Why does Thor bother knocking on Loki's bedroom door if he's just going to walk right in after?
Loki got bored of waiting for the Avengers to come back, so when Snowflake came looking for him, he turned into his cat form so they could snuggle up together. He hasn't exactly planned on letting anybody see this, but it's a bit late to change that.
Snowflake lifts her head when she sees Thor, but she doesn't move, so Loki stays where he is, too. Thor has seen him do weirder things than become a cat to snuggle with his cat. There's no reason to pretend he's not doing this right now.
Still, it doesn't stop the amusement from creeping up on Thor's face. "Really, brother?"
Loki just meows at him.
Snowflake doesn't seem to like that, because she climbs to her feet. She reaches her front paws out and arches her back, stretching herself out before curling up at the end of the bed.
Loki changes forms, this time to her female body, still wearing the clothes she'd worn in her male form earlier. She stretches out along the bed, her feet landing mere inches from the cat. Snowflake is unbothered, just lying down and brushing her head against her foot.
Loki gives her brother a cheeky smile. "Is this better?"
"I prefer the other," Thor says teasingly. "The cat cannot talk."
Ordinarily, Loki would stay in this form for a while — she's feeling rather ambivalent about her gender at the moment; she doesn't particularly care how she presents herself — but with the constant risk of the Avengers walking in and finding their mysterious friend from the tower's parties, she decides it's probably safer to return to her male form.
Thor cocks an eyebrow. "I still prefer the cat."
"Exactly why I decided against it," Loki replies. "How was your mission? Did you accomplish whatever it was you'd hoped to accomplish?"
Thor grimaces. "Not exactly."
Loki isn't particularly concerned about that. "You'll find it soon, I'm sure," he says. "Have you spoken to Heimdall? I imagine he would be the most helpful consultant."
Thor freezes. "How do you know that we're searching for something?"
"You didn't exactly try to hide it," Loki says. He can tell Thor isn't quite comforted by that, so he adds, "I didn't follow you, if that's what you're implying. Snowflake will vouch for me, I'm sure."
They both look over at Snowflake, who promptly lifts up her hind leg and starts licking her butthole.
"Is it important?" Loki asks, but he answers his own question. "It must be, if you have to keep it from me."
"It doesn't matter," Thor says. "I mostly came up here to ask if you've eaten."
"That depends on why you're asking," Loki answers.
"We grabbed dinner on the way back," Thor says. "We brought you a burger."
Loki raises a brow. So they ate without him. He's not all that surprised — it makes sense that the heroes would want to eat with the other heroes after their heroic mission — but he can't deny that he feels a little left out. And they thought of him, clearly, because they brought him something back, which means they made the conscious decision to exclude him.
And yes, he understands that they physically could not include him, and yes, he understands that it was kind of them to bring him something regardless, but he can't help but feel a little bitter anyway. Being trapped in a building sucks.
"I'll eat it later," Loki says. "If you can put it in the fridge for me."
"I can," Thor says, "or you could do it yourself and join our movie night before I go back to Asgard."
Usually, Loki would jump at the chance to join their movie night. He loves movie night. He likes game nights, too — though usually he's just a spectator; he's not overly eager to lose every Midgardian game he plays — but he definitely prefers movie nights. He gets a taste of Midgardian cinema and an earful of the Avengers' annoying-but-entertaining commentary at the same time.
Tonight, he's not overly interested in it. He's kind of tired, and though he'd like to blame it on the energy he exerted playing tennis or turning into a cat, he's decently sure it's just because he barely slept last night. Or the night before. Or the night before. Maybe tonight will be the one to break the cycle.
So Loki shakes his head. He'll skip tonight's movie, and hopefully he'll be more energized for the next one.
Thor frowns. "Are you sure?"
"I am," Loki says. "I am more than happy to lie here with my cat for a while."
Thor hesitates. "Alright..."
"Tell me before you leave whether the movie is worth watching," Loki says. "I need some new films to entertain myself with."
"I will," Thor says. "And if you change your mind, you know where to find us."
"That I do," Loki agrees. "Have fun — but not too much fun."
Thor chuckles. "I'm sure we will."
Thor heads out of the room, and, after waiting a minute or so to make sure he's not coming back, Loki turns back into his cat form. He walks over to Snowflake and curls up around her, and she purrs contentedly. He closes his eyes, letting his sluggishness wash over him.
Alright, time for a nap.
Hopefully cats do not have nightmares when they sleep.
~~~
Loki hasn't been lying there long when he hears a knock at the door. He gives an agitated meow to whoever's disrupting his nap. Did he not make it clear that he would like to stay in his room undisturbed?
"Loki?" Bruce's quiet voice comes through the door. "Are you in there?"
Loki meows quietly and shifts back into his Aesir form. Snowflake jumps off the bed, but once she sees him get settled, she hops back up with him.
"That depends on why you're asking," Loki says. He never has been one to give a straight answer.
"Can we talk for a minute?" Bruce asks.
Loki furrows his brows. "Of course." Perhaps he's just overthinking it, but that doesn't sound good. He uses his telekinesis to open the door, where he finds Bruce outside with a bowl of ice cream in his hands.
Suspicious.
... He likes it.
"You're not watching the movie with us?" Bruce asks, stepping into the room.
Loki shakes his head. "Tired."
"Yeah, I guess getting hit in the face will do that to you," Bruce says.
Loki raises his brows. "You heard?"
"Well..." Bruce gestures to his face, a sign for Loki to check his own.
