justdontgiveame | Labyrinthum Inbox

"Agreed, although I believe the consensus is that we'd prefer the dragons remain alive on general principle, whether source for his magic or not. This is my own thoughts regarding a transcript of Eilonwy and Bakugou talking. It's a side avenue to persue, but is part of the whole."

Loki paused, moving to take a drink. "Like you, I do not need a battery. I've yet to reach the limits of what I can do, as well."

"I love animals. Of course it's better if they're kept alive."

"That's interesting to know." Puck held up one of his hands and started to tap his fingers as he listed things. "Let's see so far. What do I think Vaeros is, some information about the monarchs I serve, and you know that I'm not entirely as youthful as I look. What's next?"

"You're still quite handsome and charming and cute, youthful or not." Loki said smoothly and with a small laugh. "But then I certainly don't look my age either." Loki took another drink and thought for a moment.

"Would you like me to share my personal notes, and see if anything seems to lead somewhere for us? They're the ones written in runescript and not easily deciphered by others." Because that might also spark some discussion. "Of course, I also would wonder about weaknesses. We do not have 'fae' as such where I'm from, but I know the myths of Midgard."

"Likewise, so are you. We make a decent pair."

Puck considered it for a moment. "After a few more questions, yes. Because right now I want to get the information I know out." He fell quiet at the question about weaknesses, but finally answered after a moment. "The myths are just that. What ones have you heard? Hang a specific plant over your doorway? Never say 'Please' or 'Thank you'? Things like that, I would bet. The only thing that actively hurts Oberon and his children is cold iron. That's it. Not herbs, not colored sand, none of those things that humans have decided to apply to fae as they know it."

Loki nodded. "I think I'll just conveniently for now leave that out of my notes, but it's good to know." He was aware the other had just given him valuable information, trusting a vulnerability like that with him. It...privately Loki promised himself he'd be worthy of that trust.

"There are likely other Fae here too, as I know Alice was quite upset that some of the rules she'd heard didn't apply here. Night Sky also spent time as a prisoner of Fae, hence her belief that Vaeros would be like an archfae."

Placing his mug down, Loki took up his pen and tapped it for a moment in thought. "How true are the 'rules' about fae words being binding? I'm guessing the 'only able to tell the truth' thing is a lie. But if you give your word, must you keep it? And if so, is it Spirit and Letter? How malleable can it be?"

"Thank you." It was said plainly, but with some heart behind it.

"I know one named Maleficent, but not well. We've never talked in depth about anything, but she was excited when I made a guess at her name. She thought it was because her name traveled to Oberon's ears. Oh and on that, she knew Oberon as the King of the Fairies, so make of it what you will."

Puck grinned at the questions about rules. "Oh, I was hoping you'd touch on this. For everything under the umbrella of Oberon's Children, himself and Titania included? Not at all. An agreement reached between fae and human lasts as long as conditions are being met, until the fae gets bored, or until the human dies. We can misunderstand things, and technically not be lying. But the whole 'we can only tell the truth' idea is a lie, which is pretty comical!"

He laughed and continued. "The fulfillment conditions of a request made can be interpreted in any way that completes it, but doesn't have to be the spirit or the letter. It can be whatever's called for at the time. Or something entirely different. That's the fun of it. A promise isn't the same as a wish or a request. It's not treated the same."

"I've met Maleficent as well. I shall have to see if she'll discuss more with me." Loki had been able to tell that the spring had affected their moods, but he could work with that. "Considering you refer to yourself and other's as 'Oberon's children' that's not an unreasonable thing to think of him as. Certainly he's very well known."

Loki laughed when Puck grinned and at the sheer delight the other showed at explaining. "Good to know, and it also explains how you banter so well. Which, lovers or not, I very much appreciate a good sparring partner for." A wink, and then Loki was making notes.

"It couldn't hurt to see what she knows." Puck blinked at that and gave a nod. "That's true. He and Titania are quite well known on Earth."

He finished his drink and watched Loki write. "Oh no, that's nothing from what I am. That comes from my job in Oberon's court." At the wink Puck grinned. "Do you fluster all of your sparring partners, or is just for someone you're posing as a lover with? Or am I the exception to both of those ideas? Or is it because I react in the first place?"

"Really?" Loki said with surprise, whether real or feigned, and then chuckled. "I am a master of weaving words and crafting lies. People react so wonderfully sometimes." That wasn't an answer, so Loki finished writing and then took his mug back up. "With you? All of the above would be the correct answer." There was a smug smile seen behind that mug.

