Author's Note: Hello, everyone! I just realized that somehow this chapter got kicked out. Probably when I was messing with the names… I am so sorry. It was not my intention to double a chapter! I didn't realize until now! Meep!
I hope this is still the up-to-date-version, since it is the only one I could find on my computer. So if some lines are changed, that is because I have to work from the original material. I deeply apologize for the inconvenience, but the plot is still the same ;)
Read, review, and hopefully enjoy ^_^
"Tony, you are in big trouble," Natasha declares as she walks into the lounge of the Avengers' mansion. "SHIELD just told me that thanks to you... we appear in a not so bright light, to say the least."
Tony blinks at her incredulously, "If it is about that chick who said I grabbed her butt, believe me: She's telling lies. She is just an old love trying to get back at me, I swear."
"As if I cared, no, it's this one-man show you pull," she huffs, making her anger no secret.
"What?" he grimaces, still having no clue what the SHIELD agent might be hinting at.
"What did he do?" Steve frowns.
"He almost made a plane crash because he had to get into its path, late at night," she explains, her lips a thin line.
"Seriously, Tony?" Steve blinks at him.
"I swear to God that I wasn't. I was... out," Tony argues vehemently.
"Or rather up in the sky?" Natasha grumbles. "Look, if you wanna goof around in your suit, that's fine, but don't kill people while at it... and don't get caught on camera."
She thrusts the pad into his chest before she storms off. Tony blinks at the screen where you can see him flying through the air and almost clashing into a plane.
"But I wasn't...," he grimaces. "What the hell?!"
A couple of days later, the Avengers are called to the headquarters – urgently. The heroes grimace, but then quickly make their way to meet up with Coulson and Fury. If they say it's urgent, you know that it's really bad.
"I bet we all get it because you goofed around and almost killed someone," Clint grunts.
"I swear I didn't have to do with it!" Tony cries out. He wasn't there… or was he? If only he didn't pour as many drinks as he did that night... which is why no one believes him now.
Once they get inside, they are instantly escorted to the Ops where Coulson and Fury are already waiting for them.
"Okay, before we even get started, I will say it again: I don't know what the hell that was, but I wasn't there when the plane almost crashed," Tony says, holding up his hands in surrender.
"Yeah, we know," Fury sighs.
"What? We have the video footage!" Natasha argues.
"Yeah, but it's not him," Fury argues.
"Who else has a fancy Iron Man suit?" Natasha argues.
"Right, no one other than me was able to construct this yet," Tony retorts, but then bites his lip... he just got the head out of the sling – and now he gives the other side ground to argue again? That is not exactly smart.
"Well, that in the video is you," Coulson grimaces, "just not... you."
"We just got the news that you struck again, but that is hardly possible, because you stand here with us," Fury confirms. They show the video footage onscreen.
"Yeah, no shit, huh? What the hell is that guy doing in my suit?! And has the cheek to paint it in that awful black and silver?!" Tony pouts.
"Who he is might be the more appropriate question," Loki tilts her head, her eyes fixed on the screen.
"Who they are is the more appropriate question," Coulson argues and points at the screen, where suddenly... all Avengers are causing havoc.
"... Are those really our evil twins?" Clint grimaces. That is too outrageous to be true, really. And just so much of a cliché...
"Well, not twins as in twins, but it seems like somehow Dr. Demonicus, or so we figure, got his hands on samples containing your DNA," Coulson goes on to explain. "And then... cloned you."
"Oh my God! That's nuts!" Steve cries out. He can deal with villains from outer space, but evil clones?! That is just over the top.
"Well, it goes above the stage of being your clones. They have your abilities, and your weapons, hence the suit, for instance. They have the same powers, if not greater ones. Because we fear that the Doctor actually changed the DNA code to enhance their abilities. And now they are causing havoc," Fury goes on to explain to them.
"How do we stop them, then?" Clint asks.
"That is the question," Coulson sighs heavily. Bruce glances over at Loki, who nods and then looks at Tony, whose smirk grows with every second passing.
"What is it, Tony? Is the joke trying to come out?" Natasha huffs.
