[audio, backdated to sunday]

[stretchy_pants]

I... uh. I just want to say thank you to everyone who helped me out last week. You didn't have to do any of that, but....

Thank you.



If you're in my physics class, I've arranged for Professor Xavier to substitute for the next couple of weeks. He'll be covering the rest of the material I have and also administering your final exam. I'll still be available to answer questions if you have any.

Comments

[badnewsboy]

[of course he'd ask that. this is Loki he's dealing with, after all.]

The copy is yours.

[and he grows more grave again, but the manner of his words are less condescending and more understanding.]

I do. I know what you believe you are protecting them from, but if that force is to be let loose upon this island that your efforts of protection are for naught. You're just causing yourself more problems by thinking that there's somewhere on this island you can go to stop it.

[Loki taps the object in his hand.]

I believe this is the protection you seek. A testament of your will.

[stretchy_pants]

Okay, but what about the original? Is it still on your phone?

[He'd ask that no matter who he was dealing with, to be honest.]

I know there's nowhere I can go, here... SHIELD found me even when I had multiple continents to use to my advantage. [He doubts Tony would let him move out of the tower again, anyway, but he doesn't bring that up. He goes back to his ice cream, pushing it around with his spoon after he slips the flash drive into his shirt pocket.]

..Yeah. In the long run, it's going to come down to control. [a shrug.] If I can fine-tune the control I have over it.. well, it'd be better for everyone.

[badnewsboy]

As I've said, the copy is yours.

[Loki brings his knees up on the chair, hanging his arms over them.]

Control is lost in chaos, and it may not do much for you. What it comes down to is something more abstract.

[stretchy_pants]

.....Just make sure nobody else sees it then...

[Way to not answer his question. Twice.]

This entire island is chaos. If I get taken by surprise, nothing's going to stop it from taking over, unless I can learn to fight it and bring it out on my own terms.

[badnewsboy]

You can't answer chaos with more control. You did something there that was different, you had to succumb to it before it became malleable.

[stretchy_pants]

I can't succumb to it, Loki. Have you ever seen what it---

[And here, he glances around at the other customers. Nobody seems to be paying them any mind, but he lowers his voice, anyway.]

--What the Hulk does, when it's beyond anybody's control and loose in a city? That is chaos. Do you think that's a better answer; meeting chaos with chaos?

[badnewsboy]

Yes.

Change is chaos, and to utilize its ability to must succumb to it. It's not about becoming the monster inside of you, it's allowing yourself to open to the idea of unpredictability. It's just as you did there, when you faced yourself. You did as the situation called without control. It was your sheer force of will. Chaos will never be something you can control, and once you realize it, it becomes your ally.

[stretchy_pants]

You don't understand... What you're talking about is.. much easier said than done. It's almost killed my friends more than once--every good thing it's done is balanced by destruction, and my will isn't enough to keep it from hurting people when it gets past me.

[badnewsboy]

I believe it is.

[his voice is very earnest. and he doesn't hesitate when he speaks again.]

There will always be chaos. Change is chaos, and it makes us rethink what we're taught, and the philosophies that we've lived by.

[he holds up a finger, looking proud.]

But that change only becomes chaos when we fight it. I'm not telling you to let the Hulk go, Mister Banner, I'm saying that to adapt is to remember that you have no control. My Other-Self was the same, except he believed that control was the solution, and chaos could come from nefarious, calculating plans. [he closes an eye and looks a bit dubious at his own words, and then snorts and continues with a smile.] I don't believe that. I believe in change. Change is good. Moments that draw heavy emotions are the ones inwhich we believe we lose that control, but if we succumb to the idea and align ourselves with that change, we ride with the chaos.

And then without that anger, there's no Hulk, only Bruce Banner in chaos.

[stretchy_pants]

...Right. But asserting my will is still a form of control. [He sits back a little, looking as if he's debating whether to continue along this train of thought.] If you say change is the solution.. adaptation to chaos... [a shake of his head.] The anger will still be there. It's who I am, and it's what defines the Hulk.

[Something else catches his interest, though. He nudges his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he looks curiously at Loki. This whole time, he's been trying to make sense of this boy, if there is sense to be made of his reasons for seeming to know so much. The mention of Loki's "Other-Self" provides opportunity to perhaps steer the conversation in that direction.]

Are there two Lokis? You, and the one who wanted to take Earth?

[badnewsboy]

But in the end maybe it will be unneeded if left unprovoked.

[well, he got through to him in his own sort of way, didn't he. it was a little victory. Loki sits cross-legged on the seat, regarding him with quirky smile.]

My Evil-Self and I are somewhat of the same. Would you like to talk about this? It's a long, boring story.