A Little Reading
A Little Reading
After three minutes of relentless knocking at his door, Loki sighed and glanced up from his book.
He started to get up, then paused. He lifted a hand and concentrated hard, furrowing his brow.
The lock on the door slid back, and Loki leaned back in his chair, smiling proudly. “Come in,” he called, going back to his book.
The door opened and an annoyed Thor entered. “Loki,” he complained. “Why wouldn’t you open the door?”
“Why did you keep knocking?” Loki didn’t look up.
“Let’s go do something,” Thor urged. “The warriors are training in the courtyard. We could go watch them.”
“I am perfectly comfortable here,” Loki said, turning a page.
“But you are only reading,” Thor said, starting to pace the room. “Don’t you want to do something?”
“I am doing something. I am reading.”
“Something interesting.” Thor traced a finger along the spines of the books lined up on the bookcase and made a face. “Reading is the only thing you do anymore.”
“If I am such a bore, go and watch the warriors yourself,” Loki said, letting the first note of annoyance creep into his voice. He had no desire to spend the afternoon anywhere else than right here.
“It’s not the same without you.” Thor sighed, turning to face his brother. “Come on, Loki, please. We don’t have to watch the warriors if you don’t want to.”
“Good. Because I don’t.”
“But let’s do something. You can choose. We could spar, or we could go explore the armory, or…”
“I can choose?” Loki interrupted, finally looking up from his book. “Anything?”
“Yes,” Thor said, looking encouraged. “We could think up a prank to play on Sif. I bet she would get really angry if we hid her sword. She will be watching the warriors now, so you could sneak up behind her since you are so much quieter…”
Loki held up a finger for silence. “Well, then since I can choose anything, I choose to read.”
“Loki…”
Loki’s patience ran out. He sighed. “Look, Thor, I am not moving from this chair, so if you want to do something together I would recommend picking one of the books from that shelf over there, or exit the room and find someone else to pester.” Loki shifted positions in the chair and raised the book to cover his face.
Thor heaved an exasperated sigh, and Loki heard his footsteps cross the room. When a moment passed and Loki didn’t hear the door, he slowly lowered the book to glance over it curiously.
Thor stood in front of the bookshelf, frowning, as he stared at the various titles.
“I believe the third one in on the second shelf is about Bor and the battle with the Dark Elves,” Loki said, keeping his voice disinterested. “If you want something ‘more interesting’.”
Thor selected the book and crossed the room, flopping on Loki’s bed. Loki glanced up with a slight frown, but ignored him. Maybe now he would let him read in peace.
He heard a rustle of pages, and only a minute had passed before he heard another sigh.
Ignoring it, Loki turned his own page.
Thor sighed again. “Loki, I do not know how you stand doing this all day.”
“You haven’t even tried it for two minutes,” Loki said, feeling slightly amused that Thor’s attention span for anything not involving pshyical activity was even less than he’d thought.
“It’s just words,” Thor grumbled, getting up from the bed. “Words on a flat, boring page.”
“If you actually had tried reading anything, you may have found otherwise.”
“Please can we go do something else, Loki.”
“By all means, go find something else to do,” Loki said, gripping the edges of his book in frustration. “And leave me alone.”
Thor stood right in front of Loki’s chair, so his legs pressed into his brother’s. “Loki, please…”
It took everything in Loki to keep from taking his book and conking Thor over the head with it. “Thor, I mean it. Go away.”
Thor scowled. “Fine.” He didn’t move however, then a mischevious look crossed his face. “But you’re coming with me.”
“Thor, I told you…”
Thor snatched the book from Loki’s hands, who looked up, startled. “Thor! Give it back!”
Thor grinned and dashed across the room. “Come and get it, brother.”
Loki scowled and bolted out of his chair, chasing his brother out of his room and down the halls.
Thor tore down the halls, glancing back to see how far behind his brother was.
To his surprise, Loki was standing still in the hallway, eyes closed and a concentrated look on his face.
Thor slowed momentarily, then shook his head and rounded the corner. If his brother wanted his book back, he would have to…
Loki suddenly appeared in front of him, and Thor screeched to a stop, stumbling back. “Loki!”
Loki had a dark look on his face. “Give. It. Back.”
Thor held the book over his head. “I told you, if you want it, come and get it…”
Someone from behind snatched the book out of Thor’s hands and he whirled around, startled.
Loki stood behind him, book clutched safely in his hands, panting slightly with a mildly surprised look on his face.
Thor stared at him wide-eyed, then glanced back to the empty space where his brother had been only moments before. “Loki, how…?”
Loki smirked. “Illusion,” he said, taking a deep breath. He smiled. “I actually got it to work this time.”
Thor smiled back, still feeling surprised. “How did you learn to do that?”
“Mother,” Loki said, tapping the book’s cover. “And reading.”
Thor let out a small laugh. “I do not know why you would use tricks when you could simply meet your enemy head on, but I do admit that is impressive.”
Loki smiled. “Thank you.” He turned and walked back towards his room. “Now if you don’t mind, I am going back to learning my tricks. I do not know why you would meet your enemy head on, when you could simply give the illusion of doing so.”
Thor laughed again and hurried to catch up to his brother, taking his arm. “Loki, wait. What say you that you take your book to the courtyard and we use your new found trick to fool Sif?”
A mischevious look came over Loki’s face. He wasn't going to say no to the chance to both play a prank and demonstrate his newest ability. “If you promise to leave me alone afterwards…”
Thor nodded. “I promise.”
Loki grinned. “Then it’s a deal.” He gestured to the book. “Let us go show what a little reading can do.”
