( FIGHT CLUB | OPEN )

[puppydogeyes]

CHARACTERS: OPEN
LOCATION: FLOOR 003 HOLODECK
WARNINGS: VIOLENCE, LANGUAGE, ETC.
SUMMARY: MINGLING ENSEMBLE LOG FOR FIGHT CLUB
NOTES: NETWORK POST OPEN INVITATION HERE. FREEFORALL, START YOUR OWN THREADS, TAG AROUND, GO NUTS!

Anyone arriving will find the holodeck almost as it comes: a wide open space with very few decorations. In the middle of the room several set of mats have been laid out in individual areas, as one might expect to find in any wrestling or martial arts training room. There are benches, like bleachers, pushed up against the wall for people to take a seat, and towels folded and stacked in piles on the tables next to them. A water cooler has been moved from one of the common rooms into the corner for relief.

Tyke keeps a supervisory eye over comings and goings, repeats the rules to the room at large regularly, but people are mostly left to their own devices: find a fight, or just watch.

Comments

[mjolnir_time]

[Thor relaxes slightly when she does. At least she hasn't immediately demanded that he put Loki under lock and key. (Assuming that there's even any place on the ship that could hold him.)]

No, a year is not very long for us, but his sentence was to spend the rest of his life in the dungeons.

[He could probably leave it at that, but he feels like he needs to explain further. But first he has a question to ask.]

Are you aware of the battle we fought in London?

[busdriver]

[If Loki has just as much freedom as the rest of the passengers on this ship, he's still a prisoner. He should be under guard, May thinks, but she doesn't feel she's in a position to demand anything from Thor. It'll gradually file down the sharp edges on her concern, seeing both of them around the ship, one presumably keeping the other in line. That's how she assumes it would have to be. A life sentence is what she wanted to hear, even if it isn't enough to make her happy.

She takes his word for it. A small confirming noise hums in her throat.]

My team helped with the clean-up around Greenwich.

[S.H.I.E.L.D.'s involvement, after the fact, shouldn't come as a surprise. On that point, she looks away, searching for Ward on the opposite side of the space. She wants to check her teammate's position, not necessarily get his attention. Waiting to be told, she doesn't ask the relevance of the question.]

[mjolnir_time]

[Thor nods, not at all surprised that SHIELD knew all about it. When he planned his return to Midgard after talking with his father, he assumed he would be hearing from them eventually. He never made it that far though, since the Tranquility had other ideas.]

Malekith, the foe we battled there, attacked Asgard first. He killed many of our people and even destroyed part of the palace. I knew I would need Loki's help to defeat him, so I released my brother from his prison and we traveled to Malekith's realm.

[Talking about those days makes him think of his mother, and he probably sounds unusually subdued as a result. That's one detail he doesn't plan to share. It's still too personal and hurts too much.]

We fought him there, but we failed to stop him. During the battle, Loki came to my aid and gave his life to save mine. I did not expect to ever see him again, but somehow this ship brought him back. I know that his sacrifice does not clear all his debts to Midgard, but it has cleared his debts to me. I hope you can understand that.

[busdriver]

[Thor explains, May turns her head and stares at him; best word for her style of being watchful, without a strong reaction. She gets the sense that he's holding something back, in the middle. It's none of her business, she tells herself. He doesn't owe her this. He might owe it to Barton and Romanoff, possibly, not to her.

She's struggling to reconcile what she knows about Loki with a grand self-sacrificing gesture. For Thor's sake, she'll try not to show surprise. She shrugs at the end, but that's deceptively indifferent. She sounds more involved and serious.]

You understand it. That's enough.

[mjolnir_time]

Thank you.

[He knows he's always going to be in a difficult position when it comes to Loki. He tried to cut his brother out of his life, but it never really worked.]

That does not mean I will turn a blind eye to his activities. I know better than anyone that he still has faults. If he is causing trouble for anyone on this ship, I will stop him. You have my word on that.

[busdriver]

I trust you.

[As sincere as she sounds, the fact is, she doesn't have much choice. She has to trust that Thor will intervene in anything dangerous schemed up by Loki. There's not a whole lot she could do about it, without him.]

You'll let me know if there's something I can help you with?

[She means it broadly, certainly not just with brother issues.]

[mjolnir_time]

Absolutely. I'm glad to have more allies I can trust on board the ship.

[Which leads him to another thought.]

Have you considered joining the Security department?

[busdriver]

Considering it now. Thinking about Flight Crew, too.

[She doesn't very often get what he just gave to her: ready acceptance as an ally. It's incautious of him, but it's nice. It sounds like he's really extending some trust, and without much proof of who she is or her value. To her, that makes him seem kind-hearted, generous somehow. She's equal parts amused and awed.]

You're exactly like I thought you'd be.

[mjolnir_time]

[Perhaps he is too trusting. Loki has certainly said so in the past (and emphasized the point with a knife to the ribs). But Thor is used to going with his instincts about people. He would rather extend trust to someone who doesn't deserve it than withhold it from someone who does.

He probably wouldn't trust the leadership of SHIELD, but all of the SHIELD agents he met on Midgard had only wanted to protect people. As he told the Son of Coul, they fight for the same cause. hail hydra

He raises an eyebrow at her statement. She's hard to read, and he can't tell if that was a compliment or not. After all, she could have been expecting an arrogant alien prince who just hits things with his hammer.]

Is it a good thing or a bad thing that I meet your expectations, Agent May?