Estro - (Portuguese) - inspiration, enthusiasm and passion for art


Loki allowed his hands to brush over the aged and worn books along the library shelves, silently inhaling the soft scent of dust and aged paper. Pale and slender fingers traced the gold stitching in the binding, before clasping it and letting it slide free of it's brethren and into his awaiting hands. He moved back over to the table settling it into his pile of history, science, and literature he had gathered.

He sighed, closing his eyes in an attempt to ignore the blonde SHIELD agent sitting several tables away, her midgardian earbuds (which Loki had overheard music playing while passing various mortals in the street) silent of all sound, except for a soft buzzing, to which her expression would subtly shift and her lips would move almost imperceptibly.

Now, Loki would normally play along with their act, pretending to be the oblivious fool against their movements, before cornering them as soon as he led them into his own personalized traps. But his troubled...dreams of late, coupled with the Midgardian's unusual offer and his excuses he had to offer to his kind landlady had robbed him of his energy, and left him weary and drained.

He settled into his seat wearily, pulling the book on the "Computer Sciences: Security and Cryptography" and immersing himself in the unfamiliar terminology.

However, he had barely made it to the fifth page before the clatter of a purse against the table startled him out of his reading. Before he could look up and glare at the intruder of his peace, the figure had already claimed the seat across from him. "Hey there book boy."

He looked up, meeting the warm chocolate brown eyes of Skye, the unusual tenacious mortal he had gotten to know during his stay on Midgard. She smiled, putting her laptop on the table as she sat across from him.

"You didn't answer my calls." She said, crossing her arms on the table top as she stared at him, unyielding.

Loki sighed, fighting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose against the headache building there. "I was...busy...last night." He said, turning his attention back to his book, resting this index and middle finger against his temple, trying to focus on the words there.

"You're always busy." Skye said bluntly, and looked down at the book beneath Loki's fingers. "So, out to devour more information today?" She asked, chuckling as Loki spared her a mildly irritated look.

"Gotcha. Zipping the lips now." She said, mimicking the action with a mischievous smile.

They lapsed into silence, Loki sinking into his reading and briefly forgetting the world around him, immersing himself in computer codes, crypto analytic attack strategies, and various computer encryptions.

For a moment, he was at peace...

Until Skye's hand began to tap his arm.

"What?" He asked, not looking up from his book.

"Um, Loptr."

Her tone was slightly worried, and slightly tight. He looked up from his book, seeing her expression as she glanced over his shoulder. He silently cursed SHIELD for following him, even if it was of his own will today.

"That blonde chick has been looking over at you for like, the past half hour, and I don't think she's checking you out." She said quietly, her eyes flicking back to his.

He could easily see the tension rising in her, the tension he has become familiar with in recent months. The stress in her shoulders, the tight pulling of her lips, the subtle shifting in weight in her seat...preparing to run...

Loki stood, pushing his seat back casually as he walked over to her side of the table. "I'm in the mood for coffee. How about you?" He asked, holding out a hand for her to take.

Skye looked up at him, opening her mouth to speak, only to be cut off by the sharp look Loki gave her. Trust me.

"Um, yeah...I could go for some coffee right about now..." She said, her tension betrayed only by the brief glance at the agent once more before she took Loki's hand and stood, grabbing her laptop as they quickly began to make their way towards the door.

The Agent moved to stand as well, and with a subtle twist of his fingers, her chair inexplicably became stuck in place, unable to slide it back against the carpet, leaving the agent stuck against the desk.

"Follow me." Loki said, pulling her behind him, weaving around the bookshelves as Loki's keen hearing picked up the sound of another Agent nearby, muttering into his earpiece. Loki turned around the corner of the hallway, ducking into another hallway and into another room, hearing the agents footsteps on their heels. He could hear Skye's breath picking up, her hand squeezing his as she tried to keep up with him. He pulled her behind a bookshelf as the agent walked past, waiting until he had passed the corner, before quickly moving towards one of the emergency exits nearby.

"This way." He said, ushering her down the stairs, peering through the crack of the door for any signs of being followed, before sliding the door closed after them, darting down the steps and bursting out into the street through the emergency doors. Well, that was the first time he had escaped without the plan going horribly wrong in centuries-

Skye whirled on him, her expression wide and frightened. "Who were they? Why did-"

"Not Here. And Not Now." Loki said firmly, grasping her arms firmly. "I promise I will explain, I promise. But not here."

