Tales Across The Cosmos

Sleep, unfortunately for Loki's raging headache, was near impossible with the current situation he was so abruptly cast into. There was little to nothing comforting about the cave that wasn't the small vibrations that radiated from it: Earth, despite it's multitude of inconveniences, at least had a pleasing energy field. So instead he paced across the damp grounds where warm ground waters seeped upwards, possibly in affinity for his brother's presence. In a fit of rage over his contemplation he froze them, growling at how beautifully they crystallized across the pebbles. He needed to clear his mind before it throbbed into explosion.

Creating a faux hand was a feat so simple that Loki could accomplish it without batting an eye, without even thinking about it. But to create a digit that Thor's body would accept without outside magic influence was a task that he'd never taken on before. There was no need to before this. This was a task for Norns, not he.

But then again, if there were to be a secondary person who could do it it would be him.

He puffed his chest.

Reeds, stream water, and quartz. He started drawing up the list of things he'd need to procure a living, functional hand. Physical magic was admittedly not his strong suit but if he didn't try there surely would be no reason for Thor to keep him around. Lightening, amino acids, iron, and a model. That should be plenty to bring forth from magic a living hand. He hoped.

Looking forward he saw Thor standing in the lightened opening of the cave, his broad shoulders acting almost like a door to the orifice, and n his chest he felt his heart skip a small beat. What would happen if he couldn't do this? It mustn't matter, Loki bombarded himself with the thought, It'll go off without a hitch. So he inhaled and went forth towards the cave opening, coming up behind Thor with a purr that matched the vibrations that bounced about here.

"I think I've got it." Loki spoke over Thor's shoulder, against the sound of the rain in a small surge of confidence. "But you'll have to stand still while I do it."

Turning hastily, Thor gripped the piece of parchment in his fingers and shoved it into his left pocket, angled away so that Loki would not see. He raised his dismembered hand in the air, a distracting serving to draw Loki's eyes elsewhere until he could turn to face his brother with an empty palm.

"May I sit?"

Thor gave a fleeting glance to the entrance of the cave, upon which he summoned the winds to propel the torrents through the mouth, inflicting both of them with a harsh downpour that whipped their hair and clothing, drenching them. "Ah, perhaps deeper in then," Thor quickly amended, nodding Loki in, "I doubt there is little more than a family of bats waiting for us, and I suspect they'd think you their mother anyhow." He curled into a smile but gave Loki a little nudge forward.

The rain hit Loki's face with a wet hiss, prompting his spirits to fall almost immediately with a heady scowl that ruled his brow bone: he'd felt the small bit of magic that his brother had prompted somewhere along his own finger tips. There was a soft growl of thunder out along the horizon that drew a small, incomprehensible shiver down his spine that writhed like a pulsar. He wrinkled his nose at the resulting goosebumps as he allowed himself to be herded down the throat of the world. It had been far too long since he'd been in contact with the elder and the resulting tide of emotions was too much for him to swim through intelligently.

"Well then perhaps they'll help out their uncle-dearest?" Loki tapped into the joke with a dry tongue when he failed to think of a proper retort at the soft grace of Thor's smile. None of this was particularly fair.

The cave dampened with it's depth and the smells of petrichor and mud accompanied the powers that swirled throughout the air in their invisible mesh-work. If ever there were a place that embodied the two surly it weren't a warm lake or wet forest, instead it was most certainly the dark life of a cave.

"We're going to need to find the stream down here." Loki's footsteps slowly tapered off as he spoke, his form slinking backwards in a sudden burst of claustrophobia that radiated out from Thor's shoulders. "And hopefully a small bit of quartz."

"So," Thor tapped out, voice in sync with the heavy clud of feet against the muddy, clay flooring that became drier the further in they strode towards the empty, acrid air, "It takes material, then? You cannot will things out of air?" He quickly clamped down on his lips to keep from sounding to eagerly direct. Still, more slipped. "How do these have anything to do with my flesh?"

