kore_logs | please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste

Entry tags:

please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste

Who: Anyone. Everyone.
When: Afternoon of Day 11.
What: Crashing the box opening party, and everything else.
Where: Anywhere. Everywhere.

((Note: Please read the related ooc post before responding.))

If all were right, if the scale were appropriate, the sound would be uproarious. The crack of stone would be deafening, so loud as to be tangible, a kick to the chest. If all were right... but when is it ever?

In the end the growing fissure makes hardly a sound at all. No breeze stirs, no sign at all is made of the immensity of what has just occurred, and if the observers standing about hold their breaths, it isn't because they know. It isn't because they've any idea of what they've done, of how they have so neatly severed the threads of fate, have broken, it seems, a universal constant.

Such an event deserves more than the faint clatter of stone chips on the ground, more than the low grind and scrape as the box begins to unfurl. It gets no more, however. No more than that, as the first rays of light begin to penetrate its inner gloom, falling upon a hand, palm-up, fingers lightly curled. A pale hand and bony, long-fingered, filthy, the nails grown long.

A wrist, smeared with something dark, something that has dried at the edges and begun to flake away, much, very much like dried blood. Blood, perhaps, from what twines sinuously about that wrist, binding it down to the stone upon which it rests: viscera, by the look, by the smell. Intestines, if they are as they appear, glistening faintly as they catch the light.

So on up a thin arm, slow, slow as a wet gasping becomes faintly audible and the fingers of the hand twitch. A figure comes into view, a bare torso, back bent, shoulders and hips tied with the same fleshy coils as the wrist. His head, too, is bound in place, face turned upwards towards a serpent carved from the same stone as the box, arching elegantly above him, fangs bared just inches above the bound man's face.

Man, yes, he clearly is, and for some in attendance he is no doubt familiar, even wasted as he is, even...

At the tips of the serpent's fangs two drops of liquid quiver, poised to fall into what once were eyes but now hardly resemble them. Indeed, most of the surrounding flesh is ruined, horribly burned in such a way as to make abundantly clear the nature of the liquid that grows slowly, slowly nearer to dripping down with each passing moment.

This is no gift. Not just yet. Not as things are now. This is a king brought low, a creature of the most dangerous sort: one who thinks he has lost all that there is to lose – save for his life.

Loki Laufeyson breaks out in gooseflesh as fresh air hits his skin, not from the chill, but from anticipation. So much floods in with that breath, with the light which he can barely perceive through blistered and milky corneas. So much, but it's all wrong.

Thin lips press thinner.

No ice. There should be ice. This is too warm, this is...

Enraging. The wait, the agony, it ought to have paid off, it ought to have brought him in the end to vengeance, to the severance of a lineage and a lifetime that dragged him ever lower, moment by moment. What if this is wrong? What if it's not the time? Too early? Too late?

Loki's hand clenches into a fist and he pulls, and finally, now that the seals have been broken his bonds give, tear with an awful, wet sound and he is free. Free, and he knows what he has to do. Whether or not this is the dawn of Ragnarök, he knows: his is only to destroy.

Bare feet find the ground, and a body which has lain prone for years beyond counting unfolds itself, rises. He's unsteady, soles rasping softly against the floor of the box as muscles remember how to move, how to walk. He can sense them moving, the little things outside his cell, matchsticks, light them up and they burn so quickly – human? Strange.

Some burn brighter than others, though. Some might stop him doing what he has to do. And so his arm shoots out for the nearest and he bares his teeth, a monster, a beast, nothing more than a conduit for the force that brings skull to meet stone.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Lydia hadn't even thought to worry about Bruce. Not with the way he got them out of there so smoothly and all his clear and levelheaded thinking. That changed when he checked his heart rate.

She holds his gaze with nothing but concern. There are a few reasons she could think of that would require him to keep an eye on his heart rate and aside from being a runner, none of them were good. Checking on the others would definitely happen. Soon. She had to call Daneel and make sure all of them stayed in the house. But right now, she had to check on Bruce.

