"Interesting," Laurel said, making more notes. "And what do you think about the whole thing?"

"It is... tiresome," Loki answered after several moments of pause. "Going through endless cycles. It seems pointless." He glanced back at the door. "Although this is one cycle that will not be the same." And he was pleased with that.

"Yeah, no kidding," Laurel said. She looked at the door as well. "I kind of hope Dori can plausibly keep him busy until sundown somehow. I'm not going to think about how, but I hope she can."

Loki snorted. "If anyone can, it is her," he said. "My brother speaks of her with much regard." He sounded almost bored.

"Really?" Laurel asked, looking at him. She considered that for a moment. "I never really thought about it, but now that you mention it, there's something about the way he looks at her..."

Loki nodded. "I don't think he's realized yet," he said, clearly amused by that. "I know she has not."

"That'll be fun to watch," Laurel said. "I think I'm going to keep an eye on that, see how it develops."

Loki nodded his agreement of that, leaning back in his seat again. He was curious to see if Thor would do anything with these new feelings.

Laurel was quiet for a moment.

"So what... happened?" she finally asked. She looked at him. "The last few incidents, I mean. What got you to this point? I'm kind of curious."

Loki looked at her oddly for a moment before he shrugged. "People lied to me," he said. "I was foolish," he admitted after several moments. "And weak. Someone else took advantage of that weakness and steered me in a direction I had not thought of."

"I see," Laurel said. "Everyone makes bad choices sometimes. Most aren't as spectacular, but everyone does."

Loki shrugged. "Yes, well, I'm stuck here for the foreseeable future." He spread his hands to encompass his little gilded cage.

"You know, the general public can't decide on whether or not they like you," Laurel commented. "Public opinion is kind of divided on it."

Loki snorted. "I'm surprised any of them do like me," he said, his voice dry.

Laurel shrugged a bit.

"There's actually fairly compelling evidence in your favor," she said. "I would know, I dug up a lot of it myself."

Loki shrugged and settled back in his seat, content to let the silence grow for the moment. He was still surprised anyone was on his side, compelling evidence or not.

Laurel let the silence stretch a bit as well, taking out her phone and pulling up another blog post.

Why put off until tomorrow what you can get done today? Because putting it off till tomorrow means that the world doesn't end. If we can keep Thor busy until night fall, the world stays as-is. Wish us luck!

#end of the world, #Ragnarok, #procrastination at its finest

Doreen looked at the update and laughed a little. She was currently keeping Thor busy, alright. She'd insisted he go with her to get some chores done outside the tower.

Thor didn't mind being dragged out for errands, and he had even agreed to go out in plain Midgardian clothes for the excursion. He just followed Doreen around, enjoying the time out of the tower and secretly enjoying the fact that they were literally defying fate. He kind of liked that.

Doreen grinned and tucked her arm through his when she found a farmers' market for them to explore, detouring to take a look at everything available there.

Thor smiled at her and let her lead the way. He did pause when he saw a few fruits and vegetables that looked interesting, but there wasn't all that much. It was winter, after all, so there wasn't the same selection as in the warmer seasons, that he knew.

Doreen picked out a few things all the same, grinning as she hefted her bag.

"Well, those should make dinner a bit more interesting, hmm?"

"Indeed," Thor replied. "I look forward to seeing what you create with them." He smiled at her.

Doreen smiled back, blushing a bit in pleasure.

"There's a nice park near here I sometimes walk to," she said. "Since I know you like to people-watch sometimes." She raised her eyebrow in invitation.

"That sounds like a fine idea," Thor replied. He gestured for her to go. "Lead on, my lady."