Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 28

A few days have passed, and everything seems to be going pretty well. Steve's running a little late today — he couldn't go running outside in the storm so he had to go to the gym instead — but he doesn't expect Loki to mind. He finally got a clock the other day, but he doesn't seem to care that Steve shows up at varying times every day.

He finds himself looking forward to this. He started inviting Loki out to the kitchen to eat out of obligation, but he actually really enjoys it now. He's fully aware that Loki isn't a good person, but he's an interesting one, and he's surprisingly nice for a guy that just tried to take over the world a few months ago. As long as everyone else stays away from them, they'll enjoy themselves. (Or, at least, he hopes Loki enjoys it, too, though he's sure he'd deny it if he asked.)

Steve knocks on Loki's bedroom door. "Hey, Loki. Hungry?"

Loki has finally learned to verbally answer when Steve knocks, but he doesn't this time. Maybe he just didn't hear it? The road of the thunder might have covered his voice.

Steve knocks again, and, louder this time, says, "Hey, Loki."

A few seconds pass without a response, and Steve peeks through the hole in the door to see what's going on. Loki's still lying in bed, curled up in a ball with a pillow over his ear. Steve frowns. Well, this is nice.

Steve straightens back up — he knows Loki doesn't like it when he looks through that hole — and tries again, even louder this time. "Loki?" He waits for a few seconds, then peeks through the hole. Still nothing.

Steve sighs and leans against the wall. "JARVIS? What's up with Loki?"

"The storm has kept him up most of the night," JARVIS explains. "He may still be awake now and he just doesn't hear you."

The thunder roars once more and Loki gives a frustrated groan. Steve peeks through the hole again to see Loki holding the pillow against his head with even more force than before.

Steve stands back up. "Should I wake him up?"

"I have a difficult time believing that he enjoys lying in bed and cursing at the storm," JARVIS remarks, "so yes, you probably should."

Okay, fair point. Steve knocks one more time. "Hey, Loki, I'm opening the door." Just in case he actually is hearing Steve out here. When he gets no response, he opens the door anyway.

It occurs to Steve that he's not actually sure he's ever been in this room before — at least while Loki's awake. There was that one time with Thor and Tony, but it didn't last long and Loki was so out-of-it that he may not have even realized they were there. Is Loki going to be okay with Steve being here? This is supposed to be the one place in the tower that he has to himself. Steve may be crossing some boundaries right now.

With that in mind, Steve does his best to keep some distance and give Loki his space. He's only about halfway in the room when he says Loki's name again. How Loki doesn't hear him, he really doesn't understand. There's no way that pillow is blocking out this much noise.

There's another crash of thunder, and Loki readjusts his pillow, his muscles tensed as he pushes it down against his ear.

Steve sighs. Okay, fine. He'll do it the more uncomfortable way. He walks up to the god's bedside and gently touches his arm. "Loki?"

Loki tosses the pillow aside and sits up immediately, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. He seems to relax a little when he sees that it's just Steve. He pulls a pair of earplugs out of his ears, and they vanish, presumably into that pocket dimension he'd been talking about a few days ago. He was using earbuds and a pillow to muffle the sound and that still wasn't enough? He really hates thunder, doesn't he?