strangetrip | [EP] Community service for some reason

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.

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"Oh, okay." She wondered why he was here if he wasn't a healer, but then again, neither was she. "If you need anything...or if you're hungry or whatever." Sometimes she got people's lunches too.

Liz hesitated. She wanted to ask if he was fitting it, but on all accounts, he seemed to be. She suddenly felt rather stupid and turned to move to where they kept the bandages and supplies to do inventory.

"I'll manage for myself, thank you." She even did that when she was talking to a kitten. A creature literally 1% of her mass could stare at her and make her cringe.

She had brains and various talents. It was ridiculous to spend so much time being apologetic over nothing. "Helpful tip for your future life: if you want to say something, say it. Cringing like that doesn't impress anyone."

She didn't quite make it to the supplies before she stopped walking. There was a pause and then she turned around. "Okay... fine."

The funny thing was, she could talk to people her own age just fine. It was being around adults that threw her off most of the time. "I just wanted to ask how you were doing. At the inn, I mean." She knew if he was Loki that meant he was Thor's brother, but she wasn't the sort to define someone through their relationship. Piotr and Illyana were separate despite being siblings.

"Better," he approved. And because it was important that following orders went well - whether or not she knew it, she was still his thrall - he continued, "I've been held in worse places than this. It's fine."

"So... you see it like a prison." He wasn't the first one, she knew. Alec referred to it like a prison every once in a while and so had a few others she spoke to. She didn't see it that way, but she knew her situation was different.

Loki raised an eyebrow. "You don't? We're all confined in a comparatively small area, after being sent here against our wills. It's a pleasant enough prison, but it's still a prison."

"Couldn't it be... like a place to learn? Not a school, exactly, but some sort of controlled environment for us to grow as a person?" At least that was how Liz was trying to look at it. She had picked up some new skills, though she was mediocre in many of them admittedly.

Loki couldn't help it, he laughed out loud. "Dear girl. Self-improvement doesn't make a place not a prison either. Believe me." The Isle of Silence, for one, had ultimately been very good for his self-control. "But well done using your time productively."

She wasn't sure if he meant the praise or was making fun of her. Maybe it was both. "I've sort of learned... to try and make the best out of whatever situation you're in." Though she sometimes made really stupid mistakes. "It's not so bad here, though, once you get used to it."

It was both! "It's far from the worst place I've ever been confined."

"Confined, I guess, is probably an accurate term." She offered him a small smile. He felt weirdly familiar, but she wondered if that was simply because he and Thor were brothers.

"Do you, um. Is this where you want to be? The clinic, I mean."

"I can read and think anywhere, so it doesn't matter too much." Barring periodic interruptions, the clinic was quiet without being silent, as well: always a bonus. "On the whole I'm likely neutral about it."

He reminded her a little of Michael with his stand-offishness.

"Well... it'll be nice to have a new face here once in a while." Liz planned to bring him something from the bakery next time. She didn't know why, but she felt the need to try and make him happy. "I'll let you go back to reading now... It was nice to meet you."

Loki waved a little, internally noting that that reflexive niceness was probably something else to work on. Not necessarily get rid of, but... channel into something useful to Liz rather than useful to whoever Liz was dealing with. And yes, he went back to reading. "I'm sure it was."

[EP] Community service for some reason

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