[ anyway, just before spock settles in for some me-time for his meditation, the door cracks open and besu trots in, tail held high and twitching. before he's taken more than a few steps inside, though, his form shifts, green energy swirls around him, and a moment later, loki's standing in his place.
he's dressed in a sweater and jeans, curls pulled back into a loose bun, and as his eyes--besu's green--find spock, his lips curl crookedly. ]
As promised, [ he offers, spreading his hands in a small shrug. ]
[ spock is seated, as usual, and he's not surprised when the door opens, nor that loki is in the form of a cat when he arrives. he waits, unflinching, as the other man alters his appearance, and both eyebrows lift dubiously at the way he smiles and gestures. ]
Fascinating.
[ dry as a desert. he nods toward the spot next to where he sits, a clear invitation despite this. ]
I am not wholly unfamiliar with beings of a capricious nature.
[ he takes the invitation, sinking down gracefully and crossing one thigh over the other.
at the accusation, he holds up a hand, pinching his thumb and forefinger together. ]
I'm only a bit capricious these days. And I've been.. more or less in hiding until recently. [ hence so much time spent as a cat. .. or as ouroboros. ]
Well, I was considered the Norse god of mischief at one point, you know.
[ so take from that what you will, etc.
his brows loft at the statement, though, a little surprised in spite of himself. ] No, I've worn animal shapes off and on since I was a child, but I've yet to meet your captain. [ he gestures to his face. ] A black cat just seems obvious. And it lets me be out and about without running into anyone I don't want to deal with. [ mostly, namely, avengers.
he hesitates a moment, then gently presses his palms together, glancing down at his fingers, then back up at spock again. ] Back.. home, I'm isolated from other people. Before I arrived here, I hadn't touched another person in longer than most mortals can conceive of. [ longer than many immortals can, for that matter. ] Sometimes it's nice to have contact without having to explain anything.
Terran mythology. [ thoughtful. ] That does explain certain things.
[ which things? don't worry about it. as for the surprise over his deduction, he explains: ]
The captain has an allergy to felines that was discussed in front of the cat that was fond of him. Based upon your behavior patterns while visiting me, I find it unlikely that you would have continued to appear in a form that would potentially cause anaphylaxis. Had it been you and you held enough interest in him to continue following him, a different animal would have been more appealing, in part due to the fact that it would ensure a lack of the annoyance of intervention.
[ see: it wouldn't have involved spock being a constant annoyance shooing the cat away.
the further explanation loki offers him is... appreciated. he nods before even trying to answer, sorting out his thoughts. ]
I am not unfamiliar with a sense of isolation either, though with an obvious disparity in type and degree. [ a pause. ] There is an appeal in acceptance and not having to explain or quantify. [ he looks down at his own hands for a moment, brow furrowed. ]
My species refrains from physical touch more often than most as a means of protecting ourselves and those around us from telepathic transference. Even touches that are seen by other species as routine and inconsequential are often extremely intimate for us. While we are able to adapt for social situations and diplomacy, it is preferable to either not need to or to have time to prepare. [ it almost sounds like it might be half-reprimand, but then he follows it up to clarify. ] It is for this reason I prefer to know who or what I am engaging in physical contact with.
Very clever of you, Mr. Spock. [ if he sounds a little impressed, it's because he's still not used to vulcans yet. ] I do think he seems like an interesting man, but.. he has too much frenetic energy for my tastes. [ that boy is a cheetah in a zoo.
anyway, more importantly, he shifts to turn more toward the young man, brows lifting thoughtfully as he listens. his glance drops to spock's hands a moment later, too, alarm very briefly crossing his expression before shuttering away. ] I have to assume, then, that my feline form afforded a certain amount of.. protection from such transference. [ because he wouldn't wish a glimpse into the billions of timelines he's been supporting on some poor unsuspecting stranger. he's not sure it wouldn't kill a normal person. ]
Hardly. [ cleverness would have been figuring out loki was not a normal cat on his own. still, he doesn't sound waspish. if anything, he sounds almost fond when he echoes: ] Frenetic energy. A suitable description. I find him fascinating, but he knows far more about me than I know about him.
