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News has gotten around the court. Prince Loki has taken up with that Elf. One can see them mooning over one another here and there, often walking in the gardens arm in arm. Sometimes, though, one can catch Kai off on his own, wandering the palace when Loki's busy elsewhere. Today he's in the garden where the Alfheimian plants are grown. Delicate things of airy fronds and silvery leaves, of an elegance that almost exceeds nature. He sits there upon a bench with a book in hand like a studious fey creature. He only seems to be paying a little attention to it, though, glancing up often.
Billy suddenly appears nearby, looks around, and grins at Kai when he sees him. Its possible Heimdall is having a minor fit as Billy's style of 'looking for the elf' is teleporting around the city to various likely to find an elf places he's found, and look. But it is what it is. "There you are. Sooo. How long are we gonna be on this elfcation?" He asks with a dimpled grin, peering at the book, "Whatcha reading?"
Kai smiles broadely when he spies Billy. There's nothing wrong with teleporting! It's a handy skill if one can get it. "Billy," he says warmly, and he closes the book, setting it aside. "There will be another revel, and then we'll go to Alfheim to celebrate the release of my parents — at least that's my excuse for ransacking my grandmother's mansion." He glances at the book. "It's just a history of the Asgardians. I'm curious about Loki's lineage. It's very impressive. I saw your father the other day, by the way, not long after we got here."
"How do you go about seeing dad when we're on— stilll not clear if this is another planet or weird alternate dimension or the matrix— whatever this is?" Billy blinks and tilts his head, "I suppose elfs don't want help from humans setting up revels. I can magic something up if you need it you know." He wiggles his fingers mystically.
"He came here," Kai says, "to talk to the Queen, Loki's mum. She's quite powerful, herself. I saw him coming to and from, and we chatted a bit." He waves a hand as he adds, "I'll let the Asgardians throw this one, but maybe when we get to my gran's place, you can summon us some decorations. Or a single dove that will carry a message to her hands warning her she has an hour to throw together a party worthy of an Asgardian prince." His eyes flash with delight and maybe a touch of malice. "Yes, I like that one."
Billy snaps a finger and… nothing happens. But he didn't expect it to, instead he gives a dimpled grin, "Okay, we will do this. Uhhh. I didn't exactly ask permission from Dad to come here, because you know, like, adulthood? Still I'm surprised he didn't quite have an opinion."
"Oh, I thought he was going to kill me where I stood," Kai says with nary a feather ruffled. "But I assured him you were under the Princes' protection as well as my own, and he did admit that, as you were an adult, there wasn't anything he could do about it." He pats the bench beside him in an invitation for Billy to sit. "He worries, but he's not going to force you not to be here."
Billy slips over to sit down, and nods his head a bit, "He worries a lot. I think its mostly because he thought he'd never have any kids at all, something-something about the mantle should have made it not possible. He didn't go through that whole getting used to kids breaking themselves regularly as they grow up phase like normal parents get to go through."
"He's a man capable of great emotion," Kai says wisely, "for his loved ones especially. I've no doubt he'd break every rule to keep you safe." Listen to Kai, for Kai knows these things. "I bet he doesn't say it very often, how much you mean to him. Love makes you vulnerable." He glances toward the entrance into the gardens from the palace, just in case there's a glimpse of Loki to be seen, speaking of love and vulnerability. "I imagine you probably drive your dad nuts, but that's okay."
"Love makes you strong." counters Billy, "It gives you drive and power to achieve things impossible otherwise. I'm not saying its not an attack vector, it is, but what you get is way more then what it costs." He shrugs, "I try not to drive him nuts?" he says with a bit of innocence, "Usually. More or less. Mom's a little different, though its hard to explain. So— why were your parents in elfprison?"
"Of course," Kai says. "There's strength in vulnerability, too. I just don't think he sees it that way. And it's not a bad thing, driving him a little nuts. We all make each other a little nuts when we care. It's a good thing. I'm not sure how to put it into words, but, like, having you to think about makes him a broader person, if that makes sense. You're a good thing. You're a gift." He beams at Billy, with dimples in full force. The smile fades though as he admits, "They stole from the Royal Family of Asgard. They took an artifact and made off to Midgard with it. I think my mum just came along for the ride, but my da, he's just like that."
Billy hesitates, thoughtful, "I have _two_ dads, _two_ moms, which is a little overwhelming sometimes, but… Maybe I'm a gift, but he and Wanda are gifts too." On the matter of the crime, … "Was the artifact recovered, or is this just like, a release for good behavior type of situation?"
"I recovered it," Kai says. "I've been using it here and there in Midgard, but I suppose I'll hever to learn to do without it now. It was something I could heal people with. But having it, while super groovy, isn't more important than my mum and da being together again. So they can have another child who can inherit the noble title and responsibilities."
"Oh,y eah." Billy nods his head firmly, he gets that. Parents free is good. Billy is thoughtful then, "Could you let me watch it heal someone? Once? Just like stare at it for awhile? Doesn't have to be some major sort of wound or anything."
"Yeah, if you like," Kai says. "I would need someone injured, and your father would turn me into a newt if I put a scratch on you to demonstrate." At least Strange is one thing in the universe Kai takes seriously. "It heals anything, though. It doesn't cure or undo poison, but it will knit your injuries." He pats down his clothes, then produces from a pouch a crystalline apple, glancing around first to make sure no one else can see. "Here it is."
There's a pause, and Billy gets a curious look on his face, "Does Asgard have a mirror dimension?" he wonders aloud, lifting a hand and sorta … feeling on the fabric of reality or at least, that's what it looks like he's doing. Is he really doing it? Hard to say. "Besides, really, not everything that happens Dad needs to know about."
"No idea," Kai says. "It's got all sorts of stuff." He regards Billy solemnly and says, "If you manage to somehow scratch yourself, I can't be blamed, right? I never laid a hand on you." He glances aside to an Alfheimian rose whose thorns glisten like sharp little slivers of silver on their stems. "I mean I can't keep you out of every potential danger all the time…"
Billy lifts a hand, holds it out, and closes his eyes, "What's in a reflection?" he asks softly, before repeating immediately, "Whatsinareflection" and "whatsinaREFLECTION." All around them there is a shifting, a crystallization like cracked broken glass that encircles them in a sphere, then melts together into normalicy… except its empty. People walking by the garden? Aren't. Shuttles flying people? Aren't. "Welcome, Kai, to the mirror dimension. Apparently there is one. This is where wizards practice spells. And-or sometimes trap eldritch horrors." Pause, "You almost never run into those on accident."
Kai looks around, sitting up a bit straighter. For as much as he's friends with Strange, there is a lot about the formal mystical arts he doesn't know. "Mirror dimension," he says. "Wow, that's heavy, what just happened?" Intrepid creature that he is, he gets to his feet and walks around, exploring the area. "So it's separate from the world outside?" he guesses. "Nothing in here can get out there? I mean it stands to reason…"
"The Mirror Dimension serves three primary purposes." Billy says, as if quoting from a book; or, well, his dad. "First, its where wizards practice spells, because if something goes horrible here, it'll eventually reset to be a reflection again and it won't impact anything outside. Second, only a wizard can get in or out, so anything put in here, is contained. Third, well. If you're close to where someone is you can see them, and…spy." Billy hesitates, "I don't." Pause, "nevermind." He isn't telling Kai he's a secret agent, right? "I basically translated us from Asgard to Asgard's Reflection. Someone looking for us on Asgard couldn't find us, not even Dad. Because we're _not_ on Asgard. Of course with his experience he'd find us _anyways_, it'd just take a little longer."
Kai nods slowly. "That means if Loki tries to find me, and he can't… We might not want to linger here too long. He's still trying to kill people over the last time I got removed from the planes of existence where I should've been. Granted, I was dead at the time, so he had a reason to be mad about it, but…" He takes a deep breath, lets it out, and says, "Sometimes he can be a little unpredictable. Just a little." He tosses the apple from one hand to the other. "So how can we show this baby off in here?"
Billy digs into his pocket, pulls out his Swiss Army Watch (SHIELD edition), tugs out a knife, and with no hesitation or 'check in with Kai at all', he cuts a shallow three inch cut into the top of his left arm. Oh, there's a wince, and there's blood, but its done quick and efficient-like. SHIELD training has really hardened the kid in certain ways. "Unless he's keeping tabs on you 24-7, which would be a little creepy I gotta say, its fine. And if he is keeping tabs on your 24-7, he might see you transition into this. Its fine. Its only a couple minutes. I want to see the apple work to see if I can understand and reproduce it."
"I don't think he is," Kai says, though he doens't sound entirely sure Loki isn't. Creepy? Maybe, but that's his baby. The blood doesn't concern him overmuch, though he does look a bit impressed with how easily Billy inflicts the wound upon himself. "Okay. I need to hold this to your bare skin, over your heart." He holds up the apple, and within the crystal, there is a shimmering as though of moonlight, glinting as he turns it this way and that.
Billy, Agent of SHIELD, has a badass quotient of like 0.33, which isn't bad at all. Ow, sure, ow. But he's kinda badass. He nods to Kai, "If he was, I'd probably see it, so its probably not a worry." he notes, then nods again, gesturing and looking down at his chest, the brown of his eyes lightening to an almost golden with a faint glow as the Sight fully engages beyond its passive mode. "I just wanna see it to see…well, maybe I can make you something."
"I like being made things," Kai admits. He pulls aside Billy's clothing so he can touch the crystal to bare skin. It's cool at first, but it warms quickly, and it takes on a golden thrum within, in tune with Billy's heartbeat. Soon, Kai's heartbeat adjusts to the same pace. Call it some strange Asgardian magic, or some far flung science dealing with quantums and bio-whatevers, but a link becomes established between Billy and Kai. Warmth floods Billy's system, fed from Kai's own lifeforce. That warmth smooths over every pain and ache, knits every scratch, and when it comes to the cut on Billy's arm, it mends that as well, maybe at the three minute mark. It's not instantaneous, but it's not that long either. The Elf has a strong lifeforce, well able to handle a cut on one's arm, but in theory, a deeper wound would take more from him.
Billy tilts his head down and watches, and as the golden light of the apple spreads, he studies the math. "The math is coming from you." he murmurs, "The apple isn't healing. I mean, yes, its healing, but its…. its a mechanism. Its draining from you and feeding into—" He looks over at the math that spreads around the cut as it starts sealing up, "I don't even know what owuld happen if it was a life-threatening wound. Its taking from you to give to me, Kai. Did you know that?"
"Yeah," Kai says with a soft smile. "But it's okay, I don't mind. I'm strong." Rather, mortals tend to be very weak, and wounds that genuinely injure them are things he can shrug off. But it's not nice to say that to the mortal. "The worst that's ever happened is I passed out, and I slept all day, but I woke up okay. It was a super bad wound, too. Like broken bones and lacerated inside bits. This is just a scratch."
All healed up, Billy lifts a hand: "Break the mirror, breakthemirrorBREAKtheMIRROR." And there's a shifting about and they are just where they were. Just.. a little more.. alive. Connected. Because people walk past the garden ahead, "Okay, let me think on this a bit."
Kai nods to Billy and says, "Take all the time you need." He doesn't seem tired at least. Maybe not quite as bubbly as he usually is, but not tired. It's just a good day to rest easy and read a book for awhile, so he takes his seat again and takes up the book. "I'll let you know when those revels are," he says.