Chapter Text
The next few days were spent in the monotony of recovery. Much as Adam had said. One of the many aspects of Loki’s current confinement that contrasted with what he was accustomed to.
And for some reason, Loki chafed at this.
His current cage was not gilded by any means, but it was… comfortable.
Unsettlingly so.
In the dungeons of Asgard, Loki’s days had been characterised by crescendos of pain and fear, contrasted sharply by pianissimos of darkness and isolation. With few variations in between. And it came with its own kind of reliable uncertainty.
Removal from his cell either meant an audience with Odin and his black magic, or a grueling day chained to the Anchorstones of Asgard. Ever tied to the whims and disdain of his guards. His cell had been a source of dreaded isolation and relief. Where no one could bear witness as he came undone. But nothing could distract him from his ever spiralling thoughts.
None of this was the case in this new prison Loki found himself in.
He was still subject to the mercurial mood of his guard. But now, there was only Adam. Contrasting sharply with the revolving cast in the dungeons. And while Loki was never free of the man’s constant surveillance, Adam was… soft.
He never harmed Loki. Although he clearly wanted to. Initially, Loki had suspected it was because Adam feared to touch him. Even in a rare violent fit of frustration, he preferred to hit the walls and furniture around Loki. And when Loki flinched, that simple admission of Loki’s cowardice seemed enough to satisfy the Midgardian’s ire. Rather than the price of blood and pain Loki usually paid to his jailors.
But then Adam would care for him. Grudgingly, oftimes roughly, but more than Loki had experienced since…
Regardless, somehow Loki would’ve preferred violence over the condescension and perverted intimacy of it all.
He was never hungry. But only because of the liquid feed being pushed into his stomach. Wholly against his control.
He was given refuge from the pain in the form of medication. So long as he tolerated being put to sleep. Wholly against his will.
He was granted the privilege of showering whenever he wished. But after making the mistake of fainting the first time, Adam insisted on being in the room instead of simply keeping the door open. At least that humiliation was familiar.
All the while, Adam scowled and sneered commentary at Loki, but it never boiled over into blows.
It was slowly driving Loki up the wall.
Because as Loki well knew, pain was never far. Adam wanted to take him to Withers’ Infirmary, but Loki kept managing to find ways to convince him otherwise. And somehow it kept working to argue with his guard. Yet the Midgardian would not let the matter rest. Because, for some inexplicable reason, Adam was particularly bothered by Loki’s shoulder. Oscillating between condescending explanations of the risk of permanent damage and bursts of rage that encouraged Loki to let his arm fall off if he so pleased. But one day, Loki became too tired to argue the point, so he simply started ignoring Adam’s usual uninspired sermon regarding the subject. Loki wasn’t quite sure why that triggered it, but Adam’s irritation finally had the expected result.
Loki didn’t remember much of it. He knew Adam grabbed him by his injured shoulder. Then the world went white with the unexpected agony. And when Loki came to, he was on the floor and Adam was…elsewhere.
Fortunately, the event finally convinced Adam to let the matter be.
As expected, the only price that seemed to buy peace was pain.
If perhaps monotony and mundane comforts were as close as Loki was going to get at the moment, then that was… fine.
So, Loki approached the proposition that came one evening with a fair amount of scepticism. It started with an anomaly. Adam set out a plastic cup next to the meal he usually defrosted for lunch. Loki peered inside, only to see a frozen sludge of watery brown that seemed wholly unappetising and unlike something Adam would subject himself to. As the day progressed, and the cup lost its white layer of frost, it was moved to the refrigerator. And then finally, when their artificial window was showing a setting sun, the cup was placed on the low table next to where Loki had been dozing on the couch.
“Drink half of that and you can come out with me tonight.” Adam announced with the gravity of a stay of execution.
«No.» Loki signed, watching Adam warily.
“Why not?” Adam asked, throwing up his hands in surprised exasperation.
