No, see, you're still thinking excitement, and that's just not a thing for this situation. The looking forward one is a little weird, but it sounds better.
[Loki seems to have a lot of energy for someone who presumably has actually been doing actual physical work. Mobius does not suggest he burn off said energy with more work, and he thinks that's pretty magnanimous of himself. Maybe it's the godliness.]
A little weird? [ That breathy inhale of someone who is uncertain if his feelings should be hurt or not. Because there is something there, something... real and helpful and necessary in his eyes.
Part of the problem of wordsmithing comes from the fact that Loki has negative amounts of experience in dealing with processing collective trauma.
Especially when it is happening to everyone he knows. At the same time.
So he frowns, and he narrows his eyes a little, but he doesn't deny it. It's weird, fine, okay. ]
Is it terrible to want to daydream at a time like this?
Opinions on that will differ from person to person.
[Which is not an answer, but to be fair, he's also relatively sure it's rhetorical.
He focuses on Loki more, because he heard that little inhale, and now Loki looks...offended? Kind of? Is he somehow offended? Mobius spreads his hands.]
Is that what this is? A daydream? Did I say something wrong here?
[ It wasn't rhetorical in his mind though, and now Loki feels more confused than offended... or maybe just hurt at being accurately read from an unfortunate and unexpected angle. He's a little unsure, suddenly, and it flashes across his face. ]
Is that what what no this is lunch. This is lunch, and you and I, and I don't think you said anything wrong exactly but possibly I am... asking the incorrect questions. Or. The unimportant ones.
[ Loki makes a gesture that attempts at gently dismissive, or at the very least a releasing of the weight of guilt in the moment.
Immediately he becomes self-conscious of this, too. ] I've had that problem, before.
[ He wants to talk to Mobius about not really understanding how to work with the monotony that is picking through rubble. Rebuilding from ruin. A series of physical tasks that allow and encourage the mind to wander directly into the dark. Loki has never had to deal with collective survivor's guilt. Loss on a community level.
But.
Mobius is good at people. At sticking around, with something. There's a gravitas there, a sense of being sort of mired in the reality that Loki can't really hope to match.]
[Mobius has found it a point of pride in reading others well. He will swear up and down that it's a gift granted to him from on high. But Loki, Loki who is open like a good book, seems to be written in an incomprehensible cipher ever since he came back.
He sees the flickers of emotion like lit up signs across Loki's face. That part is still easy enough. But he can't read what the actual issue is. Doesn't understand what's being said, what's being asked. Which is then coming back to hurt Loki.
His arms rest on the tabletop, and he tries to relax his shoulders and take a breath.] Okay. Maybe try again with a different question or some different phrasing. What is it, really, that you want to know?
[ Centuries change diction, meaning, context. They're both slightly and not so slightly different people, these days.
Growing pains, etcetera. That's what Loki chalks all this up to. Growth, that he's willing to take the breath and restart in the first place. ]
How do you dream if you can't dream big? How do you look forward instead of being mired in the sadness? Am I... is there something wrong with me, that I would rather do that, right now?
There's nothing wrong with you. [The immediate answer, sure and gentle. Because, good god, there's a lot wrong with a lotta people, but the way to react to something like this, there isn't really a wrong way. Just a way.
So then he has to backtrack and focus on the rest. He rubs his chin.] I don't really know about dreaming big. Plenty of people get by on small dreams. The little hopes. Looking forward is... [Shrug!] Depends on the context, really. Sometimes what helps is having some kind of purpose, something to look forward to, something for you to work towards.
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no subject
[Loki seems to have a lot of energy for someone who presumably has actually been doing actual physical work. Mobius does not suggest he burn off said energy with more work, and he thinks that's pretty magnanimous of himself. Maybe it's the godliness.]
no subject
Part of the problem of wordsmithing comes from the fact that Loki has negative amounts of experience in dealing with processing collective trauma.
Especially when it is happening to everyone he knows. At the same time.
So he frowns, and he narrows his eyes a little, but he doesn't deny it. It's weird, fine, okay. ]
Is it terrible to want to daydream at a time like this?
no subject
[Which is not an answer, but to be fair, he's also relatively sure it's rhetorical.
He focuses on Loki more, because he heard that little inhale, and now Loki looks...offended? Kind of? Is he somehow offended? Mobius spreads his hands.]
Is that what this is? A daydream? Did I say something wrong here?
no subject
Is that what what no this is lunch. This is lunch, and you and I, and I don't think you said anything wrong exactly but possibly I am... asking the incorrect questions. Or. The unimportant ones.
[ Loki makes a gesture that attempts at gently dismissive, or at the very least a releasing of the weight of guilt in the moment.
Immediately he becomes self-conscious of this, too. ] I've had that problem, before.
[ He wants to talk to Mobius about not really understanding how to work with the monotony that is picking through rubble. Rebuilding from ruin. A series of physical tasks that allow and encourage the mind to wander directly into the dark. Loki has never had to deal with collective survivor's guilt. Loss on a community level.
But.
Mobius is good at people. At sticking around, with something. There's a gravitas there, a sense of being sort of mired in the reality that Loki can't really hope to match.]
no subject
He sees the flickers of emotion like lit up signs across Loki's face. That part is still easy enough. But he can't read what the actual issue is. Doesn't understand what's being said, what's being asked. Which is then coming back to hurt Loki.
His arms rest on the tabletop, and he tries to relax his shoulders and take a breath.] Okay. Maybe try again with a different question or some different phrasing. What is it, really, that you want to know?
no subject
Growing pains, etcetera. That's what Loki chalks all this up to. Growth, that he's willing to take the breath and restart in the first place. ]
How do you dream if you can't dream big? How do you look forward instead of being mired in the sadness? Am I... is there something wrong with me, that I would rather do that, right now?
no subject
So then he has to backtrack and focus on the rest. He rubs his chin.] I don't really know about dreaming big. Plenty of people get by on small dreams. The little hopes. Looking forward is... [Shrug!] Depends on the context, really. Sometimes what helps is having some kind of purpose, something to look forward to, something for you to work towards.