♉ of course you'll be distracted when I spike the punch

[liesmith]

After sending Darcy along home with her exsanguinating friend, he returns to his own apartment (bought and paid for with false papers and rerouted funds and cloaked to the gills from any and all prying eyes, S.H.I.E.L.D.-employed or otherwise) to watch over the bustle of activity surrounding the Lewis residence. He doesn't peer into the apartment proper - Darcy's made that line very evident after a prior misunderstanding - but he does see the good captain carted off to medical facilities unknown. There's a momentary debate about whether or not to send a shadow clone after Rogers, to further plant the seeds of curiosity and doubt, but... Loki decides against it. If he's done his work properly then it will only be a matter of time until the captain comes looking for him.

This entire endeavor was meant to be so much simpler before Darcy had swept in in a poor imitation of her heroically inclined colleagues. Oh, well. Still, one must follow through on things.

So it is that Loki Silvertongue sits in the outdoor dining area of a local restaurant with a steaming cup of black tea. Clearing his throat, he raises his eyebrows at his guest and waits for acknowledgment.

Comments

[usavatar]

"I know he wants his life back," Steve says, coldly. "And SHIELD is trying to help him. Really trying to help him, not offering him a way out that could destroy half a dozen other things."

He scowls down at his coffee, though the expression has an edge of sadness to it. "I want him to be able to go home, to live like he wants to- but I don't trust you to give him that."

[liesmith]

Loki tilts his head, watching Steve for some shard of something, but comes away with nothing. After long moments of observation, he chuckles darkly.

"And you trust S.H.I.E.L.D. to?" Shaking his head, he takes another bite of food, half-smirking as he chews. "How utterly droll." Loki dabs at the corner of his mouth (though there's nothing there to be wiped away) and places the napkin to the side. "You truly and honestly believe that such an organization would work to deprive itself of one of its greatest tactical assets simply because it's the right thing to do? Oh, my dear captain..."

The now empty plate goes to join the growing pile of likewise at Loki's elbow. He fixes Steve with a frank, direct stare. "It's a wonder you've managed thus far, but you do yourself no favors being this ridiculously naive."

[usavatar]

He has to believe it. He has to believe the people he works with and for are as dedicated to right as he is, that protecting people means protecting their own just as much.

He really, really wants to believe it, but for all that he's an optimist, he's not an idiot.

"Dr. Banner can do it," he says, very quiet. "Please, leave him alone."

[liesmith]

"Of course, of course. I'm sure it won't take him another..." Loki purses his lips, brows knitting as he mockingly tallies out on his fingers. "Oh, eight years? Surely not that long before he manages to get anywhere." The waitress reappears at his elbow to refill his tea, and he waves a hand dismissively at her to leave the pot and go about her other tables. She seems relieved as she bustles away with nary a backward glance. Focusing his oh-so-sharp smile at Steve, his eyes flash with something. "And even if he does, you've all set him up so comfortably he'll not even notice the passing of time. That is aside from whatever little errand you've need of him next, but we all have our minor distractions."

[usavatar]

Steve is rapidly approaching the same state of depression he was under when Darcy found him at the museum. He sets the cup down and starts to get up. "Thank you for the coffee," he says.

[liesmith]

"Oh, no, my darling captain," Loki replies with a roguish wink and a too-bright smirk. "Thank you."

And with that, he disappears between one blink and the next. He leaves Steve with that growing disquiet in the pit of his stomach, a table full of neatly emptied plates, and their obliviously relieved waitress heading over with the bill.