«I’m not drinking something unknown to go somewhere unknown.» Not by choice, anyway. Certainly not unarmed. His seidr pool was larger, but entirely occupied with knitting his body back together. Which meant it wouldn’t even be warning him of poisons in the suspicious brown sludge.
“For fuck’s sake, it’s not some conspiracy. It’s a smoothie. If you can finish half of it you’re well enough to go with me to the cafeteria while I eat dinner.” Adam rolled his eyes.
Ah, that was unfortunate. Usually, Loki retreated to the bedroom when his pain drove him to snappishness. Particularly in the early evening when he knew his nightly dose of pain medication was on the horizon and Adam’s patience had run dry. But his pain hadn’t been quite as bad as usual after his shower. Adam must have noticed, and now Loki lacked a good reason to refuse the offer. But still. It was a simple enough solution.
Loki stared at the cup, pretending to consider the offer, before turning away and settling back into the couch as a clear rejection.
“Fine.” Adam ground out. But instead of storming off, Adam plucked the cup from the table and took a big gulp, his throat working as he swallowed. Then he shoved it at Loki.
“Drink it, it’s chocolate.” he ordered.
«You’re a terrible negotiator.» Loki told him, glaring.
“Well, you’re a terrible alien.” Adam said snidely. “Drink the fucking smoothie.”
Loki took the cup to keep himself from responding in a way he would regret. He brought the cup to his lips and tipped it back, disguising the first sip as a careful sniff. Banana, and indeed, chocolate. With something else. But no obvious poisons detectable by smell. Loki closed his eyes and let the thick liquid enter his mouth. Then got the final ingredients: toasted oats and cow’s milk. It was surprisingly good, even with his diminished appetite. Sweetened , but not overly so. And it wasn’t agony to swallow. Which didn’t surprise him, considering his seidr was finishing with the worst injuries afflicting his throat and currently obsessed with his broken ribs and shoulder.
“You have an hour to drink that and get ready.” Adam announced when he was satisfied that Loki was obeying. He plopped down on the couch next to Loki and turned the television to some sporting match that Loki didn’t have enough interest in to parse out the rules.
Ready for what?
It didn’t sound like a summons. Was it some kind of test?
Loki finished half, as instructed, and went to hide in his room. Hoping Adam would forget about the whole affair. And trying not to fret over the fact that there was nothing he could do to get ready. He had no shoes, no clothes past the ones he was wearing and the extra set he alternated with every two days. And he needed help with the coat that had apparently become his, despite being comically large on him. He laid on the bed, his back to Adam, although he had a clear view of him, as always.
And woke up to Adam knocking on the door, only realising then that he’d fallen asleep.
“How’s your pain?” Adam asked mildly, Loki’s coat in one hand.
«Fine.» Loki defaulted to his usual response. He sat up, quickly running a hand over his face in an attempt to wipe away the cobwebs of sleep.
“Good.” Adam said, tossing the coat onto the bed and untangling the sling from itself. Loki held still as Adam stepped closer. His nose filling with a fresh wave of stale peppermint. The sling pulled around him snugly, trapping his arm against his body. Then Adam went through the familiar process of disconnecting and flushing Loki’s NG tube. Loki avoided the man’s gaze, as usual. Anything to dispel the strange intimacy of the ritual.
Loki slipped his good arm obediently into his coat’s sleeve and waited for Adam to do up the zipper. Because he needed help with that too. To add to the humiliation, the wheelchair was waiting for him by the door.
«Do we have to take that?» Loki frowned, which turned into a scowl when Adam bodily turned him around and sat him down in the wheelchair like a meek child.
