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Loki smiled eagerly as he presented his mother with his latest trick. He watched her own smile spread across her face as she gasped, her eyes full of pride.
“Truly Loki, you are one of the most impressive-”
“Wake up, Hello kitty!” a grating voice cooed in a sickeningly sweet tone.
He sighed, opening his eyes ever so slightly to see the awful condescending grin he loathed seeing. He often fantasised about tearing his claws into it, ripping that skin apart as he relished in Stark's screams of agony and regret for ever daring to mock Loki Odinson. Well, that was not right anymore. Loki Stark according to the adoption papers.
“Leave me be.” He closed his eyes only to get a swat on the nose that had him opening his eyes immediately, sitting up.
“Hey, none of that. Pets don't backchat. You're lucky I let you speak at all, Loki.” Tony huffed, although it was clear he was not angry but happy to have an excuse to scold Loki.
“I… Apologise.” Loki gritted out, looking out of his ‘room’ up at the man, his tail slowly swishing behind him in displeasure.
“What do you apologize for?” The man tilted his head.
He truly hated what his life had become. He should have just let Thor become king and ruin Asgard.
Loki sighed, looking up at the man kneeling over his ‘rooms door’. “I apologize for back chatting.”
Stark squatted down, roughly ruffling between Loki's ears without any care for what Loki wanted. Because why would it matter what Loki wanted? He was Loki. He was not even legally a person anymore. Was he ever, though?
“And why should you not backchat?” The man cooed as condescending as ever.
Loki sighed, defeated. “Because good pets respect their owners.”
“Yayyyy, you got it!” Tony ruffled his hair far too harshly to be comfortable. “Anyways we were watching TV and I was missing my little kitty. Come on. Up.”
Loki obeyed, unfortunately used to obeying such demeaning commands. As he followed Tony,he caught a glimpse of himself in a nearby window. He saw his pathetic reflection,a scrawny little thing. His eyes travelled down to the collar around his neck. It was unmistakably an enlarged cat collar, thin and red with animated fishes on it. He couldn’t even choose the colour.
“It has to be obvious you're ours.” Tony smugly grinned down at him from where Loki thrashed, knowing something about it would repress his seidr.
A little bell hung off it, apparently so that he could not sneak up on anyone but Loki was sure it was for mindless humiliation. Somehow it got worse for Loki. The damn tag in the shape of the Avengers logo with his name, address and Steve's phone number since it was decided Tony wouldn't be trusted to be available enough for it to be safe.
His tail sagged and the two fluffy ears on the top of his head stuck outwards, showing his anxiety. Loki despised them so much. They were truly the bane of his existence. He had already tried to bite his tail off and was caught by Jarvis, causing the Avengers to muzzle him as punishment for a week.
They had ruined his life. Not only were they a source of ridicule amongst mere mortals but they exposed how he was feeling at all times. It left him so vulnerable it terrified him that he could not just lie. His ears and tail would always give him away.
But alas. This was his punishment for ‘his’ attack on Midgard. He was sentenced to be a feline-Asgardian-appearing-Jotun hybrid for the Avengers to learn to be humble. He certainly had been humbled.
He had a den of blankets on Thor's bedroom floor because ‘bad kitties’ didn't deserve nice beds. He ate on the floor because he was ‘just an animal’. He sat on the floor because ‘furniture is expensive and nobody wants to peel off fur every fucking day’.
And they all relished in it.
He was snapped out of his thoughts when he was roughly shoved into his spot beside Thor's designated couch. He sighed, sitting down and lightly flinching when Thor absentmindedly stroked his left ear. The group chatted as if he wasn't even there, which was admittedly better than their mocking but it still felt awful to be constantly deprived of even a civil conversation.
At one point he looked up, making eye contact with Clint Barton for a second before he looked back at the floor, his tail twitching around in irritation at the smug man. Clint was definitely the worse. He would constantly tease Loki and the second Loki was comfortable or found some light Clint was there to take it away. And if Loki complained then Clint would bring up the possibility of neutering the god. Mutilating him to keep him docile. Once again.
Loki finally rubbed his scent on his blankets to feel comfortable on them? They needed a wash. Loki stared out the window staring at the city, longing for freedom? Clint made him stop lest Loki get ‘ideas of a second try at world destroying’ in his head.
He hadn't even registered Natasha getting up for a drink. All he felt was the searing white hot pain of her heel making contact with his tail, causing him to let out a yowl of pain, flinching back into the couch, which only caused Thor to spill his own drink on Loki's head.
“Oh, Loki!” Tony groaned, seeing some liquid seep into the couch.
Natasha looked him up and down before sighing. “You should be more careful where you're letting that thing flick around.”
Oh, of course Loki was to blame. Definitely not her! He looked down, letting his hair hide the tears springing in his eyes. He blinked them back as Thor stood up, letting Steve pass some tissues to wipe the couch.
