Ooh, Iāve never written Loki before. Letās hang him upside down.
trigger warnings: stress positions, muzzles, sort of a dark Thor??ā¦this one isnāt so bad. Itās almost cute.
(gif credit: becausehiddles)
Eventually, Loki leaves them with no choice; they canāt keep him in a cell, they canāt prevent his escape. They have to hang him by the ankles.
At first, itās unpleasant. His legs are bound from ankle to knee, which is certainly uncomfortable if not outright maddening. But worse, they bind his wrists together and then stretch his arms above his head so that theyāre tied to the floor.
āAnkles to the ceiling, wrists to the floor,ā Loki muses. He spins in a slow circle, like thread on a spool.Ā āIām flattered you find me so dangerous.ā
āNot dangerous so much asā¦ā Thor searches for the word.Ā āSlippery?ā
Lokiās nose wrinkles. His head is starting to ache from the rush of blood straight to his temples. Heās surprised by how uncomfortable the pressure is. How urgent it already feels.
āWell, thatās less flattering.ā
āIāll come check on you in an hour,ā Thor says, hardly caring. āIf you feel like behaving yourself, maybe Iāll let you down.ā
āI wonāt count on it.ā
Time slows to a thick syrup that pulses with Lokiās heartbeat. That heartbeat has traveled from Lokiās chest, to this throat, directly to his temples. His head feels hot and swollen. His ankles feel bruised, tender beneath the rope. And his shouldersā¦his wristsā¦They ache in a way that Loki canāt escape. His hands feel as if they might burst with blood. Loki is long practiced in escaping to the quiet recesses of his mind, but with the constant ache in his joints, he cannot. Thereās no escape, just his body.It seems like ages since Thor left, but when his brother finally does return, Loki is almost relieved to see him.
He shows his gratitude by transforming himself into that Steve āCaptain Americaā Rogers fellow. Very amusing. Lokiās favorite of the group to imitate, surely.
āYouāll never take me alive!ā He mimics the captainās righteousness with zeal. Perhaps some of the agony of hanging upside-down has been mostly boredom. His spirits are already brightening. āI could do this all day!āThor sighs and seals that damn muzzle over Lokiās mouth.Ā āHush. Natasha tells me I canāt leave you with your arms like this.ā He loosens the ropes around Lokiās wrists, palpating his bluing and swollen hands.Ā āDo you want me toāā Thor sighs at the sight of his brother. āCut that out. I canāt talk to you like that.ā
Loki lets the facade of Captain America drop. Now Thor can stare into his real miserable face, flushed and uncomfortable. Even his eyes must be bloodshot.
Thor sighs. He unfastens the muzzle. āIāll tie your wrists to your chest. It doesnāt sound more comfortable, but it is.ā
Loki canāt resist. He takes on a new appearance. Not as good as his Captain America because heās only seen this man in video footage.Ā
āWakanda forever!ā he proclaims as he crosses his arms over his chest.
Thor laughs and hits him upside the head.Ā āStop that. Youāre being punished.ā
Though the bondage is less torturous now that his arms arenāt extended above his head, it still is really, very painful.Ā
Loki tries to curl his body up, just to get some of the blood away from his head, but heās not built for that kind of exercise.First, his abdomen quivers. He tenses, trying to hold strong, but then it gives out entirely. His whole torso drops down below his body with a painful snap. The blood pummels into his temples.Loki gasps, shocked by the pain. By the failure of his own body.
Perhaps he was better off doing nothing. Perhaps he should just let himself pass out.
Black is seeping into the edges of Lokiās vision when Thor finally returns. Loki doesnāt even have the stamina to conjure someone up. Heās scarcely breathing. Even his lungs feel swollen.
āShit,ā Thor says.Ā āIt hasnāt even been an hour yet, brother.āāAlright,ā Loki says. He manages a flicker of Thor, just over his face. Heās sure to add blood-bulging eyes and straining neck tendons.Ā āYou go next, then.ā