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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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People have got a long history of hating each other for no good reason, and that's without knowing the kid next door can punch through three feet of concrete.

The world ain't fair, kid. Whoever told you to expect sunshine an' daisies was plannin' on selling you something first. There's no superheroes where I come from. The closest thing we ever had was Cap an' that didn't turn out so well for him.

[Substituting terms, the situation, at the root of it, is one he's very familiar with.]

Man will act in ways most convenient to them and seek someone to blame for all their ills. As I see it... it feeds their desperate hunger for self-worth by having them feel superior to the condemned.

[It's a lot to chew over, before giving a response.

First is the implication that the kid from New York City is . . . a hero? Jack has to go back and listen a second time just to be sure his mind isn't playing tricks on him, but no, most of us is right there, so perfectly easy in its delivery that the three little words become a bit uncanny. They're an odd mental backdrop to pondering the next question, even while they put into perspective the troubled tone of the whole message. But even if Jack isn't from a world where things like extraordinary powers actually exist, the question's built on a foundation that he's fairly certain most of their worlds share. Whatever the world of origin, human beings all run on the same hardware.

It's enough to make his normally-light tone somewhat pensive, when he finally picks up his journal to answer.]

Sad as it is to say, I wonder if it's a question of being thought of as actually human. Do you know what I mean?

I know that.

[He's Jewish, he knows plenty.]

Kids with powers are scary, I get that. There's a lack of control and experience that makes it pretty dangerous. But those kids grow up to be adult heroes and they still get the same hate, when they're fighting side by side with people like Captain America.

The hypocrisy of it is kind of sickening.

It's not like I was expecting it to be perfect. But if we don't question what's wrong with the world, we're not much better than people who cause it to go sour in the first place.

You know not all heroes here are hue-man, right?

[Huff. Okay, so maybe in his world they are, but juuust a little pet peeve.]

Either way, it's silly to hate somebody just because they've got awesome powers. What're they afraid of? Especially if those people are heroes.

That... sounds like the case, yeah. Maybe that's why they're so reluctant to change.

[...Ouch. He knows there's a certain degree of truth to what he says, but it still kind of stings to hear it.]

Yeah, I know. They've even got another word to refer to the... species, I guess you could say. It's a classic situation of fearing what you don't understand.

[Something about Billy's tone, and his words, really worries Loki. And he's not certain how he feels about being worried for someone. It's the same issue as on the draft, though in a much less immediate sense.

He's not used to worrying about someone. He isn't certain he likes it. But it also just won't go away. Billy is important to him in his own way, and he can't quite ignore this.

And really, he'd also like to just know what happened.

He uses a mirror to locate Billy, since he doesn't want to just show up when others were around. He also picks up two coffees, since that feels like a nice thing to do. With one final check at the mirror, he uses a doorway to simply step across space and into the kitchen where Billy stands. He doesn't make any effort to hide the use of magic, since that ought to make his appearance a bit less abrupt.]

[...talking pony...

He'd forgotten they were here too. Cue a double-take.]

Uh. I know that- like I said, there's heroes from space, and someone I'm really close to is an alien. It's just that the main problem is about humans being prejudiced.

[Billy's sitting at the table - more like flopping over it, one arm stretched out and drumming fingers against the surface, the other pillowed beneath his head, and he looks pretty deep in thought, staring off at nothing. He's actually waiting for the kettle to boil so he can make coffee, so when Loki's magic draws him out of his brooding, he sits up, attempting a smile. He's not sure how successful that smile is, but he can't bring himself to care much, either. Today's been too stressful to fake pleasantries.]

Morning. What're you doing here?

[This is Avenger territory, bro, isn't it kind of dangerous?]

[Loki sets one of the coffees next to Billy's hand.]

Oh, nothing in particular. Thought I'd stop by for a chat, since I was just wandering about.

[He'd buy that, but there's no money to be found here. He does accept the coffee, though, mumbling his thanks as he sips cautiously and lifts a hand, magic flaring around his fingers to shut off the kettle. He could get up to do it, but he's already decided that today is a good day to be lazy and miserable.]

