Hidden Troubles

Chapter 25

"Wahey! He's finally out of his room!" Tony cheered, swallowing a large amount of the voluminous coffee and bourbon concoction drink.

Loki almost smiled, but instead plastered on a disgruntled expression as Thor led him to the kitchen. Bruce and Clint were sitting by the kitchen island (Clint having finally returned from his SHIELD mission). Steve was at the counter, flipping more and more pancakes as Tony, Natasha and Clint continued to feast on them, smothering them in Nutella and honey and whipped cream and various other toppings in Tony's cupboards. Tony knew there was a reason why he liked having the Captain over; his obsession with military cleanliness and schedule included everyone having enough to eat, and everything being cleaned straight after. It was like having his own personal housewife.

Loki opted for some toast and an apple, isolating himself in the corner of the kitchen as he hesitantly nibbled on the bread. Thor, attempting to not be the over-bearing brother, placed himself a mere few feet away from Loki. It was an improvement though, Tony thought. The first few days of Loki's little recovery programme Thor didn't even leave to go to the loo. It resulted in a rather constipated god of thunder and an inexplicable increase in thunderstorms. Thankfully, those thunderstorms stopped once Thor...relieved himself.

A good half an hour later and the team had shovelled down breakfast to their hearts' content, apart from Loki. He was trying not to panic, reassuring himself with the idea that he could burn it all off later. He just needed to pretend he was ok, that's all he needed to do. Taking in quiet, deep breaths, Loki forced himself to focus on the friendly dispute the Captain and the archer were having.

"It's a great trick!"

"Steve, it's dreadful. It's the most basic trick ever."

"Got to agree with Legolas on that one Spangles. I learnt that when I was like 6."

"Well I believe the trick to be fascinating, son of Roger. It does not compare to the magic of Asgard of course, but tricks giving such a strong illusion of magical involvement have never been seen on Asgard before."

"Well I'll bet Prongs here will love the trick."

Loki didn't notice Tony was talking about him until he found the Captain crouching down to reach him.

Prongs. That ridiculous nickname. Where in the Nine did that mortal even get it from?

"Hey, Loki, look at this."

Loki frowned perplexedly as Steve sat across from him eagerly. The moment Steve pulled out a deck of cards from his pants pocket, Loki had to resist the urge to roll his eyes.

Was this another card game? Like the one Natasha played with him?

"Are we to play a game?" he asked, trying as hard as he could to keep the fear out of his voice. The last several nights had been filled with the nightmares of the games the Chitauri used to play with him.

"Card tricks!" Loki's look of bewilderment had Steve feining shock. "Oh I'm definitely showing you this now. I think I've got something other than books that'll amuse you."

"Okay—so, take the card on the top of the deck. Don't show it to me, but you can show it to everyone else," said Steve, presenting the deck to Loki. Loki raised his eyebrows before taking the top card.

The Joker.

Well, if this magic trick was all staged the the Captain does indeed have a cheesy sense of humor.