Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 18

Loki is in the middle of a very restful sleep when a hand on his shoulder rouses him. He groans and squeezes his eyes tighter. He's not in the mood.

"Loki, wake up," Thor says, shaking him gently.

"Go away," Loki mumbles.

"Loki, we spoke about this yesterday," Thor says, and if he's already exasperated with him, it's going to be a long day. "I will not let you sit in your room all day because you don't want to talk to the Avengers."

"Leave me alone," Loki whines.

Thor sighs. "If I cannot get you out of bed, I will ask Stark to do it instead."

Loki immediately sits up — so fast that his head starts spinning, and he squeezes his eyes shut, clutching his head tightly.

Thor just laughs at him. "I knew that would work."

"I hate you," Loki mumbles.

"I've noticed," Thor says simply.

Thor gently pulls Loki's hands away from his head, and Loki opens his eyes. That's better. Not as nice as lying in bed, he'll admit, but at least the world isn't moving.

"Do you feel better?" Thor asks.

Loki gives a small shrug. "Marginally so."

"I'm glad," Thor says. "It's time for breakfast. Barton is making pancakes."

Loki furrows his brows. "Pancakes?"

"Yes, pancakes," Thor says. "I've had them before. They are delicious."

Well, if Thor likes them, they can't be too bad. After the Cheez-It debacle, Loki's been kind of hesitant with this human food, but he'd like to think that with Thor's vote of confidence, pancakes must be something like Asgardian food.

"Can you stand?" Thor asks.

Loki nods. He has absolutely no reason to believe he can, but now that he feels like he can think, he's not accepting help from anyone. He slides closer to the edge of the bed, sets his feet flat on the floor, and takes a moment to prepare himself. Here goes nothing.

He pushes himself to his feet, heaving his body up with the help of his arms. It doesn't last long before he falls back down on the bed. Okay, maybe he can't stand.

Thor doesn't wait for him to admit he needs help (or ask for permission to help, for that matter), and he puts an arm around him, pulling him to his feet. Loki's not sure he feels much stronger than he did yesterday, per se; he just feels more awake, and that alone makes it easier.

"I really don't want to do this," Loki tells him.

"I know," Thor says. "And that is why you have to."

Loki rolls his eyes, but losing his focus even just long enough to do that causes him to lose his balance, and Thor has to hold on tight to stop him from falling over.

"I can't do this," Loki mumbles to himself. He knows he can't convince Thor that he's okay, but he'd like to at least convince the other Avengers that he is. Right now, he doesn't think he can hold that charade up, and he's not eager to admit his weaknesses. "I'm going back to sleep." He tries to push Thor away, but he's not strong enough to do any good.

"You need to eat," Thor says sternly.

"I'm tired," Loki says -- and he is. He's not nearly as out-of-it as he was last night, but he's still tired and he could easily squeeze out another eight hours of sleep if given the chance, and he would really like that chance.