7789/Favors

Favors
Date of Scene:	08 June 2019
Location:	Forest Hills, Queens
Synopsis:	Loki calls in favors from Steve and Bucky.
Cast of Characters:	Loki, Captain America, Winter Soldier

---

Loki has posed:
A number of texts had been sent to Steve Rogers several days prior. At least one of them had an edge of a threat to it. Steve seemed to have won the argument, though, with a comment about Thor.

Now, though, another text finally comes through, from the same number. It's less aggressive:

"We'll do this in person, then. I'll swing by."

Captain America has posed:
The text to fly back to the unknown number is equally less aggressive in turn:

"Forest Park, Queens. Sr. Bandshell. 2030 hours."

That being said, it's not only Captain Rogers standing by the half-dome of the bandshell itself. Beside him is one Bucky Barnes. Neither looks pleased, though in varying shades of disapproval and displeasure. Steve's got his hands in the pockets of his motorcycle jacket and he kicks at a lost pinecone, sending it away and under one of the first few rows of metal bleachers stretching back. No band tonight -- and that's okay because this is show he doesn't want to be extremely public.

"...trust the bastard about as far as I can throw him," the Captain comments to Bucky under his breath. "Have no idea what he wants as a favor." His lips are thin, straight as the line of his set jaw as he looks up and around again. Thankfully, this section of the Park itself isn't busy.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Buck has that dead-eyed pokerface on. It's got to be unpleasantly reminiscent of Winter himself, for those who've met the Soldier. The big German Shepherd is there with them, sitting docilely at his side.

"The question is what you can do that he can't. OR what he can do to you to hurt you. Is he doing it for gain? Or is he doing it because he wants to cause you pain?" he asks, reasonably.

Loki has posed:
"You never struck me as a person that would expect that if he avoids a confrontation, it would just go away," Loki comments smoothly. He was just another person passing by that wasn't interesting, until he wasn't. Loki, of course, as a god of mischief, can appear out of nowhere freely. He can be anyone, freely.

It's very clearly Loki, though. He's dressed in modern clothes: A trim black suit that frames his tall, lean body nicely, with a dark emerald collared shirt under it, open at the neck. The front of his hair is pulled back, the rest of it worn down, like glossy black raven feathers in a sheen at his shoulders. He has a yogurt in his hand, clearly from the yogurt place a few scarce doors down, and he's enjoying it with a tiny little wood spoon. "I can just tell that you're jumping at the chance to pay off your debt. Which makes it awkward for me; I don't want us to have a bad relationship."

Captain America has posed:
Steve sighs and glances over at Bucky. "Hell if I'd know with him. Never trust a bored god. Especially one like -- "

Loki, speak of the devil.

The Captain stiffens for a split second before he reminds himself to relax. No one's pulled a weapon and so far, it's been amicable. Hell, the Asgardian's even got yogurt. It's a markedly human-like behavior pattern. It makes Steve's eyes narrow a touch at the man in the svelte dark suit.

"Figure the sooner I ante up, the better. Hate leaving loose threads," he replies coolly and professionally to Loki. "Also'd hate to ruin any sort of idea of my confidence in you. What's the favor?"

Winter Soldier has posed:
There's a jolt from the assassin, enough to make the dog get to her feet, her canine smile vanishing. Buck, at least, hasn't gone for a weapon, either.

"Also," says Bucky, speaking up crisply, "Two of those favors are *mine*. Two for Steve, two for me." He's levelled that cold blue stare at the Asgardian. No, this was not discussed beforehand - Steve will have to deal.

Loki has posed:
Loki swirls the top of his yogurt with an elegant twist of spoon, his lean, spidery fingers dexterous. "No small talk, no hello? All right." Loki heads over closer, as if he were just meeting some old friends and this was normal.

"As I mentioned, I'm calling in favors," Loki says, in a companionable, friendly way. His smile is a little too much: there's a lot of teeth in that slippery, car-salesman grin. And slimy salesmen have nothing on the god of lies.

"I notice your concern: I /did/ just say favors, plural. But as I already mentioned through text, they aren't things you will find difficult." Yum, yogurt. Loki has a little bit more with a royal, elegant manner, eyes on the spoon, not the boys.

