Training

Plot: Loki tries to practice Jotun magic. He and Mantis get distracted online.

Tone: Slice of life

"Loki, why are you putting water in a bowl?"

Loki glanced over his shoulder to see Rocket, looking at him judgmentally. "We didn't have any ice," Loki replied with a shrug.

"What the hell do you need ice for?!" Rocket asked, throwing his arms out.

"It is confidential magic business," Mantis answered, resting her hands on Loki's shoulders. His cheeks reddened.

Rocket's eyes widened before he smirked. "Oh hoh, I see." He turned away with a chuckle. "Well, try not to be too loud in there, you weirdos."

Loki tilted his head to the side. He glanced at Mantis. The two of them shrugged and made their way toward one of the rooms closed off from everything else. Loki pulled the door shut. His laptop was on the pseudo desk, all charged up and ready to go.

"Alright…" Loki pulled the screen open, swiftly typing in his information to log in.

"What was that?" Mantis asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Just some login stuff," Loki replied, sitting down at the desk. "You don't need to worry about it now. For now…" He opened Google. "Let's see what we can find…" He paused. What should I type?

"What is this?" Mantis asked, pointing at the screen.

"That's the search bar," Loki answered. "When you press it, the letters you type here will appear there." Mantis pressed her finger against the screen where the search bar was. Loki let out a chuckle.

"No, no, not like that." He took her hand, guiding it toward the keypad. "Here. Use this to move that little icon around. That's your mouse." Mantis moved the mouse around in random directions. "Now guide that to the search bar and click down on it." She nodded, clicking the search bar.

"There you go." Loki gestured to the keyboard. "Now, type something in. That will search the Internet for whatever you type." Mantis tilted her head to the side. "You'll see. Just type something." She stared down at the keyboard, looking down at each key as she pressed it in a slow rhythm.

"Okay, now press enter." Mantis obeyed. She had typed the phrase 'ice powers,' showing the top search result with one picture. Loki read through it.

"This doesn't look very useful." Loki moved Mantis's fingers to the side, typing in something else. "Here, I've got this for now."

"Was it this tricky for you to learn how to use the Internet?" Mantis asked, tilting her head to the side.

Loki's eyes widened. He looked away, suddenly smiling. "It was… quite an adventure." He looked back at the screen, scrolling through several different search results, including videos. However, nothing seemed useful.

"What is that?" Mantis asked, pointing at a thumbnail with Elsa on it.

Loki snorted with laughter. "It's something from Frozen. Tony showed me that movie not long after I told him I was a Jotun actually." He smiled. "Elsa's powers work a little differently than mine. She can create snow from nothing, I haven't even successfully frozen water without the casket."

"Yet," Mantis added, pressing her finger against Loki's nose. He flinched back, unable to hide his smile. Loki looked through several videos, pretty much all of which were fake stunts by kids, before going back to Google.

"We need to alter our search," Loki muttered, backspacing to leave only the word ice. "Ice… ice…"

"Bending?" Mantis suggested with a shrug.

"Sure." Loki typed 'bending' and pressed enter. The first thing to come up was something called 'Waterbending.'

"What in the world is Waterbending?" Mantis asked, glancing at Loki.

"No idea." Loki replied, clicking the link. An article entitled 'Waterbending' appeared, with the words 'Avatar Wiki' plastered just above it. He read out the top. "Waterbending, one of the four elemental bending arts, is the hydrokinetic ability to control water in all its various forms."

Loki glanced at Mantis. "Alright, this seems promising." He backed out of the article, typing out the words 'Avatar animated' into the search bar.

"Avatar: The Last Airbender," Mantis read, gazing at the pictures near the top of the screen. "This looks interesting."

"I doubt some silly earth cartoon will help me learn to control my powers but I suppose it's the best we've got," Loki replied with a shrug. He reached toward the keyboard, typing in the words 'watch online.'

"This will be fun!" Mantis replied, clapping. Loki smiled at her. He put on the first episode and the two fell silent.

They were instantly fascinated by the show as the narrator began to explain the four elements and how the Fire Nation attacked. Loki leaned closer, his eyes gleaming with interest. He had watched animated movies and shows before (mostly Disney) so he knew how they worked but this was nothing like any of those. Maybe it was the wonderful animation. Perhaps it was how they explained their elemental abilities, not as magic but as something else…

"What did we just watch?" Loki asked, once the episode ended.

"I don't know but I liked it!" Mantis replied, clicking the button to go to the next episode.

"I did too," Loki admitted. This wasn't really what I had in mind but it was fun to watch. Loki gazed at the bowl of water. Pushing the laptop back, Loki pointed his hands at the water, that same cool feeling from the lake surging through him. The water rose out of the bowl, a few drops slipping free occasionally. Loki turned to Mantis, smiling. Tilting his fingers forward, he directed the water toward her. Mantis chuckled. Loki twirled his fingers around, making the water drift in circles around Mantis's head.

