the loki infestation grows

[skyti]

 There's a young tattooed boy scampering about the Nexus this fine day.  From the bow slung across his shoulder and the archaic manner of garb he's in, it's probably understandable why he's looking at many of the more modern bits and bobs about with such wide eyed awe.  He's a sharp young man as well so it doesn't take him all that long to figure out the whole dealio with this realm.

Atreus just wishes his father was here with him... Actually no scratch that.  He's loves his father but his father has NO sense of fun.  He's fairly certain Kratos has never once done a single fun thing ever.  Maybe he's allergic? He can just hear him now... 'Come Boy we're leaving this foolish place immediately.  It is nothing more then a distraction!'

So he's just going to take as much advantage of this weird new realm and check out as possible.

And there's a lot of things around here he's never seen before! It's almost overwhelming.  Sights he's never seen... and plenty of people wearing all manner of odd things.  It certainly doesn't stop him from walking up to some stranger to question them about whatever new thing he's picked up.

"Hey, uh sorry to bug you! Do you know what this thing is?"

A wristwatch, a smart phone someone lost (that's he's already grasped the basic concept of and is fiddling with the password screen), a chocolate bar (he's from like ancient Iceland, what is this), a motorcycle (he's pointing to that one okay), a trigonometry book (he's pretty certain this one is like a book of magic spells), and other manner of things he's just never seen before.

He's excited but at least he's limited himself to asking about one thing per person.  Which is difficult! He's got like unlimited curiosity especially without his father nearby to reign him in a bit.

Comments

[silverseamariner]

"My book? You want to see what I'm reading, dear?"

skekSa the Mariner's developed a soft spot for children over the nearly a thousand trine she's been alive, at least in her current form. She's met Gelfling children, Asgardian children, and human children, and one of the defining features of all children she has met is curiosity. It's one of the most endearing things about them.

So it's no wonder she takes to this boy so quickly when he asks her about the book she's examining. skekSa opens it to show it to him, a smile on her beak. Hopefully he won't be too spooked by a giant Skeksis, though she figures that he approached her. He mustn't be too scared of her, though she speaks softly nevertheless.

"That? Why, it's a book of star maps, lad. I use this when I'm sailing the sea so I know where I'm going at all times. It's easy to get lost on the open ocean, so sailors like me use these charts to help us navigate. Would you like to take a look? I can teach you how to read them sometime, if you want. It's not as difficult as it looks, I promise you."

[skyti]

He's friends with Jormungandr who is QUITE scary looking and also massive, but also actually pretty friendly (unless you're Thor or statues of Thor) so Atreus knows enough not to judge someone by appearances or size. She's not rampaging about like a troll so he feels comfortable enough talking with her. And if his instincts are wrong? He's quite quick on his feet.

"Stars huh?" He cocks his head and looks at the opened pages eagerly, "My mother used to tell me stories about the constellations, and I know the seafarers use them to navigate but I had no idea they were mapped out like this."

He squints at the map. He's not certain he can recognize anything. Where's the wolf's mouth? The Giant's Toe? Maybe he's just not used to seeing them on paper instead of across the sky.

"I know how to use Polaris to find north," he grins proudly, "But it'd definitely be good to know how to use the other stars if I need to go somewhere not-north."

[silverseamariner]

While skekSa is no Midgard Serpent in terms of size, she is larger and more thickly built than any human would be, and her teeth are plenty sharp.

"These stars," skekSa explains, "are the constellations of my planet, not yours. I come from the planet of Thra. Your home world is Earth, I imagine, or some version of it. We don't travel by the same stars you do. We have a different set to guide us on our travels." She holds up three claws. "Thra has three suns, for example, while your Earth only has one."

She's seen some star charts from Earth, various versions of Earth, even, where there are ever-so-slight differences in the position of this star or that. Maybe that one exploded a long time ago, leaving an empty space in what would be filled in some other universe's sky.

