At What Price Respect

[brave_heart_verity]

Verity in the forum? Not a strange sight. Verity without coffee? Rather less common. Verity slumping, exhausted, into a couch? Unusual. Verity covered in scrapes, bruises, and dust? Definitely strange.

"Help isn't if it's forced on someone. This is true. Someone not in possession of all of the facts cannot give fully informed consent. This is also true. But nobody can be forced to listen." Of course Verity has things on her mind. Who here doesn't? "How do you reconcile that? Is ignorance truly bliss? Or do you do what's needed to save someone despite their choices?"

((A note before you come to play with Verity: she's got a magic spell stuck in her that lets her always know when someone is lying to her. This includes sarcasm and knowing when someone believes something to be true when it isn't. This doesn't include lies of omission. She can also see through illusions. Please respect this; if your character is trying to lie to her, please make that known so she can react appropriately. [I completely understand this isn't going to be everyone's idea of fun.] Thanks.))

Comments

[frodleikr]

Interesting.

Loki pulled up his knees and laid his chin on them in silent thought for a moment. Well, at least he didn't need to say much more. How different could a Loki be from another Loki? (Strangely, very different.)

"What is your Loki like?" He asked after the silence had passed, a sort of calm that was missing until now had eased into his voice.

Hey, if Loki had good timing he wouldn't be Loki.

[brave_heart_verity]

The silence doesn't bother her. It gives her time to collect her thoughts, which are both scattered and painful. It makes answering the question easier. She doesn't want to cry in front of him, and she doubts he wants her crying either. Crying people are no fun.

"He's wonderful. He's kind and clever. He used to tell me the most wonderful stories, about growing up in Asgard and the pranks he'd play on his brother, or the dwarves, or... whoever caught his eye. He was a great cook." This is pretty much her favorite subject ever, so. Feel free to draw the same wrong conclusion everyone else does. She's not as good at hiding how crazy she is about the boy as she thinks.

"He was... like spring after a lifetime of winter." See? Poetry.

[frodleikr]

His brows weaved inward as she spoke. Uhoh, someone liked a Loki and liked him very much. He wasn't sure how to feel about it. She spoke about her Loki with so much care and he couldn't help but wonder how long it would take for her Loki to let her down.

"You must be very special to see a Loki like that," he said, with a touch of sadness creeping in. This Loki still wasn't sure where he fit in. A few thousand years ago, he knew exactly where he belonged. Not that this world wasn't interesting. The technology was incredible! But he was, well, lost.

[brave_heart_verity]

He shouldn't assume her Loki never let her down. He had, but he'd made things right. That's the trick. That was the magic spell that made their friendship work: they kept trying.

"I'm... maybe." It's not her, it's the spell and who the spell made her be. But now he's sad, and she can't abide a sad Loki. "Hey... what's wrong?"

[frodleikr]

Good point, Loki would be Loki. Sulking was more the appropriate term on what he was currently doing though. Jealousy, a nasty thing, and completely unsurprising that he could be jealous of even himself. Not at all that he never had chances to be happy, even then, but he'd ruined those by his very nature. Although.. if this Loki could try, well then maybe he could to!

Right? Maybe he could start again, right? It was his duty to crete change so why couldn't he change himself, or turn against the current of what people thought he was?

A finger idly twirled a lock of red in thought before those emerald eyes found their way back to her, "Hm? Oh! Your Loki is lucky, that's all. What's your name?"

[brave_heart_verity]

((She's not a telepath or anything, so, very little narration gets through to her. Alas. But thanks.))

Loki being able to change was the whole point of her comic book, so she'd be all for his trying. She's a firm believer that the future is not immutable, that people can change, and that anyone can learn to be happy. All excellent traits in a Loki-friend.

And after all: if she can learn to see something good in the world, anyone can change.

"Oh." She's faintly blushing now. "Verity Willis." Have fun with that.

[frodleikr]

(okiedoke!)

Oh, no. A blush! Now his smile is returning full force, how could it not? He crossed his arms over his knees and leaned in a bit more- his chin on his forearms. He didn't know where he laid on the idea of fate... it had happened time and time again, so much that he couldn't remember how many times he'd been through it all. Loki liked to think change could happen, part of his nature was to incur change, teach a lesson, but at the same time... well, there was a cycle, wasn't there? A cycle that needed to happen.

But maybe it didn't need to happen that way, right?

"Verity," oh, that was fun. "Hello Verity. Think we can start again?"

[brave_heart_verity]

He is a fire god, it's only natural some of it would end up in her cheeks when he's being sweet.

As for the hows and whys of these things, Verity doesn't pretend to understand. She only knows that the future is a blank page and people can change their stories if they're willing to put in the effort. There's always a new hero waiting to take the stage and a new villain waiting to emerge. Rolls can change. People can become more themselves, or less.

"...if you want? I didn't think we'd gotten off to such a bad start." She may be missing the philosophical nature of the question. Literalist.