“As soon as you don’t need it anymore, you’re getting handcuffed to it. So enjoy it while it lasts. And stop sulking” Adam told him as he arranged Loki’s socked feet on the footrests. Loki swallowed the flush of shame as they left the apartment and made their way through the hallways. The base was as devoid of life as usual, but the recreational hall was fuller this time. Their passage prompted surprised stares that Loki avoided and Adam ignored. Only when they entered the canteen did it became apparent why the recreational hall was occupied: meal service had ended. There were a few stranglers lingering over their meal, but they were being glared at by the two men cleaning the tables. Except for a table to the side, which seemed to be occupied by the kitchen staff.
“Hey, Kirk brought Xavier.” someone said as the group noticed their arrival. They all appeared tired after a long day, but companionably so. It wasn’t a particularly large crowd of people, but Loki’s heart still lodged in his throat as Adam wheeled him towards the gathering. But they were…smiling at him. It was a drastic change from the previous encounter Loki had witnessed. There was a shuffle as two seats were freed up next to each other, and the cook called David pulled away the chair at the head of the table, which was where Adam decided to park the wheelchair.
And suddenly Loki was surrounded. There were nearly a score of them, all chattering companionably. And all of them suddenly seemed terribly large as they shuffled between seats and stood over him. Although most of them were more concerned with their drinks and bowls of dessert than with Loki.
Still, he found panic building slowly in his chest. Which didn’t improve when Adam put a hand on his shoulder with a blasé “be right back” before disappearing into the kitchen. Loki found himself staring after the man and quickly turned back to the others before anyone could notice.
“Xavier, can I get you anything?” someone asked him. Loki turned to find it was David who had spoken. The man was occupying the seat next to his, his large hand hovering uncertainly over Loki’s like he’d been planning on grabbing it.
«No, thank you.» Loki used his signing as an excuse to pull his hand away.
“Are you sure?” he flinched when Helen suddenly appeared next to him, her face a mask of concern as she leaned down to his eye-level. He nodded mechanically, watching her for the familiar rage he remembered seeing in her eyes. But her face only seemed to grow sad before she gave him a strained smile and went to sit down next to David.
Loki slipped his hand underneath the table and trapped it between his knees to keep himself from reaching for the wheelchair’s break lever. Watching the kitchen door for Adam’s reemergence out of the corner of his eye.
“You’re looking a lot better than a week ago.” David said kindly. Loki glanced at him, but the man seemed only politely interested. He gave Loki a brief encouraging smile before taking a draught from his mug. Loki took a breath, tamping down on his panic. It seemed that the rest of the kitchen staff had returned to their own conversations. The only ones focussed on Loki were David and Helen.
“We sometimes drop food off after dinner service, but you’re usually asleep by then.” Helen added. Loki felt his face freeze into a blank mask at the statement. He didn’t like the thought of the woman that had stared at him with so much hate so close to him while he was insensate.
“I think what Helen means to say,” David interjected, “is that we’d really like to bring you something too. Did you ever get the chance to try the smoothie we brought you?”
Loki tried to clamp down on the feeling of utter discomfort boiling in his gut. His damned hand was shaking very slightly when he answered: «Yes, I did.» he hesitated, but then added, «It was good. Adam gave it to me this afternoon.»
Both David and Helen positively beamed, as if he’d equated their cooking to Asgard’s finest chefs.
“That’s great. How’s your throat? Do you think we can start bringing you smoothies more often?” Helen asked. Her enthusiasm was off putting. And Loki’s emotions were an uncomfortable knot inside his chest, constantly attempting to show on his face. It felt like all those years practicing holding an aristocratic mask were gone with the muscle memory. Another thing to hate about the new body.
A plate loaded with food was put on the table with a thunk as Adam slided into his seat next to Loki.
“Is he being rude?” Adam asked, his mouth full of the bread roll he’d already started on.
“No, of course not.” David said, rolling his eyes at the insinuation. “If anything, we’re the ones being rude with all our questions.”
“I agree.” the man sitting next to Adam said as he slung an arm around Adam’s shoulders, much to his displeasure.