"This actually isn't bad yogurt. I wasn't expecting much," Loki says with a rather snotty little lift of nose at the general area. But then a rueful shrug and another sampling of the yogurt.

Loki looks at Barnes at the outburst. "Yes. I remember what I said. Two each, four total. Thanks." He lifts a brow as if Barnes has maybe gone a little crazy. Humans, go figure. Crazy.

Captain America has posed:
Bucky gets an infuriated look from Steve. "Ignore that. The four favors are mine." He looks back at Loki and subtly tucks his chin, part in defiance and part as if he's readying himself for a blow. That Trickster smile still lingers in his memory like cigarette smoke, slinky and tasting ashy in the mouth. "I claimed them when you were done working on him. They're mine."

And in the Captain's tone is a timbre of mulishness that would make any old hoss throw back its ears.

Winter Soldier has posed:
"No, don't ignore it," Buck's still got that deadpan. "He owes you a debt because of things you did on my behalf. Besides, I'm willing to do things you aren't. You got him to make me a real boy again, Rogers, but guess what, that means I also fight my own corner. The Prince there remembers right. Two apiece."

Willing to do things Steve won't?

Loki has posed:
"Fine, work it out. Arm wrestle after I leave. I actually /don't care/, so long as one of you cover what I'm asking for." Loki moves on. "Because it's two, tonight," Loki clarifies.

He then lifts his spoon to indicate a single item: item one of two. "First," Loki begins. His expression moves a little bit, a slight twist to his lips as if something was coming that he doesn't really want to say. Which could mean good things for the soldier pair, overall, compared to something Loki's grinning about.

"I understand you're a groomsman for my brother's wedding," Loki begins, gesturing to Steve with the yogurt cup. What Loki thinks of that isn't hidden; it's like a pet rock got invited into the bridal party.

Captain America has posed:
"...dirty pool, Barnes," mutters Steve under his breath, barely heard. He can be seen to look off to one side with a deep frown of disapproval. His weight shifts and a small stick breaks beneath his boot. The Asgardian speaking delays any further smart-mouthed argument from the Captain and as such, Loki is regarded with a flat and sour look.

The observation about his recent invitation as a groomsman seems like it comes out of left field for all the divot grows deeper between Steve's brows and he lets his mouth hang open for a second. Then he shuts it and exhales once before replying curtly, "Yes, I am."

Winter Soldier has posed:
Satisfied....once upon a time, Bucky might've smirked. This time, the deadpan just doesn't alter. He simply watches Loki, almost unblinking. Taking him in.

He seems almost at ease, now that the initial shock of surprise has passed. The more you can observe about a target, the better.

Loki has posed:
"Well. You aren't, anymore." Loki just drops that gem, smiles with appreciation about that, but continues, "What you probably don't know ... is that Ellisandra has since been discovered to be a murdering witch, who planned to poison him," Loki continues, having some more yogurt, eyes dropping to it. "So there are NO groomsman, now. I've dealt with her, of course. And he's fine, physically."

Loki swirls the spoon, eyes down, before he looks up again, finally. "The favor. I want you to be his friend, cheer him up, out of the loss of his betraying bride. He's not ... /coping/ well." Loki tilts his head, watching the pair of them. His smile is sleek, relaxed. He's enjoying the confusion. "Yes, really."

Loki has some more yogurt.

Captain America has posed:
Wow -- that's some news. The Captain's face cycles through shock, anger, concern, and finally lands on a simple if sincere wariness that wars with the previous emotion.

"That'll put a damper on Janet's plans." It's more an idle comment to himself than anything else. Still, he adds, looking dead at Loki, "I'll do you the favor of consoling Thor while he recovers from this sudden turn of events. Done."

But oh god: now comes the second favor. It's like a damned roulette wheel. Steve hazards it won't be both of his favors in one fell swoop, not the dragon of oath slain in such a quick, clean death. Nope. This second one's probably still going to Bucky. Already, his shoulders are tensing up as he looks obliquely at the Soldier and back to Loki again as he waits to hear that it is.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Apparently Buck suspects the same thing. He doesn't react to that news - has he even ever met Thor, beyond that one unfortunate encounter? There's a flicker of something in his gaze, but he's not going to just up and say, out loud, "Prince Loki, that's a bullshit favor and you know it, what do you really want?"