"You've gotten good at that," Mantis replied, smiling.

"I suppose," Loki replied, directing the water back into the bowl. "But it's not Jotun magic, I'm just using telekinesis to lift the water…" Loki gazed at his hands. "And maybe something else."

"Something else?" Mantis tilted her head to the side.

"When I lift the water like that, I feel almost connected to it. I'm not sure how to explain it, it just feels… different than when I lift an object." Loki sighed, pulling the laptop back in front of them. "Let's just continue, shall we?" Mantis nodded. They started the episode. It didn't take long before Loki and Mantis were completely sucked into the show, almost as if they were in a trance.

The main three characters were fighting off some Fire Nation soldiers, trying to escape their ship on Appa. Aang and Sokka were already climbing on the flying bison. Katara, however, stayed behind. Several Fire Nation warriors charged at her, pointing their spears at her. Katara lifted some water up to her side, flinging it backward into Sokka. His feet were frozen to the ground.

"Woah!" Loki's eyes widened.

"Oh my gosh!" Mantis gasped, gesturing wildly to the screen. "The water she-she!"

Katara lifted more water, turning around and flinging the water forward toward the Fire Nation Soldiers. She opened her eyes and the camera panned backward. The soldier was encased in ice.

Loki's eyes widened. He stood up, turning to the bowl of water. "I have to try that." Loki flicked his hand upward, lifting the water out of its bowl from afar. "Replay the clip." Mantis nodded, rewinding the episode.

"Just don't freeze me," Mantis replied, turning the laptop toward Loki and stepping back to stand behind the desk.

Loki nodded to her. He turned his gaze back, forming a line of water almost like a whip. Turning around, Loki flung the water forward. The water zipped through the air, forming a spear shape before freezing mid-air. The cool feeling disappeared. Loki's eyes widened, extending his hands and holding up the ice before it fell to the ground.

"You did it!" Mantis exclaimed, reaching toward the ice.

"Yes, but I'm no longer connected to it." Loki took the icicle in his hand, running his finger across it.

"Maybe you can only control its movements when it's in a liquid form," Mantis suggested, standing at Loki's side.

"That seems very impractical." Loki let out a sigh. "But I suppose I can learn to work with it." He handed the icicle to Mantis. "Hold this. I'm going to try something." Mantis nodded, taking a step back and holding the icicle in front of her. Loki directed his energy at the ice. It shook back and forth as cracks formed before shattering completely. The cool feeling returned. Loki lifted the water into the air before it could splash on the ground.

"Nice!" Mantis cheered, smiling and clapping.

Loki smiled back, directing the water back into the bowl. He and Mantis sat back down. They watched the rest of the episode and one more before going their separate ways for the night.

Loki and Mantis made their way down the ship. The other Guardians were sitting at the table, various breakfast and non-breakfast foods in front of them.

"G' morning weirdos," Rocket greeted with a wave. "Did ya enjoy your night?" He winked at them.

"It was fine, why?" Loki asked, his head tilting to the side.

"Well, I know you two were together last night." Rocket gestured to him and Mantis, winking rapidly. The others gazed at them, exchanging glances and murmuring.

"Yes…" Loki raised an eyebrow. "We were doing some research on my new laptop."

"We ended up watching this cool show about people that control the elements!" Mantis replied, stepping forward and smiling enthusiastically.

"Wait for real?" Rocket asked, tilting his head to the side. Loki and Mantis nodded. Rocket turned to the others with a sigh. "False alarm guys!" The others shrugged and returned to their meals.

"What?" Loki asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Eh, don't worry about it," Quill replied, glaring at Rocket. "He's just being an asshole like usual."

"But what was the bowl of water for?!" Rocket exclaimed, sitting back down at the table. "Who the hell puts water in a bowl?!"

"I was practicing using my Jotun powers without the casket," Loki explained, sitting next to Quill. "I thought freezing water first made the most sense."

"And it worked!" Mantis added, sitting next to Loki. "It was impressive! And that show we watched was great!"

"Well, we can watch it again sometime," Loki suggested, looking away and smiling. "I admit, it was fun."

"Fun watching the show or spending time with Mantis?" Quill asked, nudging Loki and giving him a strange look.

"Both, I suppose," Loki replied, scooting his chair away from Quill. The other guardians exchanged glances, suddenly giggling like children. "What's everyone laughing about?"

"Oh, nothing," Quill replied with a nonchalant flick of this hand. Loki raised an eyebrow though he didn't protest further. He turned away and conjured up a plate of food.