[EP] Community service for some reason

[st_ratagem]

That morning, Loki had finally gotten around to the piece of paper he'd been handed along with his room key, and... well, it was definitely interesting. Apparently not checking in for two weeks in favor of scouting the Inn as a kitten meant that he'd been involuntarily assigned to 'community service' in the infirmary.

It was ridiculous. He wasn't a healer. Oh, his mother Frigga his mother had tried to teach him healing magic, and the theory had been easy enough, but barring one or two minor successes healing his brother of minor injuries, the practical had always escaped him. Eventually his mother had removed healing from his lessons, and not long after that Loki himself had stopped trying.

It was ridiculous.

It didn't matter, though, where he did his reading and thinking, and at least waving vaguely in the direction of being productive would probably very slightly soothe the fears of anyone who thought he, for example, made a habit out of flinging people out of windows. (He'd only done that once. It wasn't a habit.)

Therefore he swung by the library, relieved it of all the medical texts a quick rummage presented, hauled the books to the clininc, and staked out a desk area more or less out of the way. As nearly as he could tell, anyway; regardless, a small wall made of books hopefully separated him nicely from anyone looking for help.

Comments

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Only a few minutes had passed between Loki setting up shop and Tony Stark suddenly being there, asserting himself by propping himself up on a chair with a noisy 'clack' of loafers on metal to make his presence known over the barrier of hardbacks.

"Howdy, neighbor." He raised his thermos of coffee in a faux-cheery greeting. "Love the foxhole."

[st_ratagem]

"When in doubt, hide behind books." It was almost cute, Stark thought he was going to be annoying. That, or he'd opted to be very obvious about keeping an eye on the god of mischief.

Well, he was going to spend a few boring hours. Loki, however, was not. The Atlas of Human Anatomy was more interesting than it had any real right to be.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"In public." Tony leaned forward on a stack at perfect elbow-height, dangling his thermos over the other side. "This some sort of statement, or you going for your CNA."

Liz/Loki

[st_hotflashes]

Liz had a duty in the clinic. She mostly just cleaned things and helped with the paper work. She supposed if there was any sort of accident and there needed to be triage, she would help there too - she was learning basic First Aid and CPR here.

When she walked in she noticed the wall of books. She thought maybe they were there to be put away, but when she approached she noticed a man. "Oh, um. Sorry."

Re: Liz/Loki

[st_ratagem]

The voice was familiar: Liz. Loki spent enough time lying and living under a fake identity that he didn't react outwardly to knowing the girl. She, after all, would only know him from Thor's idiotic journal entry. "Why? You haven't actually touched my books yet."

Re: Liz/Loki

[st_hotflashes]

"Right." And even still, she felt bad. Like she had interrupted him or something. She shifted her weight from one foot to another. "You're, um. You're Loki, right? I'm Liz. Liz Parker. Sometimes I help out around here."

[st_ockandbarrel]

Percy was not looking for help. Percy was looking for a medical text. And thanks to the spells Illyana had woven into the very pages, it was possible to determine who had taken it, if not precisely where. That took more time and effort, both of which cut into his ability to finish his forge on time. Not that the book had to do with the forge. No, the book was a different subject near and dear to his heart at the moment.

So it was an annoyed and extremely short-tempered Percival that tracked the book and its borrower to the clinic, where a little bird had told him it lay. Reasoning that it was not precisely the fault of the man surrounded by books that he was inconveniencing Percy, he endeavored to make his tone civil.

"Good day. You are Loki?"

[st_ratagem]

"I am." As with Stark, Loki didn't even look up from his book. He didn't have to, the annoyance came off the new arrival in waves.

Clearly he thought Loki had done something. It would be interesting to find out what.

[st_ockandbarrel]

"You've a book that I need." Since the man was going to give him short answers, Percy was willing to do the same.

[st_rutsthepolka]

"You want a couple more for the pile? I see what you're going for, and I've still got some textbooks in here from introducing Drs Jackson and Pike to modern medicine." Not that Pike technically qualified as a doctor, technically, but she could raise people from the dead with prayer, Butters wasn't going to quibble. Besides, he liked Pike.

Butters gave the wall of books another onceover, then did the same for his apparent work-release 'volunteer.' "Look, for whatever it's worth, I'm no happier that my clinic is apparently a punishment detail than you are being here, so as long as you don't actually interfere with patient care I don't see much point in forcing you to work. If you just want to spend the next two weeks reading in the corner, that is fine by me."

[st_ratagem]

"I intend to, thank you. And I'll take the books if they're on offer." Loki marked his place in the Atlas of Human Anatomy and glanced up. "It's not that I'm unhappy, per se. I can study and think anywhere. I've never been able to do," vague gesture, "this. That said, I've already gotten rid of a timewaster, you're welcome."

[st_rutsthepolka]

"I'm not technically supposed to do," mimicked vague gesture, "this, to anyone who isn't already dead, but until someone from the Cook County medical examiner's office shows up to tell me they're pulling my license, I'm the only one here with a twentieth-century MD. We're all kind of winging it here." Butters tilted his head slightly. "How did you know they were a timewaster?"

