5744/Astral Flux: A wall of information

Astral Flux: A wall of information
Date of Scene:	08 November 2018
Location:	Ritz-Carlton, Manhattan, New York City
Synopsis:	Loki, Sif and Thor make some plans to stop the astral enemy.
Cast of Characters:	Thor, Loki, Sif
Tinyplot:	Astral Flux

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Thor has posed:
    Despite the protestations of various and sundry members of the Avengers, the hotel has continued to be perhaps treated with not exactly the kid gloves that some would prefer. Also there's the matter of the individuals that are allowed to frequent the large halls of the quartet of open floor plan penthouses. The red light on the cellular phone device had illuminated with a message that was meant for the Mighty Thor. He had been pleased when he had noticed that subtle glow near the mirror in his room when he had walked over and as Rogue had showed him he pushed the part of the window display that... deleted it. There. Now whomever sent that message knows he's there if they need to talk. Modern marvels. He left the now unilluminated phone on the counter.
    But then after Loki's visit and after the gathering of forces Thor had put together a hodge podge of information for what they would use in the coming campaign against the Shadow King. He had opened an atlas and torn out several pages to mark places in the world that might be places of hiding for the being and its creatures. Assuredly his brother and Strange had ideas as to his direct location but there might be other places as well. So those went up on the wall.
    Then there was a list to the side with various names of various beings written in a scrawl upon the paper. The Avengers listed separately with check marks or lines crossing them out. There's the name of Dr. Strange. Ares. She-Hulk. Some others as well. A few even have question marks next to them...
    But for now matters had been mostly settled. Now was the time for pieces to fall into place. In times before Thor would have just drunk merrily at the prospect of battle and not cared that he might be a touch inebriated if matters came to the fore. Now, however, he sits in that overpriced yet under-furnished penthouse staring at the wall with the names and the maps... and frowning to himself.

Loki has posed:
    From the very air, it seems, the illusory bend in vision and sound that accompanies Loki flows out, and Loki appears to be there, relaxed, just to the left and behind Thor's flank. He is not as tall as his brother, there is no looking over or past him, but instead, a very common place that Loki seems to adopt: just a half step back and to the side. A place he adopts both as a supporter, but also as an appropriate angle to insert a knife. Today lends no suggestion on which it is. But he also doesn't hide it. Thor will likely sense him, realize he is there long before Loki even made a sound or motion.

    And that's to be expected. Loki's fully allowed himself to be 'felt' by his brother. "Shall I fix some of these, or do you like them the way that they are?" Loki asks, after a few long moments of silence. He's simply standing, hands together behind his back, head angled a little to the side. He's wearing plain clothes that blend in with the humans today, a rather telling indication that he's not expecting to impress anybody this evening, but might actually talk reasonably.

Sif has posed:
    A moment later, someone else appears in the room. Unfortunately, it isn't nearly as smooth as Loki's arrival.
    Sif has been having problems with her abilities since coming to Midgard. Previously, it had not been an issue. Asgard had been there. It's presence apparently had some effect on her powers though as they had been acting strangely. Particularly her teleportation. It had failed her every time she'd tried to use it.
    Stubbornness was one of her more admirable traits. She felt she should continue trying until she succeeded.
    Thus when she appears, she lets out a soft cry of victory--only to realize she's standing on the back of a couch. She teeters there a moment as the couch tilts with her weight. She tries to dive to the side to allow the couch to fall without taking her with it but manages to knock over a lamp and end table as the couch crashes onto it's back.
    She stands there triumphant despite the damages. "It worked!"

Thor has posed:
    "More information is fine," Thor says sidelong and casually lifts an arm to reach out to his brother's shoulder and clasps it for a moment. Just a squeeze and then he turns away and pushes himself away from the sofa back he had been sitting on. He moves towards the kitchen, which is a mess to be fair, and takes up a platter of cold potato skins that had been brought forth from room service. He steps back out into the main room where the information is displayed and he offers one of the remaining cheddar and bacon skins to his brother, "Have you tried these? Remarkable things."
    But whether or not Loki avails himself of it he sets the platter down and once again focuses upon the wall...
    And that's when Sif appears.
    Thor turns back around and espies her, her arrivl heralded by the shout of success that he lifts his head and laughs a touch, lips twisted in to a half-smile. "Lady Sif, success!"
    /Thud/ as the couch falls over.
    "I am impressed." Since, to be fair, Thor has not tried to rekindle his abilities since what has passed.