"Are you okay? Do you feel dizzy? Any pain or numbness?" She's incredibly aware of his background in medicine, but like hell is that going to stop her. She squeezes back, very gently, but enough to let him know she's there for him. "I'm sorry for freaking out. I'm not-- I mean I'm stable. You don't have to worry. It's fine, see? Just... just think of the ocean? Unless it freaks you out, then just-- never mind."

His clear and levelheaded thinking is why his heart rate isn't a concern anymore, but he still feels guilty about running away like that. Should he have stayed and helped? Should he go back and help? Can he trust the other guy? Lydia would probably be okay here, but he doesn't want to leave her alone. Maybe he's not doing his duty; maybe he needs to listen to his gut like in New York.

He's definitely sinking deeper into his mind now, but he tries to come back out for Lydia, smiling at her and squeezing her hand gently.

"I'm fine. It's under control; I was just double checking. Old habit, really." He sighs and rubs a hand over his face, then pinches the bridge of his nose. "Okay. You and me, in a library. We got this." He smiles down at her and squeezes her hand again. He should probably let go of that, but it almost feels like a lifeline.

"Maybe there's something in here about what's going on. Did you see any other books on mythology?"

She doesn't seem entirely convinced, but she makes an attempt a smile anyway. For his sake.

Not wanting to let go just yet either, she carefully wipes at her eyes with her free hand, making sure not to disturb her makeup. Old habits die hard. She shakes her head, sniffing, "There was another Norse-specific text, but it's for children. I don't know how useful that's going to be for anything other than trying to beat some culture into Kobra's brother."

Lydia was surprised to feel another pang of worry. Caring about people wasn't something that just happened overnight, or at all, usually, but she cared. She did. She really cared about these people and the thought of anything happening to them was making her feel sick.

"I have to call Dan." She stands, still holding his hand, and pulls him gently towards the book in question. "You find it, check it out, I'll call him. But I'm staying with you. Do not leave me alone." Her voice gets a little quieter, "... Okay?"

What? That was actually mostly true .

He won't fault her being interested in her appearance now. It's the little things now that will help them cope with what's going on, and that includes flawless eye makeup.

"Hm... Was that still in the library? It might be worth a look. Just in case the answer was in a children's book the whole time and we missed it." His smile is a tad less strained, but it fades when he starts worrying about the others. The people he's closest to here are Avengers, or part of SHIELD, or holding his hand right now. He should check in with them, but he's almost afraid to -- Jesus, when did he become such a coward?

And then Lydia has to go and ask him that. His smile cracks and he nods, adjusting his grip on her hand, lacing their fingers together. It'd odd for him to engage in this much sustained contact, but Lydia is so scared, and Bruce needs to look out for her. He recognizes he's probably compelled by some paternal instinct, but just now, that's.... nice, not to feel alone.

"I won't go anywhere. You call Dan."

Lydia nods in turn and the smile on her face is actually genuine this time. Strained and anxious, but genuine.

With their fingers intertwined like that, she manages to his the buttons on her communicator without actually having to let go of his hand. She calls the most responsible person she knows while leading the way to the children's section.

"Dan? Daneel?! Please be at home." What if he doesn't answer? What if Kobra ran out, likely followed by his brother, and Daneel had to chase after them? What if something terrible happened? Her stomach turns and she's not sure what she'll do if he doesn't answer.

It takes everything she has not to start crying again. Another one of her 'meltdowns' as Jackson liked to call them. This place was going to make her famous for them.

Daneel was at home, as it happened, and to say he was alarmed was putting it mildly. There was no arguing with him, either; Lydia needed him, she was scared and possibly in danger, and the First Law aside, Lydia was his friend and disproportionately important to him.

Everthing in the village seemed a bit... disshevelled. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he suspected that somehow, it was probably worse than wolves. That was... worrying, very much so.

When he burst into the library, he noted Bruce's presence, but Bruce wasn't at the top of Daneel's concerns at the moment. He had other concerns. Instead, he sought out Lydia, and wrapped his arms around her in a gentle embrace the moment he was close enough to do so.

"You're unharmed?" Daneel needed to hear it aloud, though it seemed evident that she was.

As much as she wanted to argue and make him stay at home with the others, she also wanted him with her. Any resistance she had melted away as soon as she saw him. He was turning into something like a security blanket. Whenever things got really bad, Daneel was there to make them okay again. It was starting to become a pattern.

