Blue || Bucky Barnes

86. Secrets Of Olympus

"...So I can show you that OR I have this fantastic library where I spend 95% of my days here on Olympus." Aura suggests.
"You have a library." Loki's eyes sparkle with wonder.
"Well of course I do."
"Show it to me.. please." Aura grins at the god's enthusiasm nodding with a wide grin. "We must be quiet."
Loki nods heading her warning as they slip through the magnificent rooms of the palace. Aura stops by one of the columns and curiously and cautiously looks both ways. "Come on." She waves slipping across the marble floors to a pair of grand doors. She opens them gently and there's a tremendous squeaking. "Quick, quick!" She hurries him inside essentially slamming the door. "Well here we are."
Aura's calmness makes Loki let go of the door handle and turn around. His eyes fall upon the scene before him. Every wall his eyes land is covered in book clad shelves. There's ceilings at least forty feet high, tall enough for there to be a second story. There's beautiful murals of different scenes on the ceiling flowing effortlessly together as one. Terrace like balconies wrap around the curves of the room allowing the reader to pick absolutely any novel on the shelf. Tall ladders of varying sizes litter the walls also to able the reader. The room is unlike anything else in the palace. It's dark wood shelves are a far contrast from the marble outside. It's almost as if they're in a new place entirely. The floors are tiled and the only similarity between this and the rest of the palace is the use of golden accents. The lighting is warm as Loki looks around the room. It's almost a T shape, the shelves create a sort of arch way on both sides leading into more rooms, the walls still covered in books and ahead of them is a fireplace embedded in the only piece of wall not covered in books.
"Are you alright?" Aura's voice breaks through Loki's awe.
"Yes, why yes! This is magnificent!" He exclaims and Aura smiles genuinely.

-

Laughter rings about the library, bouncing off the bookshelves. Loki and Aura sit on one of the balconies curled up in the corner, clutching novels to their chests while others are sprawled about them, tears forming in their eyes from the deep laughter.
"I'd forgotten about that one." Loki tries to control himself wiping a stray tear that wanders down his cheek.
"Alright, alright. Well now show me your favourite." Upon their entrance Aura had explained to Loki exactly how the library is situated. How each novel is ordered and how easy it really is to find what you want. Upon this Loki had gone to the exact section where he knew he could find what he wanted. Of course he did get caught up along the way pulling several other pieces of literature as he went, he couldn't help himself. Aura watched on in awe as he scaled each ladder and ran about the terrace balconies with sparkling eyes. Never had she met anyone quite so interested in literature as her.

"I couldn't possibly choose just one." He says slightly flustered by her request.
"Would you just read me one then?" Aura asks in a low tone truly hoping he will read one of the many passages in the book she recognises. "Anything that springs to mind?"
Loki looks at her for a moment with raised eyebrows considering his options. "I don't see why not." He smiles briefly flicking through the pages to find exactly the passage he's looking for.

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date;
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."

A silence falls upon them after Loki finishes the passage. Aura's hands rest on her chest as her gaze falls upon the man beside her, Loki's however linger on the page.
"Must you stare?" A tiny smile forms on his lips yet his tone holds nothing but seriousness.
Aura averts her eyes to the ceiling by his request letting out a small breath. "Why is that your favourite?" She asks.
Loki doesn't answer her question, his eyes still on the passage, memories flashing through his mind. Aura sits up, noticing his unwillingness to disclose the reason.
"I don't mean to pry-"
"I just read it a lot as a child." Loki's reasoning is brief but Aura still feels as if there's more to the story, though she doesn't push it further. Loki closes the book gently, turning towards her offering a smile that doesn't reach his eyes. The silence consumes them once again and Aura racks her brain trying to fill it.