ax_main | Gilmore & Loki, September 14

Loki and Shaun catch up on their summer adventures, and Loki tricks Shaun into taking a nap.

Loki wandered into Shaun’s workroom and took in the scene before him. Shaun appeared so focused in his work that he didn’t spot the appearance of a cat. He also looked worn out. His generally radiant appearance was dulled from overwork. Loki made sure Shaun wasn’t handled any dangerous tools before he jumped on to a clear space on the table.

“All work and no play... what are you making, dear?”

The work space was typically scattered with scraps and tools, spools of wire and discarded attempts, but this didn't look like jewelry work. Most notably, a very black swatch of fabric was spread out over the table, practically sucking in the light of even the daylight lamps that Shaun used when he worked. Resting in what looked like a handmade stand nearby was a futuristically slim tablet bearing a subtle NolCorp logo where Shaun seemed to be storing notes.

When the familiar black feline hopped up into view, Shaun paused, smiled, and reached over to give Loki a friendly head-rub. "Hey there, cutie-face. Working on an idea for a portable shadow today. Percy and I have been wondering about it for awhile, for Vax, and I'm starting to think this unstable molecule stuff might do the trick. What brings you down here?"

Loki nuzzled his hand. “You. I have lost time to make up for. Portable shadow? I take it it’s more high tech than a sheet and a flashlight?”

Shaun's smile went crooked, and though he looked tired, there was a certain indefatigable spark in his eyes. This was his thing, and he loved it. "Shade and shadow are different, especially when it comes to Vax's ability. I thought all we had to do was block light, too, but that's not quite it. It's hard to quantify when even Vax can't give me criteria to construct a testable hypothesis, but I'm getting somewhere. This stuff--"

He paused, picked up the corner of the unstable molecule fabric, and teased gently at Loki's nose with it. Despite its strange properties it just felt like a particularly strong spandex to the touch. "This whole time I've been working on making it tough and malleable for the X-Force kids. But I think I can take it the other way, too. Maybe almost to the point of turning it gaseous."

“Rmmm.” Loki fought the urge to bat at the previous fabric. “Will it be translucent? Is this going to be an emperor's new clothes sort of situation?”

"Not quite," Shaun laughed, spreading the fabric out on a half-constructed collapsible frame. "It looks like fabric and works like fabric right now, but my theory is that it doesn't have to be. I think, with the right environment or stressors, it could be anything from a solid block to a gel to an aerosol. Or a net so fine and thin, but impenetrable by light, that it's indistinguishable from a shadow."

He leaned on the table, chin in his hand, so he was more on eye-level with Loki-the-cat. "At least, that's the theory. I can picture it, but I haven't found the right conditions yet. Pro tip: this stuff doesn't burn, I tried."

“When I decide to become a dread pirate I’m hitting you up.” Loki leaned to nuzzle Gilmore’s cheek. “Intrrriguing. So quick costume changes and many useful properties. Flame proof is always good.”

The way Loki purred his r's in this form was always cute, even if it was a little odd the way Shaun was never quite sure if his mouth was moving correctly to form words. Reality benders, man. "It kept a lot of people safe when they went knocking down the Right's doors," he admitted, with a small, satisfied smile. "Maybe I didn't go knocking with them, but I feel I've earned a little bit of selfish experimentation with this stuff."

“If you’d be so kind as to help keep Duo safe when they are off leaping into danger, I will forever appreciate it.”

Shaun rubbed a finger under Loki's fuzzy chin. "Don't worry. All of the X-Force kids have a full custom suit of this material. I spent half my summer doing that, which worked out well on the timing. Still can't figure out how I can run this fabric through a sewing machine no problem, and it still stops a buzz-saw on its own."

“Damn,” Loki said appreciatively. “Well dome quartermaster.” He nuzzled at Shaun’s wrist. “Have you gotten any sleep all summer?”

"Oh, sure," Shaun assured him, though without some of his usual enthusiasm. "Molly's been off becoming a movie star, Vox Machina has this weird penchant for camping, and I'm now a monogamous entity while my boyfriend changes the world through technology." He was smiling, but it was decidedly lopsided. "Yeah, I sleep. I sleep plenty."

“Shauuun.” Loki lashed him with his tail. “Are you almost done for the day?”

Even from a cat, Gilmore knew that tone. Loki needed some attention. “Best thing about personal projects is I say when it’s quitting time,” he said, reaching over to switch off the daylight lamps. “What’s your pleasure, fuzz-butt?”

He was lucky the prince of Asgard let him talk to him that way.