Even so, Thor listened for the presence of water aside from the run-off trickle of the storm through the cracks in the cave's rocky exterior, letting the rain decreases to a quiet, light pattering that the wind no longer dictated.

Loki's ears washed over red with anger and embarresment at his brother's words. The truth of the matter was that his own power was incapable of manifesting objects, especially living ones, but that it wasn't something altogether impossible: the quartz would be an amplifyer for his insufficient force though others could do so without any help. Once he'd watched Frigga replace an entire limb for one of their best generals without hesitation or assistance. Eventually Thor's words bottemed out in his chest and his tongue found retort.

"Its an appandidge, Thor, not a parlor trick." He let the words slither out, doing his best to avoid stuttering, without confronting the real issue of his incontinence.

The cave seemed never ending as they slowly descended into the belly of Earth, the sound of rain slowly fading away. Instead it was replaced with the steady drumming of Loki's heart, elevated with fear and excitement about the task at hand, and the constant thud of Thor's heavy footsteps.

Rhythmically, Thor let his steps fall and bound around the enclosed walls until he heard the sound displaced slightly by obstruction deeper into the darkness. "Hey," he notified Loki, pacing faster and sauntering into the uncharted shadow stretching out before them.

"Yeah, I thought I heard reverberation." He stopped at a small pool of water gurgling through the floor of mud, bubbling and fizzing subtlety, fighting through to erode the wet soil that was caked to the cave floor in most other areas. Experimentally, he dipped what remained of his jagged, gold-substituted arm into the hot pot. It wasn't quiet enough like acid to melt the precious metal clean away, but the remaining flakes clinging to the barbed end flaked off and sank down below the surface. He pulled up his arm, looking at the wet inches of gold that became flesh again, towards his elbow.

"Looks like it's from a geyser below. Is it okay to be sulfurous or do you only use distilled?" he asked with a slight mocking tone of pretension falling through.

"You know, I don't exactly have to help you." Loki regretted his words as soon as he barked them out in bitter retort, their echo ringing softly in the darkness.

With a small huff he illuminated the space around them to reveal the damp little pool in greater detail. Small shellfish had made their home at the very banks of it, dark navy in color and presumably vicious in nature, despite it's almost repulsive contents. Though it was a very Earthy pool indeed the bottom of it reflected back up in perfect clarity to reveal it's more cosmic essences: dark black sands speckled with what was the gold of Thor's stump. It would do just fine. Loki still didn't apologize instead allowing his anger and embarrassment fuel him into desperation.

"Put it back." The order was soft despite it's curtness, purposely he was stern.

He knelt next to the pool and began to prepare a seidr from above his elbows as his heart skipped beats: he'd do this unaccompanied to prove himself to....to who exactly? But he'd do it, regardless, his eyes filling up with excitement and fear as he moved the small clams out of their way.

Yielding silently, Thor came to his knees and steadied himself with a clutch of his fleshy hand on the damp, lukewarm soul while steadily lowering the golden root of his arm back to the surface of the pool. He briefly wondered about what Loki must feel to see Thor, the walking solution to his problem embedded into his bone and skin. Loki had presumably been searching for a way to gain currency, and now he was persuaded to eliminate it.

"Do you enjoy it here?" Thor asked, conversation making to fill the quiet left by Loki's ministration. "The Midguard. It's not very... shiny," he commented, lacking a better word.

"Well, it's warm." Loki shrugged at the attempt of small talk. "Sometimes."

Instead he focused on the pool and it's new contents. Gently the waters began to crest upwards into waves, swirling the soup with a purple/black haze from the centre of the tiny cyclone. Muttering what he thought would be the right words, as to preserve this small part of secrecy about the magic, Loki plunged his hands into the small depth that had been created. The waters froze over then into a frothy slur despite their hot origins and slowly they came to a complete stand still. Loki hung his head with a light growl, ignoring any and all response from his brother, his own hands frozen in the lower half of the pool and certain that he'd failed the spell. Surly there should have been a flash or a sparkle or....something. Anything other than rigidity.