[ which, well, is a little unnerving in the same moment as it makes things easier. facebook status it's complicated.
the rest of the conversation is more important and serious, anyway. ]
It is possible. However, if your mind remains unchanged while you are in different forms, it is far more likely that whatever inherent protections you hold met against my own and the meditative nature of our previous time spent together allowed us to bypass the possibility as a fluke.
[ oh, he sounds pretty fond of that captain of his. there's some timeline iffiness there, he knows, which certainly explains the 'but he knows far more about me' part. it's.. fascinating, really, that something like that doesn't trouble a controlled, self-possessed man like spock.
possibilities there, perhaps. ] .. And Leonard? [ yeah, he's on a first-name basis with your doctor, what of it. ] I've learned quite a bit about him from our.. acquaintance, but what do you think of him?
[ still, he hesitates a moment, then lifts his hands to wiggle the fingers lightly. ] As a kind of witch, for lack of a more suitable and universal term, I learned mental control during my training. Much of my magic comes from my mind. [ a beat, and he taps his brow briefly. ] As a cat, my mind is much the same, but it wars with feline instinct, too. Touch is simpler, pleasure is easier, things are less.. complicated.
[ it does, at times. and were it anyone but the captain, he would likely hold far more issue with it. even doctor mccoy, who loki brings up next, is through a filter: this leonard does not know him as he knows his own spock, and so he still sees spock through an altered lens that spock can allow for. were it, say, the leonard mccoy of his own timeline, so far ahead as to know him when spock has not even met him, spock may have far more issues. ]
While he is from a different reality than my own, I do not yet know the version from my own reality and have no comparative data. However, I have found making note of his familiarity with the Spock of his own reality to speak volumes as to how best to assess him here. [ see: an alternate version of himself would not have allowed someone unworthy of his time to get as close as the human is clearly familiar with. it's paved some terrain that might've been pretty rough, otherwise. ] While there are times we are at odds, I find him unobjectionable and will note that his medical skill with my species denotes care and thoughtfulness. It is [ a beat. ] a rarity to be so well-acquainted.
[ he stares blankly at the wiggling fingers, but the clarification helps. 'witch' is let slide only because of the qualification of a lack of a universal term. magic. hmph. ]
[ he's quiet and attentive as spock speaks, very at odds with the man he'd been before the loom and the TVA, were anyone from his previous life to see him now. but then, he's spent uncounted eons watching and listening, unable to communicate with others or to interfere. understandably, he's become a very good and active listener in person because of it. ]
So Midgardians-- [ ... ] Sorry, humans-- They're generally unfamiliar with your species? [ leonard and their captain treat him so casually that he thought there was nothing at all unusual about spock being with them.
the rest of it, though, seems fairly in line with what he knows of leonard so far. he's a kind man, and despite loki's warnings about himself, he's taken care to get to know him without accepting any preconceived ideas about him. ]
By design, yes. [ a moment of thought, brief but considering. ] My species is known for our private, insular nature. I am not the first of my species to join the organization we are both a part of, but I am certainly one of the first and am the only one currently. [ not to mention his parentage, which he won't discuss here, but he is the first vulcan-human hybrid to survive to adulthood. ]
My service record under my current captain and, in future, under Captain Kirk, is a divisive thing among my people. For myself, the Chief Medical Officer at my posting is the only doctor and, in turn, medical department in the organization with skill in treating my species. It was a pleasant surprise to learn that when he shifts his focus and posting, his replacement will likely also be aware of how to treat me medically, or will at least be amenable to learning.
