1964-11-20 - The Art of Art
Summary: Danny, Loki, and Kai meet in a lounge and talk about art, among other things.
Related: If there are no related logs, put 'None', — please don't leave blank!
Theme Song: None
danny kai loki 


Loki has certainly been…out and about, of late. It could be the turn of the weather, or simply…just wishing to get out a bit more, but the norse god just doesn't want to be in his room, so he has compromised by being in the apartment, but in the lounge where he can listen to the live piano, drink the best Midgard has to offer, and socialize with the other denizens of the fancy complex.


Kai has dressed nicely to join Loki in the lounge. He still looks like trouble in a suit, but at least he's not in beatnik chic while listening to piano and drinking fancy booze. "I still can't believe we live here," he tells the god. "I feel like we're getting away with something, and we could get caught any second."


Danny stops into the lounge on the way back in from being out. He must have gone into the office today, because he's wearing one of his finely tailored grey suits that makes him look more like the CEO he's supposed to be than when he dresses down, and yet he still never looks entirely comfortable in them. Making his way in, he happens to notice familiar faces and pauses, and then says, "Evening," with a bit of a grin.


Loki leans in his chair and admires Kai in his fancy dress for a moment, with a faint smile, before being drawn to look at Danny in HIS. "Good evening…what was it again?" Green eyes squint into slits. He, himself, is dressed in a fine, black suit, white shirt, with a scarf draping over either shoulder in the houndstooth pattern. "And, of course we live here. Royalty, remember? I enjoy it, though there are less servants."


Kai isn't very good at being in the closet. He's practically got cartoon hearts fluttering around him as he looks at Loki. Then his gaze shifts to Danny, and he perks up. "Hey! Hello." He asides to Loki, "That's true. The one we have though is pretty good." Danny gets a wave, and there's a familiarity there. Perhaps he already has met the neighbor, social elf that he is.


Danny has in fact met the elf, twice, maybe three times, and even the Loki once, sortof, in passing when he dropped off the elf at the bar and then ran out again after marking his territory with a scarf. "Danny," he says to Loki as he pauses nearby to where they are sitting. "Kai had mentioned that you lived here, but this is the first time I've actually run into you in the building. Did you ever find a space for your art gallery/show? I remember we talked about it briefly."


"I do like his paintings," Loki agrees with Danny, "though he really should try tapestry." A grin. "I am Loki. Have a seat. Have a drink." He gestures towards the chairs when he invites, each syllable and tone of his words evoking a sense of pleasant welcome. Silvertongue, indeed.


Kai shakes his head and tells, "I still need a space, I was thinking over Christmas, and if I can't get a better spot I'll do it in an abandoned warehouse, or the roof of my studio in Hell's Kitchen." To Loki, he says, "I'll try tapestry. Gran tried to teach me, and I liked it, but I'd never tell her that."


Danny does move over to take a seat, unbuttoning his jacket and then settling down comfortably, having a drink as well while he is at it. "I can still help you find a space if you're still looking. I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to circle back around on that," he says to Kai and then glances over toward Loki, "A pleasure to meet you. Tapestry? I've seen some beautiful tapestries, but it seems a forgotten art form. I don't know of many artisans anymore that make them as they used to be."


"There are artisans who still make them…by hand." Loki smiles subtly and runs his fingertips on the arm of the chair, like he's petting it gently. "Kaaaai…I demand the show be soon. You have put it off, and your talent is breathtaking."


Kai smiles at Loki, and he ducks his head. "It will be soon," he says. "Mr. Rand here has offered to help me find a space, an offer I'll gladly take up, and we can start in December and run it through til the New Year. Or until they arrest us and shut us down." His eyes brighten at that prospect. Going to jail for one's convictions is groovy. Then, with an air of decisiveness, he days, "I will learn tapestry, and I will make one of your best exploits, Loki." Again, besotted. There is no closet that can contain the elf.


"I'm sure that there are," Danny says, "I just don't know of any, personally," in explanation. Then he looks back over to Kai and nods, "We will find a place within the next week so that you have some time to set up before December starts. You just need to let me know what sort of a space that you are looking for."


Loki draws his fingers together and seems…particularly pleased, with both Kai, and the evening's fortuitous turn. "Kai always was a little better at making /friends/, but…I am trying, of late, to make up for some of that deficit, among…mortals. So, are you an appreciator of art, or are you a mutant? Or both? His art is meant to raise awareness and personalize the mutants, so that people view them more kindly." He glances at kai to confirm, but he's pretty sure he has that right.


Kai nods to Loki. Yep, he's got the right of it. "All I need is an open space, maybe with some makeshift walls in the middle for hanging more paintings. It's not a huge show, so maybe floor space around the size of one of our flats?" He then tells Loki, "You're a delight. I just chatter a lot."


