His sense of time had been warped ever since The Fall.

After Stark had poured out his stained past at Loki's bedside the pair had sat in silence until the pressing weight of emotions became overwhelming and Loki quietly asked Tony to leave. His request, which was for sure selfish and had no doubt reawoken the flames of hatred that the genius had previously harbored for him, didn't result in pain or verbal abuse and Loki felt some of the tension in his shoulders release along with the swish of the door shutting and the soft click of the lock seconds after it. The lighting of the large white room dimmed as the door closed which caused a soft sigh to escape his chapped and split lips. Despite the glass of water he had drunk earlier Loki still felt parched and his gaze zeroed in on the fresh glass sitting on a small table next to the bed he lay on. He reached a trembling hand for the glass and with difficulty managed to drag it to his lips with two hands, drowning it in seconds. It was as he retracted his arm that he noticed the lack of his usual layers and froze at the sight of his paper-white arms.

The scars.

It has been so long since he had actually observed himself that Loki had almost forgotten they were there. Of course, now that his eyes took in the raised white lines on the insides of his arms and the shimmery pink lightning-shaped marks that wrapped around his wrists the memories came flying back. Nights of tears and bloody daggers and being pinned against the wall at his wrists by an angry Thor danced before his eyes, and he wanted to slap himself because Tony had mentioned the scars, pointed at them, touched them, seen them, and Loki had answered, but his mind hadn't actually registered them until he saw them.

Loki suddenly felt sick, thrusting his arms with newfound strength underneath the white blankets and curling up on his side despite the pull it gave to stitched wounds and still-healing broken bones. His eyes found the stars outside his window and he lost himself inside them until sleep claimed him; no-doubt aided by drugs and filled with the longing for a cool blade against skin.

Loki seemed to blink and a week was over.

Time passed in a hazy blur. He remained curled up on his side for most of the said time, staring out his window and wondering why he wasn't yet dead. The other form of the green monster that had bested him came to check on him quite frequently; a kindness in his eyes that Loki hated because he knew he didn't deserve that. If anything, he deserved to be thrown back to Thanos, given to the Chatauri and tortured until his mind killed itself, but the thought of such things made the machine monitoring his heartrate shriek.

The other side of Hulk, who Loki learned was called Bruce Banner, changed his bandages, and monitored his healing. He often used strange devices that made odd noises, but his facial expressions seemed to suggest that Loki was improving. He attempted conversation a few times, but Loki couldn't recall what he said. He had hushed conversations with Tony Stark that always seemed to leave them both frowning. Stark visited him often, talking his ears off about science or what he was doing in the lab, or sometimes just sitting with a cup of brown, strong-smelling liquid, or sometimes just fiddling with what he called his Starkpad. While he would never admit it, Loki enjoyed his company. He kept his promise not to leave Loki alone, and never pressed him for information and talked about a multitude of lighter subjects that put his racing mind at ease. He never mentioned the battle, Asgard, Thor, or asked what about what happened and Loki didn't offer any information. He figured eventually the truth would make itself known, and Tony would despise him and wish him dead and he would be alone again. Loki had no intention of rushing that.

While Loki was aware the other avengers were present in the tower, they did not show themselves save for Captain America, who introduced himself as Steve Rodgers, wished Loki a swift recovery, and spoke in hushed tones with Tony.

Thor never showed up.

Loki wasn't sure how he felt about that.