OPEN POST.

[fili]

THIS POST IS CLOSED.
FOR NEW PROMPTS AND THREADS, THIS IS THE WAY TO GO.

Comments

for reliablelies

[hyperkinesia]

[ He's not even sure where he ends up at first. By the time he comes to as himself on the Quinjet, he's a good few hundred miles from where he started, and he actually has to figure out where to go from there - where to hide, this time around. He's been to a myriad of places, and he knows that it might not be so easy to go by unnoticed in some of them, so he picks somewhere really new, while not being entirely disconnected from everything. Some small country in Southern Europe, he decides, since he's never stayed there long. Picking a quaint little town helps too, where governmental presence isn't as strong, and SHIELD might not reach him quite as easily.

Not that he thinks they'd try to force him to go back. He hopes they know better than to do that. Bruce needs this, needs time on his own, and being away from everything and everyone. And after all that's happened, he realizes that the Avengers - his friends - and the world as a whole might just be better off without him around. He's just a danger, a liability, a bomb waiting to go off at the slightest nudge.

He tried to do good, after all. And where did that get him, exactly?

It takes him a day or so to get settled, finding some small place to stay at. He's managed to gather some money by selling certain nondescript and harmless items on the Quinjet, which will serve him well enough for now. He'll think about getting some kind of job just to get by soon enough.

After a decent shower and new, clean clothes, he feels almost like himself again. Almost, but just enough that he decides to venture outside for a walk. The cobbled streets are wide and clean, mostly empty save for the occasional person or small bike going past him, and he makes his way down the length of it, headed towards the ocean shore for a breath of fresh air. Not that this place is exactly lacking in that aspect, mind. ]

[reliablelies]

[After successfully faking his death on Svartalfheim a year or so back, Loki did not choose to return to Asgard, tempting though the proposition was at the time. Instead he took advantage of the convergence between realms to sneak his way back to Midgard right under Thor's nose, weak from the wound he'd taken but strong enough to shield himself from detection as he found a place to hide.

It didn't take enormous knowledge of Midgard to realize remaining in the United Kingdom was probably unwise if he wished to keep a low profile. After he healed well enough to travel safely, Loki conducted a fair amount of research and ultimately settled on a small country in the southern part of Europe. Thanks to the All-Speak the differing languages posed no problem, and a little illusion here and there bought him the proper clothes to fit in and eventually a small home near the shore.

The little kingdom was quiet and peaceful.

Loki didn't like it.

He passed the days agonizing over every decision he'd made over the past few years, over his mother's death and his father's harsh condemnations. The only real break came when the Avengers fought a new foe called 'Ultron,' but even that was over far too soon. Admittedly, he did heave a sigh of relief with everyone else when the group of heroes managed to avert a potential planet-wide apocalyptic event. That wouldn't have done anyone any good.

Soon after the excitement faded and Loki return to his new routine- working at the local bookstore until lunchtime, and then strolling toward the nearby cafe for a bite to eat. Although he's since cut his hair a few inches and wears it loosely around his face rather than carefully slicked back, the sorcerer hasn't bothered to change much else about his appearance. Why bother when almost no mortals outside of a few in SHIELD had ever seen him?

Well, it turned out he would have his answer eventually when he noticed Bruce Banner walking down the street in the cafe's direction. So startled he dropped the ceramic cup in his hand, shattering it on the street and earning a few jumps and gasps from others nearby. What in the Nine Realms was he doing here?]

[hyperkinesia]

[ Bruce had learned to expect the unexpected over the years, at least to some degree. Ultron gaining an identity of his own and going berserk on the entirety of the human race was just the most recent of the reminders - and that was if Natasha shoving him down a cliff didn't serve as a bitter reminder that some people he was jut better off not trusting.

Still, there were things that even not he expected. When he was walking down that wide street in that quiet little town, seeing Loki just sitting there and drinking a cup of coffee was definitely one of those things. Of course, the thought that it might just be an eerie lookalike crossed his mind, but it vanished just as quickly as it came, when he saw the look on Loki's face, and heard the cup shatter on the floor.

He knew what had supposedly happened to Loki. All the Avengers did, Thor told them. And yet, against all logic, there he was, very much alive and well, and on Earth apparently? Did he really think this was the place to choose to hide away?

Bruce stood there for a while, not knowing what to do. He could just turn around and walk away, but that would mean leaving Loki to carry on with his life - and possibly whatever insane plan he might have yet again. On the other hand, it wasn't as if Bruce was part of the Avengers anymore, and he didn't want to get in touch with them and warn them about Loki either, thus revealing his own location.

In the end, his feet moved of their own accord, as he resumed his walk at a much quicker pace, doing a beeline right towards Loki, stopping right next to the table. Not close enough that neither could reach out and grab the other, but hopefully close enough that he was applying some kind of mental pressure on the God. ]

Sorry, but... I was under the impression you were supposed to be dead?