His dog's decided that Loki is interesting, however, and is waving her tail, tentatively.

Loki has posed:
"I'll raise the stakes if you prefer," Loki says mildly to Bucky's expression, but he doesn't linger on it.

"Moving on. Favor two. I have a facility where some rather disturbing testing is being done on some people that truly don't deserve what's being done to them. I want you to heroically bust in, end the tests, save the people, et-cetera," Loki says, as if he were describing a cake that he wanted made. The icing should have a buttery aftertaste, guys.

"It's a 'dead or alive' sort of situation for the villains there, but so long as they're arrested, fine." Loki looks to the dog, smiling a little. He extends a hand, intending to pet her head. There's no aggression in it.

"You see why I was texting you urgently; in particular, there's a timeline with this second thing. The longer it takes, the worse it gets, I suspect."

Loki also smiles briefly, "If you want to owe another favor, I'll tell you why I'm not doing it myself, but maybe you're smart enough to figure it out."

Captain America has posed:
Loki's initial comment at his friend gets a visible wrinkle of Steve's nose before he smoothes this away. No doubt the Barnes expression of 'you're full of shit' is strong with the man right now. The description of the next favor has the Captain overtly looking over at Bucky now. He keeps his eyes on the man, not daring to look away in case he misses some reaction -- this is a task for the ages, a clarion call for the Soldier.

As to the offer of another favor: "Thanks, but we'll talk about it over coffee," replies Steve, unamused.

Winter Soldier has posed:
It's a little too perfect for him. Loki had his sticky little Jotun fingers in Buck's brain, he's got to know where the buttons are hidden in all that hot mess. "Who's doing the testing?" he says. "And do you really have no strong opinion on if the perps end up dead or not?" He doesn't have an ounce of compunction when it comes to killing, does he?

Loki has posed:
"I'm not your conscience; I just require that my name needs to stay out of it. Just as much as it does favor number one. I'm entirely not involved." Loki does seem indifferent about the death thing. "I assume you aren't ready to go at this moment. So I'll give you a magical portal," Loki says. He finishes his yogurt, and slides both of his hands around the yogurt cup. Magic curves in beautiful golden chains, settling into the cheap Styrofoam, while Loki concentrates on it.

"Turn it upside down when you want the portal to open," he instructs, and then offers to hand over the 'trash' to Bucky. The spoon is included.

"Who?" Loki repeats, and then judges whether he wants to give away the ending or not. "The leader is Dr. Jeloza, if I remember rightly. Interview him, take more Avengers with you, throw a party, whatever. Just do what I asked for, and the favor is square."

Captain America has posed:
Steve eyes the enchanted yogurt cup as if it might bite him. He looks to Loki again and squints, unimpressed still with all of this -- and frankly, still eating himself alive in recrimination about not furthering his heel-dug stance about the four favors in total.

"Gotta look up Dr. Jeloza, see what there is on him," he asides to Bucky. Apparently, the blonde's not sitting this one out, not if he has to say anything about it.

Winter Soldier has posed:
"You're staying home. Gotta comfort the big guy." Buck....now that deadpan is just being an asshole. "I'm gonna do this one. Just waltz in with my single self and my surety of of my own righteousness to protect me."

Is he giving Steve Rogers grief? Oh, yes, yes, he is. But he takes the cup, gently, in his human hand. No use squishing the magic with the metal fumble fingers and causing an arcane disaster here.

Loki has posed:
Loki watches the pair of them with an amused manner, doing nothing that requires them to watch him: in a way, simply folding back into the background, to let the guys bicker and snipe each other.

Maybe Loki's set the guys up to die, one at a time, in various uncomfortable situations. One, hugged to death by bawling Thor; the other, killed in a park due to being too snarky.

