Chapter Five: Beginning Again

By the time Loki awoke, Thor already left.

Loki sat up and stretched, the blanket around his shoulders slipping off. A lamp on the desk cast a small circle of light in the dark room. He didn't remember grabbing a blanket or removing his boots earlier. Glancing down, he found his boots sitting at the end of the divan, probably set there by Thor.

Swinging his legs over the edge of the divan, Loki ran a hand through his tangled hair. It felt greasy and in dire need of a wash, so Loki headed for the bathroom.

To get to the bathroom, he had to go through the actual bedroom instead of the small, office space where he fell asleep on the couch.

The king's chambers were in a corner of the ship, so the large window in the study looked out on one side of the ship while the window in the bedroom looked out another. A large, king-sized bed sat in the middle of the bedroom. Another sofa rested under a large window, opposite the door to the study.

The bathroom matched the lavish furnishings, thankfully devoid of the Grandmaster's affinity for atrocious interior designs. The shower had plenty of room to fit several people. The sink boasted a large mirror with lights around the edges and a bit too bright for Loki's liking.

After closing the door behind him, Loki slowly undressed. In the mirror, he could see the many angry, purple bruises on his arms and chest, standing out horrendously against his pale skin. His lower half looked worse—not a patch of pale skin from where a beam fell on his legs. His hair, tangled and knotted, still reeked of smoke.

He felt sore all over, almost as bad as the beating he took from the Hulk on Midgard. His hand, still burned, stung alongside his healing body.

Deciding he had enough of staring at himself, Loki stepped into the shower. The water ran out cold, but Loki didn't mind—he rather preferred the colder temperature because anything warmer would remind him of his fiery brush with death.

He watched the dirt run off his skin and slip down the drain, mesmerized at how the water slowly turned clean. Closing his eyes, he rested his good hand against the smooth wall and let the water wash over him.

The water felt nice and the soap didn't smell terrible. He would have liked to stay in the shower for a little longer but Thor probably waited for him.

Turning the shower off, Loki wrung out his hair before drying the rest of his body. Wrapping the towel around his waist, he stepped out onto the soft shower mat.

Still half-asleep, he located his clothes and paused. He didn't remember folding them, let alone cleaning them.

How long had he been in the shower?

A little perturbed, Loki checked his clothes for any signs of tampering, and finding none, put them on. It felt nice having a fresh pair of clothes and no longer smelling of smoke.

He found a hairbrush in one of the drawers under the sink and cleaned it off—he didn't trust the Grandmaster—with some water. He worked out all the tangles and knots, not bothering with straightening it.

He'd long ago given up on taming his natural curls. Besides, his mother always said she liked his handsome curls.

Once again, the blame fell onto Thor. Being the god of storms, Thor radiated electricity and as such, tended to statically charge Loki's hair to make it floof up like a frightened cat. Loki, of course, had found a workaround, but it cost him his curls.

Some part of him didn't mind not having his curls because it only gave the kids another thing to tease him about. Granted, they had swiftly shifted to pointing out his 'greasy' hair.

Now, however, he grew fond of the slight waves—the curls would tighten more if he cut it—and since Thor's hair had been almost sheared off, Loki decided to leave his luscious locks simply to spite his brother.

Leaving the bathroom, Loki almost jumped when he saw Thor sitting on the edge of the bed, holding a glass full of clear liquid. Thor looked up when Loki stepped into the bedroom and gave Loki a small smile in greeting.

Loki leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms over his chest. He crossed his feet at the ankles as he glared.

"You're getting unsettlingly good at doing things without me noticing," Loki said.

Thor smiled again and stood up. "I figured you wouldn't want to spend the day in dirty clothes. They stank, anyway," Thor replied.

"It could have been anyone in the shower," Loki said and narrowed his eyes.

Thor shrugged. "You weren't asleep anymore and your boots were still by the divan so I knew you didn't go very far. Besides, you always take a long time in the shower."

Loki rolled his eyes at Thor's perceptiveness. "It's a great way to get away from you."

