thecapitol | [Open - post-Arena 12]

Entry tags:

[Open - post-Arena 12]

Who| Loki Laufeyson (MCU) and open to all
What| After Loki's failure in his first arena, he's weighing his options
Where| District 7 suites to start then around the Capitol
When| From the end of Arena 12 and over the next few weeks
Warnings/Notes| References to the violence in the Games

After he was restored from his death in the arena, Loki had been in a much more sombre mood and for a while kept to his room and pondered where he'd gone wrong. He had somehow been out of his depth from the beginning when he'd been seriously injured and it had only gone downhill from there. But now it was over - until the next time - and it was a sort of fresh start.

With that in mind, he ventured out of his room and once again begun his explorations and information gathering around the suites and outside. He could be found in many places: training, wandering around or lounging in the District 7 suite itself where he may appear to be doing nothing much but he was in fact contemplating all of his options and what he should do next.

He was also wondering what exactly had happened to Thor but he couldn't let that bother him right now. He had to trust that Thor could handle whatever came his way. His mind lingered on those he'd had to fight in the arena and he scowled at the memories, especially the final moments. Reflexively he rubbed his throat, frowning to himself.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

It was around mid-day when Ruffnut came stumbling back into the suites. She had two bags with her. One containing junk food and sweets that she had bought at random so she could find out what they tasted like. The other bag had what appeared to be a green jumpsuit with...eyes?

Spotting Loki she tried to do the cool macho thing and nod respectfully in his direction. What she actually did was trip over the rug sending her bags and their contents scattering. The jumpsuit appeared to be a costume of some sort with a dragon's face for a hood.

Ruffnut's face burned as she scrambled to collect the treats. She didn't normally get so embarrassed being clumsy but...well this was a god! And one of the cooler ones!

Loki was brought out of his musings by the commotion and he raised eyebrows at her - not making a move to assist with the fallen goods. He did observe what she had spilled, however.

"Do you need some help?" He questioned mildly, though he still hadn't made a move to rise from his lounging.

She scrambled to collect her spilled loot once more shoveling it into her back so hard the bag starts to rip down once side.

"It's fine, it's fine just...clumsy. It won't hurt the candy just my pride." She babbled trying not to spontaneously combust from embarrassment.

"Do you uh...want any?" She added as an afterthought slowing down her clean up to gesture to the bag. Gods liked offerings right? Did this count? She wasn't a very observant believer even if she was a fan of the stories of Loki and Thor and Odin.

He chuckled in amusement.

"No. You may keep it... Are you going to some sort of costume party?"

He recalled with some distaste a similar party not long after his arrival. It had been an occasion for annoyance - from the silly costume to having a drink thrown on him to being trapped in a closet with Sif and Thor, one after the other.

Having also just lost his first arena - something he took pretty harshly - Dandy was in the training room lifting some heavy weights. His eyes were red as if he had just been crying, not that he'd admit to such a thing.

"What are you looking at?" he said, not actually sure if Loki was looking at him or not, but most of his interactions with other tributes had been somewhat confrontational so far, so he figured he'd start it this time.

"Ah...that." She gathered up the outfit and tried to stuff it hastily into the bag it had slid from.

"Apparently I have...fans..." Her face wouldn't stop blushing anytime soon.

"A couple of them cornered me and gave this to me. They said because I liked dragons so much that I would love it. Weirdos."

But despite how bruskly she had taken the gift and bailed from the situation she was honestly flattered.

"I think I'm supposed to wear them to bed to keep warm?" She added shrugging her narrow boney shoulders.

Loki had merely been scanning the room, his eyes meeting others as he inspected who was training around here - the competition.

He turned his gaze back to the man who spoke, since he'd already moved on - and he took a few steps closer.

"Do you not enjoy being looked at?" There was a mild taunt in his words, catching the other's sharp tone.

"So there are people who wish you to be well and safe. You must be pleased," Loki said, his own voice unreadable.

