maskormenacelogs | ░ YELLOW FLICKER BEAT. ▍CLOSED.

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░ YELLOW FLICKER BEAT. ▍CLOSED.

WHO: Kara, Lydia & Loki
WHERE: Somewhere between Kara and Freddie, smack between the murder trail. No Kara don't.
WHEN: Friday, November 7th, unfortunate date night.
WHAT: Hopefully not murder.
WARNINGS: Them? Loki?? Will edit if its real and not Loki.

[ as always, Loki was running short on time, pressing his luck, and being a little reckless when his chances. despite all of the possible outcomes, it was something that he was good at. so he managed to message Skye about Freddie's possible source, check the long strings of comments before whispering the magic words and heading off to the date that was, in all actuality, his original plan for the evening that got cut short by the possibility of murder.

Loki knows Kara well enough to know that the few people that she holds close were exposed. (as a side note, Jesse's information being spilled on the network was beneficial to him. it cut his research in half, but he knows it's probably best not to mention his intentions there.) he also knows that she has a violent streak in her that all Valkyries had. now, he wasn't really one to make sure that people did not do stupid things, but he knew that if Kara ever got sentenced to mortal jail that (with a suffering sigh) he'd be obligated to break her out.

he vouches for, what hopefully is, the easier path.

with a few quippy (and useless) remarks, he picks up Lydia. there's a brief interlude while he conducts a momentary tracking spell, saying that they're short for time (with the most obvious Alice in Wonderland reference), before they were off.

they meet Kara appropriately in a dark alley in Heropa, Loki a little wary upon approach. it's tense, and while he hasn't exactly decked himself out completely in his jacket, the armor that he's wearing is a little telling.

his accent is more notable around Kara. ]

Kara ...

[ he keeps Lydia just a little behind him. better safe, right? walking into one dangerous situation from the last, and, well, at least this one was sort of predictable. ]

Trust me, this isn't the most genius plan you've put into motion.

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[The armour is the first thing she notices, which feels a little insulting almost, it's not like she's going to kill him; she doesn't even move her hand to the hilt of her sword. The second thing she notices is Lydia, which doesn't so much feel insulting as it does stupid, especially considering the last conversation Kara had with the girl about killing.

But maybe Loki doesn't know that, he just knew that she wouldn't stand for Freddie continuing to live when she's a threat to all of them.]

I ain't gonna get caught.

[As if that's the problem he's worried about.]

Of course you wouldn't.

[ Lydia points out a little brusquely, lips pursed. Looking between them, she goes on to make a concession. ]

They'll have more suspects than they'll know what to do with if Freddie Lounds ever dies. [ Does anyone like her? It is a mystery. All the same, she's pretty comfortable hovering just behind Loki, given her last conversation with Kara.

But she also remembers what Stiles said: Lydia had gotten through to her. She didn't go back and find that guy. She stopped. Maybe she'll stop now, too. ]

This isn't just about not getting caught.

[ it's hard to tell if Lydia was brought as leverage, or if it was somehow just coincidence. in all honesty, Loki never really wanted to cancel a date when company was involved, and he was certain that Lydia would accept nothing but seeing the dire circumstances firsthand.

so, here they were. ]

It's narrowed down to murder.

[ he doesn't look put-out, just thoughtful. ]

And it would be a shame if she died so soon. Not saying that she wouldn't come back, but death isn't exactly noteworthy when it doesn't stick. Call it a casualty of circumstance.

[ not that he wasn't a little more personally invested than he would have liked (or even thinks he is), but Freddie dying was inching a little more on the bad end. ]

I ain't gonna let her come back, either.

[That really is insulting, and it shows in the way she sneers at Loki a little, annoyed that he doesn't know her well enough to know she's thought this through.

Of course she has a plan to make sure Freddie stays dead, she isn't stupid.]

I'm fairly certain that's a power no one here has.

[ Lydia's expression scrunches up and she casts her gaze upward in a look of mock-thoughtfulness, then shakes her head. ]

This isn't either of our worlds, Kara.

[ he might sound as if he's being pulled a little with that, somewhere in his dark Loki heart. ]

Death isn't going to teach her much of anything, and definitely won't convey your rage.

[ at least that bit he's confident on. ]

Nor will it stop her if she decides to have round two.

Don't need to teach her anything, we need to stop her from making things worse.

[She won't deny that anger is a part of it, that need to protect people she's decided are her own, but it isn't all there is to this. She doesn't want to see this world turn out like her own, where people are murdered just because they aren't human.]

And it's tech, it ain't powers. I just gotta make sure she can't be put back together.

