking credit for doing bad things so Thor didn't have to. Light can't exist without Darkness, after all. Or can it?

"But no. Now he is a friend to mortals and a shepherd to his people, and that is fitting." He takes a bite of the pastry he's been playing with, savoring it quietly, and picks the crumbs up off the table, fastidious as a cat.

"I appreciate your attempt to give me the benefit of the doubt, by the way. I will not forget that."