She holds him a lot tighter than he's holding her, but that's okay. She's just so glad that he's here. "Yes. Yes, I'm fine. Bruce got us out of there before anything happened. What about you? What about Kobra?! Was he with you?"

Lydia pulls away just enough to see his face. He looks fine. He's durable, she knows this, but she still worries.

Constantly.

Daneel looked worried. "Kobra was not at home. I'm not sure where he is."

And that was troubling in itself. If something was wrong, if things were seriously dangerous, he wanted everyone safe and accounted for, especially his own people.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," he said, though he wasn't sure at all. It wasn't a lie so much as the sort of meaningless reassurance humans needed sometimes; they certainly told them to each other enough. "If something amiss occurs, I'm sure he'll call for help again. I'm glad Dr. Banner helped you, but what's happening? I'm not clear on what's going on."

He keeps to himself during their reunion, slipping his hand away from Lydia's so he could browse the shelves, looking for the book. No luck yet, not that he thinks the book will look anything like, "See the box. See Loki in the box. Here's why Loki was in the box," though it'd be great if it did.

"The short story is that we let Jack out of the box, and Jack's not very nice. In fact, he's a little murderous and insane." He glances up from the shelves, and his eyes fall on Lydia briefly with some concern; he should keep his sarcasm in check around her when she's still so upset, but Bruce is also upset, and scared, and angry at himself, and if he doesn't vent somehow...

"I wish I could tell you more. I really do."

Murderous and insane. And Kobra wasn't at home. Lydia visibly paled and her eyes widened but she fought to keep her expression unaffected and carefully controlled. Bruce could vent. Lydia was too distracted to react to it.

Any mention of the man being hurt and leaving Mina to deal with it would only make Daneel run back there with little concern for his own safety. Even now, there was a good chance that he'd leave to find Kobra since her safety coupled with the unknown state of Kobra's well being made it more likely that he would be in more danger. Percentages and numbers run through her head and her arms circle more securely around Daneel's middle the more she thinks about it. The stupid laws. He'd be fine as long as they were fine. He'd be in danger as long as people were in danger.

He really was a hero.

"It's blue." She finally says, snapping out of her probability spiral, "With gold writing. The book is blue."

Daneel tightened his grip around Lydia, stroking her hair reassuringly. He wasn't sure if he should be more concerned that he was a source of so much comfort to her; he was only a robot, after all, and he wasn't at all convinced that it wouldn't be harmful to Lydia in the long run to let her be so attached to him.

That was a concern for later, though. Things were more serious than he'd feared. This person, this... Jack, for lack of a better name... would be no doubt seriously psychologically damaged after being trapped in a box. If he were capable of doing the sort of damage he'd seen, well, then he could be very dangerous indeed.

"You're searching for a book?" Daneel guessed. "Something you believe will be helpful?"

"Ah... Maybe." He's starting to wonder if he should leave. Not that he feels useless here, but Lydia has Daneel now, and he seems capable... Maybe Bruce is taking the cowardly way out, staying in here. Or maybe he's doing just what he should do. He keeps going back and forth, and maybe if he does that enough, a janitor will waltz out and lead him to all the right answers.

He gives his head a quick shake. Clearly he isn't in his right mind.

"It might tell us about... what we're dealing with." Or just distract them. That's all he really wanted, something to occupy them a little longer. He plucks the book on the shelf and turns around, holding it up to Lydia.

"This one, right? Do you want the honor of reading it to the class?"

Maybe Daneel should be concerned, because Lydia sees him as a lot more than just a robot. Just like Bruce is more than just some guy who happened to be there in a crisis. She didn't want him to leave just because Daneel was here. She wanted both of them to be safe.

... Actually, she wants quite a few people to be safe. It's starting to concern her. Caring about this many other people is not a thing that happens often. Or ever.

Sometimes the people closest to you can be the ones holding you back the most.

Lydia frowns, furrowing her brow, and reluctantly steps away from Daneel to take the book from Bruce. It's a welcome distraction. She flips through it, skimming the pages, until she finally gets to the part she was looking for.

