st_arkravinghazelnut: (mark 50)
st_arkravinghazelnut ([personal profile] st_arkravinghazelnut) wrote2018-09-16 10:02 pm
Entry tags:

Iron Will, Iron Heart

Destiny was swiftly approaching its apex.

The final Infinity Stone was his.

Every ounce of his sacrifices, his will, and his ideals had built up to this moment. The salvation of the universe was written in stone, with him as its savior. The power surged forth, and Thanos could only behold it.

Suddenly, he was struck down. Lightning. Odinson. Defiant of destiny until the end, all for what? Thanos lifted raised his gauntlet to meet the god head on--

A sickening crunch. A burst of light following the clash of the Infinity Gauntlet against the God of Thunder's newly forged weapon--and the Mad Titan was looking down at Stormbreaker embedded within his chest. Odinson landed before him, and for the first time in his life, Thanos knelt.
st_ormbreaker: (Thor God of... well you know.)

[personal profile] st_ormbreaker 2018-09-17 06:11 am (UTC)(link)
When Thor lands neatly before Thanos, the briefest of smiles flickers on his face. Thor's breathing is heavy, labored now; he had exerted himself all to fulfill the promise he made to Thanos aboard the Asgardian arc.

He closes the space between them with uneven steps, then presses his hand against the back of Thanos' head. In any other situation, the gesture might have been mistaken for one of affection. But there's no affection on Thor's face, just quiet, but palpable rage.

"I told you... you'd die for that."

Quiet rage gives way to fury, greater than Thor has ever experienced in his life. He braces himself against the back of Stormbreaker, pushing the sharp edge of the axe-hammer deeper into Thanos' chest.

Thanos starts screaming and there's some part of him, hidden deep in the heart of that righteous fury that takes pleasure in that scream. He's never felt this before in his life, even when he was young and foolish and excited by even the thought of battle.

Thor studies Thanos carefully. Thor wants to remember every second of this moment with absolute clarity. He wants to remember every line of his face, the way his fingers feel against his skin as they, like Stormbreaker, push deeper into his flesh.

Thanos doesn't stop screaming, and it just urges him on. Stormbreaker sinks further and further inside of Thanos' body.

For the first time in a long time, Thor feels real, true satisfaction.
st_ormbreaker: (Defeated.)

[personal profile] st_ormbreaker 2018-09-17 12:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanos grips Tony by the head, the same way he held Thor aboard The Statesman. Thor had seen him soundly defeat the Hulk; he threw and smashed him effortlessly and he didn't even need to use the Power Stone. He could pop Tony's head as easily as Thor could break open a walnut, and when this registers in Thor's head, he finds that his hand is retreating from Thanos' larger form.

He feels utterly powerless. Thanos made him feel this way before, aboard the Statesman, and he has made him feel it again now. Thor tells himself that he can't show weakness -- that he can't show that he cares; both he and Loki made that mistake and Thanos had exploited that weakness.

But still, Thor's eyes flicker to Tony's limp body for the briefest of moments. He is choking on blood; he can hear it, same as he could hear himself when Thanos dragged him by the carapace. Thor lies to himself, tells himself that Tony will die anyway, that he needs to do something. His hands that had withdrawn so easily from Thanos' body before snap to Stormbreaker's grip. He attempts to dislodge the hammer from Thanos' body so he might strike him down, but finds that it is so firmly burrowed inside his body that it does not move, even when Thor pulls with all of his strength.
Edited 2018-09-17 12:55 (UTC)
st_ormbreaker: (Defeated.)

[personal profile] st_ormbreaker 2018-09-17 06:14 pm (UTC)(link)
It is quiet enough that Thor can hear each of his slow, heavy breaths, as if it is the only sound in the world.

He looks down at Tony uncomprehendingly. Was it the Reality Stone? he wonders. If so, what what was real? Was Thanos real? Was Tony? Was Tony's wound?

Thor's eyes stay on Tony, and after a long moment he extends a hand to lift him up.
st_ormbreaker: (Angry.)

[personal profile] st_ormbreaker 2018-09-18 01:30 am (UTC)(link)
Thor watches as Tony pulls himself to his feet with that same look of incomprehension as before. Tony speaks at him, and though they sound strangely distorted to his ears, he knows perfectly what he said.

You didn't kill him.

Thor opens his hand and Stormbreaker's handle snaps easily into his palm.

This is the work of the Reality Stone. He is being toyed with.

Thor spins around in a fury, eyes skyward, hammer-axe readied.

"Where are you?! Where are you?!"
st_ormbreaker: (Angry.)

[personal profile] st_ormbreaker 2018-09-18 04:43 am (UTC)(link)
The sound of Thanos' voice sends Thor spinning. His hand is on Tony's head again. Is this real? Or is it the Reality Stone again? His eyes flicker briefly to Thanos' gauntlet, and he sees none of the stones are lit up.

He knows that doesn't mean anything; if Thanos is an illusion, surely he could manufacture a convincing facsimile whose gauntlet's stone were still dark. Thor's own brother had managed to convince him he was dead and Thanos was on an entirely different level when he used the stone.

Stone, or no stone, with Thor swings Stormbreaker towards the side of Thanos' head.
st_ormbreaker: (Defeated.)

[personal profile] st_ormbreaker 2018-09-18 05:43 am (UTC)(link)
Thor swings out with such force that for one horrifying moment he will send his hammer straight through Tony's head.

Somehow, he manages to stop it just a hair short of Tony's face.
st_ormbreaker: (Defeated.)

