In the morning, Grace entered Loki's cell with bagels and fruit for breakfast and heard the shower running in the other room. She set two places at the table and called to him that she was in the room. She noticed her books on his side table, the third one open on the bed, nearly to the end. She sat down on the bed and picked up the book to see where he'd stopped.

Loki came out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist and noticed Grace on his bed with the book in hand. He chose his clothes and, without ceremony, dropped the towel to the floor and dressed in the black shirt and trousers that Grace had purchased for him. He sat down on the bed and began to rake his fingers through his hair. As he did, Grace one again noted the silver cuffs around his wrists.

She handed him the book, "Almost done with number 3, I see. Did you go and stay up all night reading?"

"Not all night. Much of it, yes, but I did sleep some."

"Good for you! I remember when each new book came out- I'd pick it up at the midnight release party and wouldn't sleep a damn wink until I'd read the whole thing. It was fucking awesome. My teachers always knew I'd be half asleep in school after a new Harry Potter book came out." She watched him struggle with a knot in his hair, "Didn't they give you a hairbrush?"

"I did not see one, no, but I have no idea what Midgard's idea of a hairbrush is and I may have missed it."

"Would you like me to go look?" He nodded and she hopped from the bed and went to the bathroom to investigate. After a few minutes during which he heard only the opening and closing of doors and drawers, she reappeared, "Nope. I see you figured out the toothbrush, though."

"The little pictures on the tube of paste were informative. I did not expect it to be so ridiculously sweet."

"Yeah, toothpaste is weird like that." Grace looked up to the ceiling, "JARVIS? You listening in?"

"As always, Miss Stark."

"We need a hairbrush. Send a minion with one."

"Duly noted, miss. I will have one sent shortly."

"Thanks." She turned back to Loki, "It's kind of weird to always be listened to by a robot butler, but kind of handy, too. You know you can ask him for things, too, right? I mean, worst he can say is no."

"Mr Stark did mention that I could, yes. I have not felt the need. I prefer to figure things out on my own."

Grace nodded, "Me too, but don't let pride keep you from at least having your basic needs met. Nobody's going to freak out if you ask for a hairbrush."

"Except quite possibly your brother."

"Tony's a paranoid motherfucker when it comes to you. Then again, you did throw him out the penthouse window. I can understand where it comes from. Of course, there are days I feel like doing that myself..."

Loki laughed softly as he gestured to the table, "Shall we take breakfast while we wait for the brush?"

Grace sat down across from him and they ate quietly. Pepper brought a hairbrush and left it in the bathroom, her greeting short as she dashed off to a meeting. Once they had both finished breakfast, Grace leaned forward and propped her chin on the back of her laced fingers.

"So, Loki. Your brother spent last night regaling us with stories of life in Asgard when you were both much younger and I've got a question for you. Just how old, exactly, are you?"

"1,050."

"And how long do you folks live, generally?"

"About 5,000 years."

Grace did some math, "So if the average human lives to somewhere around 85 and you're about a fifth of the way through your life, you're about 18 compared to our lifespan. Holy shit, you're still practically a kid."

Loki looked greatly offended, "Perhaps by your standards, but I have lived over a millennia- I hardly think that makes me a child, and it certainly does not in my culture."

"Sorry, I just...it's a hard concept for me to grasp, you know? My life is a blink of an eye to you. I'm 32. So I'm nearly half way through it, unless you're really generous and think I'll live a century, and then we can say I'm a third of the way through. By the time you're a third of the way through yours, I'll be long since dead, and so will anyone who knew my name."

"And I do not understand how a creature with such a fleeting life as those of you in Midgard can spend so much time doing things that seem so irrelevant. Your brother's friends spend evenings frittering their time away without considering how little they truly have left to live, how little of their world they have seen, and yet they seem largely content. I cannot fathom this."

"Shit, I wish I had more time. And here you are, and Thor's upstairs, and it's like, damn, there are whole other places out there I have no hope of ever seeing. It's insane. I thought it was going to be tough to see enough of this world to feel like I've lived well, now there's even more places I can't even dream about? You're lucky to get the time to visit everywhere out there if you want to."

A mildly awkward silence hung between them until Loki gently replied, "The fact that you cannot visit them should make the time you have no less wondrous. You will never be able to find the time to see and do everything you have ever dreamed of- not even those of us with longer lives can lay claim to that."

Grace sighed and stood up, "I guess. I still envy you...but I don't envy the snarles in that hair of yours. I'm fetching the brush. We can philosophise on the meaning of life more once you've tamed it."

When she returned from the bathroom, Loki had moved to sit on the side of the bed and indicated she should join him. He brushed out his hair and she tried to think of something else to talk about that was less depressing.

"So you got to the part where Wormtail's not dead."

"Indeed. Quite a clever ruse, if I might say so myself."

"Yeah. And yet the dumbshit never figured that he might want to pretend to be a different rat once in a while."