“You lot have been keeping poor Xavier all to yourselves. I would go barmy too if I only had Kirk for company.” the man continued, before pointedly making eye contact with Loki. “So, Xavier, tell me, is Adam always such a ponce or is it only when he’s trying to get food out of you?”
A few snorts of amusement went around the table as Adam shoved the man’s arm off his shoulder.
“Fuck off, Matches.” Adam muttered.
Loki found himself relaxing a bit at the familiar energy of people ribbing each other. Especially since he didn’t seem to be the target.
«I wouldn’t know, but your experience seems to be similar to mine.»
Matches blinked in surprise, then a grin split his face before he crowed with laughter, slapping Adam on the back with such mirth he nearly dislodged the coffee the man was drinking. Someone let out an unfortunately snort of laughter, clearly surprised. David was attempting everything in his power not to join in on the titters going around the table, considering he was sitting across from the glaring butt of the joke. Loki felt himself flushing, realising he may have taken that a bit too far. He hadn't expected the whole table to have heard. Nor how amusing they seemed to find it.
“From the mouth of babes, Kirk.” Matches grinned, clearly very pleased. “So, Xavier, what do you like to do? I know you’ve been sick and all, but you can’t spend all your time watching telly, um, television, I mean. And I haven’t seen Kirk getting anything at the library.”
Loki cast a quick glance at Adam, but the man was scowling as he tried to clean up the new coffee stain on his already stained shirt.
«I’m not interested in the sport matches Adam prefers.» Loki said mildly, trying not to give something away that would get him in trouble with his jailor nor paint himself as an amusing target.
“Yeah, that’s understandable, we also don’t really get much kid friendly stuff on the TV’s here. But the library has a lot of variety. They have comic books, magazines, and board games. I think they even have video game consoles you can rent out.” Helen said. “Adam could take you to pick something out.”
Loki kept his face studiously blank, ensuring his eyes didn’t betray any emotion. But still had to look away. Not knowing how to respond. At least no one thought the jest was amusing enough to laugh.
“Yeah, sure.” Adam said flippantly, not looking up from his food. “Just nothing inappropriate. Like ‘How to build a bomb for fun and profit’. We don’t want you getting any ideas” a few scattered chuckles followed that comment. Loki considered forcing himself to smile politely, but he didn’t quite have the energy for the lie at that moment.
He turned to David and signed: «Is there a restroom?»
“Oh, yeah.” David nodded and turned in his chair so he could point at the doors in the corner of the room. “The one on the left is the men’s room. I can take you while Kirk’s eating.”
«No, thank you.» Loki before disengaging the brakes on the wheelchair so he could roll it back from the table and get up.
“Are you sure…?” David sprung to his feet, hands out to steady Loki if he were to crumble to his knees or something else suitably dramatic. Loki stepped out of his reach before heading to the restroom.
“Xavier, wait for me to finish.” Adam ordered sternly, but Loki ignored him. And strangely enough, Adam only muttered a curse and let him go. Their gazes prickled uncomfortably on the back of Loki's neck as he crossed the empty space and pushed his way into the boringly white tiled room. It was also, thankfully, empty. He chose the furthest stall in the row and locked the door behind him. For a moment he just breathed. And when he felt steadier, he very carefully coaxed a tendril of seidr away from his shoulder to send it skittering through the worldtree’s leaves.
Thor still hadn’t returned to Midgard.
Just like every day he’d managed to check.
Loki pressed a shaking hand to his forehead and tried not to think of what that meant.
Thor was likely back on Asgard…
And Loki knew it was selfish, but that also meant that no one was coming for him.
He didn’t know how to deal with smiling Midgardians offering to feed him while some unseen axe hung over his head.
At least no one had followed him. It was the first time since arriving that he was both alone and conscious. If he was to have a chance at doing something, he needed to do it now.
