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*
At the embassy, Thor turns a corner into his room, but…he walks right into a forest. When he turns to look behind him, there's no door. The leaves are large and lush, dense as well, everything about the place would remind the eldest brother of Alfheim. The time of day is mid-afternoon, but there's a moisture hanging in the air still, here, underneath this thick cover.
*
Thor turns in place in confused alarm at the presence of the trees around him. The dense foliage fills the area, flooding his senses with the scent of trees, water, and deep loam.
He completes a full circle, alarm giving way to irritation at his sudden displacement. The burly God of Thunder scowls heavily and surveys the area, sensing some magic niggling against the nape of his neck at whatever power shifted him from Midgard to this sunny vale.
"Ho! Who dares meddle with the God of Thunder?" he calls, his voice a booming disturbance to the soft sounds of the animals of Alfheim.
*
A few birds crap themselves at the sudden yelling and go flying off in a flurry of flapping. There is another sound as well, though, that of something very large in the undergrowth, and before he can bellow again, a serpentine head pulls itself into Thor's view. There are green wings. Long body. Claws. Teeth. You know…dragon. It smiles, "God of Thunnnndderrrr…? Did you not sssssteaaallll an axe from meeee?"
*
"An axe?" Thor eyes the dragon, clearly not remotely frightened. "You're a big one. I've seen bigger," he says, folding his arms across his chest.
"If you know who I am, then you know I have little use for axe or blade," Thor informs the giant lizard. "I am Thor, God of Thunder, and I carry only the hammer Mjolnir as a weapon. Now, state thy name and intention, beast," he orders the dragon. "Lest my patience wear thinner than it already stands."
*
The dragon pounces forwards until he is quite close, green and glimmering. Sibilant, it pulls its neck higher, and hisses, "But you do not have your weapon /now/…" He…did? Doesn't? There's something fishy going on, even Thor can tell that. Maybe this is all not what it seems! This dragon definitely wants a piece of Thor and in another flash, it attacks with a swipe of its claw.
*
Thor grins at the dragon and sticks his hand out, fingers open. He needs not call for his hammer. He must merely /wish/ for Mjolnir, and that magical weapon will respond to his demands.
It would not matter if the hammer were miles or dimensions apart— nothing can stand between Thor and his enchanted weapon.
Mjolnir leaps to Thor's grasp, crackling with the power of a God, and Thor swings it in a short, snapping arc at the talon lashing towards him.
*
The Dragon's claw snaps sideways, and then the dragon's maw opens and snaps like its trying to get a bite of those big arms of his. The tail flails and there's a vicious, feral snarl that curls from him. Thor's in for a fun battle…a stupid, fun, battle. An exercise. A trial. An annoyance that allllmost feels like a gift, at the same time. SURPRISE DRAGON FIGHT!! RAWRRRRRRR
*
Weirdly, it's not the first time a monster's tried to eat Thor. He grabs one of the massive, toothy fangs with his left hand, and as the dragon tries to swallow him whole he braces his foot against the dragon's gumline on the lower jaw.
Dragon gingivitus. Not fun.
Holding his breath, Thor swings his hammer with several fast, firm blows, aiming to shatter teeth and break bones.
Sensing an impending blast of fire aimed at clearing the obstruction, Thor flings his hammer away and clings to the grip, just in time to get a firsthand view of the burning fires in the belly of the beast.
*
There's a spurt of flame, true, but the dragon goes toppling through a few trees. There's an un-dragon-like groan. Leaves shudder in the breeze, then flicker in an un-leaf-like manner…along with the rest of the land of elves, until the illusion drops and reveals that Thor's managed to mess up his room pretty good. Loki's across the room, crushed into a clothing wardrobe, and one of the supports on Thor's bed is broken sideways. A trail of cracked wood. There's another crack and Loki pulls himself out of the wardrobe and falls over. "I think you broke my finger…" His helmet, incidentally, has a bent horn as well. He laughs with half amusement, half pain.
*
Thor blinks in confusion, turning several circles as the woods fade away to reveal a thoroughly destroyed room. Confused befuddlement is writ large on his features, but it's not until he hears Loki's wheezing, smug laugh that realization dawns on him.
