ikols | open post | psls

[ Chris lets himself be towed in for a kiss hello, mostly because he's a secret sucker for that kind of stuff, and it really is hard to hold on to his irritation in the fact of such sweet affection and the smell of dinner nearly being ready. ]

Are apologetic mashed potatoes fundamentally different from other ones?

[ Chris gets a solemn nod. ]

They taste much better because they are filled with the regret of accidentally luring sharks to your lover's ship.

Your lover, huh?

[ Chris leans against the edge of the breakfast bar and folds his arms over his chest, lifting his eyebrows. ]

You dating someone on this ship I should know about? You told that shark you were seeing someone, after all.

[ Like the mature adult he is, he bastes the salmon frying in its pan and shoots Chris a (mostly) straight look over a shoulder. Loki can't look too closely or he won't be able to cook without burning their meal! ]

I'll have you know I'm a very eligible name and that shark was very polite about his proposition.

Is that what he asked you?

[ He seems mostly amused, partially confused, and a little bit perturbed; not that he's ever considered what it might be like to be with a shark (why would he), now he can't help but try to imagine it. ]

How would that even work, would you have to turn into a shark too? [ He can do a fox, apparently, and a bear too. Why not a shark? ] Would you have a half-shark half-human baby? Is that even possible?

I could be a shark if I wanted to. I'd be the best looking shark out there!

[ Sensing this is where the conversation is going to find its lull, he elaborates (Chris has earned the right to ask these things). ]

I mothered a horse, once. He came out with eight legs but was otherwise fine.

I don't doubt you'd be a beautiful shark.

[ Join Starfleet, they said. Explore the galaxy. Meet new civilizations, make new friends, expand your horizons.

He pretty sure no recruitment posters he ever saw in his high school hallways ever mentioned anything like this. ]

I have so many questions and I don't even know where to start.

[ Slicing a chunk of honeyed salmon off and adding a small dollop of his mayo-infused creamy mash alongside it, he sets a mini plate down by Chris with a fork to give him something to nibble while Loki finishes cooking. As he does so, he leans in to kiss him affectionately on the cheek. ]

Ask the one that feels most important first.

Eight legs? Like a spider?

[ The mothering part isn't all that strange, really, he already knows Loki has a female form he can don just as easily as his current gender, even in he said that he felt most comfortable in this skin, so it stands to reason that if he can change his body into a woman's, if he can change his body into another animal's, he could do both at the same time. Carrying a child after all that seems kind of a given.

Still. A horse? An eight-legged horse? ]

Here, [ Loki takes out his phone and scrolls to a photo of Sleipnir, a giant horse with black colouring and red eyes ... and lots of legs that have trampled enemies before, ] take a look at him. His name is Sleipnir.

[ There's a lot going on that Chris wants to comment on: Loki cooking for him. Loki letting himself into his quarters like he lives here. Loki handing him what looks like an early 21st-century display device to show off the photo of the horse he apparently birthed.

The eight legs.

Chris, however, is as predictable as ever and instead oohs over the horse like it's like any other he's seen. ]

He's gorgeous. How many hands is he?

Uh. He's just shy of nine-foot tall? I don't know your fancy horse-man terms, cowboy.

[ Because that is what Chris is rapidly turning into. ]

You gave birth to a horse and you don't even know how big it is?

[ He takes a bite of his salmon because it looks and smells delicious, turning his attention to Loki and away from the picture of the red-eyed eight-legged stallion he'd been admiring.

His fork halfway to his mouth with a second bite, Chris pauses and blinks at him a little. ]

Nine feet tall at the shoulder?

He wasn't that big when I gave birth!

[ Spluttering, Loki shores up their dinner onto plates. ]

He's about, uh ... [ With an absent wave of his fingers while sorting out the salmon, a green magical hologram of a truly enormous horse standing 8.5ft at the shoulder shimmers into life. It looks like it could trample a shuttlecraft. ] About that big.

I should certainly hope not.

[ Smirking, Chris slides back the data device and then lets himself be distracted by the sparkling green hologram of the horse, stunned both by its size and the eight legs. Apart from the extra appendages and the fact that it's about the size of a house, it looks like a perfectly normal horse.

Chris can't help wondering how the hell to put a saddle on it. ]

He's massive.

[ Chris's plate is set down loudly and Loki leans in, hand on a hip. ]

You're cute when you go all farm boy on me.

I am not going all farm boy on anyone.

[ Hardly a convincing protest, considering that is exactly what he's doing and he knows it, too. ]

I grew up on a ranch, alright, I like horses.

Hah! You're a horse boy.

[ Cackling, Loki tucks into his meal of mayo-mash, braised honey salmon, and spicy grilled veggies. ]

[ There's a lot Chris could say in response to that, but all he does is give Loki a significant look before tilting his chin to indicate the green hologram horse still standing off to one side.

If anyone's a horse boy in this room, it sure isn't Chris. ]

[ Ey! The noise he makes through his mouthful disagrees. ]

His father Svaldifari was a good-looking stallion, and I know you know what I mean when I say that!

[ Smirking, looking very pleased with himself, Chris just takes another bite of his salmon and then gestures with his fork like he's raising his hands in supplication, a silent I didn't say anything as he chews. ]

[ He flicks some mash at Chris. ]

Well, now you'll just have to imagine how I look as a horse because you're never being shown.

[ Laughing, Chris wipes the blob of potato mash off his sleeve from where it landed and pushes out from his seat, moving around Loki — pausing absently to run his (clean) fingers through his hair to push it out of the way so he can bend down and brush a kiss to Loki's forehead — so that he can get a bottle of wine from the refrigerator and collect some glasses for them both. ]

I've seen a lot of horses in my life. I'm sure I can imagine it.

[ His head tips back into the touch, soaking it up. Wine gets an excited wiggle on his seat. ]

You know I'm a frost giant, right? Did I mention that?

[ Chris is a generous pourer when it comes to alcohol, and tonight is no different; the glass he slides across the table sloshes appealingly, as does his own when he sets it down by his plate after taking a sip. ]

You've mentioned a lot of things.

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