epidemiology | CLOSED.

[ a side glance, a barely there roll of his eyes. otherwise he does not rise to the bait. ]

This way.

[ the ground slopes upward. loose stones litter the path, making the ascent more treacherous. but they don't travel up long. an opening yawns before them, perhaps carved by the earth itself, perhaps by one of the creatures calling the land home. anakin heads inside.

he has to duck his head to avoid hitting it on the low ceiling. the smell of earth and trapped and dampness fills his nostrils. the first obstacle comes up soon. the ceiling caved, slabs of stones of varying size blocking their way. in the dimly lit interior, his lightsaber flashes to life. two cuts, a push, the stones fall back. anakin picks his way through. ]

Careful. Floor starts sloping here.

[ the light of the sizzling blade paints the area around him faintly blue. ]

[ there goes some perfectly good bathroom humor.

Loki's boots glow dimly with green, walking on top of the sand instead of sinking into a trail of footprints. being a sneaky good-for-nothing, he'd rather not leave traces. if someone decided to track them, they'd be in for a surprise.

the irony isn't lost on him that they walk straight into the mouth of some stone beast. ominous, and pleasing all at once. it may be the ominous part that's pleasing.

there's a whisper as Loki leaves a spell at the mouth, just in case they need to make a hasty getaway. the two of them scream trouble, and he knows that they'll run into something eventually, good or bad luck depending.

ducking comically, Loki lets out an exaggerated sigh. ]

Don't want to see me slide comically down to the cavern's bottom? You may be heading in the direction of gentleman.

If you trip, you'll insist I carry you.

[ js.

the tunnel they follow is rough-hewn, bears more consequences of the earthquakes the further they plunge into the earth. anakin frowns when something catches in his hair. his fingers pull away the sticky remnants of a web. ]

Great.

[ heat of the lightsaber slices through the other threads. they slip away from them, waving slowly against the wall as they continue past. ]

If you think that you can carry me, I may insist you do it now.

[ it comes out more like a flirty coo than it does another barb, one intended more to annoy than to be taken seriously. Loki's still in good spirits, even after the little ew, gross at the gooey web that Anakin's caught in. ]

On second thought, I demand that you shampoo, rinse and repeat before you do.

[ without much help, Loki follows after him, avoiding the stickiness where necessary. for a moment he stops, glancing behind them as Anakin moves forward. in a hushed voice he repeats something he's heard, if only in vibration: ]

Click, click, click ...

[ he wonders if is how Samwise Gamgee feels. ]

Edited 2016-11-27 17:38 (UTC)

[ who is samwise and why was he wise? ]

I could. I might, however, be tempted to drop you down the next hole we find if you don't stop clicking. [ also js.

they're not alone, but when have they been? between the sandworms at their feet and the spiders and lizards populating the hills. they ran the risk of being discovered sooner or later. anakin only hopes they can discover something too.

they come upon a fork, which is less a fork than the collapse of one wall opening another path. one begins to arch up gradually. the other veers to the left, and sharply away from the blue glow of his lightsaber. ]

[ who is anakin and why is he kin, ok. ]

There is a whole lot of it going on, we could blend in a bit better. We're currently ducks of the sitting variety.

[ because as-is, they were both two powerhouse of sore thumbs. something was bound to notice them sooner or later. ]

Do you think that we'll find skeletons of former ALASTAIR members in this cave? That would be awfully traumatizing.

[ he looks around Anakin at the forks, neither caring nor afraid. ]

I'd be more traumatized by making this trip for nothing. I'm sick of doing nothing except wasting my time!

[ the outburst echoes back to them, slowly diminishing until the only word that registers is time. then that too fades into a too loud, dense silence.

not looking loki's way, anakin inhales sharply through his nose. he can feel the shattered edges of his self-control slipping through his fingers. yet anakin clings to them all the tighter. he's a jedi. he's a jedi.

peace eludes him. ]

[ Loki knew more about Anakin than Anakin knew about him. for the most part, he could compartmentalize it: people should be free to write their own stories, and their own futures by their own methods without the hovering weight of expectation. there are moments where reality connects, and the ideas touch and grate against one another. the idea of what Anakin was, and what Anakin actually was. it's a raw, uncomfortable moment for Loki, lost in Anakin's annoyance. ]

Don't like my company?

[ in contrast to the rough words, Loki's come out smooth and easy. not peaceful, but controlled to a point of casual exchange. ]

[ the assumption is so ludicrous, so discordant as a response, anakin's head lifts. he frowns at loki, torn between irritation and bemusement, yet both are preferable. understandable. ]

That's not the point. It has nothing to do with you. I need this mission to be over, I need to see my — [ the word lodges itself in his throat: son anakin looks away. ]

[ Anakin pauses and then Loki does too, as if he's letting him finish the thought. ]

Your—?

