thisavrou | ( video & action )

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[ The feed starts with Bruce sitting in what looks like a large high-tech sort of place, from the glimpses one can get from the background. Despite the hint of tiredness that still lingers, after being so busy throughout the first half of the month, he actually looks happy, or at the very least pleased with himself. ]

Hi, everyone. To those of you who don't know me yet, I'm Bruce Banner, as of recently Moira's Chief Science Officer. I hope everyone's recovering well from everything that's happened, though I still recommend anyone who got injured to drop by the medbay and get checked out. Even if you'll be alright on your own, there are ways to ease your suffering and to even heal your wounds faster, and there's nothing wrong with accepting a little help sometimes.

[ Looking at a couple of specific people here, by the way. You know who you are. ]

On another note, the Science Department's been running since the beginning of the month. I've been a little busy but it's starting to come together now. If anyone wants to come by and check it out, feel free to. I know more than just a few of you have an interest in the kind of work that will be done here.

The thing is, it's just me for now, and it would be useful to have a few more Science Officers on the ship. So, if that's something that would interest you and you think you have the knowledge, feel free to apply for the job. I'd love to have people around to work with. [ He smiles a little at the camera, then he adds: ] If science is your thing, you'll want to join in.

[ Look he needed a slogan to lure people in, alright? Just... be charmed by his awkward smile and his dorky attempt at a joke and let's call it a day. ]

(( ooc: Read up on the Science Department, and if your character's all about science and would consider a job change, join in! In the meantime, he'll also be around the Science Department, if anyone prefers to just drop by and say hi instead of replying to the broadcast. ))

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Mmm, I strongly doubt it. But certainly, feel free to ask them. I'll still be here when they run out of answers.

[Loki never really minds getting poked when it isn't personal... although apparently it is. He's not surprised. Lokis do seem to have a very bad habit of going crazy. And really- well, he does have a very long history with the Hulk, back home. All the way back to the founding of the Avengers, really.]

You know apologising for something you don't mean is very dishonest, yes? Careful. One little lie, and before you know it... well, you'll never be the god of them, but they're a remarkably slippery path.

I'm sure you will.

[ And all too happy and smug to have answers Bruce might need. It's probably petty of him to not want to ever give him the satisfaction, but it's stronger than him - still, if the ship's safety were at risk, along with everyone else in it, and he had no other option, he would just suck it up and ask him for help. ]

One single dishonest apology isn't going to send me down a slippery slope. [ Bruce says plenty of lies, too, though mostly to himself. And he knows all too well what a slippery slope feels like. ] Your concern is appreciated, though. [ No it's not. See? There goes another lie. ]

Ah, see? One lie usually always leads to another, and before you know it, it's all you're known for.

[It's not really the same for humans. They're capable of change far more easily than gods, and Loki can and had envied them for that. Gods are stories, their roles easy to define and hard to escape. Still, it's true enough that lying can become a habit, and besides; messing with people has very little to do with the truth, unless the truth would hurt more than a lie.]

But what would I know? It's not like they're one of my particular concerns or anything, or that liars are always on some level mine.

I genuinely doubt that lies would be all that I'd be known for.

[ As they both know, there's something far bigger and more obvious when it comes to Bruce, something that draws a whole lot more attention, even if he happened to lie much more often - which he doesn't, all things considered. He may omit and deny certain things to himself, but that no one would really know much about. ]

Ah, no. You'll always be known for what someone else has done. Someone who is and isn't you, all at the same time.

[At least, he's fairly sure that's how it works. It's not strictly true on Loki's side, but... half true. He's not the Loki he was, even with his memories.

...At least, he hopes not.

On the other hand, he is busy trying to get a rise out of someone who can hurt him. Some things don't really change, and he is still a god of mischief.]

You're not the only one who gets called monster, Doctor. And perhaps people have far more reason for calling my predecessor that, but he still isn't who I am.

[ Maybe Loki's trying to get a rise out of him, but this time around, what he says only surprises Bruce. Mostly because it's so very different from what he'd have expected from the Loki he knows — as a matter of fact it's very different from what he has in fact heard him say in the past.

The distinction of man and monster, first of all, when Loki had made it plenty clear what his view on that was — mindless beast, makes play he's still a man. But most of all the last of his words, particularly how he feels that who he was in the past deserved being called a monster far more than Bruce does.

So what he gets is silence instead, though Bruce's expression remains unchanged, save for his glance dropping briefly before he answers. ]

Maybe not.

[ It's something, at least. It's reluctant and nearly forced out of his mouth, but this is still a sore spot for him. Reminding himself that there are different people with different experiences in other worlds only helps so much when it comes to this particular case. ]

But I didn't go so far as to call you a monster. [ Nor would he, possibly even if he had good cause. ]

You don't have to. I'm capable of a little more self-reflection than the Loki who came before me.

[He shrugs, sounding off-hand, but his eyes have gone a little distant, looking off to the side slightly. It's easy, with hindsight and a stolen conscience, to see himself as other people saw him back then. And it's not like he hasn't done monstrous things since, either.

He doesn't like it, of course. No-one likes to look so closely at themselves.

After a moment he re-focuses, makes himself smile a little.]

Still, besides the point. There are plenty of people willing to throw it in my face. You'd think they'd be smarter, really. Were I entirely a monster, I might find it offensive.

That's certainly a change.

