، ֓ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄

" I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise , now would I ? loki let the silence hang in the air for a moment , his gaze locking onto tony's with a blatantly challenging glint. " your plans sound repetitive , " he added , throwing his hands up in mock retreat , " I never took / you / to be so . . . predictable . But I suppose that is in your mortal nature . how disappointing . "
            
            @amerirons  ]*

@trickstergcd      ⎊      "  Ah boo,   what even are your plans?   Mine seem much more interesting than what you’re planning in that evil little mind of yours.    Humor meeeeee  "

your alcoholism will not be impeded by my plans. especially when you would drink throughout them regardless. i’m not a robot anthony, you can’t program your illogical arguments in me. 
            
            @amerirons  ] *

Instinctively the doctor stood, he couldn't take those words sitting especially not during withdrawal. He looked Loki dead in the eyes and this time he wouldn't be the first to blink. " Is this because of what I said earlier? I've been feeling sentimental all week ... it has nothing to do with you. " Another lie, at least this one was a little whiter than the previous.  " If this is your honesty I'd rather you lie to me. " whatever makes you stay - he continued mentally a change of heart for the doctor. If it were any other day, any other moment, he would have chosen differently. His work, students, his neighborhood, all would have taken priority over his decaying personal life. 
            
             " Stay for dinner then, " Stephen doubled down, deciding free time belonged to the devil. Regardless of if it changed later, this is how he wanted to spend his. If Stephen was better at keeping things light -- so to speak, Loki would break. Here was the attempt. " Wong loves to showcase his skills to someone with actual tastebuds. He's wasted on me. "

he was right . loki wasn't kind enough but he had been made better . stephen contributed to the spirit of generosity that possessed him .  more importantly , he had to hold the line for both of them . loki had never spared himself an inch of pain throughout his immortal life . always learning his lessons the hardest way possible . he'd spare stephen of that . anyone of that .
            
            In response to the sing-song whisper , loki couldn't do much but sigh , " I'm trying to be . " it was a lot harder than he made it look . Especially with everyone constantly testing him at every turn he made . Every corner he was reminded of who he used to be rather than who he was.  " no stephen . " he tore his hands away and stood up , was it weakness that caused his hand to rest on the other's head once more ? to disturb the last remaining ringlets and linger there .
            
            to be fair it was loki's first few years of being the bigger person . to finally be someone people want . someone people / VALUE / ! why was it always wrong when it came to him ? 
            
            " as much as I love to see you beg I prefer your suffering a smidge more , " a falsified smirk spread across his face, the cost of morality was dishonesty. even as he tried his hardest he couldn't help but find himself in situations where lying was for the betterment . never his betterment but a betterment nonetheless . " besides I have prior arrangements . my visit was for wong . "
            
            @DRMYSTlC  ] *

Stephen scoffed, his dark eyebrows furrowing as she jerked his head back. " Not like that, " he lied, his pride not strong enough to break off the little bit of distance they had left. Looking into Loki's eyes was a transformative experience. For something to be so transparently the window to the soul, Stephen could not find Loki's. However, it always felt as though Loki could pinpoint his with impeccable accuracy. Stephen faltered, glancing down at leather-clad knees and the dark wooden panels between them.
            " I'm an old fool. Stay with me, " Stephen's trembling hands released Loki's wrists and slid up to cover his hands. Out of every god he begged mercy from Loki was the most benevolent. The trickster heard every plea, every inquiry, every request, that was his weakness. 
            
            "Stay --" he cooed again, leaning forward as a hum caught in his throat. The pleasant icy feeling returned against his forehead. "You're not kind enough to deny me."

Stephen stiffened, though his reaction was more internal than external. The familiar lines of his face barely shifted as Loki’s fingers grazed over his cheek, but inside, conflicting thoughts tumbled in disarray. His brow furrowed, his mind scrambling to process the sudden contact, to understand what she was seeing, what had provoked that gasp and caused her to break her usual practiced restraint.
            
