mingle log | the quad and elsewhere | we were young and drinking (coffee) in the park

[lamiaceae]

Characters: Gansey and whoever shows up
What: Interpersonal interaction! Meet each other face-to-face while nothing is on fire
Where: the quad, unless elsewhere seems cool to you
When: loop 1, day 10 (6/10 irl)
Content Warnings: nothing yet. please use and check thread subjects

It's a pleasant day outside. There's a nice breeze and the sun is doing its best. At very least, it's not raining and warmer than it was yesterday. This is, statistically, likely to bring college denizens out of their dorms and offices since rain seems to often be on Newcomb's horizon. Fall in not-at-all-New England is lovely that way.

Gansey, for his part, can be found throughout the day in several places! He likes hanging out near the clocktower to study, since he's found time works best there (at least for him). It's nice to have a watch that's doing something vaguely akin to timekeeping for once.

But he's an explorer at heart, so he can probably also be found in the library, the computer lab, and wandering the grounds. Gansey isn't sure he's interacted with anyone outside a classroom or on Fermii since the train crash, so he's more likely than usual to strike up conversation instead of waiting for it to come to him.

The real question is this: where's everyone else hanging out today?

[ i'll be throwing gansey at anyone who doesn't note that their tag is closed. please mingle! ]

Comments

[abit_ofboth]

Gansey, of course, is right. Loki is just feeling like being an asshole. Mostly because he doesn’t understand why the other man stopped in the first place and really doesn’t understand why he’s still trying, even with Loki being such a prat. He shrugs in response, looking back out over the pond again. It doesn’t really matter what he’s said, or asked or whatever, he’s just out to annoy, even if deep down he craves some company.

There’s a brief moment where Loki’s mask drops completely and he gives Gansey a confused look. He’d wanted him to believe he was being sarcastic, but that clearly hasn’t worked. Just who was this guy? Gansey might not say exactly what he’s thinking, but what he does say tells Loki enough, and that’s that he needs to work on his mask. No one save Frigga should be able to read him this easily.

“Mostly it comes by birth. If you are born to gods, then you are one. But also, Odin, King of the Realms may imbue someone with godhood.” And if it sounds like he spits Odin’s name from his mouth like he’s tasted something bad, well that’s a pretty accurate take on it.

Finally, something he can easily agree with. He’s been trying to fit himself into boxes his whole life and look where it’s gotten him? No family, no friends, no respect. Hel, he shouldn’t even be alive technically, and now he’s stuck here in some school when he should be off trying to save Asgard from Thor’s reckless stupidity. Not that he could. It was made astoundingly clear what Odin thought just prior to his arrival on the train here. “That is the most sensible thing you have said so far. I’m afraid such categories do far more harm than good.” And that might be the most honest thing Loki has said since this conversation began.

The stone very well might work for Loki, but he hardly believes it’s anything that is meant for him, so why bother trying and being disappointed? “I wouldn’t even know where to begin,” he mutters to himself though he still closes his hand around the stone again. He can’t imagine bothering to find who should have the stone, but more than that, it feels like a real gift so perhaps he will keep it, even if he never tries to use it.

[lamiaceae]

This kid is one of those specimens that has been raised in an environment where reading every nuance of expression, tone, and word choice was necessary to navigate the waters of human interaction without being eaten by sharks. The affable front isn't a lie--Gansey genuinely likes people--but it's covering up a lot. It helps that he has a friend who is kind of similar to Loki in the tendency to make every emotion look like anger and bristle in the direction of anything that looks like kindness. That, a bit of mythology trivia, and the mistaken assumption that Loki knows what Gansey is via proximity and magic sensing makes up the sum of it.

"Genetics or promotion, that makes sense." He nods, although it doesn't really answer anything about Ronan. "Not a fan of the Allfather, then." Not even a hint of disapproval or reproach here. The myths probably aren't all true and relying on knowledge from his own world would be a mistake, but hazed memories of ancient stories still paint a picture.

"Putting hard limits around magic seems like the opposite of useful," he says, though the backhanded compliment makes him smile sunnily. "Why would anyone want to make possibilities smaller?"

Gansey turns his head to look out at the lake when Loki keeps the hag stone. It wouldn't do for the god to see his blinding grin.

[abit_ofboth]

Isn’t it just his luck that’s he’s run into one of the most observant people? Loki typically prides himself on staying hidden, of being able lurk and hide so that he sees what no one else does and can use it to his advantage. It seems with Gansey though, he may have met his match. Not that he would ever admit to that.

Loki is able to sense magic typically, but Gansey is so foreign to him, it’s muddled everything up. Likely he’ll blame it on being dragged to this place and that messing with him, but the truth is, other than knowing he’s different, Loki may not ever be able to figure out much beyond ‘different’ without more information. Perhaps if he could have figured it out, he might have been able to hide himself better, but that is not the current state of things for Loki.

“That is putting it mildly.” The bitterness of his tone only increases. If there is one time he cannot be bothered to even attempt at hiding his feelings, it’s in reference to his so-called father. He simply cannot contain his anger when he thinks of him. It’s a hurt that Loki does not know how to deal with.

The smile throws Loki off a bit, causing him to only nod in agreement at first. It seems there is nothing he can do to put this man off. Well, maybe not nothing, but Loki doesn’t want to try anything too extreme just yet. “People with narrow minds who are afraid of change, that’s who.”