Selvig Lab
Kurisuta walked into the bedroom that she had given to Loki holding a folded pair of jeans and a green shirt. "Green is your color."
"How did you know that?" Loki asked her suspiciously.
"You are wearing it now," Kurisuta said. "It's shredded, but green and appears to be silk."
"Of course it's silk!" Loki exclaimed. "I am—"
He stopped, considering his words carefully. "I was a very powerful man."
"Who are you exactly?" Kurisuta asked. "All I know is your name is Loki and you're a bit unbalanced."
"My name is Loki," Loki said, weaving a lie. "I woke in that crater knowing nothing but my name and mere snippets of my past. If I may, I seem unbalanced because I am merely confused and overwhelmed. I get the feeling that whoever I was before, I am no longer, and perhaps it is due to this that I cannot remember."
Kurisuta sighed. "I ran you over twice. If anything, I may have caused your memory loss, Loki. Feel free to mooch off of us until you get back on your feet."
She handed him a blanket. He waved it away.
"Are you sure?" Kurisuta asked. "Dad keeps the house cold at night."
"The cold never bothers me," Loki said, and closed his door and locked it.
He changed into the clothes she had left him and turned out the light, then lay down. Though he was mortal, he still had superior hearing and thus heard the conversation down the hall.
Xxx
"You can't be thinking of keeping him here?" Selvig shouted.
"Keep your voice down!" Kurisuta said. "He'll hear you."
"The guy's definitely not human," Rei said. "He doesn't smell human."
"He's obviously lying to you," Selvig said. "Feigning memory loss. And he could be another bounty hunter!"
"Rei is he a demon?" Kurisuta asked.
"No way," Rei said. "He's no demon. He's a deity I think."
"Then why would he be here?" Kurisuta asked. "Those snobs never bother with us scum."
"Did you do something?" Selvig asked.
The room went silent.
Kurisuta laughed. "I've been on the straight and narrow for 250 years. We've broken no laws. In fact, we've been protecting innocent lives and helping you with science in our spare time."
Selvig sighed. "I promised I would help the two of you and I will. You help a lot of people. But if this Loki is the Loki of Jotunheim, then we just landed in a world of trouble."
Xxx
Loki lay in the dark, a smile forming on his lips. So those two women were not, in fact, mere mortal scientists, but instead yokai. And Kurisuta, it seemed more and more likely that she was Chaos reborn with every passing moment.
He wondered if he could still visit home, even without magic, through dream travel. It was worth a try. He closed his eyes...
Xxx
Frigga sat at her husband's bedside, holding his hand. Odin lay there - looking pale and lifeless, his body and the space around it warped from the effect of the Odinsleep. The walls of the chamber had moved close around him, protecting him like a dark crypt, sealing off any daylight.
Loki sat at Odin's side, across from Frigga. "When did it happen?"
"After Thor left," Frigga replied. "He couldn't bear to be parted from you both."
"And where is Thor?" Loki asked.
"Earth, looking for you," Frigga replied.
"Chaos," Loki spoke the name carefully. "How long have you known?"
"We have known since her birth—the heavens move when a goddess is born, even if it is a rebirth," She spoke softly to him. "I asked him to be honest with you from the beginning. There should be no secrets in a family."
"So why did he lie?" Loki asked, pained.
"He feared the pale goddess' wrath," Frigga said. "And he did not want you to attempt to woo a child, and she was, for a long time, just a child."
Loki took this in, stared at Odin.
"You can speak to him. He can see and hear us, even now." Frigga said.
"How long will it last?" Loki asked.
"I don't know. This time is different. We were unprepared." Frigga said."
"I never get used to seeing him like this. The most powerful being in the Nine Realms lying helpless until his body is restored." Loki said.
"But he's put it off for so long now, I fear..." Frigga said.
Loki tried to take her hand, her hand went through his. She wiped tears from her eyes.
"You're a good son." Frigga said.
Loki sat there, uncertain how to react, uncertain how he really felt.
"We mustn't lose hope that your father will return to us. And that you and your brother will come home." Frigga said.
Loki looked to Frigga, concerned.
"What hope is there for me?"
"There's always a purpose to everything your father does. You may yet find a way home." Frigga said. "Now you must go. It is time for you to wake up."