OPEN. CHAOS AT REST.

[selfimage]

CHARACTERS: Loki & Open
DATE: Catch-all for February through the end of Chantes
WARNINGS: Got a little racy. Fans self.
SUMMARY: Scheming, waiting, terrible puns, and bad ideas. This green menace will enable poor choices.


CHANTES. CHAOS AT REST.

[ there's not much to "pack and wrap", so he spends his last couple days in Chantes doing his own unique brand of follow up. it's quiet, like a still has fallen on the city, and Loki finds himself unsettled by the result. he was a creature of chaos, and once the calm set in, he felt as if everything was unfinished and they were leaving prematurely. then again, Loki never wanted to get himself too far involved with the worlds that they stopped at. that was easier now that Thor had gone. dismantling the runes was as much help as Chantes and ALASTAIR were going to get from him.

there are a few places he can be found: at some of the establishments that remain open despite the wreckage, watering the thirsty, wandering unhelpfully through the rubble, picking at the debris and collecting anything of interest, or trying to get one last selfie outside of the statue of Odette.

they never did figure out what happened to the queen, did they? ]


NOTE | This is completely & utterly open. If you want a starter, you can contact me or send a PM! For now xoxox.

Comments

[dailydouble]

[ There's quite a lot that bothers Ahad about the conclusion to this mission, but that they never solved the murder of the queen is certainly part of it. A small part of it, however.

The larger issue is that the absences he had barely paid attention to before had suddenly become relevant. Glee was gone; off on another mission for their nominal employers. He knew she was well, but attempts to track her resulted in nothing, and ALASTAIR was no help at all. Leaving with her had not been a option, but even joining her later seemed an option ALASTAIR wouldn't provide easily.

He could survive without Glee, but it was...difficult. Painful. Participating in the clean up was something that couldn't hold his interest. Instead, he spent his time drinking, in whatever establishments were left. Even if those establishments were nothing more than tents or bonfires held under the stars.

If anyone has noted his absence (or Glee's), he can easily be found drinking in dark corners and ignoring the crowds. ]

[selfimage]

[ it's after the third day without seeing him that Loki begins to grow suspicious. it's not difficult to track him once he puts his mind to it, weaving through debris and fallen stones to find the bonfire and the nook that he's moping around.

of course, anyone can see Loki coming a mile away if he doesn't hide himself. there's the bright green jacket and scale mail, coupled with the ostentatious jingle of the useless buckles on a tacky fur-lined jacket. during his swagger over, his fingers find the neck of a bottle before he heads over to join him. no matter how off-putting Ahad seems to be, Loki doesn't at all seem to be discouraged. ]

You'll need more than that.

[ it seems that he'll need the power of not being easily discouraged for this conversation. ]

[dailydouble]

[ Ahah notices his approach, of course, but does not acknowledge him. It's only when Loki sits with him and speaks that he responds, no longer able to pretend he was alone. ]

I have what I need.

[ It's not precisely encouraging, but not completely discouraging either. ]

[selfimage]

[ a dark nail clinks against the glass of the bottle.

ah, was he like this a few weeks ago? touche, universe. ]

I'd not argue, but you seem like you could use some ... hm—company, perhaps. I've not seen you for days, you can hide off forever.

[dailydouble]

[ The last thing he wants is company. It's what he tells himself, even if it isn't true. Even if he craves connection, after the loss of someone he loves.

But Ahad has never made anything easy for himself, and he tends toward apathy more often than not. As a defense mechanism, it works well enough. What he doesn't want to do at the moment is feel. ]

I don't care what you do, but I make for poor company.

action-kind of i thought of the perfect prompt

[humerous]

[Loki takes his selfie.

And.

He's been photobombed; Sans is there in the photograph, but actually looking around reveals he's nowhere to be seen.

~spooky~]

[anti_altruisms]

[ It is quiet.

Though Archer is largely preoccupied with the welfare of his Master, he does take the time to get some fresh air. He does not wander far, but he does pick through some of the rubble. It brings a very real sense of déjà vu, the impression that he's seen sights like these many times before, and of course, he has. The details are no longer clear, but he knows. It's one of many things he finds frustrating, but he dwells on it less than others.

Brushing his fingers every so often against dilapidated structures that still remain standing, Archer leaves a little of his power behind with those that may prove salvageable. He can't perform miracles, but he can strengthen the structures themselves.

His path eventually takes him to the status of Odette, and he blinks once when he sees Loki attempting take a selfie. He quirks a brow, and after a moment, he walks over. ]

A little old for that, aren't you?

[ A tiny bit sarcastic, perhaps, but it lacks a more negative edge. He might actually be teasing. ]

[selfimage]

Well, that's never stopped me before.

[ true, Loki had found the best and worst times to be annoying. he was awful at showing his concern, covering his sincerity with japes and pokes. ]

Nor has it stopped you, for that matter.

[ the bottle tips and he reminds him, gently, of when Ahad came to be company when Loki's mood was foul. ]

[selfimage]

[ there's a huff of an exasperated sigh as he examines the result. he twists the phone in his hand for another, using the camera to take a glance behind him.

but he really looks like a diva. ]

[humerous]

[Surprise, he's standing in front of Loki this time. Clearly no more tricks are to be played.]

Alright, alright, I had my fun. Go for it.

[selfimage]

You're only as old as you feel. [ Loki replies in an easy tenor; the playfulness overshadows the barb. ] How old would that make you?