"I… illusions— the dragon—?!"
"LOKI!" Thor bellows, loud enough to shake the rafters.
*
"Surpriiiise!" Loki chuckles again and pulls his helm off. "Ohhhh…the dwarf-smiths are going to be upset at this." He tosses it on the bed and pulls himself up to standing. Bit wobbly. Thor hits hard. "I thought you could use a little exercise, before you get fat."
*
Thor casually tosses his hammer at Loki. It whips between Loki's knees, pinning the hem of his cloak against the wall behind him.
"Aye the dwarves will be most displeased," Thor agrees, amicably. "Their craftsmanship is hard won and difficult to damage. I hope it costs you more than a tendays wages to have it fixed."
*
Loki is trapped by his cloak to the wall, but he doesn't seem too worried about what Thor's going to do to him. "It will cost me something…actually, now that I think about it…" Loki makes a wincing face as his memory crawls backwards in time, trying to think of when the last time he saw the dwarves was. "Do you have any idea if I ever resolved that issue of stealing those chains? If My other self never did that…I suppose they will not be friendly. I may need your help."
*
"You have a peculiar way of approaching me for aid, brother," Thor tells Loki, folding his brawny arms across his chest. "Most would lead with a friendly greeting, or compliment. Not an illusion of a dragon and destruction of property," he points out.
*
"I didn't need your help before. I need it now that my helm is bent." Loki grins crookedly. "Or do you want the Dwarves to imprison me? Then you'll have to come rescue me." Loki turns to the side and eyes his pinned cloak, and gives it a tug. THe fabric of his cloak is strong, so it doesn't tear, but it obviously doesn't come loose, either. "I show my affection with gifts of quickened pulse and excitement, brother. I know what you like." He cocks his head and squints his green eyes. "Maybe I should have done it outside."
*
"Aye, mayhaps," Thor grunts. He reaches a hand to the hammer and it leaps across the room to his gasp, and is set carefully in its place atop the relatively unscathed mantle of the firepit.
"If it is excitement you crave, then let us attend the hunt or venture after some elusive, loathsome adversary. To be ambushed by a dragon while on my way to my bedchamber is not the sort of thrill I cherish," he remarks, ruefully.
*
Loki folds his arms over his own chest and then makes a sudden gasping sound when the hammer goes whooshing by him. "Oh-ah-ha…careful with that, brother." His eyes are wide for a moment, then he sweeps in Thor's direction. "Ohhhh, where is your humor? Do not tlel me that Amora has sucked it all out…"
*
Thor grunts at Loki, but leaves that entire unspoken conversation to the side.
"My sense of humor is well intact, brother," he assures Loki. "But have a care in the future with thy illusions. 'twould be a most uncomofrtable conversation with Mother if I returned home with your broken body in my arms, and the best explanation I can offer is 'He startled me'," he says, wryly.
*
Loki smiles at that one and slithererd around to the other side of his defensive brother, like he's pecking away at the man's anger from every angle until he gets a smile out of the man. "Ohhh…I would not let myself get so harmed in that way. Why…I could have let you fight your own bed if I wished. Do not fear for my safety. I need the battle too, you know. And for so long, I have had none of it. You know what happens when I get /bored/."
*
Thor grunts, and eyes Loki as the shorter fellow slips into his view again. "Pray, what do you wish, Loki?" he inquires, his mood growing irritated by Loki's nattering. ""Now that you've conspired to destroy my apartment and interrupt my evening. Or are you merely finding yourself with idle time in your hands, and uncertainty what to do with it?"
*
Loki clenches his fists and lifts his chin. "Have you truly no desire to see me, brother? I would see us…close again. I would see us fighting side by side. I would work with you…in your heroics. I am tired of being on the side, playing house."
*
Thor exhales steadily, and holds a hand up to forestall Loki. "Nay, brother," he says, in a tone of long-suffering weariness. "I meant it not in that fashion. Come, pray tell me what it is you came here seeeking," he says. "There remains some mead and some victuals from the night's repast— join me for a meal, and we'll discuss what you have in mind," he says, beckoning Loki to follow him out the door.