Closed RP w/ Bruce

[you_have_heart]

Pain. Pain and loss, these were the only thing Loki was registering. The All-Father had thought he was taking pity on his adopted son when he stripped him of his magic and cast him here, many Aesir agreed. Many agreed and thought it was to lenient of the All-Father. So to appease them he had ordered his mouth sewn shut. Only an act of pure mercy and compassion could remove them. He had not been stripped of his voice, but any vocalization vibrated the strings and caused him more pain.

Some thought it was still to merciful, even as he lay on the floor of the grand hall, humiliated and bleeding, but the All-Father did no more before casting him back down to Earth.

So there he lay, in a dark, dirty alley somewhere in a large city, still in pain and bleeding, wondering when a mortal would come by, realize who he was, and kill him on the spot. The All-Father thought to teach his younger son the same lesson his older had learned among the mortals but he knew different. He would either be killed on sight or found by SHIELD.

At this point he didn't know which he preferred.

Comments

[aggravated]

It was possibly the last person Loki would want to find him as he bled into the dirt and debris of the alley of Midgard. In fact, what caused that mortal to look down the alley, he would never know. Maybe it was a glint of metal, a shift of movement, or fate. All Bruce knew was something did catch his eye, and he looked, and saw a crumpled figure of a body laying on the ground.

He stopped in the mouth of the alley, hesitating there. The snow was starting to fall heavy and he was aching with the cold; his bones had the heat of Calcutta soaked into them and the cold was leeching the sorely missed warmth away. He pulled his coat around him a little tighter, studying the figure. A bum, surely, or a druggie or drunken sap sleeping off their addiction of choice.

It was the glint of light on liquid that made him walk down the alley even as his mind said he should turn away, but his heart said he was a doctor first before anything else.

The last thing he expected as he knelt beside the figure, a hand reaching out to see if they were conscious, was to recognize the man.

"Loki...!"

[you_have_heart]

Of course, it would be the beast that would find him. He made a pathetic sort of whine that made the strings vibrate painfully as he curled into a tighter ball. Hopefully this would mean this would all be over quickly.

[aggravated]

It was Loki. It was such a shock that at first, Bruce had no idea what to think. It was Loki, laying broken and bleeding on the ground. Why was he here? What had happened to his mouth? He could, in the low light in the shadow of a building, see some sort of material through the skin piercing in and out. Leather, maybe.

Someone had sewn Loki's mouth shut. It was where a majority of the blood was coming from.

Had someone left the god here to die? Could Loki die?

One thing at a time. Bruce looked up at the grey sky, the falling snow, then pulled off his coat and covered Loki. He had no idea about Loki's actual race and that the cold would mean nothing, only the idea that the god would freeze quickly like this, even protected by the buildings to either side. "I don't know how you got here, or what happened, but... we need to get you somewhere before you freeze."

Then he could call Fury, call someone who could deal with this. He had been avoiding SHIELD, still incredibly cautious and nervous about military anything no matter who they are.

[you_have_heart]

To be honest the cold was the least of his worries at that moment, but the coat did feel rather nice if for no other reason than it shielded him from the snow.

He looked up at Bruce, his eyes hollow and dead. No magic, no voice, whatever Bruce did he could neither had the strength nor the will to help or resist.

[aggravated]

He had no idea about the lack of magic - yet - but those were very different eyes than the haughty, intelligent gaze that had looked back at him in the cell of the helicarrier. These were the eyes of a man longing for death, for a release from the pain.

Why he made the decision he did, he would need to think on later, just as fixing Loki in the cell or feeding him. He slid his arms under Loki and grunted as he picked him up. For all he was the Hulk, as just plain old Bruce Banner, the six foot and change god was a lot of weight.

[you_have_heart]

It did not help that Loki was dead weight in Bruce's arms. He did not move to hold onto the other, or even keep his body from going completely limp. The only indication that he even knew he was being lifted was another low whine that started at the back of his throat.

Even though Thor tried to stay with him until the time of his trial, the other Aesir had found ways to lure him away and exact their own revenge on the trickster. Unseen bruises littered his body. They had been sure the All-Father could not see any marks when he was brought before him.

[aggravated]

It took a massive effort to get that dead weight up, and just knew there was going to be all sorts of problems getting him somewhere safe enough that he could take a look at the bleeding god. Thinking quick, he got Loki up against a wall before removing his scarf and sliding it around Loki's face, hiding the worst of damage for now.

This had to be one of his worst ideas ever as he pulled Loki's arm over his shoulder and said tightly, "I need you to walk, even a little."