“Is it so much to ask for for a peaceful afternoon? Never mind, Loki, just go away.” Tony scowled at him, glaring at the man who scurried away.
“Go away, Loki, I am with my friends!”
“Go away Loki, we do not want you here!”
“Loki, go away. This is for adults.”
The stickiness of whatever horrid concoction Loki had had poured over his head stuck to his skin as he collapsed into his den, finally allowing the dam to break.
Why was he so emotional like this? He had been through so much worse yet his tail being stepped on reduced him to tears. Was it the damn drink? The blame falling on him? He didn't even know at this point. He licked his hand, futilely trying to groom himself as he cried, his body shaking as he did so.
He only accepted his deal because he was so sure he would receive the death penalty. He hadn't expected to switch from one captor to another. No, this time multiple! In such a weaker form! A damn halfbreed! He was even more of a monster than before.
He wasn't sure how long he weeped but eventually he merely lay there in his now damp blankets, sniffling. He heard footsteps approaching and his sore tail stiffened, sending a fresh wave of pain up his body. He winced, desperately wiping his tears. He could not let them know they could so easily hurt him.
Anxiety rushed through his veins as the door slowly creaked open. Banner. Banner was the only one who stayed away from him, far too uncomfortable around him no matter how Loki looked. Anyone else would confidently burst in. Loki knew that all too well.
He stayed put in his blankets, hiding his face as the man's hesitant steps approached the little corner where Loki's shabby den was.
He heard the man grunt softly as he kneeled down, peeking in. “Hey Loki?”
Loki did not answer. He wondered if it would be better to do so. If banner complained and sent another Avenger it would only be worse.
“I heard your tail got stepped on. Do you mind if I take a look?” Loki almost scoffed at the man's words.
What a coward. Unwilling to directly hurt Loki but willing to admire the others' work.
After a pregnant pause the man gently continued. “It's just… Tails are very sensitive. You probably know that. You know quite a lot don't ya, being a thousand year old God and all...”
Appealing to his intelligence? As if Loki was that foolish. No, he was not Thor.
“Listen Loki. I kinda have to do my job and keep you alive. So… O-out.” The man's voice strained at the end, as if nervous to command Loki.
Loki felt rather smug that he still caused at least someone to feel nervous but it was dampened by the fact he was being commanded. And Loki knew a good pet obeyed.
He slowly exited, not paying banner any mind as he looked at the time. 7pm. At least with the lights off the room was dark enough for his puffy eyes to not be visible.
“Sit.” Banner commanded, watching Loki sit back on the floor. “No, on the bed.”
Loki froze. Was this a test? If so, he lost both ways. Sitting on the floor meant obeying Starks command to not be on the furniture but not obeying an Avengers command always resulted in some type of humiliating and occasionally painful punishment. This was definitely set up as his punishment for ‘allowing’ his tail to be stepped on.
He was removed from his thoughts as banner merely sat on the ground, turning on the lights before he did so. Loki kept his head down, hoping his hair covered his face.
“You really need a bath buddy you smell like a smoothie. It's a nice smell but still. That must be sticky. Your hair… or fur I don't know…Will clump up. Actually it already has.” Banner rambled, ignoring Loki's flinch as he inspected the others tail.
Loki chose to space out, realising this was not a conversation he was actually supposed to contribute to. He was supposed to sit there like a good pet.
“-how old is that part of you?” eventually snapped him out.
Loki stilled, nervous. His ears stuck out again as he froze. He hasn't heard the full question. He had ignored Banner. If Banner reported back to one of the others…
Thankfully Banner seemed to mistake his silence for the God merely thinking.
“Like…Is the mentally a cat part of you an old grumpy Siamese or something?” The man questioned.
Ah. So that was the direction of the conversation.
“I…” he cleared his throat before continuing. “I do not know the exact breed.”
Banner nodded, still doing something to his tail. “Right, right. We can probably test that or something. How old was the cat though? Thor told us you got… meshed with one or something? No idea. Even he didn't seem to fully understand. But I'm curious. Since, y know, the age will influence you a lot.”
The dreaded question he was not expecting. Loki tensed more than he thought he could in that moment. By the norns was he pathetic…Afraid of a meek mortal. But he knew better than to lie. He couldn't lie anymore. Pets were empty minded and transparent and that was all Loki was.
“I was told about 5 months.” Loki felt his face flush with shame.
“Five months?!” The man exclaimed, causing Loki to flinch, his tail twitching in distress and slipping out of Banner's hold.
He nodded timidly, embarrassed.
“Jesus, thats insane. Poor guy…The kitten obviously.” Banner sighed, somehow affected by this information. “A good chunk of your brain is literally a kitten. That's crazy. You don't act much on it though.”
