Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 114

Knock knock knock knock knock.

"Loki, are you awake?"

Loki hums in response. It's about the best answer he can give right now.

"I will take that as a 'yes,'" Thor says. "Will you open the door?"

Loki groans. Great, and now he has to say things. He opens his mouth, but before he can even get a word out, he gets a mouthful of cat fur. Why did Snowflake decide it was a good idea to lie down on his face? And why can't he find it in him to kick her off?

"You can open it," Loki mumbles, though he doesn't know how clear it is with a cat muffling his voice.

He can hear the door open, so it must have been clear enough. Snowflake lifts her head to look, then jumps off of him to see them — though not before Thor gets a laugh at his brother's expense.

Loki rolls over in bed and looks at the doorway. Thor is standing with his arms folded over his chest, an amused look on his face. Next to him is Steve, who's crouched down on the floor to pet the cat.

"You're alive," Loki remarks.

"We are," Thor agrees.

"And is the end of the world still slated for later this week?" Loki asks, as though he hadn't stuck around until he knew for sure that it wasn't.

Thor rolls his eyes. "The world is not going to end, Loki."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Loki says with exaggerated sympathy. "You'll do better next time."

Thor shakes his head to himself, exasperated. Loki just smiles. He loves annoying his brother. It's his greatest talent.

He readjusts his position in bed, finally forcing himself to sit up, though he'd be more than content to close his eyes and go back to sleep. "I assume you're here to tell me that you're back."

"Not only that," Thor says. "There are some people we'd like you to meet."

Loki briefly wonders who it is. Did Bucky come back with them? Did he finally accept the olive branch Loki's extended on Steve's behalf time and time again? It's about damn time.

"Can I come back to bed after?" Loki asks. Not that he needs permission, of course, but if they're going to give him a hard time about it, he's just going to stay here. He can say hello to Bucky later.

"Yeah, of course," Steve says. "We just want you to know who's moving in so you don't find them in the kitchen at two in the morning."

Loki cracks a smile at that. Moving in. Did he do it? Did he really get Bucky to move in? He hadn't even considered that a possibility when he asked for his help, but now...

He stands up, and the world begins to spin around him. Maybe he should have stood up a little slower. He blinks a few times, and when the world comes back into focus, he realizes he's getting some very strange looks from the others, which he promptly ignores.

As they walk through the halls, Loki asks, "What happened? Is Ultron gone?"

"Long gone," Steve says. "You don't have to worry about him."

"Good," Loki says. He's still in awe that the Avengers managed to defeat a robot powered by an Infinity Stone. On one hand, it is just a robot; it's only as smart as its creator. But at the same time, it's the Mind Stone. Nothing short of another Infinity Stone should hold a torch to its power. "Did anybody die in the process?"

"Nope," Steve says.

Loki sighs dramatically. "Well, there's always next time."

Thor rolls his eyes, and Steve just chuckles.