To Teach a Trickster

Within a week and a half, Loki completely recovered from the measles. But there was no talk of releasing him. Jane eventually made inquiries as to when it was safe to take him home, only to get unnerving news in return. She wasn’t sure how she was going to break it to Loki, but she would have to if he was to ever leave. Might as well approach it head on and get it over with, she thought.

Jane pushed the door open and slowly walked into the hospital room. Loki was sitting in the recliner, reading a book. He looked up when he heard her enter.

“Hey, Loki,” she greeted with a smile.

“Did you speak to the doctor?” he asked.

“Yeah, I did,”

“Well?”

She hesitated, walking over to sit in a chair. “Well…he said you can’t leave just yet.”

“What do you mean I can’t leave?” said Loki, getting up from his chair. “I’m well. I don’t have the measles anymore.”

“The doctor says he won’t release you until…” Jane’s voice trailed off.

“Until what?”

“Until you’ve had your first two series of vaccinations.”

“What’s that?”

“You don’t know?”

Loki shook his head, not fully understanding.

“Shots,”

Loki’s eyes grew wide. “You mean those darts they stick in your arm?”

Jane nodded.

“NO!” Loki shouted, backing up against the chair. He lost his balance and sat down hard in the seat.

“Loki…”

He shook his head. “No! It hurts.”

“Loki, you’ll get to go home after it.”

He shook his head again. “No. I want to go home, but I don’t want the darts.”

“They’re needles, not darts.”

“I don’t care what they’re called. They hurt!”

“Like it or not, you’re going to get them. The doctor said you’re scheduled to have them tomorrow afternoon. And he also said that next week you’re scheduled to have the last two series—four series of shots in all. Seems a bit too much to me, but I guess they know what they’re doing.”

A look of panic washed over Loki’s face, what little color he had drained out of it. His eyes nervously scanned the room as if he was trying to find some way of escape.

“Don’t even think about it,” said Jane with a sigh. “You try anything and I’ll spank you. And I don’t think you want me doing that right here.”

“You wouldn’t.”

Jane gave him a warning look. “You aren’t sick anymore. Even though you’re still in the hospital, things are pretty much back to normal. So unless you want to explain to a nurse why your bottom is red, I suggest you watch what you do.”

Loki’s cheeks flushed and he looked down at the floor. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

“You’re going to get those shots tomorrow so you can go home. I don’t want to hear another word about it. This hospital bill is already more than I can probably afford to pay.”

Loki lifted his thumb to his mouth and chewed at his fingernail. He turned to look out the window.

“You okay?” Jane asked, somewhat concerned.

“Yes,” he lied. A knot was forming in his stomach and he suddenly felt ill again. He absently rubbed at his arm where the nurse had given him the last shot, remembering the pain. A wave of nausea hit him. If only he had his armor, he thought. But it was back at Jane’s apartment.

Loki jumped when Jane touched his arm.

“Hey, you’re crying,” she said. Loki hadn’t noticed the streaks of tears running down his cheeks until she pointed them out. He lifted his arm to wipe them away on his sleeve.

“It’s nothing,” he said, turning away.

“Loki…” Jane gently squeezed his arm. “It’s okay to be afraid.”

“I’m not afraid.” he said.

“All of this is new to you, so you have every right to be afraid.” she continued. “But the shots will protect you from earth diseases while you’re here. Your body is mortal now and hasn’t built up an immunity yet. That’s why you got the measles so fast.”

Loki turned around, tears still lingering in his eyes. “How many will I have to have?”

“I…I don’t know, Loki,” Jane said, hesitantly, afraid she was going to say something that would throw him into a panic. “Four series is a lot of them.”

“Will they hurt like the other one?”

Jane’s heart fell a little. He sounded like a little toddler. She chewed her lip a moment before turning her eyes up to look at his face.

“Yeah, they will. I won’t lie.”

Loki turned to stare out the window again, playing with his sleeves.

“You want me to stay with you tonight?” Jane asked, patting Loki’s back and rubbing circles into it.

He silently nodded, sniffling.

The next day, Loki nervously paced the floor of his hospital room until Jane grabbed hold of him and forced him to sit down.

“You’re going to wear a groove in the floor if you keep doing that,” she said, not looking up from the science magazine in her hand. “Relax, and stop chewing your nails.” Jane gently pulled Loki’s hand away from his mouth.

“How can I relax??” Loki said, the words coming out sounding like a cross between a squeak and a sob. “How can anyone relax when they know that...that nurses are going to come in and stick darts in their arm any moment?” A cart carrying food trays rattled outside the door and Loki nearly flew off his chair. Jane reached out and put her arm around his shoulders.

The dreaded moment finally arrived when a nurse opened the door and stepped in. Loki felt his heart drop down to the soles of his feet and a cold sweat form on his skin.

“Sorry, I’m late. Been a busy morning.” the nurse said, walking to the middle of the room. “If you can, just come over her and sit on the bed.”

Loki refused to obey, remaining seated in his chair beside Jane. Jane gave him a nudge forward. He shook his head and remained seated.

“Loki, do as the nurse says,” she whispered. Loki shook his head again. His face was flushed and looked like he was struggling to hold in the tears that were fast coming. If anything, he was holding them in to keep his dignity. “Come on, I’ll go with you.”

Even when Jane got up and started walking, Loki refused to follow. Jane turned a nervous smile to the nurse then walked over to Loki again. “Loki, come on,” she said a little sterner, taking him by the arm and pulling. Loki grabbed onto the seat of the chair and pulled it along with him. She sighed, rolling her eyes up at the ceiling.

She bent over and whispered in his ear, “Want me to spank you here in front of the nurse?”

Loki frantically shook his head, whimpering.

“Then get up.” she gave the side of his thigh a firm pat as a warning. She felt like she was dealing with a three-year-old.

Finally, Loki obeyed and allowed Jane to pull him over to the bed where he inched his way onto it, carefully eyeing the nurse out of the corners of his eyes.

“Sorry about that,” Jane said to the nurse.

“That’s quite all right. I have a nephew that’s the same way. But then again, he’s five,” The nurse pulled a syringe out of the pocket of her coat and uncapped it.

When his eyes landed on the needle, Loki firmly grasped the edge of the bed and squeezed until his knuckles turned white.

“It’s okay,” the nurse smiled, taking Loki’s arm and pulling up the sleeve of his t-shirt, “I’m just gonna give you some shots. It’ll all be over in a few minutes.”

“No you aren’t.” said Loki, yanking his arm out of the nurse’s hand and pulling away from her.

“Loki…” said Jane, her tone having a hint of warning to it. He turned to her then back at the nurse, whimpering as she grabbed hold of his shirt sleeve again and began rolling it up.

Loki suddenly pushed the nurse’s hand away and rolled off the bed. Before he could make it to the door, