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Still a woman, and Loki was doing his best not to worry about it. It certainly did offer an interesting spin on things, though, especially when it came to him going out and about in the hotel. When it came to attractiveness Loki had very little opinion, one way or another, regarding his own face. But as a woman he could easily see that he was attractive, at least to a certain type of person, that person being himself. It brought a strange sort of confidence to someone who was already confident, but not in the ways he was aware of.

So in that regard, he had decided, for a moment, to flaunt it. The dress he wore was a weave of green and black, off one shoulder and cut just above the knee, revealing more pale, creamy skin than he ever had as a man. A good section of calves was revealed, as well, topped in heeled, laced ankle boots. Style from different worlds was never something he had much difficulty in grasping, though certainly he had a tendency to stop once he had found something suitable and wearable. This had a distinct brush of Ruby's influence, though mostly he had simply followed the direction she had pointed him in.

While some of his peers from Asgard were more interested in keeping their body tuned, Loki preferred to keep his mind sharp first of all. He was sitting on a bench in one of the hotel's gardens, which he understood had an 'oriental' theme according to Midgard, and beside him there was a stack of books. The topics were all in relation to one another - they were extensive histories of different continents on a certain planet, covering everything from its societies to geological movements from fresh Stone Age to dirty, polluted end. One, however, described the pattern of movement of that planet within a certain solar system. Whoever could have written these documents, he did not know, for it was information that could be compiled only by a strange, vast mind. Yet Loki had read it all, and now he was translating it.

The original text was a very dead language, and he was carefully and calmly inscribing it using pen and notebook into the alphabet of Midgard. He didn't know of anyone who would like to read it, but it was something to do, kept his mind active. Translations were always interesting - though Loki read, wrote and spoke many languages, there were always words that fell into and out of use, or had no counterpart. In that he was entertained.

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Ah, so Ruby must have found Sif after Loki had taken his leave. Even with that additional information he wasn't entirely sure he had dodged a bullet with that one or not. He would rather not have ended up competing for Ruby's attention which, he knew, may very well have happened. Competition was a healthy diversion on Asgard and far from rare, though it was one that had eaten Loki alive from the inside.

"Well, at least you found her genial," he said. He would certainly talk ill of Sif, especially if he was angry with her, but just then he decided it wouldn't do much good. Who knew what Sif might have told Ruby about Loki? And, more than that, he just didn't care enough. "She isn't so much courtly as she is respectful, however. Interesting that it translates." Royal politics were not Sif's strong points, but they weren't the strong points of most of Thor's friends. "If you meet my mother and brother, you will see the differences soon enough. My mother outstrips us all. My parents like Sif quite a bit, however."

He could only imagine how Sif had responded to these questions - quite robustly, in all likelihood - but Loki just tipped his head to the side and offered Ruby a ghost of a smile, and did not answer them, or even acknowledge their existence. "So is that all you've been doing lately?" he asked. "Coming to the aid of floundering Asgardians? You ought to be careful, they'll come at you in droves."

"Oh, is that the difference?" Ruby said, grinning. "I suppose you would know more about courtly manners than I would. I guess I'm just simple enough to be pleased when people are deferential and polite to me." Words concerning her experience with various members of royalty that hadn't been at all courtly rose to the tip of her tongue, but she stopped herself before speaking them, as they made sense not at all. There'd never been any sort of royalty in Storybrooke, that she knew for certain, and to say anything to the contrary was pure crazy talk.

It was alarming to consider, though. Ruby had become increasingly aware of some sort of thin membrane that surrounded her thoughts and memories, and the truly frightening part was that she had no idea whether or not it was a simple defense mechanism, or a cage. It implied things she was not equipped to deal with, far too many things that she'd rather not face, so for the time being she simply pretended there was absolutely nothing wrong, and the occasional thought or image that entered her brain that she knew couldn't possibly have originated in her was pushed firmly aside.

"Well," she said, "Sif was your friend, Loki. I wouldn't do much less for your friends or your mother or brother, should they need help, than I would do for you." It was true that Ruby was a helpful sort by default and fond of befriending strangers, but it was undoubtedly her friendly fondness of Loki that had been the initial motivation to be as helpful as she was to Sif. The fact that Ruby actually found the other woman intelligent and interesting and entertaining after the fact was a decided bonus, and she did hope she had gained a new friend from it all. "Though if any other Asgardians suddenly find themselves switching genders, we may have to work something else out about the clothes. I'm not sure how Graham would feel about me using his closets to outfit a horde," she joked.

"I consider you far from simple," he said, which was more an opinion rather than flattery - in reality she was more complex every time he met her, though he didn't know if that was more to do with him than her. He decided not to puzzle over that in excess; he'd rather focus on her, and the mystery that was, in all likelihood, locked up very tightly in her head.

