1964-09-22 - Day In the Park
Summary: Two redheads, a blond, and a brunette meet in a park. Stop me if you've heard this one.
Related: If there are no related logs, put 'None', — please don't leave blank!
Theme Song: None
loki kai hope rogue 


Central Park in autumn. There's a crispness to the air, the scent of earth and a recent rain. There on the grass is a young man with golden curls and bright blue eyes. He's throwing a stick for a little dog who's not much longer than the stick itself. It's not an attractive dog, just a small brown mongrel whose parentage might include a New York rat. The dog goes bounding after the stick, but instead of fetching it, he barks at it.

The young man's laughter carries in the air. "Kev! What are you doing, mate?" He rakes his hand through his hair and walks up to the dog to take the barked-at stick in hand. The dog dances back and forth. He wants it he wants it he wants it.


Hope helps out with the Avengers when she can. But for all her knowledge of future tech, getting it to apply is another matter, and it's something she has to wait for other people to do. On their own time, because it's not like she has anything to motivate them with. Usually she's patient enough to wait it out, but sometimes the not knowing what's happened, being cut off from her own time, makes her restless.

It's for that reason that she's out in the park, running in shorts and a tank top with her hair pulled into a ponytail. She could work out at the mansion, but it doesn't really help the trapped feeling. Kai she recognizes, though, and she turns her feet toward him, slowing down as she gets closer. "Hi!" she calls over.


Scarlett, Avenger among other things, has a curse called 'Columbia University tuition' and the expectation she will occasionally show up to her courses, complete her work, and hand in polished essays and discussions about diplomacy. That she spent an entire semester teaching sociology and had a friendly chat with the President after his stormy inauguration scarcely register in the Dean's mind when it comes time to grade her work. So there she is, wandering with a book in one hand and the definitive idea of stealing the soul of a Nobel laureate for a holiday, flipping through the pages while she walks. Normally walking and reading would be a terrible notion.

Normally, but then she's walking around marauding squirrels and dodging soccer balls just fine, engrossed in the finer points of a calculated study about the political impacts of the Peace of Westphalia and its relevance on the socioeconomic pacts of western Europe today. Somewhat less relevant when you know a man with a really big hammer, but regardless, study is as study does. "Pardon me, Kevin," she murmurs without even noticing. Eep! She steps over him and pauses, rotating around.


There is a tall man, the Prince of Lies, peeking in on Kai from a little distance. He just still hasn't gotten over spying on Kai to watch him in his natural surroundings, from time to time. It lets him get in his stalking practice. Though, all told, he's not hiding /that/ well, since he's dressed to the nines with a scarf and his hair all slicked along the sides, rolling on his shoulders in long waves. And he has a cane…the way rich people carry a cane. He clearly doesn't need it.


Kai is oblivious all the same. Rather, he's used to being stalked by Loki, so it all blends into the day he's having. Which is a good one by the look of him. "Hope!" he says, waving to the young woman. "It's Hope, right? I remember you from ice cream. You were talking to Jack." Proof that even he can be taught, he doesn't yell 'Bucky' in public. "Have you met Kevin? Kevin's my dog, he's…"

He's narrowly being missed by Rogue, and when Kai spies the redheaded bohemienne, he says, "Scarlett! Hi! My favorite redheads in one place. What are you all doing today?" He walks over to Kevin, who is looking around with his tongue lolling and an ear flopped over. Only one. He's the one who spies Loki, and he does what Kevins do. He barks. Hey! Hey Loki! Hey!


"Yeah, Hope. The ice cream," Hope grins, pausing when she sees Kevin. "Is that a pet?" she asks, as if pets are strange and unusual things for anyone to have. Like she has an academic understanding of them, but not a whole lot of personal experience. She smiles faintly to the others, but Kevin's got most of her attention.


"I should hate to think what happens when you find an unfavourite redhead in your vicinity," Scarlett murmurs. Two sins: she dog-ears a page and shuts the book, putting the Westphalians in their place, consigned to the refuse bin of history for a few minutes. Her absence of pockets requires her to manage it in one hand, no terrible burden unless they start throwing snowballs or playing hockey or something untoward on an autumn day in the middle of the park. Preferably no aerial acrobatics either. "Hello, Kai and bonny Kevin. And hello, Hope." She beams a fair smile that way, twirling about on her toes, the better to avoid the pup being obstructed.

"Meandering dangerously boringly."


"Dangerously boringly? Now…that sounds like an invitation," purrs a voice from their stern, and the man in the fancy suit and scarf nears. He bats a piece of crumpled paper at Kevin, in a fond greeting, and looks Kai up and down like he's trying to pick out what part of him he wants to eat first. Then he smiles subtly at the two ladies, one he knows, one he doesn't, "I had no idea you had a /thing/ for redheads…" His eyes dance at Kai.