[ please, go on. ]

[ anakin does not seem to hear him. the lightsaber dips, blade pointed at the ground. the line of his shoulders has turned down. through parted lips, he finally manages to speak, but it does not seem in answer to loki. the words lift like so many desperate bubbles. the pressure has been building; they seek an escape. ]

Months ago…I dreamt of a woman I know. Someone I haven't seen in over a year. She was pregnant. [ is pregnant, will be pregnant. his dreams give him pictures, not estimates. that particular image remains fixed in his mind, etched into his memory with the care of a sculptor meaning to defy time itself.

padmé had never looked more beautiful than she did then: framed in yellow sunlight, dressed in blue linen, the dark curls left loose around her face, her belly pushing gently against the front of her gown. ]

I don't dream like others do. My dreams…they all tend to come true. A few weeks later, I met him. The son she will have. He doesn't know of her. He never met her. The only one he knew of was his father, a man he never met either. Even then, all he knew was the name…and that he had been a Jedi.

[ anakin raises his head. his face is cast into shadow. but even in the cool light provided by the plasma blade anakin looks as he feels: lost. ]

My son was transferred to a different team. I can't lose him. I won't lose his mother, and I won't lose him.

[ something happens when someone becomes aware of the multiverse: the world that was once a straight line becomes a shape with sides. time, the factor in urgency and restriction, gets dismissed. what was closed is now open, and where there's possibility there's new expectations. Loki had never felt normal barriers because possibility was in the equation of divinity, because divinity was made of story, and stories were always written with a purpose in mind.

for mortals it was different. ]

You mean to find him again. [ or a version of him, which may mount Anakin's disappointment. ] To change something that had happened.

[ of course, this is somewhat expected, and where it whispers of its usefulness he also finds himself in the same precarious position. ]

The past, or the future? Perhaps they're the same, if there's anything this roadtrip through the timeline has taught us. ALASTAIR may have objections to your ambitions. [ a pause. ] Do you have a plan?

[ he knows he doesn't, but he asks anyway. ]

[ yes, he does. he means to find luke again if only because he cannot tolerate the separation. to have had a piece of his family he never knew, then to have it taken away. to have had padmé's child and allowed him to slip away. padmé may have forgiven him, but anakin cannot.

the rest will eventually fall into place. the what is simple. he will return home. he will protect his wife from whatever threat they face. he will burn a thousand times if he must, but padmé will know their son…and luke will know his mother. it's the hows that yet elude him, but he will find a way.

nothing will stand in his way.

the first step, at least, is obvious. ]

I'm leaving Audentes.

[ it's not as if Loki didn't get the same urge, but ]

That's not exactly a plan.

[ that's a thing that's happening. ]

Let me rephrase: do you have a plan for your plan?

I asked for a transfer.

[ anakin faces loki steadily, almost defiantly. ]

I'm going to find Luke. I need to know he's well first. I need to know he's safe.

Edited 2016-12-12 01:21 (UTC)

[ this is what it feels like when you run head-first into a wall.

Loki lets out a soft sigh. ]

Are they allowing this? They seem to have a fairly tight hold on transfers.

[ it brings up a sting, and perhaps he puts that a little more harshly than he means to. Luke hadn't been the only person that was transferred. Thor had been, as well. sometimes the thoughts and memories come rushing back from when he had first arrived, when Thor was here and they were something of a team.

nothing lasts like that.

he still tells himself it's better this way. ]

They are. As soon as this mission ends. [ or lloyd said they'd discuss it and anakin read into it what anakin will read into it.

anakin tilts his head up. there's nothing to see: only the flickering of shadows across the low ceiling. the darkness lingers just outside the lightsaber's circle of light. like a prowling beast waiting to swallow them. anakin swallows past the thickness in his throat. ]

I don't know what will happen after. I know there's a chance we're not from the same timeline. [ his eyes find loki again, and this time there's something akin to a plea in them. not for loki. he doesn't imagine there's a single person in this team who can give him what he wants. ( he does not know what it is that he wants. ) only — ] I can't accept that was the only time I would have with him.

[ damn, Anakin.

there's a sincerity in his voice that almost stops his heart, bringing a rush of a sudden ache for Thor. it comes sometimes, haunting him around corners and bleeding into inconvenient moments. like this one.

it takes a moment to refocus again, not to get lost in the hollowness that comes with the loss of family. ]

More or less, or a universe close to yours. [ he steps half around him, moving with the shadows. ] Don't linger too long, we are at the center of the multiverse—the connection to all the timelines—there's always opportunity here.