"I am skekSa the Mariner," says the Skeksis, "though I personally prefer Captain. I don't care much for the Lord title, personally. What matters is what you do, not what you are, and I abandoned that role a long time ago."

[skyti]

"I'm Atreus, Captain! Of Midgard, not Earth," he replies, correcting her. Who names their realm 'Earth'? Maybe they just have a whole lot of dirt there. Doesn't sound very interesting. Sindri would hate it there. That neat freak dwarf could go into a panic attack at the mere thought of dirty things.

"So... you're following your own destiny? I like that!" the young lad grins, clenching fists in excitement, "Sailing away under your stars... and you-Wait three suns? How does that work? Are there three wolves chasing them instead of one?"

((invoking the time-has-no-meaning clause of the Nexus to be here...))

[coldsong]

((Because my Loki is technically away on plot stuff, but I want this interaction.))

This Loki is not necessarily the most approachable-looking person in the place. He's in full armor right now, with his twin-horned helmet sitting on a bench beside him, but incongruously, he seems to be poring over something on a laptop. He's pulled off his gloves in order to use the track-pad better, and draped one over each horn on the helmet, where they sit on the curved ends of the horns so it looks like weird, floppy moose-antlers rather than ibex horns.

Perhaps it's because of the technology he's playing with, himself, that the child thought to approach him with the item he's found, or maybe it's just because he's the closest person. Either way, he glances up with a baleful frown that softens immediately when he sees he's looking at a kid. A year ago that would have made minimal difference to him, but since he's been dealing with four of his own, some things have changed.

"It's all right. Are you lost?" He asks, then looks at the smartphone-looking item in the boy's hand. "Oh, that's someone's PINpoint. They make several different models, but that's a custom case."

His lips curl into a smirk. "Careful there, if you enter the wrong password too many times, it'll take your picture and send it to the PINpoint owner."

[skyti]

Considering his family, Atreus's definition of 'approachable' is possibly VERY different from the average person's. His father is basically the Greek god of 'Don't Talk To Me' after all. Plus he's sitting next to a funny looking elk hat. Can you really take someone completely serious when they're sitting next to something like that?

"I'm not lost!" he replies rather quickly. He knows exactly where he is. Theoretically? He's got some good ideas at the very least and he's got an excellent sense of direction.

"It'll what?" his hand jerks and he holds the device farther away from himself like it might shoot lightning at him at any moment. He frowns and examines it again when it does no such thing. Wisely though he decides to stop fiddling with it.

"You know, I understand what each of those words mean but not necessarily in the order or context you're using them," He pokes it a bit, the case that is and not the far more entertaining screen.

[coldsong]

The Thor of this Loki's world would no doubt agree he has a funny-looking elk hat. Even without the gloves over the horns. They've enjoyed harassing one another over their sartorial decisions ever since they were children. Loki thinks it's suitably threatening without the gloves on it, but he's biased.

Meanwhile, the clothing the boy is wearing reminds him of the human tribes he used to visit in his youth, centuries gone, and that's interesting. No wonder the boy is curious about technology. Actually, it's impressive he's handling it that well rather than immediately smashing it open to look inside or throwing it into a lake because it's a box of witchery.

"It won't hurt you physically, but the owner will know who tried to unlock it, assuming they linked it to an email address. Do you want to return it to the person who lost it?" That sounds like an idle suggestion, not a declaration of this is the right thing to do, young man. It's not Loki's problem, either way. He's just curious what answer he'll get.

"If you're from the sort of world you appear to be from, explaining the technology here would take weeks." He logs off whatever he's doing on his laptop and sets it aside, getting out his own PINpoint. "Here, have a look at mine, I'll show you some of what it can do."

He enters his own password and tilts the screen so the kid can see, turning on the front-facing camera so they're both in view, as if he's preparing to take a selfie with the kid--which he might be. "Mind you, if you try to grab it and run off with it, I'll see to it you don't get far."

[chiaro_oscuro]

Ben observes the boy running around, eagerly asking questions about everything in sight In a place like this, there's always more to learn, more to discover, even if you're an adult. He shakes his head and fiddles a little with his PINpoint. Useful devices, a way to contact people across universes and travel places you could never otherwise go. He's old-fashioned, and prefers travel by foot when he can do it, but they do have their uses.

Then, next thing he knows, the boy's running up to the large, dark-clothed stranger with a sword and excitedly asking about his PINpoint. Ben shifts, more out of anxiety than anything else. Well. No weaseling out of this one.

Ben Solo, even trying to reform himself, is not good with children. Quite the opposite, actually. He prefers quiet, isolation, places where he can turn his mind inward and relax. Children don't lend themselves to that environment. That's not even getting into the fact that he's not the kind of person any parent in their right mind would let their children near. He's got a dangerous history - and he wonders if the child would approach him so innocently if he knew exactly who he was talking to.

But he can't bring himself to be harsh with him, either. Once he hadn't been too different from this boy, innocent, more or less, and eager to learn. He sees who he used to be in the child, who he could have been, even. So he explains as patiently as he can, keeping his voice low and even kind.

"Hello there, kid. It's a PINpoint. They're all over the place in the Nexus. Want to take a look?" He kneels to bring himself closer to the boy's height, holding it out so the child can get a closer look. "If you want one for yourself, I can help you. You can call me Ben."

[skyti]

Atreus is someone who is particularly equipped to deal with tall quiet armed introverts with mysterious and dangerous pasts trying reconcile with a lifetime of violence. He happens to call one such person father.

"Who's a kid? My name is Atreus and I happen to be a trained warrior," he insists. A trained warrior... who is STILL a kid. Despite his opinions otherwise.

The PINpoint proves an excellent distraction from that whole indignation though.

"Sooo... what's it do, Ben?" he taps at the screen, "How does it work? Has it been enchanted with runes, or something else?"

[chiaro_oscuro]

"I believe you. I saw the bow you're carrying, and I figured it wasn't for show." Ben gives Atreus a conspiratorial look. Oh, this kid's got pluck, and he approves of that. "I'm more of a swordsman than an archer, myself. I might teach you a few tricks with a blade if you like."

He'll go easy on Atreus if they do end up sparring, maybe even let the boy win for the confidence boost. Give him the accomplishment of defeating Darth Vader's grandson in a fair fight, although that name would mean nothing in Atreus's world. He shifts the conversation back to the PINpoint.

"It's complicated. See these keys?" Ben shows Atreus the numbers on the device. He doesn't explain in terms of cell phones, since he's pretty sure the kid won't know what those are, either. "If you put in the right numbers, they'll take you where you want to go. Very useful if you need to get somewhere in a hurry, or if you're being attacked."

He decides to explain the messaging function next, indicating the PINpoint's letter keys.

"They can also send messages to people, even if the person I'm contacting is in one world and I'm in another."

[delphicbooksandbaubles]

Aal's left ear perks up and she smiles warmly and kindly as she watches the young..boy? man? She tilts her head a little to the right trying to figure how old he might be and what area/realm or..era even he might be from. She had a soft spot for wee ones especially. But she also knew what it was like being new and or dropped unexpectedly into a new place etc. Though she'd..gotten semi-used to some things long before the Nexus. But that's another story for another time.

She beams eyes twinkling at the excited curiosity. One of her older friends was like that..but he would more..deduce/experiment the crap out of something as much as ask questions. He had been getting better about say..where he put such in his fridge thank heaven. In part due to several folks in his life being concerned with his health.

"Oh hello there." She murmurs warmly she tilts her head. "Oh, that's a snack." She informs him warmly and opens the small cooler on the bench pulling it up and tilting it to show him her own along with bottle waters and juice pouches etc. "Specifically a chocolate or coco bar." She explains warmly and kindly.

[skyti]

"I thought so! It smells pretty sweet even through the paper. But a lot of poisonous things do as well so you can't be too safe," he may be young but he's smart enough to be cautious when he needs to be. There are plenty of berries in the forest he lives in that look nice and smell sweet but could kill you very dead if you ate more then a couple.

"I've never heard of chocolate though," he examines the bar closer. On of the foreign words on the wrapper must say that 'chocolate' which one was it? If he could figure out a coupe of the words he'd probably be able to puzzle through the rest of it. He's distracted a moment later by the movement atop her head.

"Miss, do you have the ears of a wolf?"

[delphicbooksandbaubles]

She makes a soft bemused hum and then grins. My what a smart young lad. Her eyes crinkle pleased by such. Though she did love to teach others things especially, the younger generation to not only help better themselves but so that things would not be lost and live on. "Aye..yes indeed..I mean..ahem it can be to canines of certain types." She informs him gently but firmly. Foutenely not to her as she had her human stomach and it was one of her favorite sorts of things..Though peanut butter was safer. Well if no one had an allergy.

"Oh." She murmurs her eyebrows going up. Though true in some places it had been expensive or rare..and aye..warmer climes. "Most likely because when it was first discovered it was..mmh I believe in the more tropical areas. " She gently informs him. "There's quite a good trade-in making it more available in certain places as you can imagine." She murmurs not wishing to bore him if he wasn't interested but he was curious. So she tries to follow his lead in that. Some people had shorter spans of attention or varied interests after all.

She blinks and then coughs a little. She glances about before pushing her hood slowly back, "Ah, well sometimes..They chance..and..ahem. " She gives him a playful wink and her eyes flash golden as the irises go more canine for a moment. Her ears the fur the same color of her hair wiggle happily. If it's one way to get her to do her 'party trick' as it were or anyone it was for the education or joy of someone especially a child or with the curiosity or heart of one. "Well, where I come from it's called Shifting." She murmurs softly. And half wonders if he could perhaps figure or guess the origin of the word. She tries not to wiggle too much her canine side having 'perked up' so to speak and was in a playful mood.

Oh that reminded her. "I'm Ashlynn by the way, Mrs. Ashlynn 'Aalish' SinClair..but my friends call me Ash. " She murmurs warmly introduced herself offering her hand to shake. But she wagered..Perhaps a arm clasp or some such might be more familiar to him.

[missursaminor]

Lyanna didn't come to the Nexus often. She'd found a rather comfortable niche in Furiosa's world, giving lessons in martial combat, and it was enough to keep her rather busy at times. The adjustment from bowmen to the idea of guns, rifles, and bullets took a bit of adjustment but she'd taken to practicing with the armaments herself and was finding her skill set transferred fairly well from archery to guns.

But occasionally she'd come around, drift through the markets to see if there was anything of interest, maybe find a place with fish on offer for a meal if she was feeling homesick. She rarely talked to people aside from the shopkeeps, so being questioned by the strange boy was something of a surprise, the girl's brows furrowing as she considered the small brown bar in his hands.

"I think it's chocolate? You open the paper and the foil and the stuff inside can be eaten. It's rather sweet, but it melts a bit if you're holding it directly in your hands for too long."

[skyti]

"It's a sweet? Huh, I probably should have guessed, it smells pretty good," he replies. But he is overly cautious about things. When you and your family live alone in the middle of the forest one of the first lessons you learn is that you absolutely SHOULD NOT just eat strange random things you find. That's how you end up dead for a dumb and preventable reason.

But now he knows it's okay! So he wastes little time in unwrapping the treat. There are plenty of new experiences he needs to get to. Also he's concerned about the melting bit.

"Um, would you like to share? As a thank you," he holds it out to her before breaking a piece off, "I'm Atreus by the way."

[big_bad_sheriff]

There aren't a lot of people who would approach a wolf this size without a trace of fear, but most of those that Bigby's met have been in the Nexus. He sometimes prefers his true form here, a great black wolf larger than most vehicles, though he tends to avoid the more populated areas in favor of natural features like grass and hills and trees.

He looks down at the boy with observant yellow eyes, the human's clothes quite like those he would've seen in the Homelands, back in the day. Or at least certain parts of it. "That's a traffic cone. People use 'em for markin' hazards or whatever."

[skyti]

"You can talk!" he jumps back a bit startled, "With actual words."

He certainly didn't expect that. He approached the wolf because he seemed calm and not that threatening and he can hear the voices of animals. And also wolves are the best animal and nothing can change his mind about that.

"Huh. I guess I've experienced stranger though," he nods, quickly getting over it, "I thought it was some kind of weird hat to be honest."

The only thing that stopped him from actually trying to wear it was that the color was just. SO bright. For someone who has to be a sneaker archer on occasion bright colors are not ideal.

[big_bad_sheriff]

"Of course I can." Bigby's amusement is subtle, but there. Someone familiar with wolfish body language will see no threat in him, his tail and ears in a neutral position, mildly alert but not aggressive.

He tilts his great shaggy head for a moment and doesn't quite laugh. "That'd be one hell of a strange hat. I've seen weirder too, but I don't think that's the fashion these days."

[morethan_a_reporter]

Well, that's one hell of a cosplay. Comic-con shouldn't be for half a year yet but these kind of events go on all the time somewhere or another. The young woman in the leather jacket doesn't pull her arm away when she's been stopped. She quirks one side of her mouth into a grin at the sight of all the things the kid has in his arms.

"I haven't seen that brand around." She's peering at the chocolate bar he's holding up. "Why, do you have a peanut allergy? It's that, chocolate, and caramel I think by the look of the picture on the wrapper."

[skyti]

Excuse you he happens to dress like this every day!

He considers her words and peers at the bar in his hand like all the mysteries have been neatly unraveled and he absolutely understands it all.

"What's a peanut, what's chocolate, and what's caramel?" he asks which is certainly one of the saddest questions a child has ever asked

[morethan_a_reporter]

If it wasn't for the kid's accent, she might think he was just exceptionally good at selling his costume and invested into his pretend play. Something about the look on his face is telling her otherwise though. She quirks one side of her mouth upward in a small smile.

"Crunchy, sweet, and sweeter. In that order. It's not going to look the most appetizing when you pull it out of the wrapper but it's pretty good. If you want I'll try it with you so we can Both make faces if it's nasty."

[mrhix]

Jason stops and looms over the child.

His mask gives nothing but his aura seethes with malice.

His machete, ready in hand, is twitching.

This child is speaking to him and pointing to a motorcycle.
Jason had never owned a motorcycle, nor did he see the point in them.

Stomping over to the machine he kicked it so hard that he knocked it clean over, even sending it skidding a few inches.

With a last look back at the child as if to make some kind of brutal point he turned his back on the boy and kept walking.

[seekerofheart]

"This is definitely some kind of a phone,"
Isa replies, when some boy he's never met, out of the blue, shows him a smartphone. It looks very much like a gummiphone, so Isa feels confident in his answer.

"And I hope you didn't steal it from anyone."

Not being the most social person when it comes to strangers, Isa plans on just continuing on his way unless the boy has any other questions.

[skyti]

Phone. That tells him... exactly nothing. He frowns and stares at the device. Then frowns harder upon hearing that.. that accusation.

"Hey!" he scampers after him, "I really don't appreciate that bold implication that I'm some kind of thief."

[seekerofheart]

Isa doesn't seem apprehensive or anything other than almost indifferent about the boy's reaction.

Boys always yell.

"All right. Not a thief. Good to know."

"A phone is a device, an item used to call other people one knows, across towns, cities, or even worlds, far away. It helps keep in touch with whoever has a place in your heart."