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who: Ava & Loki
what: Ava needs help. Badly enough to go looking.
when: Post-fire
where: Gramarye Magic Research
warnings: None? I'll add if needed.

[It's a few days after the fire before she starts looking for answers to the problem of how to make sure she doesn't do this again. Initially, she just throws herself into the repair efforts. She's the first to show up and the last to leave, hauling debris and collecting buried personal items for others to distribute or repair. Anything she can. Part of it is guilt, and the other part is that it's something she can do, something to focus on, something to escape from the thoughts she doesn't want to face.

But when that's gone? There's nothing for it except to try and find solutions. Gramarye seems the best place to start. She's not sure if what she does counts as magic or not, but there's not exactly a place advertising help for people with powers liable to hurt people. It's somewhere to start, at least. She settles for looking for someone to talk to, that looks like they work here. It's probably a dumb idea, but it's at least better than asking on the network-- even if she posted it anonymously, there are a few too many people sharp enough to probably make the connections.

But the person she finds is not exactly who she was looking for. There's a brief moment where she almost considers turning around, but she's never been good at giving up. Instead she nods at him in some kind of acknowledgement.]

I didn't know you worked here.

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[ Loki tilts his head, assessing the slow crawl of power threading itself around his illusions. There is no hint of fear or frustration on his face, a cool blank slate. After a few minutes, he nods to himself. ]

Now.

[ He creates a target. An unassuming vase appears out of nowhere. ]

Your energy is a limb. Reach out and destroy this and then reign it back.

[She takes a breath and looks a little rueful. This is hard for her: directing it, making it go where she wants it to. At SHIELD they'd given her a gun; no clip, no bullets, but the act of point and click, having something to channel the energy through had made it easier. But it had been a cheat.

So when she reaches for the vase, there's blue light from her fingertips, but it makes a spiderweb of the air, branching and forking. Destroying the vase isn't difficult, even if it's not clean, but when she tries to pull it back in, she fails.

It's like lightning in a snow globe for a moment, even as she reaches out to try and catch it. There's frustration. Globes of energy are easier, but creating a clean line, an open connection between her power and the world around her and controlling the flow of it-- it was difficult. Too many connections, paths, the way the air sings.]

[ Loki merely watches, his expression completely devoid of any kind of expectation. ]

Well. That's . . . something.

[She sighs, reaching out and managing to catch it in her fingers. She does a little better on the second try, at least? Control is clearly not her strength here, and she's still holding back, albeit less than before.]

I've heard worse things.

[A shrug of her shoulders as she flexes her fingers and the energy surges before fading back to the normal pulse.]

No doubt.

[ Loki has heard them all. ]

We will not succeed in a single session.

[There's a sort of awkwardness as she looks at him for a moment. She's used to being told that she has to learn now, reminded of her failures, about having Natasha's legend leveraged against her and yet failing by the sheer fact of trying to match her. She's used to torture, and pain, and being treated like something less than human.

She's not used to patience, and it makes her shift. She pulls the energy into her hands, forms a small sphere of energy inbetween her fingertips, and then tries to draw it back. Tries to feel it, as she sighs.]

Doesn't mean I won't try.

It does not.

[ Loki is not a rational person by nature. He is bogged down by his fears, desires and various crawling thoughts that he is unable to dislodge from his mind. But his intellect remains true, a polished facet from the centuries before and this helps him balance out the madness. At times. If anything, Loki understands the insidious nature of power that lurks beneath one's skin and how it becomes a feverish itch to control, to understand, to try. ]

But you cannot overcome all that you are in a day.

Unfortunately.

[It's a concession; that he's right. She can't overcome what she is easily. She's been trying in her own way, with the demands and reminders of SHIELD. She knows it'll take a while, but she feels a bit better about it than she has before. That maybe she can actually get this under control. And not in a way that involves capacitors and thermal netting like Stark had been talking about.

And even then, she'd blown out everything they'd tried.]

Let me try again? It's just harder.

[Finesse, she means. Her coping strategy up to this point has been avoiding doing the things that tended to have unpredictable results.]

[ Loki frowns but he nods his assent. ]

Very well. Once more.

[ With a flick of his fingers, Loki conjures up the vase in the center. ]

Remember, release and draw back. It is no different from a punch.

[Ava takes a breath, and there's a sort of fierce stubbornness she tends to not admit to, but becomes more clear in moments like this, where she struggles. She's never had anyone interested in teaching her finesse before.]

It's easier with things that are conductive. I can feel it better.

[She doesn't usually talk about her powers so candidly since no one really understands, but Loki's helping her, so she's trying to be open. She takes a breath, and lets the power crackle between her fingertips, and focuses on it. Letting herself feel it as something that's part of her, part of every beat of her heart, taking a breath before she releases it from her fingers. She tries to keep it more focused, though it still wobbles as it moves. Forking, pulling back together, forking again- but at least it spreads somewhat less than the first time.

It strikes the vase again, with blue lines of energy that twist and writhe. Calling it back to her isn't easy, but she at least doesn't lose it this time. It's like a snake in the air, uncontrolled, but eventually curling around her fingers, fading back into the ripples of her skin.]

Better?

It is an improvement.

[ Loki doesn't give compliments. At least not easily. His tongue is not the easiest to trust when it comes to honeyed words, so he's careful with them. Rarely does he squander their use unless he's sure it'll meet their mark. ]

We shall leave it there for now.

[Faint praise is still praise, and she soaks it up greedily. He's probably right, in that it's easier to trust precisely because they're not glowing. But she nods in agreement.]

Alright. [She takes a breath, refocusing herself, drawing the power back until the glow recedes from her skin, until the beat of her heart isn't a visible, shining thing. Her eyes still glimmer, but you can see her pupils. She struggles with it, but she manages it, her breath normalizing again, though the tension is obvious in how she holds herself once you've seen her without it.]

I think it helps.

[The direction, if nothing else. Something other than putting her power in guns and swords, the only way they seemed to think she was safe.]

It would. Thor would work in the same manner.

[ Powers like Thor's or hers require direction. Loki has that in spades. His ability to throw knives, calculated and deadly means he rarely misses and does not suffer a lack of control. An abundance of power can overwhelm you and Loki never had abundance in anything. Whatever he has learned, he has scraped by. ]

Once you have mastered the ability to direct, the rest will fall into place.

[She's not sure whether a comparison to Thor is a good thing or not, but she nods. She can understand the idea, at least. She'd never quite understood her powers well, but working with Loki seem to help. Direction matters, and control is certainly not her strong point, even if she's working on it.]

Well, I'll work on it. Can we do this again?

[It feels easier here. Someone to help her figure it out, makes it seem like it comes easier. That maybe she can at least learn control so power doesn't bleed from her with the slightest provocation.]

[ He blinks, a little surprised. It is not exactly a traditional request. Finally, after a long tense silence, Loki nods. ]

Very well.

[She waits, and at the answer there's a flicker of a smile.]

I guess I'll see you later, then.

[She doesn't say thanks, since he doesn't seen to take it well, at least not yet, but she is grateful, and there's a look in her eyes as she nods to him in quiet appreciation before turning to leave.]

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