            The cold softness of her touch was disarming, entirely unlike the Loki he’d grown accustomed to sparring with—verbally and otherwise. She had always been sharp, with biting remarks and a quick wit, but this…this was something else entirely. Her closeness now was deliberate but uncalculated, unguarded in a way that left him exposed too, in ways he wasn’t prepared for.
            
            Her green eyes, deep and shielded, flickered with an unreadable mixture of emotions and permeated the space between them. Stephen's breath hitched, between the distance he failed to maintain and the addicting pull of her proximity. He could feel her energy shifting, the confusion in her expression—almost like she, too, had been caught off guard by her own actions.
            
            “I—” Stephen started, his voice faltering for the second time. His mind raced to catch up with the events unfolding, but something inside him—deeper than reason, more primal—told him to stay still. His eyes, usually so sharp and calculating, softened under her gaze, like the colors of a spell mid-cast. Was this a part of her plan? He searched her face, looking for the trick, the illusion he was so sure must be behind this moment.
            
            But then he saw it—something real. Something unfeigned in the flicker of her eyes. And that, more than anything, left him stunned.
            
            “What... are you doing, Loki?” His words were slow, deliberate, as if each one had to be carefully coaxed out from a place he rarely visited. 
            
            She was so close now. Too close.

Loki's guarded gaze roamed the lines of his expression differentiating what was an indicator of exhaustion and the subtle murmmer of a happier life. despite her faraway gaze the thin pale fingers fingers tracing over the arcane bookshelves never ceased.
            
             why was she here? 
            
            a singular answer came from somewhere deeper than her psyche. [ excitement ] the voice echoed with disapproval punctuating each repeat. Loki had everything she fought for, mourned for, DIED FOR ... would it ever be enough? why was it not enough?
            
            " what was that ? " loki gasped, now snapped out of her trance she became launched into a more present one. her head tilted, waves of black rolled across her milky back and settled in the air as her busy hand now rested on his cheek. the first gesture that the god hadn't planted within their ongoing conversation. 
            
            the doctor's eyes had gone from a calming blue to a familiar hazel and now it actively melted into something entirely different. existing somewhere in between the two colors the feeling it produced in loki was new. it was magnificent.
            
            before either of them had realized loki settled a narrow inch away from his face, her green eyes jittered as she attempted to decipher what had just happened. The confusion was indistinguishable from excitement. from / change /. 
            
            @DRMYSTlC  ] *

"You're not going anywhere with my literature. Whatever you pick up you read within these four walls."
            
            Their eyes met, holding his a moment longer than necessary, and Stephen found himself uncomfortably warm in his own skin. “I trust you won’t be walking out with anything I’ll regret later?” he asked, keeping his tone firm, but the transition from statement to question was enough for both of them to hear the slight wavering underneath.
            
            Attraction spells were so gaudy Stephen would have sniffed one from a mile away. It ruined the confusing art of true manipulation. Amora, arguably the epitome of beauty, had already tried and the attempt only left a disgruntled doctor disgusted. Simply by existing, Loki was the equivalent of how toxic animals look the most enticing 
            
            For a second—just a second—Stephen wondered if maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t tricking him this time. But then again, wasn’t that the most dangerous game of all? To make him believe she wasn’t playing one?

gimmicks , planned performances , improv , I do it all !! stick around and you might learn something .
            
            @shiftblame ] *

Don’t threaten me with a good time!

take ur meds old man 
            
            @DRMYSTlC  ] *

@trickstergcd / / * * FR <3 i just can’t remember if we actually ever spoke 

* ;  OMG TYSMM FOR REMEMBERING ME !! :,] i love seeing ogs still active 
            
            @shiftblame  ] *

/ / * * hi :v omg i've always loved this acc <3 i remember it from 2k19

@trickstergcd   *   me :)

tch. who wouldn’t need ONE pair of dress pants ?? 
            
            @winterdwell  ] *

@trickstergcd   *   because i don't ever need them.