Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 141

Loki is thriving.

He took a shower last night.

He then took another shower this morning, not because he needed one but just because it was so goddamn nice to have soap.

On a related note, his hair smells like strawberries and he can't stop sniffing it. It has to have been at least an hour since he got out of the shower, and he still hasn't slicked his hair back yet. He lets it hang down, framing his face so he can catch a whiff of it whenever he wants.

Is that weird? Probably. Does he care? Not really. He has strawberry-scented hair. This is amazing.

He's currently sitting in bed with his eyes closed, leaning against the headboard while Taylor Swift's voice and his strawberry-scented shampoo fill the room. He really is living his best life right now. Maybe he should take his CD player outside soon. He could do this same thing in the fresh summer air.

Autumn can't be too far away. That sounds like it will be the best time to do that. RED definitely feels like a fall album. And though it says a lot about his life that this is something he's looking forward to, he cannot wait to hear Taylor Swift singing about autumn leaves falling down like pieces into place while he, too, is watching the leaves fall from the trees.

What can he say? He's a swiftie at heart.

There's a knock on his door, and he opens his eyes, brushing his hair back loosely to keep it out of his face. "Who is it?"

"It's Pepper." She sounds a bit hesitant, uncertain. He can't blame her. He hasn't been the most sociable person lately.

Admittedly, he doesn't really want to talk to her. The fact that she'll die someday lingers in the back of his mind, and strengthening their relationship just to let it fall apart when she passes will do nothing but hurt him in the end. Still, he's come to realize that ignoring her will do nothing but hurt her. It's a difficult situation to navigate.

So, after a pause, he asks, "Can I help you?"

"Uh, yeah," she says. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Loki fights back a sigh. He doesn't have it in him to refuse. All he's done for the last few weeks is ignore everyone. He can't keep doing that. It's not fair to them. It's not their fault that they're mortal.

So he climbs out of bed, brushes his hair behind his ears, and crosses the room to open the door. Pepper waits on the other side of it, with Snowflake standing by her feet. The cat wastes no time rubbing against Loki's shins, and he does his best to ignore it. At least the humans will be alive for another few decades. Snowflake will be lucky to live just one.

Pepper smiles at the sight before her. "I like your hair like that!"

Loki shrugs sheepishly. "Thank you." He's sure he looks ridiculous. There's a reason he always slicks his hair back, but it smells so damn good — and it's so soft, too. There's something special about Midgardian hair products that Asgard's don't have.

She eyes his attire, a nonjudgmental tone in her voice as she remarks, "You know, I'm not sure I'll ever get used to seeing you in color."

Loki looks down at his red t-shirt. It's kind of weird to him, too — mostly because red is Thor's color, not his. "I'm still getting used to it as well," he tells her. "It's much more comfortable than it looks." Never before has he looked at a human and been envious of their clothing — except maybe some cute dresses he's seen at Tony's parties — but damn, it's comfy.

"We should've gotten you some new clothes years ago," Pepper says with a grin.

"I don't know that I would have been willing to wear them years ago," he admits. Even after he'd begun warming up to the Avengers, human culture was still very strange to him. He's starting to come around to it, though. It's his culture now, after all. He's as Midgardian as the rest of them.