Only Shaun could get away with such ridiculous names. It amused Loki how easily his friend treated him like a pet. "You should pack up. I think you should come lie down for a while."

Shaun rolled up the fabric and folded up the rest of his supplies, tucking them neatly into one of the dozens of drawer units lined up along the back of the work table. "I suppose I might be a little tired," he admitted, though a better word to describe his state might actually be lonely. A lay-down with Loki would soothe both of those states. Plus, the work room had a comfy-looking futon, now. It was piled with pillows, some that were stolen from Shaun's room, and some that were handmade just for it. Some of those pillows featured adorable animal faces on them, including a bear, a fox, and a penguin.

Loki nuzzled against him again. “Come on Prince Charming. I’ll stay pawed so your boyfriend doesn’t walk in and get the wrong idea.”

"Hey, now. First of all, Nolan knocks. Second of all, monogamy was my idea." Shean leaned over and scooped up the black cat in his arms, cradling him securely against his chest. He carried him over toward the futon, rubbing his furry little head. "Guess that's just what love does to me. You gonna tell me about your adventures overseas?"

Loki curled up against Shaun’s chest, purring to encourage more petting. “I might,” he rumbled.

The futon was propped up in sofa-form just then, but Shaun nudged some pillows into a proper pile, and sank down onto it comfortably. He settled Loki-the-cat on his chest and moved the animal-face pillows companionably close. "How's that, Prince Loki?" he asked, resting his head back and laying a hand lightly on the cat's back.

Loki tucked his face against Shaun's neck and snuggled comfortably. "Better." He kneaded softly at Shaun's chest. "I did miss you. I'm glad Duo came home, but I'm not used to having people to come back to."

Shaun closed his eyes for the moment. It was good not to be alone, and yet not feel like he was stealing someone's time, from somewhere they'd rather be. "I'm one of your people," he confirmed, idly petting the cat's back. "How'd Duo like Asgard? You guys have fun?”

“Overall, good. There were some moments I think… it wasn’t entirely within their comfort zone. But I think it was okay.” Loki might have offset any discomfort with frequent trips to new libraries or romantic excursions. There would always be aspects of his life full of formality, and Duo was ill prepared for the pomp and circumstance. They were home long enough that Loki was able to balance the trip with time together. On a shorter trip it may have been more difficult. “Next time I will warn that I am bringing Duo home with me. Fortunately, Mother reacted well. And miraculously, my brother wasn’t an idiot about it.”

Shaun had been preparing to be wealthy and famous all his life, and he still had trouble dealing with the lavish possibility and public scrutiny of Nolan's world. He had a healthy amount of sympathy for Duo's position. "What?" he teased gently. "The legendary thoughtless oaf? Did he somehow grow some maturity while you've been away?"

“He found a girlfriend who apparently has beaten feminism and the beginnings of tact into him. I am amazed.”

"I think that's the nicest thing I've ever heard you say about him." Shaun didn't have to mention that what Loki said wasn't actually about Thor at all.

Loki nipped softly at Shaun’s shirt. “Love makes the world behave in unexpected ways. Or does it make idiots of us all? I forget how that goes.”

Shaun sniffed, but didn't look actually offended. "I feel like love has made me worlds smarter, actually, but maybe that's just dating a genius. Hey, if love makes your jock brother sensitive, and trampy Shaun loyal and faithful, what's it done to you?" he asked with a warm grin.

Loki abruptly turned into a person, his full weight sprawled across the length of Shaun’s body. His build was smaller than Shaun’s, but much larger than the cat.

“What a dangerous question,” Loki observed quietly.

"Hff," choked Shaun as he suddenly had about a hundred more pounds of person on top of him. He patted at Loki's shoulder to get him to shift, hopefully, while asserting, "Breathing. Breathing good. Please don't kill me, Your Highness."

“I would never.” Loki shifted, allowing Shaun to breathe and then making himself comfortable. Even if this position would never lead to leisurely snogging again, that wouldn't stop Loki from using Shaun as a recliner. He tucked his head against Shaun’s shoulder. “I prefer you among the living. Conversations are less morbid that way.”

A comfy snuggle was a blessing, and Shaun had never decided to deny himself that. He shifted and squirmed until Loki was settled, and draped a lazy arm around him. "Hey, thanks. I've got a few things I still want to do, myself." Apparently, he was not going to get an answer to what he'd thought was a playful question, and now he was privately wondering what he'd inadvertently stepped in.

"Genius always at work." Loki shut his eyes. It was strange how this had a sense of home. The warmth of Shaun's skin, the distinct scents he crafted for himself, and the baseline presence of his mind. He was an entire shape that existed outside practical space. Part of a larger puzzle. Horrifying, really, how important people became.

