𝐄𝐓𝐎𝐈𝐋𝐄 ━ loki laufeyson¹·¹

11│RACE TO THE FINISH

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❛ ᴇᴛᴏɪʟᴇ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ʀᴀᴄᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ғɪɴɪsʜ ꒱


❝ SIGNING YOUR LIFE
AWAY IS A FATE WORSE
THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE ❞

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A S G A R D

Loki usually viewed sleeping as a waste of time and strove to do it as little as possible, only giving in when his needs demanded it. There was so much to learn that he hardly thought five thousand years was enough to do it in, and an extra eight hours a night was essential in the additional amount of time that he needed. But, as he'd told Eleanora, she was likely to convince him to do things that would normally be against his nature— sleeping being one of them, and keeping promises being another.

There were very few people that he kept his word for. Actually, just one person thus far: his mother. Now, that total was up to two, and he wasn't planning on adding any more people to that list. After all, he had a reputation to maintain. And, as Captain Shakespeare had said, they took years to build and seconds to destroy. But this was definitely one promise he wouldn't be breaking: he would ensure Eleanora's freedom even if it meant giving up his own. It wasn't even that much of a sacrifice; there was a certain sense of pride in the knowledge that she would be his forever, a prize stolen from his father. (Of course, he didn't see her as a prize, but the fact still remained.)

In order to guarantee the success of his plan— which was already filled with contingencies— he needed to take stock of where their potential enemies were (the witch that had tried to kill Eleanora) and any other opponents that they might face in the short distance to the palace (namely Thor and his friends.) Plus, there was a small amount of time to do reconnaissance and see if anything about the Vanir princess had popped up without his knowledge. He'd never had the need to keep track of her before, so maybe there was someone who knew something that he hadn't looked into.

He woke early the next morning with these things in mind. Eleanora was still asleep, curled up next to him. It was terribly tempting to stay in bed and wake her slowly with a trail of kisses down her neck to her bare shoulder, taking the morning soft and slow, but leaving now without her knowledge would ensure that they'd get many more mornings like that. So, with great reluctance and discipline, Loki rose without waking her, gathered his clothes and dressed.

Stepping quietly out of the room, he made his way down to the main foyer of the inn. An employee was drowsing in a chair at the desk with his hat over his eyes. His arms were crossed and his chin was angled sharply towards his chest. He was even snoring. The god scoffed at the lack of service, used to much more attentive staff. Mercilessly, he allowed a faint zip of magic to shock the man awake.

He startled, letting out an embarrassing high-pitched yelp as he was jerked from sleep. But, instead of resuming his duties, he merely shot the prince a glare. "What?"

If he hadn't been wearing his illusion disguise, the man would certainly not be so pompous as to address his prince that way. As it was, since no one would know it was him, Loki abandoned the pretense of manners and said tersely, "for you to do your job, for one thing. For another, a piece of paper and a pen."

"Ask me again at a more reasonable hour," came the blasé reply as the employee seemingly settled back into his nap.

"No, I can't. I have to go. Look, if my. . ." Here, Loki paused as he wasn't sure what to call Eleanora exactly. It would be an insult to label her a friend as they were certainly more than that, but was lover too bold? Settling on what felt like the best option, he continued: ". . .partner wakes up before I get back give her a message."