Loki answers, smiling pleasantly though he's internally a bit apprehensive. He isn't sure what to expect in any of this, and he's always at his worst with limited intel to work with.
"Welcome," he says, stepping aside and sweeping an arm out to invite Betelgeuse in, "You seem...energetic."
Loki blinks, surprised. He looks down at himself, as if expecting to see the seidr suddenly coalescing around him. He hadn't felt anything. Getting it back hadn't instantly made him feel more himself, more secure, more...anything.
How strange.
Shoving that uncertainty to the back of his mind, he looked back up at Betelgeuse with a wide grin. "I think we can manage."
With a (slightly unnecessary) flourish of one hand, Loki sends a glow of green-gold magic over Betelgeuse's form. His clothes shimmer into a suit that he thinks suits both their aesthetics, and with a little flick of his fingers, adds a helm similar to his own, although with much smaller horns. That done, he clasps his hands behind his back, changing his own outfit to match.
Betelgeuse bounces excitedly on his heels, interested to see what Loki does.
He always appreciates a man who knows showmanship, so he's beaming when he sees that handwave. To his surprise, it's not Loki who first changes, but him.
He stares down at himself, shocked, and then grinning, eyes bright with joy.
"I love your sense of style."
He spins once, around, then comes back in an easy set down.
It's impossible not to smile at how happy that made him. "Yes, well. What's the point in being bad if you don't look good doing it?"
Loki's quarters are...sparse, to say the least. They strongly resemble his cell in the Asgardian dungeons, and he has. One chair, at least. He clears his throat and moves that chair to face the end of his bed, gesturing for Betelgeuse to take a seat as he sets himself delicately on the bed.
"You said you were getting your own powers back as well? What are you capable of, if you don't mind my asking?"
"Exactly!" he sputters, amazed to have found an evil soulmate. BJ takes the horns off to examine what's on his head, and promptly puts them back on again, grinning and rustling his hair over the headband portion.
"Oh, take your pick." He says, dropping down on the offered chair like an excitable toddler. Oh shit, new shoes too? He loves this guy! Betelgeuse starts counting off his fingers.
"Basically anything I could practice and get really really good at. Shapeshifting, extra limbs and snakes are my specialties there. Summoning objects, lighting fires, directing lights and sounds, your usual ghost shit. I can make copies of myself and I'm very good at possession. Shit, what else...Teleportation, limited immortality - can't kill what's already dead, right? - inCREDible pain endurance. I'm probably forgetting a few. Oh!"
He snaps his fingers.
"I can't say my name. That's not a power, it's a curse."
Loki remains unclear on what exactly Betelgeuse was before he became human-- demon? ghost? --but he can't help but note the similarities in their abilities. Although it never occurred to him to add extra limbs.
"You can't say it as in you are unable to, or as in you're punished for doing so?"
He listens to BJ's answer, but his attention is split. He'll show off the shapeshifting another time. For now, he sends an illusory snake twining up the back of his chair, guiding it to curl over his shoulder just as he finishes answering. It's convincing enough to look like he should feel the weight of it on his shoulder, but just one touch would have it dissipating into a mist of golden light.
"The first. Completely unable to. I mean, I could try but it all comes out garbled. Probably a good thing; I'd hate to see what would happen if I got summoned by myself. Probably pop out of existence." He babbles, distracted by kicking his shiny new shoes back and forth.
And then he sees the snake, and gives Loki the most delighted smile he can manage under the circumstances.
BJ remains very still but reaches out with black fingernails to stroke the snake, but thinks better of it when he makes it disappear by accident.
"Oh, you're good." His voice goes husky and complimentary.
Loki chuckles. "I admit I'm showing off a little. It feels nice to flex these muscles again."
And it distracts him from the fact that there wasn't an instantaneous, noticeable change when his abilities returned to him. He has no interest in interrogating that at the moment.
"Did you lose your abilities while you were an inmate? Or just when you asked to become human?"
"Yes and also yes." Says BJ, setting his hands in his lap again like a good warden, trying not to fidget despite an inclination of never wanting to sit still.
"Lost most of my abilities when I was an inmate. Asked to turn human, graduated, and lost everything else. I'd be annoyed about being pathetically powerless but I'm just too shocked about feeling annoyed in the first place. Life is a goddamn rollercoaster, I never knew."
Loki frowns. "Surely you didn't lack all emotion before you became human?"
How would he have come to want to be human if he didn't have feelings? Not to mention the fact that he isn't certain a person could graduate if they're incapable of feeling, say, guilt.
"I guess it was a lack of empathy? IDK. It's more that...look, I'd been dead for forever, and all I had were these ideas of what it must be like to be a living, breathing human person from the recently deceased so all the emotion was just...Humans switch moods a LOT!"
Loki huffs a laugh, ducking his head a little. He looks up again immediately, intent on making it clear he wasn't laughing at him. "You aren't wrong. I suppose it has something to do with living for such a short time."
He crosses his legs, settling in a little. "It's new, but you have far more experience existing, at least. And there are certainly humans who lack empathy entirely, though whether they were born that way or learned it I cannot say. Chances are you can learn to dampen it, at least."
Loki isn't without empathy himself, but he does wonder if it hasn't slowed him down.
