First Ax [@the.boneless, video]

[ragnarsson]

[It's clear whoever is using this device is unused to it. The picture shifts around for a few minutes, and Ivar's face furrowed in concentration is seen several times before he finally realizes that it's on. He's sixteen, has blue eyes, and oddly enough, blue sclera as well. There's also an ax tucked at his side. He points the phone he's using outward, showing that he's in the kitchen, seated on a chair. His voice, when he speaks, has a vaguely European accent.] I have figured out what these do.

[He shows in turn the fridge, the sink, and the stove. The last one had caused a few burnt fingers, but hey, he'll survive.] But I still have no idea what this does. [He turns the device to the microwave. He's been playing around with the buttons, and while he's been able to turn it on, he hasn't yet realized food is supposed to go inside of it.] Anyone care to enlighten me?

Comments

@champion; video

[detia]

[There are so many people from such completely different worlds that they don't have... microwaves? That's pretty wild to Adam, but all right. He can roll with this.]

It's called a microwave. You put cold food in it, put it on for a couple minutes, and it warms up your food. Gotta be careful with it, though. Don't put any metal in it, and read any instructions you might get with your food.

@R.Greenhilt: Video

[greatcleavage]

[Roy feels faintly guilty for entering the conversation without having an answer, but...] I apologize for not having an answer for your question. If you find out, can you pass the information along?

[ragnarsson]

I'm guessing the buttons control it?

[He's figured out how to get it on, but he's still unsure of what they all do, being unable to read.]

How does it work?

[ragnarsson]

I will.

[He's glad he's not the only one that doesn't know how everything works around here.]

At least it only makes noise. That one-- [He swivels the video to point at the stove.] --makes fire. [He got a few burnt fingers experimenting with it. Oh well. He'll just lick them till they feel better.]

[greatcleavage]

It's like stove and an oven combined, except heated and ignited by some nonmagical, inobvious mechanism. [Roy is intelligent enough to have deduced this much, based on shape and size and some results of his own experimentation.] Clearly what my world would take as reasonably rare magical advancement, this world takes as more common in these devices. I'd say they are of gnomish make, but I haven't seen any gnomes here.

[ragnarsson]

Hmmm. Maybe I should take it apart. [Ivar's not stupid, just woefully out of his time period. The best way to learn things is by getting hands-on with them. It looks complicated, but once it's broken down, maybe he'll understand it better.] Maybe dwarves made it. [Not joking. If they could make a magical hammer for a god that shrinks down and can be summoned from nowhere, a microwave wasn't out of the realm of possibilities.]

[greatcleavage]

I haven't known dwarvenkind to be oriented to such devices, in my experience with them. I'm... pretty sure they'll object to you dismantling it.

[Sure, dwarven clerics could do some amazing work on magical item creation, but not like this.]

[ragnarsson]

It won't matter if I put it back together. [This is an idea that will only end poorly. He might be able to take it apart, but it's highly unlikely he'll be able to get it back in working order properly.]

[greatcleavage]

If it IS magic, there's a very good chance you'll permanently disrupt the spells that power it by disassembling it, even if you put it back together. [He'll try this tactic first, it being more diplomatic than saying, "Yeah, right."]

[ragnarsson]

And are you a mage to know so much about spells?

[He'll have to do better than that to discourage Ivar, who is currently looking for a way to unplug the machine from the wall. Once he gets an idea in his head, it's hard to dissuade him.]

action »

[ikols]

[ The kitchen of Communal Floor Five is where Loki spends the better amount of time when he's in the apartment, preferring to distract himself making Midgardian meals as opposed to bunking with a handful of Avengers. So, when he walks in and finds a new face vlogging their adventures, he waits in the doorway with folded arms until they finish.

Today he wears a hoodie and worn jeans, minus any of the Asgardian accoutrements that seem to ignite Stark's temper upon sight. Just a tall, lean man, with the greenest of eyes, and when he speaks the accent heard is not unlike Ivar's. ]

If you break that, you can steal another from one of the other floors in this building.

[greatcleavage]

I'm not a mage, but as it happens I have studied the workings of arcana. Impossible to avoid in my family. [No, he's not bitter, why do you ask?] I also have extensive practical experience with magic items.

video » ice.tigrrr

[bespredel]

Stick a couple forks in it and press some of the numbers and find out.

[ Yuri cocks his head back, his eyes hard and almost vicious looking as he gazed at his phone, his lip curling back, just a little. He has to get his entertainment somewhere, right? ]

[ragnarsson]

[It's the accent that makes Ivar look up first. This man sounds like he could be from home. His sharp eyes take in his manner of dress, the same as some of the others on this floor.]