[ he says it in such a way that would make anything sound enticing.

for him, it is. ]

[ anakin frowns after him. no mention of his foolishness. no suggestion that he would be better off letting luke go. only the reminder of the importance of the timeline. what it could do for them: for him, for his wife, for loki and whatever is his end plan.

the tense line of anakin's shoulders eases without something to brace against. his frown eases too. something in him no longer feels as tightly wound. the dragon, for once, is quiet.

the force, isn't. ]

…I have a bad feeling. [ a second later, the warning becomes clearer. ] Something's coming.

I know you mean that when you say that.

[ they were both in the same boat, and Loki knew more of it than he would ever let on. it was satisfying knowing the middle of a story, but he also wanted to know where Anakin would take this, what he would become, if he could change it.

an ending carved with a quill was more than a death sentence.

maybe he liked him too much for that. ]

At least we found something.

[ there's the click click click! again as Loki steps beside him with casual ease. where he was once weaponless, he now holds a bright golden blade hung loosely between his fingers.

a guttural shriek comes from above, and when Loki looks up he hisses out an ew, gross! as the shadows move like parasites beneath the skin. ]

We're gonna get covered in spider guts, aren't we?

[ he debates how much he'll like Anakin after this. ]

[ an arched eyebrow; a delicately pointed, ] "We?"

[ don't think he won't use you as human-looking shield against spider guts. ( he won't use loki as a human-looking shield against spider guts. )

( okay, maybe a little. )

the lightsaber turns in a tight arc, the sound mingling with the furious clicking. anakin takes a step forward so he stands shoulder to shoulder with loki. half a step's turn, they are almost back to back. his eyes fall briefly on the blade. ]

Should I even ask where you were hiding that?

[ oh, don't try that Anakin, he'll punk you with teleportation, don't think he won't. ]

I'll lie, most likely. Somewhere inappropriate is all you really need to know.

[ Loki falls into place easily, twisting the sword on his wrist until it's upright. it gleams, even when light is scarce, like it's sucking whatever's left of it from dim chamber.

the swarm skitters above them in chaos, and Loki raises a brow as hundreds rowed eyes fix on them, watching for an opening. there's enough intelligence there to make him a bit anxious. suddenly something dawns on him, and instead of moving to strike, he grabs the corner of Anakin's poncho. with a yank and a little help from the sword it comes off suddenly. ]

Please tell me you're wearing something beneath this! Or not, I suppose.

[ and in all of a few seconds it's tossed up in the air, and the spiders refocus and attack the poor, poor poncho. it never had a chance. ]

Hey! What —

[ did loki really just.

did he really just.

wordless and poncho-less, anakin can only watch the spiders swarm the poncho ( goodbye, sweet poncho. ) he has enough sense in him recognize to an opening for what it is. he has already begun to back away.

but his poncho

ლ(ಠ益ಠლ ]

You couldn't throw your jacket?!

[ he's not unclothed. a tunic clings to his back. anakin's concern is that in the time it takes them to get back to town it might not stay there. ]

[ the useless buckles on his jacket jingle in silent triumph. ]

My jacket isn't a shapeless burlap sack!

[ it's also woven with shadowthread from Svartalfheim, and he's not about to go on any quest again to replicate it. so, the poncho it was.

there's no apology on his face as he bolts after Anakin while the spiders are occupied. as they begin to look up and the sounds of thousands of skittering legs come after them, Loki starts to weave various illusions to keep them from getting too close. it works.

kinda.

there are always those few that can sniff out a sneak. ]

Damn the Norns!

[ if by "the norns" loki means himself, then, yes, anakin agrees. if he means the spiders, still agree, though not as vehemently.

anakin turns. the force seizes loki around the waist in an immediate and irresistible tug forward. he's thrown past anakin and further up the tunnel, away from the spiders.

the not so gentle landing may be indicative anakin is still feeling the loss of the poncho. ]

Keep going! [ anakin yells after him. he stands his ground long enough to swipe upward viciously at the closest spider. it screeches in pain. one of the chelicerae, a leg and half of another drop to the ground. it backs away, stumbling into the one behind it. the others have no compassion for it. anakin doesn’t stay to see what becomes of it.

with a boost from the force, anakin charges the last feet to the distant opening. he bursts out into the cold night air after loki. he skids a little down the slope, but anakin keeps his balance and faces the opening — in case any decide to follow them out. ]

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