Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 106

Thor rolls his eyes. She's so shameless. It's absolutely ridiculous.

As though reading his thoughts and deciding to call him out on his hypocrisy, Jane rests her head on his shoulder, snuggling up to him much in the way Loki is to Steve. Thor puts his arm around her shoulders, careful not to spill the beer in his hand as he does.

"He's not gonna do it," she says quietly, "is he?"

"Not a chance," Thor replies. It doesn't mean it won't be fun to watch him try.

A minute or so later, Tony comes running back into the room, an Iron Man glove on his hand. He grabs onto the hammer again and tries to pull, using not only all his strength but the features of his glove as well.

When that doesn't work, Tony grabs Rhodey and drags him out of the room. They return shortly after, this time, both wearing blasters on their hands. Thor knows perfectly well that this isn't going to work, but still, he sits back and watches as they both grab onto the hammer, trying their best to move it and bickering the whole time.

Bruce tries next, and his attempts to Hulk out without actually Hulking out, and the secondhand embarrassment is strong with that one. Darcy is very eager to try next, and Thor decides against mentioning that she tries to pick the hammer up nearly every time he sees her and never succeeds. Needless to say, this is another one of those times. They manage to coax Sam into giving it a try, too, but he makes it clear he's not expecting it to work even before he touches the hammer, so it's not as much of a disappointment when he can't pick it up.

Clint looks over at Natasha. "You wanna give it a go?"

Natasha chuckles. "Oh, no, that's not a question I need answered."

Loki looks up at Steve. "Are you going to try?"

Steve shakes his head. "I think I know when I'm beat."

"Aw, come on," Tony says. "You gotta try it once."

"Oh, I don't know–"

Loki sits up, giving him all the freedom to move. "I think you're underestimating yourself, Stevie," she says. "If anybody is worthy, it would be you."

Steve shakes his head to himself. "I doubt that, but..." He pushes himself to his feet and walks up to Mjolnir. He rolls up his sleeves, and, out of the corner of his eye, Thor catches his sister licking her lips at the sight. She's taking this charade way too far. Steve, fortunately, is oblivious, and he grabs onto the handle, giving it a firm tug.

Mjolnir moves.

It's just a little bit. It barely budges. He's not wielding it – he's not even holding it – but he moved it. Thor's eyes go wide, and he immediately looks at Loki. He'd really hoped to see a smirk on her face, some indication that this is just a trick. Instead, she looks just as surprised as he does.

What the fuck is going on?

But Steve seems oblivious, as does everyone else, and when he gives up, there's a collective murmur of disappointment. Thor chuckles awkwardly. That was... strange.

As Steve goes to sit back down, Loki stands up, and Thor already knows this is going to be bad.

"I really don't understand what all the fuss is about," she says. "It's only a hammer." She walks up to Mjolnir, wrapping her hand around the handle. "A heavy hammer, perhaps, but only a hammer."

She pulls on the handle, and it comes off the table with ease. Everybody gasps as she holds it high above her head. Thor just rolls his eyes. He'll give her a moment to have her fun before he exposes her little trick.