"No, it might be that we just have the solution to this problem," Tony grins.
"Huh?" she frowns at him.
"It seems at least worth the shot to launch the BETA phase of our project. It might be that they don't know about this yet," Bruce goes on.
"Those weapon amplifiers are finished by now?" Steve blinks.
"Well, the plan was to test them in smaller battle before actually 'using' them... but from the looks of it... that's the best chance we have," Loki argues. "But do we get the okay from the SHIELD?"
"You are authorized to use whatever weapons necessary to stop those bizarro versions of yourself," Fury tells her.
"Okay, guys, then let's head out," Steve says. The team gets ready and takes off. Soon they reach the battlegrounds.
"Now, we are already there!" Tony says over the comm.
"Okay, we'll take on our own clone each and see where that goes. Good luck, everyone," Steve orders, the others nod and spread out to battle... themselves. Really, this is just too odd... and incredibly hard. The Avengers are suddenly confronted with someone who is not just equal, but actually stronger, as it turns out. They know when to dodge because they know the attacks themselves, which makes it only the harder.
"You stand no chance," the evil Captain smirks, viciously kicking Steve in the side and subsequently into the ground.
"Guys?! When do we start Plan B?!" he grunts.
"Let's get this party started!" Tony cries out. "You're so dead, fella."
The Avengers activate their amplifiers.
"Keep in mind, they were not tested and calibrated yet. So they might be a bit too intense," Loki warns them over the comms.
"But intense is what we need!" Tony snickers, smashing head-on into his replica, literally driving the doppelganger into the ground like a spear in athletics.
"Oh... wow," Natasha brings out at the sight of the replica five-feet in the ground, but she doesn't get much time to play the amazed spectator, since her own clone tackles her to the ground. Natasha kicks her off with all her might, using the momentum to push back. In the motion, she takes out her guns and fires, yet the explosion is so great that it still knocks her off her feet.
"Natasha, are you okay?" Clint asks.
"Yeah. I'm just... blown away," Natasha shakes her head, but then quickly recovers to go on attack her clone, who could prevent further damage by jumping out of harm's way. Clint is already busy sending out arrows in succession to mix things up.
"We might have a problem here," Thor's voice rings over the comms.
"What's the matter, Big Guy?" Tony asks.
"Mine is not working and I...," Thor grunts as his replica smashes into him to knock him to the ground.
"Did you activate it the way I showed you?" Loki asks with a grunt, ramming her heel into her replica's stomach, hard.
"Yes!" Thor retorts.
"Then you did it wrong," she argues.
"I did not!" he cries out.
"Loki, can you take over?" Tony asks. "I'm kinda hooked up here... oh, you did not!"
Loki glances at the sky where she can see Tony being thrown to the ground. It might be that they have greater strength on their side now, but the replicas still have enhanced skills and speed thanks to their genetic changes. Loki grunts before she rams her dagger into the clone's chest.
"Pathetic decal," she grits her teeth before she tears away from her doppelganger and jumps on one of her energy disks to make the way over to Thor, whose clone is seemingly much stronger than hers.
Not that Loki would ever admit that, of course. People would only get the wrong picture.
As Thor's clone is jumping high in the air to deliver the next blow, the trickster quickly throws her arms up in the air, creating a thick layer of smoke to engulf the evil clone, which makes him miss his target. Loki quickly makes her way to Thor, who is with one knee on the ground, catching his breath.
"I have to say... I put up a good fight," he puffs sarcastically.
"Especially since you fail to put on your clothes," Loki grunts. "Show it to me."
Thor holds Mjölnir out to her. She turns the amplifier the way one ought to, but nothing happens. She repeats the process, but the enhancer won't work. The God of Mischief grits her teeth as she takes out a device Tony designed for her. It's attached on the ear and a metal string leads to the eye where it produces pictures and graphs in front of her eye. It's essentially an adapted version of what Tony has in the suit. And at this moment, Loki is actually glad for Tony's idea, once again, not that she'd ever say so. She checks the energy levels to detect the mistake.
