Loki agonized over what to do for roughly four days before finally deciding to take the hit to his pride. He requested that Thor visit, saying he wished to speak with him. The guard nearest his cell looked rather reluctant, but in the end sent for him. The blond looked absolutely ecstatic when he finally arrived in the dungeon.
"Brother, I am overjoyed that you have requested to see me. Do you wish to talk?" he asked. Loki scowled slightly at the enthusiasm.
"No, I do not wish to speak with you. I do, however, have a…request." Loki winced as he spoke the word. Thor looked surprised, but did not comment on it.
"What is your request?" The older Asgardian prompted when Loki did not continue.
"I wish to find a book to give to Darcy. She has lent me this one from Midgard and I wish to reciprocate," he finally said. Thor could not help but smile slightly as his brother blushed at making such a request.
"I'm…I'm afraid that we may not possess any books that Lady Darcy would be able to read. All of the books in our library are in our own language…the few we possess from other realms do not come from Midgard," Thor mumbled, his smile slipping from his face in disappointment. Loki simply rolled his eyes at the dullness of his adopted brother.
"I will translate it for her, obviously. All I require is a pen and an empty journal. That way she may keep the book with her. I simply need a tome that will be of interest to her," Loki explained, speaking slowly as if to a child. The older sibling's expression brightened considerably as he spoke, nodding slightly.
"Excellent! I will send for the pen and journal immediately and I will search for a book of Lady Darcy's interests as quickly as possible," the blond said excitedly before pausing, his smile slipping into one of content "I am glad to see you doing better brother. You appear more like yourself now than the last few times we met." With that said, the man turned and walked away, a ridiculous bounce in his step as he supposedly walked off to find a book.
Loki was nervously pacing his cell when Darcy finally arrived for her visit. She seemed in much better spirits than the last time she had been here. She was talking to him even before the guard lowered the cell wall to allow her to enter.
"Anyway, Jane said she's making tons of progress with her bridge-thingy now that she could get a look at the rainbow bridge from this side. She's hoping to have a working prototype sometime next year. How have you been? Finish that book I gave you?" She asked, looking at him expectantly as she sat down at the large study table. Loki took his time in replying, waiting until he was seated across from the young woman before answering.
"I was not amused by the Norse mythology at all…" he finally said, giving her his blandest expression he could manage. Darcy simply grinned at him.
"I figured you would say something like that. Most mythology sounds messed up. What did you think about the Roman or Greek mythology? Zeus was a pretty messed up guy…"
"I much preferred the Native Tribes' tales and those of the Asian cultures. They were far more entertaining."
"Yeah, those are some pretty awesome myths. Anyway, I brought some more reading material if you're interested. It's mostly history books because I figure you have an interest in boring stuff like that. I have some work to finish up for Monday, so keep yourself entertained for a while," she told him, pulling out a small pile of four, very large books. As Darcy set up to begin her work, Loki took a closer look at the books that she had put aside for him. They all appeared to be anthologies like the last book.
"A little knowledge of everything, hm?" he questioned. She glanced at him, grinning when she saw him looking at the books.
"Yeah, there's so much written about human history that I didn't know where to begin, so I grabbed those. I figure if you want to know more about something you just ask me and I'll get you more specific books." She shrugged at the end of her reply before settling in her seat to work. Loki picked up the first of the tomes she had brought him, sitting beside her and opening to the first page.
An hour had passed by before either of them looked up from their books. Darcy was the first to come out of her intense concentration due to her growling stomach.
"Hey Loki, lunch break?" she asked, poking him with her pencil. He started at the contact, looking up at her with wide eyes for a moment before composing himself.
"Lunch sounds nice," he finally answered, carefully marking his place in the book before setting it aside.
"Sweet, I'll just let one of the dudes know and see if we can get some food down here." Loki watched as Darcy walked over to speak with the guard closest to his cell. The man seemed very reluctant to leave his post to get food for such a person as Loki, but the prince knew that the young woman could sweet talk him into it. A few moments later the guard sighed and walked away.
"You know, I think it's pretty redundant to have you not only locked up in here, but to also have multiple guards watching you too. Like, I know what you did was horrible, but seriously, you're not exactly putting up much of a fight here," Darcy grumbled, hands on her hips and a furrow of confusion between her eyes.
"Well apparently they still deem me dangerous enough to have multiple forms of security. I doubt I will escape from here again though. It was a stroke of luck the first time," he commented, beginning to clear space at the table in order to make room for food.
"So, what even happened? Jane and Thor told me a bit, but neither of them knows how anyone down here escaped. You're probably the only witness left alive," Darcy asked. She was trying to seem uninterested in the answer by flipping idly through one of her books, but Loki could tell she was intensely curious.
"I am afraid I cannot answer that. Thinking about that day…it's difficult still and I would rather not have you witness my temper," he answered quietly. The woman shrugged, unconcerned and closed her book. Silence reigned until their food arrived. The two of them ate in silence for a while, unsure how to move away from the emotional minefield Darcy has wandered their conversation into. Finally, Loki cleared his throat to gain her attention.
"Darcy, since you were so kind as to bring me books from Midgard, I thought it was only appropriate that I should give you a book from Asgard that you might enjoy. I have transcribed it, and so this is a copy you may keep," he said, standing and retrieving the tome from where he had placed it on his nightstand earlier. Her eyes lit up upon seeing the book, her smile growing as she held it and flipped through the pages.
"This is amazing Loki, thank you! What's it about?" she asked.
"It is a collection of children's stories, things mothers read at night before their young ones go to sleep. I thought it would interest you," he replied. Although the God of Lies seemed indifferent to her response, Darcy could see the slight uptick of the corner of his mouth. He was pleased with himself, making her happy with the gift of a book.
"This is awesome," she repeated, hugging the book to her and turning her bright smile towards him. Loki felt his cheeks heat slightly from the extremely pleased expression on the young woman's face and so looked away, beginning to clear the remains of their meal from the table. When Darcy left at the end of the day she hesitated slightly before darting in and giving him a hug. The contact was so brief Loki thought he might have imagined it as he watched Darcy leave.
A/N: So sorry this took so long my dear readers! it's my last semester in college so things are kind of crazy. anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! I'm afraid it's going to be the last update you get for a while. I never leave a story unfinished so don't worry about that, it might just take a while though, lol.