Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 192

Loki doesn't really want to do this. On any other day or for any other reason, he wouldn't bother apologizing. If he's being honest, he doesn't even care about apologizing to Steve. If it was just him, he wouldn't even do it. He's done worse to the guy and never apologized for any of that.

But Bucky made a good point, even if Loki was too upset to admit it at the time. He's been asking the guy to come here for years, and the first thing he did when Bucky showed up was hold his cat hostage and tell him to fuck off. (And, yes, it was Alpine's choice to be held hostage, but she's also Bucky's cat, and he was understandably anxious to see her again.)

So, rather reluctantly, he sets off to find them – or, at the very least, find Bucky – and apologize. He'd like them to start their in-person relationship on the right foot. He has plenty of time to mess it up later.

Unfortunately, the compound is huge, so it takes way too long to find them. He will die on the hill that there is no need for multiple common rooms. There's so much walking and everything is so spread out and it takes so much time to search the place.

It's times like these when he misses JARVIS. His mother has largely taken the role of his confidant that he'd once entrusted JARVIS with, but there's not a soul in this building who could direct him to his housemates the way his beloved AI could. (There's always FRIDAY, he supposes, but FRIDAY will never be JARVIS, and he would never disrespect his friend by using his replacement ceiling voice.)

It takes a bit of hunting, but he finally finds them. They're both seated on the couch – notably very pointedly on opposite sides of it, to the point where Loki feels genuinely uncomfortable entering the room. For two childhood best friends, the tension between them is almost suffocating thick. (Alpine, of course, is oblivious, curled up next to Bucky and seemingly asleep.)

They're watching something on the television. Loki doesn't pay it much mind. Maybe if it had been a more comfortable atmosphere, he would have considered checking it out and maybe staying to watch, but as it is, he'd like to get out of here as quickly as he can.

Bucky is expressionless when he looks at him, but Steve's face seems to light up at the sight. That makes him feel a little better. This is why he wasn't even going to bother apologizing to Steve. Steve already takes any non-hostile interaction between them as an apology anyway.

Unfortunately, he's fairly certain that Bucky does not, so he has to tough it out and apologize anyway.

"Hey," Steve greets him with a grin. "What's up?"

Loki takes a deep breath. Here he goes.

"I would like to apologize for my earlier actions," he begins. "I was rude and dismissive towards you both, and that was unnecessary."

Bucky just looks at him, unimpressed. He actually prefers that reaction to the twinkle of amusement in Steve's eyes.

Still, he soldiers on. "I was just frustrated with what you'd done earlier," he tells them. "I've been very clear, I would like to think, that I care for you, and that I value your lives – all of your lives; even the ones who annoy me more often than not."

Bucky huffs, the corners of his lips turning upward in a slight smile that Loki promptly ignores.

"And I would like to remind you once more – and perhaps this is the first time I've told you this, Bucky – that you are the only people, excluding my mother and Thor, that I will ever get to talk to for the entire rest of my life, and as such, it is very important to me that you not die, because once you die, I will essentially be alone for the better part of four thousand years. This is why it bothers me so much when you decide to do something reckless – including, obviously, fighting each other."