Caged Bird

6

Jane stands in front of Loki's cell. He is sitting against the wall in the same space he was before. There are a dozen guards around her. She ignores them. The barrier falls and she walks towards him, his eyes fixed on the floor. She does not know if he sees her. She steps up into the cell and walks forward, crouching down as she does so she can sit beside him. But two steps in, her surroundings change and she freezes. He is no longer in front of her and she slowly stands, the rocky, blackened landscape still and silent. She hears a boot crunch behind her and she turns slowly.

"Welcome to Svartalfheim, Miss Jane. Or at least a small sliver of it." He stands, regal, in the same armour she saw him fight in, battered and dusty, the only other living thing on a barren planet. This is the one detail she remembers from Svartalfheim. There were no plants. She had wondered if this is what the planet had always looked like, or if this is what the Aether did to living things.

"We are actually still in your cell, right? Because if this is some kind of portal..."

He is quick to reassure her, "No, no, you are still in Asgard. It is no portal, only illusion."

"Oh thank god- it's been over three decades and I still don't want to ever really go back there...here."

"You have brought guards."

"Only because I had to. No guards, no visit."

"Ah. You do not trust me."

She shakes her head, "Actually, not my call. Remember, Midgardian? Not really in charge of anything around here."

"But you are the prince's consort."

She scoffs, "If by consort you mean 'girlfriend who doesn't actually get to do anything other than sit in her room listening to her iPod all day'...then sure, call me whatever you want. But if you think I get to go anywhere or do anything or even be his date to fancy formal kingy things...nope, wrong word."

Loki sits on a boulder that looks surprisingly like his cot and gestures to the space beside him, "Please?"

She does, and catches a strong whiff of stale sweat and unwashed clothes, but it vanishes quickly, "I shouldn't complain, but I'm just tired of coming here and seeing zilch. I'm a scientist, I'm curious! I want to go see things, explore the city, watch kids play with toys that make my head spin...but he's always so busy. The gardens are about as far as I go unless I'm meeting with other sciencey people."

"It has been how many years?"

"Thirty- since the beginning. And I still sit and watch old movies all day half the time. It's crap. I could do that at home and there I'd have a freezer full of ice cream. Here? I have to call somebody to go find it for me and then they don't know what I want because there's no Ben and Jerry's in this realm. Nobody here knows what Cherry Garcia is."

"Is this why you visit me? Because you are bored and have nothing else to do?"

She shakes her head, "No. Maybe at first, but I actually like coming down here. You're somebody to talk to. Somebody who doesn't just call me 'Thor's Midgardian' like I'm some kind of pet. Did you know he sneaked off to go out with his friends, telling me it was an urgent summons from Odin? He lied. He said he didn't want to hurt me by leaving me out, but still...what the hell, Thor?"

"You will always know exactly where to find me. I cannot sneak off with my friends."

"OK, so sort of, yeah...but I'm still not exactly sure where you're going to be when I get here. Were you ever actually in the rose garden?"

"Yes."

"But let me guess- other times you were here and you just didn't want me to know it."

"Clever. How did you ever guess?"

"Don't be a sarcastic ass, OK? I've been to the garden. It's amazing. But even you wouldn't want to just sit there for the rest of your life. But why here? Aren't there better places fake?"

"It is quiet here."

"Bullshit. It's your illusion, any place could be quiet. Tell me why you're really here." He says nothing, "Come on, I know you know how to be honest."

"Hasn't Thor filled your head with the belief that I am incapable of honesty?"

"He's been pretty gracious, all things considered. He sure doesn't trust you."

"Nor should you."

"Oh? And why not?"

"Because I am Loki, of Jotunheim, and I am chaos."

She rolls her eyes, "Melodrama much? If you don't want to tell me, just say so. I'll wait and bug you again next time."

"There will be a next time?"

"Yep. So long as I'm out of here in..." she checks her watch, "five minutes. Otherwise there's going to be a whole ton of confused guards rushing in here to save me from the big bad Loki."

"So that is their purpose. Rush in when the damsel is in distress like charging cattle. I am certain that would be an effective manner of assessing your situation and not trampling you to death in the process."

"Well if they don't know if they're seeing the real me or not, what do you think they're going to do? Ask? You could be controlling everything."

"The only way to stop me if I were would be...oh. Right."

"Yeah, stabby stabby. But even that's a stupid idea. Thor told me about your little body switching game thing there during your jailbreak. They could stab me instead."

"So what, Miss Jane, would their plan of action be were they to rush here to rescue you?"

She checks her watch again, "I don't know. But I'm not going to find out, either. Goodbye for now. I'll be back."

"Something that yet amazes me."

"What can I say? I'm stubborn." He nods to her and she leaves the cell. The guards stay, just in case, while others escort her upstairs. She is a bit exasperated when Thor quizzes her on intimate details to make sure she is really Jane and not Loki in disguise. But at the same time, if this is what she has to do to keep visiting Loki, she will put up with it, though not without complaint.