Loki listens to Megatron's history with somber attention. It's a harsh background to come from, and he has no doubt the details would only make it a darker story still. The overall impression he's getting thus far is of a sort of warrior-poet, no doubt extremely dangerous in his own right, but also a powerfully sympathetic figure to both the culture Loki comes from and to his own proclivities.
The word of compassion directed to him is a surprise, and something in his expression flickers. He reminds himself this person doesn't know the entirety of his story or the enormity of what he did, but regardless, it's a kindness freely offered. "...thank you," he says slowly, after a moment. "It's a complicated tale, but perhaps we'll have time for long stories sooner or later."
He smiles a little then. "Arguably, any shapeshifter is able to shift because of the way they are put together. I think I understand what you mean, though. I cannot take any shape I choose. I have set patterns that mean something to me personally; those I can take at will. I can freely alter any secondary sexual characteristics in this form or my smaller, more humanlike one. I'm also comfortable as a snake, or a mare. Less often, I'm a wolf or spider. I can create other forms, but for them to become as much second nature as the body I wear now, it takes a long, long while to make them my own. I can make up the difference with illusion, though, and I'm able to disguise myself as other people or animals."
He's fascinated, frankly, by the glimpse of treads and gun, and only barely manages to restrain himself from staring longer than would be polite. "It's funny, isn't it," he murmurs, "how a society can fall into such a nonsensical hierarchy and then cling to it like it's the only truth in the universe. It wasn't quite so rigid for us, I don't think, but the magic I learned and loved as a child was considered inappropriate for a man to pursue, particularly a prince of the realm. Deceptive and unbefitting a warrior."
His inclination is to sympathize with the revolt Megatron references, but he opts not to be effusive with praise or curiosity, merely nodding cautious approval.
"It sounds a bit like a hologram, the way you describe Ravage's ability," he says, understanding.
"When I project images, it's a magical illusion. Usually it's the mere bending of light to trick eyes that see in the spectrum humans and Asgardians do, but I've learned to build in more complexity as I've grown older, including wider ranges of light and the illusions of sound and scent."
He's quiet for a moment, thinking, then asks, "I would ask you what it is that Ravage and his companions seek here, in the Nexus, but perhaps that's a question better saved for him."
"I am always curious to interact with beings that bear similarities to my biological kin. My shapeshifting is hereditary, an innate ability, though I have enhanced it by learning other magics. Frost Giants are organic creatures, but--" he holds out his arms as if to display the runic lines on his hands. "they are most definitely extremophiles, and built unlike most other humanoid races. And aside from my alternates, I have had no one to consult about that. A piece of my identity is missing."
"I've made my own identity," Megatron says. "Most of us don't have parents, in the human sense of the word. Our sparks come from the Allspark and up through sacred ground, and are placed into protoforms made of sentio metallico, which are placed in frames. I had an unofficial mentor, Terminus, whom I deeply loved, but no father and certainly no mother. Sometimes you'll meet people who claim to be siblings, but they're either people who were created as a set, like Ravage and Laserbeak and Buzzsaw, or people who were taken into wealthy households and mentored together, like Soundwave and his brother Shockwave, whom you haven't met.
"The point I was trying to make, however badly, is that I don't know any magic, really. When Ravage and I were lovers we once tried a spell from an old book, but nothing happened. All the components of the other things that I can become are contained within me. And yes, we can project holograms. We can project holographic avatars of ourselves as well."
"I'll share what insights I can with you. But I've never had a mother or a father or a brother or a sister or a child. I've had to make my own identity. And everything that I can do, so far as I know, is purely material. Magic, on Cybertron, has never worked for people like Ravage, or me." He shrugs. "I loathe stupid hierarchies as much as you do."
After a moment's thought, he gives a response to the other question. "I don't know exactly what Ravage and Soundwave are up to here. But as someone who loves them, even if things are difficult between us now, and has been a friend and a lover to both of them, while I obviously can't claim to be impartial...I don't believe they are here to exploit or conquer."
That, too, is such a Lucifer sort of thing to say, a smile flickers across Loki's lips. As much as he asserts his own independence, he can only aspire to that level of confidence.
"I was raised by the ancestral enemies of my biological kin. Disguised so well I did not know, myself, that I was not one of them. Discovering that I was adopted from a different species, one I was raised to think of as evil, savage monsters, was a shock I was not prepared to handle."
"Family is to a certain extent what you make of it, even to those of us born from the bodies of our own species. But it's as tricky to deny genetics as it is to deny Fate, and often it results in backlash."
He nods. "I do understand, and I appreciate the clarity. I would still be pleased to continue to compare notes, inasmuch as you're willing to do so."