Ruby was a kind creature, and he wondered at that. Not that he found it rare; it was simply that to him kindness was an exposure, it weakened defenses, and he saw it often enough among those whose armour was strong. It was easy to be kind when one was powerful. But with these Midgardians and their ilk he had found them offering it up when they had little else, and it did surprise him, and he noticed every instance of it, as if a starving person was offering him food.

"Does Graham know that is clothes are being used to clothe the needy?" he asked. "I offered aid to Sif, but she was quite recalcitrant. Hopefully you won't have to outfit anyone else anytime soon. I really don't want a sister."

Ruby's smile remained at his words, and she moved her arm across the back of the bench to give Loki's shoulder a squeeze. The joint was much smaller than she was used to, feminine and seemingly almost delicate compared to the breadth of bone and muscle she was used to when touching her friend in a similar fashion when he was in his male form, and she shook her head as she returned her hand once more to her lap. "I used to dream of turning heads and raising eyebrows when I was a kid," Ruby said, though she supposed such inclinations had followed her into adulthood as well. "And now I've got a prince from another universe for a friend and he's implying he thinks I'm a complex character. While in a foxy lady body, no less. I'm going to consider this a dream realized. One of many, since I got out of Storybrooke," she joked, though it was true enough.

Ruby was enjoying her time at the Nexus, enjoying the experience she was getting and the friends she'd made, but for all her enjoyment things seemed to be getting far more complicated at every turn. Her friendship with Loki was one of the relatively simple things about her stay as of late, and she did hope it was something that could continue on. While she had been delegated to one spot for the majority of her life, she had to figure there was something transient about Loki if he'd acquired as much knowledge as he apparently had. In a world full of doors, the possibility of Loki disappearing for a while, or all together, seemed all too likely.

"What were you up to?" She asked, looking down at the books, then to the page on which Loki was writing. "Besides looking like a fucking babe in that dress, anyway. This looks complicated," she said with a wave to the page of writing. "How many languages do you know, anyway?"

He didn't mind the touch - he had learned that, like Thor, Ruby was expressive in that manner, though a good deal less firm - and he simply smiled at her. She gave compliments aplenty, herself, and he wondered how many she got in return. Loki was a good flatterer when he wanted to be, charming to a fault, but usually only when he wanted something from someone, and he found upsetting them would make his life difficult. With Ruby he wanted nothing, and thus his compliments were sparse - but at least they were honest.

"Are you going to go back?" he asked, curiously. Disappearing through one's door was not a guarantee they would never come back, but he did want to ask in case that should, indeed, happen.

He looked down at the notebook still in his lap, and considered the question. "Well," he said, "I know the base structures for several languages, and many of them split off and built from that original, so when you know one you end up knowing about five more, if you can wrap your head around it enough. So I don't know how to quantify it. I was simply translating, though. It keeps my thoughts active."

"Yes," Ruby said when Loki asked if she ever planned on returning. It was something she'd have to do eventually, though she continued to drag her feet. She did need to check on Granny and all that she'd left behind, as even though the journey to the Nexus was exactly the adventure she'd been looking for, it wasn't within Ruby to be so neglectful of those she loved. There was also the matter of Graham, who seemed so insistent that she return for some reason he would not name. She wasn't sure what sort of big reveal waited for her back in Storybrooke, but she sensed it was tied to the dreams she'd been having and the heightened sense of awareness she'd been experiencing lately. "At some point anyway, but I mean to return. I just have to go check on my Granny. She'd worry about me, no doubt. What about you? Do you plan on going anywhere else?"

Ruby listened as Loki spoke of his knowledge of languages, the theory he presented making sense to her, for all that she didn't know anything other than English. It was something she meant to change as learning different languages had always had an appeal to her. "Could you teach me something sometime?" Ruby asked suddenly as she could think of no one who would make a better teacher for her. It was true that Loki may not have the time or the patience or even the inclination to teach her, but she found his voice and cadence and way of speaking impossibly interesting, and was sure that if she listened long enough she was more likely to learn from him than anyone else. "No pressure, of course. I've just always wanted to learn. All I speak is English, and it makes me feel a little bumpkin-y."

Edited 2014-05-09 16:58 (UTC)

Loki shrugged one shoulder. "No plans yet," he said. "It depends on many things. Or perhaps a spur-of-the-moment decision, when I'm feeling weak. But I would not leave for good." Unless, of course, the Nexus locked him out. He had a good enough grasp of the place and the pathways that led to it that if he could not make it back, it would not be for his own lack of skill. Still, he wasn't going to mention that to her.

The request to teach her something was a surprise, if only because Loki didn't think anyone had ever really asked for his tutelage before, for anything. Most of his skills were not particularly attractive on Asgard or, if they were, certainly weren't considered difficult enough to ask him for help in mastering. "I don't know how good of a teacher I could be," he said. "But I could try if you like. I'm not certain. What language would you like to speak?" It was quite likely she wanted to learn some Midgardian, which he hadn't exactly mastered. Then again, if his past was anything to go by, he could pick it up.