Maybe he was a little jealous. It didn't seem as if he was so far succeeding very well in anything as yet in this place. The arena had been a disaster for him. His earlier attempts at reeling people in had been met with mockery on the most part. He wasn't feeling all that confident now, but he didn't let that show.

"Only by my adoring audience, not my competition," he said, dropping the weights to the ground with a clang, "You are my competition, aren't you?"

He sized Loki up. At least he looked more formidable than some of the weaklings he'd seen around here.

From the look on her face this was the first time it had dawned on her people were in favor of her well being.

"Huh...yeah I guess you're right. That's weird." Which was as close to being grateful as she could manage.

Having finally collected up all her spilled items she resumed her path to her room coming back out moments later with a handful of the candy popping a piece in her mouth and crunching loudly.

"So what have you been up to?" She imagined the life of a god was infinitely more interesting then her own though not for lack of trying. The Capitol had a way of watering down even the most thrilling of situations. Nothing like the constant tension of the arena.

"Most people in here would be," he said in return. "I am Loki."

Nearby, he found and picked up what at first looked like a set knives but he saw with some amusement that they were far less dangerous, not sharp and made of something other than metal. All the better not to cause bloodshed within these walls, he expected. But they would have to do for training.

He glanced around now to find where they'd placed the targets he'd become familiar with in the display he'd had to give upon entry.

Since the end of the Arena - at least from his end in it - Loki had been distracted by self pity and then the strange events with Thor. It preyed on his mind but again it was something he wasn't about to admit out loud.

"Preparing for the next Arena," was his reply, then adding, "You eat very loudly..."

"Huh? Oh I guess I never noticed." She commented as if he had just remarked on an interesting cloud. She set about unwrapping a piece of chocolate and returning to what she found more interesting then her disgusting lack of manners.

"What does someone like you do to prepare? I mean...without your powers and all." Because how much faster would the arena be over if Loki and Thor could go all out? Honestly Ruffnut kept expecting the arena to be over once she found out the powers were back on because she figured the gods were still alive. She wasn't yet aware that even then the powers were not to their full might.

"That's an odd name. I wish I was named after a god. I'm Dandy," he said, taking a glance at the dulled knives, "I wish they'd give us real knives. It'd be more fun that way. We're not here to butter toast."

It reminded him a little of home. Her manners resembled how Thor or his friends would be. The thought made him at once annoyed and a little sad. He'd never quite fitted into that world.

As to the temporary return of powers, of course the gods were not the only ones with powers and so some had other advantages and it didn't make either himself nor Thor an easy winner. Besides, Thor had been without Mjolnir as far as he was aware. The hammer could have helped a great deal.

Shrugging now, Loki looked nonchalant and confident again.

"I do not need to do all that much. Brushing up on weaponry, mostly."

Loki looked amused.

"If they did then there may be more deaths outside of the arena - and they would lose tributes since from here we do not return," he pointed out.

He regarded the young man for a moment before adding almost casually, "I was not named after a god. I am the god."

"Oh yeah." Ruffnut's eyes lit up at the mention of weapons. “I was down in the training hall today and saw this one lady with a pair of swords? She was slicing up those magic practice dummies so fast I barely saw her move! How do humans even get so fast? It’s not natural.” She laughed and set about unwrapping what looked to be an oversized chocolate egg. She was as ungraceful about it as anything else and was getting chocolate smeared on her fingertips and under her freshly cleaned nails. Somewhere a stylist was crying.

"It'd still be entertaining. And I think most of the people here are pretty replaceable anyways," he said.

"And you're a god, too?" he said, "I mean, I thought I was the only one here."

Not exactly true. He knew Thor was here too, and...well, he himself wasn't a real god, just a megalomaniac.

"You? I have not heard of you," Loki was at once skeptical and amused.

"And there is also my brother Thor, although I am by far the most powerful and important, of course," he added grandly.

"How can you be sure she was human?" He asked, then went on. "So what weapons do you favour yourself?"

