"I don't know, sir, we were just watching him and it went off," the guard said, raising his hands in mock surrender as Thor glared at him and his partner. The thunder god looked like he was about to beat the two of them within inches of their lives, but his arms were preoccupied with the body of his unconscious brother who he'd found moments before, lying in a puddle of his own blood.
"Do not just stand there, this needs to be cleaned!" Thor snapped, angry at them for leaving Loki on the floor like that when something had obviously happened to him, and himself for ever leaving Loki alone. He should have brought Fury here to talk to him, he shouldn't have trusted that Loki would be all right by himself. He'd not been all right for his entire stay in this place, being alone would have only exacerbated the situation.
Thor got to his feet, still cradling Loki in his arms as he waited for a mop to be brought into the room to clean up the mess on the floor. He would worry about the rest once the guards and janitor were gone, he wasn't about to strip Loki of his robe in front of everyone, but he would hopefully be able to clean the dried blood off him without waking him. He needed his sleep right now, he needed to heal after something so traumatizing to his body. Thor had no idea how painful the device was, but he knew the effect that it was having on Loki even when it wasn't activated, and that alone spoke volumes.
Glaring at the guards once more as they left once the floor was cleaned, Thor laid Loki down onto his mattress and carefully untied and removed his prison uniform, a thin shirt and pair of matching grey pants, tossing it aside. He couldn't help but notice that his brother had grown thinner in the last month, his skin paler now, he looked unhealthy. Though the hadn't been eating much, and the stress of the device had been weighing on him, so Thor knew he shouldn't be surprised by the state Loki had gotten himself into. Touching his brother's cheek for a moment, Thor couldn't help but think that, despite Loki's lack of fine clothes, his unhealthy appearance, cut forehead, and shaved scalp, he was still as striking as he'd always been. Though, he doubted that fact would be of any comfort to his brother now.
"Loki, what did you do to yourself?" Thor sighed, going to get a wet cloth to clean off his brow, carefully wiping the dried blood away from the angry wound. There was quite a bit caked on the side of his temple and into his hair, and Thor needed to rinse the cloth out more than once into the small sink, ringing the dark pink water out before soaking it again and getting back to work. It took him a while to finish, he was careful to not aggravate the wound and meticulous in removing every trace of blood from Loki's skin. Once he was finished, he gently redressed Loki in a clean uniform that has been left for him.
"Thor…" Loki mumbled lowly after Thor finished covering him with a blanket, tucking it in around him, his voice barely audible even in the small, silent room. "Thor, what happened?"
"I do not know, I found you on the floor with your head split open. Did that device go off again, do you remember anything after I left?" Thor asked him, speaking slowly in case Loki got confused easily, he didn't know how much the fall, or what caused it, had affected him.
Loki didn't answer for a moment, his eyes still closed, and Thor wondered if he'd gone back to sleep. He wouldn't have blamed him if he did, he had sounded like he was barely awake when he spoke.
"I didn't try to use any magic, I didn't try to pull at it, I swear to you, brother, it was not my doing…" Loki said with a little more strength this time, his green eyes opening just enough to look at Thor and turn his head towards him. "I was asking for you at the door, I wondered if you were going to be coming back, and suddenly, it went off on it's own, and I remember nothing more. I don't remember what I touched, what I did, just…being worried, that's it. It must have been one of them…"
He pulled his hand out from under the blanket and reached for Thor's hand, taking it as firmly into his own as he could. He wanted to make sure his brother was really there, that he wasn't some hallucination brought on by his head injury. He'd taken many blows before in his life, growing up with a brother like Thor meant that injuries were relatively commonplace, so why was this one hurting him so badly? What was this device doing to him?
"Something must have happened that you do not remember then," Thor deduced finally, kneeling at Loki's side, keeping a hold of his hand and giving it a squeeze. "But I am here now, I will prevent it from happening again. I am sorry I left, I should ha-"
"No…no, don't you ever apologize to me," Loki insisted suddenly, shaking his head a little and wincing from the pain that caused him. He forced his eyes open further, though they weren't terribly focused as his distant gaze fell upon Thor. "You must never apologize to me, there is nothing to be sorry about. It is I who must…"
All his doubts and worries about apologizing to Thor earlier were muffled in his head, his need to say the words he thought he couldn't speak was much stronger. He knew he wasn't clear headed though, he knew this might not be the best move to make, but he didn't have the strength to fight it right now. He had to speak, he would let the consequences be dealt with when he was of clearer mind to speak on them.
