Loki seemed unperturbed by her threats, in fact he almost looked bored by her though that was probably due to the fact that he was still rather tired. In fact, he wasn't exactly looking much like himself at all at this point. They'd been keeping him alive off of a nutrient supplement drip, he hadn't eaten solid food in at least a month and it showed in his narrowed cheeks and pale complexion. He was already a fairly thin man but had always worn it healthily, now it was not quite do. Still, he met Pallas' gaze unwavering, "Do what you will, but I believe that magic belongs to me" he held his hand towards Ceres to take the gem.
Ceres moved to give him back the gem which she'd made into an amulet but Pallas stopped her. " Yes it does belong to you but I don't think your body is strong enough to absorb it at the moment."
Ceres looked at Loki, "...Oh, I guess you're right... I'll bring down some of the soup we made!" She ran out of the room exicitedly.
"I don't like you, Loki. I'm doing what I'm doing because of Ceres. I'll get you a pillow and a blanket." She said turning to leave as well.
Loki looked ready to protest but Ceres had already taken off. The moment she was gone however Loki moved with surprising speed, grabbing Pallas by the throat and holding her against the glass wall, though not choking her, "It was you" he accused, that deadly intelligence had returning to his keen eyes, "Your voice and appearance might be have been different to me at the time but I recognize your tone. It gave you away every day. Do not mistaken yourself in believing that you learned anything of me, and do not underestimate the lengths I will go to in order to retrieve my magic. I warn you, do not keep it from me and do not attempt to use it to control me." he released his grip and took a step back, "I don't care who you are, I would defy even your father for such a thing."
Pallas remained calm and cool as he spoke. If she had wanted to, she could easily remove him from her person but she'd let him have his rant.
"...Well, I can see you're a wee bit cranky, Agardian Teenager. Perhaps, once you have you regained your wit with food and rest you will realize I could have easily just snapped your arm backwards." She said calmly. " Also..."
Pallas got low to the ground and swung her leg around and tripped Loki and pinned him to the floor, twisting his arm just enough to hurt, "I believe a bloody thank you is in order. Shield decided to ween you off that filthy concoction you created, give you sedatives to keep you from being in pain, we treated you like a f.cking princess. I merely came to chat with you because we had no idea if you would live through the process of getting off the drug before we could retrieve Ceres' Tome and even with it your disgusting tonic has left my little sister in a damaged state." She grabbed Loki by the hair and pulled his head back, "So yes. I won't let Ceres give you back your magic, you ungrateful little pimple popping Tween." She slammed his head forward and got off him, swiftly leaving the room and locking the door.
"Until you learn to be respective, you won't see Ceres or your bloody magic." She turned on her heel and marched toward the exit. She could have just killed him right there...
Loki winced but he didn't have much to say about that. In fact he nearly didn't get up off the floor, he could have slept right there-but that would have been less than dignified. Getting back to his feet he glared at Pallas until she was out of sight. Perhaps he should have curbed his tongue a little more there, it wasn't that he had no respect for the goddesses, it was just that he wanted-no, he needed his magic back. He had nearly lost himself in trying to get it back from Odin and he wasn't going to stop here, not now that it was so much closer to his grasp.
The azgardian found himself wavering unsteadily and decidedly went back to the bed to get some rest. He was going to have to catch wit back up with tongue if he was ever going to get out of this.
Before Loki drifted off to sleep fully, he heard a noise; the clink of a tray onto the floor and a blanket and pillow thrown at him. When he looked however, no one was there but there were a few small glowing balls of light which fading into nothing as they drifted toward the floor.
A large bowl of soup along with a plastic cup of water lay on the tray. A doily lay under the bowl, it must have been Ceres' way of trying to make this non regal meal, a bit more fancy.
Food, he couldn't remember the last time he had eaten-oh wait no, it had been Ceres' delightful meal that she had made with the spirits. He picked up the bowl and took a sip, this wasn't much in comparison but before he knew it the bowl was empty. Evidently he'd been hungrier than he had realized. The water was soon gone as well and then the azgardian fell into a much needed sleep.
Pallas had been true to her word, no one came to visit Loki. Whenever he grew tired or had his back turned, food would appear on a tray and every now and then, a pillow would hit him on the back of the head.
On the bright side all of the rest and steadily progressing to solid foods again had brought the colour back to his face. He was using the time alone rather well between excersizes and meditation. Loki had rather mastered the art of imprisonment at this point and the solitude didn't seem to phase him in the slightest. He even caught the last pillow before it smacked him in the face.