Loki raises an eyebrow at that, but doesn't comment. "In exchange for getting my powers back, I will help you learn some self-control. Is that a deal?"
Not for graduating, because that's most likely not going to happen. But he owes Betelgeuse this much. And he doesn't like to be in debt.
Human lessons. Of all things for him to end up doing with his time, this was certainly not an option he'd considered. Mostly because he's horribly unqualified, if becoming like an actual human is the goal. But he just might be able to form Betelgeuse into an improved human, which is honestly the more interesting project.
"Certainly," Loki says, dropping Betelgeuse's hand. "I think we'd better start slow so you don't strain anything." He's smirking as he raises to his feet to escort Betelgeuse back to the door.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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He knocks on the door, bouncing on his heels a little like an excited kid.
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"Welcome," he says, stepping aside and sweeping an arm out to invite Betelgeuse in, "You seem...energetic."
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"So! Got you your powers back. It's not a lot but we can probably fake it for a month until we can make you permanent. Whaddaya say?"
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How strange.
Shoving that uncertainty to the back of his mind, he looked back up at Betelgeuse with a wide grin. "I think we can manage."
With a (slightly unnecessary) flourish of one hand, Loki sends a glow of green-gold magic over Betelgeuse's form. His clothes shimmer into a suit that he thinks suits both their aesthetics, and with a little flick of his fingers, adds a helm similar to his own, although with much smaller horns. That done, he clasps his hands behind his back, changing his own outfit to match.
"Let's see anyone stop us, hm?"
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He always appreciates a man who knows showmanship, so he's beaming when he sees that handwave. To his surprise, it's not Loki who first changes, but him.
He stares down at himself, shocked, and then grinning, eyes bright with joy.
"I love your sense of style."
He spins once, around, then comes back in an easy set down.
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Loki's quarters are...sparse, to say the least. They strongly resemble his cell in the Asgardian dungeons, and he has. One chair, at least. He clears his throat and moves that chair to face the end of his bed, gesturing for Betelgeuse to take a seat as he sets himself delicately on the bed.
"You said you were getting your own powers back as well? What are you capable of, if you don't mind my asking?"
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"Oh, take your pick." He says, dropping down on the offered chair like an excitable toddler. Oh shit, new shoes too? He loves this guy! Betelgeuse starts counting off his fingers.
"Basically anything I could practice and get really really good at. Shapeshifting, extra limbs and snakes are my specialties there. Summoning objects, lighting fires, directing lights and sounds, your usual ghost shit. I can make copies of myself and I'm very good at possession. Shit, what else...Teleportation, limited immortality - can't kill what's already dead, right? - inCREDible pain endurance. I'm probably forgetting a few. Oh!"
He snaps his fingers.
"I can't say my name. That's not a power, it's a curse."
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"You can't say it as in you are unable to, or as in you're punished for doing so?"
He listens to BJ's answer, but his attention is split. He'll show off the shapeshifting another time. For now, he sends an illusory snake twining up the back of his chair, guiding it to curl over his shoulder just as he finishes answering. It's convincing enough to look like he should feel the weight of it on his shoulder, but just one touch would have it dissipating into a mist of golden light.
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And then he sees the snake, and gives Loki the most delighted smile he can manage under the circumstances.
BJ remains very still but reaches out with black fingernails to stroke the snake, but thinks better of it when he makes it disappear by accident.
"Oh, you're good." His voice goes husky and complimentary.
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And it distracts him from the fact that there wasn't an instantaneous, noticeable change when his abilities returned to him. He has no interest in interrogating that at the moment.
"Did you lose your abilities while you were an inmate? Or just when you asked to become human?"
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"Lost most of my abilities when I was an inmate. Asked to turn human, graduated, and lost everything else. I'd be annoyed about being pathetically powerless but I'm just too shocked about feeling annoyed in the first place. Life is a goddamn rollercoaster, I never knew."
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How would he have come to want to be human if he didn't have feelings? Not to mention the fact that he isn't certain a person could graduate if they're incapable of feeling, say, guilt.
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"I guess it was a lack of empathy? IDK. It's more that...look, I'd been dead for forever, and all I had were these ideas of what it must be like to be a living, breathing human person from the recently deceased so all the emotion was just...Humans switch moods a LOT!"
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He crosses his legs, settling in a little. "It's new, but you have far more experience existing, at least. And there are certainly humans who lack empathy entirely, though whether they were born that way or learned it I cannot say. Chances are you can learn to dampen it, at least."
Loki isn't without empathy himself, but he does wonder if it hasn't slowed him down.
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"Yeah. Yeah, you explain it way better. I need to learn to tone it DOWN like Mom always said!"
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Not for graduating, because that's most likely not going to happen. But he owes Betelgeuse this much. And he doesn't like to be in debt.
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"It's a deal!" BJ exclaims, and sticks out his hand.
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And he actually does, oddly enough. At least it'll be entertaining.
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"I'll let you stretch yourself out, but can we do human lessons later tonight? I'm so excited. Finally, a real teacher!"
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"Certainly," Loki says, dropping Betelgeuse's hand. "I think we'd better start slow so you don't strain anything." He's smirking as he raises to his feet to escort Betelgeuse back to the door.
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"This is gonna be so good."
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