[ Delivered with some bite, but not quite as hostile this time around. It's a weird situation for Bruce, and difficult for him to wrap his head around, even despite him having a good grasp and understanding of how parallel timelines and multiple universes work. To be faced with any version of Loki that's not insane and hellbent on taking over the Earth and enslave the whole of humankind is... well, it'll just take him a while to look at this Loki without any distrust in his eyes, is all. But he's not looking to start a fight, either. ]

That wouldn't really stop everyone from pointing it out, anyway. Which, I'm sure, you've seen for yourself already. [ That's just how some people are, not really scared of what someone powerful might do if they call them out on something or criticize them. Call them brave or stupid, probably a combination of both— but that tends to be a thing, whenever humans are generally concerned. ]

It is. One my old self died for, and one I'd as soon not give up, despite how much easier it would be- for everyone, apparently.

[He looks to one side, a bitter undertone to his voice, his face twisting for a split second. Guilt, for his younger self who died so Loki could change. Anger, at the people who'd try to force him back in his box, forced to be the villain of every tale when he'd tried so hard to be something else. After a moment, it passes, leaving him smiling again, off-hand as always.]

I'd noticed. I'm sure you can appreciate the frustration, however. Tell me, Doctor Banner, does it ever not strike you as pure foolishness?

The easier way is rarely ever the best way. Or the right way.

[ He has the feeling that this statement would ring hollow in the ears of the Loki he knew, but maybe it won't so much with this one. This conversation has been one surprise after the other, so who knows. ]

It's not a matter of foolishness. Well— not always, anyway. Humans are... complicated. [ His lips twitch a little. ] In some situations, silence is just a synonym of submission, of passiveness. Some people will speak up against certain things or people because they feel like it's the right thing to do, even if it might cause them trouble in the end.

[ He has a feeling this is the kind of speech Steve would be a lot better at; Give me liberty, or give me death— although Steve would probably only offer the former as an acceptable option. ]

By no means am I saying they're always right in what they say, but that doesn't really take away their right to say it anyway.

It's certainly expedient, however. And better or not- it's rather difficult to want to choose the "right" way, when the universe insists on stuffing you in little boxes.

[Which is... rather less metaphorical than it sounds. Not entirely free, because what Loki is is a story, and he can't avoid being metaphorical sometimes, but it's also true. The universe doesn't like stories changing halfway through.]

Mmm, I'm forming the theory you're all just a little mad. It explains so very much.

[He grins, sharp, obviously saying it for the sake of mischief.]

Oh, I'm not saying I don't understand defiance. How can I not? Loki is Loki, and defiance is always something we do so very well, even in entirely the wrong situations. I'm just saying humanity isn't always terribly good at knowing when it's futile- or dangerous, for that matter.

Nobody said anything about it being easy.

[ Humans, Gods, whatever other race, species or form of existence— it's common knowledge. That's how Bruce sees it, at least. To think that doing the right thing isn't difficult, or that life itself isn't difficult, is nothing but innocence, or ignorance. People tend to grow out of that. Sometimes sooner than they should need to. ]

Well, it's like that line. We're all mad here. Right?

[ To be fair, he never claimed humanity made sense. Too many people, and too different from each other. Senselessness and insanity are par for the course. ]

I'm not arguing with you on that, either. You're not wrong. Like I said, some people don't care. Others don't see it. And speaking before thinking does tend to be a trend, depending on the person.

They don't say, no. Still, people seem to assume doing the right thing should just come naturally. All my instincts work entirely in the direction of causing chaos- as do most of my talents. Nothing I am, nothing I'm made to be, is about doing the right thing.

[Which should really be obvious. Gods of mischief aren't usually over-burdened with personal morals, or with much empathy for that matter. The best trickster gods, the ones who have enduring tales, are always a little sideways to everyone else.]

It is apt, and we are, I suppose, but I think I'm rather more the Cheshire Cat than you are.

[For one, he actually can do a grin without the cat- or the person. He has to admit, Alice is... entertainingly nonsensical, in places, but less impossible than the author seemed to think.]

And people wonder why aliens are so very reluctant to contact you- or at least, attempt friendly contact. You're a confusing species.

If they do, that's their problem, and their mistake. [ Bruce never has, and he's sure most of the people in his life are the same.

An eyebrow quirks, and Bruce looks at Loki for a moment, considering whether or not to ask the question in his mind. In the end, he rolls with it. ]

Then if it's contrary to your nature, why do the right thing?

[ He's not complaining, of course— far from it. But he's also genuinely curious to hear the answer to that. ]

There are over seven billion of us. Of course we're confusing. [ Honestly, can't be much of a surprise. ]

I don't, most of the time. I do whatever I need do to not fall into the insanity Lokis are so very prone to, which isn't always the same thing.

[He shrugs. He makes no secret of that, at least, not to people who've known some version of him before.]

My complaint is more that people seem to think doing something they don't perceive as being in their narrow view of the right way automatically makes me the villain. As if there's only one right way.

[The way Asgard always has, as if cunning and magic and talking can never be as good or better than hitting things until they stop moving. Is it really so terrible to have skills that turn a different way entirely?]

There are several million aliens, too, and most of them are much less schizophrenic as humanity even on their worst days. All of you want so much to be individuals, but you want everyone to be individuals just like you.

Maybe not, but a good rule of thumb is if it puts people at risk or invades their personal liberty, it tends to be frowned upon.

[ He can't talk specifics, here— for all that this Loki might be similar to the one Bruce knows, and for all the things they might differ in, they're still not exactly the same, and he can't be sure that their experiences are the same either. So, he can't know precisely which situations he'd be alluding to.

Nor does he want to, honestly. He's better off not knowing what Lokis in alternate realities get up to. ]

I know. Individuality, such an insane concept. [ Toning down on the sarcasm now. ] We just generally have a difficult time wrapping our minds around there being people out there with no sense of individuality.

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