[ the camera turns and clicks and his attention is turned back to Archer. ] Hypothetically. [ he adds, so there's no literal mishaps.

there were a few things that he could do to remember the details indiscreetly, and one of them was easy to cover up with a camera in his hand. he spent his time halfsies between trolling and not, and it was almost impossible to tell when the whims would change. ]

[anti_altruisms]

[ Ah, well. Archer scoffs softly at that -- not quite a laugh, but close. He can take a joke, even if it's at his own expense. ]

Old enough.

[ How specific. ]

My joints don't creak yet.

[dailydouble]

What do you want?

[ It's uncharacteristically blunt, but Ahad isn't in the mood to play. The words that follow come out more even-tempered, but the intent behind them is the same. He's not very welcoming today. ]

You owe me nothing, especially not for that.

[selfimage]

[ no, not very welcoming at all. (even considering what Ahad deems "welcoming.") ]

Considering the current state of affairs coupled with the whole "I haven't seen you in three days," you can call it concern.

[ Loki tips the base of the bottle against Ahad's knee. ]

[selfimage]

I'm not really feeling it anymore.

[ he says, like it's a shame for Sans. ]

Don't you have better things to be doing than ruining someone else's photo ops?

[selfimage]

Yet.

[ fingers flicker as he briefly reviews his barrage of selfies before tucking his phone back into the depths of his jacket. ]

Enjoying a bit of scenery before we head off into our next world-defining mission?

[ his voice says it all, still a sarcastic, and just a touch bitter. at the end of the day, he's still a chaos god. ]

[anti_altruisms]

The scenery...? Perhaps.

[ Archer will be surprised to remember anything about this place, honestly, when all is said and done. As many times as he's been summoned, as many times as he's cleaned up humanity's messes, he recalls very little of it. It's like having a room full of bookshelves jammed with an endless number of books you've read once before, except you couldn't tell anyone anything about it except maybe the title and front page.

In any case, the sarcasm doesn't go unnoticed. ]

Does it bother you that much?

[ God of chaos notwithstanding, Archer is an agent of order. He may be sick of it and despise it, he may hate himself for locking himself into such a role for all eternity, but even so, he understands the purpose of it. He also doesn't see anything remotely wrong with the actions he's taken, and in that, perhaps, they are fundamentally different. ]

[selfimage]

[ for Loki it's different.

he remembers the stories within stories; the details that weave together something greater. it's like watching a mountain through the fog, sometimes clear, other times something else entirely. history was never so straightforward, nor would the beginning and end of Chantes, which would come, eventually. it just depended on which way they pushed the domino.

the memories may be mixed up, and the myth that of who told it, but it was always about details. ]

I never really take well to being told what to do. It seems awfully—mm ... constraining.

[dailydouble]

Three days is nothing to us.

[ He is scoffing a bit, but doesn't address the concern part. He's not in the mood to share, and resents the implication that he should.

Nor does he want anything from Loki, ignoring the bottle he insists on tapping against him. ]

[selfimage]

Nothing, and everything.

[ that's said with a bit more weight than playfulness, then he brings the rejected bottle to his mouth and drinks. ]

Or enough, sometimes—all the difference, perhaps? I do wonder about gods and time. When you have a lot of it, it can always be considered for debt.

[ if he wants Ahad to share, he makes no motion to push it further. there's not much urgency that comes with his presence, just slight concern that he's trying hard not to lead him, and a little bit of anxiousness that comes with the peace post-chaos. ]

[humerous]

Not really. I'm just killing time until we leave.

[He gives a shrug, looking around at the scenery...or lack thereof, at least. They really did a number on this place.

As nice as it'd be to give it more time to help out, they're just being dragged around by these ALASTAIR guys, so there's no point in fighting it.]

We're leaving no matter what, right? Just a few days and it'll all be over...and that's not enough time to do much more.

Soooo, that considered, there's really no point in doing anything useful.

[anti_altruisms]

[ To each their own, he supposes.

Archer sees no vast conspiracy, nor is it his nature to look beyond what is readily apparent. Humans are quite adept at creating messes all their own, and having cleaned them up on countless occasions, he can only see things in such a straight-forward manner.

Threats to the general welfare should and must be eliminated. The few must be sacrificed for the sake of the many.

As one who once strove for true salvation, for a way to save everyone, this is all he can do. ]

History repeats itself. New generations often make the sames mistakes their forebears did because human memory is short, at best.

[ Or at least, such has been his experience. ]

Is there anything about this world and its problems that truly stuck you as unique or uncommon?

[whereismypie]

[ Dean isn't exactly at a point where he would actively seek Ahad out, but there's no denying that he's a ... presence Dean's grown accustomed to. what can he say, he kinda likes the guy, as weird as he is.

at first, Dean doesn't think anything of Ahad's absence when comes the time to clean up after the latest shitshow (demons, friggin' demons, he totally knew it you guys).

but as days go by, he starts to wonder — dare i say, to worry, even?

he'll actually be quite glad to find Ahad drinking in a dark corner, ignoring crowds. doesn't stop Dean from going right up to him and standing in front of him, one eyebrow raised.

think of him as a displeased mother hen. ]

Okay. So who shat in your Lucky Charms.

[dailydouble]

[ He's silent for a moment, staring out in his unblinking way...

Until he stands, brushing off his clothing. The alcohol he was drinking is suddenly gone, as it it never existed at all. It's easy to infer that he doesn't intend to stay. ]

I find myself in no mood to discuss time.

[dailydouble]

[ He'll take another sip of his drink, not looking at Dean so much as staring past him. At first it may seem like he doesn't plan to acknowledge the man at all.

He does refocus after a few moments, raising an eyebrow at Dean. ]

What do you want?

[ He's not usually this blunt, when talking around a subject will do. ]