***I do not own any of the Marvel characters in this story, yaddayaddayadda. Please don't sue me.***
Well, it's been over a week I think since my last update, I've had no motivation at all, all I wanna do is sleep haha(: But it's about 1:11 in the morning and I have absolutely nothing to do, so I figured I'd write some more of The Art of Misconduct. I'm trying not to rush this story, because I'm so eager to get on with the plot, so forgive me if it's getting a little flat lined, excitement is just around the corner, I promise. Oh, and if you haven't checked out my profile, I mentioned that the mobile version of this is going crazy and not working at all, so I apologize… Please comment and give some inspiration guys!(:
Chapter 3
Over the course of the next few days, Spira snuck in an assortment of food for Loki, hoping to relieve his distaste for the bland and foul-smelling food that he was regularly fed.
Boar was becoming suspicious that Loki was still alive, due to the fact that his regular meals were never eaten and left untouched. The buff and meat-headed security guard simply grunted and figured Loki must've put a spell on himself so he could go without food. While that fact was partly true, Boar was oblivious to the fact that the teenage girl that frequently mingled around the ceiling ramps of S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters was providing the God with a more ample meal.
Besides sneaking Loki some food, Spira also brought Loki surprises from time to time, and introduced him to a variety of Midgardian traditions, such as checkers and Fairy Tales told by the Brothers Grimm.
While Loki had easily outsmarted the young girl in almost every game of checkers, he was perplexed by the stories she read to him out of the large book she started to bring with her during her visits.
"She cut off her toes just to fit inside a shoe?" Loki had asked her as Spira read the fairy tale of Cinderella.
"Yep. Stupid right?" she laughed, never looking up from the entrancing story.
Loki never really enjoyed being read to, but he was curious about the morbid stories and the macabre details contained inside them. He took a liking to Little Red Riding Hood, and how the wolf violently consumed the Grandmother in the story, as well as the young girl with the red hood. He found it amusing that someone would write such a vicious story and use fear to instill the lesson into children's mind.
Rumpelstiltskin was by far his favorite story from the book, and he rather admired the mischievous being with the outrageous name. Rumpelstiltskin reminded Loki of himself, with his tricks and deceitful ploys he liked to play on people. The God of Mischief grumbled at the ending, once Rumpelstiltskin was miraculously outsmarted by the Miller's daughter and defeated at the end by a lucky guess.
"That is completely preposterous!" he said in his proper and well-defined accent, "She cheated!"
"It's just a story, Loki." Spira laughed as she closed the book, wanting to pay full attention to his humorous reaction to the story.
"Yes but every single one of those stories pertains to real life, do they not?" The God replied, pointing at the book, "And the lesson to that particular story is that a smarter opponent may get defeated out of an idiots sheer luck."
Spira continued to laugh at his ranting, watching him pace the room in contemplation, "I think the true moral of the story is to not be over confident, like Rumpelstiltskin, and to not promise something without realizing the implications of said promise, like the girl."
"Well you and I have very different takes on the story, don't we?" he replied with wicked smile, narrowing his eyes.
"Ugh I can practically hear the wickedness spinning around your brain when you give me that look." She said, rolling her eyes and tucking the book under her chair. Spira had gotten used to the many facial expressions Loki had and knew exactly what each one meant. Usually, whenever he narrowed his eyes, he was either proposing a challenge or mischievously licentious thoughts were going through his head.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He said with a falsely innocent smile.
"You know as well as I do that I can see right through you, God of Mischief." Spira said, cocking an eyebrow and folding her hands over her chest.
"Ah yes, I would say what you Midgardians say, what was it…" the God said, putting a finger to his chin, "Diggo."
"You mean ditto?" Spira replied, a smirk playing across her face.
"Whatever," Loki said, waving a hand, trying to hide his failed effort at attempting Midgardian slang.
"You know, tomorrow I could teach you a bunch of slang words and clever Ear-I mean Midgardian insults, if you are struggling with the subject." She said, obviously not letting him live down his slip-up.
"I don't think that will be necessary, Spiral One." This time, it was his turn to smirk.
"What did you call me?"
"Well that is what your name means, does it not?" he said, very matter-of-factly, secretly amused at the rising anger flooding over Spira's face.
"Just for that, you royal pain," Spira said, walking towards the glass and sticking her finger out, "I'm bringing you extra-old left overs tomorrow." She turned away with a quick "Humph" and folded up her chair before flicking off the lights and leaving Loki in the darkness.
Loki smiled at her reaction, knowing that he would always be the one to win a battle over clever insults. Spira was a worthy opponent, he admitted, but she would never be able to beat him in a game of wits.
By now, he knew that she would never really stay mad at him, but she would keep to her word and send him cold left-overs from the chow hall the next night. It was worth it to him, as long as he got to see her skin crawl with aggravation. He couldn't help his nature, and she knew it, which made him all the more willing to propose a clever battle between them whenever he could.
With Spira's frequent visits, Loki's nights were the only time he was never thinking about his rage and contempt towards his father. He dare not say it aloud, but he was grateful for her visits, even if they were for only a few hours.
