You are safe
"Good morrow, my friend." Areena said happily as she walked over to Loki. It had been a week since Loki, Areena and Thor entered the Avengers Tower. After the first encounter with Stark and Loki, no one really dared to speak with Loki. Occasionally, Dr. Palmer would check on him. Areena however, never left Loki's side. As long as Loki was awake, she was there. Her cheeks were sunken and bags formed under her eyes, but it was nothing that she couldn't hide with some Seiðr.
The past week was a sort of haze to Loki. According to Areena, Odin had put some sort of spell of Loki to keep him alive on Asgard, meaning that without the spells, Loki probably would've died from the torture. That spell broke when he left Midgard. Areena explained that she transferred some of her magic to Loki once, but he didn't really pay attention. The pain medication did a number on him. Thor visited him once and of course Loki freaked out. But Areena was there, and that was all that mattered.
"I'm hungry" Loki said quietly. It still felt for Loki weird to ask for food and get in when he wanted it. The guards barely fed him and it was Areena's nagging that even got him food in those past 5 months. The hospital food tasted and felt like slime, but Loki was still grateful. He wasn't looking forward to breakfast slime, but he was hungry. That's all that he needed and that was all he would get
"Of course! I'm guessing no more goup?" As if she read his mind, Areena asked with a tilt of her head and a smirk.
"I'd be grateful" Loki said with a small smile and Areena chuckled silently
"Okay. I'll bring you some breakfast. Besides, the healers said you could start solids now. And I really want to see you try pancakes" Areena said happily before leaving and Loki's heart warmed. Areena spread her happiness like a wild fire. Nobody could help their smiles as they watched Areena jump around happily. After a few minutes, Areena returned with a tray full of food. It smelled sweet. On the tray, there was a plate of what seemed to be thin slices of bread sacked on top of each other. A thick, brown syrup glazed the slices of bread. Small berries were scattered around the dish. There was also a small cup of herbal tea of the tray
"Tada! Pancakes! A Midgardian delicacy" Areena explained as she carefully set the tray on the table attached to Loki's bed.
"Bread?" Loki asked suspiciously
"Not bread, but close. It's softer than bread. The syrup on top is maple syrup. It's sweet. The syrup is produced from maple leaves. I also brought you some herbal tea. It goes well with the sweetness of the pancakes." Areena explained before handing Loki some cutlery. Loki nervously cut a piece of the pancake from the stack and placed it in his mouth. Bliss. Pure bliss. The pancakes were soft, fluffy and airy. The maple syrup added the perfect amount of sweetness. Loki's eyes lit up as he chewed the piece of pancake. Areena felt a wide smile grow across her face as she watched him go back for a second bite hastily. Then another. Then another. Loki couldn't possibly stop. He hadn't tasted something like this in his whole life. The sweetness, the texture - everything was new and absolutely delicious
"So, how are they?" Areena asked with a grin and Loki felt his cheeks turn red. He had just finished half of the stack in mere minutes
"Good. Very good." Loki said with a sheepish smile and took a sip of the tea. Areena was right. The bitter and earthy tea complimented the sweet pancakes perfectly. Loki finished the rest of his pancakes and and Areena took away the tray with a huge smile. Loki heard her crunch on the berries as she left
"Well, the doctors say you can leave the medbay now. We have a room prepared for you" Areena said happily as she sat down beside Loki
"A c-cell?" Loki asked sounding very scared
"No of course not! A room for you to enter, sleep and stay in. You can leave whenever you want and we'll call you for mealtimes everyday" Areena quickly explained.
