Loki did not care to mark the passage of time in his lonely cell, the walls plain and of the purest white. They only made him want to stain them, to mar the perfect stillness and uniformity. He spoke rarely, and only to his mother, who visited him regularly. He half-wished she wouldn't. Seeing her made him angry, more so at himself than anyone else. He considered shattering the furniture around him, just for something to do. Something to destroy, which was all he was good at. But he didn't. Out of respect for his beloved mother, or the fact that it would do him little good, he did not know. So he remained, mostly immobile, sprawled on the narrow little cot that served as his bed. He counted the ceiling tiles, calculating the square footage of his cell, and determined that his life had amounted to a ten by twenty foot box. He was in a particularly foul mood today and the illusion around him showed it. His cot had become a boulder, and angry seas beat at him from every side. Lightning flashed above his head, the only interruption in the dark.

"There! Put her in that cell!" A voice broke through his reverie, shattering the storm with a calm that would have cause whiplash in anyone else. He flicked his gaze towards the sound, not turning his head. A group of Asgardian guards carted in a tiny bundle, tossing it in a heap in the cell across from him. The golden force field snapped shut behind them, and only the head officer remained. The bundle moved, untwisting and lifting its head. Long ebony hair hung matted and dirty in wild tangles framing a tiny pixie face.

Startling ice-blue eyes glittered in the faint light, and they shone with confusion and terror. Their eyes met, and shock ricocheted down his spine. His pulse began to race in his chest, a spike of fear lancing through him. He closed his eyes, severing the gaze. The emotions vanished as quickly as they had come. He opened them a mere slit, enough to view the prisoner, but not enough to make eye contact. She remained in a semi-heap, her eyes darting around like searchlights, catching the light with a slightly greenish glint. After a few moments, she lay her head down, and only he, as close as he was to her, could see her tiny shoulders shaking.