Unasked Questions

by Umecchi

Nobody asked because everybody assumed; they were all under the impression-that Odin had not tried to verify if it was true or not-that Loki was the evil and jealous brother who wanted power. Really though, that scepter that Loki had been carrying around-you know, the one that took over your emotions?-that had to affect him in some way. Did Loki ever really want to rule? No.

2. Chapter 2

Loki was correct, naturally, about their reactions being amusing. He was particularly fond of Stark's, with his mouth flapping open and his eyes protruding disturbingly, he looked remarkably like a fish. Rogers had just looked unhappy and resigned, which was boring; Barton was angry, which was tiresome to Loki, because the only reason for his anger was the fact that he was under the impression that it had been Loki who had taken over his mind, which was thoroughly irritating. Romanoff stayed neutral, and Loki was reluctantly impressed by her ability to hide her emotions; she would never be able to fool him though, because her eyes said that she was disgusted with the situation, and like a small child, wanted to stomp her feet and whine 'But that's not fair!'. It was Banner's reaction that made Loki relax though, because all he did was shrug and sigh. He wasn't happy about the arrangement, but he wasn't acting like a fool or a child about it either; just accepting. He even went as far as to give Loki a wary smile.

They dispersed quickly, none really wanting to be in his presence, and if he had been able, Loki would have laughed; they had obviously not noticed that his mouth was sewn shut. Things like that were generally frowned upon in Midgard. Loki couldn't wait until one of them finally noticed—he was also curious as to how long it would take. The string wasn't overly noticeable; it was thin and gold and itchy, but if you didn't look at his mouth—which Loki noticed with amusement that they all seemed to be staring into his eyes as if trying to issue a silent challenge—then you would just think he was extremely quiet. Loki could have some fun with this.

Thor ended up being the one to give Loki a tour of Stark Tower; even if he didn't know much about it himself. In a moment of awareness that Loki thought was wonderful, Thor showed him the library. The other rooms didn't mean much after that, but Loki made sure to plot all of the rooms on the imaginary map inside his head so he wouldn't get lost—he would have to spend time with all of the Avengers after all, because that was part of his punishment, so he would need to know how to get around—and when they finally got to Loki's quarters, he was relieved. Thor had a bad habit of rambling awkwardly when uncomfortable. Loki at present, with all of his supposed evilness, made him uncomfortable. Silence did as well, so Loki felt a headache coming on from all the inane chatter.

His room was nice; there were Midgardian clothes for him to wear in the closet, all in his preferred green and black. It was plain and devoid of any warmth, with the white bed spread and white walls, but Loki didn't care much. Even back on Asgard, he had only decorated his rooms because his mother had insisted. He would spend all of his time away from his rooms besides sleep, so why did he care what they looked like? It was also convenient because if someone intruded uninvited—Thor—then there would be nothing of consequence for them to see.

It was cold though; just enough to be uncomfortable, so Loki cast a simple spell to create warmth throughout the room. This had some unexpected results. The room did heat up; it was what happened to the collar around his neck that had Loki scoffing mentally. As soon as the low powered spell was cast, the room took on a faint smell of burning, and a small string of smoke drifted up dancingly from the accursed golden collar, allowing all of Loki's magic free. It was so stunning that Loki was completely still for what felt like hours, trying to understand how the people of Asgard had ever gotten so naïve.

Did they really think him to be so weak? Not only in physical strength—Loki knew that he was looked upon in distain in that aspect—but also his magic? He was stronger than all of them! Loki would have felt insulted, but he was too busy giggling manically in his mind. This was going to be so much fun! He should get himself punished to Midgard more often. There were so many pranks he could pull now that he had all of his magic at his disposal, and there was no way to blame him for it, because all of his magic was "suppressed."

The library was still the best part of his vacation.