VIDEO. UN: LOKI

[selfimage]

[ the sound of the wind storm hollows dully against the cave walls. Loki's squidge, Bacon, can half be seen crawling in the confines of his tacky green jacket and over his knee from where he sits, sometimes ducking and squeaking when a particularly large gust hits. to keep it from screaming, Loki offers his fingers absently, which the little squidge pulls on with its pudgy arms before ducking low again. ]

Hello there, it seems like we'll be waiting this out for some time considering the weather-type circumstances. While we're all rotting away, etcetera etcetera, I thought we could amuse ourselves with a game. A little bit of team bonding funtimes, so to say. [ he twists a dark nailed hand in the air, gesturing. ]

Soo—oo ... it's called Two Truths and a Lie. How do you play? Glad you asked, it's simple! Give two true statements about yourself and add a lie to the mix, shake it up then toss it out there and see if your team members know you well enough to spot the lie.

Usually this is done with copious amounts of alcohol, but we're lacking at the moment. [ pause. ] But—ah—you could always enjoy the satisfaction of being right. It's not like we're doing much else.

NOTE | Feel free to threadjack if that's your thing!! :****

Comments

[winces]

[ she nods, and waits for a moment for him to take a seat. if he does, she'll begin shortly, shifting a bit in her own seat. if he doesn't, she'll simply glance away in embarrassment, shift then, and then begin. ]

A couple of years ago, I was performing for a nobleman along the border between East and West Ferox. My whole troupe was. It had been a nice night, at first. Everyone was enjoying our performances... I actually got to go up on stage twice. Once with a group to sing, and another to dance alone. It was during my dance that the nobleman, um...

[ she looks down at her hands, balled up over her lap. ]

Well — he decided I would be his. He was going to have his men kidnap me so he could marry me — [ hastily, she adds, in case he gets worked up about it: ] but the Kahn of West Ferox had stepped in before anything could happen! S-So... it all worked out.

[headlining]

[He takes a seat on a nearby outcropping, sweeping his coat behind him as he does. Joyce shifts away, though his attention is still on the rock he found earlier.]

[Keats is a good listener. It's a part of his trade - it would hardly do for him to be distracted while someone is telling a story he needs to report. But even so, he finds it hard to remain impartial when she nears the end of her tale. Instantly, he sits up more straight, his brows furrowing together in an obviously displeased expression.]

Goodness. [He says, with a scoff, like he can't believe what he just heard.] To think there's scum like that out there...

[He folds his arms, his expression stern as ever.] What happened to him? Did he get arrested? Punished for the crime he was going to commit?

[winces]

[ her smile is both sad and strained. ]

I'm not really sure... Kahn Basilio never told me what happened to him, just that he had been, um. Taken care of. [ given the sort of man basilio was, there were really only a small number of ways that could have been interpreted.

but olivia didn't really like to think of anyone suffering on her account. ]

There, um. There is also something else I wanted to speak to you about... If you don't mind hanging around for another few minutes?

[headlining]

Good.

[And that's all he says. Good. He's not the type to get revenge on anyone, he finds it petty, but there's still a sense of satisfaction he gets from thinking that the man who tried to force her to marry her was dealt what he deserved.]

Oh? That's fine, it's not like I'm going anywhere, really. [He says, gesturing to the outside of the cave, the storm howling like a crazed wolf.] What's going on?

[winces]

[ she doesn't really know how to say it, only that she knows she must. though it goes against her very nature of not wishing to harm anyone, she knows that the news has to come from her... and no one else.

keats deserves at least that much. ]

I, um. [ she looks down at her hands, finds them bunched over her knees and fidgeting. she forces them to still, making her knuckles turn white. ]

I'm with someone.. now. I-It happened kind of suddenly, and unexpectedly, and — [ no, he doesn't need to hear the details of it, does he ] — a-and I just wanted you to know. From me. I-I wanted you to know that it, it has no bearing on how much I care about you, that it's not a matter of choosing one over the other, th-that it's really just — how things go, sometimes.

A-And I'll understand if you — you need some time, or-or don't even want to see me anymore — I just. I thought you should know. I thought I should tell you.