[st_ayedhidden]

Annie walked in and she had been crying, but now she regained her composure. Her red eyes gave it away as she looked around for help. Her knees were scraped and still had gravel in them. She inhaled shakily and was determined to be brave.

[st_ratagem]

Loki didn't move until it was very clear that whoever else was on duty in the clinic was busy or blind. He wasn't a healer. There was nothing he could do. And yet, he was the only one and he'd all but promised his brother he intended to behave.

And, all things considered, Loki wasn't inclined to let a small child suffer to make a meaningless point. He marked his place in the Atlas and left his fortress of books to go to the little girl. With her skinned knees. "I assume you fell?"

Loki had even less bedside manner than healing talent, probably.

[st_ayedhidden]

Annie looked at Loki with wide-eyes. He was tall and seemed to hold himself like someone very important.

"I was climbing outside my window... and I tried to jump from one balcony to the other and I slipped and fell." She explained, then quickly panicked. "Please don't tell my dad or Clarice or Corbie about this...please."

Bo/Loki

[st_unaligned]

Bo was hungry. She had been working off some particular pent up energy after hours of 'meditation' that was not soothing at all. She was waiting for Sam and Dyson to figure out how to make some sort of Fae arch for her to pass through and all Dyson said was she would have to 'resolve her inner conflict' whatever the hell that meant. Already Bo felt like she was failing.

She came in looking for Pike, but didn't immediately see the good-looking Gnome anywhere. She reached out suddenly to steady herself against a desk.

Re: Bo/Loki

[st_ratagem]

Loki slid his books out of the way of the not-quite-falling woman telekinetically rather than actually physically lunging for them. The woman was objectively lovely, and there was energy of some kind around her, but his tone was more annoyed than anything else. "This is not an exam table. I am not a healer."

Re: Bo/Loki

[st_unaligned]

She looked over at the new voice and blinked. He was new. Her eyes trailed up over whatever body she could see where he sat in a sultry way and she wet her lips.

No. Nope. No way Bo.

"Sorry. I was looking for Pike. I'll just -" She didn't even realize she was licking her lips as she watched him. "- I'll go find her somewhere else."

Mildmay & Loki

[st_onecoldfox]

Mildmay entered the clinic almost silently, not 'cause he was trying to be stealthy. Just silent was how he moved, unless he was trying to make noise. Or it had been. His cane, Jashuki tapped faintly at each step. Noticing the guy with all the books was habit too, taking in everything he could about a room when stepped into it.

The guy – newer than most, and Mildmay couldn't pin down when exactly he'd first seen him around – could probably be forgiven for thinking the man limping into the clinic was there for healing, but Mildmay headed for the supply cabinet instead.

"You some kinda nature-witch or something?" he asked, careful to make his words clear as he could around the knife scar running along the side of his face. There were healers here who didn't have no magic, and ones that did. Kinda like at St. Cecily's. Or some of the physician-practitioners in Bernatha. But with so many books, Mildmay couldn't help but think hocus.

Re: Mildmay & Loki

[st_ratagem]

Loki ignored the man when he came in; cane or no cane, scar or no scar, he moved with purpose. An aimless wanderer needed to be aimed, but if someone knew what they were about, Loki wasn’t invested enough in the ‘clinic’ on any level to get in their way.

All the same, it was neither surprising nor unpleasant when the man spoke. Loki lived talking, and humans rarely disappointed him. “I’m not any kind of witch.” Even if he ‘dressed like one’ according to Thor.

Re: Mildmay & Loki

[st_onecoldfox]

When the guy didn't try to stop Mildmay or even ask what he was doing, Mildmay started restocking the kitchen first-aid kit. He leaned a little against the counter as he worked, taking some of the weight off his bad leg and letting him keep half an eye on the guy with the books.

"What are you then?" 'Cause maybe it was the word witch he had a problem with. Or maybe he didn't have magic at all. A doctor or something, since he was here in the clinic and didn't look like he was waiting on somebody to heal him up for anything.

[st_ormbreaker]

"I heard you were working here," Thor calls out from the doorway. He shifts his weight from one leg to the other, trying hard not to look amused at the prospect of his brother working anywhere, let alone in an infirmary. Normally, Loki would insist this kind of work was beneath him, and yet, here he was, hidden behind a tower of books, hard at work.

[st_ratagem]

Normally, this sort of thing was beneath him, or at least he claimed it was in order to get out of showing off his inability to do it. It was the same thing, really. "Technically, yes," he replied. "But should you actually need healing, find someone else."

Loki & Sunny

[st_igmatized]

Their medical books were just about cleaned out, but not all of them had been on the shelves. A couple had been waiting to be returned to circulation, and, well. Sunny figured it was an excuse to take a break, it might amuse her for thirty seconds. Yana might not be pleased that she'd left her post, but unlike Corbie, Sunny wasn't cowed by that idea. So she grabbed those last titles and headed down to the clinic.

She smiled at the veritable book wall. "Enough to read?"

Re: Loki & Sunny

[st_ratagem]

"It'll hold me for a few days." Loki flashed a smile at the woman. Why not? She was pretty, she clearly either hadn't heard of or didn't care about his monstrosity, and it looked like she'd brought more books. "A few days plus one, probably, if those are for me."