“All I can do is worry in that cell. If not about you then what else?” He sighed softly. “I’ll try not to worry so much. I know you’re more than capable of handling yourself without me having to track your every move.” He gently nudged her into walk, keeping short distance between them and the guard. “If anything does come up and you don’t want to tell me for whatever reason, at least tell Magnus.”
"Worry about planning what we're going to do once you're out of that cell with all our free time..maybe a trip," She suggested gently before nodding, "I'll tell him if I have to, but if I can, I'll tell you. Magnus has enough to worry about as it is, and so do you." Avalin continued walking, hiding the discomfort that came from it and almost slowing down when the cells came into view.
He laughed and nodded “yes my love, defiantly a trip, anywhere you’d like.” He pressed a kiss to her head and held her close to his side as they approached the holding cells. “I know, but he’s the only one I trust at the moment to look after you while I’m here.” He said, stopping in front of the cell and hugging her closely, trying to goldbrick onto her for as long as he wasn’t allowed. “I love you, Avalin. More than anything.”
She smiled lightly, looking up at him and hugging him as tightly as she possibly could. "I love you, Loki. More than I can ever show you." Avalin hugged him for as long as she could, only stepping back when the guard cleared his throat loudly and motioned Loki towards his cell. "I love you, my king," She murmured, pressing one final soft kiss to his lips before stepping back, careful not to step over the threshold of where she wasn't allowed to go.
Hi Loki reluctantly pulled away from Avalin and gave the guard one final glare before stepping back into the cell. He turned to her and nodded, encouraging her gently to follow the guard and to not do anything to reckless.
“Follow.” Was all the guard said before he started back towards to entrance/exit of the cell room.
Avalin nodded slowly, meeting his eyes one final time before reluctantly following the guard. Taking a day of rest was going to be pure torture for her, especially without Loki with her to keep her from finding easy work to do. She stayed silent as she walked, holding her head high and trying to look unaffected as she forced herself to follow her promise and not get straight to work.
He watched as they both left, leaning as far into the barrier as allowed to make sure they had completely left the area before slowly turning around and letting all his pent up emotions from that day out, turning him into the true monster he had always been. The loss of his son, something he was sure he would never truly get over, as well as the time listen with Avalin, both during the five years as well as the year spent apart from here on Asgard, all the anger and hate and grief all finally came out in waves of deep green and black until Loki wasn’t left knelt on the ground, crying for Leif and begging to just be by his wife’s side.
(;-; Imma go cry now…I honestly feel terrible for Loki)
It was difficult to keep up the mask of being completely fine and put together, but Avalin managed to keep it up until she reached the servant's quarters again. All she wanted to do as she sat down on her bed was let herself process what had just happened in the past day and cry, but no tears showed. She sighed instead, almost in defeat as she laid down and closed her eyes, processing everything internally instead of letting anything out.
(Also….timeskip? Any ideas for anything that could happen to them or go straight to when Loki finally gets out?)
(XD I feel bad for both!)
Loki remained in his defeated state for a long while, to the point of barely touching his food, sometimes just leaving it in the little pod.
After a few days, he hadn’t managed to get himself up from the ground, though he had grown much thinner and had very little motivation other than the thought of Avalin, to move at all.
(Sure, probably til he gets out?)
(Alrighty)
In the next several moths of work, Avalin pushed herself to work as much as she could. She tried as often as she could to meet Loki when she slept, but it was rare when they did, and as much as she hated, it was normally in one of her nightmares. She slept terribly most nights, and worked herself to the point of falling asleep on her feet most days, forcing herself to do so instead of let herself process things. Magnus even found her alseep throughout the palace several times when she seemed to fall asleep in the middle of her tasks.
Time went by slowly and most days she was sure she couldn't tell you the date. Avalin barely spoke to anyone, only ate when Magnus was there with her to make sure she wasn't skipping meals, and in general looked defeated. She didn't know how long Loki had left in his cell and so every day she pushed through how sore and utterly exhausted she was to get to work.
Thor left Loki alone the remaining time he was in his cell, and his footsteps were loud when he finally did go visit his brother. He seemed calm as he approached his cell, stopping in front of it and not speaking a word as he looked in at his brother.
