Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 156

The more he thinks about it, the more he feels he should have gone with pasta. It's hard to mess up pasta.

"Well, I guess that's better than 'no,'" Steve says.

"If you'd feel more comfortable making dinner..." He was kind of hoping that he could make it himself – a rare feat; he'll make himself easy meals, but he never cooks for other people – but if Steve doesn't trust his cooking, he'll give up his crappy "sorry for beating the shit out of you" apology meal.

"No, you can do it," Steve says. "I don't really want to do anything I don't have to today."

Loki gives him a small smile in understanding. He doesn't blame the guy at all.

So Steve heads to the bathroom, and Loki heads to the kitchen to get their grilled cheeses started.

Nobody's ever really shown him how to make grilled cheese. He's mostly learned by watching others – Steve especially – do it and trying to copy it from memory. He'll find out today, he's sure, if he's been doing something wrong all along. At least it's just Steve. He doesn't mind when Steve corrects his failed attempts at acting like a person. At least he does so nicely.

Unfortunately, Loki's only just finished setting his grilled cheese up when Clint, Nathasha, Wanda, and Pietro all file into the kitchen.

It's not just Steve, then.

Wonderful.

Natasha raises her brows when she sees him. "Oh, hey. Didn't realize you'd be in here."

"Well, it is dinner time and this is the only kitchen," Loki says. He's not sure why it's a surprise that he chose to use it.

"Yeah, but you're also outside twenty hours a day and you don't have a clock out there," she reminds him. "I feel like you never eat dinner at dinner when the sun's up unless Steve's here."

He must admit, she does make a fair point. "I will be eating with Rogers," Loki tells her. Although if they're here, they must be making dinner, too, so maybe... "Unless he'd rather eat with you."

Natasha shrugs. "We can all eat together."

Pietro furrows his brows. "No, we cannot," he says. "Mac n cheese takes much longer to cook than a grilled cheese sandwich."

Natasha rolls her eyes. "Then we can all cook together. I don't care."

Clint nods his head in Loki's direction. "How'd you get him out of bed?"

Loki shrugs awkwardly. "The promise of dinner."

Natasha clicks her tongue. "Food is a good motivator," she agrees. "Where is he now?"

"On his way," Loki replies. He's not going to discuss anyone's bathroom habits with the Avengers. That's just weird. That would be like him telling them how his cell in Asgard didn't have a toilet, and he'd never do that.

A pot floats out of one the kitchen draws and makes its way to the sink, where it rests as the faucet turns on to fill it up. The faint scarlet hue that surrounds it says exactly whose doing it is.

Clint looks at Wanda, amused. "You know, I was going to do that in a minute."

Wanda shrugs sheepishly. "It's easier like this."

Loki cracks a smile in spite of himself. This sounds familiar. If he had a dollar for every time somebody in Asgard questioned his decision to use magic, he could buy...

How does Midgardian currency work?

Well, he's sure he could buy something, and that's what matters.

Wanda notices his smile, and it gets a slight smile from her, too. Whether she's reading his thoughts or just appreciates that she could make him smile instead of scowl the way she frequently does, he doesn't know, and he's sure he doesn't want to.