"You know," Danny considers. "We just cleared out this warehouse down by the waterfront the other day. I could see about acquiring it. You could even use it as a permanent space, then. It's kind of an interesting space, and it's already filled with shipping containers all set up in there that could be cleaned out and used to hang paintings and photographs within and without, and then the larger open areas would accommodate larger pieces." He continues to look thoughtful. "It would make an interesting use of the space." His attention then shifts back to Loki and he says, "I'm not a mutant, no. I'm the Guardian of Kun'Lun. But I'm also an appreciator of art, and I like to help out where I can."


|ROLL| Loki +rolls 1d20 for: 3


"Guardian of Kun'Lun. Hmmm. A secret skill? No…no, you mean a place." Loki looks the man over, thoughtfully. "There are far more secret places among the realms than most people would ever imagine. I am curious about it, now, and you will not be able to get rid of my asking about it." Green gaze switches to Kai and then he nods. "I am going back to the room. Make the arrangements and I will help you with the display."


Kai starts to rise to follow Loki, but then he reclaims his seat and says, "What's a Guardian of Kun'Lun?" Curiosity wins out this time, and he needs to make the arrangements. "I mean what do you do? I thought you were a CEO, one of the few who isn't horrible."


"I am," Danny says to Kai with a little shrug of his shoulders, "But I'm also the guardian of the mystical city where I grew up after my folks were killed in a plane crash. I'm their champion, though I've returned to New York for a time to take care of some personal business, and the pass is currently closed, so there is nothing to defend for the time being."


Kai's eyes widen, and he stares at Danny for a time before he says, "That is the coolest thing I have ever heard." Quickly he adds, "I'm sorry about your parent, that's terrible, but wow, the guardian of a mystical city. That's just… wow. You've blown my mind, cat. That's so groovy."


Danny waits for the inevitable disbelief, and when it doesn't come, his brow ticks up a little, but then he says, "I trained most of my life for it. And when the pass opens, I'll go back to defend it, but that won't be for several years yet. The monks from the monastery raised me when I was a boy and trained me to fight." He leans back in his chair, "Before I got on that plane I was just a young kid, barely in my teens, son of Wendell Rand, the CEO of the company that I'm now running. It was my father's legacy that he left to me. I'm trying to do right by what he wanted for it."


Kai is giving goo-goo eyes to the god of mischief. A guardian of a mystical city is just cool. "Yeah, I heard about that plane crash," Kai says. "It was all over the news. People were really sad about it." From the look of sympathy he gets, he was one of those people. "So that's some kind of double life, wow. What do you defend your mystical city from?"


"There is an organization called the Hand, a group of ninjas and assassins that fell to corruption and darkness who use the power of ressurection to remain immortal and infiltrate society, working to corrupt, to destroy, and to gain power," Danny says, and then nods. "I try to defend New York against crime around Hell's Kitchen and Harlem as well. Not all of it is influenced by the Hand, but there is a presence here."


Kai shakes his head slowly. "This just keeps getting groovier," he says. He perks up then and says, "I fight crime in Hell's Kitchen's too! Have you heard of the Angel? Hjuki?" There have been a few murmurings of a 'Hjuki,' though he's mostly known to go around to the homes of the elderly and infirm, not for smashing. "I agree there's a presence there, and people have to do something."


Danny nods his head and says, "I've heard the name Hjuki once or twice in some of the places that I've been," but it's clear that he doesn't know much more than that — that it's a name. "I try to use what influence I can, with my father's company, to do good at that level, to help fund the projects that I work on, and to allow me to both fight the Hand, and whatever other criminal influences there are in the immediate area. It's kind of a three-fold life, but it's important to me. This is my home, as much as Kun'Lun was for the past decade or more."


Kai pats his chest and says, "That's me! Hjuki is me. Have you ever met the Devil of Hell's Kitchen? He's actually really nice. I mostly fight the crime of institutional poverty. I make sure people have medicine they need, and food, and sometimes just company. People's lives are so fleeting, and they get forgotten. That's the crime. Just a little food and company can make such a difference."


Danny nods his head and says, "I've met him once or twice, yes. Some of the others and I have fought with him to clean up some gang activity around the Kitchen." He smiles as he listens to Kai talk about his contribution. "That is a great way to help," he says genuinely. "I'm more of a physical fighter, but then, I try to work at all the levels that I can, where I can."


"I can kick butts if I need to," Kai says, "but someone needs to check in on the forgotten people." He considers, then says, "I think whatever money I make off my art, I'll put into food and medicine. Loki keeps me well provided for." He smiles as he says the name. "That's all I've ever wanted to do," Kai says. "Help people."