[ that's.. well. not that strange a concept. mostly-private, insular species? check. black sheep among another people? check. it's not like loki's own circumstances, of course, but there are similarities.
though loki's childhood illnesses and difficulties had just been explained away as him being a strange child, perhaps a weak child. prone to magic, sensitive to the heat, never a warrior. there had been no jotun healer. even on jotunheim, frost giants live or die-- there had been no place there for a runt like loki. ]
I'll try not to pry, then, though I'm terribly curious about you and your people. [ after all, vulcans aren't part of his multiverse. spock's starfleet doesn't exist in any version of any timeline loki's seen, and anything new or novel is infinitely precious to him. ] I'm glad to hear your good opinion of Leonard, though. He's been lovely.
text | un: variant .......... someone else gotta message spock so his inbox ain't all me
Although our interactions are mostly behind closed doors, I do feel it necessary to warn you about the man called Thanos. He uses the username i_am_inevitable on the network.
Without exaggeration, he's one of the most dangerous people I've ever met, and while you should naturally be allowed to form your own opinion about him (and I genuinely hope that in time, he will change), I urge you to be cautious in your interactions with him. I'm afraid that if he knew I held any affection for you, he might attempt to use you to harm me.
me when i realize i had not even responded to this yet
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
😌
he's dressed in a sweater and jeans, curls pulled back into a loose bun, and as his eyes--besu's green--find spock, his lips curl crookedly. ]
As promised, [ he offers, spreading his hands in a small shrug. ]
smh
Fascinating.
[ dry as a desert. he nods toward the spot next to where he sits, a clear invitation despite this. ]
I am not wholly unfamiliar with beings of a capricious nature.
no subject
at the accusation, he holds up a hand, pinching his thumb and forefinger together. ]
I'm only a bit capricious these days. And I've been.. more or less in hiding until recently. [ hence so much time spent as a cat. .. or as ouroboros. ]
no subject
I would be interested in hearing about what constitutes more than a 'bit' sometime.
[ he considers further, thoughtful, trying to gauge how he'd like to progress the conversation. ]
I am well aware, at least, that you are not the same cat that trailed the captain so closely when we first arrived.
no subject
[ so take from that what you will, etc.
his brows loft at the statement, though, a little surprised in spite of himself. ] No, I've worn animal shapes off and on since I was a child, but I've yet to meet your captain. [ he gestures to his face. ] A black cat just seems obvious. And it lets me be out and about without running into anyone I don't want to deal with. [ mostly, namely, avengers.
he hesitates a moment, then gently presses his palms together, glancing down at his fingers, then back up at spock again. ] Back.. home, I'm isolated from other people. Before I arrived here, I hadn't touched another person in longer than most mortals can conceive of. [ longer than many immortals can, for that matter. ] Sometimes it's nice to have contact without having to explain anything.
no subject
[ which things? don't worry about it. as for the surprise over his deduction, he explains: ]
The captain has an allergy to felines that was discussed in front of the cat that was fond of him. Based upon your behavior patterns while visiting me, I find it unlikely that you would have continued to appear in a form that would potentially cause anaphylaxis. Had it been you and you held enough interest in him to continue following him, a different animal would have been more appealing, in part due to the fact that it would ensure a lack of the annoyance of intervention.
[ see: it wouldn't have involved spock being a constant annoyance shooing the cat away.
the further explanation loki offers him is... appreciated. he nods before even trying to answer, sorting out his thoughts. ]
I am not unfamiliar with a sense of isolation either, though with an obvious disparity in type and degree. [ a pause. ] There is an appeal in acceptance and not having to explain or quantify. [ he looks down at his own hands for a moment, brow furrowed. ]
My species refrains from physical touch more often than most as a means of protecting ourselves and those around us from telepathic transference. Even touches that are seen by other species as routine and inconsequential are often extremely intimate for us. While we are able to adapt for social situations and diplomacy, it is preferable to either not need to or to have time to prepare. [ it almost sounds like it might be half-reprimand, but then he follows it up to clarify. ] It is for this reason I prefer to know who or what I am engaging in physical contact with.