[frodleikr]

Serious matters for another time, maybe. Enough of all this woe and doubt, how about they explore? The mischievousness crawled up into the narrow of his eyes before he leapt up off the couch.

"Well," he patted himself down a bit and offered her a hand, "I should like to see what this nexus is like! Would you care to join my travels?"

[brave_heart_verity]

She recognizes that look. It's strange for her to see it on another face, but that's not enough to let her resist. Her hand is in his before she's really thought about it and next thing she knows she's on her feet. She is almost certainly going to regret this, but she'd regret not going far more.

"Happy to." And that is sincerely meant.

[frodleikr]

But now they had almost matching hair!

He gladly took her hand to pull her up with a smile and a nod before letting go. A happy Loki was an almost childish Loki, full of adventure and trouble. It was nice to meet someone who didn't fall blank when he tried to tell them who he was, not mocked or laughed for it. It was hard being a powerless god in the 21st century!

He clasped his hands together and skipped a bit ahead of her. Turning around, "well Verity, where shall we go?"

[brave_heart_verity]

He looks like if she and her Loki had had a baby, and don't think that's not going to give her issues.

The adventure and trouble aren't anything she hasn't faced before. She should introduce him to the pint-sized Kid Loki running around. Wait, no. That would be a terrible idea. They'd either hate each other or (even worse) get along famously.

Seeing him so excited makes her smile. She can't help it. "I'm told we can go anywhere from here. Generally food is this way, shopping is that way, parks are over there. Are we looking for any kind of thing in particular?"

[frodleikr]

Loki is certainly not shy, so... be weary (or delighted?)

This Loki was old school. He liked nature. Even though there was plenty of new things to see and learn about, he'd been an adventurer before his fall into destruction and he always thought more about discovering new land and places before he thought about looking poking his head into a store but then again, that was an entirely new concept to him.

"Mm," he hummed and looked up at the sky for a moment, "Well this is all so new to me, I remember small villages and Thor's beloved vikings. Little homes serving ale and mead. Certainly no cellphones! You Midguardians got clever indeed."

He smiled bright with a shrug, "what do you like? I shall follow your lead."

His sentence finished with a small yet dramatic bow.

[brave_heart_verity]

The bow is met with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile. Silly boy.

Sometimes it's better to be comfortable with what you find familiar about a place before going and exploring the strange new wonders. She wouldn't fault him for that. She'd be a little surprised, but this is a Loki who seems free to roam without the constant spying benevolent care of his All-Parents, so. He has time to be cautious.

"Thank you. I haven't run into any vikings yet. Not that it wouldn't be possible. But I've heard there's a pre-Industrial village down that way, although I haven't visited it yet. It would be an adventure for both of us."

[frodleikr]

And that would be an interesting conversation when it came. No, this Loki was not brother to Thor. He was friend to Thor, once. He was not bound by Aesir people. He was a proud Jotunn, and free to move about as he wished. Well, until he was tied up with the entrails of his dead son. Details.

"I do not think they live anymore in my world," but he wasn't entirely upset by that. It was what it was.

Loki nodded and followed the way she spoke. It wasn't caution. He did nothing but explore new places after seeking the mountains. He was happy to see trees and fields although. His Jotunheim was beautiful, not a dark wasteland of ice.

"The world is so strange now. you said youra is in trouble, is a Loki behind that? It is a Loki's wont."

[brave_heart_verity]

An interesting conversation and a chance for a lot of sharing stories. Not a bad deal in her book. Except for that bit where he ends up in a cave, she doesn't like that part.

"No society can last forever." But she's probably descended from Vikings a little bit, so doesn't every civilization live on in a way?

She's never visited the other realms. Loki bringing a moral home to visit wouldn't have gone well at any stage in their friendship. Buncha snobs.

"I... don't know. I don't... really understand what's happening. It's possible one of them caused it. There are two. Were? I." Oh dear, now she looks like she might cry. "It's complicated."

[frodleikr]

He doesn't even know if the realms are still in one piece- actually, he isn't entirely sure how he got here but considering everything, he's not really surprised. Loki wasn't.. sure he cared if the other realms survived. He was, in some way, still angry and.. other things. Nevermind any of that, though!

His smile died down when she spoke again. It seemed like such a.. well, it seemed so natural that he didn't quite understand why it would make someone so sad. Loki's were Loki's.

He frowned and moved forward to gently grab her hand. Leaning in, "I'm sorry, that Loki's are like this."

#NotAllLokis

[brave_heart_verity]

She's going to be clinging to that hand, just for a minute. "Not all Lokis. It doesn't have to be that way." Metaphors she's not so good with, but metaphysics is easier. Concepts of time and being she can understand. And she knows it didn't have to be that way.

"Everyone can change if they want to. The future isn't immutable. That's how we ended up with two. One was from a future that wouldn't happen. He wanted to make my Loki do terrible things."