Loki looked up in confusion, forgetting his tear streaked face and puffy swollen eyes. He regretted it once the man's face twisted in discomfort. “Oh…”
Loki looked down instantly, rubbing his eyes as if that could fix anything. “My tail is nothing but sore. I am not injured.”
“Right yeah… Well I should probably go.” Banner awkwardly stood up, clearly highly uncomfortable with seeing him so vulnerable.
How embarrassing. If Odin could see him now… He probably could and that just made things worse.
He nodded as Banner departed, sighing. He should probably get cleaned up before Thor complained about Loki stinking up the room with the too sugary scent all over his hair and fur.
Loki cleaned himself up, wincing as he used his fingers to try to tackle the slight matting in one furry ear. Eventually he returned to the empty room, sighing as he pushed the smoothie covered blankets to one corner. He would get in trouble for not taking care of his things if he asked to wash them before washday so instead he would do without them, no matter how it hurt to feel the floor more than before. He heard a soft crinkling and his ears twitched in confusion as he rummaged around to see what had ended up making that noise. His head tilted as he spotted a strange packet. He picked it up, thankful the light was still on so he could read it. Kitten treats. Who had left these? He turned them over to inspect them to see a little note taped to them.
“These are probably healthier than any other treats. - Bruce.” Was scribbled on the lined strip of paper.
Loki scoffed. What treats? He didn't deserve any. He sat down, inspecting the packet. It hadn't seem to be tampered with but who knew? Did it even matter? An Avenger wanted him to eat them so he did not have much of a choice. Not eating it could be used against him as a sign of disrespect or unappreciativeness. He sighed. He was hungry. If it made him unwell then did it matter? Could they punish him for being sick? Most likely. But he had no choice. Plus, they had forgotten to feed him. Again.
Loki sighed, lounging in his den as he played with the packet. His ears perked up. He liked that! Perhaps it was childish but surely it was alright? Nobody could see him having fun. Loki smacked the packet around for a while, smiling happily for the first time in quite a while before his hunger pains returned. He opened the packet, savouring the flavour. He knew he should feel ashamed at eating pet food but the flavour was salmon. Loki liked his salmon.
He munched casually, a small disappointed meow escaping him when the packet was empty. At least he still had the packet.
He heard his brothers heavy footsteps and looked at the time. 11pm. Ah. Time for bed. He stuffed the packet under a blanket as Thor came in, his eyes eventually landing on Loki.
“Ah, Bro- Loki!” And didn't that hurt? “I hope you have learnt your lesson about your dramatics. It was most unbecoming of you to embarrass yourself with that squealing. We all know it could not have caused enough pain to warrant such a reaction.”
Of course. Because the people who knew more about having a tail than Loki were the people who did NOT have a tail.
Loki stayed silent until his brother coughed expectantly. “I apologize, Thor…”
Thor grinned, reaching down to scratch Loki's chin. Loki instinctively leaned into it, purring softly. He hated how good it felt to be touched without it hurting. But he truly did need this. His body ached for any positive touch so much sometimes it hurt.
Thor chuckled softly. “Ah, that must feel nice. Truly, you are lucky brother. Your only worries are when you may slumber and eat.”
Loki pulled away at that, rage building up. To avoid his brother seeing him glare and finding an issue with it, he buried his head in his blanket as if he was tired.
“Ah, it is your bedtime. My apologies. Get your rest brother.” Thor changed, finally leaving Loki alone.
The oaf rambled on about his day in a cheerful tone as Loki lay there in his blanket den. Eventually the light was off and Thor climbed into bed, saying one last thing before trying to fall asleep. “Banner informed us your feline side is but five months old. How adorable is that?”
Loki's eyes widened in the dark. Banner had spilled his secret? Of course he did. Why did Loki think he was entitled to the least bit of privacy? He shuddered, wondering the result of this information being shared between them all. At least he was perhaps too young for neutering at this age.
_____
A month had passed before Loki was able to repay the man's gratitude for the treat packet. Whilst Loki was upset the reveal about his kitten side he knew there was no point on focusing on that. The Avengers had subjected him to far worse after all.
He had been prowling across the levels of the power that were authorized to him when he heard a squeak. His head snapped back as he saw a mouse! In the tower?! Had it come from the vents. Aha! The perfect gift for Banner. Sure, gold would be better but he used what he had. He crouched down on the floor, watching it intently for the right time to pounce. His backside wriggled as the creature stood still, casually stood there. Loki suddenly pounced on it, encasing it in his jaw and squeezing as the mouse let out its last squeal. A successful hunt indeed! In an ideal scenario he would have plopped it on Banners bed but he was not allowed in any other bedrooms without explicit approval from the individual so he settled on the man's lab. Of course he was banned there too so he merely plopped it down against the door, grinning proudly at his gift.
