Closed RP w/ Bruce

[you_have_heart]

Pain. Pain and loss, these were the only thing Loki was registering. The All-Father had thought he was taking pity on his adopted son when he stripped him of his magic and cast him here, many Aesir agreed. Many agreed and thought it was to lenient of the All-Father. So to appease them he had ordered his mouth sewn shut. Only an act of pure mercy and compassion could remove them. He had not been stripped of his voice, but any vocalization vibrated the strings and caused him more pain.

Some thought it was still to merciful, even as he lay on the floor of the grand hall, humiliated and bleeding, but the All-Father did no more before casting him back down to Earth.

So there he lay, in a dark, dirty alley somewhere in a large city, still in pain and bleeding, wondering when a mortal would come by, realize who he was, and kill him on the spot. The All-Father thought to teach his younger son the same lesson his older had learned among the mortals but he knew different. He would either be killed on sight or found by SHIELD.

At this point he didn't know which he preferred.

Comments

[aggravated]

Bruce pulled a scalpel from his bag, freeing it from the plastic before looking Loki in the eye. "Don't move, even if this starts to hurt. Understand?"

[you_have_heart]

Loki gave a single nod and griped the sheet tighter. He closed his eyes as the scalpel got closer, steeling himself for the pain that was sure to come.

[aggravated]

Bruce worked very slowly, using the scalpel's incredibly sharp edge to work with exquisite care. The leather parted beneath the edge, but he paused as he swore there was a flicker of light as he did so. Bruce blinked once, then shook his head. No, just seeing things.

He worked to cut each one, careful not to slice the lips, until the last one parted.

[you_have_heart]

Loki let out a shuddering sigh when the first string was cut. It hurt, it hurt almost as much as when they were put in, but the fact that they were coming out was...

Well, when he came to his senses more he would say it was demoralizing, having a mortal take pity on him like that. In the moment the only thing he could feel was relief.

When the last was severed a shudder escaped from his lips as they parted for the first time. Quietly, and despite the bit of blood that began flowing because of the movement, he whispered

"Thank you."

[aggravated]

It was a surprisingly human whisper coming from the god he knew as completely insane, a murderer. "You're welcome," Bruce said back quietly. "We'll soak the wounds to get them to release the leather more easily and I'll cut the strings so I have the shortest amount to pull out. I brought some suture glue with me to close each wound."

He pulled out a small syringe, flicking it lightly. "I brought a pain killer to make sure this is as painless as possible."

[you_have_heart]

Loki nodded again, not daring to speak again. If the other wanted to kill him he would have done so by now. He sat there quietly, letting Bruce work.

[aggravated]

"This will sting, just for a few moments, then it will go completely numb." He slid the needle beneath pale skin and pressed the plunger, putting exactly half of the anesthesia into the upper lip before repeating the process on the lower.

[you_have_heart]

It does sting, but not nearly as bad as before. Soon he cannot feel lips at all. It is a strange sensation, but anything that stopped the pain was very welcome. He closed his eyes out of relief this time, the tension in his shoulders released as the last of the numbing medication takes effect.

[aggravated]

When he was sure the anesthesia has taken its toll, he went to work. He cut each string until it was nearly at the skin, then went to get hot water from the room's small bathroom. He made it as hot as he dared, then came back. "Lay back so I can leave this towel until the dried blood, scabbing, and everything else softens up."

[you_have_heart]

He did as he was told. Now that he was laying down and his lips were not in pain and he was laying down he found it was very hard to not fall back asleep. The warm rag on his face only served to relax him even more.

[aggravated]

Bruce worked slow and steady once he had the debris softened up from around the wounds. Carefully he worked each strand out, then patched each one up with tediously placed droplets of suture glue. This was torture, to have this done to a man, not justice or safety. They had managed with a muzzle that also dampened Loki's magic, made from some material from Asgard, so the Asgardians could have done the same.

But how had Loki escaped from them?

[you_have_heart]

With all of the numbing in him he felt nothing. It started wearing off towards the end of the doctor's procedure, but he was almost done, so Loki did not say anything.

[aggravated]

When Loki was finally free of his tortured bindings, Bruce put aside his implements and flexed his fingers. It still looked ugly and would for a long time, but it was well covered, sealed against further infection, and it would heal.

With how still Loki was and the evenness of his breathing, Bruce thought he was asleep.

[you_have_heart]

He was teetering on the brink of sleep, but he was conscious enough to register when Bruce was finished. He briefly opened his eyes long enough to whisper his thanks again before drifting off to sleep.

He didn't wake till around 6 pm the following day.