Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 25

It's been a few days since Thor left — not that Loki actually knows how many; every day blends together to him — and Loki's feeling a lot better. He's been up and walking around again, pacing back and forth just to kill time. He has no problem getting to and from the kitchen. He's even been doing some little bits of magic just to keep himself entertained. He's not quite as good as new, but he's getting there.

He's doing a lot better mentally, too. He's still absolutely miserable here. Of course he's miserable. That's never going to change. But the only person he's had to talk to in days is Steve. He doesn't have to put up with the other Avengers (other than Tony's stupid notes about the ice cream, but he kind of enjoyed writing back to him so that doesn't count) or Thor and his holier-than-thou attitude. It's been as close to great as he expects his life to ever get, at least until all of the Avengers are dead and he gets the tower to himself.

Loki usually doesn't start his day until Steve comes to get him for breakfast-slash-lunch. He likes to just lie in bed with his eyes closed until he has a reason to get up. It makes the time go by faster. But today feels like an exceptionally long wait, and he's beginning to get very, very bored — and kind of hungry, too.

Loki sits up and flicks the light switch on with his telekinesis. He looks out the window, but he's been able to see the sunlight flooding into his room even before he opened his eyes. He already knew it was afternoon — or just before noon; somewhere around there. Steve should be here any minute, but he's starting to get very bored and he's not sure he can wait another minute. It's one thing when he knows Steve is hours from coming to get him, but when he knows it could be at any moment, it gets much more frustrating.

"JARVIS?" Loki says. "Is Steve coming?"

"He is not," JARVIS says.

"Do you think he's going to come soon?" Loki asks.

"I don't know," JARVIS says. "Probably not within the next few minutes. I don't know about after that."

Loki sighs. Fine, whatever. He's not sitting around all day waiting for Steve. He pushes himself to his feet and takes a minute to stretch, cracking every vertebra in his back with a satisfying series of pops. That feels nice.

He heads out of his room, closing the door quietly behind himself. He's not sure why he always tries to sneak out of his room when he goes to the bathroom. It's not like anyone could hear him. Tony basically shoved him as far away from everything as possible, and thank god for that.

Loki makes his way to the bathroom, makes sure the door is locked, and turns on the shower. That's a noise he never thought he'd miss. At least the Asgardian prisoners got showers twice a week. He's gone two or three weeks here without one, and he feels disgusting.

Loki pulls off his prison shirt. It's been soaked in so much sweat for so long, it's starting to get crusty. He didn't even know that was possible. He can't believe he's been wearing this same shirt for weeks. So much for being a prince.

Loki kicks off his shoes, and he strips off all of his dirty clothes. He just leaves them on the floor. He won't be needing those anymore. He hopes. He's still not quite sure what he is and isn't capable of, but he's feeling a lot better. He'd like to think he can still do most of his old tricks.

Loki steps into the shower, tilting his head back and letting the cool water fall down his body. He needed this. This is so much better than that half-assed cold bath Thor threw him in. He'd choose a cold shower any day.

Loki runs his hands through his hair, giving the water a clear pathway down his head. His fingers get tangled up in the ends, and he gently brushes it out from the bottom. Every stroke pulls out new strands of hair, and he sticks them to the shower wall just to get them out of his fingers. It's absolutely disgusting, but he doesn't have to share the shower with anyone so he doesn't care too much. No one's going to see it but him.