Astral projection took too much seidr. Even with his larger residual seidr, he couldn’t pry enough loose until his seidr was satisfied that he wasn’t dying. He’d managed it before with blood magic, when he’d been half mad with grief and pain on the helicarrier. But Adam would very quickly find any wound large enough to power such an attempt. Or he would simply faint and awake in a cell…
That left telepathy. Which had never been Loki’s strong suit. He’d always found the emotions too intrusive to develop it past the skill’s infancy. But it required very little seidr. And Loki knew of one mind on Midgard sensitive enough to sense his fumbled attempt.
Loki leaned his back against the tiled wall. The thought of reaching out without something solid touching him made his stomach twist. Soon, his breathing fell into the familiar pattern of a light trance. Awareness of the physical world became fuzzy around him. Making his stomach swoop as it felt like his body was engulfed in a cloud of numbness.
Wanda Maximoff’s mind was ludicrously easy to find, even with Loki’s limited skill. It was nestled close to the alien construct calling itself a mind surrounding the Mind Stone. But that was far too impregnable to even feel his touch. Nothing to do with the fact that the thought of brushing his consciousness against the Mind stone made him recoil in horror…
Focus.
His ribs twinged as he took a deep breath.
Her mind was interesting. Artificially powerful. More so than a human usually survived. But it was also raw and unwrought. Entirely untrained. No defenses. It leaked out emotions like a poorly made waterskin. Something Loki would have wanted to address, but was now grateful he hadn’t.
Wary of getting swept away by the alien emotions like he so often had in his youth, he neared her consciousness. It was warm. Bright despite the scars marring its smooth surface. Loki distantly felt tears prick his eyes as he tasted the fierce love drifting from her. So strong. Despite her brother being in a different room. It was being flavoured with fear and a cloying protectiveness.
This is why I hate doing this.
Loki spent the rest of his dwindling seidr allotment to send out a soft pulse. Her awareness immediately turned to him and reached out with the unrestrained curiosity of a child who had never burnt their fingers on the candle flame. There was an insistence to know him. To connect. Loki could feel her blindly starting along the path of telepathy in her haste to sate her curiosity. But she was halted by inexperience in the method Loki was trained in. Her progress slowed to a crawl. And Loki was too spent to bridge the gap.
Then he felt the mind around the Mind stone unfurling.
Horror lanced through him and he hastily withdrew.
Spots danced across his vision when he opened his eyes. Feeling faint, he closed the lid on the toilet and sat down, leaning down until his head was level with his knees. His arm protested where it was trapped against his chest. While the phantom sensation of the blue wriggling its way between his organs made him shiver.
Panic bubbled and broiled in his chest, trying to find a way to escape. It urged his heart to beat faster. But his heart was already strained as it pumped an abnormally low amount of blood around a body wracked with injuries clamouring for nutrients. It tried his lungs. Tried to spur them into hyperventilation. But the lungs complained, citing the broken ribs.
Giving up, the panic left. Leaving Loki exhausted and not sure if he could get up without fainting. But at least there was no blue tinge to his vision as he opened his eyes.
That had been a mistake. He could still taste Wanda’s essence on his tongue. Inside his head. It felt too much like the Mind Stone’s welcome caress. Too much like it would gladly swallow him and fill all the gaps he’d…
“Xavier?”
Loki shuddered, focussing on Adam’s voice.
“Hey, Xavier, can you knock once on the stall if you need help?” that was David, sounding uncertain and sickeningly kind. Loki knocked twice on the stall’s wooden wall, hoping that was clear enough. Adam’s feet appeared at the gap below the stall door.
“I don’t care whether you need to shit yourself to do it, open this door right now.” Adam said darkly, wisely not using a threat he couldn’t follow through on. Loki got to his feet, half aiming the fall he’d been expecting so he ended up leaning his weight on the tiled wall.
“You okay? Are you sure you don’t need… okay.” David ended, sounding exasperated. Loki realised why when he looked up. Adam had pulled himself up on the stall door so he could peer over it. His scowl wasn’t nearly as threatening when Loki knew his feet weren’t touching the ground.