"What is the problem?" Thor asks nervously. The dust is engulfing them and he can't make out his clone, which leaves them vulnerable.
"This should work," Loki grits her teeth angrily. "There is nothing wrong with it."
However, that is when Thor's replica emerges out of the dust and wants to strike Loki, who is having her back to him, but Thor already dashes ahead and jumps into the doppelganger's path, wrestling with his clone in the air, before both solidly clash into the ground. Loki glances to the side with an air of nonchalance.
"That was really not necessary," she huffs. Thor manages to connect a punch to the clone's face, blowing him a few feet away. Thor hurries back to Loki.
"If you can't fix it, take the amplifier off. I'll fight without," Thor says, already making an attempt to command the hammer to him, but Loki holds out her hand, "Just one second!"
"We have no sec...," Thor wants to say, but that is when the raven woman jumps in the air and kicks the panel with her heel – and as if it were a magical spell, the amplifier flashes blue and is ready to use.
"What?!" the God of Thunder cries out in exasperation.
"Did you just jump on it?!" Tony cries out over the comm, but the trickster ignores him and turns to Thor with a shrug, "It's your weapon, so it has to operate like you, seemingly. And that means... brute force."
Thor holds out his hand and Mjölnir returns to him. Once his palm comes in contact with the hammer, he can feel the surge of pure energy within him, a strong one, a much stronger once. A smile creeps to his face as he swings Mjölnir and clashes into his doppelganger, knocking the man thrice as far away, and thrice as deep into the ground. The God of Thunder already hurries after him to finish the job.
Loki grimaces, "You're welcome."
Yet, she doesn't get a chance to pout, since the trickster is knocked to the ground by a sphere of light.
"Just when will you finally die?" Loki bares her teeth as she turns around to her replica. The doppelganger stands behind her with black blood streaming down her midsection and face, making her look like one of the monsters you see in those cheap monster movies late at night. The black goo bubbles out of her mouth, making the clone's smile even more devilish than it is anyways.
"Ah, don't say anything. I know we both just won't die," Loki snorts.
No, so many battles and attempted suicides later... the God of Mischief actually starts to doubt that there is any way she can die. It just doesn't seem to work. Loki takes out her daggers and engages in the next round of battle.
"Okay, guys, as amazing as the weapons work, we are not gaining the upper hand in the game. Any suggestions?" Steve asks as he throws his shield at his clone.
"Switch partners?" Clint suggests as he already fires at Steve's clone. Steve takes up on the cue instantly and takes on Clint's replica.
"Good idea," the Captain nods.
"The question is who'll take on the Bizarro Hulk?" Tony grimaces. "Not me!"
"If mine stood up another time, it'd be a miracle," the trickster declares. "She is dispersing into thin air... or goo... as we speak. I just need someone to partner with me."
The God of Mischief looks down at the replica of hers, who is turning into a bubbling puddle of blackness, finally. It took that beast long enough to die, though Loki can't deny that this is something the evil doctor who created them did a fine job at. He really captured that part of her very well.
"I can help," Thor says, standing over the version of himself now covered in the vicious black liquid as it dissolves into unrecognizable shapes also. Loki rolls her eyes, but is too busy with analyzing the battle to argue, so she simply goes with it. They worked through disagreements before, so this is surely no different. If it's needed, the two Norse Gods have no trouble working as a team.
The two meet halfway and then approach the two fighting Hulks.
"Bruce? Did you hear what we said?" Loki asks, stopping Thor from coming closer. They don't know how well the enhancer works on Bruce to keep the Hulk at bay, mentally-wise.
"Hulk heard you," he grunts as he smashes his clone into the ground.
"Then go after Stark's clone. We'll take it from here," Loki says. For a moment she fears that Bruce will return to the mindless Hulk-state and just punch them both into the ground, but then he nods his head and runs over to where the evil Iron Man is and tackles the clone to the ground.
"Do you have a plan?" Thor asks as the evil Hulk scrambles back to his feet, swinging Mjölnir in advance.
"I'd say... the old game?" she grimaces.
"Are you sure?" he frowns at her.