"I guess he is," Kai tells Hope as he watches Kevin. He's so used to the dog barking at nothing the fact the dog's barking at Loki doesn't register. "We just kind of hang out. Don't we Kev?" He tells Rogue, "I haven't met an unfavorite redhead yet, except this Irish cop always trying to bust me when I'm in his neighborhood even though he's never actually caught me."

He turns at the sound of that purring voice, and if he perked up anymore, he'd start to glow. His smile is dazzlingly bright. There are dimples. The dimples have dimples. He then affects a sudden air of diffidence as he tells Loki, "They're pretty, but there's a lot to recommend brunettes, I guess."


Hope tilts her head as she looks at Scarlett, something almost like recognition in her eyes, though she doesn't look entirely certain yet. "Scarlett?" she echoes, then smiles faintly. "Nice to meet you. And…you are?" Loki looks like the sort of person where introductions are required. The suit and the cane definitely don't look like practical wear, at least. And Kai's lighting up, and Kai is friendly with the nice fellow with the metal arm…


Mirth coalesces out of the gloom of the day's denouement, conjured by an expert gesture at breathtaking speed. The edelweiss and hollyhock blooms in her hair cavort as she stifles a laugh. Scarlett laughs softly; the shiver of her shoulders warns to that particular outcome. Still the contagion of delight spreads, slaying another victim, resuscitating her blithe nature. "Indeed, isn't it?" She inclines her head to the tall stranger who is none to her, the smile widening a fraction. "Scarlett among other names. Diplomat, student, infinitely curious heathen to the social order." It's all about right. Skald should be in there, and Midgard representative abroad, but hey! "Hope, have you been introduced properly? I assume not. Kai's fair beau and man about town."

Her fingers tug at a braid snarled on the others, each plait thin as a whisper. "Brunets /are/ rather ideal. Or dark enough to bear the night sky." Clemency will have to do, in pace of feathery distraction. Do not sigh, do not sigh, annnnnd she's off in daydreaming vexation for a moment.


"Indeed. Brunettes. But what about /blonds/?" Loki asks with a lid of his eyes. "Is this one a friend of yours, then, Kai? I should introduce myself properly, then." In a bit of a mood, apparently, his tone full of charm and whispery seduction, he reaches out his hand for Hope's. He waits until he has it though, before he introduces himself, "I am Loki, of Asgard, and it is a pleasure to meet one of Kai's favored redheads." His gaze on Hope is amusement-filled, and he cuts his eyes to look over at Rogue, "It has been a long time since we spoke."


Kai's brows lift when Loki introduces himself by his real name. "Woah," he says, more than a little impressed. "Yeah, this is Hope, and you know Scarlett." To Hope, he says, "Loki is my, uh…" His fair beau as Rogue has said. Kai just grins stupidly. "He's so groovy."

Kevin sniffs at Loki's shoes and wags his tail wildly. Clearly the well-dressed man is a hit with the little dog. Who sneezes, then gazes up at the god with doggy affection. Kai tells Hope, "I don't know if we were ever, like, properly introduced, but I'm Hjuki Evindrson of Alfheim. Faithless knave, ne'er-do-well, occasional hero. Please just call me Kai."


Hope gives Loki a curious look, though when she reaches out to take his hand, it's a brusque sort of motion - definitely not courtly, this one. "Loki, of Asgard," she repeats, nodding slowly. "And…Alfheim?" She looks between Kai and Loki for a moment, brows furrowing uncertainly. "You guys aren't messing with me, are you?"


"They aren't. They are whom they say they are," confirms yon blithe creature snagged from the transports of her thoughts to the present again. A bit of a jarring landing, really, but occasionally Scarlett wanders byways in her own psyche that lead to dead-ends, traps, or pitfalls. The fellow occupants are a noisy lot. "An age, my prince, though one prosperous for you. What stories you must have to tell. Perhaps one day over a proper drink you'll choose to regale us with them." Not a buried demand so much as a genuine offer, she flashes one of those sunny smiles. Oh, pupperoo. So very silly!


Loki wags his brows once at Hope, "Though, you can see that Kai manages more titles than I, these days. I am practically /harmless/." he murrs, though, it super doesn't sound like he believes that. He lets go her hand and straightens himself. "Kai, you look like you are going to the old home…you've forgotten…tonight is at the new one." It sounds like he's totally busting the elf for something. And to Rogue he answers, "Nothing much since last you saw me…I have been quiet."


Kai flips his hair, and that's his only response to the question of blonds. Kevin, having wagged his greeting to Loki, goes sniffing around and wanders up to Hope. His tail wags as he looks up at her with pathetic happiness. She might be good for a handout or a scritch. Meanwhile, Kai tells Hope, "Honest as a nun. I'm from Alfheim. It's in the neighborhood of Asgard. The light elves live there." He nods, curls flouncing.

He then explains to Loki, "I forgot." If he's getting busted, he takes it well. He then tells Rogue, "We've been settling down, just taking things as they come. After everything that happened, it's all about getting back to some semblance of life, you know? The mundane stuff. Coming home, smoking a bowl, making dinner, walking the dog."


