Unbroken

Chapter 25

Loki stood there for a little while feeling uncomfortable. He was used to people either not noticing when he did something right or yelling at him for it. He certainly wasn't used to someone saying they were impressed, especially someone of authority, and he had no idea how to react.
"How did you know how to do that?" Thor asked as  he came closer to them. He'd been watching from a few feet away, when he came outside he saw Loki working on the bow and wanted to see what he was going to do so he stayed out of his way.
"I just- I'd done it before" Loki said, wishing Fandral and Thor would stop looking at him like that, he didn't realize that their looks were ones of admiration.
"Clearly, but where did you learn it in the first place? Who taught you that?" He asked again. He was pretty sure Laufey hadn't given him that skill.
"I- I taught myself.... Laufeys men used them and- they kept malfunctioning like that so I- I discovered how to fix them" Loki explained, Thor was pretty sure he was leaving out part of the story, probably the part in which Laufey tortured him for some reason.
"Well that's really impressive. You should show that to the workers who put them together, you could save everyone a lot of time" Fandral said as he clapped Loki on the back of his shoulder, Loki tensed a bit but then realized it didn't hurt.
"A-alright..." Loki said, thinking he was now going to be sent off to meet other people.
"Maybe later" Thor said "I have your breakfast in the courtyard if you're hungry" he told Loki. Loki hadn't realized how hungry he was, he'd always lived with the ache in his stomach but now that Thor brought it up he realized how present it was.
"Oh, okay... you're not- upset?" Loki asked cautiously, he still wasn't sure if Thor was irritated from earlier.
"What? Why would I be upset?" Thor asked in confusion as he and Loki started making their way to the courtyard. Thor noticed that Loki was limping a bit and that he was again holding his ribs.
"Well- you seemed upset this morning" loki said quietly. Thor sighed a bit.
"I wasn't irritated at you, I was irritated at my mother."
He said "you shouldn't get too upset when people snap like that, it's usually nothing" he added, hoping Loki wouldn't freak out every time someone got a little annoyed.
"Okay... but- it's- it's hard.... because where I come from it's never nothing when- when people do that" he mumbled. Thor put a hand on Loki's shoulder.
"I know, but try to not get anxious about it here alright? It's usually nothing" he said again. Loki just nodded but stayed quiet until they got to the courtyard. Thor had him sit down at the table where a plate of breakfast was waiting for him. Loki started eating and Thor let him be for a few minutes so he could enjoy his meal.
"So what other hidden skills do you have?" Thor asked Loki after a few minutes, he still thought it was odd that Loki would know something that the engineers on Asgard didn't know, especially because he was so lacking in knowledge of normal things. Loki looked a little awkward but thankfully he didn't seem nervous.
"I don't know" he said quickly "I don't have any skills" he added. He didn't think of the things he could do as useful, he'd never received any kind of acknowledgment for the things he knew how to do.
"Oh come on, yes you do." Thor said "if Laufey had you working you have to be pretty useful, which means you know how to do things." He was trying to get Loki to be a little more confident and realize he wasn't an idiot like Laufey had told him, but it didn't seem to be working.
"I don't- I can't do anything you can't do" he said, he didn't want to have to talk about himself and he didn't see anything about himself as special or useful. Thor could tell he wasn't comfortable talking about it so he decided to let it slide for now, at least loki had the guts to talk to Fandral on his own, that's good right?
"Alright, fine. I'll figure out your skills through observation" he said "how's your ankle?" He asked to shift the subject. Loki was quiet for a minute, moving his ankle a little so he could see how it felt.
"It hurts a little.... but not much" he said. Finally, he didn't say 'I'm fine'.
"Alright, well once you're done eating I'll get you back to your room, I know you don't really like getting attention" thor said, hoping Loki would start to see him as a friend.
"Um.... thank you" Loki said, he wasn't sure if that was right or not, but he'd seen Laufeys guests say that when something was done for them so he figured it was the proper response.
"Yeah you're welcome" Thor said. After a few minutes Loki finished eating and and Thor helped him to stand so they could get back to Loki's room.
"Do you want to stop by the library and grab a book? You probably get really bored just sitting there all day" Thor said when they got into the palace. Loki looked nervous again for some reason, but Thor didn't say anything.
"I uh.... I have a book in my room" Loki said "the- the queen brought it by a few days ago and- and I haven't finished it" he added quickly.
"Alright, whatever you want" Thor said. He wasn't sure what was wrong with Loki now so he just kept quiet until they got to his room.
"I'll come by later to bring your lunch around. If you feel like going out again by that time let me know" he said as Loki sat down on his bed, he was glad to be off his feet but he still wasn't used to the soft bed he now slept in.
"Okay.... um, yes s-" thor cut him short.
"Please don't all me sir" he said "'Thor' is fine" he added. Loki just nodded and Thor left the room.
Loki sat in bed for a little while, but Thor was right, it was hard to just sit there and do nothing all day long, his mind went all over he place with different thoughts and none of them were very pleasant. After a little while he sat up again and picked up the book form the bedside table and opened it up.
=*****=
Several hours past, loki moved to the floor because he just couldn't find the bed to be comfortable. He still had the book in front of him but his head was hurting now and he wasn't able to focus. After a while He heard the door opening and Thor came in. He would've knocked but Loki always seemed to not like that and it was the middle of the day so he didn't think it'd be an issue to just walk in.
"I brought you lunch" he said as he came in and put the tray on the table by the bed. He noticed that Loki was on the floor with the book and went over to see what he was reading, but..... he wasn't reading, he couldn't be.
"Loki" Thor said as he came over and stood next to him. "What are you doing?" He asked. Loki seemed a little tense but he looked up at Thor anyway.
"Just- um.... reading" he answered. Thor sat down in front of him with the book on the ground between them.
"Yeah? Really? Enjoying the book?" He asked. loki swallowed hard, he didn't want Thor to be asking these questions. But he nodded.
"Yes" he said "its- I like it" he added nervously. Thor was quiet for a minute but was still looking at Loki.
"Why are you lying? What's going on with you?" He asked. Loki's face went pale and he felt his mouth go dry.
"I'm- I'm not lying" he said, but he knew he was caught, he knew Thor was going to figure out what he so badly wanted to keep hidden.
"Yes you are. I know for a fact that you aren't really reading this book" Thor said. Loki didn't understand what he did wrong, how did Thor find out?
"I'm- how- how did- did you know that I wasn't-" he couldn't finish talking but thor knew what the end of the sentence was.
"Loki, look at the book" he said. Loki looked down at the book on the floor. Thor then grabbed he book by the edges and turned it around so that Loki was now looking at it right side up, whereas before he'd been 'reading' it upside down.
Thor was about to say that he wasn't stupid and he'd know that Loki was faking it if he was reading upside down, but once Thor flipped the book around Loki looked like he'd been given new information... like he didn't know it had ever been upside down in the first place. He also had the same look he'd had when he told Thor he didn't know how to use a fork; he looked humiliated.
"Loki.... can you read?" Thor asked after a minute. Loki looked like he was going to be sick, his face was tinted green now and he was licking his lips nervously. Thor put a hand on Loki's shoulder, knowing he was right. "It's okay, I'm not mad at you, I just need to know. Do you know how to read?" He asked again. It was so obvious now, they always brought him books but he was never actually seen reading them. Of course laufey wouldn't teach him to read, why would he? He'd never done anything that would make Loki's life worth living. Loki clenched his jaw tightly, then shook his head a bit after being quiet for a long time, then he finally said
"No..."