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Loki shifted against the cold walls in his back and winced when it pulled at all the cuts, burns and bruises covering his body.
Thanos seemed to be giving him a break. For how long, he didn't know, never really knew. He could come back in a second, or in five hours or just when Loki was about to die from thirst. That was part of the whole game. To keep Loki on the edge the whole time. It was all part of the plan to drive him mad.
"Brother mine, how far you have fallen."
Loki whipped around towards the bars separating his cell from the corridor.
"No," he whimpered when his overworked brain finally made sense of the colours in front of him, "You cannot be here, they cannot get you as well, Thor."
"Not to worry," Thor said, an uncharacteristic blankness covering his features, "They did not get me."
"Then how - why are you here?", Loki asked, scrambling closer to the bars.
"To see you of course," Thor answered but it didn't sound happy. It didn't even sound nice.
"Why?", Loki's voice broke on the single word. He'd been stuck here for so long, he didn't think anyone was still looking for him.
"To witness the moment you break, dear not-brother," Thor answered and between blinks, he was suddenly inside the cell, towering above Loki.
Loki's face screwed up in confusion and anger.
"I did not give up. I am not going to give up," he insisted, straightening his back as much as he could without reopening wounds.
"Not yet," Thor said, crouching down to meet Loki at eye-level. Loki shrunk back but Thor reached out and grabbed a fistful of Loki's hair. The bloody, black curls were all knotted and twisted, pulling sharply at Loki's scalp.
"But you will. You will give up in time. You weak, pathetic -"
"You are not my brother," Loki grit out, biting down on his lip hard enough to draw blood.
The Thor in front of him shifted at that. his face showed emotion for the first time. Something between surprise and satisfaction.
"How sure are you about that?", he asked, tilting his head slightly.
"Thor would never - he would never call me weak," Loki retorted.
"But did he not call you that? Whenever he beat you in a match and when he was praised by the sword-masters over you?"
"No, he did not," Loki grinned, "This is nothing but a hallucination."
The imposter in front of him nodded once before slamming Loki's head back against the wall.
Pain overtook Loki's existence as he slid down to a curled up position on the floor.
The pain was splitting his head apart but Loki didn't cry out, didn't scream or thrash or whimper. He'd stopped doing that a while ago.
"Could a hallucination do that?", the imposter asked, suddenly standing outside the bars again when Loki managed to peel his eyes open.
"You will break, brother. You will."