"Huh." Hope may not be very familiar with Asgard and its realms, but at least strange things don't seem to throw her much. Kevin, after all, is definitely more interesting than people. When he comes over, she crouches down, reaching out to ruffle at him just a little bit awkwardly. Talk of domesticity goes over her head as well, though she listens.


The mutt greeting the other redhead is sight enough to quiet the bohemienne. Scarlett puts her sleeve to her mouth to suppress the grin that naturally wishes to form, though the renegade quality of her mobile expression settles down after a moment. "Incorrigible, the lot of you. I should clutch my pearls and retreat before I'm hopelessly corrupted," she adds in a warm tone, all the corruption entirely settled in. "Quiet is not a bad thing, not at all." Yes, well, she has an inside track on that.


"Oddly enough, when I am quiet, everyone just assumes the very utter worst." Loki chuckles. "What…is a Nun?" he asks Kai. "Soooo, Hope…since you are the one that niether of us know…what do you do? Fly around? light-beam eyes?" Just assuming she's powered if she's hanging out with Asgardians and Rogue. He settles the cane in front of him and leans both hands on it.


Kevin wags at the ruffle and licks Hope's fingers. He's a homely little thing, but so happy, and such a people-lover. Hope is his new best friend. He spins in a circle, then licks her fingers again. That tail just keeps going. Kai grins at the pair of them, and then to Rogue. "Come on, we're a good influence. I haven't been threatened with arrest in weeks." He nods agreeably when Loki says people assume the worst of his silence. Hey, facts are facts. "A nun is a woman who's devoted herself to the Midgardian's God. They're also called brides of Christ, and they dress like penguins." He shrugs. Midgard, man.


"Depends on who's around," Hope replies to Loki, guiding Kevin in circles with a faint, wry smile. "The doc calls it 'pluripotent echopraxia.' Which means I can do whatever the people around me can do. Mutants, at least," she clarifies. "There's a couple other odd things but…we haven't exactly figured it all out yet. There's a lot I haven't figured out yet, but the way I see it, everyone has to figure things out sometime."


"In short, be careful around me." Fair warning, all said and done, from the resident fluid genetic specimen. Scarlett raises her hand again, this time to toss the weight of that mane off her shoulder. "Quiet as a nun you are not, for I doubt you spend hours in prayer that way. Though insightful enough? That would apply." Her smile chases after the heels of the conversation, but she's in one of those oft mercurial moods.


"She makes her abilities sound like a disease." Loki says with amusement. "That is a first. Try to cast a spell though…some…illusion. I'm curious if you can pick up on what I've /learned/…" Just inviting random spells here, don't mind him." He does finally crouch down to give Kevin some attention, clicking his tongue a few times to get him away from Hope in case she explodes trying to use his power.


Kevin is enamored of Hope, his new best friend, but Loki, Loki is the dropper of scraps when Kai isn't looking, and this has won him the little dog's loyalty. Kevin prances over to Loki and licks his fingers, investigating them for possible snacks. No matter, just getting scritches is enough. "That's a good question," Kai says. "If you can pick up anyone's abilities. Do you know for a fact it's just mutants?" He gives Loki a look for calling Hope's powers disease-like. Ah well, that's his baby.


|ROLL| Loki +rolls 1d20 for: 19


"Hey, I didn't pick the name," Hope smirks. "I just sit through the poking and the prodding. Because if we can figure out what makes me work, then maybe we can figure out how-" She stops herself, clearing her throat and shaking her head. "No, it's just mutants. And just powers. It's genetic as far as we could figure out."


On the topic of genetics, at least hers, the Soul-Thief isn't speaking. She instead transfers the book to her other hand, resting it against her hip, while adopting a more comfortable stance. Her native tendency to float isn't exactly helpful, alas.


"You should pick the name. Then you can say that you are…afflicted with…proximity heroics. " Loki seems amused by the rebrand. And he knows exactly what she was going to say, too. "Midgardians certainly are going through something unusual, this century." he agrees. "Who knew they might ever be capable of defending themselves from Frost Giants."


"Frost Giants are formidable," Kai says. He crouches, and Kevin comes over to him. He razzes the dog, while Kevin growls and barks. So tuff. It's a familiar game, getting the dog all wound up to play. "I think it's great," he says. "Mutants deserve rights, just like everyone else. I'm doing an art exhibit soon, once I get enough pieces, depicting mutants as just normal people, you know? Or at least extraordinary people not robbed of their humanity. I'm going to show it in an abandoned warehouse in SoHo. If I'm lucky, I'll get arrested and it'll make the news."


Rogue goes home.


"I've already got a name for it," Hope smiles faintly to Loki, though from the way she says it, she doesn't mean the scientific version she used earlier, either. "I hope you don't get arrested, Kai," she says as she straightens. "But I should probably get back, see if Mister Stark's in. Nice to meet you, Loki," she nods to the man before she backs away to jog off again.


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