It would probably come as a surprise to anyone that there were any villains missing the two heroes. At least, it should do. Two of the biggest heroes, gone? That meant dozens more potential successes with any criminal acts they would have otherwise stopped.

Things were a little more complicated when the villain was related to one of them.

Leif had laughed when he’d seen the news at first- it had been running in the common room at Metropolis University as he’d come in. He had been expecting the familiar tingle of his lie detection, expecting them to pop up at any second from the ground. That’s what happened to Thor every time this sort of thing occurred with him. His laugh slowly died away as the tingle kept refusing to come.

But that was okay. That just meant that the explosion was real. Hadn’t the previous Captain Marvel been able to absorb energy? He was still shaking his head, having received enough stares from the other students.

”Come on, it’s Thorson and Captain Marvel. If they both get killed off that easil-“

And that was when the commentator started explaining how they had died. And he wasn’t lying. Of course, he couldn’t be sure whether they had all the facts, but he couldn’t see what else might have happened. He hated his lie detection.

Leif’s expression hardened for just an instant.

”No way.” His voice was quiet, calm, and far too collected for most people who had just heard their cousin’s death announced live.

In fact he seemed calmer than most of the students who had nothing to do with it. The few who knew anything about how he reacted to personal loss would still have struggled to recognise it, so good was his mask.

He stayed for a few minutes, then made his excuses, left, found the first secluded spot he could, and vanished.

Leif appeared in New York City instants afterwards. Aatsuk had already arrived. He was immune to any toxins from the bomb that might be present, and he knew that. It was worth being here even if he weren’t. It was as close as he would come to paying respects.

His cousin was dead. Hopefully, hopefully they’d gotten their facts wrong. His lie detection would make a mistake then. It just didn’t feel right. He couldn’t believe it, but he wasn’t being lied to. It made no sense.

And he was so disappointed in this. It wasn’t that Leif cared about or for his cousin. It was that now Gizmo had taken that step, Leif had missed out on decades’ worth of irritation and mind-games (not to mention the crime itself, although whether he could have done that was a different question); or so he told himself.

”Thief. He stole that.”

”Thank you for that briefing.”

Leif made his way forwards, trying to make his communicating with the bird as subtle as he could. Luckily, not many people were out in this area, at least, not compared to usual, probably due to the news.

He found a spot on the sea wall- he hadn’t been far in land to start with- and sat himself down, looking out at the bay. Here, no one could see his face without him intending them to. It was an amazing liberty. So was actually being able to talk to the Jackdaw who had landed on the rocks below him, and not just relying on whatever magic she ran by.

”I had one job.”

”Have. You can still cause a good amount of ch-“

”But I can’t specifically affect him anymore.” Leif’s eyes had found their ways to his knees, and were unlikely to be moving soon. ”Lokison and Thorson, I was meant to be the perpetually annoying younger cousin. Always.”

He still felt like he’d been lied to. He really did. But how could he have been? He had stuck around (only half listening after that first shock) to hear the story before leaving.

”On this Earth most heroes are not dead for long.” Aatsuk had a mischievous tone.

Leif smiled just very briefly. ”And yet they’re only ever restored by powerful scientists or magicians or-“ His expression turned steely. ”You’re suggesting that I do that. You know he’s probably already in Valhalla, don’t you?” He was unimpressed. He had never performed necromancy, did not plan to, and did not want to have to deal with the repercussions directly, nor his sister ad infinitum afterwards. Messing with goddesses of death is never recommended.

”It’s known that heroes tend to resurrect more frequently when they are more needed. And if they will soon be pivotal, they will come back.”

”Well, that may need a little more planning, and, though I am loathe to say it, assistance.” He had switched to their mental link at this last comment. It would help fend against anyone who might use that as an excuse in any way. ”From anyone who could be charmed into it.”


(OoC: What do you mean unreliable narration? That would be ridiculous. Though seriously there is a little unreliable narration, meaning you are very free to bend some of the things I have put here if you want.)

And I can't stop 'til the whole world knows my name

Lilura had been home when it happened. In her spell room, to be exact. There were runes all over the walls and, upon the floor, was a large pentagram with more runes around it. She had been sitting cross-legged in the middle of it, a small bowl full of ground herbs and oils in front of her. She was in the middle of a spell, one for location specifically when it hit her. She may not be an actual born witch, but she was intune enough with nature and the magical energies to feel the impact, especially as close as it was to her apartment. It was like a wave of energy had passed through her. Something mystical had been... relocated? Dispersed? Destroyed? She wasn't entirely sure. What she did know, however, was it didn't feel right.

Still, she tried to continue with her spell, though now there was that nagging, that prickling, that feeling in the back of her head. Something had happened. Something bad. And it had been in her city. Her cat, Jonah, let out a pathetic mewl to get her attention, padding through the circle to get to her. There were days she wished she had gone to Agatha to get the cat enchanted, make him the proper familiar she needed. Actually, she might do that soon. But for now, she would deal with not explicitly understanding the cat. A soft sigh escaped her as she picked it up and got to her feet. "Fine, Ah'll see what da news says. Ah'm sho' it's nothin', though," she muttered. If something important happened, it'd be on the news. Or Agatha would call her.

