Chapter 6
Everything was warm, which was surprising. Warm and fuzzy. Loki sighed contentedly, keeping his eyes shut. If he had learned one thing about prison life on this ship, it was that it was cold. Loki snuggled closer to the warmth. He wasn’t sure how long he had been sleeping, but if his internal clock was accurate (and it usually was) he’d guess it was sometime in the early morning. However, he could never be truly sure, because for one thing, there were no windows in their cell, and for another, they were in the middle of space.
The warmth shifted and grumbled in its sleep. Loki froze and opened his eyes.
He was tucked under Brunnhilde’s cloak, his head nestled below her chest and his body curled in a ball against her stomach and thighs. One of her arms was resting on his head. Loki cursed internally.
A large part of him was yelling at him to get away from her as fast as he could, to be disgusted with himself and her, but a smaller, quieter, but firmer part of him was saying It’s nice and warm… and she’s not awake… she won’t know… and it feels good…
It did feel good, but Loki didn’t want to admit it. He was snug, tucked up against her body so that they could share warmth. That’s what made him want to stay, he supposed. The advantage of body warmth. It was natural to want to be warmer in such a cold environment… No, he cared nothing at all for the close contact with the Valkyrie.
Still, after only a few moment, Loki forced himself away from Brunnhilde, telling himself the clench in his heart was his disappointment from the present lack of heat. Thankfully, Brunnhilde remained asleep. Loki found himself watching her in a fascinated sort of way. She wasn’t pretty-- at least, certainly not any more after weeks of life without showers or brushes or any sort of soap--but she still retained a sort of personal, natural glow that didn’t come from her physical appearance. She looked so peaceful, lying on her side, asleep, the only movement being the steady rise and fall of her chest. A strand of matted hair had fallen across her chapped lips. Nothing interesting, or at least, nothing Loki should be interested in. Even Loki could acknowledge that she was pretty, or at least prettier, before this imprisonment, yet somehow, staring at her too-loose clothes, shrunken body, ripped cloak, Loki thought she had never looked more beautiful.
And then immediately erased the thought and snatched Brunnhilde’s cloak off her.
“What the--” Brunnhilde opened her eyes blearily, and shot an angry look at Loki. Not even awake for five seconds and she was already glaring at Loki. “What was that for?”
“I’m cold,” Loki complained, wrapping the cloak around him.
“Bitch,” Valkyrie growled. “Give it back, it’s not my fault that you lost yours.”
“I didn’t lose mine, somebody ripped it to shreds in the arena!”
“I ripped it to shreds after arena, to help patch you up!”
“You wouldn’t need to patch me up if you hadn’t actually fought me in the first place!”
They remained arguing until all of the prisoners had woken up to the sound of their bickering, to the surprise of none. Barow and Serlah exchanged looks but remained silent.
When the fight had descended from its zenith, Brunnhilde threw her hands up in exasperation and stalked away. Loki glared after her, firmly ignoring the perceptible weight of disappointment in his chest. He half-heartedly kicked the wall, which did absolutely nothing except for bruise his toe.
“Look… I’m sorry.”
Loki jumped, more out of surprise of the actual statement than the fact that Brunnhilde had startled him. “You’re… what?”
“Sorry,” Brunnhilde repeated irritably. “You know, something people say when they want to apologize--”
“No, no, I know what sorry means,” Loki interrupted with a grin growing on his face. “But I’m surprised that you do. You haven’t acted like it.”
“Haha,” Brunnhilde said sarcastically. “Look, I’m already regretting this, so--”
“Wait!” Loki stopped her before he had even told himself he was doing so. “Don’t… go.”
Brunnhilde paused.
“I… didn’t mean to be rude. I was just surprised. And… I’m sorry too.”
“Don’t apologize until I’ve finished apologizing,” Brunnhilde huffed, but there was a small smile on her face. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. I’m just really, really frustrated with being stuck in here and not being able to do anything and not knowing where Thor and Bruce are…” she heaved a cross sigh. “And I shoudn’t have taken it out on you. So. Sorry.”
“I forgive you,” Loki said teasingly, but when he continued, he was serious. “Look, we’re all going a bit crazy in here. It’s just as much my fault as it is yours. We should try to stop fighting and maybe try to start finding a way out of here.”
Brunnhilde frowned. “I thought you said--”
“I know what I said. But I’ve been thinking. Thanos isn’t always around, and even when he is, he doesn’t know everything that goes on around here, does he?” Loki hesitated. “Maybe… we should try to escape. It would be risky, yes, but worth it. Every day, Thanos gains more power . We need to get out of here before he gets any more.”
Brunnhilde leaned forward and lowered her voice. “Do you have a plan?” she inquired eagerly.
“Er… no,” Loki admitted.
Brunnhilde sat back, faintly disappointed.
“But I’m working on it,” Loki assured her quickly. “Somehow to get us all out of here. Alive, preferably. Alright, alright, definitely alive,” he added hastily at Brunnhilde’s expression.