Danny smiles at the fondness that Kai shows for Loki with every time he says his name. "That sounds like a good plan. I will make a donation as well, at your opening, and encourage others to do likewise. Sometimes, seeing someone else doing it is enough to motivate others to do so as well."


"We take care of our venerable where I'm from," Kai says. "It takes so many centuries to get old in the first place, we just assume they've accumulated a lot of wisdom, but you know, I think short-lived humans gain a wisdom it takes us a long time to learn: perspective." He nods then and says, "I'm not to proud to say yes to money. Especially when I'm helping people with it."


Danny nods his head and says, "Money is a resource that I have because of my family and the company, and it's something that I'd like to use in a focused way to try and help people who need it where they need it, and make sure that it's going to the right places. So, I'm happy to contribute to your efforts. It's not about just giving you money — it's about helping you do something to help people."


Kai lowers his voice as he says, "Those old people, they hear things too, you know? I have a fairly good idea what kind of things are happening in Hell's Kitchen just by listening to some of these oldsters talk about things they've seen and heard. If I find out anything good, I'll pass it along, slip a note under your door or something."


"And if there's anything that we can help to do, my friends and I are trying to look out for folks in those neighborhoods — let us know. I don't doubt you could hand out an ass-whupping if you needed to — we all can. But sometimes it's good to have backup," Danny says.


Kai nods quickly, curls bouncing. "That's kind of what the Devil and I had worked out. Helping each other, not getting in each others' way. I can fight, but I'm not a fighter, I'm a lover." He smiles, and lo, there are dimples "I like the idea of us looking out for each other. I also like the idea of you living here because sometimes I need a ride to Hell's Kitchen and you look like you can afford a car."


Danny can't help but laugh a bit at that and says, "I can, though I have a driver." He nods toward the concierge desk in the lobby though and says, "I'll give them your name, though. If you need a ride and my driver isn't currently driving me somewhere, you're welcome to use his services."


"That would be nice," Kai says. "I should ask Loki about getting a driver. I don't want to get out of touch with people on the subway, but sometimes I'm just not up for getting jostled, threatened, or peed on." He beams at Danny. "That's so nice of you to offer. Thank you. I'll take you up on that. Do you tip a driver? How much?"


Danny shakes his head to Kai and says, "I'll take care of the tipping. Just ask him to take you where you need to go. I'll see that he's compensated for it." He waves it off a little bit with a smile. "There are some benefits that one should just enjoy."


Kai bounces where he sits. "That's so nice of you. I'm so glad my neighbor his nice. If you need anything, just let us know. Loki's got some major pull and influence. I'd like to thing I can get things done, and Bucky, you'll see him around sometimes, he's one bad mother. I wouldn't mess with him, let's just put it that way. But he's really nice."


"You'll probably see Colleen around as well. She lives with me, and she's pretty mean with that katana, but she's also very nice. She helps to defend the neighborhood as well," Danny says with a little grin. He glances after Loki and he says, "He seems an interesting sort, from what little I've seen of him."


"We're the safest building on the block," Kai says with a grin. He glances toward his apartment and nods. "Loki is brilliant," he says. "So much so I think sometimes people don't get him. He's working on, like, half a dozen different levels. But he's great. He's smart, he's talented, he's good-looking. He's the whole package." Closet? What closet?


Danny chuckles a little bit and says, "It certainly sounds that way, and we're only occupying two of the apartments in the building. Who knows who else might live here." He grins over at Kai and says, "You two will have to come by for dinner sometime with Colleen and I."


"Sure!" Kai says. "That would be great. I'd like to met Colleen, what with us being neighbors and all." He looks awkward briefly as to whether he should offer to shake Danny's hand or what. Instead, he hugs him. Kai understands hugs more than handshakes. "You're so nice. I like you."


When Kai suddenly gets up and hugs him, Danny looks momentarily surprised, unused to being spontaneously hugged, let alone by elves that look like they could be his younger brother. He seems to recover within a moment though, and he gives Kai a sort of awkward one-armed hug, patting him on the back a little and laughs, "Good, then we'll have you all over for dinner sometime soon." He chuckles, "I like you, too."


Kai gives good hugs, too. When he hugs someone, they know they've been hugged. There's no doubt. "I would really like that," he says, as though the momentary awkwardness there never happened. "We should be friends," he decides. Alas, Loki, this is how the elf ends up with so many friends. He strongarms them into it.


Danny has been duly hugged, and while he's still a little surprised by it, he seems to have come to grips with the fact that the hugging has happened. Hugs weren't really much of a thing growing up, and not since he's been back either, other than from Colleen. But he laughs good-naturedly and says, "I'd like that. So, tomorrow, we're going to find you a space. I think I have just the right one. You free to take a ride out and go look at it?"


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