Honesty is such a lonely word.
Everyone is so untrue.
Honesty is hardly ever heard.
And mostly what I need from you.
-Honesty by Billy Joel

A sharp rapping on the door alerted Loki to the fact that it was morning. He slowly rose from bed and rubbed a hand over his face. The knock came again, and he groaned in annoyance. He looked to the corner chair and noticed that Steve was gone. That meant that the knocker was probably the next one on shift to deal with him. Loki slopped himself out of bed and marched over to the door. He hadn't even bothered to undress last night, knowing that it would have been too much of a bother. Plus, it would have been a nuisance having Steve still in the room. Obviously, the man didn't trust him enough to leave him alone for longer than thirty seconds.

Loki twisted open the door and a figure quickly walked into his room and flicked on the lights. Loki cringed at the sudden brightness and clamped his eyes shut before warily opening them. A red head was sitting complacently on the corner chair that Steve had so recently vacated. She had her arms crossed and was leaning back against the cushion with a skeptical look on her face. Loki sighed, this was bound to be a long day. He hadn't been looking forward to when Barton and his lady were chosen to stalk him about, but apparently it was coming sooner than he would have liked. He shut the door and walked over to one of the sofas, for he pointedly noticed that there were no sharp edges in this room which happened to include wooden chairs, and sat down. "So, what are you here for?" He asked casually.

"Obviously, I am here to be your nanny. But let us set things straight here. I neither want to be here, nor do I enjoy your company. I would much rather be shot at by the Russian mafia because then I'd be allowed to shoot back. So let's set things straight between us." Natasha leaned forward and stared at Loki. "I am not here to pander to your needs, but I am also not here to make your life interesting. I'm here to make sure you don't get yourself hurt like an idiot, got it? So don't expect me to be fun and games."

Loki raised an eyebrow at her. A small hint of a smile crossed his face at her serious speech. "I must say, Romanoff, your honesty is rather refreshing. All of this nonsense about me being like porcelain has irritated me. I do believe you are the only person in this building that had told me that they explicitly do not want me around. Let me set some things straight as well." Loki's cocky smile dropped off his face, and he looked at Natasha with a forlorn face. "I will not bother to please you if you obviously care very little. I am tired and annoyed with all of you as I know you are with me. Let us not harbor any secrets as to the intentions of the other. We both know that we would both much rather be alone."

Natasha sent Loki a dubious look before saying, "You're just annoyed with everyone and everything, aren't you? Your face," Natasha gestured towards Loki, "it's familiar. I've seen that face before, but on someone else's face. On mine."

Natasha ran an exasperated hand through her hair. She really was frustrated with Loki, but whenever she looked at him, she couldn't bring herself to hate him. She just saw too much of herself in him. If Clint hadn't found her then, she had no doubt that she'd look very much like how Loki did now. She hated being around him because he was like a specter of what she could have become, but she didn't hate him.

Loki tilted his head to the side in skepticism of her words. Was she really comparing him to herself? All of these Avengers must be brought together because they have some sort of mental stupidity disorder. Loki shook his head a moment later and said, "You must be joking, woman. I may hate, but I do not believe that I resemble you in the slightest. We are on two different sides, you and I. Do not think that we share any of our traits."

"I never said that it was the me of know that you resembled," said Natasha with a shake of her head. "It's about Odin, isn't it?" At the revulsion on Loki's face, she knew she had struck a nerve. "You've worked so hard just to satisfy the images people create of you that you're losing yourself in them. Don't take me for a meddler, Loki. I've experienced the same thing. I looked up to my leader and thought that he was the ultimate authority in my life. Everything I did back then was to earn his praise, but Clint changed that. I learned that to truly be happy, I had to do things to please myself. You would do well to do the same."

"I can't just do that, Romanoff." Loki cut back angrily. "The liesmith is just as much a part of my identity as the fact that I am born of Laufey. One cannot change two millennia of dedication because of a few words. I hate that man, do not get me wrong, but that does not mean that I would ever wish him ill. I cannot bring myself to wish him the gravest of afflictions. I care too much when I do not wish to care. If it was as easy to move on as you say, then I would have done so long ago. I want to see him despair, but I do not want to see him hurt. I want him to repent, but I do not want to see him on his knees. How can I ever move on if I am still so conflicted?"

"I'm not telling you to stop caring for him, Loki," Natasha said calmly. She stood up from her chair and went to sit beside Loki. Loki scooted ever so slightly away from her, and Natasha rolled her eyes. She looked over to him and said, "What I'm telling you to do is to stop idolizing him. You're telling me that you hate him, but it's obvious to me that you still hold him up in high regard."

Loki shook his head. "It is not that easy. I have tried to talk myself out of it, but I cannot. I have thrown away the name of Odinsson, but I still look up to him like some sort of lost dog. I want to stop waiting for him to come through that door and ask for forgiveness, but I cannot. What is worst is knowing that he is watching me right now. He sacrificed his eye for all-knowledge. He knows exactly what I suffer, but he does nothing to change. He cares not for me at all, and I know it. The way I am is pathetic."

Natasha sighed and patted him softly on the shoulder. "You're not pathetic, Loki. You're just longing for attention. I don't think you're a bad guy at heart. You've shown yourself too sensitive for that, but you're longing for attention from all the wrong people. Some people will care for you without requiring you to jump through a thousand hoops. You just need to pick the right people."

Loki looked dubious as she stood up and walked over towards the door. "I'll go grab your food since I honestly doubt you want to eat with the rest of us. You're not stupid enough to try anything, so just stew over what I said. I'll be back." Natasha gave a backhanded wave and exited the room, shutting the door behind her. She twisted the small key in the lock and headed down the hallway to the elevator.

In the hallway, Clint was casually leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. At the sound of the door being shut, one eye opened, and he looked to see Natasha coming his way. He pushed himself off the wall and walked over to her. "How was he?"

Natasha cast a glance backwards to the closed door and then back to Clint, "You know, I don't think he's so bad after all."

Author's Note: Hey y'all! My mood has been pretty off recently, so I hope this came out well. xD Life has been awful recently because... well... I'm socially awkward. And stuffing a socially awkward person into a group of 28 kids is like asking for trouble. My day was not happy. I'll try to keep on schedule though! ;DD

Just a reminder to PM me if you're interested in joining May and my avengers/x-men tumblr roleplay! Only Jean Grey, Natasha, Tony, and Loki are taken. (:

Thanks for reading! Luff y'all!