closed | date but not date-date (UNLESS...)

[favoriteanalyst]

WHO: Loki, Mobius
WHAT: Dinner and a drink, with some odd canon update shenaniganry
WHEN: a wednesday in early drakonis
WHERE: Kirkwall, evening, a tavern called ~The Innocent Magpie~
NOTES: after this conversation

It's fine. It's all fine. Nothing Loki has said about himself, and nothing Sylvie has said about him, will deter Mobius from making good on Loki's offer of food and drink. Even if, in all technicality, it had been Mobius' idea first for the vague flirtation around the bonfire.

He hasn't spoken to Provost Stark about the events that had been described. It's tempting. He might have to, just to get another perspective on the whole thing. But he tries not to let it bother him. Whatever happens to their enemy, he knows that Loki is making a conscious choice to be better. And if he can't give someone a chance, then...what's the point?

It does amuse him that he keeps getting drinks with people with no real effort involved. Though perhaps Loki and Sylvie have...similar tastes? Astarion mostly just wanted to suss him out and not say no to a free drink. However he feels now is anyone's guess. He arrives at the ferry dock at the Gallows right around the appointed time. He can see the boat on its way, and he's eager to meet up with Loki.

Who doesn't show. And doesn't show. And doesn't show. He's willing to give the benefit of the doubt, but once the ferry arrives, he boards reluctantly and takes out his crystal.

"Ferry's leaving in a second. Where are you at?"

Comments

[icasm]

"But I'm so good at that," Loki jokes a little, smiling a little self-depreciatingly. He knows he gets stuck in spirals of negative emotions, he's at least that self-aware.

At the mention of a walk Loki raises his eyebrows and nods. "That sounds like a good idea, honestly."

[favoriteanalyst]

"Yeah? Okay, that's a plan. We'll keep an eye out for ne'er-do-wells and pickpockets and the like and just...take in Kirkwall at night. And I'll do my best to keep you from mentally running off somewhere to get trampled under a train of wagons."

[icasm]

"I appreciate it," Loki admits. They don't have much food to finish, thankfully, because now that the suggestion has been made he is itching to go outside. Something something not being able to wait for a thing to happen and being incredibly impulsive.

"I promise I'm not always so... morose." Loki shakes his head a little. "Sometimes I'm even fun, can you believe that?"

[favoriteanalyst]

"You? Fun?" Mobius grins. While he hasn't personally witnessed it much save for some fun side conversations over the crystal, he can see it. "I get the feeling your brand of fun doesn't always align with everyone else. But I absolutely believe you can be fun."

[icasm]

"Oh?" He smirks, a little, clearing his plate after a moment. Mobius can elaborate on that or not as he chooses, Loki won't press (this time). Instead he gets out coins to pay, once he's done, and gestures towards Mobius with a nod. "Ready to head out?"

[favoriteanalyst]

He definitely can elaborate, but he won't, at the moment. He kind of likes this tease now, or likes to see it as a tease. All that's left to do is drain the rest of his tankard and offer up his arm on their way out. "No plans on where to head to, so if you know a spot you want to go, or just want to wander aimlessly in circles, or just stand by the docks for the sea breeze..."

[icasm]

That's nice, isn't it? The offered arm. Loki takes it after the barest of hesitations, a smile playing at his lips. "Well. I think a lot of that depends on if you'd rather spend the time between now and dawn back at the Gallows or in Hightown. There's a guest room, if that changes your consideration at all." There's a non-zero chance that Sylvie will knock on the door at some ungodly hour, but that's a risk Loki is willing to take.

[favoriteanalyst]

"And is that where you would want me to be, the guest room?"

Kissing is still not out of the question, though he wonders if it wouldn't be better if Loki was a little more stable and sure of himself and where they stand with each other first. The outside air, downright cold in comparison to the warm tavern, is bracing. Maybe it'll put thoughts of just which bed he could end up in on the backburner.

"Can I ask, and this isn't a judgement thing--is there a line for you anywhere, between friends and bedmates?"

[icasm]

"Oh, definitely not." He just thought it was polite to offer, after all. "However, I wouldn't want you to feel pressured."

Loki considers Mobius' second question for a moment, in the relative quiet of Kirkwall at night. "There are some friends I would not sleep with, I think." Abby is the first one that comes to mind. "But that is more about what I understand their tastes to be, than about myself."

[favoriteanalyst]

"So there isn't really a line," Mobius concludes. It's good to know, actually. Means no expectations of anything more, means intimacy won't make the friendship go screwy. "Is it a way to express yourself? Your love, in a way? Or am I reading too deep into that?" Some people just be horny all the time.

[icasm]

"I suppose not." Has he really thought about it? Not really. Sex has been such a natural part of his life for so long.

But Mobius' other question gives him pause. Once he would have said no, and been fine with that answer. Now? "I think you're on to something, perhaps." A shrug. "It's different, here." He weighs and measures who he sleeps with against how others might feel about it, which is not a familiar activity.

[favoriteanalyst]

"Lotta things different here, I imagine." They stroll down the street, arm in arm. He has no destination and should really decide if he's going to go back to the Gallows or stick around. Even if all they do is talk, because Loki is fascinating.

"I don't get around as much as I used to." Different to move to a city where no one knows you, where you have to find whatever honest work comes by to get by day to day. Different without the security of a sure bed and sure meals, with known entities. With convenient nooks and crannies to get something quick done, breathless laughter and muted moans.

Hm. Which frankly, Riftwatch and the Gallows can provide. Even if he's not as young as he once was. But also there are people in relationships here, so. That's something to be aware of.

[icasm]

Loki takes a breath, nods. "Things become both simplified and utterly complicated in a war effort. In a place where people are being pressed toward, due to external factors, and the fact that many of us can't leave or imagine being able to do so."

He gestures with his free hand. "For me, there has not been the need to remain in one place for so long in years and years. Now there are people that I consider close, whose opinions on my behavior matter. Also new. So I, too, don't 'get around' as much as I used to."