"Here. Look. They tied him up under a giant snake for killing another god. That would explain why he's so pissed off. You weren't kidding about the murderous thing." She holds up the book to show Bruce and Daneel the text complete with illustration. Gotta love children's literature.

"Then it goes on to talk about Ragnarok and the end of days in a much more kid-friendly way than I would have described it. Basically, this doesn't look good."

"The man in the box is a god?"

Daneel didn't like that, if only because gods were supernatural, and supernatural explanations weren't comfortable for him. Things should be explainable, and supernatural things... weren't. Just because he hadn't yet worked out what Castiel was didn't mean he was going to jump to this explanation for everything, either. One man could strive to bring about an armageddon without being a deity.

But he knew from experience that two robots could stop an armageddon. That was promising, at least.

"How does one trigger the end of days? If we know that, we might be able to stop it."

He slips his glasses on and squints at the picture, leaning forward and then back a little bit until it comes into focus. While he's getting used to the idea of gods existing, he can stomach these ones okay; their origin makes sense, and they aren't really gods, but powerful beings. He can roll with that. What he does have trouble believing in is any kind of end-of-the-world scenario that was pre-destined for some weird religious purpose.

Okay, he just needs to recontextualize. Take what he's always seen as fiction and try to understand the truth, in some way that doesn't make him feel like he's believing in any kind of higher power, because no thanks.

"Not really my area of expertise, but I think it depends on what culture you're asking."

He studies the illustration before stepping back, his eyes hardening.

"After seeing the real deal, this drawing is really lacking." As in, lacking in the smell and the gruesome reality; he looks sick, remembering it, so he presses on.

"Do we really think this is the end of days, though? It seems like a... weird way to go about it. We're pretty small potatoes for an apocalypse-scale attack."

"His name is Loki." She offers Daneel a small smile. Having him know everything they know can only help them in the long rung. He's an asset and this is already serious.

Lydia shakes her head, pressing her lips together as she thinks this through. "It's not. It can't be. Think about it, would it be part of some divine plan for the box to end up here and for us to open it? If we'd have left it alone, it likely would have stayed that way forever." There's a pause as she meets Bruce's gaze, "Or, until the supposed destruction and rebirth of the world?"

They weren't meant to open the box. They'd meddled. It had been too early. Or maybe it had been the right time, but Loki had been pulled from it just like Daneel had been pulled from his time.

And that made Lydia think. A pout formed as she considered possibilities and factors and too many unknowns. An information outpouring was brewing like a storm on the horizon. It wasn't going to be pretty.

"We actually don't even have an accurate way to measure time here, anyway. We don't have a way to properly map the stars. There are guesses based on the vegetation pertaining to location, but the fauna are supposed to be extinct. This might not even be Earth! We might not be anywhere!" She was practically panting when she finished. Deep breaths. It's going to be okay!

"It's like we're caught in some inter-spacial garbage dump."

... Maybe not entirely okay.

Daneel put a hand on Lydia's shoulder, attempting to be reassuring, alarmed by her state of mind. He didn't really know much about mythology and supernaturalism, but what Bruce said made sense. A primitive culture, perhaps, might see a powerful non-human being (or even Daneel himself, perish the thought) as a god.

That made a lot more sense to him than an actual deity, and was almost comforting. He preferred that explanation.

"I suppose the question is, if we are in serious danger now, how we stop it."

"That is a better question than can we stop it." He nods at Daneel, and then Lydia; how do smart people wind up making such ridiculous mistakes as opening up what he now knows isn't that far off from a Pandora's box? Seriously? He takes the book and pages through it, hoping for an answer, anything they might be able to replicate now.

"You're right; it wasn't meant for us to open." He hands the book back and crosses his arms over his chest as he thinks, puzzling through their situation.

"Everything about the situation we find ourselves in now is contrived. We've been put here, just like that box was put here, wherever here is. Our little prison colony is well-guarded. If whoever put us here wanted the end of days, they could have just opened the box themselves. Are they trying to destroy us, or is this false start to Ragnarok contrived, too? I don't think we can expect this to go by the book."

He breaks off, hesitating before he moves on.