"No, I'm just making fun of you. Of course I am. Just make sure you don't let him crush me," she bites her lower lip, working on a strategy as the evil Hulk starts to focus his attention on them.
"If you mess this up, you will suffer my rage," Loki tells the thunderer before she steps closer to the greyish Hulk, "Hey, you!"
With that she throws one of her daggers at the wild thing. The evil Hulk bares his teeth at her and then starts towards her. The trickster jumps on one of her disks to get away from him, but the monster just grabs the disk and almost makes her fall off, if not for her fast reflexes. Loki quickly produces disks in succession to jump on. Once she is past them, she sends them flying at the Hulk who is eagerly smashing them.
"Well, at least he seems to lack Bruce's intellect," she grunts as she looks at the Hulk doppelganger who destroys the disks of energy like a dog bites into the water of a sprinkler. However, that is when the evil Hulk gets her by the ankle and pulls her down.
"I hate this," she grunts, fully aware of what comes next as she is smashed into the ground. The replica grins at her and wants to strike again, but that is when Thor smashes Mjölnir into the Hulk's side. He used the moment of distraction to clear line of fire, or hammer respectively. A flash of blue light erupts from the hammer and lightning joins the game. Once the thunder stops rolling, the greyish Hulk is now pitchblack from smoke and dissolves into black goo, just as did the other replicas before.
"Guys? Status?" Steve bellows over the comms. He just saw this grand explosion and is worried that the two got caught in the crossfire. The Captain himself is standing in his gooey clone, too.
Thor hurries over to where Loki was thrown to the ground, "Loki?"
"No, it's Baldr," he hears her grunt. The thunderer glances at the ground where Loki still lies, arms crossed over her chest, looking... pissed, as Tony would say, "Who else would it be?"
"Are you alright?" he asks as he holds out his hand to her. The trickster takes it reluctantly and allows him to get her up with just one pull.
"I'm fine," the God of Mischief snorts.
"We're good," Thor says another time over the comms.
"Alright, so we got them all?" Clint asks.
"Yes," all confirm, glancing at the black goo beneath their feet. Natasha is standing next to Tony, who is busy poking the now empty (false) Iron Man suit with a stick he found somewhere.
"Would you stop poking it?!" she shakes her head.
"I just want to find a way that all the goo goes away... and then keep it," Tony shrugs.
"Why would you want to keep that?" Natasha grimaces.
"Next Halloween costume as Evil Iron Man," Tony grins. The woman just rolls her eyes at him. That guy is just... beyond reclaim.
"Though I have to say you took your time, God of Thunder," Loki tells Thor as she uses her magic to remove the dirt and debris from her clothes.
"What? I waited for the moment he was distracted," Thor argues.
"... And he was distracted before he smashed me into the ground," she retorts.
"You said the old game," Thor returns.
"Ah, of course, now you listen to my orders," Loki rolls her eyes.
"I didn't expect him to catch you," he admits. "Otherwise I would have struck earlier, believe me that."
It actually took him about everything not to just jump that monster threatening Loki's life, but... the tactic was another, and he stuck to it. He knows better than to bring personal issues to the battle. That can backfire on everyone – and even cost someone's life.
"That just felt like the good ol' times... though they never were too good for me, thinking about it," she actually chuckles this time, meaning it.
"I'm sorry," Thor says with utmost credibility flooding his booming voice. Loki looks at him for a second, but then nods with the smallest of smiles, "Yes, I know. It's alright."
"I suppose... we won," Steve grimaces. "Will SHIELD clean this mess up?"
"They are already on their way to take all... goo... for analysis," Clint confirms.
"And they will also take the suit," Natasha smirks at Tony almost viciously.
"Seriously? But I'll get it back, right?" he pouts.
"... It isn't yours," Natasha makes a face.
"I am Iron Man. That's a trademark, alright?" Tony huffs. "Anyway. I think this calls for... celebration, as in huge celebration. No Shawarma this time... but drinks. I definitely need something to drink."
All are still staring at "their" bodies, but then simply nod. After such an experience, drinks are really a tempting offer. And so a plan is made.
