02 🍆 SO PARDON ME WHILE I BURST INTO FLAMES

[pillz]

Characters: Joseph Kavinsky & CR
Summary: First, Kavinsky is hassling Loki Odinson into taking a care ride with him. Some time later, Kavinsky is running away from his problems and straight into a vampire-consuming ball of fire called the first light of dawn, when a handsome blue-skinned bandito appears out of nowhere (because he can teleport).
Date(s): One fine mORNING in late January 2018
Warnings/Notes: Burning, graphic description of pain; mentions of past drug use, etc.



closed to Loki;

[it's not by prearrangement that the dream thief finds the god of mischief. mere coincidence with a dash of luck, and the fact that there's only so much to do in a population of a few thousand, especially when your magical biology programs you for a distinct inclination into staying up deep into the nights when other people are asleep. it's not like the place is big enough for timezones. there's a slight overlap between nocturnal creatures and people who, as a matter of course, happen to live on the edge. and who's edgier than loki odinson!

not that kavinsky thinks of it that way, of course. mostly, he's driving around in a fast car with his dog-shaped daemon scuffing around in the back seat, when his headlights flash over the demigod's tall, narrow frame. in a blink of an eye, or the twist of a steering wheel, the dream thief is pulling over to the slick stretch of sidewalk that loki is measuring out with his stride. buzzing the window down as he decelerates.]

Hey, sweetheart, [he calls out, grinning, the shit-eating kind, but all white fangs and gaunt cheeks. he peers out at loki, his heavy eyelids half-mast. he looks like some turd lord frat boy with an excess of designer tattoos-- fire bird blossoming on the side of his neck, skulls peeking out of his arm, under the short sleeves. vampires don't worry about winter weather.] You wanna come for that ride?

closed to Kurt;

[it starts with kavinsky running. he isn't running to any particular place— there's sixty miles of woods out here, and all of it seems repetitive. it wouldn't take long to run in a straight line, but you know woods. trees. trolls. now and then, he's also running from things like that— monsters, creatures of the wood.

at some point, he also runs from his daemon. she's annoying as fuck— warning him two hours before sunrise, then an hour. then forty minutes. she won't shut up, so he leaves her, earphones in, secondary media device blaring what passes for rap in xistentia into his skull. he can get home in ten minutes. he knows. he's done it before, hopping mossy trunks and cutting through rows of corn fields. once he hits the outer roads, he knows the way. it's easy. he doesn't need the fucking dog; she always catches up to him at home.

but there's something about shame and longing and grief and loneliness, which are also things that he is running from, invisible but powerful nonetheless, that have a way of dilating time, more than any drug that he used to take to medicate away those feelings. and he doesn't know, he doesn't notice, until the heat starts to seep through the blue air of pre-dawn, like summer warmth, except pain flares in his next step and

then

he's swearing, bolting, slamming up against a tree, fleeing into the tall shadow of the next one, his eyes roving the woods in a panic, disoriented by his own terror. pain starts at the edge of his shoulder. and like a child, he begins brokenly to cry.]

Comments

[pillz]

[maybe there was a time when the amusement in loki's eye would've irked kavinsky a little bit, needled his man pride, made him think he had to drive real reckless.

...

that's still kind of how he feels now, let's be real. but also: loki seems complicated, and is handsome, and very likely troubled, so that also is a good reason for kavinsky to pop the passenger side door open. and smile a little wider as the jotun slides in.] So, [he says.] What were you, picking up tonight? [he jerks his head at the establishment near where loki had been a moment ago. incidentally, a nightclub.] You know there's this whole Earth thing about fucking in bathrooms. Even vampires do it.

[it's kind of, but not really, like telling loki about how to date rafaello.]

[dothelokimotion]

[ A flicker of something passes through his face, as if he's recalling something in particular before it smooths over into a lascivious smirk, crossing his legs while he's in the seat. ]

Fucking in a bathroom sounds disgusting. Are there not enough places to do so?