The room had been torn to shreds, worse than any other time he had destroyed a cell room. Nothing was left intact save for the letters from Avalin in the corner. Loki was across the cell, his hair had grown long and was unkept. His skin was starkly pale and dark shadows were around his eyes. He had tried to enter Avalin’s dreams though when he had gotten there, he could only see her for moments at a time as Igbo she were a ghost before being completely consumed by a nightmare, hers or his he couldn’t tell anymore. He assumed that it was the both of them.
He glared up at Thor but made no move towards him, assuming that the king of Asgard was there to remind loki about his mistakes throughout the years.
Loki just shut his eyes and sighed softly, waiting to here that it hadn’t only been a few days since he had been in the cell instead of 5 months like he had thought
Thor didn't speak a word still, just opened the cell and studied Loki before finally saying, "Your sentence is over. Do what you wish but be warned that being sent back here is an option if you break rules." He nodded out into the castle, "I had your room cleaned if you want to go clean up your appearance, or you can go out and find Avalin straight away." With that the king turned and left along with the guard that had been at Loki's cell.
Avalin had once again gone straight to work, not aware that Loki's sentence was up. She gave a halfheared wave to Magnus as she passed him in the kitchens then grabbed her supplies and started walking. Today she was in charge of cleaning the throne room, and silently she headed straight there. The months of work had taken a heavy toll on her and she looked terrible. The bags under her eyes were dark and noticeable, and she looked like nothing more than skin and bones. Her hair was tied up in a low bun, and at very least her clothes were clean, but clearly she was tired, sore and defeated.
Loki waited for a few moments before slowly pushing himself off the grown and stepping out of the cell. He scanned the area, making sure everything was safe before silently heading to the main portion of the castle to find Avalin, or at least Magnus. On his way around, he passed by his old room and stopped, debating whether he should clean up a bit. He ultimately decided not to, all he wanted was to get away from Asgard for a bit and spend time with Avalin, without having to hide. With renewed hope that their lives would finally start being more positive, Loki went around every room, starting with the servants quarter, asking if any of the servants there had seen Avalin or Magnus.
The servants pointed Loki in the direction of Magnus, but very few of them knew where Avalin was, suggesting that maybe Magnus would know. He was working in the kitchens still, lifting the heavier bags of food and ingredients around to who needed them or into the pantries. While Avalin looked terrible, Magnus didn't look much better. He looked tired, and really in need of a long break, but he didn't have the same defeated look in his eyes as she did.
Loki thanked them and ran to the kitchen, rounding a corner and almost knocking into the young man. He steadies himself and helped pick up the bag that had fallen to the floor. “You look worse for ware.” He noted with a small smile, finally taking in the fact that he was finally free. “Have you seen her?” He asked, helping him bring the bag over to the table
Magnus scowled at Loki before he realized who it was, then he smiled gently and patted Loki on the shoulder. "I think she's in the throne room..that's where she was assigned I think." He seemed relieved to see Loki, but a quick moment of worry crossed his face as he added, "She's in rough shape though…I tried my best I swear, but I'll warn you of that. She's barely eating these days unless I watch to make sure she does, and she doesn't sleep much either…"
Avalin was indeed still in the throne room, barely started on the first task of sweeping the entire space. She had to finish that before she could wash the floor or dust anything, but it was one of the parts that took the longest to finish. Not only that, it was the most tiring.
Loki nodded, concerned for the both of them. “It’s alright. Thank you for watching over her when I couldn’t. If there’s anything you need Bieber or in the future, I’ll be there.” He replied, nodding to Magnus before heading off to find Avalin. He swore to himself one they were alright, he’d make sure Magnus was in a better position than just being a servant.
He eventually made it to the throne room, opening the door quietly and taking a step in. He looked around before spotting Avalin in a corner of the room. He walked up to her and gently wrapped her in a hug. “Your done my love,” He whispered softly. “We can go home now.”
Avalin hadn't gotten far before she heard footsteps and glanced up, freezing for a second as she saw Loki. Before long a relieved smile appeared though and she set her broom down, wrapping him in the tightest hug she could manage. "I better not be hallucinating," She murmured softly, soft tears appearing in her eyes as she looked up at him, "Are you really allowed to leave?"