«Give me a moment.» Loki signed up as him. Adam disappeared with a grunt as he dropped back down to the floor.
“Is he okay?” David asked.
“Well, he’s not dead. Can you go get his wheelchair?” Adam asked and David’s footsteps disappeared out the restroom door.
“You’ve been crying.” Adam informed him. “Open the door and you can wash your face before we go back out.”
Loki quickly wiped at his face and found that his cheeks were indeed wet with tear tracks. He couldn’t remember crying. Wasn’t sure why he would.
He clumsily shuffled forward and slid the lock open on the door. It immediately swung open, nearly hitting Loki as he recoiled back from it.
“You’re getting to be more trouble than you’re worth.” Adam said darkly, but he sounded more tired than irritated. Loki held still as Adam picked him up. For a moment he thought he would just be dragged back outside, but Adam put him down so he was sitting on the countertop the sinks were set in. Loki quickly opened a tap and wet his hand before running it over his face and through his shorn head of hair.
“Fuck’s sake. Hold still.” Adam said and grabbed Loki’s jaw.
For a moment it was Odin’s hand. A gasp left his mouth and he jerked himself out of the grip. Pain burst at the back of his head but he was too busy scrabbling for seidr and…
“Kid, stop!” someone yelled.
Loki froze.
Adam was staring at him, his expression unreadable. There was a damp paper towel in his hand.
“Here.” Adam sighed, holding out the paper towel. “Clean your face.”
Loki took the towel and did as he was told, avoiding the man’s gaze.
“Were there too many people?”
Loki didn’t look up at the question, just handed the crumbled paper towel back. Adam tossed it at the bin. It hit the side before falling to the floor with a plop.
Adam sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. “What about tomorrow I take you to the library to pick out a book and then give you your pain meds before heading out to dinner, like I did before?”
«Why are you being kind?» Loki signed, anger and frustration flaring in his chest as he finally looked up to glare at the man.
“I’m not being kind! I’ve been a complete asshole to you!” Adam yelled right as the restroom door opened.
“Um, should I come back?” David asked uncertainly. He’d brought the wheelchair.
“No, it’s fine.” Adam snapped. “I need to get him to bed. I shouldn’t have brought him.”
Loki tensed when Adam picked him up, but it didn’t hurt more than usual. He carried him over to the wheelchair and almost carefully sat him down in it. David reversed the chair out of the narrow doorway and let Adam take it from him.
“Is he okay?” Helen asked. She’d been waiting outside the lavatory. But Adam appeared to be too angry to speak as he pushed the wheelchair through the canteen and out the door.
Dread settled heavily in Loki’s stomach as they passed through the recreation room. A few soldiers looked up, some even attempted to approach before thinking better of it.
“Helen, fuck off.” Adam threw over his shoulder. This prompted more people to get up, throwing questions at their backs.
“No, fuck you.” Helen fired back. “You’re not just taking him back to your apartment to do what you want behind closed doors, asshole.”
“He disobeyed me.” Adam yelled, his voice directed behind him instead of at Loki. “Twice. I’m not your fucking father or whatever, Helen. Go stick your nose in where you actually know what’s going on.” they were passing through the abandoned communal kitchens and washrooms now, almost to their hallway. Loki could still hear footsteps following them, but couldn’t turn to look.
“Kirk, just wait.” that was David’s voice. Why were they following them? Who else was doing the same?
Adam stopped in front of their door and opened it. Loki immediately got up from the chair, and finding his legs stable, darted inside the bedroom and shut the door. It had no key, but he quickly grabbed the sturdy wooden chair and jammed it under the doorhandle. He could hear Adam swearing on the other side for a moment before the handle dipped down, only to be stopped by the chair.
“Fuck! Open this door right now or I’ll tan your hide!” Adam screamed.
Ah yes, Loki was an idiot.