"I'm the one who is sorry, Thor, I'm sorry," Loki said weakly, feeling a lump growing in his throat and tears in his eyes as he did his best to continue. "I should not have been angry at you, you weren't the one who slighted me, you never hurt me, you were just…convenient, in my way. You were Odin's favourite, I was jealous, I didn't know how to cope with that, but I…I loved you, I still love you, I don't want to push you away from me, I need you. I've always needed you, so why did I do it? What is so wrong within me, brother? Why have you not given up when I have pushed you so hard away from me?"
"As you have said before, I am stubborn as a goat, and about half as smart," Thor said, looking into Loki's eyes and giving him a half smile, wanting to ease Loki's guilt. Reaching a hand up, he used the pad of his thumb to wipe away a tear that escaped Loki's eye, running it along the top of his brother's cheekbone. "I wanted my brother back and I was not about to give up, so I dug my heels in and did not let you push as much as you wanted to. There is nothing wrong with you, Loki, you have just lost your way, and I will help you find it if you let me."
Loki laughed weakly at the goat analogy, though he hadn't wanted to. They were words he'd used himself many a time, aloud and in his head, but he didn't want to think of Thor like that any more. Stubborn, maybe, but not in such a negative way any more, Thor's determination not to budge has long proven itself to being beneficial to Loki. He wouldn't have lasted nearly this long in this cell if he didn't have such a strong stubborn streak in him.
"Don't listen to what I have said, I haven't always been correct about you," Loki said to him, not sure what to say about having lost his way. He didn't know if that was true, or if that was the best way to put it if it was. He wished he could vocalize to Thor what it had felt like to discover the truth about his parentage, how sick and betrayed he'd felt, but there were no words for it, and this wasn't the time to try to find them.
"No, you have been, you know me better than anyone, and you do not hold back. You never hesitated to tell me exactly what you thought about what I was doing, and I should have listened better rather than dismiss you as being my troublesome brother. I have been greedy and selfish, but I am trying to change that. I want to be a better man," Thor said, still stroking Loki's face lovingly as he looked at those sad green eyes, wishing to see the spark of life in them once again. It had been weeks since Thor had seen that burning fire within Loki, since before the device first went off, when his brother had hated him and wanted him to leave. Though he was glad the hatred had stopped, it bothered Thor to no end to see Loki's eyes so dead.
"I'm sure you will make the All-Father proud," Loki said, a bit of the old bitterness inadvertently creeping back into his voice as he pictured Odin lauding the improved and mature Thor in front of the entire court of Asgard. Thor was to be a good man, and a better king, and Loki would be no one, he'd be dead by the executioner's axe, or the All-Father's spear if he was feeling particularly personal.
"Father is not the one in this room with me, I do not do it for him," Thor insisted, leaning down to press a kiss to Loki's brow as their mother used to before bed every night. "Now you are wounded, it is time to rest, I will be right here beside you when you wake."
Loki wanted to argue that he had more to say, that he should apologize for his last comment at least, but Thor had a point, he was exhausted, the stress from the pain of the device had drained him of energy. He couldn't eat when he was like this either, which didn't help him regain him strength any faster. He could sleep, however, and he knew he needed to.
"Promise me you'll stay close," Loki demanded, letting his eyes closed as he took Thor's hand again. It wasn't that he didn't trust his brother to keep his promise and stay close, but Loki was feeling particularly demanding in his weakened state.
"I promise," Thor said, letting Loki have his hand, shifting to sit at the edge of his mattress. Once Loki was asleep, he would return to his own mere feet away, but he'd keep a close eye on Loki lest he need him at any time. "Sleep, Loki. You will feel better when you wake."
Thor watched his brother drift off, his hand going slack in Thor's as his body finally relaxed. Tucking Loki's arm back against his side, Thor covered him with the blanket once again, taking a moment to run his hand over Loki's short hair. He used to love having his hair played with, but now this was as close as it came to carding those long dark locks. Thor would do anything to comfort him, anything to make him sleep easier so he could regain his strength, and maybe a bit of himself as well.
Sitting on his bed, Thor watched over his brother in silence, waiting for him to so much as stir. Then he would be right by his side again, he would be ready for whatever Loki needed him to do.