Knives were his own weapon of choice but he could do well enough with others, especially a staff. He'd had less experience with swords or blunt weapons, but if he ever got a chance to swing Mjolnir, he would take it.

"She was one of the other mentors who grew up here." Ruffnut explained and paused pondering the question.

"Well if I have to pick I guess a spear, but my favorite weapon is having my dragon explode stuff. If I could make stuff explode I would do it like...all the time." She looked like she was having a fantasy about such destructive power as she popped the chocolate egg into her mouth and chewed. There was an audible crunch and she pulled a face, having been snapped out of her fantasy. Her tongue slithered out of her mouth covered in chocolate with what appeared to be a little plastic figure of one of the tributes. Commander Shepard from District five as it happened.

Picking the figure off her tongue she studied it curiously before pulling her tongue back into her mouth and swallowing the chocolate. "Who would put a toy in a chocolate thing? I might have swallowed this."

Clearly she had not read the wrapping on the chocolate.

Loki wasn't too sure of the purpose of the toy in the egg either.

"Was that inside the food? Perhaps somebody dropped it accidentally when they made it."

Maybe some child had lost it.

"I'm not surprised. It's a bit difficult to be remembered when you're known for bringing death," he said with a shrug, "Everyone who finds you most memorable is dead."

He sighed, oh it's so hard to be him. "Yes, I've met Thor once before. I didn't know he was your brother."

Cautiously as though it might spring to life and run away, Ruffnut set the toy down on a table and drew another foil wrapped egg out of the bag. She unwrapped it with the care one might use when defusing a bomb and held it up to her ear shaking it.

"There's something in this one too."

Biting the top off she peered inside and then held the chocolate out to Loki. A little figure of Thor was smirking up at him. Even in molded plastic his hair was fabulous.

"I knew they made toys and stuff with our faces on it but I wonder how many people just swallow these things on accident."

Not that many because most people who bought those eggs knew there was a toy inside. Ruffnut probably would have known sooner if she ever bothered to read anything.

Loki looked at the tiny Thor figure wryly.

"How terrible it would be to choke on Thor...," he didn't sound impressed. He plucked the toy out of the chocolate and eyed it with a frown.

"May I have this?"

"So you are Dandy, the God of the Dead?" Still disbelieving.

Then his lip curled into a bit of a sneer. His relationship to Thor was complicated, very much a love-hate situation fraught with jealousy and turmoil. He could be gleefully happy that Thor was in danger one minute then concerned for him the next.

Either way, he tried not to show too much fondness for his elder brother here. It wouldn't do for the Capitol to use them against each other any more than they already had in mind to do.

But he wasn't denying the relation. "Yes. Have you heard some other tale?"

Part of her wanted to hold onto it, after all now she'd met Loki so it was all the cooler. But at the same time she'd learned the importance of making sure the gods got their tribute.

"Go for it. I mean, it's you right? So you kinda get dibs." She grinned and popped the chocolate into her mouth.

"How do you think they make such little toys all like...detailed and stuff?" The mysteries of plastic and just what it was capable of were still unknown to Ruffnut despite how much she'd learned so far.

"No doubt they have their ways," he's familiar enough with different sorts of technology that it doesn't surprise him all that much, but he also doesn't always know how everything works.

"Maybe you will find another figure among your food... If you find any of myself or the Lady Sif, would you please tell me?"

He's not sure what he'd do with them all but he would be amused to have them.

"Of course." She agreed already privately planning to keep the next one to herself. She dug around in the bag some more and produced a brightly colored bag of gumdrops that glittered like gems. She tore at the bag with her teeth before popping one in her mouth.

"Who's Lady Sif?" She added as an after thought.

"Correct. I inherited that mantle from another," Dandy says, as if bringing up his spiritual guide serial killer clown friend would make his argument any stronger.

"No, but you might have been from different worlds entirely. This place is confusing."

