@loki.odinson

[selfimage]

[ it's been a bit that he's stewed on it, and honestly, Loki isn't very much up for the opinion's of others. this time, there's a nagging little curiosity in him, something that springs something else to life that he thought would be easy to bury when he arrived.

so: ]

All appropriate extended greetings and "good afternoon"s.
Which one of you hail from a universe that has gods?
Not just gods in the literal, very physical sense, but also gods in the mythical one. Please, tell me about it. Indulge my boredom.
I hereby dub it story time.

Comments

[impede]

[Within a few minutes, a pin arrives in Loki's inbox for a small pop-up dessert location. Unique to New Amsterdam in this season and under these growing conditions, it's a sweet and savory cold confections place that takes advantage of how unlikely it should be to grow ... well. Most nuts, actually.

Akechi will be sitting by the window, cheek in his palm, eyes closed as he waits for his "mentor" to show up.]

[selfimage]

[ if it's one thing about Loki, he always shows up fashionably late and looking fairly put together. today it's an asymmetrical black jacket and a pair of matching boots. his hair is brushed to the side: parted differently from last time Akechi's seen it.

he joins him with an easy motion, ducking into the seat and crossing his leg at the knee. ]

Truly a fascinating mortal achievement.

[impede]

I can't help but wonder how long it's going to last. After all, it's hardly a business built upon any stability. We'd better enjoy it while we can.

[Then again, Akechi knows how fragile the restaurant business can be. A hot location can lose its shine and glamour once people have all tried it and decided that it's not worth returning to.]

Where we are won't suit for our arrangement, but let's have some dessert before hand. It's only worth it.

[selfimage]

[ there's a little curious what are you plotting? question that's floating around in Loki's mind, but he's more keen on going with this and finding out for himself. besides, why not give Akechi the benefit of the doubt? also, plotting could be fun. he definitely won't discount that plotting could be fun.

not to put expectations on him, of course. ]

Let's eat.

[ is he buying? probably. Akechi sort of nailed that one in calling him a mentor, though he supposed he walked right into it.

anyway, it's time to try what pineapple whip tastes like with an overload of different kinds of toppings in it, because he's definitely going to be adding extreme toppings in it.

after they've decided: ]

Care to share what brought this about?

[ you know, deciding to share a memory. ]

[impede]

I'm not completely incapable of sharing. [Loki has seen all sides of him: the unstable, the manic, the type to obsess and lose track of his thought processes. There is very little about Akechi still hidden from the man who has the same name as his persona.]

It's not as if I can't control what you see. There is less risk involved.

[And he's without his power here.

But his memories remain, and ...

Well. Maybe he wants to show off a little.]

[selfimage]

Very well.

[ that means that there's definitely some aspect of this that Akechi wants to share. the boy is guarded enough that this is ... well, surprising. if there's something that he has planned, Loki will go with it.

his cheek is in his palm, and his elbow on the table as he puts another spoonful of pineapple whim in his mouth. ]

You've got me curious enough. Most other Lokis that I've seen in my own multiversal jaunts have some similarities.

[impede]

You'll have to understand that this power is as much me as it is a semblance of you. [Akechi doesn't wholly claim it, but he does mean it. The personas are masks of themselves. He's more at ease with what his said to him when his power was unleashed, partly thanks to sharing that experience with Ren.]

In that way, you could say you've met me already. Do I pass any of your qualifications?

[selfimage]

[ there's a spoon in his mouth when he raises a dark brow over at Akechi. there's a moment of brief amusement. ]

Couldn't I ask the same?

[ he digs it back into his dessert, thoughtfully. ]

That resonance has collided with you, to an extent. It makes it yours as much as it is me. [ a tilt of his head and eats another bite. ] Perhaps I'm yours in the same way.

[ in his quest to be himself. ]

[impede]

And therein lies the conundrum, doesn't it? Are you influencing me from afar, or did I merely resonate with the you that exists between the multiverse? You'll understand when you see Loki, how it is that he could, in fact, be linked to you. Why I'm even taking care to share in the first place.

[A long way to say that he agrees with the possibility. Where does the thread begin or end?]

[selfimage]

Perhaps both are true. The universe loves patterns, after all.