[ i'm sorry, she almost says, but that would be a disservice to both men, wouldn't it? ]

[headlining]

[Oh.]

[He opens his mouth, then shuts it. He really just allows himself to let that sink in, doing his best not to react right away, and after a moment he just lets out a short sigh, shrugging as if to say "well, that's how it is".]

Olivia, I'm not going to just up and leave, if that's what you think. [Of course he's disappointed. Of course he's upset. But it's just a dull ache he can ignore for now. He's not going to throw a fit over it. He's an adult, after all.] You don't need to apologize. The heart wants what the heart wants, and I'm hardly the last person who'll blame you for something like that.

[Another pause. He interlaces his fingers, glancing down at Joyce, who is still having fun with his rock.]

I'm glad you told me. [A beat.] He does treat you well, I'd hope? You don't deserve anything less.

[winces]

[ his silence seems to last a lifetime, even moreso because she is certain she had died at least once in that span of time. when he finally speaks, her eyes cannot help but flick towards him, wide-eyed and hopeful, because he does not sound mad, or too terribly sad. just — a bit resigned. which is a different kind of sadness altogether, but.

she bobs her head, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically, perhaps too desperate to give him something good in all of this. ]

He does. [ moreso than she personally feels she deserves, but that is also another matter entirely. ]

I wish—

[ she cuts herself off suddenly. i wish things had been different, she almost said. i wish i didn't have to hurt you. i wish i had given my heart more time to grow to want you in return.

such words, no matter how true they are, would only be cruel to say. and she has been unkind enough, she thinks.

again, she looks away. but this time it is mostly to spare him the sight of her tears. ]

You... were one of my first dear friends that I've made here, since falling through that rift, Mr. Keats. I don't know if I can ever properly say how much you mean to me.

[ and how happy she is that he would not leave her over this, either. ]

[headlining]

That's good.

[Things could've been different. He could've not tripped up. He could've not been so hasty to assume, to think, to push her away in sudden worry that she would never return his feelings. It's too late, now. There's always the chance that it wouldn't work out between her and her new suitor, but...]

I'm happy for you, Olivia.

[And even though he's not really smiling, there's a sense of sincerity in that phrase. He does want her to be happy. That's all that matters, isn't it?]

[Her last statement makes him shake his head slightly, his gaze still a little turned away from her face.]

I haven't been as good to you as I should've been. That's on me. [He smiles, though it's a reluctant one.] But thanks. That's...that's nice to hear.

[winces]

[ she quiets at that, as if humbled by his honesty and sincerity. she sniffles a little, though thankfully no tears have yet to spill from her eyes. ]

...perhaps neither of us have.

[ she wonders, sometimes, how things might have gone. if only she'd followed after him, that day on the beach. if only she hadn't been so caught up in her own sorrow, and her own heartbreak at the time.

if only she'd been a better friend... would she have perhaps been able to be a better partner?

but such thoughts are meaningless now, and more an attempt to soothe her own aching heart than fix anything between them. to dwell on what-could-have-beens isn't fair to achilles, and it isn't fair to keats. ]

...Let's promise to be better.

[ finally, she looks back to him. offers him a faint smile, and a lifted hand. pinky out. ]

What do you say?

[headlining]

...

[It feels a little bit like holding a handful of sand - it's too easy to let it all slip out if you're not careful. And it's slipped out. Ah, how stupid he was.]

[He looks up at her finally, meeting her gaze through the thick glass of his glasses. It's easy to tell himself to just move on, but it's much harder to try to do so. But maybe this is a step in the right direction.]

[Keats lets out a slight laugh at the offered pinky.]

I think I can promise that. [And he reaches out his own hand with his own pinky outstretched, and gives her a little tug of a handshake.]

Let's do it.

[winces]

[ it isn't much. olivia is only too aware that kind gestures can only do so much, and some things will take more time and patience in healing. there are some things too, she knows, that she will personally not be able to help. and while she is slowly coming to terms with it, the knowledge that this hurt is one she cannot soothe will still always weigh heavily on her mind.

she smiles at him, lets their hands linger for a moment longer, and then breaks away herself. ]

We'll be okay, Mr. Keats. I have a good feeling about it.

[ it isn't much. but she hopes it might be enough. ]