[pillz]

There's lots of places, [kavinsky says.] But the idea is there's lots of places. And there's some fairy tale quote, ain't there? Desire ain't always lessened by disgust.

[i just googled this and apparently it's a cassandra clare quote, which would ordinarily mean i would delete it in disgust with the universe, but it's kavinsky, who's just gross and ridiculous anyway so i guess it can stay.]

Don't tell me that's how it's always worked for you.

[dothelokimotion]

[ Acceptable. ]

I am a prince and a god. Things generally work out for me.

[ This is bullshit, but it is bullshit Loki partially believes and partially willing to fuel his own narrative. Why not? ]

[pillz]

There you go then, [kavinsky says. they pull out further from the 'night life' zone, and the lights start to grow a little less neon, a little further apart. people walking around in -- more clothing, instead of what passes for club wear across the multiverse. it turns out that no matter how diverse cultures are, in general, when you're trying to get sexy, you forego shapeless sweaters and coverup.]

Who's that blond guy, anyway? The one who was pimping you out on the fucking Internet the other week. When you were trying real hard not to look touched and sentimental.

[his smile is sly as a rabid fox's. flashing headlights take them fast into the dark, the whole car vibrating with something akin to anxiety.]

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki shoots him a querulous look, not sure of how much Kavinsky knows before replying wryly. ]

You mean my brother, Thor?

[pillz]

[a flash of white fangs in return. kavinsky's amused.]

You fuckers don't exactly look alike, hey, [he answers.] What's up with him? You guys got a weird vibe.

[dothelokimotion]

[ His reply is clipped. ] I'm adopted.

[ Weird vibe indeed. Frown lines deepen on his face. It's been a few weeks since Thor accosted him at the succubus' party. There is a lot they have not discussed and Loki once more feels the cloying touch of doubt. That now that the deed is done, Thor will just discard him. Be done. And he, the fool, had let it happen. ]

I don't know what you mean.

[pillz]

Pretty sure you do, [kavinsky says.] But you know, I got taught manners by the best mom in the multiverse, after the one who spent my whole fucking adolescence having bulimia in the bathroom. So I ain't pushing it. I got manners, sweetheart.

[no. he doesn't. but he is accelerating into the darkness, and squinting the car windows down a bit more so the crisp winter air blows sexily through loki's hair. and that's important.]

Hey. You like magic?

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki combs a hand through his hair. Flying is not something he does often or chooses to. And shapeshifting is a difficult art, even if it's one Loki has mastered. ]

I think that would speak for itself. I am a God of magic.

[pillz]

Congratulations, sweetheart, [says kavinsky, who also likes magic. he's considerably less keen on god, but he's pretty flexible except when he's not.]

I'll show you mine if you show me yours. But first you gotta tell me something you miss from home. Use some good adjectives. Let me envision it.

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki purses his lips in a thin line. Thinking about Asgard was difficult, though not impossible. There's always a strain of pain and nostalgia Loki hasn't been able to fully dismiss from his mind. ]

Idunn's apples. They were golden and round. Soft. They melted in your mouth and brought you to life.

[pillz]

[idunn's apples. not a myth that kavinsky is terribly familiar with, but the god of mischief gives good description. there's a beat's pause, and then the dream thief starts to pull over toward the side of the road.

by now, they're further away from the more populated parts of the city. some pedestrians will look in on them from the road, but it's not particularly noteworthy to anybody on the outside when kavinsky starts to tip his seat back. he flattens out his skinny hips, sticks his fingers into his pocket to try and extricate something small...

...pills. vivid gold.]

If I ain't awake in five minutes, I'd appreciate it if you'd call someone and not just, you know, leave my cold vampire corpus in a car and take off for plausible deniability, [he says. loki do you feel called out now!!] Or burn it. You get me?

[dothelokimotion]

I make no promises.