Charming.

[ In order to stop herself from focusing on the acute flare of nausea that pushes bile into her throat, Lydia rolls her eyes and plays at remaining unaffected. ]

But in the interest of pursuing avenues that don't involve dismemberment and a meat grinder, I feel obligated to point out that your talents might be better spent protecting those who she's painted a target on, not chasing after a dog that's already done hunting.

[ there's a glance at Lydia, but it doesn't linger long before he looks back at Kara. ]

Aye, her informant is still on the loose. So even if—if—you're able to keep her dead, she was a convenient messenger. That doesn't mean that they're won't be another. You can't kill everyone who makes poor life choices. [ "we'd all be dead." ] And by now, every imPort will be out for blood.

[ he quirks his head a little. ]

Don't you want to see her squirm?

I can kill her then protect people.

[The more Lydia or Loki talk, the more insulted she feels. It's like they think she's never done this before.]

And if we need to find her source, I can get that outta her.

[She doesn't care about making Freddie squirm, not as much as she wants her out of the picture.]

Not through torture, you can't.

[ Let's just preempt that. Not because Lydia doesn't think she's capable (of course she's capable; she's a valkyrie), but because Lydia isn't going to accept that as a solution. ]

There are better ways to find out where she got the files from.

In Hela's name, Kara. This is a terrible idea. I'm telling you this is a terrible idea.

[ Freddie being dead didn't lead them anywhere. ]

Your tenacity is admirable, but this is the wrong solution. The sort of thing that lands you back worse off than you were before. I'm Loki and I'm telling you that. [ he puts his hand to his chest her like this is a novel idea. ] And if it's one thing I'm good at, it's messing things up.

Take it from someone who's done a lot of messing up.

We'd be back to square one, and down the chance we have to get a proper revenge. Someone else'll get picked up, and suddenly you're put away.

Why not try something new? We can be subtle.

[Loki talks a lot, but Kara is used to filtering out all the useless nonsense around the point he's actually making, so it's rare for her to actually take in everything he says.

She does now, though, despite the fact she's still frowning and unhappy.]

Why the fuck are you so set on the idea I can't get away with this?

[Pride isn't a major flaw of hers, but she still doesn't like feeling as if someone - especially one of her gods - thinks she can't handle herself.

But she's listening to him, and that's a start.]

[ Lydia would really like to have an answer to that, but beyond the notion that there are people here, like Scott, who don't give up until they find the truth, and stop the bad guys, she doesn't have one. More interesting, perhaps, is that Loki seems to be offering her vengeance and retribution in another form.

Looking up, Lydia searches him, falling silent. This tag was totally worth waiting two days for. ]

[ Loki left that ambiguous for a reason. it's easier to deviate the conversation with word games. in a case like this, were emotions ran high, it was even easier to hide it in the charged argument. he talks, and keeps talking, before anyone can think on it. there were some things that he was good at, and where he once used it selfishly, he found that he could use these talents for his better intent. ]

That's not it, moreso of your particular form of punishment. Neither circumstance stemming from it will be favorable.

[ here it goes. ]

If she dies, she doesn't necessarily get to account for everything that she's done. There is no Hela here to await with an icy embrace—and more importantly, no Hela for me to make nice with to get an audience with a departed soul if we need it. Dead is dead, like a doornail in a coffin.

[ he hesitates and side-glances over to her. ]

And besides, doesn't that seem ... a bit light?

I ain't a fucking sadist, Loki.

[One step forward and two steps back, because now she feels like he doesn't understand her at all.]

I want that piece of shit dead so she can't fuck things up any more, don't give a shit about punishment.

[Which isn't entirely true; she's angry and it would be nice to see Freddie die, but mostly, this is about stopping her from making things worse. You don't torture the wolf amongst the sheep, you kill it.]

If she were going to make it worse, she already would have. She released everything she has.

[ Maybe let's move away from the notion of torture and instead suggest: ]

If you want to stop things from getting worse, try finding her source. She didn't steal those files: someone gave them to her.

[ well, that was part of his point.

(then again he still did kind of let the mind wander with all the torture think. as much as he could have clarified "reputation.") ]

The dead don't speak. We don't have the exception to the rule this time.

[ like he said, there's no Hela here for him to cut a deal with if they needed information. ]

My abilities won't reach beyond this realm. As painful as it is, we need her alive. To the least, she's familiar. We don't need anyone running off to find another Freddie Lounds.

That would make it a set-up and ... well, they might have a very long hit list for all we know.

I can find her source before I kill her.

