Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 11

Steve knocks on Loki's door, the Walmart bag gently smacking against it with every rap of his knuckles on the wood. He waits for a few seconds, and, when nothing happens, he looks over at Natasha uncertainly. What's he supposed to do? He hadn't planned for the possibility that Loki might not answer.

"If he doesn't open the door," she whispers, "I'm eating his pretzel."

Steve smiles in spite of himself. "We can split it," he whispers back. He really did like that first pretzel. He might go back and make another one after this. He knocks on the door again. "Loki?"

This time, there's some faint shuffling from inside the room, so at least Steve knows he's in there and he's moving. Whether that means he's going to answer the door, he doesn't know, but he's willing to wait.

After a minute or two, he knocks again. "Loki? It's Steve." He'd be surprised if Loki didn't know that, but it can't hurt to say it.

Nothing happens for a while, long enough that Steve and Natasha start silently making plans to just leave the bag and just split the pretzel, but eventually, Loki cracks the door open, just enough that Steve can see one of his eyes.

"Alright, I brought you some pants," Steve tells him. He holds up the bag, and Loki opens the door another few inches, just enough to reach out and pull it in before he closes the door to where it had been. "And I brought you a pretzel, too." He holds that up as well. "In case you're hungry."

Loki hesitates, but he reaches out to take that, too. It's difficult to see through the small crack in the doorway, but he doesn't think Loki eats it. Maybe he'll eat it later. Hopefully he does, because otherwise it's a waste of a damn good pretzel.

"Are you doing any better?" Steve asks.

"I'm fine," Loki says, his tone as closed-off as it has been for the last two days but a little more tired. He was probably sleeping, now that Steve thinks of it. If he only comes out at night, it stands to reason that he sleeps during the day.

Instead of pushing because he knows Loki won't admit that he's not okay, Steve asks, "Are you still hot?"

Loki doesn't answer for a moment. It must be quite the predicament — a yes-or-no question based on the assumption that he is sick when he refuses to admit it. Eventually, he just says a simple, "Slightly," which Steve takes to mean he's still very hot. He wouldn't admit it otherwise.

"You probably have a fever," Steve tells him.

"I don't."

Steve fights the urge to roll his eyes. "Do you want me to refill your water bottle for you? I can put some ice in it."

Loki looks away, presumably at his water bottle, which Steve takes to mean yes. That's why he's surprised when Loki looks back at him and just says, "No."

"Alright," Steve says slowly. If he really doesn't want more water... "You know where the ice maker is, right? For tonight?"

Loki hesitates, and Steve can tell the answer is no.

"It's in the freezer door," Steve says. "You hold the cup under it. One side has water and one side has ice." Admittedly, he doesn't remember which side is which, but Loki can figure that out himself. "I can show you tonight, or I can leave you alone. It's your choice."

Much like with most of Loki's answers today, there's a brief pause before he says, "I would rather be alone."

"Okay," Steve says. "If you need anything, tell JARVIS to get me."

Loki just closes the door.

Natasha taps Steve on the shoulder and begins to walk away, and Steve follows by her side. She waits until they're a decent distance away before she begins speaking. "You would be a great dad."

Steve chuckles sheepishly. "Well..." Raising a family isn't really in the picture right now, especially with Peggy bedbound at the hospital. Changing the subject, he says, "You see what I mean, though. Loki's not..."

"A threat?" Natasha finishes. "That's what we've been trying to tell you."

"No, he's not okay," Steve says.

Natasha shrugs. "Not our problem."

Steve scoffs. "Nat —"

"Steve, it's Loki," she says. "You know as well as I do: you could be bleeding out on the floor right in front of him and he would step on you like a rug."

Steve frowns. Well, she has a point, but...

"Just leave him alone," Natasha says. "Let him mope in peace."

"He's not moping, he's sick," Steve says.

"People get sick sometimes," Natasha says. "Maybe not..." She gestures to him vaguely. "Super people, but the rest of us, we get sick sometimes. It's not a big deal."

Steve hesitates, but he nods. She's right. It's stupid to be worried about him just because he's sick. He still stands by his decision to buy him some more comfortable pants, but he doesn't need to do anything more. Loki will be fine.

"Captain Rogers," JARVIS says.

Steve furrows his brows. That's weird. "Yes?"

"Loki asked me to thank you for the pretzel," JARVIS says.

Steve cracks a smile. He definitely wasn't expecting that.

"Congratulations," Natasha says sarcastically. "When he gets better, maybe he'll skip you in his murder rampage."