Just as fast as this mission came about, the Avengers are now in one of Tony's favorite bar. It has a lounge character with dark wooden interior, red velvet, dimmed yellow light, and the faint smell of cedar lying in the air like a fog. You can say about him what you want, but he knows where to find good bars.
"Alright, I'd say that we toast to ourselves because we were simply amazing today," Tony says, indicating for the rest to join him. Each of them takes one of the shots the cute ginger bartender is handing out to them and holds it up.
"Alright, so who toasts?" Steve asks.
"Hm, I'd say cheers to Loki's badass idea for our new weapons, because that is what saved us... from ourselves today, plus... Bruce and I... for being amazing," Tony smirks. "And that we shall never forget the effectiveness of good old brute force. I toast to kicking ass!"
"Cheers," the others agree and drain their shots.
After that all settle down to chat and drink, enjoying their night off.
Loki settles in one of the corner seating units in the back of the bar, nursing her glass of Scotch absently.
"Is this seat taken?" Thor's voice rings from next to her. Loki blinks at the tall man.
"I don't know how it is about you, but I don't come to know invisible creatures whom I'd share a drink with," Loki huffs playfully.
"Master Stark said that's the usual way of asking politely to sit with someone," Thor smirks at her.
"Ah, of course... now I almost forgot, in Asgard you just flop down in a random seat and claim your stake on the piece of furniture you are occupying," she grins. "Well, then have a seat."
"Thank you," Thor smirks as he sits, putting his carafe of beer on the table.
"I see you got yourself a little drink," she nods at the carafe, which makes Thor smirk, "It's not like mead, but at least close to."
"You miss that, huh?" the trickster huffs.
"Actually," Thor chuckles. Loki leans over the table and touches the carafe, changing the content into mead.
"Ah, I almost forgot that, conveniently, you have the magic on your side," Thor smiles, taking a swig – and really, he missed that taste. That is a piece of Valhalla. "Thanks."
"It's nothing. Stark always makes me change water into red wine for some reason... I think it's a Bible reference, but I didn't start with the New Testament yet... so I might find out once I get to it," she shrugs.
"Well, the taste is just as in Asgard," Thor smirks.
"I never understood your fancy for this particular drink, though," she shakes her head.
"You can drink... a lot," Thor shrugs, leaning back against the leather of the seats.
"Ah, I see, that makes sense of course," she puckers her lips. "I actually took a liking to human beverages. They offer at least a variety. In Asgard you just have the choice between mead... and more mead."
"Well, for someone of a simple taste like me... that makes the choice far easier," he chuckles softly.
"Right... So, if you don't mind my asking: Why aren't you partying after a battle won? Back in Asgard, a success on the battlefield inevitably led to an orgy," she asks him with a soft smirk tugging at her lips.
It always annoyed Loki out of his mind, at least when the trickster was not the "cursed child" yet, well, at least none of them knew. They would come back from battle, exhausted, injured, sometimes still bleeding, and Thor, the ever-so cheerful oaf had no better to do than throw a feast to make the palace's walls shake. And to the day, Loki was convinced that it was part of Thor's very being to boast and feast after a battle won, so it really irritates her to see him in this calm manner all of a sudden.
"Indeed, but... I had a change of mind," he shrugs.
"How so?" Loki asks curiously.
"For a long time I just didn't see what I should celebrate," Thor replies, taking a sip of his drink.
To tell the truth, Thor didn't really feast since everything went down with Loki, after he thought the trickster had fallen into the abyss and died, and then again after the God of Mischief caused havoc on Midgard. Even if he didn't want to believe it himself for a long while, Thor actually gave those feasts not merely to celebrate himself and his accomplishments, but for those fleeting moments when he and his brother, by the time, would sit together and share a drink. That was when the world stopped turning, if only for a few minutes, where all music died, and he had the one person close to him who grew to be the very center of his life. And ever since that relationship was ruptured, Thor didn't feel the urge or need to celebrate anymore. After all, the feast would not end with a shared drink, so there was no point.
