smartass_captain

From:

Goodness. Again, a more intense reaction than Loki expected. Were he a better person, he might feel some pity here. It is an effort to read thoughts, but it is not an effort to sense emotions, not in a human. They all but project them; it seems to be a species trait. There are exceptions, of course, and then there are a brilliant few--like the Natasha Romanoff he encountered--who are able to feel sorrow, guilt, horror, able to project them, and yet dissociate from them and operate flawlessly through the experience. Jim Kirk appears to be attempting to control and work around his feelings, but they seem to be a weak point nonetheless.

It will take a little time to work out why this face prompts that sorrow, he imagines. Even a human unaccustomed to the supernatural will notice if his thoughts are rifled through too roughly. Care and patience are imperative.

"Well," 'Thor' answers, leaning back in his seat in such a way as to make the legs creak with protest. Asgardian body tissues are more dense than they look. He's well over 600 pounds of muscle. Loki is only a hair over 500, but a challenge for standard-issue furniture even at that rate. "As I said, it's more a matter of my brother than myself. He is a schemer--I care for him dearly, of course--but his reach has been known to exceed his grasp. The version you met is not, as I understand, from my world. Indeed, he is from a short while in the future, as compared to me. But he has taken it into his head to assist me in any way necessary."

Such warmth and loyalty from baby-brother Loki! Such tender generosity. What a good sibling he is!

Thor looks troubled. "He has concerns about the longevity and suitability of our vessel. I know not, for he will not tell me, why he frets so. Possibly his own Thor and our people ran across some difficulties and he does not wish to burden me with fear of a dark fate. Someone, a young woman, mentioned the Enterprise to him in casual conversation,"

This is, in fact, true, and while he won't be using the tidbit of information quite the way she intended, he's grateful to her for the tipoff.

"And he has skill in ferreting out information, particularly since you yourself mentioned Starfleet. He understands you to be in command of a vessel better suited to carrying a large population than our own. He will not tell me what he plans to do with that information, and Loki..." Sigh.

"His plots can be grandiose and fanciful, but he might honestly consider anything from barter to outright piracy a fair course of action if the lives of our people are truly at stake."