ACATALEPSY ➺ loki

30 , 20 questions

By the sixth day I was getting a bit sick of being stuck in the house, even with Loki around. It was incredible how quickly it seemed we had gotten along, sure, there was still a tiny part of me that believed the only reason Loki was being as nice as he was to me was because he wanted to use me for something, since after all, he still was Loki. But... the more time I spent with the man, the further back those worries seemed to fade even though I knew I should be staying careful. I had been talking to Natasha, Tony or Wanda pretty much everyday, making sure I was up to date on everything that was happening in Wakanda. From what they told me, it sounded like Shuri was making good progress in finalising a way to safely get the stone out of Vision, but testing it to make sure nothing could go wrong was going to take another two to three days, and since Loki and I could only start on our part of the plan once the stone was out of Vision, we were stuck in the compound alone till then.

I missed training with Natasha, I missed my hilarious conversations with Tony that seemed to happen on the daily, I missed chatting with Wanda about stuff, I missed having all of the avengers around. But I knew that the mission was a lot more important than my feeling slightly lonely, so I knew I couldn't go complaining about that. We barely saw Pepper around the compound, but I didn't blame her at all as she was burdened with keeping the whole company running smoothly as well as keeping the press and news reporters pleased. Most days were passed with ordering in food and watching television, but it seemed by this point both Loki and I were quite bored of the repetition of our days. I sat up straighter from the position that I'd been sprawled out on the couch in and turned to face Loki, who was resting similarly on a nearby sofa. "Hey, Loki, we're... friends, right?" I asked, suddenly having a very random idea that I now desperately needed to see play out.

The god sat up, mirroring me and leaning in slightly closer with a curious look on his face. "Yes, I would consider us... friends. Why? Do you have a different opinion on the matter?" I wasn't sure if I was just imagining it, but... it sounded like there was the slightest hint of worry in Loki's voice as he said that last sentence.

I frowned, wondering why he was suddenly looking frazzled. "No, of course not. I was just... I was going to ask you if you wanted to play this little game called twenty questions, actually. I-It's a thing friends do sometimes to pass time, and... I thought it could be fun since we've basically been stuck in this place alone for the past week and still don't know much about each other. And I would be lying if I said the idea of playing twenty questions with a god wasn't highly tempting. Why would you think that, though?"

He seemed relived by my statement, which only confused my even more. "I am merely quite used to people not exactly... enjoying my presence after they have known me as long as you have, Miss Devoe. This... is usually the point where they all realise exactly how, uh, unenjoyable being around myself can get." He scoffed softly, and that was one of the first times I felt like I could really see through the calm and snarky façade he loved to always put on. "But, I guess you have already known me for years in your world, so... you really are just different." Something about the way he phrased those words sent a chill down my back, and the eye contact wasn't helping at all, causing me to look away quickly—crossing my arms over my chest as I knew I did whenever I felt nervous about anything. But Loki didn't seem willing to let it go this time as I usually managed to get him to, tilting his head slightly as he still kept watching me. "Tell me, what is it that makes you view me so differently? I know I have asked that before, and I know you have answered as well. But I don't believe you. I want the truth—how can you truly wish to be around me after seeing everything I did to your friends? Why don't you hate me? Why do you let me call you my friend so willingly?"

I hadn't been ready to get into such a deep conversation so quickly, but I knew there was no backing out of it at this point. Instead, I very slowly moved closer to where Loki was sitting and placed a hand on his knee, ready to immediately remove it if he objected, but he didn't move a muscle, so I let it lay there. "Loki, I'm going to tell you something, and I'm going to ask you not to repeat this to anyone, because they're all just going to start making it weird. But... before I get thrown into this world? You were probably one of the characters in the whole saga that I felt for the most, even if I didn't realise it in that moment. When I walked into the throne room that day on Asagrd to talk to you... I wasn't scared, because I knew you. You think we all haven't done some messed up shit in our lives? I mean, hell, if we start comparing Asgardian years to human ones, you really can't be that much older than me, and... I can assure you, if I went through everything you had—I wouldn't have done anything differently. I mean, I probably wouldn't have had the power to try overthrow new york, but you know what I mean. I don't think any less of you than I do any of the other avengers, Loki. Really, I mean you know of Natasha's past. You know of everything Tony has done before... but does that stop them from moving forward? The only difference between you and the avengers, is that they realised their mistakes and decided to try make up for it. You realised your mistakes, but still believe you can't redeem yourself. But... if you can trust me for a second... I already know that you do. You've already done so in my eyes, at least. And as much as the rest of the team doesn't want to show it, they're all warming up to you. You don't scare me, Loki. And I think you know thats a complement." I took in a shaky breath, not realising that I had barely taken a breath during that whole rant.