Chapter 7
Forty minutes and a very large pizza order later, the Avengers are Loki are seated around a large table. Loki is crowded next to Thor, a large slice of pizza on his plate. He waits a moment before eating, watching how the Avengers eat.
“They’re not going to poison you, brother,” Thor booms.
Loki rolls his eyes. Of course they’re not going to poison him: if that was the plan, they would have done so already.
“I know that,” Loki says calmly. “I was attempting to observe the table manners here.”
“Oh,” Thor says. “It is considered rude to break things.”
Loki sighs deeply. “Yes, I figured that one out, thank you.” He considers what he’d have to do to get back the relative quiet and solitude of the cell. But the Avengers seem so trigger happy that he doesn’t think that’s a particularly good idea.
Dinner is stilted and uncomfortable, Loki picking at his pizza while the Avengers stare at him. Well, most of them stare. Clint seems to be trying to murder Loki with his glare, which Loki grudgingly respects. Most of them immediately leave once dinner ends, which Loki doesn’t mind.
Thor leads Loki to a living room. Bookcases line the walls, most of them bare except for trinkets and artistically placed books. There is, however, a bookshelf in the corner that actually has books on it. Loki scans the bookshelf and grabs a dozen or so books that actually look interesting. He wraps himself in a blanket — damn the cuffs and the cold — and starts reading.
By the time dusk has fallen, Loki has been sitting silently reading for hours, ignoring Thor’s many attempts to talk to him.
“It is time for bed,” Thor says.
Loki looks up, piles of books surrounding him. “Must I?” He asks. “I’m reading.”
Thor sighs. “You can stay here. But FRIDAY will be watching and will alert everyone if you go anywhere other than my rooms when you’re done.”
Loki nods and turns back to his books. Like always, Thor is woefully underestimating him. His seidr is locked away, yes, but that's where Thor always goes wrong. Loki is so much more than just his seidr. Loki is clever, painfully so, and he could bring down the world with a plastic spoon and a good enough plan. If he wanted to, he could plant seeds of discord. He could sabotage them while they slept. He doesn't need his magic for that. Luckily for them, he doesn't want to.
Loki wants a lot of things. He wants Mother. He wants Thor to treat him like an equal. He wants to feel his seidr. But Loki doesn’t usually get what he wants. So he settles for some books and a blanket and the Norns-blessed silence.
Tony realizes he should probably go to bed when the gadget he is tinkering with blows up. His realization is aided by the information that it is somehow four in the morning.
Walking through the hallway in the dark, a shadow in the common area makes Tony almost jump out of his skin. Because Loki, possible-mass-murderer-Loki, is sitting in the dark. In his tower. Unaccompanied. “Why the fuck are you just sitting here? Shouldn’t you be with Thor?”
“I’m not just sitting here,” Loki picks up the item in his lap and Tony gets ready to fight. But it’s just… a book?
Loki shrugs, the blanket wrapped around him shifting over his shoulders. “Thor told the spirit in the ceiling to watch me. I’m to go directly to his rooms once I’m done.”
“FRIDAY?” Tony asks. “Is this true?”
“Yes,” FRIDAY says from the ceiling. “Mr. Odinson has given me strict instructions for his brother.”
Privately, Tony wishes that Thor would have spoken to the rest of them before giving Loki anything resembling free reign. But, for the moment, there’s nothing he can do about that.
Loki rolls his eyes at FRIDAY’s comments. “Worry not, I’m just reading.”
“That’s a lot of books.” Tony eyes the pile on Loki’s right. Evidently, Loki raided Steve’s bookshelf.
Loki shrugs. “I’ve already read those. I’m working on these ones now.” He nods towards the other, slightly smaller, pile.
“Are you planning on sleeping tonight?” Tony isn’t quite sure why he asked that. He doesn’t particularly care. Loki isn’t Peter — Tony doesn’t actually like this teenager.
“I don’t know, are you?” Loki asks, smirking up at him behind The Crucible.
“Touché.” Tony looks at the stack of books again. “Did you seriously read all of these tonight?”
Loki shrugs. “I technically started after dinner. But yes, I suppose so,”
“Anything interesting?” Tony asks, kicking himself for not just leaving when he had the chance. He doesn’t like small talk at the best of times, and this definitely doesn’t count as the best of times.
“Lots of interesting concepts,” Loki sighs. “No new favorites, I’m afraid. Though The Crucible is shaping up to be quite interesting.” Loki looks up at him, disapproval obvious. “Have you noticed that women are treated horribly in most of these books? Also, the books you have are from such a narrow time frame that I’m still missing anything from the early-1800s to the early 1950s. Frankly, it’s a little disappointing.”
“Oh, so you’re a literary critic now.” Tony means it as a joke. But Loki hunches in on himself in a way that’s far too reminiscent of Peter whenever Tony sounds even slightly critical of him.
The sun is starting to rise, bathing the city in golden-pink light. Tony should go to bed, and advise Loki to do the same. Instead, Tony sighs and sits on the couch opposite from Loki.
“Critique away,” Tony says. He pretends not to notice the way Loki’s face lights up before he schools it back to his normal expression.
Loki looks down at the book in his hands, closes it gently, and puts it aside. He looks small and young and hopeful and Tony regrets every decision he has ever made.
Hours later, when the rest of the Avengers start waking up, Steve walks into the common area to find Loki and Tony discussing Pride and Prejudice quite animatedly.
“But that’s the point!” Loki says, rolling his eyes. “It’s in the title. They are both prejudiced towards each other due to their first interactions. Seriously, it’s simple reading comprehension.”
“I don’t know,” Tony shrugs. “Darcy just didn’t seem like that bad of a guy to me.”
“He asked her to marry him while demeaning her family!” Loki glares at Tony, who does not seem the least bit sorry.
“Are you two hosting a book club?” Steve asks, eying the piles around Loki, as well as the half-dozen books open and spread out the carpet. “Also, are those my books?”
“I’m planning on putting them back,” Loki says. “Also, could you read less boring books, please?”
Tony starts laughing, Loki looks completely serious, and Steve just turns around and walks into the kitchen. He can deal with whatever this is later.