[you_have_heart]

It was slow, and Loki found he was being dragged more than he was actually walking, but eventually he felt a warmth envelop him. A soft light and the muffling of the sounds of the city behind them told him they must have found some sort of shelter.

[aggravated]

Here, at least, he could manage to get transportation... to where? Bruce bit his lip as he looked at Loki, thinking as quickly as he could. There was no way they could go back to Stark Tower, even if he would need medical supplies to help with this. A hotel?

A hotel. Tucked into his wallet was a credit card Tony had put with a link into its own, well supplied bank account under Bruce's current alias - David Bixby. It would give him a clean room, privacy, and he could come and go without too much trouble, he hoped.

He almost said stay here but knew Loki couldn't go anywhere in this state or he would hardly have been laying in an alley. "I'm going to arrange a place for us to go and a way to get there."

[you_have_heart]

Loki continues to just stare at Bruce as he speaks, only half registering what he was saying. He gave a small, loose nod, at least showing Bruce he knew that he was being spoken to.

[aggravated]

Bruce vanished, briefly, to call a cab to their location and to make an arrangement at a nearby hotel. It was only about then that he realized he was thinking about saving and healing an enemy, a crazed war criminal.

No. He was just making sure Loki lived to be taken in by SHIELD. Least that was what Bruce told himself as he waited, pacing.

[you_have_heart]

Loki's eyes followed him as he paced. Much as he had done when Loki was held in the Helicarrier the second time the doctor was here, seemingly only wanting to help despite the fact that they had tried to kill each other only a short while ago. It puzzled Loki to the point that he almost asked him why.

The painful tug quickly reminded him to keep his lips together.

[aggravated]

Bruce looked to Loki, crouching enough to pull the scarf away and look at the leather piercing Loki's lips. How... could anyone do this to another person? He didn't touch, didn't dare touch, knowing how painful it would be. He would numb Loki before he tried to remove them, treat it for infection, but he couldn't exactly bandage the wounds... tape perhaps.

[aggravated]

When Loki woke again, Bruce was nearby. He was tucked up on the other bed, hair messy around his forehead, in another set of clothing. In his hands was a tablet, fingers gliding over it as he worked. It had only been luck that he happened to be on a hiatus from the Tower when Loki fell to Earth, so Tony wasn't expecting him around.

[you_have_heart]

It took Loki a few minutes to figure out where he was, and why his lips were throbbing dully. He opened his eyes and remembered: he was in a hotel he was brought to by that man that turned into the ogre, Bruce if he remembered correctly. He had saved him, released the strings that pulled his mouth shut and did his best to heal him.

Turning his head to the side slowly, he saw the other sitting on the bed, doing something on some sort mortal device. He was quiet for a moment before speaking the most prominent question on his mind.

"Why?"

[aggravated]

Bruce lifted his head and looked over to Loki, brows coming together. It was the very question he had been wrestling with since he brought the god up to the hotel room. He looked back down to the work he had brought with him on the tablet.

"Because I don't approve of torture."

[you_have_heart]

"You pity me." It was very much a statement, not a question.

[aggravated]

"Hardly," Bruce said with a quiet snort of air. "I've traveled around the world and seen what people consider 'justice'. The one thing I don't agree with is torture. No one deserves to be tortured."

[you_have_heart]

"You must pity me," Loki gingerly sat up in the bed. He was still sore, but nothing that could not be managed. His lips throbbed with every word, but he continued speaking nonetheless.

"Only one who pitied me could have removed the strings."

[aggravated]

"Anyone could have removed them, but saving your mouth was another thing all together. How bad is the pain? I have something easier on your system for that if it's bad." Bruce watched Loki, the expressions, any visible pain or difficulty speaking.

[you_have_heart]

"Who else would have even tried?" Any 'ooo' movements with his lips were rather painful, but he was not going to be quiet voluntarily after so long without his voice.

[aggravated]

"We are not all dark people on Earth," Bruce said tightly. "There are many, many good people. Maybe you deserved to die there, but since I came across you, there is a reason."

[you_have_heart]

Loki breathed out a chuckle, happy that that did not aggravate his lips.
"Of course. I am pleased to hear that another sees this learning experience for the death sentence it is."

[aggravated]

That confirmed something in his mind. "So you were thrown from Asgard, but how exactly is this a death sentence? Someone could have easily done what I did."

[you_have_heart]

"Or they could have killed me. Surly you have realized by now that I am without magic?" He was utterly defenseless. And what if someone had come along and tried to remove the threads but could not?