selfhelp | [IC] Appointments Post

[Billy looks unruffled by the look, merely lifting a brow.]

Fair enough. So? Quid pro quo. You ask me, I'll ask you.

Fair enough.

[He'll even try to stay on the topic at hand for now.]

How did you meet?

[Success! He'll try not to let it go to his head.]

Back in my world, the Avengers temporarily disbanded, and about the same time a kid came back from the future trying to get some help in dealing with a villain who was chasing him. He was able to find a list of kids who shared some kind of history with the original Avengers, and me and Teddy were on there. We met when Nate got the team together and introduced us.

I see. So not exactly an ordinary meeting. And I imagine things simply proceeded from there?

Pretty much. Once I got over how terrified I was of him - big green muscle monster, kind of intimidating, you know? - we figured out how many things we had in common, and everything just kind of fell into place.

[He smiles nostalgically, unable to help it. Nothing makes him feel fond and affectionate quite as easily as Teddy.]

So, quid pro quo. What about you and her?

We met upon my arrival here. She found me before I'd made my way into town. I suppose we got along all right until I told her my name, and then she wasn't terribly pleased. She rather disliked me, I think.

...Yeaaaah, Mr. Stark kind of made the rounds letting his friends know what went on back in Manhattan. Your reputation preceded you.

I'd gotten that impression. It was expected. [He shrugs.]

I thought she was at least interesting, as mortals went. But I've always rather liked women of her sort.

Not at all the stuff of romance. I had no desire to form any sort of attachments with anyone, let alone mortals. Quite the opposite, in fact. [He gives Billy a crooked smile.] How things change.

Edited 2013-04-06 01:19 (UTC)

At least some change is a good thing. And Rogue's kinda prickly with everyone she first meets, I think. As a rule. She and I weren't even close to getting along until she found out I was a mutant. Just needed a foot in the door I guess.

[He laughs.] There is prickly, and there is active dislike and distrust.

I suppose finding out that sort of commonality would form quite the connection.

Well, you know. Mutant prejudice and all. She's used to us kind of sticking together, if her universe is anything like mine.

I can only imagine, really.

[His smile goes wry. He doesn't really have an automatic in group or commonality like that. He never fit in to Asgard, and he certainly never could have found common ground to call upon with the Jotun.]

It doesn't sound terribly pleasant for you lot, from what the both of you have told me. And it is quite similar in that way.

Similar? To what, your world?

[He knows that Loki can't be in the greatest circumstances - the whole Frost Giant thing - but his universe doesn't really have any gossip about him being mistreated for his origins. Only for his behaviour, which is... kind of expected after all the terrible things that Loki has done.

And in his mind it's better to talk about that than the mutant issues back home. At least, more comfortable for him.

...Oh geez, speaking of which- he needs to confirm something with Loki before they part ways, now that he knows about Rogue. Crap.]

I don't know anything of mutants in my world. No, I meant your worlds sound quite similar.

[He smiles crookedly.]

I wouldn't really draw a similarity with myself. While I have always been treated as if there is something terribly wrong with me, no one but that bastard Odin knew the cause of my supposed defect. [Which is both better and worse, in its own special and horrible ways.]

Oh. [Well that makes more sense.] I guess that's... good? Kind of? I don't know.

[He's as terrible as ever at this.]

I guess our worlds are similar enough, yeah. There's just a lot that's happened in mine that hasn't happened yet in hers. And the order's kind of mixed up, too.

[Loki shrugs.] It is what it is.

[For his part, it would have been nice to not be so alone, and while Rogue has said there are some issues with other mutants, she's obviously found quite a bit of happiness being amongst them. On the other hand, from what he's seen of the Jotnar, he certainly never would have found any welcome there.

And glad of it.

A change of subject seems to be in order, and it's his turn to ask a question. It seems odd to be asking for things that seem so inconsequential, but he knows that they are actually quite important.]

What is it you like best about Teddy?

Oh god, that's a tough one. Um...

[There's so much about Teddy that he likes, so many qualities that he's come to treasure and appreciate - and therefore encourage - and all of those he had to earn the right to see, since Teddy hid so much of himself just to conform to the group at first.]

I guess... if I had to pick just one, I'd choose his strength. Not physically- I mean, I like that too- [How effortlessly he can carry Billy both on the battlefield and in the privacy of their home, how protected he feels in those arms, how invincible he is when Hulkling is watching his back-] But he's been through so much in his life, and he's able to keep moving forward despite it. He's always smiling, even when he doesn't have to. And... I mean, the more I went through, the more cynical I got- and I'm sarcastic, and I can be kind of a jerk sometimes, and I'm always saying the wrong thing- but Teddy's just... good. He's a good person to the core. He makes me happy, he's always making me smile, like that optimism of his rubs off on me. He inspires me, makes me want to be a better person.

[His expression shifts, nostalgic, affectionate, a little shy. Sickening.]

I really love that about him.

[Loki finds it very cute, really. Probably because he's rediscovered his own ability to be a bit goopy when no one's looking.

Though he doesn't necessarily understand the whole wanting to be a better person thing. Mostly, Loki just wants to be Loki and the problem is he's having a devil of a time figuring out just who that is.]

I am glad for you.

Haha, thanks. And ditto to you.

[Speaking of which, it's his turn again. And rather than just tossing the same question back at Loki, he pauses to think of something new instead.]

Okay... how'd you manage to win her over? Since she didn't like you at first.

[And Rogue's a tough one to bond with even when you start out on neutral footing.]

I... don't entirely know.

[Loki smiles sheepishly.]

I did not wish to give up. So I... played the long game. Though do not misunderstand me. I did not think it a game. But rather... I decided to approach the matter with patience.

And I refused to simply... go away. I offered myself to her time and again in the hopes that she would finally see something that she could like.

[He falls silent for a moment, mulling things over.]

I have never lied to her. And she knows that I have never lied to her. Even when I would have liked to.

Edited 2013-04-12 00:48 (UTC)

I can see why that would be appealing, especially for you. No offense.

[He pauses at that - opens his mouth, shuts it - then adds,]

If it's possible for that to be inoffensive. ...It probably isn't. Sorry.

[Did he mention that he says the wrong thing a lot because he totally does.]

[Loki shrugs, amused. He knows he's the God of Lies. He's made of lies, really.]

I suppose it shows I am trying, very hard.

[He falls silent for a moment before saying quietly:]

I want there to be one thing in the boundaries of my life that I know to be true and real.

[That's what the honesty had been for; he knows that if Rogue likes him, it's not simply because he's manipulated her in to doing so. And he knows his feelings for her, as strange and ill-defined as they might be, are true as well. They are not a story he's been raised to believe, a whisper in his ear, a voice in his mind. Their relationship is not a thing lied into being by anyone, not even himself.]

Congratulations, you officially know more about maintaining a healthy relationship than at least fifty percent of the "normal" population of Earth. Equality and honesty are almost as dead as chivalry these days.

[One of the reasons he's always tried not to lie or keep secrets from Teddy - in fact, why Teddy is one of the only people he's even told about these meetings he has with Loki in the first place - because years of hearing his mother ramble about statistics and divorce rates due to secrets and misunderstandings... if anything sunk in, it was that, because Teddy's the one person he never wants to lose.]

[Loki snorts quietly.]

Yes, well, I make a pig's ear of things anyway often enough.

[He smiles, about as goopy as he ever gets, himself.]

But it is real.

That's the nice thing about honesty- it makes it real when both sides are sticking to it.

[He's learned that the hard way a couple of times, but that's one of the finer points of a first-time relationship: actually learning from the mistakes you make.]

[IC] Appointments Post

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