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[dothelokimotion]

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[dothelokimotion]

[ a low hum. ]

Maybe not a tiger — [ because he can sense that would unnerve william. ] — but I am a shape-shifter. If there is a shape you wish to see, it is not a hardship.

[thirtythird]

What should I wish to see but you at your most comfortable, darling?

[dothelokimotion]

[ william probably didn't mean for that to be thought-provoking but loki pauses over it all the time. when is he at his most comfortable? loki is a chameleon boy, always shifting in some way to suit the situation.

when is he truly himself? like this? or as a jotun? what is he most comfortable with?

finally, loki puts it aside. he'll have to think about it later. ]

Then I shall be myself.

[thirtythird]

[Always interesting to see where the edges he didn't (couldn't?) understand were. Always interesting to wonder what Loki was wondering in any given moment of quiet.]

Good. [A shift, from holding hands to holding arms, snug and comfortable, as he gently tugs them toward his-- well. Old room.] Whatever it means in a moment, hm?

[dothelokimotion]

[ he smiles. ]

It does vary from moment to moment.

[thirtythird]

Then I hope you'll always be as you best wish to be, love.

[If only here. If only in the comfort of this unconditional acceptance and devotion.

And maybe, if they're lucky, beyond that.]

[dothelokimotion]

[ always is such a long time. but loki merely hums, not willing to be pessimistic in view of such a statement. ]

One can hope.

[thirtythird]

I always do--and look where it's got me.

[There's no hiding the absolute delight he feels about being exactly here. Stolen from his reality isn't ideal, but married to someone he loves beyond reason and about to settle into something akin to a little home of their own?

He's over the moon.]

[dothelokimotion]

[ loki thinks he's netted far more than william has in this. but that's really his self-esteem talking. ]

Perhaps it'll go far.

[ further than loki realized before. ]

[thirtythird]

Farther than an unknown corner of the universe?

[dothelokimotion]

[ a small huff. ]

The universe is vast.

[thirtythird]

All the luckier to have found you, then.

[dothelokimotion]

[ lucky . . . perhaps there is a sort of luck to it. loki fell through time and space and all he remembered was the emptiness. ]

Yes. That seems to be the right word for it.

[thirtythird]

It certainly is for me. [A tight squeeze of fingers.] We'll see if it remains so for you once I've stolen all the blankets one too many nights.

[dothelokimotion]

[ that elicits a brief peal of laughter, unrestrained. ]

I'll keep a look out.

[thirtythird]

[The joy that rushes through him at that briefly stops his own breath.

Lucky. Completely lucky.]

You laugh now. [And hopefully forever.] But the danger is all too real.

[dothelokimotion]

[ loki rolls his shoulders idly. ]

I've faced worse troubles.

[thirtythird]

True. [Just recently, even, but that doesn't bear mentioning as he drifts to a pause outside the room that's no longer going to be his.] But new ones are a bit exciting, surely.

[dothelokimotion]

Are they?

[ he sounds curious rather than mocking. ]

[thirtythird]

They're opportunities.

[A kiss for his husband's fingers before he lets himself into the room to gather the few belongings he considers his own.]

To examine oneself, if nothing else.

[dothelokimotion]

[ loki steps in politely, surveying the room. ]

Perception is key, I suppose.

[thirtythird]

When everything's gone pear-shaped, it's all we have, isn't it?

[There isn't much to collect, of course--some clothes to be pulled neatly together, a few bits and bobs from the planets they've visited. The real prize that needs moving is his ship in a bottle, held close to his chest as he checks the nooks and crannies.]

[dothelokimotion]

[ it hits loki in a sensitive place and his eyes flicker down. always s perceptive, his mother had said once, about everyone but yourself. ]

So it seems.

[thirtythird]

[Something shifts, although not so much as to dislodge William's easy smile.]

I've found, at any rate. You're far cleverer than I. [A soft laugh, largely at himself.] Half the useful skills I have come from losing limbs or being under constant fire.

[dothelokimotion]

[ loki looks like he wants to protest but it dies on his lips. his melancholia, it seems, cannot be banished so quickly, though he tries. tries and dies. what he's best at. ]

They are yours. So they have . . . meaning.