Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 193

"I don't think we–"

"Yes, we do," Natasha interrupts, already speeding down the hall, presumably to wherever Nathaniel takes his naps.

Laura shakes her head to herself, a slight smile on her face that echoes the look on her husband's. The two share a look, and Clint takes off after his friend.

Laura rests a hand on Wanda's shoulder. "Make yourself at home," she tells her. She looks over at Pietro. "Both of you."

"Thank you, Mrs. Barton," Pietro says politely. (Sometimes Wanda forgets that he can be polite. He's usually just a pain in the ass – in the most loving way possible, of course.)

There's a twinkle of amusement in her eye, and Wanda wonders if she's thinking the same thing. "You can just call me 'Laura.'"

Pietro smiles. "Thank you, Laura."

So Laura goes after her husband, and the four kids – are she and Pietro still considered kids? She feels like they are – are left alone by the door.

Pietro wastes no time in getting down to what he really wants: "I have mastered the DS. I am ready for our Mario Kart rematch."

Cooper grins. "Oh, you're on!"

The two boys run off to go set up their game, and Wanda can't help but smile. She's glad Pietro's having fun. And if Cooper kicks his ass in this game, she'll be ecstatic for him. Somebody needs to knock him down a peg, and who better to do it than a teenage boy who's probably spent the majority of his life playing these kinds of games?

With them gone, it's only Wanda and Lila left, and honestly, she's really not sure what to do now. How do normal young girls spend their time when they're not living on the streets of a war-torn country after their home was destroyed and their parents were killed before their eyes? When she was this age, she was more concerned about staying alive than staying entertained, and she's pretty sure that nothing she used to do on the streets of Sokovia would be of any interest to children who've grown up with smartphones and DSes and Wiis.

Fortunately, it seems that Lila has that covered.

"Wanda?" Lila says. "Have you heard of Rainbow Loom?"

Wanda furrows her brows. "'Rainbow Loom'?" That sounds... interesting? Fun, dare she say? Whatever it is, it sounds like it could be fun. Probably.

Lila grins. "Oh my god, you need to see this," she tells her, and, before Wanda even knows what's happened, Lila's grabbed her hand, pulling her along through the house.

And then they're both seated cross-legged in Lila's bedroom, as the girl pulls out bag after bag after bag of little elastic bands in all different colors. Wanda watches, silent in her curiosity, as Lila goes about setting up whatever elaborate plan she has for them today. She's excited, really. She needs some fun, elaborate, mysterious, colorful activities to keep her occupied.

"Okay," Lila says, plopping a big book between them. "So, this is Rainbow Loom. This is the loom." She pats the little plastic pokey rectangle between them. "And this is, I guess, the rainbow part." She gestures to her collection of elastics.

"What does it do?" Wanda asks. That feels like a very important piece of the puzzle that she's missing right now.

"You use it to make bracelets!"

Wanda cocks her head to the side. "You use this to make bracelets?" The elastics, she can understand, to an extent. The plastic pokey rectangle – the loom, she'd called it? Not so much.

Lila picks up the book and hands it to her. "Look through here and pick which one looks the coolest and I'll show you how to make it!"

Wanda takes the book from her uncertainly, but if this is really what Lila wants her to do, who is she to argue? She sets the book down in front of her and begins flipping through the pages. It makes a little more sense, she thinks, now that she's seen some examples. She can see how, exactly, the rubber bands are used. The loom pattern beside each photo means nothing to her and she certainly couldn't replicate it, but at the very least, she understands what role the elastics play in them.

She wants to choose one that looks simple, but every single one of them looks so hard. Finally, she settles on a design – "Starburst," it's labeled – that has what looks to be a few little flowers in it. It's cute, she thinks – and it looks equally as difficult as the rest of them, so she doesn't feel so bad about asking for it.

"This one?" Lila says, turning the book toward her to get a better look. "I love this one. I have, like, six of them already."

"It's a good one, then?" Wanda asks. That makes her feel better. It can't be too difficult if Lila's already made so many of them.

"It's one of my favorites," Lila tells her. "What colors do you wanna use?"

Wanda sifts through the bags of elastics thoughtfully. The photo has different colors for every little flower, but that sounds a little... young. She's not eight anymore. A rainbow flower bracelet just sounds weird. But maybe...

She pulls out the black elastics. "We could use these for the border," she suggests, "and then the flowers can be..." She pulls out two more bags. "These?"

Lila gives her a curious look. "Red and blue?" she says. "That's a weird combination – no offense; I'm sure it'll look really cute!"

Wanda cracks a smile. That was cute. A horrible save, but cute nonetheless. "Well, my magic is red," she explains, "and when Pietro runs really fast, there's a trail of blue. So red and blue is like me and Pietro."

"Hmm," Lila hums thoughtfully. "I wish I liked my brother as much as you like yours – but my brother's just a pain in the butt."

Wanda laughs. "Pietro can be a pain in the butt, too," she tells her. "But he is my pain in the butt, and unfortunately, I am stuck with him."

Lila nods, a look of understanding on her face that Wanda has to fight not to laugh at. "Yeah..." She purses her lips. "I hope Nathaniel's not as annoying as Cooper. I don't know what I would do if I had to deal with two Coopers."

"I think we're about to find out," Wanda tells her. "Your brother and my brother are allies now. I don't know if we're going to make it out of this alive."

Lila's eyes go comically wide. "Oh no," she whispers.

Wanda just nods. "'Oh no' is right."