Mind leans, peering over Loki, fingernails on his cheekbone, pressing underneath his eye to look at him closer.
“He’s awake.”
Space hums, stepping towards them without hurry and pausing at his bedside to appraise Loki closer. His eyes are barely open, blinking slowly as he regains consciousness. His body is propped up so he is sitting partially upright.
“Loki, what are you?” Space asks. It’s the same question they’ve been asking for hours, following a less-than fruitful conversation and a frustrating back-and-forth in which Loki continuously gave the answer he thought they wanted to hear, without actually believing it.
“A monster,” Loki spits out in reply.
He clearly is no longer attempting to placate them.
Space sighs, disappointed. They have no desire to hear more lies. “Wrong answer sweetheart.”
Loki softly hisses at the sudden pain in between his ribs. To Loki, the pain is hardly enough to even be referred to as such, but he is more shocked to feel the sharp tingling sensation than anything, and the influence fogging his mind makes it difficult to think.
Space holds the small dagger up in the light, close to their face, wiping the needle-point blade with a cloth and then inspecting it closely. Their attention is completely off of Loki, not deigning to look at him in that moment.
“Would you like to try again?” Space asks, glancing over to him briefly.
Loki glares in response, tugging again at the restraints. Space looks displeased, sighing as they run the flat side of the blade down his chest absently, somehow managing not to nick his skin. His resistance- it’s a feeble effort, completely pointless against the unyielding restraints glowing blue, and he hardly moves at all against them.
“He’s just going to keep saying the same thing, you know,” Power says from behind them, her tone flat.
“Mind, why does he keep saying that?”
Soul interrupts before Mind can voice his confusion, “You told him not to use that word, of course that’s the only thing he’s going to say.”
“Who convinced me to do this again?” Space huffs.
“This was your idea, Space,” Mind replies, perplexed.
“This clearly isn’t working,” Reality adds from where he is leaning on the wall, a book in hand.
Space pouts, though they banish the dagger without further complaint. “Well what do you suggest?”
Soul comes closer, a hand glowing orange as she covers the shallow lines where they cut him, healing them.
“Maybe you aren’t going deep enough? He looks more annoyed than anything- honestly -at this point I think he’s falling asleep.”
“I don't want to hurt him.”
“Is that not the point of negative reinforcement?” Time asks rhetorically, holding a small throwing knife in between her fingers, playfully twirling it in the air, “To..” she tsks, miming a twisting motion. “I just think repetition is necessary for that.”
Space stares down at the shiny knife she offers, clearly intrigued. Really, what she was saying did make sense…
“Isn’t there also positive reinforcement?” Power asks, rolling her eyes as she interrupts their tangent.
“I do believe that is said to be more effective,” Mind replied seriously.
Loki snarls something under his breath none of them can fully hear, or care to listen to.
Space hushes him, petting his hair without looking. The bands of glowing blue surrounding his face brighten, temporarily cutting off his ability to speak.
“And why didn’t anyone mention this in the first place?” Space asks, still petting Loki’s hair, twisting their finger through the soft strands.
“Honestly, I just wanted to see if you would do it.”
“Time, what did you expect? Honestly.” Power huffs, crossing her arms.
“I didn’t think you would actually do it,” Time says, green eyes twinkling with mirth. She spins the knife in her fingers, passing it from hand to hand.
“Stop trying to make Space stab Loki, because you know it's working.”
Time only laughs. She doesn't put away the knife.
Space forces themself to look away, turning their attention back to Loki.
“Alright, attempt two, then,” Space says softly, sitting next to Loki, then laying beside him.
“How’s this?” Space says, looking back at the others as they cuddle into Loki’s side. They don’t seem to know where to put their hands, finally resting on his shoulders before pulling slightly away from him.
Reality shrugs, before nodding, and Mind gives them a thumbs-up.
“So what else then?”
“I don't know, like praise and stuff,” Soul says.
“I give Loki plenty of praise,” Space says, frowning. They shake their head. “What else?”
Instead of responding, Soul comes to the side of the bed, shutting Loki’s eyes with her palm. When he opens them, their usual green is hazy with orange and yellow.
Space loosens Loki’s gag, strands of blue falling away. Loki doesn’t say anything right away, expression slackened, appearing more like he was nearing sleep.
“You are not a monster, Loki.” Space sighs, leaning closer so their face is resting against Loki’s chest.
“What’s it… m-matter?” Loki replies dazedly.
“It matters very much to me how you view yourself. You are very precious to us, you know.”
Loki blinks.
“I think you hit him too hard,” Space turns their head to tell Soul, but she just shrugs.
Space sighs, wrapping their arms around him again. “Come here, darling.”
Loki doesn't move, can’t move because of his restrained arms, though he doesn't seem to want to anyways. His only reaction is to stiffen as Space comes closer, though he makes no further attempt to pull away.
After a moment, Loki lets out a slow breath, closing his eyes and relaxing, as if leaning into the touch.
Space frowns, unsure if Loki was truly comfortable or if that was because of Mind, or Soul's influence. Honestly it is just too hard for them to tell at this point.
Soul comes closer again, sitting at Loki’s other side. She runs her fingers through his hair, calming him further. Orange light warms Loki’s face and his eyes seem to clear. Eyes no longer hazy, now shining with yellows, their green hue seems all the brighter despite their unfocused appearance.
“What are you?” Space asks, again, though softer this time. They stare intently into his bright eyes, lifting his chin in their hand so his gaze eventually settles on theirs as well.
Loki shivers, his mouth opening and shutting as he struggles for a moment to speak.
“Y-yours.”
Space hums in satisfaction, face hardening as they nod their head. “Was that so hard?”
They sigh, dropping his chin and letting Loki’s head fall to the side. “Alright that’s enough,” Space says as they move to loosen their hold on him.
Loki trembles as Space loosens the restraints completely until his arms fall, his yellow-green eyes still unfocused and glassy as he stares at his hands. He seems confused by something on his wrist, moving his fingers along his other hand. His eyes blink slower, his posture sinking now that he is no longer being held up.
Space eases behind him, letting Loki fall behind them onto their chest and wrapping their arms around him once more. They run their fingers through his hair, looking down. They stare at his face, forlorn as they brush their fingers against his jaw, against the sides of his face. His features soften and his eyelashes flutter as he shifts against them.
“Now if only we could get you to really believe that,” they whisper as Loki falls into an exhausted sleep.