"Have you not met her? She is also from Asgard. Some call her the Goddess of War...," Loki explained, a little surprised that Ruffnutt did not know of her.

"No, he and I are both of Asgard, however I do know there is another that goes by my name here and appears much younger. He is not from the same world as us," Loki says. He still wasn't quite sure what to make of the other Loki, but he wasn't all that happy about sharing his name and any titles.

Ruffnut's jaw fell open at the explanation "Freyja!? You mean Freyja's here too? How are people not freaking out about this? We've already got you and Thor and now her? What's next is Odin himself gonna pop in for the next arena?!" At this point Ruffnut was never going to be able to convince her brother how many of their deities she'd met on this adventure.

The miscommunication here being that they had finally struck on a piece of Ruffnut's mythology that was different from the world Loki had grown up in.

"That is not the name I know her as," Loki raised an eyebrow at her reaction.

Odin. Hmm... While Loki would rather not see him again, it would be very satisfying to fight him in the Arena. For now, he didn't remark on it.

"I suppose that anybody could be brought in at any time."

"Even dragons." Ruffnut thought fondly of the talking dragon she'd met in the arena. "I hope they mess up and bring my dragons here. They would kick so much butt! Barf and Belch have this great rolling attack, even when they aren't on fire it wrecks EVERYTHING!" She grinned gleefully at the memory.

"Do you think that would even be allowed? Wouldn't they think that it would give you an unfair advantage?" He may be teasing her a little. "Or they may have to kill you... or you them, if they are counted as separate tributes."

A look of announce at the suggestion that they would give her an advantage was replaced by horror, and then disappointment as he finished pointing out all the flaws in her idea. She clapped a hand to her face in the universal expression of exasperation.

"Yeah...that's a terrible idea. Cancel that hope. Keep my dragons where they belong." She groaned.

"Tuffnut probably needs them more then I do anyway."

"Is that your brother?" Just going by the name, he's assuming.

"It maybe unwise to wish for anyone that you care about to turn up here." He would hate to see his mother here, even worse that he may be forced to hurt her. It wasn't so bad with Thor. They had had enough fights to the almost death in the past that right now it just seemed like play, in some ways. Especially when the threat of death wasn't quite so permanent.

At least that's what he told himself.

"Yeah, twin brother. He's like me but less awesome." She explained and she could practically see the expression on his face if he heard her say that.

She looked uncharacteristically pensive for a moment and then nodded "I already had two of my tribe here and now their gone. They weren't even from my time they were from the future or something. And they told me about stuff I have to try and prevent if I ever make it back home." Turning her gaze back to him she continued "But some other people told me you can't change time like that so...what do I do right?" She shrugged. It was already a long shot that she'd even make it home in the first place let alone convince the tribe to be concerned about something in the future.

"I think for now you need only concern yourself with the present. We have enough to deal with here instead of worrying about the future in our own realms."

It may sound wise but it didn't really concern him - as far as he was aware he was already dead back on Svartalfheim. He had no future so he may as well make the best of what he could here.

"Yeah...yeah maybe you're right." She couldn't do anything about it right? She wasn't there yet. So nothing that was gonna happen yet could change and nothing that had already happened could change.

"Yeah, you're smart so you're probably right. Gotta be like...alive. Here. Not there or...then...when?" She's confused herself again.

"Of course I am right," Loki answered with a grin. "I think you should stop trying to worry about it all too much. Now if you will excuse me...," he looked at the little Thor figure once more and smirked. "Again, if you find more of these... bring them to me."

And he began to walk away.

She smiled back with a little more confidence. He was right. What good was worrying doing her? It's not like thinking was her best skill anyway. And overthinking things? Pointless.

As he took his leave she hesitated for a moment and called after him.

"Thank you uh...sir!"

Which was the most respectful thing Ruffnut had said to anyone since...well meeting Thor.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[Open - post-Arena 12]

D7

no subject

no subject

no subject

The Training Room

no subject

The Training Room

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

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject