#seasonstweetings

[damn_yourself_early]

Snow has fallen in the Nexus! Fat, fluffy flakes of white, piling and drifting from ankle- to knee-depth in places. It may still be falling, in places, and in the midst of it all is a Norse godling packing snowballs and a grin. "I swear, I had nothing to do with it--but! What's your favorite thing to do with a fresh fall of snow?"

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[damn_yourself_early]

Loki thinks about it, tapping his chin. "Hmm. You must be from a different universe. Or the past, before you tried that excuse. Do you run around rooftops beating up criminals somehow even though you're blind? Or is that just the Matt Murdock where I'm from?"

[fightlikehell]

His poker face is somehow coming up well, belated but what can you say or do when there's a god of lies and such even in some child-like form. Jesus Christ his heart is thundering. "That's a really wild story, you know?"

How much of his story is public knowledge like that? What is the risk here with people walking around knowing who he is? Matt should have taken that into stock when he went on this venture.

[damn_yourself_early]

Nobody's poker face is ready for a chatty young god of liesmischief! He's like the Spanish Inquisition, but much more endearing and with fewer hot irons. "Oh, that's not even wild. How about Tony Stark pretending Iron Man was his bodyguard for years, then admitting it was him all along just a couple months after he assaulted a Latverian ambassador? That's crazy!"

[fightlikehell]

The Spanish Inquisition would have really been far more successful if it had half of the resources that Loki has in any universe. As to endearing, Matt already was fighting the bad taste in his mouth at the name. It might be a bit before there are reasons to endear. "You're right. That is crazy."

He's not off the hook, he knows it. It feels a little safer now to be in on the complete awe of ridiculousness that truth has offered. "How do you know all of these crazy things?"

[damn_yourself_early]

"I pay attention?" he points out, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. "I watch the news, I read the Internet, and I've got a pretty good idea which sites are just gossip and conspiracy theories. I've got a lot to figure out and not a lot of time to do it in, so I need to learn what I can, while I can."

[fightlikehell]

"That's outside of what you should learn in school...." provided that he's a normal child. A child that's here. Chances are if Nexus didn't have paperwork there's no reason at all a young person could come here.

A young person with the name of Loki, brother of Thor who lead an army through a hole in the sky that tore up New York something fierce.

[damn_yourself_early]

"I'm Asgardian," he points out. "I don't exactly go to public school." And he doesn't know what his namesake in Matt's world has been up to.

[fightlikehell]

"The Loki," as a correction to himself. If he had wanted any harm to come to him, if he were any threat then this would have already happened and fast. Unless he's no threat at all. After all, he is an Asgardian. Matt is only human.

[damn_yourself_early]

"Sort of? A Loki, certainly. It's kind of complicated. Actually, it's really complicated. Kind of complicated is Facebook code for 'I want to cheat but no one's into me.'"

[fightlikehell]

"What are you talking about?" This was not a romp in the snow.

Boo.

[damn_yourself_early]

"Okay, well, there was one Loki, and he was... pretty bad, not gonna lie. On his nicest day, he'd kick a puppy through the goalposts at the Superbowl. But being the god of chaos really sucks when you never actually change, and he died, and his soul reincarnated as me. So, I'm Loki, but I'm not Loki-Loki. You see?"

[fightlikehell]

"By pretty bad meaning leading armies to destroy cities on Earth, I'd buy that." Because it isn't enough to abuse poor, innocent puppies. Matt purses his lips. "That means that you are not trustworthy and we may not get along."

[damn_yourself_early]

"He probably did that at some point," Loki admits, but sighs at Matt's conclusion. "That's what everyone thinks! I've saved the world--Earth, Midgard, the whole thing--three separate times already!"

After a beat, he adds, "and I didn't even make the joke about a lawyer calling someone else untrustworthy. So there!"

[fightlikehell]

To his credit, Matt keeps his face neutral. He has faced off with Wilson Fisk in civil conversation without losing his temper. He can meet Loki. Both hands grip his cane a might too tightly.

"I am left with very limited, neutral sources of information, Loki."

[damn_yourself_early]

"Ask Verity!" Loki insists. "She knows better than anyone!"

[fightlikehell]

"How?" And also why wants to follow right after. There are a few details missing in this. If he hasn't already oozed that new denizen smell.

[damn_yourself_early]

"What d'you mean, 'how?' You're a lawyer!" Loki points out. "Asking people questions is part of your job, isn't it? 'Hey, Verity, is this Loki kid gonna destroy the world?' See, it's not hard."

[fightlikehell]

He softly exhales. "I mean how is it that she knows better than anyone in your opinion." Which is a far more articulate version of the question he's asking. And yes, there are many questions he'll be asking. To Loki. To Verity. To himself. Now that is what being a lawyer is all about... and paperwork.

[damn_yourself_early]

"Sheeee knows me?" Loki can't keep from sounding like that answer should have been obvious. "It's not like I could fool her. Neither can you."

[fightlikehell]

"By that logic I know you or know enough of you." And it's not enough information to supply him with anything substantial for this exchange. He can deal with petulance. As to fooling people, well, there are very specific truths Matt conceals.

[damn_yourself_early]

"You don't know me," Loki argues, "you just met me. We haven't hung out, or helped each other through bad days, or shared a laugh over how weird life gets. Totally different."

[fightlikehell]

"You're saying that Verity is your friend. I think that is more than knowing you." What an interesting notion this is, really. A character witness can make or break a claim. This is not court. This Loki is not in the act of doing anything wrong.

It's still grinding Matt's gears. He sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. "And to clarify, you didn't try to destroy the world. You wanted to just conquer it."

[damn_yourself_early]

"No one who doesn't know me is my friend," he shoots back, "and no one who isn't my friend really knows me. Q.E.D."

Loki has that effect on people. Kid Loki doubly so. "Conquering the world sounds like the last me. Got to keep with the times."

[fightlikehell]

"Okay. So how many people really know you, Verity aside?" Because now he wants to know.

"Before Nexus I have only been involved with one time." As though is multiple universe n00b nature was not yet apparent.

[damn_yourself_early]

"Verity aside? Hmm, Thor. Leah. Maybe Father." He taps his chin in thought, then admits, "I think that's it."