Puck gave Loki a pointed look before he sat back again. "So you're into bullying- I'm not that surprised." His cheeks were red and as good of an actor as Puck was, he hadn't figured out how to control literal blood flow yet. "I give you a good reaction, you do it again because it's entertaining, like re-reading a book of poetry."

Puck grinned. "How fitting- it's a quick dose of mischief, and all you have to do is talk."

Loki chuckled again, but would have mercy for now. "If it really bothers you, I'll stop. Or at least not do it quite so often. Out of respect." Which was very telling there, if Puck would catch it.

Puck caught it and genuinely smiled. It was touching, cute, and slightly unexpected. It was also impressive. "It doesn't. If anything I'm more amused that I'm so reactive to it. But you're good at it, and If you enjoy it so much then go ahead. If I were actually bothered by it, you would have known by now. Your display of mercy and understanding was quite cute, though. I'm touched!"

Puck winked back with a playful grin.

That made Loki chuckle more, but he was inwardly quite touched himself. And glad that Puck had picked up that it wasn't normal for Loki. Honestly, he viewed the other as a peer, which was high praise from Loki.

"Shall we go back to our theorizing and discussion? Were you ready to here my thoughts?" To signify that they were from the personal part of the notebook. The coded and hard to read for anyone else part.

It was an interesting dynamic they had going on. That both he and Loki understood that just added to the fun of it all.

Puck nodded, sitting forward attentively. "Let's. My reactions can happen easily as you've seen, there's no need to stay focused on them right now. What do you think has been going on?"

Loki flipped a few pages in his notebook, and if Puck caught any of it... The text was now in rune script. Even if someone could read it, Loki had further made it difficult to decipher, in his own way, but that wasn't needed now.

"I think we need to find out for certain how the contracts work. Is it conditional, like with you, or is the wording important? Spirit? Letter? I also think we need to get a copy of our own, although that's just an aside so we know what they say. More importantly, why do only some of us remember? The common consensus seems to be that we're all approached while either asleep or otherwise unconscious, if not close to that state. My next plan is to see what, if anything, we DO all remember."

Making sure Puck was following so far.

"Those of us who've been here the longest have been here a little under a year. So what happened. Why that time frame? It seems to be winter to winter. Also why is he doing all of this. Why allow us to regain our abilities too?"

Puck saw snippets but nothing he recognized. He could read ancient Latin with the best of them, but not what was being shown. Which didn't matter as Loki started explaining things. He nodded.

"If he knows how to reach out when someone or something is asleep or unconscious, that's.. It's not old magic by my understanding. But it's something I don't see being used often."

Puck gave a hum and considered before he spoke again.

"If he doesn't think we're a threat, why would he be bothered if we have our powers? If he's trying to present as a generous ruler, that ties into what we mentioned about gifts. If my discussions with Luz hold water, then Vaeros could be acting as a director. But I don't think it quite goes down that path. Winter to winter.." Puck frowned.

"Hibernation would be my guess. Oberon's own version of sleep magic is very advanced and only requires a single command. If Vaeros is as young as I'm thinking or as inexperienced, he would probably have to wait for that to happen on its own. Say when someone or something is going to bed, instead of forcing it to happen whenever he wants to bring someone new to the area. If this world either metaphorically or actually went to sleep in the winter, leaving Vaeros alone, I could see him wanting company. Kings don't do well in empty kingdoms."

"All good thoughts, and I'll note them in a minute--but sadly there's still too much we don't know to do more than speculate." Loki mentally taking notes so he could add them in a moment.

"My personal theory is that Vaeros is a Usurper to the throne, but how he's doing it, or why--beyond power, is what we need to figure out. My best guess, is likely that the dragons are somehow the traditional power in this place considering there's a lot of dragon symbology around Somnius, but no one seems to know why. Some of the Gelflings also worship the Moon, and a dual deity cosmology isn't uncommon across realms. So a companion to the Moon wouldn't be unlikely. Further, 'Somnius' itself is a bit too close to latin for my comfort, and means 'a dream'."

There's a wry twist to Loki's mouth as he speaks again. "I might have to look up that play about you and yours, accurate or not. Among other works dealing with dreams. There's too much here that is similar to not be a thread--but how important it is, I couldn't tell you."

"Speculation is better than nothing, but not by much." Puck agreed. It was frustrating-- he could come up with theories for days easily, but the lack of confirmation was irritating.

