Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 66

There's a knock on Loki's door for the first time in nearly a week, and he wastes no time in jumping to his feet. Finally, someone to talk to. It's been too damn long. With Thor off "protecting the Nine Realms" and half of the Avengers gone on some mission, he's been bored out of his mind. He would take comfort in knowing that Bruce hasn't left, but he's been so busy preparing a presentation on antielectron collisions for some fancy conference he's going to in a week that every time Loki tries to talk to him, their conversations devolve into editing help that Loki has no desire to provide.

Oh, god, what if it's Bruce at the door? He doesn't have the energy to listen to the same presentation for the fourth time this week. What's his backup plan if it's the resident scientist looking for his help? Maybe he's trying to take a nap. He's about to take a nap. That's what his excuse is. (Actually, now that he thinks about it, he wouldn't be opposed to a nap...)

Loki pauses his CD player and opens the door. It's not Bruce at the door, but, honestly, he might have preferred that to this. There are a few Avengers he's come to reluctantly tolerate — to enjoy their presence, even.

Tony Stark is not one of them.

"What?" Loki asks irritably.

Tony puts his hands up in sarcastic defense. "Woah, hey, if you wanna stay here and mope until Cap comes back, I will gladly leave you to it."

Loki crosses his arms, glaring at him. He's not moping. He's definitely not moping about Steve. Sure, he'd like Steve to come back soon, but not enough that he'd mope about it if he doesn't. He doesn't like anyone here enough to mope about them, thank you very much.

"If you don't want to keep moping, though," Tony says, "I've been cleaning out the basement all week. You wanna see if there's anything you want before I throw it out?"

Loki raises his brows. "And the game is...?"

Tony looks at him blankly. "What game?"

"I'm wondering the same thing," Loki says. "Because I know you are not offering me things out of the goodness of your heart."

Tony blinks at him. "No, that's pretty much what I'm doing."

Loki looks at him skeptically.

"You want to look or not?" Tony asks, exasperated.

Loki hesitates, but this really does seem to be a sincere offer, so he might as well take the guy up on it. And if it is some sort of game, Loki will go back to his room and not open the door until Thor or Steve comes back. That seems like the healthy, logical course of action, right?

So Loki follows him to the basement. He's never actually been in the basement before. He's gone on a few walks around the tower, but never long enough to make it all the way down there. He's not entirely sure what to expect. What does a basement even look like? If the Asgardian Palace had one, he's never seen it. He has absolutely no frame of reference for this.

Which is why he's somewhat surprised by the dull gray cement walls and the insulation hanging from the ceiling. So, what, a basement is just a room that the architects never finished building? Why? What's the point?

Tony walks him through the basement and over to the giant pile of junk. For a few seconds, Loki just stands there, staring straight ahead blankly. God, that is... a lot. He slowly makes his way through it, careful not to step on anything lying on the floor. He doesn't touch anything as he looks, though he's acutely aware of the fact that he's probably missing out on a lot by not moving things around. He just doesn't want to spend forever down here, especially with Tony watching his every move. It's uncomfortable.