Hopefully Banner would see it as perhaps a peace offering between the two? Then the hulk could be less… Frightening to him. Loki shuddered at the memory of slamming against the floor, focusing on his lovely little gift before he trotted away. No note was needed. The man would recognize it as an eccentric peace offering from Loki and perhaps become an ally. Or at least the closest thing to an ally. He was admittedly the most bearable one of the awful lot so he truly hoped it would all work out.
Loki retreated to his little den, deciding a nice nap could help pass the time before Banner came to thank him.
“LOKI!” he startled a few hours later, flinching hard and hitting the top of his den as he panicked.
Multiple footsteps came to his door, filling Loki with dread. What had he done now?! The door slammed open and all of the Avengers except Banner came in, looking fed up. But what had he done? Why we're they angry at him now?
Thor yanked him out of his den by his shirt, causing Loki to dangle. “Why would you do that?”
“That's seriously disgusting, Loki…” Stark grimaced, Natasha huffing with a look of annoyance at him.
Loki blinked rapidly, unsure of what to say. What was wrong?
“Do not play the fool.” Thor took out something from his pocket that made it all make sense.
Oh. The mouse.
“We have been nothing but kind to you and this is how you repay us? You scratch my furniture and pretend like you didn't realise you were doing it. You leave fur everywhere! You keep Thor up by moving around at odd hours KNOWING that bell is annoying.” Stark moved forward as Loki flinched in thors grasp.
It wasn't his fault! He couldn't control the scratching. It just… Happened. And the others were out of his control!
“And then a dead mouse? You're more like a fucking animal than we thought.” Clint sighed in frustration. “I'm just so sick of you.”
Loki frowned. He knew there was a chance he'd be rejected but he did not think it would warrant this type of reaction. We're they truly so offended Loki had done something nice?
“I think we all are.” Steve leaned against the wall, staring at him with a look he couldn't quite decipher.
“I-” Loki began but Thor just threw him on the ground.
Loki landed harshly, staring back up at Thor with a loss for words. Thor was pissed.
“I want to help you brother. We were supposed to rule Asgard together! But time and time again you just… You ruin everything!” Thor panted, frustration evident in his face.
“Thor…” Natasha attempted to comfort him, sympathy evident in the others’ faces.
Thor merely ignored them, kneeling down with one of his legs on Loki's stomach. Shit. This felt familiar.
“I fear you will never learn brother.” Thor had the nerve to look heartbroken as he roughly opened Loki's jaw, ignoring the awkward but pitiful mewls that naturally came out.
“Thor?” Steve leaned forward in confusion as Thor gripped the rat.
“I have heard on Midgard it was once not uncommon for parents to have their children carry soap in their mouths as punishment.” He sighed, looking disappointed at Loki.
The others stared, realising where this was all about to go. Yet nobody moved. Once again Loki was at Thor's mercy and nobody helped. Loki meowled helplessly as his brother dug his thick knee into his stomach without a care for how much it hurt Loki.
Loki knew it was coming but still panicked at the corpse was placed into his mouth. Earlier it was fine. He had chosen to bite it as nobody was around and it was his choice. Yet now he was surrounded by his tormentors who looked rather pleased, although Loki could not make them out fully through the tears blurring his vision. And this wasn't his choice. He couldn't stop it. His consent was not even an afterthought. It genuinely didn't matter.
His mind flashed back to how it felt to have Thor hold him down, sewing his mouth shut. And Odin thought Thor had changed? No, Thor was still the self righteous bastard who never listened to what Loki had to say.
He coughed and attempted to spit it out but Thor shoved the dead mouse until he could place his hand over Loki's mouth. “I will stitch your lips shut once again if you dare spit that out. Stay here and think about what you have done to my poor friends.”
He could feel his entire body stiffen at that, terror invoking him. Any other time he would assume it was an empty threat but after all that he had endured at the hands of the Avengers he wasn't too sure anymore.
“Jarvis, monitor Loki and let us know if he spits it out.” Stark commanded before sneering once at the hybrid and leaving, the others following suit except for Thor who lingered, finally removing his knee from Loki's chest.
Loki gasped for air as much as he could with his mouth stuffed, still crying. Thor's hand rested on his bulged out cheek, causing Loki to flinch and almost choke on the animal corpse in his mouth.
“You could have been so much more, Loki.” He sighed before removing his hand and finally leaving.
Loki stayed on the floor, curling in on himself as he cried. His fangs sunk into the mouse, causing it to bleed into his throat which only caused more distress to the kitten hybrid. It already felt as though his lips had been shut. Memories flooded him of people snickering as he silently passed by, unable to verbally defend himself.
Blood and spit travelled down his chin as he hiccuped, forced to swallow the blood lest he choke on it. Loki was a fool to think Thor would have immediately noticed he was under mind control. He had placed his trust in Thor and look where it had gotten him.