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[dothelokimotion]

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[thirtythird]

[As with so many things, it helps and hurts to hear, all in the same tangled sensation.]

Will it get easier?

[dothelokimotion]

Ah. Which part?

[thirtythird]

Knowing the value of your own life.

[dothelokimotion]

[ loki vacillates between a lie and the truth. the lie would go down easier and it may turn into truth later. while the truth is unkind to loki. it always has been. ]

It should. It is simply taking a great deal of unlearning on my part.

[thirtythird]

I know.

[Which takes time. Which takes chipping away at.]

I wish there were-- more to do. To help.

[dothelokimotion]

[ loki inhales sharply. ]

You do plenty. What makes you think you have not?

[thirtythird]

Human nature, I suppose.

[dothelokimotion]

[ briefly, he wonders if william seems him as damaged goods. porcelain that needs fixing all the time.

it doesn't make loki sound very attractive. ]

I see. Rest assured, it is not as bad as Thor makes it out to be.

[thirtythird]

It isn't...

[He's made half his career of this--will make his entire career of it if they're ever returned to their own place and time (less 'home,' these days, and more 'back there'). It's odd, how difficult it is all the same to pin down about himself.]

When you're all healed up, darling, and-- when you're entirely contented, I'll still wish there were more to do. I want to... do for you.

[dothelokimotion]

[ his breath hitches unintentionally. plans of a future. it makes him shiver. ]

What — What would you like to do?

[thirtythird]

[His laugh, at least, is his own. The exhaustion is properly receding now, leaving a sense of himself properly intact.]

Only mad, useless things, darling. There's so little you couldn't do for yourself twice as well and with half the effort.

[dothelokimotion]

[ william might hear the shake and swish of loki's hair. ]

No. I want to know. I want to hear it all.

Please.

[thirtythird]

I...

[This is what he can do. This is what he can actually give. The discomfort of untangling honest pieces of himself has already been survived and will be again.]

--can I come see you?

[Loki should be resting. (William should be resting.) It's just that it's not the same this way.]

[dothelokimotion]

[ laughter, like bells. ]

My brother isn't around. I won't tell him if you won't.

[thirtythird]

Our little secret, mo chridhe.

[The fumbled rush of static that comes with a kiss blown through the communicators before he hangs up. William is infinitely better than he'd been even a day before, but focusing on putting one leg before the other still feels important.

Less important is what bubbles to his lips when he does, finally, find his way to where Loki's restin.] --I had a dream the other day that I'd bought you a house.

[dothelokimotion]

[ loki is still heavily bandaged around his torso and leg. his eyes widen, surprised and intrigued at the same time. a house. he could taste the future on his lips. he reaches out to brush his fingertips over the curve of william's jaw. ]

What would it look like?

[thirtythird]

[Very natural to lean against that light touch. Also quite natural to sit carefully in the presence of the injured while looking as casual as ever; a subtle but well-practiced skill.]

Oh-- nothing less than a proper manor house, love. [It's a foolish fantasy, but it makes him smile to ponder.] We'd have a little summer cottage up north, but-- a real house most of the year. With tall ceilings and lovely staircases.

[dothelokimotion]

[ loki tilts his head at william curiously. ]

Is it normal to have two houses?

[thirtythird]

One is more-- average. [Admittedly.] But there's not much better to spend a fortune on.

[No need to get into how many palaces existed, surely. That got a bit dizzying.]

Quite nice, if you can manage it.

[dothelokimotion]

It shouldn't be too hard.

[ says the prince. ]

I've never thought about it before. Having a place of my own.

[thirtythird]

[There's a proper smile for that, despite the softness of his laugh.]

Of your own? Will I only be allowed in one of the houses?

[dothelokimotion]

Oh. Yes, of course. My apologies.

[thirtythird]

It might be the secret to a happy marriage, having our own houses.

[They've been doing well with their own spaces--and he could certainly imagine his mother would have preferred a house without his father in it from time to time.]

It is quite nice, really. Having a space all your own.

[dothelokimotion]

I had my own rooms, of course, but after . . . [ his brow furrows. ] . . . after I left, I didn't have anywhere else to go.

And settling down seemed too dangerous when I was being hunted.

[thirtythird]

[Logical, but based upon an unpleasant premise. There's a practiced thoughtlessness to reaching to tangle their fingers together.]

Something to explore, then.