Puck blinked at 'sominus' being translated and shook his head. "I'm getting rusty with recalling Latin. How embarrassing that I didn't pick that up faster! But no, a dual deity is very common in a lot of human mythology. A King and Queen of the fae, if you can believe it-- though we're not actually gods. But humans being human assigned us the roles." Puck drums his fingers against his leg before he speaks again.

"My guess is that it helps them understand us in a way that doesn't cause permanent damage. A dragon and the moon. Hm..I know of Selene from the Greeks, but that doesn't mention a dragon, or anything else that sounds like Somnius. A dream, the moon, a dragon.. Beings that worship the moon.." Puck shook his head. "No, none of that matches besides the moon itself being in both."

Puck grins. "It's very sanitized, I'll warn you now. But speaking of performing, that brings me to another topic. Still related to me, but not about this in particular."

Again Loki was making a mental note. He'd have to do some searching in the library soon most likely. "So we start with the moon, and see what we can that comes further." It had been good to share though, and get the other's thoughts on more than just Fae.

Putting the notebook aside for now, Loki raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And I'd expect a play to be fairly sanitized. But it's still might hold a clue."

"That's fair enough. I'll work on keeping my notes updated as new information is found. Quite a network we all have going here, honestly. A bit impressive."

"Sure-- if anything I know it's entertaining. Even if it makes me wince at how some of the characters are written compared to how they are in reality. Myself included. But I suppose there could be worse things in one's life besides being inspiring. But to other things. I can't fully demonstrate this yet, because the magic hasn't returned to me fully. But when it does, I will. Do you wonder how I know so much about humans and their pop culture?"

"I'd be doing this even if no one else was, but it has been gratifying to see others already doing so. I'm aware that you and I are coming in to all of this a bit late in comparison. That's part of why I'll be attending the Council Meeting."

The mention of magic though, and a demonstration, had Loki's attention and curiosity. "I did wonder a bit, although not as much as you might suspect. I thought perhaps you were simply more interested in them than most. I look forward to hearing why."

"I'm planning to also. If just to see who's on the council and how the meetings feel first. I'll share enough of what I know but nothing about cold iron. Enough so everyone is comes close to the same page, but without the risk to myself."

Puck sighed. "Unfortunately there won't be a light show with all of this, so I don't get to say what I'd originally planned with this demonstration." He made a face and then rolled his shoulders. Inhaling, he focused on slipping into Owen's mannerisms, temperament and voice. More businesslike, lower in pitch but not enough to be jarring when matched with Owen's form. But hearing it come out of his own mouth was amusing. Even if Puck wasn't smiling about it.

"That thought serves you well enough. But I know as much because I work among them in a human disguise. While in the form I answer to the name Owen Burnette-- usually simply Owen, and serve my employer as both a personal assistant and a bodyguard. You need to know this so when 'Owen' finds himself on the device's communication network, or at a future council meeting, you aren't wondering who he is."

Loki nodded at the 'need' to know. "And yet I shall treat him as a stranger barring any prior meeting of him." He easily saw what Puck was doing and why. It could be very useful.

A thought struck him though. "Until you regain your own magic, should you need it--I specialize in illusions and manipulation thereof, along with conjuration as you've seen. It wouldn't be hard to make an illusion of your chosen persona if you need it sooner. Nor would it be difficult for me to change either."

Standing, Loki grinned and let a wash of green flow over him. Where he'd stood before was now a soldier. On par height-wise with Loki, but broader and with clearly different features. His manner of standing and voice were even changed. "Something like this. One of Thor's friends, a very righteous defender of truth, justice, all that."

Puck, in Owen's voice, actually laughed a bit. Nothing loud, more of a chuckle. Like he remembered something funny but didn't want to get into the details. As Loki shared his offer and then demonstrated it, Puck kept his expression neutral. If he was going to demonstrate Owen, he needed to stay in the mannerisms. Otherwise the disguise had a higher chance of failure.

"Thank you. I don't think I'll need that specific one, but I might need myself or Owen to be elsewhere depending on the task I'm performing. But in the case of you assuming either of those forms, is there some sort of condition around matching my voice? Or do you assume it automatically?"

"I'll have to get an idea of what Owen looks like, but for you-yourself my friend?" It still looked like Steve, sounded like Steve, but the speech pattern was more Loki's normal. He let a wash of green shimmer over him again and Puck was looking at himself as he usually was.

"I'm sure I could mimic your voice, or Steve's--the person I was before-- in my usual form too, but the complete illusion helps." Which wasn't exactly an answer, but was all Loki was going to say. "It's easier when I know someone well. I spent four years playing my father in secret, while he was on Earth in a home."

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