[She said she isn't a sadist, but torture for information and torture for fun are completely different things. She's confident she could get the information she needs from Freddie by violence, and then put her out of her misery when she's done.

It seems simple.]

I hope you're not implying what I think you're implying.

[ because that's some guantana-NO.

[ his expression contorts a bit at that. this is definitely a bad idea, and he's the king of bad ideas! usually he likes bad ideas! but the whole dying thing is something that's, you know, pretty bad. ]

I think she's implying what you think she's implying.

That will definitely get you caught, give everyone a bad rap. Look, there are better ways to do this. Things that don't end in people dying.

[Of course she's implying that. What else is there to imply?]

The fuck do you care about some bitch dying?

[He's Loki, what is he doing caring about those sorts of things?]

Perhaps the better question is why don't you care?

You are rather insistent on it.

[ he says hotly, because not every Loki is the same. he'll admit that he's never heard of a benevolent Loki, but from experience, he can say that not all of them had followed the road to ruin of that as a few incarnations prior. he backs up Lydia accordingly. ]

It won't end how you want it to.

She ain't gonna be alive much longer anyway.

[Much longer being the few decades that are probably left in Freddie's lifespan, because Kara really doesn't consider it to be very long.

But she lets out a breath, focuses her attention on Loki.

(Sorry Lydia.)]

Tell me you've got a plan. And don't fucking lie.

[She might back down, if she can put some faith in Loki to handle it.]

[ Well, at least one of them has managed to get through to her. Lydia doesn't mind taking backseat, holding Loki's arm and keeping quiet. If it means no murder, anyway. ]

[ there might be a tad of a movement in front of her, if anyone's paying attention. to either diffuse Kara's anger or divert it was the question. it's not like his own method of protecting people was conventional. ]

We discredit her.

[ he says simply. ]

The ones you know aren't the only affected, after all.

[ he manages to use a bit of the bitterness welling inside of him. see: Lydia, Derek. for all he knows, his own file airing the less savory aspects of his life could be out there. ]

If there's a repeat of this kind of incident, her death may only bring someone else who'll be more keen to check the facts. The last thing we want is for anyone to actually believe the tabloids. She's already established herself nicely, and with enough a pattern that we can make some educational assumptions.

She dies, we lose that upper hand.

[Kara watches Loki for a long time, weighing up his words, because none of this is her area. She knows how to find people, and how to make them disappear, whether by killing them or hiding them. She doesn't deal in reputations.

But Loki is smart, he's probably done all sorts of shit, and she knows that even if she can't trust him in some ways, she should trust him on this.

Her gaze flicks to Lydia briefly, reading her reaction, before she nods.]

Don't need to make any assumptions, Will knows her.

[And she hopes Will would help her.]

[ skip me! i'll jump in with lydia where appropriate. ]

[ if he already hasn't thought of a plan, there's one in motion. there were a million or so schemes that were ready to be put together, improvised, and reconstructed. he wasn't Thor, he didn't run into conflict with his hammer brandished with words of victory. his strength was in his cunning. that was how he helped people. ]

Good, and better for it. Kill her and you'll not only face the consequence of her death, but the possibility of a repeat. She's of better use alive then she is dead.

Fine.

[It's as much of an agreement as Loki is going to get, considering Kara still thinks the best plan is to get the information out of Freddie and then kill her.]

But anyone else gets fucked over by Freddie, you're to blame.

[She wants him to know that.]

[ of course it'll be Loki's fault, in the way that he's become accustomed to it always being Loki's fault. from the way he half turns to shrug a shoulder at her, it was as if he was expecting it. he wasn't striking a bargain or making a debt, but instead dealing with a possible murderer, and there wasn't much wiggle room when it came to option A or option B. ]

And I suppose I don't get a hearty "thank you, Loki" if she doesn't.

I wouldn't push your luck, if I were you.

[ Tempered annoyance colors Lydia's tone. Take the win while they've got it, she figures. ]

If Freddie screws anyone over, it's Freddie who's to blame.

[ That won't stop her from going to bat for her boy tho. ]

If an owner doesn't put their rabid dog down, you blame 'em when it bites someone.

[That comparison might be a bit harsh, but she stands by her point. She could deal with Freddie now, before it gets worse, but she'll back off because Loki thinks he can handle it.

Still, she does look over at him after her comment to Lydia.]

You find her source, I'll buy you a fucking thank you gift.

[Despite the swearing, the sentiment is genuine.]

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░ YELLOW FLICKER BEAT. ▍CLOSED.

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ugh sorry for being so slow

no sweat boo

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