Chapter 2 – Sympathy
Recently, Loki had noticed something strange about the air in the apartment; it was almost cloudy, like smoke, but he could only see it out of the corner of his eyes. He wasn't sure what it was at first, but when it became clear that it wasn't just another magical force, but indeed a magic detector, he realized that someone, somewhere, was onto him. Mages like himself could feel magic at all times, like the hum of electricity, but this presence was like a shadow that had no reason to be there. And the worst thing was that he knew it was intended for him.
Midgardians weren't supposed to have this sort of technology; most of them didn't even know magic existed. To add to that, what technology they did have wasn't complex enough for that sort of thing. So, with Midgardians ruled out, Loki pondered who it was trying to find him. A past enemy, perhaps, back for revenge? Loki had no shortage of beings who wanted his head on a silver platter. At present, he wasn't completely powerless, but his magic was still a bit squiffy at times. He'd never be able to defend himself against other magic users (or any warriors whose numbers were greater than two).
He wasn't going to admit that he was scared. Gods didn't get scared. Loki was simply... worried.
After a not-so-dramatic escape from Asgard's "finest" cell, the trickster had sought refuge and a new start on Earth. Ending up in New York, though, was just his bad luck and dodgy teleporting – he wanted a deserted house in the middle of nowhere, but it was better than nothing. The reason he chose Earth was not because it was where Thor spent most of his time (other than Asgard, of course). It was because it was the safest option for anyone trying to hide from larger powers - Earths' large population was easy to blend into.
As a master of survival, he found an abandoned apartment that didn't look like it was going to have any potential buyers, and decided to rest there until somewhere better appeared. It was cold, dark, and the neighbors were very loud, but it couldn't be any worse than living on the streets. There was also the fact that he had no keys, so he had to keep the door on the latch at all times. It was either that, or use power-consuming lock opening magic, which he really couldn't be bothered with. But, to be honest, it was better than nothing. Loki had a positive attitude about his new residence and he was going to keep thinking that way for as long as possible.
Loki was very good at blending in with the crowds. He had started using a spell that drew attention away from himself, so he was able to travel away from his apartment without any trouble. He was just out for an evening stroll, because being stuck in a dark room all day was beginning to get tedious, when he felt the hum of the magic detector. And to his well-trained senses, it felt stronger than ever. The potential enemy was close. The god was standing outside the Avengers Tower, but it couldn't have been the arc reactor deep within the building. Loki was used to its electrical presence by now, and he highly doubted that the iron man would have a magic detector. What was his name again? … Star? Stork? Stark! That Stark guy was a genius, but not smart enough to figure out how something as complex as magic worked.
He was doomed.
The god practically ran back to his apartment, and was so lost in thought that he nearly slammed the door before remembering to leave it on the latch. He slumped down just behind his living room door – there was no time to get to the sofa – and began to weave a difficult spell, even for a mage of his standard, to attempt to hide his magical presence from whoever was searching for him. It created a green glow that he normally found quite pretty, but his mind was only focused on weaving the complexities of the spell together. It tired him almost immediately after he started casting it and his breathing became labored quickly due to his disuse of magic since his return to Earth. One mistake and he'd probably end up turning the only other thing in the room, a tattered sofa that was left here by its past owners, into a toaster or another random object. Toasters were useless when there was no electricity, and he would really prefer the sofa over a toaster anyway.
The spell flawed slightly when he lost himself in his thoughts so he focused on the matter at hand. His sofa was probably going to end up as a dog now...
Without a sound, the door next to him swung open and bashed into his shoulder. It startled Loki badly and caused him to break the spell, releasing a decent amount of magical energy into the room. He was used to messing up magic by now, so it didn't affect his eyes as badly as it used to.
The light extinguished itself after a few seconds, and the first thing Loki did was check to see if his sofa had survived. Thankfully, it had, but the god was confused as to why it hadn't been affected. Normally the wasted magical energy would end up transforming something, or someone, into something else. He shrugged it off as a result of his weakened magic.
He stood up and went to close the offending door, pissed off that it had interrupted a very important spell, when he noticed that the front door was open, spilling the golden light of street lamps into the hallway. Was someone in his house? Was it the enemy trying to find him? He tensed up immediately, expecting to see someone else nearby, but quickly relaxed when he saw what had pushed open the door.
There was a dark brown kitten standing by his feet, blinking quickly as a result of the blinding light Loki had just caused. It looked up at the trickster and he saw it was as confused as he was. On closer inspection, Loki could see a large white circle on the kitten's chest; a strangely perfect circle.
The god stared at the cat as it stared right back at him with small, worried eyes; he'd never felt so sympathetic towards anything else before. Defending himself from potential evil could wait. He felt the need to help this innocent creature – it was the cutest thing he'd ever seen.
It didn't even occur to him to think how the tiny cat managed to open the living room door when it required the handle to be used.
