VIDEO. UN: LOKI

[selfimage]

[ comfortable on a cushy chair, surrounded by a few stacks of books that would make the leaning tower of Pisa jelly, Loki looks somewhat comfortable among the ranks of tomes and paperbacks. ]

Yes, hello—now that we're no longer in mortal peril, nor running for our lives in a illusion to be tested, nor feeling the horrible pang of hunger, etcetera etcetera. [ there's a twist of his fingers, as if he's dismissing it. ]

I'd like to take a moment to urge you to visit your local library. There are several titles to explore for those with inquiring minds. Learning about other bits and pieces of the multiverse is intriguing and necessary in such mandatory occupation such as ours.

[ a dark nailed hand slips beneath the right lapel of his jacket, fingers flicking out with a square of paper, which he deftly unfolds between them. ] I have a list of recommendations, including the following: A Midsummer Night's Madness, The Last Two Bachelors, My Sexiest Mistake, and Darling Cat. Oh, and the Forbidden series, of course.

Some do get a bit, ah ... racy, but reading is important, and we all are long overdo for a break. Treat yourself to forbidden love, unbound desires, all sprinkled with a little bit of scandal. Everyone loves a good scandal. [ someone is pleased about the possibility of it, at least. ]

A book club may be in order. I'm open to suggestions from those who've had the time between tasks and ... erm, well, tasks, I suppose. [ he toys with the paper edge of the nearest book. ]

Comments

voice; un: rey

[scrounging]

That's all very well and good if you can read any of them.

[selfimage]

Not the way your cookie crumbles?

[ thoughtful, after a pause: ] I'm sure I could be of some aid.

[scrounging]

[How many of those books are in Basic? From what little she'd seen in the video, all the spines had some strange squiggly writing on them.]

Do you have a translator?

[selfimage]

I am a translator.

[ that's said more deviously than he means to, but you know. ]

[scrounging]

What? Like you'd copy them all down?

[selfimage]

As in, I'd lend you my mad skills in language.

Everyone should enjoy a little trashy romance now and then.

[scrounging]

You're...offering to read terrible romance novels to me?

[selfimage]

You say it like it's strange.

[ shut up, Loki. ]

[scrounging]

Isn't it?

[Look, maybe it's not wherever he's from. Everyone here is weird.]

[selfimage]

Subjectively, but most things like that are.

[scrounging]

[Well alright, that's technically fair:]

How long would it take-- for you to read one out loud?

[selfimage]

[ "technically fair" is his mantra. ]

That depends on your pick. What kind of wicked scandal were you feeling?

[ and he says "wicked scandal" in such an awful way, too. ]

[scrounging]

Well which is the shortest?

[That doesn't answer his question, but the answer isn't any of his business.]

And what would you want in exchange?

[selfimage]

I do suppose everyone always wants something ...

[ he replies, candidly. ]

What do you do?

[scrounging]

I can take things apart. --Or put them back together too, I guess. I'm good with ships and finding things.

[It's not much of a CV, is it? You'll have to forgive her, she's never been to a formal interview in her life.]

If you have something that should do something and it's not doing it anymore, I might be able to get it working again as long as it works without... [She hesitates] As long as I can see how the parts fit together and what kind of energy they use.

[No magic, basically.]

[selfimage]

You're an engineer. [ he says plainly, perhaps a little thoughtfully. ] Well, of sorts, I suppose. Everyone across the multiverse has to have some kind of talent.

Erm—so ... energy—you mean like our fancy trinkets?

[ you know, the ones they're talking through. ]

[scrounging]

[Sure, if he wants to elevate her that far she'll take it. He's wrong, but she isn't about to argue when all it'll accomplish is making her seem worse off.]

Right. [Hesitant, the word just slightly elongated.] I don't have any idea how those work.

[They all seemed different, for one. Who designed a system where everything was different? It must have been ridiculously expensive.]

[selfimage]

No, I wouldn't imagine so.

[ Loki hasn't exactly tried to figure it out, but he really hasn't cared to. he has his StarkPhone, and anything he says over these jewelry-based communicators can be easily eavesdropped on by their employers. ]

Then you'll owe me a small putting-together-type debt, how's that?

[ he knew where technology met sorcery, and this could be an opportunity. ]