MONSTER

06

At dinner, Bruce and Natasha did end up sitting next to each other. Natasha noticed Katerina glancing her way a couple times over the meal, and thought that was odd, but besides that, she was too preoccupied with paying attention to her conversation with Bruce to notice much.

Loki didn't show up to the meal, and Katerina knew it was because of her. Thor seemed surprised to not see Loki there, since he had been eating with them ever since Katerina arrived.

"Where is my brother, Katerina?" Thor asked when he didn't appear.

"I don't think he's coming to dinner." She replied, "Steve, could you please pass the potatoes?"

Steve did as she asked.

"Why not?" Thor pressed, despite her demeanor clearly stating she didn't want to talk about it.

"Um, we had a fight." Katerina said casually.

The table fell silent.

"A fight?" Tony asked, "Did you try to stab him with a toothbrush again?"

Katerina glared at him.

"Don't you have cameras all over this place?" She snapped.

"Uh, only in public places, and I'm not monitoring them 24/7." Tony said, a bit unnerved at her mood.

"What happened?" Clint asked, concerned.

"Yeah, what happened?" Steve echoed.

Katerina placed down the piece of bread she had aggressively been buttering.

"You know, I don't really think that's any of your business." She said sharply.

"Did he threaten you?" Clint pressed.

"No, but I can handle Loki and his threats easily."

"Well, I think as long as no one is hurt- no one is hurt right?" Natasha began to say.

Katerina didn't respond right away.

"Katerina, if Loki's bleeding out in his room-" She began.

"He's not bleeding out." Katerina said stoically.

"Well... okay then." Natasha said, easing down a bit.

The rest of dinner passed without anyone daring to approach the subject again. Katerina went to bed that night, wondering when Loki was going to finally go out and get some of the leftover food. She didn't know why she particularly cared, but she didn't fall asleep until she heard the faint sound of his footsteps leaving his room and heading towards the kitchen.

Katerina and Loki avoided each other for a few days more before Katerina had enough. She marched over to Loki's door and knocked on it. She could heard rustling in the room for a bit before the door opened.

"What is it?" Loki asked, rudely.

"I came to say I'm tired of this." Katerina said, "I'm not going to just keep avoiding you. Either you're my enemy, or my ally, I'm not playing games."

Loki looked taken aback.

"Oh, er, well which... category do I fall in?" He asked, trying to recover from his surprise.

"That depends on you." Katerina said, staring him down for a moment.

"No pressure then." Loki mumbled, and although her gaze didn't soften, the corners of her lips twitched, "Look, Katerina, I'd rather not avoid you either. I just don't understand why you would join up with the very people imprisoning you."

"I mean, they kinda have a reason to, you know? I hate it, but if you think about it, I really am dangerous."

Loki scoffed. She glared at him and he covered it up with a cough.