Carren's POV
Albeit slightly insufferable, he was quite an interesting character.
I had learned much from my little chat with him. One, that he was as well-equipped for a sarcastic insult war as I was (I knew that it was only by chance that I managed to best him) and two, that he hated mortals.
Although I guess the second was inferable, considering that he tried to take over our planet.
I tacked his picture up on my wall, over the previous ones. It was a habit of mine; whenever I decided to figure someone out, I printed out all of their files and put them up on my bedroom walls. I knew that I could just look at them all digitally, but something about having a hard copy was appealing to me. It kind of made things clearer.
The SHIELD files I had been allowed access to were woefully uninformative. Just a few notes here and there that even a drunk five year old could have figured out. So of course I did what anyone else would do: cheated.
Finding out things I wasn't supposed to know was one of my fortes. I managed to hack into the restricted files, easy as pie. It was almost too easy, and for a moment I was suspicious, but the information enclosed within the documents I discovered were so intriguing that my suspicions were quickly pushed away.
Most of it was pretentious soldier babble, but when I sifted through the drivel some vital facts emerged.
The most preeminent among them was his magical capabilities. Apparently so far SHIELD had witnessed him taking over minds with the assistance of a scepter, creating illusions of himself, driving people crazy, bullet immunity, and extremely fast regeneration abilities.
I scrolled downwards and paraphrased the interesting bits, printing them out in big, bold letters so I could read them from across the room.
His personality file was especially attention-worthy. According to the writer, Loki Laufeyson was arrogant, intelligent, immensely proud, self-absorbed, and extremely sarcastic. The only reasons for this was questionable: "Possible slighted feelings involving his brother? See "Thor Odinson.""
I didn't even bother to look over Thor's tab– I had already seen it, after all.
All in all, the files weren't too helpful when it came to personality. It only told me what I already knew.
And what I already knew wasn't what I was looking for.
To me, it was obvious that he was hiding his true personality, his true wants and desires, covering it up with a simple shell of sarcasm and snark.
Although it wasn't required, my goal was to break through that shell.
In the meantime... I snatched a pen from my bedside and grabbed a sheet of paper. I was a writer after all. And I had a new subject to write about.
Loki's POV
It was infuriating that I had let a mortal get the best of me.
Just a simple close of my eyes and I could see that superior smirk of hers, hovering about her lips as she turned away, as if I had no longer been worthy of her attention.
My first instinct had been to jump up and curse her a thousand times with sorcery, but that was rash and stupid. And the cold circlets of metal wrapped around my wrists bit into my skin and reminded me of my position, and of her position, and of the consequences it I misbehaved here. I was not on my home turf. If I attacked now she would have every advantage except for the element of surprise. And surprise didn't stretch very long.
So I bit back my anger and bided my time. That was the thing about mortals: their lives were so ridiculously short, and they were so ridiculously vulnerable. Midgardians were a bit of a joke. Humanity and mortality made a horrid combination, and yet here they were. Their utter compassion and empathy added to their short lives made them so susceptible to damage that it was almost amusing.
So the next day when she showed up I completely ignored her.
She didn't talk to me either, instead choosing to settle down at her station and open up a notebook. I made a mental note of the pen in her hand. Perhaps she was an artist? Or a writer?
My attention was diverted from the question when some other officials entered the room. I recognized them. They were the ones that came to collect me when it came to work.
If I was working at Stark Tower, I hoped that that insufferable Iron Man wouldn't be there. If it wasn't bad enough that I couldn't possess him with my scepter during the battle of this city. He had to come back and annoy me with his petty taunts.
"May I help you?" Carren asked the two men in a bored fashion, but she eyed them warily.
"We have orders to take Laufeyson to Stark Towers for remodeling work."
"Right. Rebuilding." She sighed and rose from the seat, stretching. "I guess I'm coming with you."
"Um, lady, that really isn't necessary..."
She immediately lashed out. "Pardon? I am a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, same as you two. My order is to supervise Loki. So I shall supervise Loki." She produced a badge with the organization's logo on it and tossed it onto the desk for them to see. "And don't "lady" me. I believe a "ma'am" would be more appropriate."
Both of them were stunned, and for a moment I appreciated her snark. At least it was entertaining. And the women of Asgard never stood up for themselves. That was one fascinating thing about Midgardians.
Finally one of the guards straightened and saluted her. "Ma'am." The other one followed suit.
She gave a curt nod of approval and turned towards my cell.
I barely had time to internally groan before she called out. "Loki, we're going."
"Were we?" I retorted sarcastically. "I apologize for being out of the loop; I didn't notice you three talking about me two feet away."
"Just checking. You know, you might have been so absorbed in your thoughts of world-domination that you didn't bother to eavesdrop." She shot back.