[ Because he's an asshole. But he's a curious asshole, so he merely watches to see what Kavinsky will do. ]

cw sexual vulgarity

[pillz]

[kavinsky aims a harmless punch at the demigod's arm, laughing like a crow in the dark. then he slaps the pill in his mouth, lies back, closes his eyes.

for a moment, he appears to go dead. not just vampire-dead, but dead-dead, an inanimate corpse instead of one possessed by the mysterious dark magics that rafaello had brought from his world. still as a body being prepared for the funerary games. no twitch, no breath. no tremble of try-hard pretend.

the long seconds pass. they stretch into minutes. outside, a night creature wanders through the trees, and a skein of bats passes overhead. the car sits quiet. in the distance, there's a little bit of other traffic, but not much at all. and then

then

abruptly, kavinsky awakens. with a cough, blinking his big hollow eyes. and on his lap, there's an apple, rich, gold, bigger than one of thor's fists. there's only one flaw on it, but loki can't see from where he's sitting.]

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki eyes the apple and eyes Kavinsky thoughtfully, his eyes shadowed and weighty — like he's gathering winds. ]

Did you pull that out from my head?

[pillz]

No, sweetheart. [kavinsky grins. two little white fangs descended from his upper jaw.] I stole it from someone else. You did a good job describing, though. You ever thought about writing stories? Singing some epic songs?

[he tosses the apple, catches it again. and then loki can see: there's a worm poking out of the apple, pink as flesh. it's wiggling avidly, trying to escape.]

That was on purpose.

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki highly doubts that. Every piece of magic has a weakness, a flaw. A way to cripple strength. Magic should not overthrow the rules after all. They're allowed leeway. ]

I have the gift of the gab, as people call it.

[pillz]

[loki is right. and kavinsky's never been much of a creator; he's more of a thief.]

In other words, you're good with your tongue.

[kavinsky smiles. all teeth. he'd wormed his way out of his safety belt already. now, he puts the wormy golden apple in the cupholder and he swings a skinny leg over the compartment in between them.]

True or false, sweetheart?

[dreaming an apple is a little like buying someone dinner.]

[dothelokimotion]

[ He chuckles softly, a low silvery sound. ]

Why would I give a straight answer to that?

jk i guess he'll kiss him earlier in timeline now, powerpose, lmk if not ok

[pillz]

Who said anything about straight? [the vampire brat replies. and then he leans over, an easy tip of an angle like pitching a knife into the heart of a target.

except that the target is loki's mouth. which kavinsky is trying to hit with his own mouth, not to hurt him, but with a wolfish kind of eagerness— wolf puppy, maybe. no slobber, just all puffy lips and half-hidden fangs.]

[dothelokimotion]

[ He considers being a little cruel, but even Loki holds a strange fondness for Kavinsky. The boy who tries so hard while pretending he's beyond it all. He cups Kavinsky's chin with lithe and abnormally strong fingers as he deepens the kiss, scraping his teeth over Kavinsky's lower lip. ]

[pillz]

[years of making out and getting better in eudio have made kavinsky an actual decent kisser. used to be he'd just jam his tongue in there. used to be, admittedly, he barely kissed at all. but these days, the feel of someone's mouth-- in this case, loki's mouth— is a haven from misery and regret and missing people he can't have anymore. so it's eagerly that he sucks on loki's bottom lip like it's a piece of candy, his cool nose bending slightly against the jotun's cheek, until

quite by accident, there's a little prick of a fang on loki's bottom lip. and then, just as quick, a wince as the magic in his blood burns the vampire, just a little.]

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki pulls back briefly, his tongue touching the cut before he smiles, bloodthirsty. ]

Careful. There are poisons in my bloodstream that could kill even you.

just kisses loki in every window sorry

[pillz]

[hrrp. that does sting. but despite the pain-- or maybe because of it, kavinsky's heavy-lidded eyes get all crinkly.

he kisses loki again anyway. a little bite of acid on his face, his fangs more careful this time. but nothing about the rest of him is, his tattooed fingers climbing loki's shoulder like a mangy cat.]