Still Holding On

Chapter 54

Loki's starting to get used to this.

Homelessness on Midgard isn't all that different from homelessness traveling through the cosmos. There's a lot of exploring involved. He never knows where he is. He only talks to people when he has to. But, unlike the rest of the universe, Midgard has wonderful big buildings full of food that are very easy to steal from, and there's nobody trying to kill him constantly. He'd say he's doing alright.

The rain from the night before cleared up by midday, though the humidity is still rampant and his hair is paying the price for it. His usual slicked-back black hair has never been bothered by humidity. Why this blonde facade can't handle a little water in the air, he can't say.

And then the rain starts again.

There's no real lead-up to it. It's humid and cloudy, yes, but the rain starts far too suddenly for that to be the reason. He knows even before he appears that his brother is finally paying him a visit.

The bifrost crashes down into the middle of a nearby parking lot, and Loki shields his eyes until the light dissipates. Sure enough, just in front of the ugly brick building that is McDonald's stands Thor.

Loki clenches his jaw and lets his magic overtake him, changing back to his real appearance, Asgardian clothing and all. If there's even a chance that Thor is going to take him seriously, it's not going to happen while he's playing dress-up.

Loki stalks up to him, and he knows when he sees that sympathetic look on his brother's face that this conversation isn't going to go the way he wants it to. He's going to be bombarded with sympathy and meaningless apologies that will change nothing. He's not going to let that slide.

Thor opens his mouth to speak, but Loki cuts him off. "What did I do?"

Thor lets out a deep sigh. "Loki..."

"What did I do?" Loki asks again. "I assume I'm responsible for the damage throughout the city. How much further does it go? How many people did I hurt?"

Thor shakes his head solemnly. "Don't do this to yourself, brother."

"No, you don't do this to me," Loki snaps. "I deserve to know what I've done, and you have no right to keep it from me!"

Thor hesitates, then nods once. "Let us find somewhere to sit, and—"

"No, let's talk now," Loki says. "No lies. No excuses. No wasting time. Tell me what I did."

Thor sighs. "I don't know what to tell you. My understanding is that you've already seen what you did. You tried to take over this world."

"How?" Loki asks. "Why? Why would I do that?"

"I don't know."

Loki scoffs. "You don't know? How do you not know?"

"I don't know!" Thor insists. "I don't know why you did what you did."

"I don't believe it," Loki says coldly. "I must have told you. I must have said something."

"Nothing that I can make any sense of," Thor says. "You said you wanted the throne; that you thought yourself above these Midgardians and deserved to rule them."

Loki narrows his eyes, head cocked slightly to the side. That's not true. He knows that's not true. He never wanted any kind of throne. He once wanted to prove that he was worthy of one, back when he still valued what his so-called "father" thought of him, but he never wanted a throne. He never would have done this for one.

But Thor's not done. "I think somebody sent you," he says. "That somebody showed you the power of the Tesseract and–"

"The Tesseract?" Loki interrupts. "What has this to do with the Tesseract?"