Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 104

Tony pulls his hand free. "You're so dramatic," he mutters. "It was just a SHIELD thing. We had to clean up the mess we left behind. It's over. Forget about it."

Loki narrows his eyes, jutting his jaw out in frustration.

"It's nothing," Thor assures him. "I cannot imagine why Father does not want you to know. It's truly nothing you need concern yourself with."

Loki grits his teeth and pushes himself to his feet. "I've put up with your secrets and your stupid movie. I don't want to watch this ridiculous game, too." And with that, he walks out of the room.

"Hey!" Tony hops off the couch and follows him. Why he's chasing after the temperamental god when he'd usually be more than happy to let him walk away, he's not entirely sure. Maybe it's just because today is supposed to be fun. They finished their mission. They found the scepter — and Tony has three days to do whatever he wants with it. This should be good. And Loki is making it very hard to enjoy it.

So he chases after him, catching him just outside of the man cave in an attempt to make peace. "You really want us to play Super Mario Bros again? We'll play Super Mario Bros. I don't care."

Loki stops walking, letting his head fall back in exasperation. "I don't care what you play."

"Yeah, you do, or you wouldn't be throwing a temper tantrum about it," Tony reminds him.

"I am not 'throwing a temper tantrum,'" Loki snaps. "I am bored. You are boring. I am leaving."

Tony scoffs. "Seriously, what's up with you?" he asks. "You've been all stand-offish since we got back."

Loki rolls his eyes and turns to leave.

"What do you want me to do, Loki?" Tony asks, growing as exasperated as Loki is. "You're killing the vibe."

"I do not care what you do," Loki says irritably. "Just leave me out of it."

"So you can go mope in your room?" Tony asks. "'Cause that's still going to kill the vibe, knowing that you're moping in your room."

"I am not moping," he snaps. "I'm tired. I'm going to sleep."

"You and I both know that's not true," Tony says.

Loki glares at him — which is usually a valid reaction, but he's not sure what he did to deserve that right now. Of course Loki's not going to sleep. He hates sleeping.

Tony sighs. "Look, you can do whatever you want," he says. "If you want to go to bed, go to bed. But I think you should take a deep breath, calm down, maybe grab some ice cream, and come back and spend the night with us. I'll put Super Mario Bros in. Just think on it, okay?" He pats him on the shoulder, then walks away, leaving Loki to fend for himself. What he decides to do next is up to him. Tony's done his part.

Everybody is eagerly watching the doorway when Tony steps back into the man cave, and instantly, he's bombarded by questions he can hardly make out.

"I don't know what his deal is," Tony says, making his way to the Wii to change the disc. "I think he's just mad we still won't tell him about the you-know-what."

"We can tell him once we've found a safe place for it," Thor says. "But at least until I've taken it to Asgard, he cannot know—"

"Jeez, lower your voice," Tony interrupts. "No wonder he's so pissed off. You're not even trying to keep it quiet."

Thor furrows his brows. "But he's not here."

"No, but he could come back," Tony says. "Or he could hear you from the hallway. You just don't have to be so loud about it." He hates to say he feels bad for Loki, but he kind of feels bad for Loki. Thor's not exactly the most sensitive of brothers. "I told him to take a minute and come back," he says. "I got no idea if he's going to do it, but if he does..." He gestures to the TV. "Super Mario Bros."