Good point.

[So he yanks the cord out of the wall and promptly pulls out a knife from his boot, sticking it in the back of the microwave to pry it open. He leans forward on the chair he's in, the tips of his useless feet brushing the ground. His curiosity has been peaked and he wants to figure out how it works.]

Where are you from? [Not what his name is. Ivar is more interested in how people seem to be from different areas and realms he's never even heard of before.]

[ragnarsson]

[Hmmm, now there is an idea. But Ivar has four older brothers who have delighted before in messing with him, so he's going to take that suggestion with a grain of salt.]

And what will that do?

[ragnarsson]

Where are you from then, where magic items are so common? [There's much talk of them in stories of the gods, but Ivar's never encountered one in person.]

[detia]

Yeah. The ones to pay attention to are the timer and the start stop button. The rest is usually pointless. You might want to check drawers around the microwave, too, might find the user manual.

[Adam, sadly, gives him the most awkward shrug in the world.]

If you're asking about the science behind it, I'm not your guy.

[ragnarsson]

That won't do any good. I can't read.

[Not that unusual among Vikings. They had no need to write anything down since everything was passed down orally.]

So you know how to work something without fully knowing how it works? [Tsk. That sounds like ignorance to him.]

[ikols]

[ Strolling over to a drawer filled not with knives and forks but random bits, he ferrets inside to find a screwdriver. Back beside the boy, Loki slots the end of the tool into a screw and gives it a twist to show how it works, putting it down on the table for him to use as he pleases. Is he encouraging bad behaviour? No, Loki is helping to stimulate a curious mind! ]

I'm not sure anymore, my mother kicked me out. [ He investigates what's going in the fridge, finding a pot of ice cream that belongs to Stark. That'll do as he grabs a spoon, hopping up on a counter to sit there and plunder his snack. ] Does it count as your home if no one wants you to stay?

[ragnarsson]

[Ivar watches Loki work the tool for a moment before slotting it into the next screw. That'll work a lot faster than the knife. He starts taking off all the screws, setting them down next to the microwave. He does have some hope he'll be able to put this back together once his curiosity is satisfied.]

Thank you.

[He considers the question carefully before answering.]

I think it counts if you're the one who wants to stay. But then I've never cared much of what other people thought.

[Mainly because other people either pitied or underestimated him. Ivar never had much use for those in either category.]

[ikols]

[ A nod at the thanks, an unspoken You're welcome. His gaze rakes over the boy, drawing a silent summary as he tries to understand what prompted that reply. ]

I wouldn't either but, alas, it's hard to ignore a mother like mine. [ Especially when she exiles you via a fiery tornado. Overkill much. ] Thankfully, she's not here, nor do I think she would find this realm. [ Sucking ice cream off his spoon, he kicks his heels idly against the cabinets below. ] Perhaps father might.

What about you, where are you from?

[ragnarsson]

There are some advantages to being an orphan

[The words are said sarcastically, but he jams the screwdriver a little too hard into the microwave's back panel as he pries it open to really be genuine. The wounds of his parents' deaths are still raw. At least his father can rest easier with the king who had executed him currently dead. And he'll finish his revenge whenever he gets back.]

Kattegat. In southern Norway.

[ikols]

[ Keeping it to himself that, technically, he's an orphan too. It's not like Laufey was any sort of real father, anyway.

The way the boy jabs at the microwave has Loki eating slower, giving himself time to think and in his fingers the spoon twirls. Kattegat in Norway. From ... a while ago, if those clothes on the boy are any indication of a rough timeline. Already fuzzy as his inherited memories are, Loki racks his brain for a reference but then that's the problem with his first life; the Old Man was so egotistical he hardly ever bothered to remember the names of mortal settlements.

Maybe it just didn't exist on Earth-616, there's also that. ]

I like Norway, they were always kind to me there. [ Also terrified of him, he'll just leave that out. ] Do you miss it?

[ragnarsson]

Not yet. All I ever wanted was to get out of there and go on raids like everyone else. [No one had ever bothered taking a chance on him until Ragnar had offered to let him sail to England. To say Ivar had jumped at the chance was an understatement.]

My brothers and I had sailed to England when I was brought here. Very inconvenient to plot revenge when you've been taken to a whole other world. [But he'd manage it somehow. First King Ecbert and then Lagertha once he got back to Kattegat. Ivar's fury was something he could hold onto, slow-burning until it would flare up white hot and ready to be used.]

[ikols]

[ Sounds like a young Thor, wow. ]

Some part of you wanted to come, though. Yes? It's one more big adventure, albeit a little more light-hearted than gaining revenge.