"Well, I'm sorry to tell you, but even in the days where you saw a reason in it, it wasn't really one," she huffs playfully. Even the smallest battle, the most meaningless brawl – and Thor made a celebration of it that you would expect at a royal ceremony that would change the realm forever.
"I had my reasons, if only just a few," Thor insists, though he can't help but smirk. Really, he was acting more like a child than a man these days. Thor still remembers one particular feast he gave – and that even though none of the others could take part in it, because they were injured in the course of the battle. Thinking about it, he was really... awful, to say the least, at that time. Ignorant. And that is something Thor now regrets, a lot. After all, he always had and will have the highest opinion of his companions, and he would have willingly sacrificed himself for all of them, yet... at that moment, he chose a feast, a celebration of himself, over his friends, over what he held so high otherwise. At some point Thor can't even say how he ever got the idea. It all seems so ridiculous now.
"Well, you know me. I never was the person for such activities," she shrugs at him.
"Well, not really," Thor grimaces.
A point quite striking about Loki, one among so, so many, always was this conflict. On the one hand, Loki always took a liking to the more general aspects of a feast, the dance, the walk-in, even the food. On the other hand, he always hated it to tell grand stories and report about the battle won, and never wished to take part in the chatting. The only person he really spoke to, and didn't just reward with a snotty comment, was Thor. When they went through their ritual of sharing a drink, they always talked, about something, anything. Sometimes Loki would tease the God of Thunder about his latest object of love's desire, even if in retrospective, it leaves a bitter taste to all of it, keeping in mind each other's feeling for another all along. Other times Thor would try to talk his brother into joining him and the others, something Loki mostly declined from the beginning. On a few occasions they'd make fun of some of the guests or particularly annoying relatives, so Baldr, for instance, because there is just so many to pick from that you never run out of ideas. Rarely they talked about the more philosophical questions, of life, death, of meaning. Even though Thor always considered Loki's arguments more sophisticated, he was always interested in what the trickster brought up. It never ceased to amaze him. Yet, most of the time... it was the things they didn't say that were said between them. The simple gestures of being close, hunched over just lightly, stealing away from the public feast into a private sphere of shared drink and thought.
"But you can't deny that you enjoyed yourself at some point," Thor argues with a smirk, but Loki shakes her head incredulously, "Oh please. If you refer to this one time you dragged the Warrior Three, the Lady Sif and I to this shebeen in Vanaheimr, I regard that as one of the darkest hours of my life."
"What? You danced, you laughed," Thor argues with a chuckle.
"It was a stupid drinking battle, and one I actually lost, after all. I made a fool of myself as much as you do on these occasions all the while," she rolls her eyes.
It was when they were still younger – and Loki actually gave a lot more on the competition with Thor. The trickster just wanted to surpass the Golden Prince, which led to very ridiculous and shameful situations in which Loki made a perfect fool of himself by engaging in those brawls in the first place, and then actually lose to that dull oaf.
In Vanaheimr, it was no different. They had been arguing before, but Thor, the always so happy-and-thus-clingy drunkard would try to cuddle with him, which resulted in both of them falling off the bench to the ground. That is when Loki was fed up with it and started to accuse his brother, much to Thor's lack of understanding. He then declared that he'd now spend his time to drink himself till oblivion to maybe reach Thor's current level of mind. Thor took the challenge, of course, and so they drank till neither one could tell his name anymore.
It was on this occasion that Thor saw Loki "on the loose", fooling around, laughing loudly, allowing the defenses to fall. Yet, that state was soon overshadowed by the aftereffects of the mead consumption. In the end, and only the Gods know how, Loki collapsed first and rolled from the bench onto the floor to take his nap while Thor sunk into mead-induced sleep with the head lolling on the bar. Thor can't remember having seen Loki ever so embarrassed as the trickster was the next morning when he woke up.
"But the place was nice," Thor chuckles.
"Och, please, you could smell the sweat of over two thousand years seared into the wood this place was made of," Loki argues, scrunching her nose. "It was absolutely hideous."
"Well, at least you broke out of your shell that night," Thor shrugs.