"I don't know what that means in terms of what we can hope to accomplish. There are people who could go up against him safely." Logan. Um, himself, as the Hulk. That guilt creeps in again. "Maybe we can count on them."

"Maybe? I don't like putting my life in the hands of someone who we can maybe count on. Who are these people? The agents of SHIELD? Whatever... Mina is. Castiel?"

Because none of them were doing so well last time she checked. Especially Agent Barton.

She didn't mean to get snippy with Bruce. She was just frustrated and a little scared. Okay, a lot scared. Her hand comes up to rest on Daneel's hand on her shoulder.

"Maybe they just wanted to see what we'd do. This entire thing could be a controlled experiment. It's likely they're attempting to control Loki, too."

Was Mina, like Castiel, not human? Daneel filed the information away, not sure what to do with it yet, but remembering it nonetheless.

"It may well be an experiment," he agreed, "with this Loki as much a prisoner as anyone here. Still, even if that's the case, this is a dangerous situation and people may be hurt. We must act, if at all we can."

Bruce was... difficult to read, but Daneel thought he felt a twinge of guilt, and he couldn't account for it, either. "I, too, am curious about who you have in mind, Dr. Banner."

"SHIELD," he confirms, giving a short nod. "Clint is... He suffered a head trauma recently. It's messing with him." He doesn't want to out Logan and he certainly isn't about to out himself, so he'll leave it at that, even if it is so strange to be exhibiting that much faith in SHIELD of all things.

"They've fought Loki before. He's -- He's powerful, and very, very dangerous. They defeated him, and they could again if they had the resources..." He trails off. He's a resource. His hands come together in front of him, and he clenches them tightly.

"I don't know. I don't know what to do." Look, honesty, though more than they realize. He delivers it with the confidence and calmness of someone who is capable of admitting when they fall short, gaze moving between the two of them.

Head trauma. "That explains a lot." Really, she's not surprised. Better he has some sort of an excuse. She'll go easier on him next time.

"Great. So we let them handle it, and the rest of us hang back and stay out of their way." Sounded simple enough. Easy. Safe. No one she was particularly attached to got hurt and Lydia no longer had to worry about anything but what would happen when those agents failed.

But Bruce not knowing...

She takes a hesitant step forward before closing the distance between them and giving Bruce a hug. He'd been there for her and she wanted him to know that she was there for him, too. Confident and calm doesn't necessarily stop him from needing the comfort.

"Dan, is that okay with you? Letting someone else handle it?" She doesn't want to talk about the laws in front of Bruce. As much as she might trust him, that information was Daneel's to share or withhold. Lydia just wants to make sure that this type of inaction won't cause him discomfort.

Daneel considered this for a moment. He didn't like it, but he could see the wisdom in it, too. "If these individuals are equipped to deal with this Loki, and have done so before, perhaps it is better to let them take care of the situation."

He had no desire to be destroyed, after all. He might be strong, but he likely wasn't equipped to deal with any such creature on a physical sense. Could he mentally affect a godlike being? He didn't have much practice at it in general, much less with unfamiliar psychologies. Interesting, but a risk.

Still, he was slightly reluctant. "Yes, I believe that's a wise course of action."

Bruce isn't sure it's okay with him, but then he's pretty new to the idea that the other guy can do good. In Harlem with Blonsky, it'd been pretty obvious that the Hulk was the only one who could take something like that down. In New York, well, the Hulk couldn't really make much worse. Here, though, in such close quarters, it's -- good that he doesn't let him out. Yeah, sure. Good.

He hugs Lydia back, more open about it than he would be on a normal day; today's tense; physical comfort is a necessity. He looks up at Daneel over her head, and he wishes he could explain why he feels so sick, so wrong, but he can't.

"We can hold down the fort here. Keep an eye on things, maybe. If it seems like someone needs medical help..." He trails off, looking toward the doors.

"Of course." She agrees as she pulls away. If they could help someone, they would. But there was nothing they could have done back there. She offers Bruce a reassuring smile before falling back beside Daneel and slipping her hand into his like he'd disappear if she wasn't holding onto him somehow.

Definitely attached.

"Well I guess we should get comfortable. We might be here for a while."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject