Log; ongoing - Chemophobia

[is-fear-itself.livejournal.com]

WHO: Loki (itsatrapped), Jon Crane (is_fear_itself)
WHERE: Norman Osborn's laboratory, where Jon spends most of his time lately.
WHEN: The evening of Sunday, January 31st
WARNINGS: Probably nothing
SUMMARY: The god of chaos pays a surprise visit to the good doctor.
FORMAT: Whichever :3



Jonathan Crane was in the habit of working late, partially because he had no social life in particular to worry about, and partially because he found himself of late consumed with that old familiar fire of revenge, which made it altogether too easy to lose track of time. Besides, nobody bothered him in the evenings, and he didn't have to worry about concealing the fact that he wasn't completely invested in Norman's projects. The ones he was being paid for, anyway.

He had books and papers and files - and small canisters of various harmful chemicals - spread all out over the table, referencing this page or that every so often. Oh, and a coffeemaker. This was going to take weeks of setup, but he could be patient.

At the moment, he was chasing a promising new lead in a particular neuronal circuit and its interaction with some of these very expensive chemicals, the kind he found it hard to get hold of typically, and oblivious to much else.

Comments

[hiddles]

Norman Osborn was one of the few mortals Loki kept tabs on— for they were sworn allies, were they not? And so it came to his (her? Loki did not really care) attention that there was a new regular presence in Osborn's lab. So, at night, when they were least likely to be bothered with tiresome company, Loki decided to visit.

Teleportation was a lot of things, but it was very rarely subtle. Though this particular spell had the grace of silence, it was accompanied by swirls of green smoke, that only faded after a minute's time. Still, to enter into a room and not announce one's presence was a kind of dishonesty. And Loki swore to have given up lies.

[is-fear-itself.livejournal.com]

Although fear was a tricky beast for Jon to feel these days, he certainly was not above being startled - particularly when he thought there might be a gas leak, and a total waste of his precious chemicals--

--Then he abruptly noticed her, and temporarily forgot the possibility of a leak. He stared at the woman, not recognizing her from appearance alone, and certainly not understanding readily why an attractive female would come anywhere close to his lab.

"Who are you?"

[hiddles]

"Ms. Laufeyson, I think you called me." He could recognize the voice.

The lab itself was interesting— so many chemicals, such strange and pungent smells. Loki was an alchemist of some skill, but science and magic were always trying to create barriers between themselves.

Holding both palms to the air in a gesture of peacekeeping, Loki spoke. "I've not done anything to harm your experiments. The smoke is illusion and nothing more."

[is-fear-itself.livejournal.com]

If Loki's appearance was surprising, that answer was more surprising still, but slightly more pleasant. Of course, now she was here in person, he found himself examining her with something more than scientific interest.

"I appreciate that," He said, and meant it, "I assume you've--come to see me, then." As boggling as the idea was, now that he knew who she was, it was marginally easier to handle.

"Would you like some coffee?" He knew better than to turn and try to hide the files - some on Edward Nygma, some on Selina Kyle, a few with ambiguous number-headers in place of names - if she looked, she looked. He'd learned the hard way that it was best to tread carefully with gods, at least at first.

[hiddles]

The question startled, though Loki's expression was placid enough to hide it's surprise. He'd never had coffee. Ever, actually, though Loki was familiar with its use as a ritualistic starting point of mortal small talk. "I suppose," he said, rather stilted.

"You do not find my appearance displeasing, then?" Loki continued, feeling easier. "I would hate to intrude, unwelcome."

[is-fear-itself.livejournal.com]

Perhaps recognizing the tone, Jonathan's mouth quirked, half-amused. So there were some gods who were as socially misanthropic as he - and what he knew of the Norse, (which wasn't much, admittedly), Loki was the ultimate in outcast. He could almost sympathize.

"You certainly don't need my permission to be here," Jon said, pouring coffee and adding two sugars into a cup decorated with a flock of bats, "It's Mister Osborn's lab. --but I don't mind if you stay."

His mind advised he treat Loki more like a patient than a visitor, as he was ordinarily more friendly with patients, anyway. "Is there something in particular you'd like to talk about?"

