Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 58

Loki approaches the Avengers with a smile on her lips. If this party is anything like the last one, she must have at least a few more hours to have her fun before she has to go back to her room and pretend this never happened. She's determined to make the most of it.

As she walks, she slowly and subtly shrinks her form a couple of inches. As much as she enjoys her usual height, she doesn't want to tower over everyone, and unfortunately, both Natasha and Clint are very short. She'll still be taller than them, but it's less jarring this way. She's noticed the drunkest girls have been kicking off their shoes; maybe she'll feign intoxication later on in the night as an excuse to do the same just to lose another few inches.

When she reaches the Avengers, she gives them all a smile, but her gaze settles on Steve, looking up at him through her lashes. "I hope I'm not intruding."

"No, no, not at all," Steve assures her. "Is everything okay with Thor?"

"Oh, absolutely." Loki glances over her shoulder at Thor, leaning against the wall across the room with his arms crossed. She flashes him a smile, and he responds with a glare. She turns back to the Avengers, this time looking between Clint and Natasha. "And you would be?"

"I'm Clint," he says. He holds out a hand. "Clint Barton."

Loki shakes his hand politely. "Lovely to meet you, Clint Barton." She looks to Natasha next, and her gaze trails her rather showy outfit. Loki thinks she has her beat, at least in that aspect, but Natasha is certainly a sight to behold.

The spy holds out a hand. "Natasha Romanoff."

Loki takes both of Natasha's hands in hers and makes a show of admiring her outfit. "My my, don't you look ravishing, Ms. Romanoff?"

Natasha smiles at that, but unlike the bashful Captain next to her, she takes it in stride. "You don't look half bad yourself," she says. She drops Loki's hands. "What's your name again?"

Loki smiles. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that."

Natasha raises her brows. "What, names aren't a big thing in whatever realm you're from?"

"Au contraire," Loki says. "Names are everything in my home realm, which is why I will let you call me whatever you want." She tossed Natasha a wink.

Natasha crosses her arms, an amused smile on her face. She shakes her head to herself. "Thor's got some interesting friends."

"In a good way, I'd hope?" Loki asks.

"I guess we'll see, won't we?"

~~~

It doesn't take long for Bruce to get bored of this party. He knew he would, but he figured he'd tough it out as long as he could before he gave in. It's been a couple hours, and as far as he's concerned, that's all he needed to be here for. He showed up, he was observed as present, and now he can leave.

Besides, if last year's Halloween party is any indication, he'll have a lot more fun with this part of the night. He quietly makes his way up the stairs, then down the hall to Loki's room. He knocks on the door. "Loki?"

Silence.

Bruce furrows his brows. "Loki?" He knocks again, louder this time. "You in there?"

Once again, he's met with no response. He can hear the music through the door, which he'd usually assume means that Loki's in bed. Every time he's left the room over the last few days, at least when Bruce has been around, he's turned his Taylor Swift CD (which is, much to Tony's amusement, the only CD he will listen to) off. But there's no way he's sleeping through this party downstairs, and when he's awake, he usually says something.