Well... feel free to sit and stay a while, but I can't promise I'll be very good company today.

I know.

[Loki sits down and then sips his own coffee.]

You sounded upset.

[That is a good question, isn't it? He's unfamiliar with the concept of superheroes, and only passingly familiar with the concept of mutants, but he can think of the argument in his own terms. Humans, elves, half-elves, angels, summon spirits.]

Those with great power are revered. Those who are different are feared.

Perhaps differences are feared most when they are viewed as deviations or perversions. The super-humans you speak of are celebrated because they have earned their power, or it has been granted to them. If they come from another world, it is easier to accept that that is just how their kind is. They are valued for their power, but they are not thought of as part of humanity.

The second group you describe - they are despised because others believe they should be just like them, but they're not. They are seen as humans with defects instead.

Edited 2012-12-13 20:34 (UTC)

Was it that obvious?

[His tone is sitting somewhere between sarcastic and resigned, like he can't decide how he's feeling right now. Which is pretty much accurate. After a moment, though, he sighs, leaning back in his seat and sliding more to the resigned side of the emotional spectrum.]

...Let me ask you something. Did you ever feel like... you didn't have a choice, with what you did back on Asgard and Earth? Like maybe you could have been a hero if things were different, but the situation was out of your control?

[Billy. Billy. Why do you do this to her, bro? She's been trying to avoid thinking about the fate of mutants in your world since you let it slip that Scott was leading the X-Men and that you hadn't joined the Institute.

Seriously, bro. Do friends do friends like this?

But as much as Rogue doesn't want to know, she... can't... she just can't let it go. Not when it's obviously bothering him so much.]

At the Dome.[Come talk to her if you want to.]

[Not even an easy question for warm up. Loki stares at the table for a long, long time. Though part of the problem is that he doesn't believe in heroes and villains, not like that. He knows why he is doing what he's doing and he knows it to be right. At least for the course he's been on since leaving Asgard. But before... ] In Asgard? Yes.

I think just as . . . human beings, really, our heads get away from us when we're frightened. [He pauses, then laughs softly, more thought behind the sound than amusement.] It's funny - you'd think it would be hard to club a zom, right? Never been a violent sort, civilized person, all that - and especially the fresh ones, they just look like . . . people. Sick people, but people. The minute you think one might kill you, though, you or someone you're looking out for? Hard to see that that as a person any more.

'twill never change. [He murmurs.] There shall always be men who cast stones... and then think to blame the bruised and bleeding creatures should they bite back. [He snorts softly, scornfully.] Now, really.

I'm not sayin' it isn't.

Sounds like it's tough for some people to handle living in the kinda world you've got. They get scared, someone shows 'em where to throw a stone...

[There's a beat of silence, and then a brief sigh.] You asked why but I dunno what to tell you, kid. I guess in some ways people don't change.

[Billy you sound awfully down.]

I see that Midgard's sentiments do not differ from those in Asgard. In a most general sense, I mean. It does not apply to my situation at all. After all, my amazing super powers do not lie in evolution.

[And Loki is not quite sure how to undo that...]

Super heroes like Tony Stark and Captain America are self-made-superheroes. They made themselves heroes, they obtained skills through Midgardian technology and horribly failed experiments.

I think this has something to do with the lack of control the authorities have over those who obtain their talents through evolution. Since it is a natural process...

I think.

Right?

I am most right, right?

That's actually a really good way of summing it up.

[So to speak. If you want to be technical, there's really nothing good about this sort of thing. But there's a definite truth to what he said, that much is certain.]

Seems almost like an uncanny valley situation when you look at it like that.

[...Well. "Want to" isn't really the way he'd put it- the written request feels more like a demand to him. And while he doesn't particularly feel like going out there and getting what he assumes is an interrogation or something, he figures he owes her that much. So he'll be teleporting over there shortly after he gets the message, wandering around in the halls and checking the simulation areas to try and find her.]

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