Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 50

"Um, I suppose." Loki opens the door further and steps back to let her in.

"If that's crossing any boundaries —" Pepper says quickly.

"No, no, I don't mind," Loki assures her.

Pepper gives him a small smile and steps in the room. Loki makes a point of not closing the door so she doesn't feel trapped, but Pepper closes it anyway. She's full of surprises tonight.

Her gaze drifts to the wall the door had been covering, smashed up and cracked all over — practically a gaping hole with shards of plaster throughout. "What happened there?"

"Oh, that was..." Loki trails off. I accidentally threw your boyfriend into the wall when he woke me up from a nightmare. Yeah, maybe that's not the best answer. "Not important," he finishes finally.

Pepper nods slowly. "Right..."

Loki leans against a non-broken portion of the wall and crosses his arms — then uncrosses them when he realizes that might give off the wrong impression. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, no, it's fine," Pepper says. "I just wanted to talk to you alone, 'cause I think I came off a little strong this morning."

Loki shakes his head. "If that is why you are here, you needn't have come. I know I was being rather difficult this morning, but I did enjoy myself."

She raises her brows. "Really?"

"Really," Loki says. "Very rarely can I coexist with most of the Avengers or their associates. This was a pleasant surprise."

"It just didn't look like you really wanted to be there," Pepper says.

"Admittedly, I did not at first," Loki says. "I do not mean to speak ill of your love, but we tend not to get along. When he changed his tune for the morning, I was rather skeptical, but it was a surprisingly enjoyable experience."

"Oh, good!" Pepper says, and her relief is visible on her face. "I just — I really wanted to thank you for staying with me yesterday."

Loki shakes his head. "You do not need to thank me."

"No, I do," Pepper says. "You didn't have to check on me at all, but you stayed with me all day anyway. And I really appreciate that, more than you know."

Loki gives her a small smile. "Of course." He hopes that will be the end of it; she'll accept that response for what it is and move on. She doesn't.

"I know you don't want to be in Stark Tower," she says. "But if there's anything I can do to make it any better..."

"Do not feel as though you owe me anything," Loki says. She doesn't. He certainly wasn't expecting anything in return.

"But I really feel like I do," Pepper says. "You helped me so much—"

"You do not owe me anything," Loki repeats firmly. He can tell that's not going to work, so he softens his tone. "If I tell you something in confidence, will you not disclose it to anyone else? For any reason?"

"Yeah, of course," Pepper says, her brows creased with concern.

"I had been in your situation before," he tells her. "I know what it feels like to be scared and alone; at the mercy of a merciless being. I would not wish that on anyone. That is why I stayed."

"What?" Pepper's concern doesn't waver, though now there's an added air of sympathy mixed in. "God, that's awful. Are you okay?"

"I am now," Loki says. He wasn't at the time. He wasn't sure that he'd ever be okay at the time. But he's okay now. "And you? Are you okay?"