Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 132

"Is anyone else weirdly nervous?" Tony asks, glancing around at the other Avengers.

"So it's not just me?" Natasha says.

"It's not just you," Clint assures her.

"What are we supposed to do?" Bruce asks. "Can we talk to him? Are we ignoring him? Do we say 'hi'?"

"I guess we say 'hi,' right?" Tony says.

"Yeah, let's greet him with five 'hi's as soon as he walks out," Natasha says sarcastically. "That won't be creepy at all."

"And ignoring him is better?" Tony asks. That's ridiculous. That's stupid, even by her standards – especially by her standards. She's better than that.

"What if we just, like, smile," Bruce suggests. "But not, like, freaky big smiles. Small smiles."

Natasha points at him thoughtfully. "That'd do it."

"So we're not bombarding him," Clint agrees. "Smart."

"Should someone say 'hi,' though?" Tony asks. Won't he think it's weird if he steps into the room and everyone's just smiling at him silently? It's been, god, a month and a half since they've seen him? And they just want to look at him?

"Mm, probably," Bruce concedes. "Who should—"

Natasha hits him a few times, shushing him frantically.

Tony leans toward the doorway, and, sure enough, he can hear them approaching. It's just their footsteps at first — they're not exactly quiet people — but then Thor speaks.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Thor asks.

"I'm fine, Thor," Loki says. "You can stop asking."

Tony looks around at the other Avengers, and they do the same. That's Loki. That is Loki. He's here; he's approaching; he's speaking. It's been so long since they've heard his voice, FRIDAY's work excluded. It's almost surreal.

What's he going to look like when he comes out here? Is he still going to be blue? (He still hasn't quite figured out why the fuck the guy was blue, for the record. He would like somebody to explain that.) Or will it be like nothing's changed? Will he look the same as he always did, back before everything went wrong? Or is there a secret third option, now that he can apparently change colors? He has no idea what to expect.

"I just want to be sure," Thor says. "And you have everything you need?"

"Yes, Thor, I have my three belongings," Loki says sarcastically.

"I just want to be sure," Thor says again. "Because if you forget anything..."

Loki doesn't reply. For some reason, Tony gets the feeling he rolled his eyes instead. He sure would in his place.

It's quiet for a few moments.

And a few more.

And a few more.

Until finally, Thor and Loki step into the room.

Steve stands up, his eyes lighting up for the first time in weeks. "Loki."

Loki looks at him, only for a moment before his gaze drops to the floor.

Steve looks at Thor helplessly, and the god only shakes his head. That doesn't seem to bode well for him, and if it doesn't bode well for him, it certainly doesn't bode well for the rest of them.

As much as Tony would like to interrogate Loki about what he's been up to and how he's feeling now, he has a feeling that being the center of attention is the last thing he would want, so Tony claps his hands together once. "Alright, everyone ready?"