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THE LIBRARY WAS MUCH BIGGER THAN SERENA EXPECTED IT TO BE, with towering gold pillars that held the high ceiling in place. Endless rows of shelves riddled with books each looking older and thicker than the last, with intricate golden trimmings and embroidered leather covers. Serena was taken aback by the sheer size of it all, and to think that this was considered the small library blew the girl away even more.
"Are you sure this is the smallest one?" She asked, wide eyes still taking in the view. From beside her, Loki nodded, scanning the shelves with diluted interest leaving Serena feeling immensely out of her depth. She was still fairly new to the concept of lavish living, having spent her whole life in the same small home residing in a fairly poor village.
"Have you ever gotten lost?" The question caused the prince to chuckle, the sound replacing her weary expression with a small smile that illuminated her eyes.
"No, I haven't, but perhaps Volstagg in a drunken stupor?" He looked content with his joke, and though the name sounded vaguely familiar Serena couldn't place from where. It felt silly of her to ask who he meant, seeing as how he referenced the name assuming she knew who he was talking about. Not wanting to make her new (and only) friend feel awkward, she was about to play along when Loki's words cut her off, "Have you not met him yet?"
"I am not sure," Serena admitted bashfully, a blush creeping up her neck at the lame confession.
"Strange, he is one of your father's friends, I thought he would have introduced you by now." Silence took the place of words as embarrassment shifted into shame and Serena couldn't find the voice to speak.
Loki was observant, but it didn't take a scholar to read the girl before him like a chapter from a novel. Although her mind was difficult to decipher at times, her face tended to reveal her emotions like a canvas streaked in paint. She had a tendency to cower into herself, a trait he didn't find at all amusing and instead concerning— though it wasn't his place to care.
Sure, they were friends... but were they really? He hardly even knew anything about her besides a few spare details, and the use she once held to him had blatantly run out just a few moments prior. So why was he still hanging around? He had no reason to be. He could have easily promised his help another day and just never followed through, but here he was standing in the library ready to search for a story he didn't even know.
Loki was fairly confused.
But what he wasn't so confused about was the part of his stomach that tightened when her eyes lowered to the floor and she picked nervously at the skin on her thumb. Fingernails scratching at the raw skin until another piece of it began to flake away, ripping at the piece until it fell to the floor turning into dust. It made him uncomfortable when she was so candidly upset, and although he didn't fully understand why, he wasn't too keen on digging too deep to find out.