However, it wasn't just nothing like she had hoped. As she turned on the news, the first thing she saw was 'Captain Marvel and Scion killed'. She didn't expect that to hit her like it did. When she saw the news, the remote fell from her hands. The white cat was lucky he didn't fall get dropped as well. Her eyes stayed glued to the screen. She was occasionally on a team with one of the two that died. The other she only knew a small bit about. Heard the name, mostly. But she knew the sort of power those two had. The sort of energy impact their death caused had been felt by the faux witch. She wasn't upset, not really. But she knew what it meant. If people like them could be killed that easily, what about someone like her? She could bend reality, but that was about it. She felt extremely mortal in that monent.

She didn't even turn the television off, she hadn't gotten the chance to put the cat down. Her mind, her soul, her very being wanted to be gone from that place, wanted to be somewhere else. Everything inside her was screaming. And her powers, her want, her need, it granted itself. The smallest flick of her wrist in an attempt to get the remote back into her hand and the reddish energy that seemingly constantly swirled inside of her surrounded her and she was gone. Jonah's fur was on end when they reappeared by the docks. The moment her feet touched down, she collapsed. Teleportation like that didn't usually take much out of her, though the force of it likely used up far more energy than usual. The cat tried nudging her for awhile before curling up on her.

It was, perhaps, an hour or two later that she roused from it all. Her head felt light and the initial panick of walking up there hit her hard. Jonah was practically flung off of her from the speed in which she sat up. Her hands came up defensively in front of her, fingers curling as energy crackled around them. For a moment, she even held her breathe. Then she remembered what had happened and that panic welled up even more. She was having her own little extisential crisis, panicking about the death of powerful beings. She supposed she was in the perfect place to try and clear it from her thoughts. The docks. And, from the smell of the air, still New York. You don't need super smelling to know that scent.

Hearing a voice, she scooped up the cat and got to her feet. Jonah moved to sit around her neck as she started to move towards. Better to focus on someone at the docks than the thought that her own death could be just as simple. Just as imminent. She saw him sitting off one of the piers (I'm assuming), a bird not too far from him. She crept slowly towards him, her hands finding their way into her jean pockets. "Pretty shady findin' a guy lookin' like you sittin' off da docks. 'Specially when dey're talkin' to demselves." The usual uncaring tone was gone from her tone, bits of panic still filling her. If her hands weren't stuffed into her pockets, they would probably be visibly shaking.

834

@lokijr

Did the post on my ride home because something compelled me to steal this. I was initially gonna find a way to plausibly toss Leste in here but i couldn't think of something that wasn't 'monster hunting' xD and Leif didn't need that. And Lilu's been super musy. So here is your little bundle of chaotic magical energies for your disposal my dear~ Also, this was super rambly for no reason. I am so sorry about that ^^; If you need anything changed, just let me know!

'Cause I was only born inside my dreams

✿

The docks had been chosen by him for at least some point. He had not spent any time- so far as he could remember- with T’Shan or his sister, so it was a good place to get away from any reminders of the chaos he’d be missing out on in future. He also could predict that no-one he knew was likely to be here, which was the larger factor.

It was probably good for his wellbeing for him to have someone to talk to. His intentions of talking someone into helping him cause destruction and chaos maybe wouldn’t help him so well.

Aatsuk made a gentle squawk at the presence of the cat, and at its proximity, before she sprang up from the rocks on the shoreline, and landed closer by to Leif. She could very easily get away from the cat should she want, but posing herself near to him still seemed to have some reassurance for her.

”A guy “looking like me”? I assure you, I can take care of myself, if that’s what you mean.” That didn’t seem the most likely explanation for what she meant; not that he meant it to be.

”From my understanding, most people have at least two narrators within their heads anyway. Some have more, and some don’t stay in their heads. Freud had the idea, probably not for the first time. The point is, anyway, that you almost certainly talk to yourself in your head all the time, so there’s not a lot of difference.”

Aatsuk laughed in her raucous Chyaks, and thus earned a little swatting from Leif. She jumped up and flew about a foot from his hand.

”Tell me; am I your elder voice then?”

”I sincerely hope not.” Leif hoped the young woman had no means to understand what was said like this between the two of them. It appeared she didn’t anyway, seeing as she had assumed he was talking to himself. ”I promise I don’t normally spout nonsense like that. “

Leif’s lie detection didn’t stop at words. Her body language seemed more relaxed than the tingling of his lie detection that accompanied it suggested she really felt. He noted the position of her hands. Definitely nervous- but about what? It couldn’t be him. If it were, she wouldn’t have come up to him, and secondly he had no idea why she would be, at least, yet. It had to be something else, and he could see at least one more reasonable theory. If she was just a citizen, then from her perspective she had just lost one of the Avengers who were protecting her and her city. That sentiment would likely carry through for anyone but villains, though. Most villains, that is.

”I’m just… thrown off by what happened earlier. I know it’s bad for everyone, but I- I lost one of my relatives, and I never thought he would die because of something that wasn’t at least a monster of some sort.”He might be admitting his relations to T’Shan, but that came a long way short of admitting how.

