The first thing Loki does once he and Zarina are in his room, the door locked behind them, is put her down on the floor. The second thing he does is plop down into his bed with his face buried in the pillow. Today started out so well. Did it really need such a bad ending?

"Loki?" Zarina says cautiously.

"Mm," he hums.

"Are you okay?" she asks.

"Mm." He's not sure whether that's a "yes" or a "no." It's really an answer all in itself.

Zarina sighs. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

Loki rolls over to look at her. "Don't be. My father's always mad at me for something. If it wasn't this, he would have found something else." He always does.

Zarina frowns. "He seems like a really bad father."

"But that's the thing," Loki says, pushing himself up so he's sitting on the edge of his bed. "He's not. He and Thor get along great. He just hates me."

"Then he really is a bad father," she tells him. "And an idiot."

"It's absolutely ridiculous," he says. "And it's not like I'm that much worse than Thor. Like..." He shifts his form into that of his brother, and, in a mocking version of his voice, he says, "Father, I accidentally convinced all of Midgard that we're gods." He changes his form into his father. "Oh, that's okay, son. We will now call ourselves gods, too, just for you!" He changes back into himself. "And then I just do nothing — literally nothing. I could just be sitting there, eating my breakfast, and he'll come over like..." He changes back into Odin. "I can't believe you changed your brother into a frog! Even though you turned him back after a few minutes without anyone telling you to! You're a despicable person and you will never amount to anything." He turns back into himself as he flops back down onto his bed, this time on his back.

"Do..." She cocks her head to the side. "Do you turn your brother into animals often?"

"Only when he deserves it," Loki says.

"So, that's a 'yes,' then," she guesses. Her curiosity dissipates and is replaced with the same frustration Loki has (which he greatly appreciates). "I can't believe your dad. How do you live with that?"

"I don't know," Loki says. "That's the nice thing about Midgard. My father has no idea what I do and he can't get upset about it. I'd much rather get in trouble in Midgard for doing something fun than get a lecture here for doing nothing wrong." He sighs. "Sometimes I almost feel like I would do better on Midgard. Especially now that I know I'll never be king... What do they need me here for, anyway?" He never would, of course. Not permanently. Not like his father had threatened. He'd have no idea what to do — and he'd miss his mother too much. But sometimes it almost does sound appealing, just to daydream about.

"For what it's worth," Zarina says, "I think you would make a great king."

"Probably not," Loki admits, "but I wouldn't do any worse than Thor. He's a bumbling idiot. I'd be shocked if he doesn't reignite our war with Jotunheim within a week."

"Do you think you could talk to him about it?" she asks. "Your father, I mean. Maybe...?"

"He wouldn't listen to a word I say," Loki tells her. "He knows Thor isn't ready to be king. There's a reason he hasn't handed down the throne yet. But he doesn't care. He knows Thor's temper and his arrogance. But he is still the favorite, so he will get the throne anyway."

"That's stupid," Zarina says.

"It's a stupid situation," Loki says. "One of us has to be king and one of us has to get nothing. And it's not that I want to be king. I don't. Not really. I just don't want Thor to be king. Because when he's king, everything is going to change. We were never truly equals, but at least we could act like it. But once he's king, he's in charge — of everything. He'll have all of this responsibility and so much to do and I'll just be... here. Doing nothing. Asgard's least favorite prince."

Zarina doesn't seem to know what to say to that, so, after a brief pause, she just says, "I'm sorry. That's awful."

He sits back up and sighs. "No, I'm sorry. You didn't ask for my life story."

"It's okay," she assures him. "I know when I have a bad day, sometimes it helps to just talk about it."

Loki raises an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yes, really," she says. "Don't you feel a little better now?"

"Not at all," he says. He's still pissed at his father and mourning the relationship he and his brother have that he'll doubtlessly lose soon enough (not that he likes Thor because he doesn't. Thor has done absolutely nothing but piss him off all evening. But still, he doesn't want to lose this. He doesn't want it to get worse).

"Oh." She frowns. "Well, I don't mind listening regardless if you want to keep talking. Maybe you'll feel better."

Loki shakes his head. "No, I just..." He sighs. "I wish I could go to Midgard, just for a walk — or a drink." That always makes him feel better. That's probably why his father forbade him from doing it. He wants Loki to be miserable.

"Well, why can't you?" Zarina asks.

"You heard my father," he says. "I'm not allowed."

She waves that off. "What he doesn't know can't hurt him. That's what I always said about Fairy Gary when it came to Pixie Dust."

"Usually, I would agree," Loki tells her, "but I would need Heimdall to open the Bifrost and I know he won't do that."

"There's no way someone's already told him you can't go back to earth," Zarina says.

"No one has to tell him," Loki says. "He can see everything that happens in the nine realms. He doubtlessly watched the whole conversation. He knows I'm not allowed back there."

Zarina seems really interested in that. "Can he see us right now?"

Loki nods. "It's very weird and very uncomfortable but you learn to live with it."

She waves at no one in particular. "Hi, Heimdall!"

Loki chuckles, a welcome relief, however slight, to his bad mood. He'd fully expected her to find this creepy. This was much cuter.

"If you can't go back to Earth," Zarina says, "do you want to go for a walk around Asgard? I'll be fine here alone. I'll just read my book under your bed in case anyone else barges in unannounced."

He shakes his head. "No, I'd rather stay here and mope in peace. With my luck, I would run into every person I do not want to see right now."

"Does that include more than just your dad and brother?" she asks.

"Mm." He nods. "Because I'm sure Thor is busy telling all of his friends right now that I got in trouble again and that he's almost guaranteed the throne of Asgard, and I have no desire to know how they'll react to that. I'm sure there will be far too many jokes and rude remarks at my expense." He usually doesn't mind that too much — god knows he's made his fair share towards them, too — but he's really not in the mood right now.

"You really think he's going to tell everyone?" Zarina asks with a frown.

"He always does," Loki says. "And I can't imagine how great today has been for him. He's probably bursting with excitement right now." He rolls his eyes. Of course Loki's bad day is going to be Thor's best. Thor got a promise of the throne and Loki got threatened with banishment from Asgard. Just a typical day living with their father.

"You don't think he feels at least a little bad about this?" she asks.

"Of course not," Loki says as if that idea is ridiculous (because it is). "He thrives off of this. Did you not see how much he enjoyed watching our father yell at me? There is not an empathetic bone in his body."

"Oh." She lets out a long breath. "I'm sorry. This is just really not fair to you."

"It never is," he mutters. With a small, somewhat-forced smile, he says sincerely, "I'm glad you're here, though. It's nice to have someone to talk to." He's always had his mother, of course, but it's nice to have an actual friend now; someone who chooses to be with him instead of just fulfilling the parental duties his father likes to pretend don't exist.

That makes Zarina way too happy. "So it did make you feel better!"

Loki's smile becomes a little more sincere at that. "Well, maybe a little."

Zarina pumps her fists. "See? I know what I'm talking about!"

Loki shakes his head to himself, amused. "Yes you do, Zarina. Yes you do."