Loki has posed:
    Loki had strolled over to the wall of information as Thor moves away in search of cold potato skins. He lifted a hand to decline with two raised fingers, no verbal part needed. He managed to keep the distain for it at a lower key level, mostly looking at Thor's wall of information. That is, until Lady Sif comes in.

Loki gives a slow clap, both brows raised high, smile amused but not full mock level. The slow clap continuing just a little too long might carry that particular part of it. "A unique entrance," Loki determines, neither negative or positive: that wonderful middle ground of MAYBE mocking but not fully able to be called out for it. He watches the lamp go without much reaction or attempt to assist at all. Not HIS belongings, after all. "Lady Sif," Loki greets, though, with an incline of head.

Sif has posed:
    Loki earns a look for the extended clapping session. Her brow is furrowed and there is a faint frown on her face. That's it though. "Loki." It has the chill of his heritage in that word.
    Then she glances to Thor as she moves away from the crashed furniture without righting it. "I've been trying since we arrived here. I am pleased it finally worked though not exactly as it should have. It is very limited and difficult to focus."
    She glances to the wall of information, following the various notes and images. "What are you working on?"

Thor has posed:
    Gesturing with one of the potato skins, Thor speaks around a mild mouthful of food, "Ill tidings brought to our notice on the wings of foul omens." The Thunderer scowls and then wipes a smidge of sour cream from the corner of his mouth even as he gestures with the tray of potato skins towards a nearby suitable seat should she wish to occupy it, letting Loki have his gander and place at the wall of information.
    "The creatures we faced when we returned to Midgard on the Frigga's Mercy, we thought them vanquished yet it is not so. What is more there is a being who has made itself the enemy of our people and holds one of the ancient six stones that forged the universe." Shaking his head, Thor scowls and then as if suddenly having lost his appetite he tosses the tray onto the coffee table and leans back into a rather comfortable over-stuffed chair.
    "Thus." He seems to run out of words as he looks between the two of them. "There is much to do."

Loki has posed:
    Loki stands relaxed, in his usual sort of mild arrogant way, though with it just the three of them, it's a keyed down version, particularly as he observes Thor dump the potato chips down and some of them bounce in the bowl. A soft breath is all that follows his brother's scowl and frustration, as Loki looks again that the wall with a sort of dubious quality. Wall of misinformation, to some degree.

    After a bit of purusal, he draws a map out of a sleeve, and pulls a tack out of a different thing that he found unimportant, instead tacking his own map up. It looks to be of a town and local structure, as well as some outlying things with some of Loki's notations on them. A squiggle of soft magic flutters through the surface of the document, and Loki smooths out a little fold in one end with high appreciation for the magic.
    "Yes. I've gone ahead and tracked both of those down. Whether or not others are prepared to engage, well..." Loki gives a long-suffering look.

Sif has posed:
    At the offer, Sif moves to right the couch. The end table next. The lamp placed back on top of the table. Then she settles down on the couch, glancing to the wall as Loki pulls out something and starts to add it.
    "Someone here has one of the stones? Where might we..." Her words trail off as she looks at the map Loki just put into place. "Loki? You know where to find this being and the stone?"

Thor has posed:
    Turning towards Sif, Thor lifts a hand as he offers his view openly especially in this company of old friends. "Loki has been a step ahead each moment of this effort. I had come to him for his aid, and he knew what had passed." He turns his half-smile sidelong towards his brother and twists his smile further. "I had shared words with Strange, and Stark, when I should have begun at home."
    He turns back, smirking now as he shoots a /look/ at the sorcerer in green and replies, "Chances are he perhaps already has the infinity stone." His eyes narrow slightly as if trying to impart a grumpy growly wary warning from afar, though it is more jocular than aught else.
    Towards Sif again he says, "Yet the creature who holds it now... it owes us a debt of blood for it was the creature that took the lives of some of our countrymen when we fled our home."

Loki has posed:
    "I do, Sif. I'd be hurt that you're surprised that I know things, but I understand it's probably more surprise that I'm telling you that I /do/ know the information you're after," Loki says, at first with mock hurt, but it dissolves soon enough. The compliments aren't going unnoticed: they're pretty effective. Loki likes hearing that Thor should have started with him first.
    "If it were within my power to just nick it away from this 'Shadow King' and deflate his power, I would have done it already, that's true," Loki promises Thor with amusement. "It's a little bit buried. On purpose, of course. Took me longer than I would have liked to assess where it is, since I didn't want to tip him off about me. But I think I've got a little tracker planted, should it move." Loki is very pleased with himself, and masks none of it. That does suggest, though, that he did probably do what he's described.
    "But this information coming from me? Might not get the reception it deserves or requires, from the humans," Loki continues. He's aware of his reputation problem. He doesn't argue the validity of it, just rests hands at his hip level.

