A.N.: Once again, thanks to my mum for looking over this for me!
Disclaimer: Don't own Thor
When the aged and frail king approached his cell, he saw a man sitting leisurely on the ledge that ran along the side of his cell, a book open in his hands and his concentration on nothing else.
He had thought that he had managed to fool the Allfather, but he was quickly reminded that he should have known better; the king dissolved his illusion with no more than an idle flick of his hand. No longer was he sat at the side of his cell with a tome in his hand, the picture of indifference: now, he was huddled in the opposite corner, his knees drawn up to his chest and his hands wrapped loosely around his ankles.
He lifted his head to look over the tops of his knees at his ruler, fixing him with an emotionless glare; he lacked the energy for anything else.
The king raised himself up to his full height and looked down at him with his single eye. His grip was tight on Gungnir, a considerable amount of his weight resting on the staff at his side.
"Have I made you proud yet? Father?" he hissed, the word tasting bitter in his mouth. He suppressed a shiver. "I would have offered you Earth as the spoils of war. A prize."
"A dowry?"
Odin shifted his grip on Gungnir and took a step closer to the cell, his expression set into a frown.
"Is that what all of this was in aid of?" he asked quietly. "You thought that it would… help?"
Anger flared within Loki, and he pushed himself to his feet. "Why?" he hissed as he made his way over to the golden bars separating him from the outside world. "You allow Thor his… floozy, even though she is not of Asgard." He made for the magical bars, wrapping his hands around them; they burned his palms, but he ignored the searing sensation. "Why can't I have her?"
Odin's expression did not change, and in the silence that followed, Loki released the bars, dropping his hands to his sides; they had black marks on them and steamed, stinging painfully.
Only when he was sure that his not-son had calmed somewhat did the king reply.
"The answer is as it has always been. To mix such blood would have unleashed untold horrors on the universe."
Loki let out a breathy laugh, a wide grin forming on his face. He held his arms out wide and took a few steps back from the edge of his cell. "More untold than I?"
Odin rolled his one remaining eye. "I could not allow such children to exist."
"There wouldn't be such children!" Loki snapped, the grin fading from his face instantly.
Odin quirked a disbelieving eyebrow.
Loki's arms slowly lowered. "We know the… mechanics of such things. We are also not interested."
Loki looked away from his not-father, instead staring at the floor. "I was looking for her," he admitted. "When I fell. I wished to find her, to be with her. Instead-"
"You found Thanos."
Tears threatened to form in Loki's suddenly stinging eyes. "I tried… so hard… to win your approval. So that you would allow her to come back."
Odin huffed softly. "That would not have happened."
It was the answer which Loki had expected, but it still burned him all the same. He clenched his eyes shut. "You didn't have to send her away."
"But I did. And she will not return."
Loki peeled his eyes open, lifting his gaze to fix Odin with a hateful glare. "Then I will escape and make my own way to her. And this time, I will not miss."
"Then I will have her executed."
The statement was given so matter-of-factly that Loki actually stumbled back a couple of steps, his eyes widening in disbelief.
"You wouldn't," he whispered, though even as the words left his mouth he knew very well that there were no levels to which Odin would not sink.
"Finish your book, Loki." Odin nodded towards the book lying long forgotten on the ledge at the edge of his cell. He turned to leave. "And forget about her."
He limped off, leaning heavily on Gungnir.
He was close to an Odinsleep again, Loki could tell.
His lips quirked into a smile.