"Well if you plan on taking off for a while, will you come say goodbye first?" Ruby said, nudging at him from across the bench with her knee. "I'll likely worry about you anyway, but don't leave me hanging." Even as she said it she knew that Loki would likely only do what he felt like when the time came, but it never hurt to ask. She and Loki were hardly joined at the hip and even knowing he planned on staying away for a while would likely not halt her unconsciously looking for him around the hotel, but it would be nice to know all the same.

"I'm not sure," she said after a moment of considering. "Any? All? Even if it's some rustic language from a billion lightyears away, it would be nice to know something more than I do now. At home I'm not likely to go anywhere other than Storybrooke, but I suppose it's just as likely that I'll wind up on some distant planet if I go through one of the doors here as it is I'll end up in somewhere like Spain or Russia. But anyway, there's no pressure, of course. Though I do think we could make it fun. Turn it into a drinking game or something? Maybe I'm more of an apt pupil when I'm three sheets to the wind."

"If I remember," Loki said, which was, really, the best he could promise. For him, promises didn't really hold much weight - he was a liar, and he liked to lie, but only when it suited him. Just then, it didn't. It was strange; the more contained and steady in himself he became, the more truths seemed to fall from his lips. These days he had no urge to play a part, to keep to a certain character anymore, and it made him less liable to fashion himself into someone at the expense of anyone else. It also allowed him to be calmer, less introverted - possibly even less malicious.

"Well, I'd rather teach you something I like, then," he said. "And will be useful to you in turn. I will look into it." At her suggestion they turn it into a drinking game, he had to laugh. "I don't think that's the best way to learn," he said. "Unless you plan on attempting fluency while inebriated. If you wanted to play a drinking game, we don't need the excuse of learning a language to to do."

"Alright," Ruby agreed, as she also knew it was the best she could get. She didn't have much experience in the sort of friendship she had with Loki, one that was new and made all the more interesting for differences that extended past personality types, but she found she enjoyed the nuances of it. 'Complex' hadn't really been a word she'd been forced to use, at least in practice, when describing her old life and her friends, though she was starting to see it differently now that there was a bit of distance.

"And I would like to learn something you like," Ruby said with a nod, though the thought of playing a drinking game with Loki was enough to have her smiling as wide as possible. "Oh my God, can we please? Can you even get drunk? Either way, that would be so fun," she enthused. "What sort of drinking game should we play?"

"Of course I can get drunk," Loki said, amused. "What's life without a bit of fogginess? It's practically the national pasttime on Asgard. As for drinking games, I think I'd rather you teach me one."

Frankly, the drinking games on Asgard didn't have a lot of subtlety. They also sometimes involved weaponry, which accounted for a good third of the battle scars the so-called warriors had 'earned'. Ruby certainly could do without a new scar.

Edited 2014-05-12 23:30 (UTC)

"Then it's a date!" Ruby exclaimed, happiness written all over her face. She'd always proven to be surprisingly hardy when it came to both drinking and eating, and so she'd usually fared quite well in drinking games back home. She was aware that playing a drinking game with Loki might be a bit skewed in that he was an entirely different species than herself, but the point of a drinking game was to get drunk - not to win.

"I have to warn you, all the drinking games I know are pretty dumb," she said. "But then again, I'm not sure such a thing as a clever, intellectual drinking game exists. Sort of defeats the purpose, right?"

"I assume you mean 'date' in the friendly way," Loki said, dryly. "Unless Graham took exception to you lending out his clothes to Sif."

He knew that if he were to play a drinking game with Ruby, then he would have to be careful. He wasn't entirely sure with her, but he had a feeling he probably had a better constitution than she when it came to imbibing alcohol. They would have to quadruple the drinking stakes for him, at the very least. "I'm not sure they exist, either," he said. "We would have to make one. Maybe you have to solve mathematics. Or recite verse."

Ruby grinned at his dry comment, swatting at him playfully for his silliness though because it was not an earnest swat it landed only on the air in front of him. Graham had never asked for anything exclusive with Ruby, yet another fact that left her feeling uncertain in their relationship, but going on an actual date with someone else would feel too much like cheating for Ruby's tastes, even if nothing had ever been made official. "Yes, of course in a friendly way," she said. "Graham didn't mind me lending Sif his clothes. Granted, I made sure to break the news to him at an opportune time so he was prone to being agreeable just in case, but he's not the sort who would mind something like that."

The thought of incorporating math into a drinking game made Ruby crinkle her nose in distaste, and she shook her head. "No thank you on the math," she said. "I'm efficient enough to count change and do check totals, but anything beyond that and I am useless. As for verse, what sort of verse? Poetry or Led Zeppelin lyrics? Or both?"