Loki slowly paced back to his cot, where he sat down and stared into the darkness. He frequently replayed Spira's visits in his head, re-analyzing the things she exposed him to. He very much enjoyed the stories she read him, even if they were meant for children.
Just then, in the midst of his reminiscing, Loki had an epiphany of sorts, an amazing realization. Spira was the only person in the entire universe who had ever treated him with such genuine understanding and acceptance. Sure, his brother Thor was kind to him and always held high hopes for The God of Mischief, but he was never on the same level as Loki. Spira seemed to understand Loki in a way no one ever had. He supposed it was mostly due to her mind reading, but he sensed that it went slightly deeper than that.
She teased him, she playfully insulted him at times, but she always seemed to be indifferent to his flaws. Never once had she judged him or shown any hint of fear towards him, which bothered him somewhat. But besides her never being intimidated by him, she also showed a mutual respect towards him. She wasn't like Boar, who tossed the God around like trash and tried to step on every ounce of dignity he had; she treated him like a…well like a human being. He grimaced at the thought, but then realized that being treated as a human being brought him more contentment than any other way he had been treated before. Granted, he still ached for power and hungrily grasped for a chance to rule over a planet or race of some kind, but given the circumstances, he knew that chance would not come for a very long time.
Perhaps he would not put Spira under his mind-control once he escaped from the prison he was caged in. Instead, he would take her with him to whatever planet he would reign over and have her become his Courtier or assistant of sorts. She would be an excellent addition to have when he was trying to gain influence over the population he intended to rule.
Behind all the wishing-to-reign and revenge-towards-his-father business, deep down inside the void of his heart, even though he stubbornly refused to admit it, Loki knew that Spira was his one and only friend in the entire Universe.
XXX
Sometime during the middle of the night, Loki was brutally awakened by an unknown force pinning him to his bed and clawing at his throat.
After struggling to get his eyes open, he found Agent Barton standing over him with cold and vengeful eyes, practically burning through Loki's head. The skillful archer dragged Loki from his bed and shoved him against the way, his hand still tightly wrapped around the ex-prince's neck.
Loki's face twisted into an evil smirk, knowing that Agent Barton had come here to threaten him, judging by the look in his eyes.
"Not so rough Agent Barton, You may crack the glass." Loki's eyes darkened, shadows swirling and conniving behind them .
"You will stay away from her you evil rat! Got it?" Clint shoved Loki against the wall of the cell again, the Gods head painfully bouncing off and making his eyesight go bright for a moment.
"What ever are you talking about?" Loki said, faking an innocent look.
Clint released Loki's throat before swiftly throwing an extremely agonizing punch that hit the God's face, leaving a red mark over his right eye, "You know exactly what I'm talking about."
Loki fell to the ground nearly missing another punch by the archer, which would've surely cracked bone. The God was fed up with this Agent's behavior , and Loki was tired in general of everyone but Spira treating him like dirt- he was a God!
Loki grit his teeth, lunging at Barton with a beam ready in his hand to fire at Barton. The God shouted as he pulled his back, preparing to throw a deadly blast at the infuriating archer.
Barton reacted just as quickly and pulled his bow out, an arrow already pointed at Loki. The two were evenly matched at that point, and either one of them could easily be killed by the other.
Loki stopped in his tracks after seeing the arrow, but kept his hand raised, prepared to fire it right at Barton's grinning face.
"Not so fast, God of Mischief." Barton said, clicking his tongue. The archer pulled his arrow back even farther, "If I catch you with the girl again, I will put this through your head before you can blink. Got that, pretty boy?"
"Agent Barton, I assure you, no girl has ever visited this cell, I don't know what you're talking about." Loki said, lowing his arm and playing innocent once again.
"Oh shut it," snapped Barton, "I've seen her bring you food and carry that book around."
Loki continued to play guiltless, quirking his eyes into a 'genuinely' confused look, "You still speak in tongues, agent. I still have yet to understand just what you are talking about."
"I don't care," Barton said, walking backwards towards the glass wall of the cell, "Remember my threat, rat, because the second I see her running back over here, it's all over for you."
"Isn't that, ehrm- illegal, Agent?" Loki said, smiling again.
"Who's to say you didn't- oh I don't know- escape from your cell? Who's to say you didn't try and attack one of our staff members?" Barton said, narrowing his eyes.
Loki remained quiet as Barton back out of the cell, "Boar, get the door." Yelled the archer.
The hefty security guard pressed a few buttons on the panel, where a security screen came up. After messing around with the screen for a bit, the door slid open and Barton quickly backed out before ordering the door to be shut again.
"Valuable Information…" Thought Loki, remembering the key patterns to open the door out of his peripheral vision.
Barton left through the ladder leading up to the ceiling, slamming the hatch behind, him. Boar grunted, returning to his post near the vault-like door occupying the far right wall of the cell room.
Loki clenched his fists, his nails once again digging into his flesh until his palms bled. "I have to get out of here."