Work Text:
11:45 PM
Everyone in Loki's base was asleep. As for Loki himself, he had a few smaller matters to attend to before the trip to Stuttgart. As he passed by the row of cell blocks, he noticed that his newest prisoner: a young woman called [Name] [Last], aka the Sandman, was still awake. Considering it was almost midnight, this confused Loki to some degree. As Loki approached [Name's] cell, he saw her pacing in a circle around her cell with her hands clasped behind her back; not unlike how Loki paced when he was in deep thought.
"What are you doing up, mortal?" Loki asked, irritation clearly evident in the way he spoke to her. "It's almost midnight, everyone else is asleep."
[Name] stopped pacing and turned her head to face Loki, her expression completely blank. "Expressing concern for the prisoner, are we?" she queried, raising an eyebrow in cold amusement. "I can't fall asleep; that's all there is to it. I'll tire eventually, no need to worry your pretty little head about it."
Loki's lip curled up in a sneer. "Be careful how you speak to me, mortal," he growled. "Just because my scepter has no effect on you doesn't mean I won't end your life."
[Name] shrugged. "I know. But it's not as if I can do anything in here," she pointed out. "You're the one who put me in here; you'd know if the security was faulty or not. As I said, I'll go to sleep eventually, and the only way that'll happen is if you leave me alone."
Loki looked down on his prisoner with contempt as he strode past her cell, leaving [Name] to her own thoughts.
10:00 PM
Loki was in his circular glass prison aboard the SHIELD Helecarrier. He couldn't fall asleep, so he was simply laying on the cot provided for him. A minute later, he heard the sound of the metal doors sliding open, and quiet footsteps entering the room. Loki sat up, and he saw none other than [Name], holding a reading lamp and a hardcover book.
"What are you doing here, mortal?" he growled. "Why are you creeping around in the middle of the night?"
[Name] shrugged. "You know how last time, you found me awake in my cell? It's actually a condition of sorts, called insomnia," [Name] explained. "To put it simply, it's when a person is unable to sleep at night. I also have to exercise a lot in order to keep my spirits up, since depression is commonly associated with insomnia."
"I don't need to know about your health problems, mewling quim," Loki said irritably. "Just do what you came to do and leave."
"Okay, that was insulting, because I actually know what 'mewling quim' means," [Name] commented. "And that's the thing: Fury thought that I should watch you during the night hours because I have insomnia. I wasn't expecting you to actually be awake, though...." she muttered under her breath.
[Name] didn't wait for a response as she sat down at the metal desk and placed her reading lamp and book on the table. [Name] turned on her reading lamp and opened her book, her eyes pinging across each page as she continued reading. Now that she was closer to him, Loki could see bruise-colored rings under [Name's] eyes. Her skin was also considerably paler than what was considered normal amongst Midgardians. It was unhealthily pale.
After half an hour, Loki asked her, "What are you reading?" There was no malice or disdain behind the question, surprisingly; nothing but genuine curiosity.
"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," [Name] answered, an eyebrow raised in suspicion. "Why do you ask?"
Loki inhaled slowly, as if he was trying not to lose his temper at a little kid. "Can you read it to me?" he asked. "...Please?" he added as an afterthought.
After a minute of stunned silence, [Name] finally mumbled, "You're lucky I'm rereading the series...." and folded the corner of her current page before flipping back to the start of the book.
"Chapter One: The Boy who Lived," [Name] began. "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense...."
A week later, 12:15 AM
"'Oh, I will,' said Harry, and they were surprised at the grin that was spreading over his face. 'They don't know we're not allowed to use magic at home. I'm going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer....'"
And with that said, [Name] snapped the book shut, the story having finally been completed. [Name] stared at the book cover for a few seconds, before finally asking, "Well, now what? I can't sleep and you're a cocky god stuck in a glass cage."
"Then go back to your room," Loki replied shortly. "Unlike me, you have the comforts of an actual bed awaiting you."
[Name] shrugged and pulled out an iPod and a pair of earbuds as she sat down in front of Loki's cell. "It's too far," [Name] mumbled, stifling a yawn with her hand. "I'll just listen to my music for a bit."
Loki watched as [Name] stuck the earbuds into her ears and pressed a few buttons on her iPod, before setting it down next to her and leaning her head against Loki's cell, her expression serene and peaceful, which was a nice change from the blank or defeated expressions she usually displayed around other people. She was actually quite pretty when she showed a relatively positive expression on her face. Loki tried pushing this out of his mind as he gradually succumbed to sleep, with an insomniac sitting by his cell for company.
