It was early, far too early for anyone to disturb him as he headed for the library. The palace was quiet, except for the kitchens that were in a noisy state of bustle and preparation. Loki was in a plotting mood, something to amuse him now that his father had gotten the disappointed speech about messing with alchemy he had no business altering over with. That had been rather tedious but at least Odin had understood where his heart had been and not sent him to complete some menial punishment.
He paused at the library door, finding it slightly ajar and groaned outwardly at the boorish nature of most asgardians that held no respect for a place of wisdom. With a further headshake, Loki braced himself for a number of horrors that may appear within – torn pages, books on the floor, a fire surrounded by book burning drunken warriors. However, the bookshelves seemed intact and neat, the floor clean and polished as he strolled the length of the entrance walkway. He sighed, relieved at the silence that awaited him within and began thumbing through a line of books on the subject of elements and weather. Yes, something like this might make an interesting time of the upcoming harvest festivals.
A creak reverberated off the high walls of the library, increasing its audible magnitude and startled the trickster upon hearing it. He almost dropped the book in his hands, peering from left to right in confused concern. The library was empty, who else would enter his space and remain so quiet? Definitely not Thor.
Loki inhaled, calming his momentarily scattered nerves and walked along the line of bookshelves until set upon the main walkway. Someone was sitting in his chair, towards the centre of the room, leaning a book against the side of his desk to keep it balanced on their lap. He scoffed at the waif, kicking her feet back and forth between the chair legs as neither could reach the floor by several inches. It was pitiful how small she was now and somewhat disturbing how she somehow managed to make his childhood clothing look girlish on her spindly frame.
Strolling towards her she failed to pay him any mind, casually flipping the pages of her book and biting her lip in concentration. He turned his head to the side, reading the title and raised an eyebrow at what he found.
"The barbarian and his dog?" He read the title aloud, expecting a response from the munchkin in his chair but she only continued to ignore him. "This is a book for asgardian children, far above your menial intellect but I suppose you may enjoy the illustrations." He scowled as she continued to ignore him. "Karian Motter?" Nothing. "Petulant child."
Loki crossed his arms, glowering down at the book-reading imp now humming a tune under her breath. How dare she ignore him, in his library whilst sitting in his chair and reading his books. He snapped his fingers, willing a suspended flame to appear within his palm with the intention of burning her painstakingly braided hair as recompense but was halted as he noticed the buds protruding from her ears. Waving the fire out, he leaned in closer, tugging the wire attached to her right earpiece until the bud popped loose before issuing a rather deep and loud 'boo' sound.
Kari screamed, having not noticed him and now terrified by the loud noise in her ear. She flung herself to the left, chair toppling with her for an equally frightening moment before the god of mischief pushed the armrest back towards him to steady it from falling. Probably not his best move, as with the counter sway the girl was able to smack him over the head with her hardback book. Loki grunted, stumbling backwards at the strike and holding his nose out of book swinging distance.
"YOU!" She screeched at him, now standing on the chair so they were roughly the same height. "What do you think you are doing? I could of died!"
"You exaggerate." He glared, petting his nose with two fingers to check for bleeding. "And you have stricken a prince of asgard."
"You scared me!"
"As is within my right. Do you fail to recollect the conventions of the palace once more? The library is off limits to riff-raff and subordinates such as your stumpy manifestation."
"Frigga said I could and said I had to read this book and to tell you to be nice and behave or she will be cross with you." Kari giggled at his obvious annoyance.
"I am sure my mother said no such words to the likes of you."
"Did too." She leaned forward sticking her tongue out at him. "And she did my hair too. Doesn't it look nice? I like the butterfly clips best."
"How very undersized and juvenile." He came forward, snatching the book out of her hand to stop her from hitting him again before lifting her squirming and thrashing off his chair to deposit on the ground below. "Bad child. No standing on the furniture."
"I am not a dog!" She moved to kick him in the shin but only met air as he reflectively dodged the blow. "Stupid Locket!"
"Locket?"
"I don't like your stupid name. It sounds like locate key or something and keys are for locks and locket sounds prettier."
"I had not believed you might become any further maddening until this moment but you defy even the realms of possibility, Karian Motter."
"You're just mad because you're old and nobody likes you."
"That may very well be so," he glowered, "but at least, unlike yourself, I am disliked because of my actions and not hated and despised because of who I am. Strange creature that you are, unable to even love yourself well enough and instead internally mock and berate flaws until outwardly presented by alchemy meant for enhancement. When magic cannot even find worthy traits within, how pitiful must you truly be, child."
Blue on green, a child's haunted eyes captured by a smug predator and held unblinking. She wanted to cry but knew she could not in front of him; the war would be lost if she gave in now. Willing the last of her reserves into play, she forced a frown which only made him chuckle at her defiance until caught unaware with wide-eyed disbelief. Little girls, the perfect height to punch asgardian princes right in the crotch.
Loki exhaled a whining, pained groan at the not so powerful strike directly into his softest and least guarded place. His knees were bending under the strain of agony as his foe giggled aggravatingly happy at his discomfort. Noticing the look of murderous intent in his eyes, Kari gave a worried gasp and hopped past the distracted god of mischief only to make it two steps towards freedom before dragged back by her collar. Oh this was not good.
She screamed, finding herself airborne and hurtling backwards until pinned into the chair she had previously occupied. Whimpering at the discomfort of force pushing her against the elaborate carvings within the wood, she squirmed uselessly as Loki hissed through clenched teeth until his pain subsided.
"Let me go." She pleaded, tears beginning to pool to the surface of her under lashes. "Please."
"Oh, I imagine we are far beyond the realms of clemency now, mortal." He lifted her up once more, letting her dangle and cling to his arm as she tried to stop him choking her from the awkward grip on her collar. "Cry if it gives you comfort." Toneless and neutral in his objectification of her squalling façade, Loki continued towards the centre of the room and waved his free hand in looping motions to create an oddly glowing intricate pattern on the floor. "It seems the only way I will be rid of your nuisance is by sending you somewhere no one will think to look. Tell me, do you like the cold?" He smiled as she shook her head to the best of her ability, spraying welling tears in the wake of the motion and trying desperately to kick at him again. "Good, I am pleased with this answer. Try not to come back."
He dropped her, she had expected to hit the ground and inhaled accordingly to prepare but instead found herself enveloped by light and screaming. There was a stomach-churning jerk that rocked her left, then right until a loud 'pop' made her ears ring. Then things got very cold and airy, Kari managing to flip herself in the air just in time to see she was now hurtling downwards towards an awful lot of snow.