[personal profile] st_ormbreaker 2018-09-18 07:51 am (UTC)(link)
Thor glances briefly over at Tony before settling on Thanos. Stormbreaker is still leveled against Tony's head, as if he is afraid to move it.

"What are you talking about?"
st_ormbreaker: (Confused.)

[personal profile] st_ormbreaker 2018-09-18 04:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Thor looks at Tony. None of this is making sense. He tells himself it's Thanos, that it's the Reality Stone, but there was something real about Tony's response that doesn't feel manufactured.

Thor lets Stormbreaker settle at his side as he looks down at Tony.

"Stark, what is he talking about?"
st_ormbreaker: (Confused.)

[personal profile] st_ormbreaker 2018-09-18 05:45 pm (UTC)(link)
"You had to?" Thor repeats. "You had to imprison our friends? You had no other way?!"

Thor reaches down to lift Tony up by the collar of his shirt, but as he does, he turns to dust.

Then, Thor bolts awake, drenched in his own sweat. His eyes turn to the empty space in the bed next to him, then looks up.
st_ormbreaker: (Default)

[personal profile] st_ormbreaker 2018-09-18 06:34 pm (UTC)(link)

Thor tosses off the comforter, then shifts until he's sitting on the edge of the bed, facing away from where Tony still stands. For a moment, he doesn't say anything; he just looks down at his feet, planted firmly on the floor.

Anything he says is going to sound insane. Sometimes, his dreams were simply dreams; there was nothing to them. Other times, the dreams served as a warning. Thor was always trying to figure out which was which, just as he was trying to discern reality from not-reality in the dream, only to find out later that none of it was real.

He can't ask Tony directly. Not yet. Not without seeming mad.

"Tony," he begins, his voice low. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

st_ormbreaker: (Default)

[personal profile] st_ormbreaker 2018-09-18 07:16 pm (UTC)(link)

Thor lets out a little scoffing laugh, then pushes himself off the edge of the bed. "I'm sure."

He pulls down his shirt by the hem, then heads for the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

st_ormbreaker: (Angry.)

[personal profile] st_ormbreaker 2018-09-18 10:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Thor doesn't answer; instead, he turns on the faucet to the sink and splashes cold water on his face. He's starting to cool down physically, but he's still bristling with irritation.

He doesn't bother turning when Tony opens the door.
st_ormbreaker: (Neutral.)

[personal profile] st_ormbreaker 2018-09-18 10:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Thor says nothing to Tony's quips; instead, he reaches for a towel and dries off his face. It's not until Tony is very nearly on the way out that Thor realizes it's pointless to hope that Tony will volunteer the information of his own volition.

Thor emerges from the bathroom and tosses the towel on top of their bed. He looks over at Tony.

"Why didn't you tell me you had our friends imprisoned?" The words come out casually, Thor's emotions failing to register fully in his voice.
st_ormbreaker: (Neutral.)

[personal profile] st_ormbreaker 2018-09-18 10:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Thor's gaze remains steady on Tony's face.

"Why didn't you tell me you locked them up?"
st_ormbreaker: (Neutral.)

[personal profile] st_ormbreaker 2018-09-18 11:20 pm (UTC)(link)
And there it is. The confirmation.

"Because you didn't," Thor echoes. He lets out a noise that doesn't quite make it all the way to a laugh. "I don't know what to say. Here I was, stupidly thinking it was some disagreement that could someday be smoothed over because I stupidly took you at your word."
st_ormbreaker: (Neutral.)

[personal profile] st_ormbreaker 2018-09-18 11:59 pm (UTC)(link)
"And that's your problem, Stark," Thor says, waving an arm. "You think that how I know is somehow more deserving of a conversation about what you did. Over and over and over again, you do it alone, without talking to anyone, without considering anyone else because your personal ideals take precedence over everyone else."
st_ormbreaker: (Angry.)

[personal profile] st_ormbreaker 2018-09-19 12:20 am (UTC)(link)
"Yes," Thor says, shaking his head, lips curled up in a barely-holding-it-in sort of smile. "Let's talk about how selfish I am for wanting everyone to have the one thing I wanted myself and pretend it compares to you hiding things from me because you're ashamed of them."
st_ormbreaker: (Neutral.)

[personal profile] st_ormbreaker 2018-09-19 02:10 am (UTC)(link)
Tony's words sting and Thor knows it's because some of them ring true. He has been selfish -- tremendously selfish -- asking Tony to tolerate Loki, and he knows that Tony has done more than most people would have in the same situation. And maybe he's been self-absorbed, wallowing in his own pain, but there's one thing that he can't let go of --

"You want to stop Thanos?" he asks. "You start by making up with our friends. You start by not keeping secrets because we can't afford to keep any."

Thor takes a breath. He knows that he's calling Tony out on this, knowing all the while that he has his own secrets he's keeping from him. Secrets that Tony doesn't have the benefit of discovering through pre- or post-cognition.

But Thor forces himself not to think of that.

"I would go to war for you, Stark," Thor tells him. "But I can't do that if I don't have all the facts in front of me."
st_ormbreaker: (Neutral.)

[personal profile] st_ormbreaker 2018-09-19 02:41 am (UTC)(link)
Thor does not back down, even when Tony draws closer.

"Then tell me your side."
st_ormbreaker: (Neutral.)

[personal profile] st_ormbreaker 2018-09-19 03:09 am (UTC)(link)
"Okay," Thor says. What else can he say? He sits down on the edge of the bed and runs a hand through his hair, still damp with sweat. He thinks back to that fight he had with the Hulk back on Sakaar. And then he figures his next words easily enough, though they're still hard to push forward. Thor doesn't even know why; they should be easy, but they're not.

"I'm sorry."