Thor laughed and spread his arms in a flourish, almost spilling his drink. "What are you talking about; I'm a joy to be around."

Loki smirked and straightened, motioning toward the glass in Thor's hand. "Most people who are joyful don't drink in the morning."

Thor looked down at it and offered it to Loki. "It's water. I assume you would be thirsty. There is food in the dining hall if you're hungry."

Loki took the water and gulped it down. It kind of hurt going down his sore throat but it felt refreshing. He followed Thor out into the hallways and set the empty glass on the minibar as he passed.

"Did they finish cleaning up the Hulk's mess?" Loki asked as they walked through the halls.

"For the most part. I heard they saved most of the chairs, and the others, we can use for something else."

Loki's mind drifted to the night before when he and Thor cried, feeling slightly ashamed at such a potent display of emotion. He had been exhausted and his emotions had gotten the best of him. Everything he had pushed down and hidden for years had finally come bubbling up and exploded. It was probably the first time in years he had cried with someone to witness it—well, at least someone who didn't use his tears as a way to teach him a painful lesson.

Hopefully, Thor had forgotten about it. Loki didn't want his brother to bring the embarrassing moment up, and he certainly did not want others to hear of it.

In his youth, the other kids made fun of his different ways of displaying his emotions in a way they claimed was 'uncharacteristic of a prince.' Because of those jabs, Loki learned quickly to push his feelings down and not tell anyone. It took effort to hide behind a wall but it kept any remarks from getting through.

There were no pleasing people so Loki stopped caring what others thought. In the long term, it felt easier, but it also ostracized him from others, especially when so few seemed to accept him.

It had gotten worse after the attack on Midgard. Sure, in hindsight, he realized his mistakes and hated the power Thanos once had—and probably still had—over him. Only his mother and Thor seemed to trust him.

Thor's acceptance felt reassuring; and although he would never admit it, staying by his brother's side filled some hole Loki never knew he missed.

So lost in his thoughts, Loki almost walked right past the dining hall's door. Thor gently guided Loki back and waited for him to go in first.

True to Thor's word, the dining hall looked normal aside from a stack of broken chairs near the far wall. Most of the chairs and the table were still intact. Best of all, the Hulk was not in the room.

Grateful he could focus without fear of the Hulk smashing him into the floor, Loki claimed a seat and waited. An appalling portrait of the Grandmaster on the left side of the door quickly soured Loki's mood. The art, however impressive, still sent shivers down Loki's spine and he masked the motion by leaning an elbow onto the table and resting his cheek on his fist.

Sakaar had been a horrible experience—not the worst place in his life but certainly a close second to Thanos's sanctuary. The whole planet smelled like garbage. The continuous partying, drinking, and blaring, poor excuses for music had left Loki with a pounding headache every night.

And he hadn't even mentioned the Grandmaster's tendency to force-feed Loki brightly colored drinks Loki knew full well were drugged. Those drinks sent Loki into a drunken stupor where he couldn't even fight a fly, let alone the Grandmaster.

If the Grandmaster had not found Loki attractive, Loki had no idea what would've become of him. Thankfully, Thor's arrival on Sakaar caused the eccentric hedonist to shift his antics elsewhere.

For once, Loki used Thor's threatening aura to his advantage. After Thor had almost won—and would've won if not for the cheating use of the obedience disk—Loki confronted the Grandmaster and vowed to tell Thor about everything. It worked well enough to get the Grandmaster to leave him alone long enough to plot his escape.

Nevertheless, because the Norns were cruel, Thor's appearance had given the Grandmaster another edge over Loki. In the fight, Thor had been injured and would have been left alone to either heal or die from his wounds. So Loki, concerned about his brother, struck a deal with the Grandmaster and got his brother medical treatment.

In any other circumstances, Loki would've flaunted his selfless efforts to save his brother, but this situation was too embarrassing. And knowing his brother, the knowledge of what the Grandmaster did would have sent Thor into a reckless rage.