"One day you'll have to visit Asgard as well. At this point Duo can help play tour guide. But maybe we can make a bigger trip of it... even if I have to cast an illusion on myself to do some of the more public outings with everyone."

Shaun had to bite back a giggle, since 'Genius at Work' was the sign he and Percy had for the door of their workshop that meant 'don't come in, snog in process.' He let his eyes half-close, intending just to lay back and rest a little while before returning to work. There was only so much time for personal projects now that class was back in session. "I would love to see Asgard. I've never been to that part of the world. We went to India once when I was a kid, but I was pretty little." Shaun scritched the back of Loki's head lightly, just like he did when his friend was in cat form. "What's your favorite thing to do there?"

“India or Asgard?” Loki asked lightly. Oh, the petting was nice. Really Shaun was most useful and wonderful.

"Asgard," chuckled Shaun, because that seemed really obvious and Loki was just being sassy. "Unless you've been to India and that was more fun."

“Well, I can’t in the spirit of nationalism and tourism say more fun. Hm. My favorite thing...” He was parsing through the well practiced lines, seeking the response that rang most true. “Tough call. Whether it’s followed by skiing or not, the view from on top of the mountain is breathtaking. Or sometimes the theater district has some wild adaptation going on. But honestly, the more I’m away... sometimes you just want to go home and walk familiar paths, eat familiar foods.”

"Mm," Shaun agreed, sounding less and less alert the longer they rested in a comfortable tangle. "I get that way about San Francisco. Atlantic seafood isn't the same, somehow. Home is just... home."

Loki nuzzled against Shaun’s neck, burying himself more thoroughly. “That it is.”

Relaxed as he was now, the thoughts of home wandered naturally to the next time he would go back home, and how Shaun hoped to show his own special person the places that mattered to him. "I asked Nolan to go home with me for Thanksgiving," he confessed. "I think he freaked out a little."

“Ahhhh, there’s the flaw. Instead of asking it’s easier just to lure them into a plane and bring them without warning.” Loki smiled. “His relationship with family isn’t like yours, is it?”

There was an understatement if Shaun had ever heard one. He longed to talk to someone about Nolan's discomfort with anything having to do with family, but that would mean sharing some things that weren't his to tell. Nolan was so intensely private about his private life. "Not anything like," Shaun agreed with a faintly wistful sigh. "I talk to my folks twice a week. They've always supported my dreams, even when they didn't really understand them. Nolan's emancipated, and I think he's maybe mentioned his father, like, once in the whole time I've known him. He just doesn't talk about it."

“I suspect your parents are delightful,” Loki said. “And maybe he doesn’t want any new ones, but it probably won’t hurt to meet nice people. Remind him he’ll get to hear embarrassing stories about you and maybe get an idea of how well you’ll age.”

Shaun's parents were delightful, in a quiet, loving sort of way. He huffed a faint laugh. "I do look a lot like my dad. We'll see what Nolan thinks about the embarrassing stories and the... god, the scrapbooks," Shaun groaned, remembering. His affinity for craft projects hadn't come from nowhere. "I had almost erased them completely from my memory. Oh god, maybe this isn't a good idea."

“Do you think Nolan would sneak pictures for me? Exactly how colorful was tiny Shaun? Were you always this fashionable.” Loki grinned and peered up at him.

Shaun squinted at Loki in playful suspicion. "Tiny Shaun was a perfect angel in couture diapers, I'll have you know," he assured his friend loftily.

“This I need proof of.” Loki grinned.

"If you can convince Nolan to sneak a photo and send it to you behind my back, then you deserve to see it," Shaun decided, amused. Loki would have to talk his way around Nolan's deep sense of loyalty, and if he could do that, then he'd earned a couple of embarrassing baby photos.

Loki wrapped an arm around Shaun and curled back up on him. “As if he’ll do anything against your wishes.”

Shaun snorted softly, but he was smiling with his eyes closed. "Oh, he will, if he thinks it's for my own good. He's the level-headed one. But stolen baby photos is pretty benign... assuming he agrees to go with me at all."

“I think he’ll go if it’s important to you,” Loki murmured. “Remind him that sometimes it’s nice to see what normal looks like. He should see where you come from. See what forged someone so loveable.”

"I am lovable," Shaun agreed, muzzily. He was perhaps one-quarter awake by then, warm and relaxed and cuddly, but not much of a conversationalist.

Loki chuckled softly. He let his eyes drift back shut. Had he a tail, he would purr. Fortunately Shaun was content to be furniture even as they were.