Loki runs a hand down his face. It had started to swell earlier, but that seems to have died down. He doesn't feel any scabs or tears in his skin, but it does hurt to the touch. It must be bruised. He wishes Thor had mentioned it; he would have hidden it with an illusion.
"I brought you some ice cream," Bruce says, walking up and holding it out to him.
Loki takes it cautiously. "Why?"
"Because you didn't come out and eat dinner and now you're not coming to movie night, and I want to make sure you're still eating."
Loki huffs a laugh. "Now you sound like Rogers." That's something Steve would do. Nobody else has been overly concerned about his well-being like the Captain is. Not until now, it seems.
"Yeah, it was actually his idea," Bruce admits.
"Mm," Loki hums. That makes sense. "Is there a reason you brought it instead of him?" He takes a spoonful of ice cream while he waits for an answer. Delicious; cookie dough.
"Yeah, can we talk?" Bruce asks. "I just have a question."
"Of course." Loki slides over to the head of his bed, and he uses his telekinesis to carry Snowflake into his lap. "Would you like to sit?"
"Yeah, sure," Bruce says. After many, many sciencey ramblings from this bed, he's gotten fairly comfortable on it, so he doesn't hesitate to accept the invitation.
Loki takes another bite of ice cream. "What was your question about?"
"Uh..." Bruce grimaces, almost like he's afraid to broach the topic, but he does it anyway. "Your scepter?"
Loki freezes mid-chew.
The scepter.
Why does Bruce want to know about the scepter?
Why now, of all times?
What's going on?
Bruce must notice his hesitation, because he asks warily, "Can I ask about your scepter?"
Loki swallows his ice cream, buying himself time to regain his composure. He'd like to think that by the time he answers with a simple, "You may," it's not abundantly clear that the question has already thrown him off his guard. He's probably wrong.
"Okay," Bruce says, a bit cautious as he speaks. "Do you ever, like, feel it calling out to you?"
Loki furrows his brows. "That's a strange question."
"Is it?" Bruce asks, in a way that makes it clear he definitely knows it's a strange question.
"It is," Loki says. "Why do you ask?"
"I don't know; just curious," Bruce says.
Loki narrows his eyes, waiting silently for him to elaborate because he knows there's more to be said.
Bruce sighs. "Okay, I know this is going to sound weird," he says, "but I think it called out to me. When you first came to Earth, and we took your scepter and put you in that cell on the helicarrier..."
"I remember," Loki deadpans. It was a ridiculous idea, thinking they could trap him there, but he certainly remembers it.
"We got in a big fight," Bruce says. "All of us. And it got really intense and I kind of lost it for a minute, and without really realizing it, I grabbed the scepter."
Loki raises his brows, intrigued. Well. Nobody told him about that.
"I don't know why I did it," Bruce says. "I don't think I knew what I was doing when I did it. It just happened. And I don't know..." He shrugs awkwardly. "It was your scepter, so I was just wondering, like, is that normal? Is that something the scepter does?"
Loki hesitates.
Then, "Yes."
Bruce furrows his brows. "Yes? What yes?"
"Yes, that is something the scepter can do," Loki says.
Bruce looks at him expectantly, like he's going to continue, but he doesn't. There's a whole lot more he could say, but he doesn't. He's not saying anything he doesn't have to. Not about this.
When it becomes clear that Loki has said his part, Bruce asks, "How does that work?"
"It just does."
Bruce nods slowly. "Okay, um..." He clasps his hands in his lap awkwardly. "Does it call out to you?"
"Not for a long time," Loki says. "It doesn't work so well from a distance."
"'From a distance'?" Bruce repeats. "So you know where it is."
"I know that SHIELD has it, but only because I've been told," Loki says.
He pauses.
SHIELD has it.
SHIELD had it.
But SHIELD doesn't exist anymore, so where...?
"Do you know where it is?" Loki asks. "You haven't lost it; you didn't lose it in the rubble of SHIELD's demise."
"No!" Bruce says quickly. "No, the scepter's fine. We have it. It's safe."
"Where?" Loki asks.
"Safe," Bruce says again.
Loki narrows his eyes. "Safe where?" he growls.
"I'm not supposed to answer that," Bruce says.
Loki grits his teeth. For the longest time, he found it exhausting to be left in the dark about important things. Right now, he finds it infuriating. There is no reason he can't have these answers. He doesn't care what the Allfather thinks. He doesn't care what Thor or Tony or Fury thinks. He will not be kept in the dark about this.
"I will give you two options," Loki says. "I will allow you one more chance to answer my question, and, should you choose against it, I will take my answer from the depths of your mind. For your sake, I suggest you choose the first one."
Bruce stares at him. "You get so violent so fast," he mutters. "Fury has it, okay? He's keeping it safe."
"Good," Loki says. There are very few people he would trust with the scepter, but if he had to choose a human to watch over it, Fury would be among the top contenders.
"And now I'm going to leave before you start digging through my memories," Bruce says, already standing up.
"Fair enough," Loki says, though he has no intention of doing that now that he has the answer he was looking for. "Enjoy your movie. Give the Captain my thanks for the ice cream."
"I will," Bruce says. He steps out of the room and closes the door behind him.
Loki turns back into his cat form and curls up on his pillow. It only takes Snowflake a few moments to follow suit, wrapping up around him with her head pressed against his own. She lets out a content purr, and he echoes it with one of his own.
This is nice.
This is really nice.