”Self-depreciating humour I see.”

Leif shot the bird a murderous look. Sometimes he could see why Celeste wanted to take the fast route with the bird.

He felt like his charm had collapsed flat on its face. He was shocked, and in vagrant denial, and that, for once, meant his emotions were at least present, to an extent. In the circumstances, that would probably do more to endear him to her than anything else, though; It was easier to lie to a person once they knew a little about you, and someone would have to be truly emotionless to not have some legitimate reaction to the seeming death of their cousin.



(OoC: Nah this is good XD. And yup that’s fine to assume XD)

And I can't stop 'til the whole world knows my name

Lilura moved a bit closer, one hand coming out of her pocket to reach up and pet the cat just a bit as if that was something of a comfort to her. It wasn't much, not really, but it was enough for her to at least gather herself together. The panic would likely stay, there was nothing that was going to take that out of her voice. How could it? There was the small part of her that wished she was a little closer to her team, closer in some way that would give her more of a reason to care, but she wasn't. Just the idea that one was killed, though. It was still rather hard for her to swallow. Not only that, but it was two entities, to powerhouses, that were meant to show that no matter what, everyone was safe. They were people that gave something of a beacon of hope, something she knew she could never do. Her own mind was often too twisted, too broken. She had moments when she was barely herself. There was some part of her that liked to think this was one of those moments. But if she was truly honest with herself, this was one of those moments that she was truer to herself than she'd ever even realize.

Still, she shook her head lightly, trying to give something of a small chuckle at his words, though it came off rather pathetically. "Ah dun mean dat at all, hun. Ah think Ah'm one o' tha first ta undahstand dat looks are seriously deceivin'," she said softly. She had meant, more so, that it was shady seeing someone off the docks at all, especially at this time. Talking to themselves, however, just made it all the more odd. She couldn't even begin to list the number of times she had heard of shootings or drug deals going down at these sort of places. And that was just the lower-level felonies that usually seemed to take place at docks. One could never really trust someone they met down here. Still, she couldn't really say much. Of all the places her mind had taken her, of all the spots all over the world, it'd been here. So she was probably just about as shady looking herself.

There was apart of her that wanted to take a seat at the edge, but she didn't do so just yet. Her hand moved away from the cat to go back into her pocket as she felt them start to shake slightly. The nerves were still there. She didn't need anyone to see that. Not at all. Lilu's eyes glanced to the bird a moment before going back to the stranger, listening to what he had to say. "S'pose dat's an int'restin' way of lookin' at it. Still, by societal definition, still a little kooky ta walk up on. 'Sides, I was only teasin'. Ah'm sho' e'ryone talks to demselves at somepoint. It's all about whethah o' not you answer yo'self." And yet she was sure she'd been guilty of that as well, quite a few times at that. It just depended on the day, really.

Lilura might not have something as nice as lie detection, but she was able to read people rather well, or at least she liked to think so. She had thought that the panic in herself was bad, seeing his face, hearing his voice, she knew that it had to be worse for him, especially with those words he spoke. She was quiet a moment before moving to the edge. She had to take her hands out of her pocket so she could take a seat at the edge, her eyes turning towards the quiet water. "Ah lost a teammate. Well, kinda... Ah still jus'... how can anyone do dat ta people like them?"

xxx	@lokijr
life was mean to me >_< sorry for this delay. hope the post is alright!

'Cause I was only born inside my dreams

✿

Leif raised his eyebrows slightly at the woman’s weak chuckle. He twisted round a little to get a better look at her after her comment on deceptive looks. She certainly didn’t look threatening, and Leif assumed she was talking about herself. Leif didn’t tend to keep too up to date with other people’s perceptions of things, seeing as most of the time they were full of lies. He knew the docks were seen as a shady place, yes, but never put much stock in it- at least, not in there being much he couldn’t handle easily himself. Thus he hadn’t really considered her at all in that light until her comment. It just didn’t seem to fit her, though.

”Depends what society you’re from. And maybe I don’t mind being seen as kooky.” Kooky was a pretty good description of the other realms from a Midgardian view, Leif couldn’t help thinking. And it certainly wasn’t the worst thing that someone could be. Not compared to “willing to straight-up murder two heroes who pretty much everyone seemed to at least like among the non-supervillain population”. ”I quite agree, and I don’t plan on doing that. I already had enough crazy in my life before this, I don’t need to add more.” He tried to put on a slightly jokey tone, and years of hiding his emotions allowed it to be fairly convincing, apart from the current situation.

Leif nodded at her confession and looked back down at the water. ”There’s a few reasons I can think of, but nothing satisfactory. Sometimes, sometimes villains will get frustrated with their situation and try to remove the hero who’s stopping them, if there is one, but, as far as I’m aware, most times they half-ass it and the hero escapes anyway. Besides, it’d get boring if every heist you pulled worked, right?” The attempted light tone really wasn’t helping him. ”The guy who did it must have something seriously broken in his head.”

To mess with the Avengers, and, more seriously (in Leif’s eyes), the royalty of both Asgard and Wakanda, required someone to be so.