What Loki hadn't been expecting was the book that came after the pillow. It hit him in the side of the face and fell to the floor. The title read as "A Song of Ice and Fire: Game Of Thrones".
The meals got bigger and bigger as Loki regarded the ability to eat solid foods.
"x.x" he had definitely not been expecting the book. He eyed it with some curiosity but set it aside on the bedside table for now before going back to his routine. It wasn't a few days later until he picked it up again and then he had read it cover to cover within the day.
The next day a pile of books replaced the one he had read with a note on it, "When these are fully read, Book Two: A clash of kings will be delivered."-Fury
The pile included the following titles:
Being Adopted: The Lifelong Search for Self Help
Forgiveness Is a Choice: Step by Step process to resolving anger and restore hope
The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are
Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself
Toxic Parents: Overcoming Their Hurtful Legacy and Reclaiming Your Life
Loki sighed, looking at the book and then turning his eyes upon one of the cameras watching him, "How is Ceres doing?" he questioned, "I can't imagine she's happy being kept away this long"
Whenever a meal arrived, one of the books would come flying at him from what angle he could never tell.
After 3 more days, the tv turned on.
Ceres sat kicking her feet back and forth, as they ran some tests. She was hooked up to several machines, a metal bowl type device attached to her head. The camera appeared to be hidden on someone.
"...Can I see Loki today?"
"Ceres we talked about this." Pallas came into view or at least part of her.
Ceres appeared to be thinking. And it was at this shot that you could really tell that Ceres wasn't fully there, just how dark her hair had really gotten.
"I'm not a child, Pallas. I'm just..." She zoned out trying to focus on words that escaped her.
"Not fully here I know. But it's Fury's orders."
"Yeah, once he goes through the program you can go visit him." A voice could be heard, probably the person who was holding the camera, out of sight of Pallas and Ceres
"And you won't stop me?" Ceres looked up at Pallas.
"No, I won't stop you from visiting the man who killed my husband for 6 mins... Honestly I don't know what you see in him."
"He's my friend." She said without hesitation. "And you stick by your friends even when things get tough."
"Gods, you and Thor." Pallas mumbled. "Why do you always have to see the good in people, even when there's so little of it?" She sighed ruffling Ceres' not as curly hair.
He watched until it cut out, thinking things over. Ceres had his magic, if he could just see her face to face again then he was certain she'd give it to him. She nearly had done so last time.
The program? Was that what they called those foolish books? They were so strange, he'd taken a peek at one briefly and found it complete rubbish.
"Given the nature of those preposterous titles, I gather you want me to deal with my daddy issues" Loki spoke to the camera as he lay back on the bed, "Being Adopted: makes for loving families as long as you don't lie to each other about every aspect of it.
Forgiveness Is a Choice that I decided against and no amount of therapy is going to change that.
The Gifts of Imperfection: Really? I don't think that applies here.
Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself-that's an interesting one. Controlling others is a very effective way to take care of yourself.
Toxic Parents: One parent actually, and I think we can all agree that he is a dick. I've definitely come to terms with that, in fact I was ready to let bygones be bygones until he stole my magic." he sat up at that and settled his fierce green eyes on the camera, "My. Magic. Continue to keep it from me and all of Midgard will suffer. If I can bring Odin to his knees from banishment, imagine what I can do from here. Return it to me what is mine however and you may find me in a more cooperative mood."
One by one the books flew at him, giving their answer loud and clear. Though a few new books was added to the pile:
Tiffany's Table Manners for Teenagers
How Rude!: The Teenager's Guide to Good Manners, Proper Behaviour and Not Grossing People Out
Teen Life Everything a Teenager Should Know to Survive the Teen Years
The Teenager's Guide to the Real World: How to Become a Successful Adult
Siblings: You're Stuck with Each Other, So Stick Together
This seemed only to irritate the Azgardian, he was several THOUSAND years old. By far superior to anyone on Midgard, let alone their prepubescent TEENS. Loki grabbed one of the books, ripped the pages out and threw it on the floor. He was not reading this garbage!
A few more days rolled by and when he awoke Pallas was lounging on a couch, reading the second book of the Game of Thrones series.
She did not look or appear to notice him. Perhaps she was ignoring him but she made no attempt to draw his attention. A meal had been placed on the floor like always when he woke up.
Loki looked at her for a moment, thinking about this new development. It wasn't Ceres, but perhaps it was a start for something. He sat up and leaned against the glass wall, watching her. He didn't touch the food.