[ he makes a little twist with the spoon in his hand, dark nails at the tip of it. after getting to know Akechi after a while, the two of them certainly have ... other similarities. ]

My own past can be mess of crossover and poor narrative.

[impede]

[Poor narrative. Akechi knows that Loki left that one for him to pick up, so it's easily done.]

Unfortunately, popularity is typically what the lowly masses can easily consume. I would bet that's the reason behind such poor writing. I assure you that I'm not a reflection of that at all.

[Albeit with a horrible, terrible past. At least it's realistic.]

[selfimage]

[ Akechi sinks his little claws into it and makes a comment and Loki tilts his head a little bit thoughtfully. ]

I've not questioned it—you don't seem terribly two-dimensional.

[ he scrapes the bottom of his dessert with his spoon. ]

That's where it gets, hm ... well—lazy, I suppose.

[impede]

Don't tell me that your skin has appeared a touch ... paper-thin? Or would manuscript-thin seem more accurate to your experience?

[He's teasing, of course, but it's the type of teasing that would only suit them.

Lokis (plural, for a reason) talking about narrative with a sense of dark morbidity.

Narratives where they're trapped as little more than characters on a page.]

[selfimage]

I'm more of an ereader sort of person.

[ are you making fun of his age, Akechi? really? ]

Truth be told, I'm not terribly older than you. Just think of me as ... you know, your senior.

[ there's some flippancy to it, as if he's jabbing back just a little. ]

[impede]

That's truly fascinating. But don't worry, that wasn't my claim. The stories in question would be kept on manuscripts to be found and eventually reprinted down the line, would they not?

[It is fascinating that he's both a god and sees himself as a young man.]

Why do you view yourself as being so young? That seems like the type of contradiction that wouldn't be written in a story.

[selfimage]

Without the original text, most likely.

[ though he tilts his head over at Akechi at that. curious question—one that Thor had asked once. he was definitely not as old as one would think, especially not given his mentality. ]

And—well—I needed to find a way to escape my own poor narrative. You could say that this was one of the solutions.

[impede]

And yet, you can't help but bring it up all the same. Sounds like a bundle of contradictions that don't serve any real purpose. It must be irritating to be you. [Perhaps it's cruel to point out that Loki isn't free in any way. Akechi knows what he's saying as he says it, but doesn't bring it to light as directly.]

But then, I guess the same could be said for me. [He'll own that much, too.]

[selfimage]

Oh—horribly.

[ there's a little drawl to his voice. those contradictions serve a purpose: laying down the details that he didn't want to divulge, and what he did to crawl his way through the barriers in reincarnation. ]

Kind of like a hard reset.

[ there's a tilt of his head. ]

Feeling the constrictions of your narration?

[impede]

The only contradiction lies in what other people see in me. [That is absolutely a lie—but it's the kind of lie that Akechi lets himself believe. He's aimless in his rage and hatred toward the world. Better to let that aimlessness sit untouched for the moment.]

I rather enjoy what they don't know or see for themselves.

[selfimage]

Even if they fill that gap with their own assumptions?

[ that's something that he's actually quite curious about. Akechi doesn't seem to have a reputation that he's looking to change, so there are some things that are safer, he supposes.

ah, but ]

[impede]

That's assuming that their false assumptions would begin to matter to me in the first place.

[Spoken, of course, as if they wouldn't matter.

They absolutely do.]

[selfimage]

So—are you going to show me?

[ you've got him a little curious now, Akechi. ]

Dessert time is over.

[impede]

Let's take a walk. [Sitting in a cafe is good for meeting, but not good for back alley memory shares. He stands up, stretching his arms over his head as if he's making a show of himself. (And he is, of course.)

And then he strides out, expecting Loki to follow.

They've already paid, after all.]

[selfimage]

[ there's far too many around for Loki to figure that Akechi would be comfortable (though that certainly would be a reckless and bold move on his behalf). Loki follows smoothly, with impressive confidence. ]

Lead the way.

[ no need to hang around, anyway. ]

[impede]

[Once they find an abandoned alley, Akechi begins to draw off his glove. It's a dramatic and purposeful action. Anyone observing might think that it's to truly duel Loki.

Of course, that's not what he has in mind in the least.]

Come. Let me show you my power.