"Well that bit was not quite so clever. Am I correct in presuming magic such as that in your books does not actually exist in your realm?"

"Yep. And it's too damn bad, too. I really could have used some of those spells- you know, Lumos, and the one that does the dishes for you. And Molly's clock- though I'm sure the spot on it for Tony would always point to 'imminent peril' or something similar."

"Am I to assume that you are fond of Slytherin house for reasons that do not involve the arrogant Malfoy child?"

"You'll find out. I'm a big fan of Snape."

"He seems rather unpleasant."

Grace nodded, "Yeah, he is at first, but as you learn more about him he makes more sense. Just trust me on this one- and remember that the hat even said Harry would do well in Slytherin. Don't doubt the wisdom of the hat."

"Your margin notes are quite helpful, by the way. Though there are some that are a bit confusing. I presume they are in code?"

"Sort of. Page number followed by book title abbreviation- I was connecting where things become relevant later on. So if it says HBP at means the part I've noted connects to Half Blood Prince. Don't jump forward, though. I mean, if one refers to an earlier book, awesome, follow the notes if you want to, but there are so many great surprises in the series I'd hate for you to find out too early!"

"It has been interesting, as one who can use magic, to see how it is envisioned by a writer who has never seen it. I would imagine there are many other ideas about it in your literature as well?"

"Definitely. Writers have been imagining what it would be like if magic were real for centuries. Of course, some of the earliest writings we have do refer to it like it's real, but we don't think it was. It's more likely that they just didn't understand the world around them and made things up to explain it."

"Why do you doubt the possibility of it being real?"

"Because I've never seen it and we're all skeptics these days."

Loki sighed, "I wish I could show you just how real it is, but I cannot."

Grace brushed her fingers against his wrist, "Let me guess, the silver shiny has something to do with it?"

He pulled up his sleeve so she could see the cuff and the runes etched into the surface of the silver, "I've been bound. I could, for a short time, access some of my powers, but they were very limited." "I thought you said you bailed as soon as they figured out you weren't the guy you were disguised as?"

"I left Asgard as soon as I could, but it was not before being briefly apprehended. I slipped from their grasp using most of the magic I could muster and ran for one of the secret exits from the realm, one that did not require my magic to use. I did not plan where I was going, nor did I know where it would lead to."

"So if you couldn't use magic, what were the energy readings that S.H.I.E.L.D. picked up all over the world?"

"I believe they were from Thor searching for me. I did not have the means by which to create more than one of them."

"You can't do any magic at all?"

"No. I've tried to do simple things- this morning I tried to untangle my hair. Nothing works."

"Well that sucks. I'd have liked to see a little sorcery- to know it's real and all. I've always wanted to believe in magic, but it's not like there's much chance to- you kind of grow up and decide it just doesn't make sense for it to be real."

"Perhaps not in this realm, Miss Grace, but in mine it is very real. Not just illusion, either, but true magic. While I am not skilled in the ways most valued by the Aesir, I am quite knowledgeable in that field and excel at it."

Grace sighed and checked her watch, "Well I wish I could see it. I'd like to. I have to get going to a meeting with a client who wants a terrible poster for a band I'm hoping is equally terrible so I don't feel bad for them. I don't know if I'll be back for lunch, but Pepper's got orders to make sure you have something to eat that isn't just whatever Tony can find in the fridge. I've got a date tonight, so Bruce is going to bring you dinner. I'll see you again in the morning, OK?"

Loki was disappointed that he would not see her for a full day and his face reflected that, "Ah...I see. I suppose I will get quite a bit of reading done."

"Well enjoy it, because this date is likely going to suck. She's cute, and this will be our fourth time out together, but I just don't feel the spark. If I show up with anything slathered in whipped cream for breakfast in the morning, it didn't go well."

"Then I shall hope for merely eggs."

"You'd be surprised what shit I'll drown in whipped cream." With a smile she stood and left the cell.

Tony met her in the building lobby, "You brought him breakfast. When did you bring me breakfast last, Gracie?"

"A week ago. I brought you a whole heap of pancakes the night after you stayed up to do math until dawn. Now let me go, I've got to meet Mr Fucking Death Unicorns."

"I was watching the feed. He was naked."

"Creepy, Tony. Creepy."

"I don't watch the bathroom feed, just the main room- and he's the one who walked out and dropped his towel on the floor."

"I'm guessing nudity isn't a big thing in Asgard. You know, like I wish it wasn't here. I'd be a nudist if nobody gave a damn- there are days it sounds awesome. And I'd sure save time on laundry."

"So what did you talk about?"

"Harry Potter. And magic. Apparently it's real in his world. No wonder I never got my Hogwarts letter, I'm in the wrong fucking realm! Now let me go before I have to show you the concept sketches for this terrible poster."

Tony stepped out of her way, calling after her, "Be good on your date tonight!" Grace rolled her eyes, wondering when the last time it was that Tony was anything resembling good when he went out on a date.