there is something, wherever you haven't looked

[thelostprince]

This door was interesting.

Instead of leading to another place in the hotel, he found himself somewhere altogether different. For a moment, Loki wondered if this was going to be another form of being stranded - that he was hopping from one universe to the next, cutting himself further and further away from the world he knew, and making his way back would be a long and arduous journey. This did occur to him. He shut the door behind him anyway, and did not bother to open it again.

He stood outside of what looked to be a storefront. Like everything else he had come across lately it was Midgardian in its smallness and style, yet that was the only thing boring about it. The world he looked upon was grey and dim, and there was that sound, near silent but pressing in on the ears, of falling snow. Of course, it wasn't snow, and had been the first thing to tug at his curiosity.

Stepping out from under the overhang, he held out his hand, which looked startlingly pale in the light, and touched the ash that landed in his palm. He smeared it slightly. It wasn't volcanic, he didn't think. While the world was cool and dim he could feel a heat burning, though he wasn't sure where from.

"I think I like this place," he decided aloud. Loki did not feel alone, instead sensed that there was someone in his blind spot, hovering. Wherever he did not look he was missing a secret, a hidden danger, and that alone thrilled him. Caution be damned; he was tired of it. He set off, leaving bootprints in the ash.

Comments

[almightythor]

Thor did not like the look of this place at all but keeping track of his brother was more important than his own comfort, especially considering he wasn't entirely sure what Loki was capable of within the Nexus. He had followed for a little while but, as he was not comfortable with stealth, soon made his presence known.

"I do not like the look of it at all, brother, but I am not shocked you'd like it."

[thelostprince]

Was that unknown presence he sensed simply his brother? No, he didn't think it was that.

"Really?" he asked. Voices sounded different here, too, as if their words hung awkwardly in the air, unsure of where to go. "It's unknown. Isn't that what you always craved, whenever we went adventuring together? Wasn't it danger that quickened your blood?" And wasn't it danger that, at one time, had turned Loki always into the voice of caution between them? To think that there had been a role reversal somewhere, though, was laughable to him.

[almightythor]

"Yes, but there is a chill on this place that I don't like." It wasn't the temperature, exactly, but more a feeling that settled in his marrow and made him feel like something foul was waiting for its chance to attack.

"Do you sense it too?"

[thelostprince]

If he were to be stuck here, he would be stuck with Thor too, wouldn't he? Though he had missed his brother dearly, despite their falling out, their situation of late had not fully endeared Thor to him. Suddenly the thought of not being able to escape his brother again made Loki irritated. It was difficult, trying to find that balance between being accepted and being left alone.

He gave Thor a smile full of teeth, his inner thoughts shielded by bravado. "Yes," he said. "Don't tell me you're afraid, brother."

[almightythor]

"Hardly. Just concerned for the welfare of those behind in the hotel."

He had seen the damage a dimensional portal could do and while he did not know how the doors worked, exactly, he did not want a threat to escape and bring harm to a peaceful place. Especially not with Jane there.

[thelostprince]

"Really?" Loki asked, surprised. He scrutinized his brother for a moment more, then lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "I guess you have changed," he said, lightly, though it was really a remark to himself.

He turned away. "The door is shut," he said, continuing on into the flurry of ash. "But you may stand guard and watch it, if it pleases you. Or you may accompany me, brother. I intend to get to know this place."

[almightythor]

"Knowing this place is preferable to staying behind but how do we know that nothing can get through?" His concern was, and always would be, Jane Foster.

"I do not want something unleashed, even by accident."

[thelostprince]

Loki stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn around. Mostly he was surprised, unpleasantly so, and for a moment he wasn't sure why. Then he realized that never, would it ever, have been a question of allowing one of them to go off on their own. If Loki had ever watched Thor set off purposefully in one direction, he would have been duty bound to follow regardless of anything else - and Thor would have been expected to act the same. But there Loki stood alone, and Thor still hovered by the door.

"Whatever is able to open that door and make it to the other side," he said, turning on his heel to survey his brother. "Do they not have the right to go? Who are you to act as gatekeeper and judge? I came to that place, as did you, through a door. We both could be dangers to everyone there, yet we entered nonetheless."

[almightythor]

"I do not intend to wreak havoc on the people of this place," Thor said, face twisting into a scowl. "My recent experience with dimensional portals tells me that most things do not have a human's best interests at heart."

[thelostprince]

"I highly doubt that hotel is populated only by humans," Loki said. What was this sudden love for them? He'd never minded them much, personally, but Thor was exhibiting a disturbing adoration for them as a whole.

He crossed his arms over his chest in what was distinctly a sulky, princely gesture, though he was definitely playing it up for effect. "Am I to go on alone, then?" he asked.