"I rather would have broken out of my shell in a less... reeking place," Loki makes a face. "I don't party that way because it does not befit my character... and I would rather save myself the dignity of not becoming like this..."
She nods at Tony, who really spent his time getting drunk. Pepper, who joined them for the celebration, is trying to make him sit, but not with Tony. His drunken and sluggish attempts of making her dance with him fail – and so do his legs, almost. Thor can't help but chuckle.
"Reviving old memories about yourself, isn't it?" she huffs.
"Indeed," Thor chuckles.
"Well, I don't know... I do not fully understand the enthusiasm about this particular battle won," Loki grimaces, looking at their friends who are drinking and enjoying themselves.
"What? The amplifiers you designed worked – and we won over the enemy," Thor frowns.
"Oh, and I am personally very enthusiastic about the amplifiers," Loki agrees. "It's the second part that is upsetting me in some way. I mean... we basically just defeated ourselves. We met creatures that were actually better than us, in terms of strength, durability, and speed. Taking the characters aside... we killed what was actually better than us in some way."
"I see your point, but I see it in a different light," Thor argues. Loki blinks at him, "Now that will be interesting."
"Well, you said it yourself. Except for the amplifiers, they were actually stronger than us," Thor smirks.
"Yes," she agrees.
"Well, the way I see it, we didn't defeat 'ourselves', we... surpassed ourselves, because we actually managed to defeat a stronger version of ourselves. Through this battle, we became stronger than them and therefore even stronger than us before the battle," Thor shrugs, flashing his teeth at her.
Loki shakes her head lightly, a soft smile on her face, "... That is actually true... and more insightful than I had thought."
"I thank you," he winks at her. Loki eases down against the leather of the seat, playing around with the glass by letting it circle over the table, leaving circular patterns of condensed water on the dark tabletop.
"And I have to say... we worked together better than I had estimated," Loki hums, still twisting the glass on the table.
"Well... I suppose that a few thousand years of experience in fighting together so well actually help to keep it up even through... the hardships," Thor grimaces, hoping that he didn't go too far with this statement.
Generally, he always fears that he is saying the wrong things, doing the wrong things. With Loki, Thor just doesn't know – because she is so good at containing her feelings that he has no clue what to make of it. A few days back, she sought him out. They sat with the backs to each other in hours, and to him, it had felt perfectly right. Yet, it seems hardly arguable that the two still struggle to be around each other.
It's still a dance.
It's just like the dance Thor didn't share with Maya, Loki, how she stole away before he could reach out to her to hold her close. Yet, this just now is a much more futile and hurting endeavor. Because Maya's stealing away was a game, a game she must have enjoyed at some point, but Loki will hardly enjoy any of this. Even through the indifferent and calm face Loki is able to keep in perfection even in the gravest situations, Thor can see those fine lines of sadness that pull it down, invisible scars that still sear so intensely that the trickster has seemingly nothing left but to smile, to joke, to stay aloof. And it fills Thor's heart with dread that he was not only one of those who inflicted the wounds, but also the one who drives Loki to the point that her smile becomes so unreal at times, like one of her illusions.
"That might be true, of course," she shrugs. "Routines and patterns are funny things. They are the underlying principle to almost anything, yet... we have to see them through the scope of an extraordinary situation to actually realize their presence."
"What?" he blinks at her.
"We had to meet our replicas for us to see that the routine of battle, of me as bait and you as hunter, still works. You just need extraordinary circumstances," Loki explains. Thor contemplates for a second before he raises his carafe of mead, "To the good teamwork?"
Loki licks her lips, thinking about it for a few seconds, but then raises her glass also and clicks it with his together, "To good teamwork."
The two take a big gulp of their drink, leaning back in their seats. Loki can't help but feel a bit proud of themselves – for actually managing this one thing: getting used to each other. Nothing is perfect, but they are a little less ridiculous in what they do. Of course they are still fools, but at least they can look each other in the eye again.
They are here.
They surpassed themselves.
So maybe, and just maybe... there is a way for them to exist between the lines of dread, failed love, and memory.
They grow.