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[Today is a good day for serious business, apparently. There's a certain something he's been putting off for a while, and after one-too-many dreams interrupting his sleep, he's had enough: this morning when Billy wakes up, the first thing he does is jot out a note in the journal-]

[Private to Ben Grimm]

Hey, would it be okay if I swung by to ask you a few things?

[He'll work through his morning routine until he gets a response, after which he'll go for a visit and get a hell of a lot more than he bargained for.

After that, his mood for the day is drastically altered; he'll skip out on school, trying to sort out his feelings on the matter. Tommy's still AWOL, and he's trying not to worry Teddy, but what he's just been told has really got him thinking- about people, and heroes, and the unfairness of mankind in general. And eventually he'll just go ahead and return to his journal for it. He's kind of in over his head here.]

[Open to All]

I know Luceti's full of heroes- seems kind of a standard trait for most of us, for whatever reason. Back on my world, super-humans aren't that uncommon, and in general they're revered for everything they do for the world. Some of them were born that way, and some of them are from other planets, and some were altered to get their powers, and some have a lot of talent or skill instead of powers. But they're all considered to be super heroes. There's bad guys, too- just as diverse and unique as the heroes they fight. People fear them and celebrate their defeat.

There's another group, though... humans who got their powers because of evolution. It's much more natural, in a lot of ways. Some are heroes, some are villains. Some are just trying to get by without becoming one or the other. But regular humans fear them, and hate them for it, even if they save the world just as much as the heroes they love. They're called criminals or monsters, no matter how innocent they might be.

[He hesitates- it's probably obvious to some, what he's talking about, and he's not sure if he should lock it from the mutant population, or apologize, or something, but it relates to them even if it's not by name. Hiding it wouldn't be right.

In the end he just leaves it be.]

...Sorry for the ramble. But it's not fair, and... I just can't understand why. Why hate one and love the other, when they're basically the same?

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[Loki nods slowly.

Some of that, he can identify with, like the truth making certain things become clear. But it was never a source of delight for him.]

What happened, exactly?

[Billy hesitates at that, fingers twisting awkwardly together as he mulls over how to respond. He's still not sure whether he should explain the story. It's a powerful one- and while it's true that it has nothing to do with their universe, it still could have a significant effect on the mutants living right here and now, in Luceti, most of whom aren't aware of what he's talking about at all. And if Wanda were ever to appear in Luceti, if she had no memory of it- if his family or other friends showed up, or anyone who wasn't aware of what had happened, and he ever got on Loki's bad side somehow...

That's a lot of power to place in the hands of someone he's grown up viewing as a super villain.]

...If... if I tell you this... it means I'd be trusting you not to tell anyone else about it. No one. Not ever.

[His lifts his head then, focusing on Loki, his expression uncertain and faintly pleading.

Can I trust you?

It's a bit scary, actually- that it's even a question. That the answer isn't automatically "no".]

[Loki smiles slightly.]

Above all things, I love secrets.

[He's not sure if that answer completely satisfies him, but after a moment's pause, his gaze fixated on Loki to gauge his sincerity, apparently he decides that it's enough. Ducking his head again, he curls his fingers tightly around his coffee mug, watching the steam rise to avoid looking at anything else.]

My power... it's the same as hers. She's so strong, though- she has the power to change the world, literally. And back home... she did. Something happened to her, and with just a few words, the entire planet was remade just the way she wanted it.

[Loki is silent for a long, thoughtful moment. His first, automatic thoughts are much the same he had when Rogue finally told him of her powers: interesting and dangerous and potentially useful. Those sorts of thoughts, he will consider later. Now, it would do no good. And now, such a strange sensation that he's not entirely certain how to deal with it, he feels as if Billy needs him in some way. Perhaps somewhat like Rogue did.

And like Rogue (though not in the same way), he rather likes Billy, feels a certain almost kinship with him for all that he's mortal.]

I see.

[And then he thinks, it's a good thing he's trying to teach Billy better control. Because that's not the sort of thing anyone wants happening higgledy-piggledy.

He doesn't seem in the least bit frightened or upset by this revelation, though. Just the same curiosity as always.]

Did it eventually get put back the way it was?

Eventually. The Avengers and a group of mutants were able to remember what the world was supposed to be like, and got her to fix things. She got upset, though... she blamed her father, a mutant terrorist who always thought that mutants were better than humans. He thought they should either die or serve us, so she made it so they did, in the alternate world. But that wasn't enough, I guess. There was still so much fighting. People died.

[He fidgets, twisting his fingers together a bit.]

She said, "No more mutants." And nearly all the mutants in the world lost their powers, just like that.

Hah. So she changed the nature of reality's events, but not the nature of humanity itself.

[He nods again.]

Another thing that many would find frightening or alternatively seek to control, I imagine.

[Quietly, the thought of someone yanking his magic from him is a terrifying one, but he hides that effortlessly. That is not an issue here, and his will is quite strong, as is his grasp on reality.]

Yeah, no kidding.

[Hence the acceptance of lessons from a certain master of magic...]

She went missing after that. No one's seen her since. There's so many questions I wanted to ask her before- about me and my brother, how we were born, what happened to make her lose us, how we even exist now... and now there's this. I'm not sure what to think anymore.

[Another slow nod.

Loki turns his cup meditatively in his hands.]

I would think that there is always more to a story such as this. But you already seem quite aware of that fact.

[One corner of his mouth pulls slightly.]