[almightythor]

"No, but those people are deserving of our protection," Thor argued. "And I will go with you so I can ensure nothing comes back through. I will not have Jane or the others in harm's way."

Because, ultimately, it came down to protecting Jane Foster even if this was no longer Midgard.

[thelostprince]

"If that's the only reason you wish to come with me, then you can stay," Loki said, coolly. He turned and began walking away again, into the ash, angry with himself for being so displeased by Thor's actions. Thor had always been selfish, but Loki would never have imagined a time when his brother would not have gone through hells and back for him. And now instead of walking side by side with Loki into a place that could be full of danger, Thor's reasoning was that he had to tag along to protect someone else.

[almightythor]

"Really, brother? This is how it's going to be?"

Thor had changed considerably from how he'd been growing up and it seemed that Loki had too, for good or for ill.

[thelostprince]

"Yes," Loki said, flippantly. If Thor didn't care about Loki, well, so be it; besides, Loki was done with any of his tricks that might make his brother do whatever he wanted him to do. He didn't need Thor anymore, he supposed. His brother had probably had a similar epiphany, somewhere down the road.

"I'd much rather go talk to something with real bite, anyway." Though it would be just his luck if this place held nothing but ghosts.

[almightythor]

"Fine," Thor bit out, spurred on by anger.

"I will go with you but we will turn back if there is something that might threaten the others back in the hotel. Or, rather, I will turn back and you can choose whether or not you wish to follow."

[thelostprince]

He could hear the slight change in his brother's tone, telling him that he'd hit a nerve somewhere. That pleased him somewhat.

"Of course, brother," he replied, not bothering to look back over his shoulder at Thor. "Everything you say has, and always will, be the course of the day, will it not?"

He stopped and squinted into the distance, which had become somewhat more blurred than before. Was it a trick of the ash, or were there shapes moving towards them? He couldn't tell, and strained his ears, but all he could hear were his brother's footsteps.

[almightythor]

"What do you suspect lives in such a dismal place?" This at least, was asked in a tone that was more curious than stubborn or distrusting. Thor had little experience with worlds other than the nine realms of his own universe and what experience he did have was overshadowed by the thrill of victory. He had never been good at exploration alone.

[thelostprince]

"Could be nothing," Loki observed. "Does this place not feel strange to you? As if it isn't really here?" Something about his surroundings prickled at his skin, making him even more curious while someone else might have felt fear or trepidation. Little could scare him after his fall from the bridge.

"I feel we are walking on top of something, rather than within."

[almightythor]

"I agree. It chills me. Not...like you do," Thor quickly amended. This felt different from Jotunheim and different from anything else he'd ever felt.

"I don't like it."

[thelostprince]

"Not like me?" He asked, elegantly raising an eyebrow in inquiry. "What does that mean?"

He couldn't tell, sometimes, if his brother was insulting him or was simply inarticulate. It made conversation difficult.

[almightythor]

"You, at least, are something I can marginally expect. Frost giants make sense and this doesn't," Thor said, flashing a quick half smile at his brother.

"No offense meant, I assure you."

[thelostprince]

Loki made a sound in his throat that could have been dismissive or annoyed, and looked away. But mostly, though, he still wasn't sure how to feel about any reminder that he had not, and never had been, considered a true member of the family. At least by Odin.

He squinted at the distance, certain now that something was moving - but rather, it was not a set of shapes in the fog, but the very world that seemed to be shifting, flaking away. Bits and pieces seemed to by flaking off from the ground and buildings, revealing a darker, burnt surface behind. He tensed automatically, and took one step back, watching as it came towards them but not about the retreat just yet.

[almightythor]

"What do you think caused that? The mists themselves?" Thor had never seen such but then again, there was no sense in closing his mind off to the possibility. Just because he hadn't seen it did not mean it couldn't exist and he had learned many lessons the hard way by ignoring that.

"If so, we shouldn't get too close. It might affect us too."

[thelostprince]

It felt odd to Loki, but not in a bad way, necessarily. He gave his brother a look, wondering what it must be like to not see and sense the world as he himself did. They had some similarities between them, but for the most part they were very different men.

"I don't think so," he said. He had a feeling that something was drawing aside a curtain, peeling back a layer of this world. Now that his brother suggested caution, Loki found himself striding rather purposefully towards it.

[almightythor]

"We are tougher than average," Thor agreed. The last thing he wanted was for his brother to think he was afraid and while caution wasn't the same as fear, sometimes they looked the same.

"I'll follow your lead, then."

[thelostprince]

He supposed he could always count on his brother to succumb to competitive brashness. At least that meant that when Loki strode forwards, he didn't do it alone.

He braced himself, but nothing hit. Instead when he stopped in his tracks he found himself now in a very different world, dark and savage and with none of the calm, soothing fog that had been there previously. In that moment he could sense real danger, and it delighted him.