Sentiment

Chapter 4

A week passed, and Rosabelle kept visiting Loki daily, much to the other's dismay. It made her suspicious when at least one of the team members would escort her to his room and out.
Rosabelle finished Hamlet and took time to study him again - mainly his injuries. From what she could see, his ribs seemed to be healing quite well, his hands taking some time. The small cuts and bruises were fading away well, so overall, he was fine. . .except his mouth. They were still sewn shut. Rosabelle pursed her lips at the sight of his sewn mouth.
"I don't get why they don't want to remove that." she muttered. "Scared you'll somehow defeat them by talking?" she said sarcastically. Like always, no response. Rosabelle sighed at the result, lying her forehead against the edge of his bed. "Why won't you wake up?" she whispered. "Why do I even care about some villain?"
"Good question, darling."
Rosabelle snapped her head up, looking at him with wide eyes. "D-did you just speak to me?" she stuttered. "Hello? Loki?"
No response.
"I'm losing my mind." she sighed. She glanced at the window next to the door and saw Natasha waiting at the door. "That's my curfew." Rosabelle looked down at Loki. "See you later, Loki."
***
"Hey, you alright kiddo?" Natasha asked her when escorting her.
"Hmm?" Rosabelle snapped out of her thoughts.
"You okay?" Natasha asked concerned. "You seem too quiet."
"I'm fine." Rosabelle assured her. "I'm just thinking if I'm crazy."
"Why?" Natasha frowned. "What makes you think that."
"Well. . ." Rosabelle hesitated. "Just before when I was with Loki. . .for a moment, I thought he spoke."
"What?" Natasha asked alarmed. Tony was so going to get pissed. . .
"It's impossible, really." Rosabelle shook her head. "Loki has his lips sewn shut, so obviously he didn't speak to me. But he could've thought it to me. . ." Rosabelle shook her head. "Nah, he's in a coma, he wouldn't be able to do that." Oh how wrong she was. . .
"What did he say?" Natasha demanded. "Exact words."
"He just said, "Good question, darling" right after I asked myself out loud why I care about him."
"I'd agree with him." Natasha admitted. "He's a criminal, Rosabelle. He killed lots of people those couple of days."
"I know." Rosabelle sighed. "That's why I'm thinking if I'm crazy for caring about a villain."
***
"See you later, Loki."
Instead of receiving a kiss on the forehead daily, he was met with the sound of his door opening and closing. Loki cursed to himself with a frown. Stupid me, he thought. I knew I shouldn't have tried reaching out to her. She's not ready. I'm not ready.
***
"WHAT!"
"Tony, calm down." Steve stated at Tony with a warning look. "Now, Natasha, do you know what Loki has said to her?"
"He only said, "Good question, darling" to her after she asked out loud why she cares for someone like him."
"He called her darling -?"
"Loki isn't doing anything." Bruce interrupted Tony. "That's nice, isn't it? He's not aiming to hurt her in any way."
"Yet." Clint muttered. The others glared at his negativity. "What? It's true." Clint defended. "It's Loki, for God's sake. He's always up to no good."
"Now can we do something?" Tony complained.
"Tony, all he said was, "Good question, darling"! From what we can see, he isn't going to harm her." Natasha pointed out.
"She's the only person on this realm that is showing kindness apart from Thor." Steve added. "That's probably why."
"Why are you all defending him!" Tony yelled.
"We're not!" Steve insisted. "We're just saying what we can see between the two of them!"
"Come on, Tony," Bruce added, "be logical here -"
"I am!" Tony interrupted. "I know that Loki is a criminal mastermind and will do anything to take over this world, and by doing that, he's going to use Rosabelle to get to us!"
"Right after he escaped from being tortured?" Natasha raised an eyebrow at him. "Come on Tony, you're being too protective over your daughter."
"She's not a baby anymore." Clint added. "She's twenty-one."
Tony groaned frustrated, storming away. "Let's leave him alone for a while." Bruce suggested.
"But what about Loki -"
"He's not going to go after him." Natasha told Steve. "Trust me. He's just walking away to cool off."
***
Rosabelle stared at the ceiling, failing to fall asleep. Hearing Loki talk to her had left her curious and worried. What happened if he tried to brainwash her like he did to Clint? What if he was going to kill her as soon as he's healed?
She soon fell into a restless sleep with those being her last thoughts.