People like us are... not understood. We do not see the world in the same way others do.

Edited 2012-12-22 10:08 (UTC)

[People like us. There's a lot of meaning to those words, and it's enough to give Billy reason to pause, though after a moment he does nod. It's a truth that he's not sure he can rightly deny; the words resonate with him more than he cares to admit.]

I used to wish for that, sometimes. Years ago, when I was getting crap from kids at school, or trying to figure out the whole "I like guys" thing, or seeing how many people in the world are suffering all the time... I used to think, "I wish I could change this." Shift everything into how I thought it should be, change it to make it right... lots of people want that.

[He clutches his cup tightly enough to make his knuckles go white, and he's lucky he doesn't have super-strength like Teddy- he'd probably have broken it.]

No one should have this kind of power. Even good people. It's... too heavy.

Edited (billy be more specific) 2012-12-24 01:34 (UTC)

The universe at large does not care about should.

[He raises his eyebrows.] One might also say that no one should have the power to send an army to its death. To take the life of another, and anyone with a butter knife and reasonable reflexes can do that.

Orders of magnitude take care of themselves, Billy. Everyone has power. The question is what use they make of it, and to what end. Piss it away or break the wheel of fate. There is no right and wrong. There is ultimately just us.

[It still feels heavy, the weight of everything he's heard, the knowledge of what magic and this power of his mothers' - potentially of his - is capable of. And even if he has complete faith in the idea that she wasn't completely responsible for it (which he does), it still means she's susceptible to manipulation, and...

...but Loki has a point. A good one. It's an uncomfortable but undeniable truth.

Just us.]

Have you ever been afraid of your own power?

Then I would have to fear myself.

[He turns his mug slowly in his hands. How much to say?]

There were many things in my youth that I wished were different about me. But that was never one of them. Magic has... saved me, I suppose. It is a tool, but it is also so much more. [It makes him greater than himself. It reminds him that while he is often alone, he is still connected to something in a deep and fundamental way.] I think without it, I might run mad.

...I guess now I'm just wondering... if I'll run mad with it, one day. Like... if whatever happened to her could happen to anyone.

[His gaze is fixed to the table again - or the cooling coffee, downcast either way - his thumb drumming lightly against the handle. He's been afraid of his powers before, of the severe lack of control he used to have and the pain and terror he'd felt when he nearly killed Kesler the day they'd manifested. He doesn't know how frightening changing the entire world could be, but his imagination can take it pretty far.]

She got like that because she lost the people she loved. Something drove her into a corner. I think about losing my family, my friends... Teddy... and I just...

[He shuts his eyes, unable to finish. The thought of it is just- it's more frightening than his magic, a nightmare of the imagination. The life they live? The battles they fight?

It's so very, very easy to die.]

[Loki falls silent, thinking about how badly Billy had reacted during the draft to losing his magic. It really hadn't been so different from how Loki felt himself, he was just better controlled, knowing it was for just a short time.]

[Quietly:] I know that you will run mad without it.

[He turns his mug in his hands.] I do not know what to tell you, Billy. That which we care for inevitably is taken from us if we are not strong enough to prevent it. Sometimes even if we are. [His lips pull in a humorless smile.] And sometimes it isn't even real to begin with.

Ours is a grand sort of power. It works best when we can plan ahead and prevent such things from happening. But sometimes they happen anyway.

...Ha... yeah, no kidding. Life never went according to plan even when I didn't have powers. Why would now be any different?

[It's a depressing truth, admittedly, but trying to deny it would just make it worse. He just... has to figure out how to prevent it from happening, that's all. Figure out how it happened in the first place, while he's at it.]

Is there... some kind of spell that could protect someone against mind control?

[He eyes Billy dubiously.]

That would depend upon a lot of factors, such as the sort of mind control, being strong and subtle enough to make such a spell so it cannot be easily broken... things of that nature.

[Well, he wasn't really expecting a yes or no answer to that, or even a cure-all... still, he deflates a little at the lack of certainty.]

I think... something was affecting her, some outside force that made her lose control. I don't - I can't believe that it was all on her. I know you don't think as highly of the Avengers as I do, but- they wouldn't. She wouldn't. So I want to learn how to protect myself, and if I can, if I find her, protect her too.

[It's a long shot, but he won't be able to forgive himself for not trying if something goes wrong.]

Hm. This is a tricky thing. Because if you do not know the nature of the problem, the solution cannot be so precise as it needs, you see?

[Loki leans back in his chair and looks meditatively at the ceiling.] There are ways to shield oneself from telepathy, of course, many ways. But that is not the only sort of manipulation there is.

This is a problem we can work on.

Add it to the list, I guess.

[Have a small smile. It's not exactly hopeful, but he needs this right now, this sliver of chance. He has to believe that there's an alternative, a way out of this.]

We'll be busy for a while, huh?

For quite some while.

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For quite some while. <small.[He smiles slightly.]</small> But first continue your perfection of more basic things. The technique you want will be most delicate and subtle.

It's always the hard stuff that you want the most. I had that problem when I wanted to teleport before I could fly.

Difficult things are certainly the most interesting.

Well... thanks anyway. For helping me try. For teaching me still. [He knows that it's not perfect, what they've got going here, but then, what ever is?] Until I can get some real answers, I'll just try to learn everything that I can.

Of course. I don't know why I would stop. [He nods.] Even honing basic skills will make any solution easier to execute once found.

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