[hiddles]

"I came only to satisfy my own curiosity." Loki might have been an outcast twice-over, but he was not so desperate for companionship that he sought it from random mortals. "I have little experience with chemicals, you see. We have no scientists in Asgard."

Taking the cup of coffee, Loki gave it a momentary glare. He did not know coffee was hot. One cautious sip later, and Loki wasn't sure if he liked it or not. "You put sugar in this? 'Tis custom?"

[is-fear-itself.livejournal.com]

"Then you want to learn chemistry?" The thought was intriguing. "It's not an easy discipline, but it isn't impossible, either..." Asgard. Early in his life he'd probably have dismissed it as a fiction, but he'd experienced a lot of strange things. "What is it like there?"

Jon frowned thoughtfully, "Yes, habit--I can make you some without, if you'd prefer." Oh, right, the hospitality thing. He offers a chair as well.

[hiddles]

Loki was reasonably certain he would not take a liking to coffee no matter what was added or subtracted from it. "'Tis fine. Agreeable." He doesn't sit down.

"No— I come not in search of teachers, but I remain curious about its implements." What did Jon hope to do, with all of his concoctions in Osborn's lab? And what sort of work would Osborn deign to fund? "I should think Asgard is much as you would picture. Mostly, it is cold."

[is-fear-itself.livejournal.com]

"I specialize in phobias. The limbic system, the oft-called "reptilian" part of the brain... the amygdala, adrenaline... anxiety and panic." It doesn't take much to get him talking about his baby. "And I sometimes dabble in chemicals to lower the mind's resistance to suggestion."

He thinks about this. "With castles and beer halls full of muscle-bound morons?" There is a reason Jon never got into a mythology that glorifies the physically strong and brave, apparently.

[hiddles]

"'Tis mead, more often than beer. But it is true about the castles, we do have many of those." Jon was welcome to draw his own conclusions about the muscle-bound morons. Loki, was, at present, much the loyal subject of Balder, son of Odin, and would not put words in the air to intimate otherwise.

"Your chemicals trigger a response on the physical level? Not the metaphysical?" This was especially curious— the measures a mortal could take, without relying on magical power.

[is-fear-itself.livejournal.com]

"Yes, well." It doesn't sound like Jon's idea of heaven, by any stretch. "Perhaps someday I'll get the chance to visit." He didn't put it past the Porter to start dumping people in the wrong universe, after all. "And how are you liking it in the City?"

It was a throwaway question normally, to gauge other things, but this time he was genuinely interested. Loki seemed very far from home.

He blinked at the question, "Yes. A good deal of the human behavioral system is contingent on brain chemistry. More than most people would like to admit, I think, they have this notion that it robs them of control." His twisted smile suggested that their notion wasn't far off.

[hiddles]

And Loki didn't even need to mention that Asgard was currently located in the state of Oklahoma to inspire some disgust. Truly, Loki's feelings on the matter were most complex. By and large, he loathed Asgard and its company, yet he knew of no other home. Perhaps that was why he could never decide if he desired to destroy the place, or merely to rule it. If it was even Loki's choice to make, if the hand of prophesy proved truly inescapable.

"No, I shouldn't imagine that they would relish much the idea. The human spirit loves to depict itself as unconquerable. And to be vanquished by one's own workings— it is perhaps a fitting end, but not a glorious one."

Sighing, Loki's thoughts drifted to more mundane things. Like his distaste for hot dogs and other greasy mortal "foods." More worldly than the rest of the pantheon, save the wretched Thor, Loki still found the City uncomfortably disfamiliar. It unsettled, maybe, but did not overwhelm. "I do not usually spend my time, here, in this City. I believe to do so would only draw attention, and I have little desire to explain myself."

[is-fear-itself.livejournal.com]

Jon would have volumes to say on identity, home and family if he knew, but he didn't, and merely listened quietly. "I find it glorious," He opined, "I find glory in irony--in the breakdown of what is erroneously trusted as sure and safe."

"Why would a god bother explaining--his or herself--?"