When the ability to see and hear and to feel (but not to touch – he would not be reserved that responsibility for a long while) was so mercifully given back to Clint, much like a god gives his kingdom light and love, he found himself staring into a dimly lit room. Loki loomed before him, he could make out his pale, greenish features and freezing eyes. He was smiling. "Isn't this better?"

"Yes, my lord." Clint felt his lips say without his permission.

There is something utterly petrifying about having no control over the words coming from your mouth. Utterly petrifying to be controlled by another being who uses your body – a temple only your own – the way a puppeteer would. Clint felt a hand on his back. It was cold and bony and wandered under his shirt. It was now that he noticed there was a bed beneath them, or at least something soft and elevated.

"You are my very first." Loki said aloud, and Clint was looking at him, as the trickster beamed. The hand that rested on the base of his spine withdrew and instead lifted, gracefully and coldly cupping his cheek. Maddeningly, Clint felt himself lean into the touch. "I do so love humans." Loki smiled and his eyes sweetened in a sickly sweet way. "So soft, so…easy. And humorous too. You lot think yourselves so special, important, so complex." Loki cooed, putting out his lower lip as he talked down to Clint like he was a small child. "But in the end, you are so simple."

Thoughts of hate and objection arose in Clint's mind and he wanted to scream out but found once again he could not. "I can hear you, my pet." Loki's hand moved behind Clint's head and gently smoothed back his hair. "I know you don't believe me when I tell you that humans were made to be ruled." Loki let the words sit and felt Clint mentally babbling in anger.

"Shhh." He spoke tenderly, hand caressing the back of Clint's neck. "I'll prove it to you." He paused for a long while, fingers idly stroking the Hawk's soft hair. He loved the way Clint (the real one clawing inside the shell he had created) bristled with rebellion. Loki adored the helplessness of it all. Then he dropped it as Clint's mind settled in anticipation of reason.

"You hang on every word I say." Loki whispered and felt the moment of silence that followed, as Clint had no response. The statement was gloriously true. But the struggle resumed and Clint loudly protested. Loki smiled. "It's alright, my pet. I'm flattered by your desire to impress, but I will let no such display happen. Your lord loves you for what you are. Fragile, delicate and weak."

I am not weak…Clint was estranged and furious, needing to continue to fight with the only medium he had – his thoughts.

Loki merely grinned at his remark. "Much like a child. The way you cannot accept fact and whine." He withdrew his hand from behind Clint's head. "Alas, all children need guiding."

He stared at Clint with icy, acidic green eyes and Clint felt himself slide down to the floor, kneeling. His hands went up to Loki's knees and he looked up at the trickster. His eyes felt wanting and imploring on his face when he did not want them to be. He wanted his eyes to be hard, to be furious. But instead, his body was resigned in supplication and neediness before Loki and he felt vulnerable and exposed.

I am not weak…Clint continued his monologue as he tried to distract himself from seeing through the bars of this cage that's eyes would not shut with his will. Loki heard him clearly. "Oh my pet, how very weak you are. But do not fret – all midgaurdians are so very feeble. So soft." Loki stroked Clint's cheek with the back of two fingers. "Only on earth could one be so heavy and broad and still be so breakable." He looked at Clint's arms and chest and physicality. It was wonderful! How muscular a being could be but mentally succumb to something as minimal as his scepter.

Is that why you chose me? Because you think I'm ironic? You pathetic –

Loki's mental constraints compressed down suddenly, making him unable to focus on anything other than what was in front of him. It was like being strangled. The little space of distraction and free thought he had was suffocating, and he found himself incapable of hearing anything but Loki. For an intense moment, Loki became his world and he didn't have the capacity to hate it.

"Humans were made to be ruled, my pet. You know that deep inside your delicate soul. You have the honor of beginning my reign and trust me; I will break you to my will."

If he had control over it, the words would have made Clint's blood run cold.