Captain America has posed:
Loki could have suddenly gone bleach-white in hair and tap-danced his way off-stage like Michigan J. Frog for all he has Steve's attention. Now the blonde's turned fully towards Bucky, holding up his hands out at his sides as if to plead with the world to explain this turn of events.

"Staying home, huh? Who do you think you are, my mother? You don't get to tell me what to do, Barnes! And knock off the dogmatism before I knock off your -- Inhaling sharply, Steve tries to compose himself. "Y'know what, no: you get a team. You don't do this by yourself."

Winter Soldier has posed:
There's a bright flicker of Buck's gaze to Loki - he's *amused*. I see what you're doing there, Mischief. Then back to Steve.

"No?" he asks, mildly. "Just figuring I'd follow standard Steve Rogers procedure. But if you insist. Research first. All too easy for someone to send one of the world's best assassins after someone who maaaaybe doesn't deserve killing after all."

Loki has posed:
Loki DOES disappear, in a subtle way, that when they look for him, he's just not there. It's a method of warping the air, or brushing the edges of minds, or all of the above - because when they go to look for him (eventually), Loki is gone.

Captain America has posed:
"Hah hah. Is this some form of reverse psychology about comparing battle plans? Because all you're doing is sounding like some jumped-up post-doc who thinks he's too clever for the damn tweed socks he's wearing." Look at that Steve glower. "And damn straight research first. Hurtling in after this guy could be a disaster. SHIELD's gotta have something on him."

Actualizing a plan seems to be soothing the prickled Captain. He smoothes a palm back over his hair, messing it up to some extent. "But the wedding...." A hard sigh. "I gotta speak to Thor." There it is, shown in front of Barnes and not in front of Loki: sympathy for an hurt friend.

The Trickster knew what arrow to aim at the big heart after all.

Winter Soldier has posed:
A glance around betrays that Loki's gone...and Buck kneels down to give Lili a thorough belly-scritching. "That's too bad," he says. "But then, from what I understand, it was a political marriage, right? Not like he was passionately in love with her?"

God, don't let him get anywhere near the subject of Peggy.

Captain America has posed:
There's something low and painful in his chest still blossoming, like a heartburn but more snarled yet. Steve looks around too regardless and indeed sees that the Trickster god is gone, leaving them with two favors to be fulfilled and a sparkling yogurt cup, spoon and all.

"I didn't get the impression that he loved her deeply, but he's...he's the kind of guy that keeps stuff like that close to the vest. We'll see what he has to say." Steve still scoffs a little. "...if he has anything to say at all. Might turn to sitting and drinking. Hopefully not arm-wrestling, we broke a table last time doing that."

Winter Soldier has posed:
"Betrayal always hurts, even if it's not the love of your life," Buck allows, looking up. Lili the dog is looking positively derpy, lolling her pink tongue out of the side of her mouth, sprawled on her back. He sighs. "Well, I bet you can make Thor feel better."

Then he looks at the cup. "If I just squashed it, d'you think I'd end up in Asgard?"

Captain America has posed:
A long-suffering sigh leaves Steve. He rubs at his eyes, his other hand on his hip.

"I don't wanna have to pull you out of Asgard because you got a wild hare and wanted to see what happens when you break something the God of Tricks gave you." This is revenge.

This must be revenge for all of those years of his own martyr-like decisions.

Winter Soldier has posed:
It *is* revenge, and it is as sweet as a double white mocha, yes, yes, it is. "I'm going to take good care of it," he says. "And have it locked down, in the meanwhile. Because I'm sure it's a trap."

Lili wriggles, happily. Buck's decided to sit down and keep rubbing her belly. Doesn't he want to go home and sleep in relative safety in the Triskelion?

Captain America has posed:
"Bet you coffee it's a trap," the Captain agrees wholeheartedly. That shiny cup gets a nice hard look. Bald eagles seem more friendly than that look. It lessens when he sees the antics of Lili because dogs do tend to defuse situations.

"Thrilled to see you use caution for once. Look, let's..." Steve scans the area again, back to glowering once more. "Let's blow this popsicle stand. There's research to do and I don't like the idea of him lording this over us any longer than need be."

Still 'us', apparently.