He nodded and pressed a gentleman kiss to her head “Yes love, we’re allowed to go.” He smiled proudly at her and hugged her close. “Thank you my love.” He whispered softly, burying his face in her hair. “Let’s go get cleaned up.” He said softly, guiding her away back towards the door
Seeing Loki again almost instantly left her relieved and she sank against him, mustering together a tiny laugh, "We probably should you're right. I probably smell like the kitchens." She looped an arm around his side and didn't dare to let go as he guided her to the door, doing her best to move at her normal speed. She still was sore and exhausted though and it took a fair amount of work to do so, to seem more alright than she was.
“You do not,” he protested softly, glancing down at her and sighing softly. “Love you told me you would rest.” He said softly, brow creasing in worry. “Magnus told me you weren't eating either.” He added, leading them to their room at the end ignoring the hall.
She paused for a second, replying gently, "I rested as much as I could, I promise." Avalin didn't meet Loki's eyes, walking alongside him. Yes, she had really tried to sleep as much as she could. But nightmares made it difficult, and so did her worry. Not eating though…she knew he wouldn't like the excuse of her just not being hungry. "I'm sorry," She mumbled, barely glancing up at her husband.
He took a deep breath, trying not to be so worried. She was more capable of taking care of herself then he could ever know. He pressed a kiss to her head and lead her inside the room. He hugged her close for a moment and tucked her safely underneath his chin. “Don’t be sorry my love. It’s going to be alright now. Well clean up a bit, get some rest then go out into the city to find a place to eat.” He said with a small smile, gazing down at her and gently brushing her cheek
Avalin nodded slowly, tightly hugging him back and glancing up at him with a tiny smile, "That sounds perfect." She nodded to the bathroom, then took one of his hands and led him towards the bed, adding on gently, "I'll start water running for a bath for you, I'll take one after you. You can stay here." She pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek before starting off, reluctantly letting go of his hand to get the water started.
Loki reluctantly nodded, about to argue that she should be the first to shower and to not worry about him but she’s had already disappeared into the washroom. He sighed softly with a smile and walked around the room, seeing that everything had been left in its place before they had left. He glanced out the window, looking out onto the city below, awashed in purples, golds, and blues. It had been a while since loki had seen the city, hell, it had been a while since loki seen a lot of things. He smiled softly and leaned against the wall, gazing out onto the city, ready to be free of walls.
It didn’t take Avalin long before she was back, the sound of running water clear from the bathroom. She smiled gently at him and walked over, pulling him into a soft hug before adding, “There you go, all ready for you.” It took her a second before she let go of him though and sat on the edge of the bed, gazing out one of the large windows over the city. It had been a long time since she had been out of the palace walls and she was dying to go out. After getting some rest that was.
He smiled softly and pressed a kiss to her head. “Thank you, love. You didn’t have to do that.” He hugged her gently before breaking away to shower.
He let the warm water wash over him after he had stripped out of all his clothing and discarded them. He sighed in relief and stayed still for a few moments.
After showering, Loki stepped out and conjured a simple black shirt and pants, nothing that would stand out. He ran the bath for Avalin, waiting until it got warm before walking out into the bedroom. He smiled softly and settled next to Avalin. “Go ahead, then we can go out.” He said softly, gently rubbing her back
Avalin had almost fallen asleep by the time Loki got back, but quickly she fluttered awake, sitting back up just as quickly. "I won't be long," She said, offering a soft smile to him before heading to the bath. She slipped in quietly, her clothes sitting in a neat stack next to the bath. A relieved smile washed over her face and she took her time washing off, though kept her promise in mind and was out fairly soon.
Feeling much less grimy and gross, she slipped out of the bath, watching it drain for a second. Instead of pulling back on her working clothes, she pulled a towel around herself when she came out, padding softly over to her closet to find something better to wear than her dirty work clothes.
Loki shut his eyes momentarily, letting the sound of rushing water and city below calm him down. He cracked his eyes open when he heard Avalin come out of the bathroom and watched her walk over to the closet. He stood from the bed and gently wrapped her in his embrace resting his head on her shoulder. “Want to rest first or eat?” He asked softly, lips brushing over her ear as he spoke. He pressed a gentle kiss to her shoulder and nuzzles her head, enjoying just having her in his arms after so long
She softly smiled and leaned back into his arms, replying gently, "I suppose we could go eat, then we can rest." Avalin didn't move from his arms even though she had to, just rested against him and brushed her wet hair over her shoulder so he didn't get his shirt wet. She looked up at him over her shoulder, adding on in question, "Where do you want to go?"