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Vengeance.

Haha, if I had a dollar for every time I heard that answer, I'd be a billionaire, my friend!

Vengeance on who, sir? What'd they do?

Yes, it's a bit of a cliché, isn't it? But concepts don't become cliché for no reason. The appeal of hurting the person who has harmed you is pretty universal.

His name is Thanos. And it would take a long while to list his crimes against me, let alone the ones he has committed against others. Ultimately, he killed me, but really that's the least of what I resent him for.

I can assure you, I completely understand! Don't have to explain the joy behind it!

Well if murdering you wasn't the rub, what about him has your dander up so much?

And while we're on this subject, why not talk about what you'd like to do to him? Get inventive! You're a Norse God, and I can tell you, from the stories I've read, you have the market cornered on creative punishment!

[Loki considers for a moment. Handing over the truth to a demon is handing him excessive ammunition. On the other hand, verbal exercise of his darkest and most vicious impulses is an indulgence Loki rarely allows himself.

At length, he offers this summary:] He tricked me. A trickster cannot permit himself to be tricked without consequence.

[Fitting punishment is better to talk about, and he smiles.] I would like to have him believe he has won. Lock him within an illusion of the universe he thinks he has created, as he wished it to be, and then have him watch it fall apart, brutally, over and over again.

Fair enough, sir, fair enough! Fool you once, shame on him, right?

[The laughter following the description of the punishment is a bright, cheerful, almost pleasant one. Vicious if only because of how honestly delighted he sounds to hear it]

Punish a trickster with more trickery! I like it, painful irony is always the best revenge! Sounds like you could get a couple thousand years of fun out of it too, if you play your cards right!

That's going to be a hard trick though, for a dead man.

[See, this is the kind of support Loki needs to really turn his life around. It's not every day someone appreciates his creativity.]

Precisely! And if I got bored with it, I could always just leave him tied up with his face under a drooling venomous serpent. [There's nothing wrong with the classics.]

I'm working on the 'dead' part. [He admits, with a wry smirk.] There's a grey area, you see, where gods are concerned.

[Maybe the approval of the warped and twisted soul of a former cannibalistic serial killer isn't the support you need, Loki. You deserve better friends than this]

I always appreciated that one! Better him than you, right? Have to say, if you did have to deal with that, can't even tell. You look pristine as a summer morning!

Now is that so? I figured there might be a work around, you're supposed to be immortal after all! Or heck, close to it!

What's the game plan, chief?

[Does he, though? Opinions are mixed.]

These stories become a bit exaggerated over time. Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not sorry I missed out on being subjected to torture via snake spit.

You play your cards close to the chest, friend, but I think that you understand, as well as I do, that there are wells of power in the universe that someone bold or desperate enough may tap into. There is always a price to be paid, but if you accept that price, you can become anything.

I thought you looked a bit too baby-faced for that! Still, great idea, isn't it?

[Laughter again. Not... quite like the last one. A bit darker, a bit uglier, static creeping in for just a moment]

Nothing's free, friend, nothing's ever free! And for some cases, any price is worth it, right?

You'll sell out your own family for it, just as long as you win!

[As much as he finds this a stupidly dangerous question to pose openly, he has zero ability to rein himself in enough to keep from engaging with it.]

You're late to the party in my case. The most important thing I had, I traded away a long time ago. [Cue scowling.]

Don't ask a question like this openly, [he warns, darkly.] You don't know who's listening.

Edited 2019-02-18 04:15 (UTC)

[Yeah. Someone like Alastor could be listening.

The demon in question just smiles wider.]

What would you do to get it back?

[It seems he's not about to take that advice at all]

Well, if anyone else wants in on this little conversation, they're more than welcome to come on out and pull up a chair!

How generous of you. [He doesn't trust the question or that toothy smile, but for now his tone is civil with only a touch of light sarcasm. He might as well feel out what's in front of him before digging in.]

You're asking a lot of questions for someone who isn't offering anything of themselves, first. Tell me your name and why you're asking, and I'll think about answering.

Well goodness me, you're right, haven't even introduced myself yet!

Alastor, son! Name's Alastor, and I'll be honest, I'm just curious! Seems like a good ice breaker to me! Something deep, engaging! Unless you'd rather hang around and talk about the weather of course.

Baby-faced? [Not many people would describe him that way. Thor, maybe. A flicker of quizzical amusement crosses Loki's face, but it goes away again at that laughter.

Really, Alastor has an immense talent for being unsettling. Loki doesn't let his pleasant smile drop completely, but a grimace creeps in around the corners of his mouth.]

In some cases. [His first inclination is to take that comment about selling out family personally, but a second later he realizes it was very cleverly framed as a general commentary. Pointed at Loki's weak spots, maybe, but with a veneer of plausible deniability. Nicely done!]

In some cases, one has no family to sell out, so it's a moot point. Talking with you is a delightful game of chess. Tell me, was there something you were willing to trade anything for, once upon a time? And have you gotten it yet?

Nice and smooth, you look good!

[Look, no beard automatically subtracts a few years, first of all. Second, he's spent the last eighty years around demons and monsters, snake people and cyclopses.

Loki, at the very least, looks good.]

Some cases?

[It's a topic he'll drop the second it's pushed past. But perhaps one not entirely forgotten]

Well once upon a time, sure! We all do! Everyone's got a price, friend, and everyone's got a need!

Did I get it though? Well I died, didn't I? Doesn't matter anymore what I had when I was alive, couldn't take it with me!

[There was a time when it was a problem that Loki couldn't grow a big beard. Now he's perfectly happy without it, but it strikes him as strange enough to be complimented on it that he rubs his chin briefly.

Huh. Well, ok, whatever. It hasn't escaped him that while their styles differ, he and Alastor both have a sense of dressing to create an impression.]

Hmm. Perhaps not, but even those of us who have shuffled off our varying mortal coils are able to have goals and ideas. I would not put it past you to begin anew. Or pick up where you left off, if at all possible.

Hey, like you, right?

Only it's been eighty years since I was sent to Hell, don't think you've been as dead as I am for half as long!

[Dancing around the question? You bet!]

It's amazing what time and circumstance does to a man's priorities! I can definitely tell you that things have changed a lot, priority wise, in the past couple decades!

I'm not going to try and pick up where I left off, that story ended eighty years ago.

[Time for a new book.]

[Well, Loki didn't really expect a straight answer. It's only polite to offer a conversational companion the chance to vent, but beings like him and like Alastor know how untrustworthy they can be, and are therefore less likely to trust anyone else.]

No, not quite a year, actually. I thought I'd work on my issues while they're still fresh.

I'm not sure if I ought to wish you luck, frankly. You're very charming, and very dangerous. But I do think I'll enjoy watching your efforts, provided I can keep a discreet distance.

Well you don't have to worry about that, sir! I don't operate off luck, just pure skill and talent!

But thanks for the compliment! I'll make sure you get a front row seat to the show.

Will you? I appreciate that, but there's no need to put me so close I get splashback.

What I want isn't attainable though easy methods. It's pointless to answer the question.

Although, this is very similar to what I ask people about on a daily basis. About what the heart desires and how much it costs.