I have been told that I am rather proficient at giving people evil looks. And the one I shot her now was a perfect evil "ten." Just because she managed to best me in a single match of verbal wit she thought herself better than I? Laughable.
She stared back, completely unintimidated, and for a nanosecond I had to admire her courage. Definitely not like the Asgardian women I had known, save for Sif.
A scowl twisted my features and my stomach churned. Sif.
But I pushed her out of my mind. No point in thinking about her now.
Transportation from one place to another was always irritating at best, exasperating at worst.
Apparently, me being "the-guy-who-tried-to-dominate-the-world" was a big deal (shocking, I know), because the security measures placed upon me were insane. As if I hadn't already been warned (multiple times) by Odin the consequences that would ensue if I attempted to escape my imprisonment on Midgard.
And the consequences made me shiver. It was enough to keep me in check... for now.
Waiting out my sentence of three years wasn't completely terrible. Helheim, three years was merely a blink in the span of my lifetime.
Anyway, back to the situation at hand.
One of my main jobs on Midgard was to rebuild Stark Towers, which had almost become obliterated by my attack on New York. Tony was quite bitter about that, and had practically demanded my assistance. To be honest with myself, I would have to say that half of the work was putting up with him and his so-called-clever remarks. The good thing was that he was a busy man, and was more often than not out on various business trips. I prayed that that would be the case today.
Upon my arrival, though, I became immediately aware of a tall figure in an impeccable navy blue suit apparently waiting for me.
I internally sighed, mentally preparing myself for a very long and undoubtedly tiring day.
"Well, isn't it the sociopathic Norse god we all know and love." Tony Stark greeted cheerfully. He was chewing on gum while he talked. How terribly impolite.
"Coming from a person whose presence is unbearable at best, I'd say that the accusation is invalid and unjustified... hypocrite." I retorted, crossing my arms.
There was a snort of hastily disguised laughter from behind me that I assumed was Carren's. At least she possessed the amount of intelligence in that puny brain of hers to be able to appreciate my insults.
Unfortunately, her chuckle drew Iron Man's attention to her, and he craned his neck to catch a glimpse of her.
"And who is this?" He sidestepped me to approach her.
It was then that I realized that Carrren seemed to be gathering an unusual amount of male attention. First Kim, then Stark (although that could be attributed to the fact that Stark directed his attention towards anything in a skirt). I turned my head slightly so that I could see her out of the corner of my vision. Was it possible that she was attractive? I hadn't paid any attention the day before.
It was impossible to perceive her figure in the clothes that she was wearing (almost the same outfit as yesterday, save for a different shirt) but when I looked at her face, I noted her fine-boned features, pink lips, and wide, naturally shaded eyes. She was pretty by Æsir standards, possibly beautiful in terms of mortals.
And there was something interesting about her amber eyes. A kind of strange, unique glow.
Probably a trick of the light.
"Agent Paradizo." I won't lie; I was pleased when I heard her blunt, no-nonsense tone. Most women fell at Stark's feet. "Loki's new supervisor."
"Supervisor, huh?" What I felt was a shark-like grin alighted Stark's features. His eyes flicked from her feet to her eyes and everything in between. "Pretty admirable of you to take a job like that. I mean, managing him is not the prettiest job out there."
"Thank you." She sounded pretty bored, like she was talking to her waiter and not a famous genius. "Now could we please go inside, Mr. Stark? Do you not want your tower to get built?"
"Brisk. I like that." He stepped aside and waved us in. "Be my guest."
"Aw, c'mon, Rudolph! I know you can do better than that!"
I let a flicker of irritation show on my face as I adjusted the room support through sorcery, shifting its position only slightly to the left.
"Much better. No need to infect everybody with your bad mood, Reindeer Games– try to act like you want to be here!"
Stark was proving to be much more annoying that I had previously remembered; it was like he was attempting to show off (possibly for Carren) just how much he was able to drive me mad with his woefully inadequate insults.
I sighed, and heard my sigh echoed from across the room.
I turned my head ever-so-slightly and saw that it was Carren who had exhaled. She met my eyes for the first time that day and I could see that she was just as tired of Stark's pithy comments as I was.
In grudging mutual agreement, the next time that Stark said something ridiculous, I sighed, and then she sighed after me.
And the next time.
And the next time.
It seemed that, over the span of a mere day, we had both managed to find something that we were in agreement of (no matter how reluctant we were to admit it). Our entire relationship was basically communicated solely on exhalation.
But (even though I would never say it out loud) deep down it felt nice to agree with someone on something again. To feel like I wasn't alone.
A/N: Thank you all so much to those who reviewed and followed and favorited! I really appreaciate it!
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