It says something about Megatron and his temperament, Loki thinks, that he's willing to answer the implied question in plainspoken language, without taking offense. It also says something about Ravage and Soundwave. "After speaking to Ravage, I rather thought not," he says with a smile. "But I've made it my business to keep an eye on some of the more powerful entities that arrive here. When I can."
He frowns a little, because one of said entities is still eluding him and he's grouchy about it, but that's not Megatron's fault. "Besides," he adds, "learning, and knowing things, is its own reward."
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The word of compassion directed to him is a surprise, and something in his expression flickers. He reminds himself this person doesn't know the entirety of his story or the enormity of what he did, but regardless, it's a kindness freely offered. "...thank you," he says slowly, after a moment. "It's a complicated tale, but perhaps we'll have time for long stories sooner or later."
He smiles a little then. "Arguably, any shapeshifter is able to shift because of the way they are put together. I think I understand what you mean, though. I cannot take any shape I choose. I have set patterns that mean something to me personally; those I can take at will. I can freely alter any secondary sexual characteristics in this form or my smaller, more humanlike one. I'm also comfortable as a snake, or a mare. Less often, I'm a wolf or spider. I can create other forms, but for them to become as much second nature as the body I wear now, it takes a long, long while to make them my own. I can make up the difference with illusion, though, and I'm able to disguise myself as other people or animals."
He's fascinated, frankly, by the glimpse of treads and gun, and only barely manages to restrain himself from staring longer than would be polite. "It's funny, isn't it," he murmurs, "how a society can fall into such a nonsensical hierarchy and then cling to it like it's the only truth in the universe. It wasn't quite so rigid for us, I don't think, but the magic I learned and loved as a child was considered inappropriate for a man to pursue, particularly a prince of the realm. Deceptive and unbefitting a warrior."
His inclination is to sympathize with the revolt Megatron references, but he opts not to be effusive with praise or curiosity, merely nodding cautious approval.
"It sounds a bit like a hologram, the way you describe Ravage's ability," he says, understanding.
"When I project images, it's a magical illusion. Usually it's the mere bending of light to trick eyes that see in the spectrum humans and Asgardians do, but I've learned to build in more complexity as I've grown older, including wider ranges of light and the illusions of sound and scent."
He's quiet for a moment, thinking, then asks, "I would ask you what it is that Ravage and his companions seek here, in the Nexus, but perhaps that's a question better saved for him."
"I am always curious to interact with beings that bear similarities to my biological kin. My shapeshifting is hereditary, an innate ability, though I have enhanced it by learning other magics. Frost Giants are organic creatures, but--" he holds out his arms as if to display the runic lines on his hands. "they are most definitely extremophiles, and built unlike most other humanoid races. And aside from my alternates, I have had no one to consult about that. A piece of my identity is missing."
no subject
"The point I was trying to make, however badly, is that I don't know any magic, really. When Ravage and I were lovers we once tried a spell from an old book, but nothing happened. All the components of the other things that I can become are contained within me. And yes, we can project holograms. We can project holographic avatars of ourselves as well."
Megatron projects his human avatar briefly into the room.
"I'll share what insights I can with you. But I've never had a mother or a father or a brother or a sister or a child. I've had to make my own identity. And everything that I can do, so far as I know, is purely material. Magic, on Cybertron, has never worked for people like Ravage, or me." He shrugs. "I loathe stupid hierarchies as much as you do."
After a moment's thought, he gives a response to the other question. "I don't know exactly what Ravage and Soundwave are up to here. But as someone who loves them, even if things are difficult between us now, and has been a friend and a lover to both of them, while I obviously can't claim to be impartial...I don't believe they are here to exploit or conquer."
no subject
"I was raised by the ancestral enemies of my biological kin. Disguised so well I did not know, myself, that I was not one of them. Discovering that I was adopted from a different species, one I was raised to think of as evil, savage monsters, was a shock I was not prepared to handle."
"Family is to a certain extent what you make of it, even to those of us born from the bodies of our own species. But it's as tricky to deny genetics as it is to deny Fate, and often it results in backlash."
He nods. "I do understand, and I appreciate the clarity. I would still be pleased to continue to compare notes, inasmuch as you're willing to do so."
It says something about Megatron and his temperament, Loki thinks, that he's willing to answer the implied question in plainspoken language, without taking offense. It also says something about Ravage and Soundwave. "After speaking to Ravage, I rather thought not," he says with a smile. "But I've made it my business to keep an eye on some of the more powerful entities that arrive here. When I can."
He frowns a little, because one of said entities is still eluding him and he's grouchy about it, but that's not Megatron's fault. "Besides," he adds, "learning, and knowing things, is its own reward."