no subject
anyway, more importantly, he shifts to turn more toward the young man, brows lifting thoughtfully as he listens. his glance drops to spock's hands a moment later, too, alarm very briefly crossing his expression before shuttering away. ] I have to assume, then, that my feline form afforded a certain amount of.. protection from such transference. [ because he wouldn't wish a glimpse into the billions of timelines he's been supporting on some poor unsuspecting stranger. he's not sure it wouldn't kill a normal person. ]
no subject
[ which, well, is a little unnerving in the same moment as it makes things easier. facebook status it's complicated.
the rest of the conversation is more important and serious, anyway. ]
It is possible. However, if your mind remains unchanged while you are in different forms, it is far more likely that whatever inherent protections you hold met against my own and the meditative nature of our previous time spent together allowed us to bypass the possibility as a fluke.
no subject
possibilities there, perhaps. ] .. And Leonard? [ yeah, he's on a first-name basis with your doctor, what of it. ] I've learned quite a bit about him from our.. acquaintance, but what do you think of him?
[ still, he hesitates a moment, then lifts his hands to wiggle the fingers lightly. ] As a kind of witch, for lack of a more suitable and universal term, I learned mental control during my training. Much of my magic comes from my mind. [ a beat, and he taps his brow briefly. ] As a cat, my mind is much the same, but it wars with feline instinct, too. Touch is simpler, pleasure is easier, things are less.. complicated.
no subject
While he is from a different reality than my own, I do not yet know the version from my own reality and have no comparative data. However, I have found making note of his familiarity with the Spock of his own reality to speak volumes as to how best to assess him here. [ see: an alternate version of himself would not have allowed someone unworthy of his time to get as close as the human is clearly familiar with. it's paved some terrain that might've been pretty rough, otherwise. ] While there are times we are at odds, I find him unobjectionable and will note that his medical skill with my species denotes care and thoughtfulness. It is [ a beat. ] a rarity to be so well-acquainted.
[ he stares blankly at the wiggling fingers, but the clarification helps. 'witch' is let slide only because of the qualification of a lack of a universal term. magic. hmph. ]
I see. It is perhaps then a mixture of both.
no subject
So Midgardians-- [ ... ] Sorry, humans-- They're generally unfamiliar with your species? [ leonard and their captain treat him so casually that he thought there was nothing at all unusual about spock being with them.
the rest of it, though, seems fairly in line with what he knows of leonard so far. he's a kind man, and despite loki's warnings about himself, he's taken care to get to know him without accepting any preconceived ideas about him. ]
no subject
My service record under my current captain and, in future, under Captain Kirk, is a divisive thing among my people. For myself, the Chief Medical Officer at my posting is the only doctor and, in turn, medical department in the organization with skill in treating my species. It was a pleasant surprise to learn that when he shifts his focus and posting, his replacement will likely also be aware of how to treat me medically, or will at least be amenable to learning.
no subject
though loki's childhood illnesses and difficulties had just been explained away as him being a strange child, perhaps a weak child. prone to magic, sensitive to the heat, never a warrior. there had been no jotun healer. even on jotunheim, frost giants live or die-- there had been no place there for a runt like loki. ]
I'll try not to pry, then, though I'm terribly curious about you and your people. [ after all, vulcans aren't part of his multiverse. spock's starfleet doesn't exist in any version of any timeline loki's seen, and anything new or novel is infinitely precious to him. ] I'm glad to hear your good opinion of Leonard, though. He's been lovely.
text | un: variant .......... someone else gotta message spock so his inbox ain't all me
Without exaggeration, he's one of the most dangerous people I've ever met, and while you should naturally be allowed to form your own opinion about him (and I genuinely hope that in time, he will change), I urge you to be cautious in your interactions with him. I'm afraid that if he knew I held any affection for you, he might attempt to use you to harm me.
me when i realize i had not even responded to this yet
[ he doesn't comment on the part where loki admitted holding affection for him: it warms him though, just a little, to know it. ]
Thank you.