Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 83

"Loki?" Steve says cautiously.

Loki hugs his knees to his chest. He's okay. He's going to be okay.

"Loki?" Natasha says slowly. "You alright over there?"

Loki bites his lip and forces a nod. He's going to be okay.

In the silence of the room, all he can hear are his labored breaths as they slowly return to normal. He can feel everybody's eyes on him, and he wishes more than anything that he could just fade into the background again, to disappear from view and hide from the weight of their stares.

Or, at the very least, he could do with a distraction for them. He looks over at the TV. Maybe they could—

His eyes go wide. The TV screen is completely shattered, a kaleidoscope of cracks taking over its display. He stares at it in awe. "Did—" He swallows hard and tries again. "Did I do that?"

"It doesn't matter," Steve says, which is as close to a "yes" as an answer can get. "Are you okay?"

Loki still can't take his eyes off of the TV. He broke it. He broke the TV. Perhaps his favorite thing in this tower, and he broke it.

He lets his head fall forward, smacking his forehead against his knees. He can't believe he broke the TV. And if everyone is still sitting in here, he has to assume that he broke it while they were using it, too, which means he's pissing off himself and the Avengers at the same time.

He should have just gone back to his room.

There's a hand on his back, and he flinches. Immediately, the hand pulls away, and he looks up to see that it was Steve who did it.

"Hey," he says quietly. "Are you okay?"

Loki hesitates, then nods. Yeah, he's okay. He thinks he's okay.

It gets quiet after that. On some level, he's aware that it's quiet because of him, that he's making them uncomfortable, but he doesn't care. As long as it stays quiet long enough for him to get his bearings, he doesn't care why it is.

Finally, Tony comes back, holding an apple in one hand and his Perry the Platypus water bottle in the other. He holds them both out to the god. "Eat. Drink. Don't pass out."

Loki does as he's told, taking a few sips of water and then a bite of the apple. It's kind of nice to have some real food. As much as he loves his ice cream, eating fruit is an unparalleled experience.

Tony plops back down on the couch, looking completely indifferent to the situation that's left everybody else so uncomfortable. "There's another TV four floors down by the stairs," he tells the god. "And I'll see about getting a new one tomorrow."

Loki raises his brows. That's it? It's that easy? He can just use a different TV until they replace it?

Huh.

He can live with that.

Loki takes another bite of his apple, then looks over at Thor. He's still sitting on the floor a few feet away, watching his brother warily.

"Thor?" Loki says quietly. "Can I talk to you?"

"Of course," Thor says, already standing up.

Loki pushes himself to his feet, and he leans against the wall as he catches his balance. God, he's so lightheaded. He takes another sip of water before he dares try to move.

He and Thor leave the room, and Loki ushers him much further from the others than is probably necessary, but he doesn't want this to be a public conversation.