"I had to check," Loki said, raising his hands in a smooth, elegant motion. Yes, he was definitely getting used to this body. "I can never tell. I simply cannot read the signs of Midgardian women. Maybe most women." Well, he could read them, well enough; but he always suspected he must be mistaken.

"I don't know what a Led Zeppelin is, but sure," he replied. "Memory games do tend to be the most difficult."

"I somehow have trouble believing that," Ruby said, teasing. Loki was without a doubt one of the most astute people she'd ever met, and Ruby still wasn't entirely sure that he hadn't figured out even more about her than Ruby herself knew when she'd gone to him before for help with her dreams. Of the two of them she surely had to figure he was the real mystery, as she had the feeling he'd had her pegged from the first, while she'd only begun to scratch the surface with him.

"Oh Loki, sweetie," Ruby said. "We've got to get you up on Midgardian music! I mean, I doubt you give two shits either way about what our people listen to, but I'm sure there's something in the history of musical existence you might find enjoyable. I should take you home with me whenever I find the door so you can drive around with me in my car. It's pretty ideal for listening to Led Zeppelin, I'm not going to lie."

Loki smiled, faintly, but it was genuinely amused. "Perhaps I let my inconsistent love life act too much as judge," he admitted. "But I will say that your jargon is still rather strange to my ears at times. And you cannot say that culturally we are similar, so who am I but to be forced to check myself at each turn?

"Yes, next you find your door, we shall have to do that," he agreed. "I'm curious as to what kind of vehicle you would drive. And meeting your grandmother would be most interesting, I think."

Ruby had to figure that if anything about Loki's love life was 'inconsistent' it was of his own doing. There was surely more than a few attractive traits about him, but she thought that his insight and intelligence probably allowed him to peg people from the first, just as he had with her. "It's my opinion that there probably aren't an abundance of ladies that are truly worthy of you, Loki," Ruby said honestly. "I mean, I guess they always say that there's no one good enough for your friends or family members so I'm probably being a little partial." She shrugged, grinning. "Though sadly, if I had been asking you for a real and not just friendly date, I doubt I could've been that smooth or casual about it."

At Loki's mention of meeting her grandmother, Ruby's smile spread wide enough to split her face. "Oh my God, yes," she said. "I don't think anything could be more interesting than introducing you to my Granny. We have to do that." Strangers were uncommon enough in Storybrooke to cause a stir, and a stranger like Loki would prove doubly fascinating for the town's residents, in addition to being frustrating for Granny when he arrived with Ruby. "Well, if you're back in your male body by then, of course. If you arrived as a female, I doubt she'd have a suitably Granny-like reaction."

"Then perhaps you and I are alike when it comes to how we act regarding true affection," Loki replied, dryly. He was a good liar, whether or not something was close to his heart, and when it came to seduction he was far from hopeless. But when it came to someone he truly liked, he often found it easier to just say nothing at all.

"What's a suitable Granny-like reaction?" he wanted to know. "Yes, well. Hopefully I'm not in this body for much longer. I'm having difficulty reaching tall shelves like this."

Edited 2014-05-20 02:07 (UTC)

"Perhaps so," Ruby agreed. She expressed fondness and general attraction easily and without much thought, though when matters tended to move towards something more serious she was forever at a loss. It was general inexperience, she had to think, and the overall wariness when it came to getting hurt that was part of the human condition. "I knew we were friends for reasons outside of your glorious cheekbones and my bitchin' fashion sense."

"She doesn't like me talking with any men," she said. "Not beyond the realm of what is considered appropriate for my job, so I'm sure if she saw me buddied up with a fellow as handsome as yourself she'd probably have some sort of a meltdown. You being a stranger would make it all the better. Then again, I can't imagine she'd take it any better if she knew what I'd been getting up to with Graham. Not that I can take him back with me, I don't think," Ruby said, the smile that had formed on her face wilting a bit. For all the guilt she felt about not telling Graham that he'd died in the point in time that she came from, she had no idea how to approach the matter. It was far more delicate than the matter of loaning his clothes to Sif, after all.

Overprotective, motherly and fatherly figures connected to beautiful young women were something Loki knew well, and not entirely just through association with his brother and friends. Loki didn't ignore them in his pursuits of young women - it was never a good idea to do that - but nor did he always tread carefully. He was a prince, after all, which meant he could get away with a lot - until he couldn't, and his parents were alerted. He had overprotective guardians of his own. Well, he used to.

"I'm guessing a meltdown is something you'd like?" he asked. The subject of Graham seemed to bring her down, somewhat, so he lightly steered the conversation backwards. "I could try my very best not to be charming, in that case. I have a decent track record with grandmothers."

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