Sif has posed:
    "Leading an invasion against thier planet does tend to sour them on trusting you," Sif says flatly as she shakes her head. She isn't surprised that the reason he doesn't have the stone is he can't get it. She is surprised he's admitting it. The lack of trust where he is concerned is well known. That lack of trust started for them in their youth.
    "Thor can provide the information to those that need it and be trusted." She's more an unknown quantity so her word would bear less weight. "Or we can just get our weapons and go take this stone now. Then Thor can put it somewhere safe." She gives Loki a pointed look.

Thor has posed:
    "Aye, as Sif says, then it shall have to come from me, I will vouch for your information in this regard." Thor takes up the bottle that Loki had filled in his earlier visit and sloshes some of its contents into one of the tankards that may have been his, may have been someone else's earlier, he doesn't seem to care too much. "All we need is the location, and a way to mask our approach from the creature's senses. Then, once we are there. Well..." He touches a hand to his chest as if to say he'll take care of it all.
    Though he does spare a half-smile in Sif's direction. With this change in company he is able to fall upon old habits, old mannerisms.

Loki has posed:
    "The problem I brought up when those Avengers were here is still a problem," Loki reminds Thor. "As in, when you get close, he's probably going to go after your mind. I have tricks that make me hard to pick up on mentally, of course," Loki explains, primarily towards Sif. She wasn't here, so he has to go through the same information again. "Protecting all three of us is a 'probably', but we'd have to be really...." Loki considers the word choice. "/efficient/." A wry smirk follows. "And I'd mostly be busy doing that. If we're not so efficient, you may end up deciding joining his side is a great idea. That stone is not to be underestimated, and based on what he's done to the Astral Plane, he's already a nightmare."

    Loki lifts both hands, and then looks at his magical map as if plotting. Well, plotting more. "If we do a repeat of what happened in outer space, Thor's going to need a lot of time. Unless there's a new way you want to fight it?" Loki asks. There's a playful barb there, but he is actually asking.

Sif has posed:
    "So if you were to protect our minds, that would leave it to Thor and myself. I can distract him while Thor finds the stone? That way if he does manage to breach Loki's defenses, we do not suffer either of you as his thralls."
    Sif may be supremely confident in her skills but she also understands that with the three of them, she is the least powerful. Not that she was weak. By no means, she was far from it. Yet, she was a realist. They would be more likely to take her down if it came to it.

Thor has posed:
    "We will need to work with the others," Thor offers as he pointedly looks at Loki, to try and get him to consider possible teamwork with the mortals. Though getting the mortals to work with him might be another thing altogether. "If we can confront the Shadow King on several fronts, engage him powerfully in the Astral plane and strike at his host using its weaknesses..."
    Thor turns to look between Sif and Loki as he motions, "Mjolnir drawing upon its energy. Strange with his arcane powers. Loki you can surprise him on the astral plane. And perhaps one of our comrades using sound or cold... Perhaps it will be enough to force him to split his attention and fail on one or more fronts."

Loki has posed:
    "I may be able to get the stone away from him by myself," Loki answers, "But that's the 'high risk' method, and I don't feel some big need to really put myself on the line in that way, what with everyone else really wanting to help out or exact the blood price for what it has done." Loki assessed the risks and benefits and chose to side with the Asgardians over doing a selfish move. Various reasons, including that he is getting some good Points with the pair that are present.

    "If I weren't prepared to work with others I wouldn't be here, though. I have a... mmmm, alternative persona I think they may be more willing to talk to. For their own good, of course, just to leave some of the stigma out of the way while we deal with this." Loki is suggesting he help, but not as himself. Which should not be a shock at all. Why tell Thor and Sif?

    "Anyway, the Astral is a lost cause, I think. I won't get anywhere with that. Better I command some enchanted automotons and defend you," Loki decides. He's not going to be off in the Astral Plane, nope.

Thor has posed:
    "Very well, then we shall meet with the others and find what resources we can bring to bear in full." Thor starts to pour several more tankards and only once the two others are full he'll hold his up and make the toast. "To victory."