Video; Sleep Deprivation

[ragnarsson]

[The video shows Ivar looking a little rumpled, the look of someone who has been trying to sleep and can't. He's cleaning out grime from under his fingernails with one of his knives as he speaks and it occasionally flashes into view.

Oddly enough, he's smiling, his eyes just a little too bright. It's not a happy smile. When Ivar gets angry, sometimes, he smiles in a way that says he's going to rip your throat out with his teeth if you get too close. His tone sounds oddly cheerful as he speaks.]

To whoever is making that horrible racket that's keeping me awake, you have two options. Stop it. [Then his voice goes dark and furious.] Or I'll stop it. Trust me when I say my way will be a lot more unpleasant. [He never stops smiling even as he turns off the video.]

Comments

[dothelokimotion]

And they won't, most likely. They'll keep you here for as long as "they" are entertained by it.

[ After all, this is just a giant rat cage for people to gaze down and watch them scurry. He's been in enough cages to know. ]

[ragnarsson]

You think that's why they brought us here? Rather than their explanation it was just pure happenstance?

[Ivar doesn't particularly care why. Frankly, life's been a lot easier since coming here. He doesn't have to fight for everything here like he did back home.]

[dothelokimotion]

That would be my reasoning. But I doubt it is a shared one.

[ Most people would be more than pleased with a happier, safer world, away from their own troubles. Sadly, Loki hoards his troubles and grievances. He doesn't share. ]

[ragnarsson]

You make it sound like you're just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

[Ivar cynically figures it was only a matter of time. Nothing in his life ever lasted forever. Anytime something good happened to him, it lasted only for so long before being ripped away again.]

[dothelokimotion]

[ He chuckles. ]

It is my nature to doubt and question. I'm not named for my idleness and a love for peace.

[ragnarsson]

That's a good thing. This place could use someone here who doesn't just accept things the way they are.

[dothelokimotion]

Are there so many that way?

[ It wouldn't surprise him, but it still seems odd so many would take this at face value. ]

[ragnarsson]

I haven't met many who have thought otherwise.

[As for Ivar, he coped by thinking of the situation as being a purely temporary one. He wasn't going to be denied his fate back home.]

[dothelokimotion]

[ Hm. An improvement, he supposes. ]

Let us hope it stays that way.

[ragnarsson]

If they find a way to send us back, will you take it?

[Ivar will in a heartbeat. Much as he's grown close to some people here, he's too cold-hearted to let the war on England and its kings continue on without him there to fight.]

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki visibly hesitates. Yes, the answer comes to him easily. But Thor was here. Abandoning Thor on Midgard was one thing. Thor had friends. A lover. A life outside of Loki. It eased the guilt of his lie. Leaving him here though . . . even though some of Thor's Midgard friends remained. Could he do that?

Did he want to?

Yes, the insidious beat of his heart says. No, says another. ]

It depends on the hand that gives it to me.

[ragnarsson]

[There's a long beat while he waits for Loki to answer. It seems like hesitation, though Ivar can't place why that would be. Who is he to know the inner workings of a god?]

I will, no matter what it takes.

[In one way, they are very much alike. Ivar can't abandon his brothers, the only family he has left. They need him, for not one of them has the strategic mind he does. Without him there, he fears to think what that will mean for their campaign.]

[dothelokimotion]

[ His lips twitch in faint amusement. ]

Then we shall see it done.