Skye stared at him, clutching her laptop to her chest as she looked into his eyes. Whatever she was looking for, she seemed to find, and she sagged with a sigh. "Fine. Not here then." She relented, looking around in the side alley they had gone into. "But I really do want to go get coffee." She said, looking up at him firmly.

Loki smiled crookedly, letting his hands fall from her shoulders.. "Well, I can't go back on my word now can I?"

()()()()()()

(Four months earlier)

Loki could feel the claws hooking into his flesh, tearing into him, ripping him open -

He gasped, arching up and off of the bed, glazed green eyes leaping into focus. He gasped for breath, taking in his surroundings, his heart beating harshly against his ribs, as if it were trying to break open his chest.

White linens around his waist, pale sunlight coming in through the window. A bitter sterile smell cloying at the back of his throat, a thin gown wrapped around his thin, bandaged body.

He froze.

It worked.

He had escaped.

It worked.

A deep shuddering tremor ran through his frame, and a shuddering breath (frighteningly close to a sob) escaped his lips. He pressed his fingers to them, fighting back the stinging burn behind his eyes as he closed them, struggling to take deep breaths.

Suddenly, he noticed the plastic covering his fingers, and the incessant beeping that was coming from one of the machines beside him. Thinking them restraints, he quickly ripped them off, ignoring the sharp wailing of the machine, ripping out the thin plastic tube that had been buried into his hand. He gasped slightly in pain, his movement causing his torso to suddenly throb with a bone deep pain. He looked down, spotting a reddening bandage strapped to his left rib through the loose collar of his medical gown.

Broken, he thought, reaching down to press a still trembling hand against it, skilled fingers pressing lightly. He bit back a hiss as his arm brushed a still healing burn on his chest, and pulled back.

He wasn't healed.

But it was more than what he had ever had in the Void.

It was enough.

It would have to be enough.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed, pushing himself onto unsteady, shaky legs. He growled to himself, ignoring the watery quality of his legs in favor of trying to move towards the door.

Suddenly, the door opened, and a young man stepped into the room. "Woah, hey, you're up!" He began, stepping towards him.

"Do not touch me."

The man stopped, blinking in confusion. "What?"

"I said, do not touch me." Loki growled, glaring up at the man.

"Al...alright..." He said, staying where he was.

"Where am I?"

"New York City hospital. A jogger found you in Central Park early yesterday morning. You've sustained serious injuries-"

"Midgard..." Loki muttered, his eyes calculating. Of all the places to end up...

The man stared, before seeming to harden himself. "Sir, you should get back to bed. You need to rest-"

Loki's magic, tingling along the edge of his raw nerves, was weak, and aching. But it could do this.

He saw the runes in his mind's eye, weaving the incantation, and allowed it to lace his words. "I believe you should take me out of this building. Don't you agree?" He breathed, almost too soft to hear.

The man seemed to pause, his will only able to hold strong for perhaps a second or two, before nodding almost absentmindedly. "Why don't I let you out of this building?" He suggested.

"And perhaps some clothes as well?"

"And we should get you some clothes. I hear it's going to be a cold one." Loki nodded, leaning against the bed as the man went into a nearby closet, pulling out a simple blue shirt with dark blue pants, handing them to Loki to wear.

Loki painstakingly slipped into the clothing, his limbs strongly protesting such movement so early into the healing process. Loki shuddered, but bit his tongue, continuing to slip his arms into the sleeves. He took a second to catch his breath, fighting down the tremors that ached down to his bones.

He turned to the Midgardian healer. "Lead the way."

Loki cloaked himself in magic, letting the man lead him out of the hospital as he limped invisibly through the busy hallways. There were many patients in each room, coughing, sniffling, anxious whispers and desperate prayers drifting out of nearly every door. It made Loki ponder why exactly Thor was so desperate to protect these mortals who seemed to be dying by the hour.

It didn't matter. Loki thought, turning away from their hushed, dying breaths. He was alive. He had survived. And he would continue to survive, a burning flame against the cruelties that Fate sought to smother him with. I am Loki. He thought as he stepped into the sunlight. And I will not be snuffed out.