Loki hated Sakaar, no matter how much Thor said he was better off staying behind. His betrayal had been a ruse to get the Statesman for reinforcements and as an escape route if they had to flee Asgard. And, fortunately, his quick thinking provided them with a spaceship in a time of dire need.

"The painting isn't going to fall off anytime soon, no matter how hard you stare at it," Thor's voice cut through Loki's thoughts.

Loki blinked and realized he had been glaring at the portrait. He ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to play it off and sniffed in disgust. Thor sat at the head of the table, his back facing the portrait and Loki on his right.

Loki finally noticed they weren't alone in the dining hall. The Valkyrie—Brunnhilde, Loki remembered—sat on Thor's left, a fidgeting Banner next to her, Heimdall next to Loki, and Korg next to Banner with Miek on his lap. It looked like a meeting among friends; Thor had probably asked them to join his council. Most of Odin's council members were elderly or perished at the hands of Hela. Thor must have granted them pardon and released them from their service, considering none of them were here.

Bowls of oatmeal sat in front of everyone and they started digging in once Thor sat down. Despite his stomach growling, Loki slowly ate his oatmeal and let his mind process everything. Thor seemed to trust him, but it still shocked him to sit alongside Thor's friends.

Loki quietly looked around the room at the others. He didn't like Brunnhilde, who chewed her oatmeal angrily, probably longing for a drink. Korg and Miek were alright—he had nothing against them. Even though Banner looked unthreatening, Loki would prefer to keep his distance in case the doctor's alter ego made a surprise appearance. Heimdall sat pensive and serious as usual; Loki had no idea what Heimdall thought of him.

At the head of the table, Thor sat in all his kingly glory. His shoulders were slightly slumped and he looked tired yet still strong.

Thor noticed Loki's gaze and winked at him—or it could've been a regular blink, considering he only had one eye now. He reminded Loki too much of Odin, so Loki shifted his attention back to his bowl.

Nevertheless, Loki let a smile tug at the corner of his lips. Beside his brother, the Grandmaster couldn't reach him. They had a chance to rebuild everything they had lost. Midgard might not have been Loki's first choice, but it had more appeal than any of the other realms.

No matter how depressing, Loki found himself accepting the opportunities of this sudden change in his life.

Yes, maybe this wasn't so bad.

I don't ship FrostMaster (Loki and the Grandmaster), but you're free to ship whoever you want. However, clearly something happened between those two. I wanted to explain it a bit so I went with the drug theory. I hope I explained it well but I'll try to expand it further here:

My theory is that the Grandmaster found Loki attractive and wanted to get with him. Loki, who had just fallen from the Bifrost and was probably confused and a little beat up, somehow managed to get into the Grandmaster's palace and caught the Grandmaster's attention. Loki refused any flirting so the Grandmaster used Loki's disoriented nature to drug Loki and so forth. This caused Loki to be a favorite of the Grandmaster. Loki didn't like it but angering the Grandmaster would be a death sentence. Loki somehow stole the access codes to the Grandmaster's palace (as was mentioned in the movie) and used the codes to steal the Statesman after pretending to betray Thor.

These are only my thoughts on this. It's not canon or anything but it's a shared belief that the Grandmaster and Loki did a little something. I, however, don't think that Loki would willingly do such a thing, even if it gains him power. Loki has a certain air of grace and dignity and I don't think that he would willingly subject himself to a position where he has to be vulnerable to an enemy. He's got a bit of an ego and doing something like that would probably be considered beneath him. I think Loki was uncomfortable on Sakaar (he was sitting on the opposite end of the couch during the gladiator fight) and being the trickster he is, I'm sure he would have found another way to take over Sakaar if he wanted to. He also looked sad and uncomfortable in that elevator scene when Thor said that Loki was better off on Sakaar (although there are plenty of layers beyond what had happened between Loki and the Grandmaster). Even if Thor didn't show up, I think Loki would have either found a better way to take over the Grandmaster's position or attempted to leave Sakaar.

Anyway, that's my take on it. If you don't understand what I'm talking about, it's okay, because sometimes I write things and they don't make the most sense.