"What's the catch?" Loki asked growing more scared. Areena's heart hurt as she watched Loki get tense. The poor man really thought there was a catch
"There is no catch, Loki. Anthony Stark, the owner of this building is a good friend of mine and he has too many spare rooms. All of us live here and there are still so many rooms empty. We are giving you one. There is no catch darling" Areena explained as she rubbed Loki's arm and he seemed to calm down a bit. His eyes fell down to his hands and he sighed
"From the goodness of his heart?" Loki asked as he slowly raised his head
"Yes, from the goodness of his heart. However, the others would like to meet you." Areena quipped and Loki inhaled deeply
"How many others?" Loki asked as he fidgeted with his hands
"Other than me and Thor there are 5 others. Would you like to meet them now?" Areena asked with a slightly tensed tone
"Yes, I'd like that" Loki said as he nodded and Areena smiled. She typed something on her cellular device(Loki never understood how and why those work) and a minute later, there was a soft knock on the door
"Come in" Areena said and the door opened. 5 men and 1 woman entered the room cautiously. Loki felt his breath hitch when he saw them. They could probably kill him in an instant if they wanted to.
"Ni-nice to meet you" Loki said in a shaky voice as he watched the people gather around his bed. Areena squeezed his hand and seemed to calm him down a bit.
"Hey, Lokes. I'm Tony. Tony Stark. We uh met before but you were kinda out of it. So, hi again" Tony said awkwardly and shook Loki's hand
"Tony is the Iron Man. He has a suit made of iron! He blasts bombs from his mere hands!" Areena explained happily and Loki looked at Tony in shock.
"Hun, you're over-selling it" Tony said as he shook his head and sat down on a nearby couch
"Hi I am uh Bruce. Bruce Banner. Nice to meet you" Banner said sheepishly. He seemed just as nervous as Loki
"Banner is an incredibly smart doctor. He's also a scientist. Bruce has a special chemical in his body that allows him to become very big and strong and green when he becomes emotionally distressed. It is so cool!" Areena explained and Loki looked like a child listening to stories about fairies. His eyes lit up and his mouth was agap
"That's stretching it" Bruce murmured with a smile tugging on the corner of his lips
"And I'm Natasha. Natasha Romanoff" Nat filled in with a pretty intimidating smile
"Lady Natasha is a trained assasion. She is very tactical and swift." Areena said as she eyed Natasha with a smirk
"I'm Steve Rogers." Steve said plainly but with a soft smile
"He's our Captain! Stark pays for everything, but he leads us. He is very strong, righteous and he has a great sense of morality! Not to mention, he made your pancakes" Areena said happily and Loki's eyes lit up. He smiled widely as he looked at Steve
"The pancakes were incredible! Please tell me how I may repay you" Loki insisted and Steve chuckled softly
"Just get better and I'll make you more pancakes." Steve said as he patted Loki's shoulder and for once Loki didn't flinch at the touch of anybody other than Areena.
"Yippikayee, I'm Clint." Clint said with a resting-bitch-face accompanied with a dad smile
"Clint is called the Hawkeye. He has incredible eyesight and aim. I sometimes take archery lessons with him." Areena said with a soft smile and Loki's smile grew with hers.
"And I'm Thor! Thor Odinson! God of Thunder and the wielder of the mighty Mjolnir!" Thor beamed happily, so happily that Loki started laughing with him. Of course Thor's laugh was contagious. Loki knew who Thor was, but Thor introduced himself anyway
"It has been a pleasures to meet all of you. I hope I can serve you well" Loki said with a big smile and Tony hit his head with his palm
"We don't want your service. Just get better. We're the Avengers man. We're not cruel." Tony said with a groan and Loki felt confused. So they were really doing this out of the goodness of their hearts?
"O-okay I guess." Loki said with a hint of confusion in his voice
"Rest for now. We'll move you to your new room in the afternoon. It was nice meeting you" Steve siad before ushering everyone out of the room.
"I need to take a shower, will you be alright on your own?" Areena asked as she looked at Loki with her brows furrowed
"I'd like to hear or read some stories, if it's not too much. Do you have books you could spare?" Loki asked through a shaky voice. He was still scared and it broke Areena's heart.
"How about this, Thor has some really good stories. Would you like to hear them? I could bring him over." Areena suggested and Loki's eyes lit up in anticipation. Areena didn't wait for a reply before bolting out of the room and sending Thor to Loki. The two talked for hours well after Areena's showers before Loki fell asleep. This time, he didn't see a nightmare, he just saw a smile from Areena.