dark_ages | ( open post )

[ loki arrives promptly, dressed in a black suit, white shirt and tie. his smile is appreciative. ]

That was quick.

[ Leonard glances over at the voice, then he looks up... back down... then back up. ]

And you clean up nice. Now I'm feeling horribly underdressed.

[ He's just wearing a more practical jumpsuit, not that he actually feels bad about it. He doubts Loki minds. ]

[ loki smiles, obviously pleased. ]

It was the least I could do.

Oh, so this is sort of like a 'thank you'? What for, my charming personality?

[ Teasing aside, he fills both glasses while Loki takes a seat, lifting them both up and offering him one. ]

Here.

It is a token, at the very least.

[ loki takes it politely, cool fingers wrapping around the glass. ]

Thank you.

You're welcome. And I'll drink to being back on the ship in one piece.

[ He lifts his glass up, then pulls in to take a sip. ]

So how've you been doing?

[ loki shrugs loosely. ]

Well enough. It would be nice if we had a goal in mind. This . . . aimless drifting grates on me.

[ Leonard huffs, smiling against the rim of his glass. ]

I feel like that's most of the current crew. Definitely the case with myself and Jim. We're not used to it.

[ loki glances at him curiously. ]

What do you normally do?

Travel around. Which may not sound so different from this, to be fair, but it's less drifting, and more... mission-based.

Surely there's more to it than that.

Sure. Some scientific exploration, diplomatic missions, peacekeeping, first contact situations on occasion. We're mapping new sections of the galaxy, so it often involves a little bit of everything.

[ well, that definitely can be tedious, but it is scientific work which loki somewhat appreciates. ]

Tell me the strangest thing you've encountered.

[ Leonard chuckles, taking a small sip from his glass. ]

Hell, didn't want to ask a tougher question, did you? I don't know... once we visited a planet where a section of it had the gravity all out of whack. There was a waterfall with the water running up rather than coming down.

It didn't seem right so early on.

[ but that was interesting. ]

What were you doing there? Exploring?

A little diplomatic work, a little scientific exploration. It was an interesting phenomenon, we wanted to document it, and hopefully be able to help the natives understand why it was happening, and if it was a sign of something possibly dangerous to them.

[ he shakes his head. he had a healthy dose of wanderlust, but even loki wouldn't wander the cosmos so boldly. ]

It seems like a lonely life.

[ Leonard huffs at that. ]

Kind of hard to feel lonely when you're traveling with a crew of hundreds.

Perhaps.

Though I think you can still feel lonely even when you're surrounded by people.

[ Leonard tilts his head, brow raised and nodding in agreement. ]

True. But not in my case, I don't think... I've felt lonely sometimes, in the past, [ He admits. ] But I have friends on board the Enterprise. People close to me, important people. They're like family. With them around, I don't feel so lonely anymore.

[ like family. for loki, it is a strange thing to comprehend but not unheard of. he takes a sip of his wine. ]

I only ever traveled with my brother and his friends. Sometimes alone.

[ He watches Loki over his own glass. ]

Now that sounds lonely.

[ he shrugs. ]

Company was difficult to find.

Well, you've got plenty of company around here. How's that been for you?

[ Weird, Leonard wonders? Being alone for a while sometimes makes it harder to get used to having people around. ]

[ loki contemplates his answer, sloshing the wine back and forth in his glass. ]

I suppose we can't afford to be picky when we're all stuck together.

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