The next morning, when Loki woke up, [Name] was gone, and there was a note taped to the glass of his prison cell:
I don't know if you enjoyed the first HP book or not, but I'm going to bring the second book tonight in case you want me to read it to you.
~ [Name]
Loki sighed and sat down on his cot, glancing at the note taped to the glass as he fought to suppress the wave of eagerness that came over him at the prospect of getting to read the second book in the series.
"What a troublesome mortal...."
11:30 PM
Sometime after the Battle of New York, Loki was sentenced to exile on Midgard: he would stay with the Avengers until the Odin saw it fit to bring Loki back home. Loki was greeted with less-than-warm welcomes from the Avengers, and with good reason. And as the day progressed, Loki suddenly realized that he hadn't seen [Name] around the Tower at least once during his stay at the Tower.
"Would you happen to know of [Name's] whereabouts?" Loki asked Natasha after dinner, just before everyone headed off to bed.
"She's usually holed up in her bedroom or the library during the day, and she goes on the roof at nighttime," Natasha replied coldly. "I don't know why you care, but if you hurt her in any way-"
"I'm not going to hurt her," Loki interrupted. "I just want to talk to her."
Natasha shot Loki another icy glare before turning a corner and heading to her room. Heeding Natasha's directions, Loki took the elevator to the roof of the Avengers Tower. When he walked out of the elevator and onto the roof, he immediately spotted [Name], who was sitting precariously close to the edge of the roof. [Name] turned to glance at Loki as he walked up to her, but said nothing as he sat down next to her.
"You know how I told you that depression is more common with insomniacs?" [Name] said, her voice unusually quiet. "Whenever I come up here and look down at all of the people on the street, sometimes I think about...just jumping off and...putting an end to all of this."
[Name] turned her body to face Loki properly, her legs crossed in front of her. "You have a daughter who runs Helheim, right?" she inquired. "Would I end up there if I committed suicide?"
"I believe so," Loki murmured. "Helheim is the land of the dishonorable dead, including those who die of old age or on accident. I believe suicide victims would fall under that category, as well."
[Name] let out a disappointed hum and began playing with her fingers. "Even if I did commit suicide, do you think anyone would miss me? I have no living relatives, and assuming I have any distant ones, they probably don't even know I exist."
"Family doesn't necessarily mean they have to be related to you," Loki pointed out. "You have the Avengers; they all love you and treat you like family." Loki's gaze turned cold as he looked out on the city skyline. "It's more than I had back on Asgard."
[Name] turned to face the skyline as well, a thoughtful expression on her face. "There was one Norse myth that always interested me," she commented. "There was a Norse god: Balder, he was supposed to be invulnerable to everything. Nothing could kill him. So the other gods would make a game out of throwing various objects and weapons at him, and Balder would come out of it unscathed every time.
"A certain god of mischief became jealous of how perfect and unkillable Balder was," [Name] continued, glancing at Loki, who remained expressionless. "He found out that the one thing that could harm Balder was mistletoe. So he made a dart out of the stuff and had Balder's blind brother Hod throw the dart, which hit Balder and killed him instantly.
"The goddess Hel said she would bring Balder back to life if every living creature mourned for him. And everyone did mourn...except for one person." [Name] shot another glance at Loki. "So Balder remained dead, and shall remain dead until Ragnarok comes along and destroys everything," [Name] finished.
Loki turned to gaze at [Name], who had gone back to looking down at the city. "What is the point you're trying to make?" he finally asked.
After a short pause, [Name] finally said, "You've gotten ample time to get to know me. If I were in a similar situation to Balder, would you mourn for me?"
Loki's neutral expression gave way to shock for a split second, before gently grasping [Name's] chin and turning her head to face him. And without warning, Loki pressed his lips against [Name's] in a chaste, but affectionate kiss.
Loki pulled away first, a small smirk on his face. "Did that answer your question?"
[Name] let out a sigh and leaned her head on Loki's shoulder. "I'll tell you in the morning," she mumbled. And before Loki could get a response in, [Name] instantly fell asleep. Smiling softly, Loki leaned his head against [Name's] and closed his eyes, sleep overtaking him as well.
The next morning, when Natasha came up to the roof the next morning to check on [Name], she saw that for the first time in a very, very long time, [Name] was finally asleep, her head leaning against Loki'ss shoulder and her fingers entwined with his. Natasha let a small smile grace her lips as she left the rooftop, leaving the two of them in their peaceful, undisturbed slumber.