He unzipped his coat and let it fall to the floor so he could fold his shaking hand into his sling, which was starting to ice over with frost. Normally, he would be agonising over it. But it would deter Adam from grabbing his injured arm and dislocating it again.
He sat down on the bed with his back against the wall, tucking his legs against his chest. There was arguing outside between Adam and his friends. Mostly between Adam and Helen. It sounded like it could go on for a while.
If he was going to sit still and listen to it, it was going to drive him insane.
Maybe a peace offering of sorts would help?
Or at least something that would minimise the need for Adam to come near him.
He found the container of sterile water and its syringe and flushed his NG tube. Some water dribbled onto the floor, but he was only working with one hand, to be fair. He mopped it up with the edge of his loose pants, which were slightly too long for him.
By that time the screaming seemed to have quietened to the occasional raised voice.
Loki struggled through connecting the NG tube to the pump’s tubing. But his hands had always been dexterous and, eventually, he managed it.
By the time a timid knock came at his door he was inserting commands into the pump.
“Xavier, can you open the door? Adam is in his room and he promised to only come out when you’re okay with it.” Helen’s voice came through the door. Loki paused at that. He was certain the woman didn’t like him. But he would need to open the door eventually. And it sounded like she had negotiated some kind of truce.
“David is here too.” she added when Loki’s pause got a bit lengthy.
“Um, yeah. I’m here too.” David said, sounding uncomfortable.
Loki wheeled the pole the feed and pump was hanging from to the door. The chair came away easily, at least. Strangely enough, they hadn’t attempted to open the door after their negotiation, nor when they heard the chair being moved.
Helen’s eyes widened in surprise when she saw the feed and pump. “Oh, did you start getting ready for bed?”
Loki ignored the inane question and looked past her, finding Adam absent from the living room, as promised.
«I’m sorry.» he signed at them.
“We’re not mad at you.” Helen was quick to reassure him.
“I don’t think Adam is either, really.” David added.
Loki stared at them, wondering whether they were insulting his intelligence or his grasp of reality. He lifted his hand to deliver a scathing remark before thinking better of it and reaching for the door handle instead.
“Okay, wait.” David said placatingly, putting his foot in the door to keep it from slamming shut in their faces.
“Adam was mostly mad at us for assuming he was going to hurt you.” Helen said with a grimace. “He didn’t mean to scare you while he was yelling at us.”
“He said he wants to give you your pain medication so you can go to sleep and then he’ll make it up to you in the morning by taking you to the library.” David said.
«He’s not going to take me to the library.» Loki signed flatly, suddenly feeling tired and just wanting the situation to go away.
“No, we’ll make sure he does.” Helen said, eyes hardening.
«You hate me so much you could barely speak the first time you saw me» Loki signed at her, his movements sharp. «You think I’m a %$# curiosity» he signed at David, the swear word translating poorly. Allspeak had always been horrible at curses.
Then he turned his back on them and went to lie down. He was ready for today to be over. At that point he didn’t care that he was making a mess of things. His shoulder fucking hurt and he just wanted to go to sleep.
“Hey kid.” Adam sighed. Loki couldn’t turn to look at him without moving his shoulder, so he didn’t. He felt his back tense as his body braced for a blow. But then he felt Adam fiddling at the strap of his shoulder sling at his back.
“You’re doing that thing where you go lie down when you’re in pain and trying not to be an asshole about it.” Adam muttered, his face tired and expressionless when Loki carefully turned his head to look at him. He got ahold of the IV port taped to the belly of Loki’s forearm and picked up the filled syringe he’d brought in with him.
«What is that?» Loki signed carefully.
“Just your painkillers. I’ll take your sling off and get you under the covers when it starts working.” Adam said, already inserting the needle into the port.
«It’s covered with ice.» Loki warned, staring numbly at his arm. The world was already going soft.
“Yeah, but it only stings when you’re mad.” Adam’s words chased him down as he sank into oblivion.