(1) Alis Propriis Volat (Loki)

Chapter Nine

Astoria is at the bar making drinks in the Purgatory version of the Hargreeves Mansion. Loki looks around from the centre of the room. There is no sign of Bert this time. Clearly off somewhere wreaking havoc. Eating someone. Loki pulls a face as he waits. That's not something he thought he'd be thinking about. Loki looks down at his clothing as it changes, his armour transforming into something much more Earth-like. A tailored three-piece suit. Black with green lining and gold buttons. It's a very nice suit.

"What are you doing?" He asks though, eyes flickering to Astoria.

"Your armour was a little garish" Astoria answers. "Can't have been comfortable either, all that stiff leather" He touches the suit he now wears. She appears to be more powerful here. In this dimension. Less constrained. Less restrained. He hums a little and moves around the living room, looking over the bookcase which is filled to the brim with books on everything. Crime. Fantasy. History. He pauses and taps the spine of a book. It's a book on Asgard. He frowns and opens it up but it's empty. She never read it so she can't replicate it. He sets it back on the shelf and moves along it, eyes shifting up to the portrait of the Umbrella Academy students. They are all smiling in it but there is something off about the smiles. Forced, cartoonish stretched type smiles. Overcompensating. He moves again. Shifting around the room.

"Who is this?" He asks, it is clear that he is part of the family, he is wearing the same uniform as the others, but he has his own portrait.

"Hmm?" She asks.

"The boy in the painting" He motions up at the painting. She looks across at him and then back at the drinks she is working on.

"That's Five" She answers. "He went missing when we were teenagers" Loki stares at the portrait a moment more before shaking his head.

"Why do you have a cannibal that resides here?" He asks her as he turns to face her.

"Bert was..." She stops and then sighs. "How to explain" She mumbles to herself. "His parents were cannibals" She offers as she pours out the two drinks. "Raised him in that life...he had no choice" She shrugs a little. "By the time I met him....it was too late. He was older, branching out on his own..." She moves to him and gives him one of the glasses. "His parents were meant to teach him what was right and wrong and they failed. Taught him that eating his fellow humans was the right thing" She shrugs. "It wasn't his fault but he couldn't be allowed to carry on....prison wouldn't have helped him, so I brought him here. I'm trying to...detox him...."

"How's that working out?" Loki asks her dryly remembering that Bert almost ate him.

"Slow" She answers and smirks at him. His features then shift into something more serious.

"I know what you're doing" He states as she drops onto the couch.

"And what am I doing?" She inquires.

"Offering me a shoulder" He comments. "A friend" She hums. "Someone to talk to..."

"Actually all I've offered you is a drink" She points out and takes a drink of her margarita. "Unless it is not to your satisfaction, I can make you something else" Loki looks at the drink in his hand.

"No, it is fine" He argues. "And is it not what you are doing?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you want to cosy up to me, get me drunk, maybe then I'll let slip where the tesseract is...." She hums a little.

"That would have been smart" She comments and pulls a face.

"That's not what you're doing?" He asks her, she shakes her head.

"No, no, I was just distracting you so I could read your mind" She admits, Loki gives her a look. "Not for the tesseract mind you...You don't know what it is" She downs the entire drink, sets the glass on the side table and then stands. "For Agent Barton"

"So I am here so you can simply gather information and not..." He stops and shakes his head, scoffing slightly at his own stupidity. She moves closer to him.

"Why can't it be both?" She asks him. "Why can't I want information and offer an olive branch?" He snorts and shakes his head. "Trust issues?" She teases, he shoots her a look.

"With good reason" He argues.

"Have I lied to you?" She asks him, he taps his fingers on his arms as he folds them over his chest as he ponders this. As far as he is aware, no, she has yet to lie to him. Everything she's spoken of has been truthful and honest. That's something that he isn't used to from people.

"No" He voices, she gives him a look and he sighs before he moves around her, heading towards the bar instead, her eyes follow him, waiting for him to elaborate a little. "So I give you Barton" He muses as he sets his glass down, turning to lean on the bar a little. "And I get?" He draws out.

"What do you want?" He opens his mouth to answer. "And you can't say Earth, that's not allowed" She is quick to add. He huffs and closes his mouth. He thinks on it a moment.

"Very well..." He hums a little. "Can I at least be allowed to return to Asgard?" He asks, at least back at home he can replot, try and come up with another plan. Be free to do so. To come up with something else.

"I'm sure they'd prefer it" She points out as she sits on the back of the couch. He touches the edge of his glass and then nods.

"Very well" He agrees and looks at her. She raises an eyebrow back at him. That seems very easy. "You have been remarkably honest with me" He comments, she nods. "So, for that...I will give you Barton, and then return home"