Your Way Out

The Empty Prince

Loki's presence was intense. Cold. Like opening the door on a winter morning. I could feel the rush of flurries skim over my skin and whip through the air like shards of ice. Even dressed in his extravagant Asgardian clothes, he was intimidating. I always found the leather and cape to be a bit silly, but that was when I was judging him based on pictures alone. Standing in the same room was an entirely different feeling. 

He didn't greet me. He didn't speak. He didn't have to. He picked his gaze up from the floor and pierced me with his steel blue eyes. One sudden glance and I was struck. Paralyzed. My feet welded to the floor and my limbs were stiff. My arms squeezed around his file as I buried the folder into my chest. His jaw was clinched with annoyance. Time ticked away. His time, specifically. It was like he was watching grains of sand slip through the narrow spout of an hourglass. Every second I stood there in dumbfounded silence was a second I owed back. I could feel in frustration. His pale lithe body was tense. Muscles flexing and relaxing. His long slender fingers extended and folded back into aggressive fists. 

"G-good morning," my voice hurriedly swam out of my throat. My lips trembled as my brain worked overtime to process words used in casual conversation.

Loki didn't reply. Not with words at least. He tilted his head slightly to the side and narrowed his sharp eyes. My heart bounced and my chest shuddered timidly. A cold chill trailed down my spine. 

"My name is Elaina Bright and I'd like to ask you a few questions, if that's okay," with every ounce of courage I could muster, I took a single baby step forwards and reached for the plastic blue chair that sat at his writing desk. "Mind if I sit down?"

"If you must," he replied. His voice was low, raspy with the familiar coarse drag of exhaustion. 

"Have you been sleeping well?"

"Like a baby," 

Even if I couldn't feel his level of fatigue, there was so much evidence in his room that he hasn't been sleeping. His bed was neatly made. Completely untouched. Dark circles hung heavy under his eyes. His usually slick and neat hair had fallen out of place. Strands of raven black hair cascaded over his sickly alabaster face. His chest pulled and pushed long drags of air, like a person desperate to fall asleep. Despite all of this, Loki managed to keep his composure. 

"Are you sure? It can be difficult to rest in a place like this, given your history with S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Is it your job to bagger me about my sleeping habits?" he snapped. 

"No. I'm sorry. I need to ask you a few questions about your presence here on Midgard and the lack of presence of your brother, Thor."

Loki rolled his eyes and chuckled to himself. "I can't help you, sorry. I'd love to, but I can't. Can I go now?"

"Mr. Laufeyson, you're considered a top level threat as far as S.H.I.E.L.D. is concerned. Your arrival on Earth is not taken lightly and we need to take every precaution to make sure you're not a danger to our people," I said confidently. For a moment I almost sounded like a real professional, but Loki was smarter than that.

He smiled. He was genuinely amused. 

"That's very cute. Did you rehearse that in a mirror?" he grumbled. 

He pulled himself from his spot on the wall and took one long stride towards me. Confidently he approached me with a mischievous smirk creeping over his face. I couldn't move. I wanted to get up and bolt for the door, but my body betrayed me. 

He inched closer. Soon he was standing over me. His tall lean physique towered over me as I sat timidly in my little plastic chair. He leaned down, his face closing in on mine. His eyes were cold and stern, but his lips were perked into a small smile.

"Next time, try to make sure your lip isn't quivering," he said.

He brought his finger up to my mouth. Before he touched my trembling lip he said, "You look like a scared little bunny." 

I didn't have enough time to react. The touch of his finger tip to my lip felt like a dam bursting. There was an immediately look of regret plastered all over Loki's face. The levee broke. Everything Loki felt in that exact moment washed over me. 

A frozen tidal wave crashed over my body. I'd never felt this cold before. It was dark here. Cold and dark. This was his fear. The wave collapsed into me and I was taken under into its grim depths. It was an empty abyss. It was like being numb and anxious at the same time. I could feel my heart racing, beating desperately to break out of my chest, but I was helpless to stop it. 

Loki pulled away quickly. I sucked in large gulps of air, but as soon as it hit my lungs I began to choke on it. I fell out of my chair and hit the cold linoleum floor. My skin greeted the sting of slapping the tile like an old friend. I'd never been so happy to feel pain before. To feel something. 

"What the hell did you do to me?" Loki stomped over to me but pulled himself away as he second guessed touching me again.

I desperately gasped for air as my lungs battled with my body whether they should let it in, or if I was going to drown from it. Eventually I regained some semblance of stability. Enough of it to find my voice again.

"I'm an empath," I panted deeply, "I can physically feel the emotions of those around me. Your emotions can manifest within me. That's how I know you haven't slept since you got here. That's how I know you're scared. I don't know what you're scared of, but you're terrified. When you touched me, you gave me a glimpse of the emotional baggage you're holding in there."

His face was hard like pale marble. His lips tight pink ribbons as he clinched his jaw. I watched his chest pull in deep angry gulps of air as his eyes ensnared me like a vine whip. There was something about the raw intensity emanating from the furious Asgardian that stirred something strange inside me. His presence. His strong stance. The way he towered over me, looking down at me with fire reflecting in his dark navy eyes. 

"That's enough, I think," Loki growled.

Before I could steady myself and find a retort, the door unlocked with a loud clang. A series of mechanisms switching around the large metal door creaked and scraped together. Then it swung open and a guard tapped me on the shoulder. I quickly collected my things. Holding the folder in a vice against my chest. I could another glance at Loki before exiting his room. His hands were balled into a fist, muscles flexing through his snowy skin. He loosened his grip, extending his long fingers like an animal revealing their claws. For a second I thought I caught the glimpse of a perverse smile lay across his tense handsome face.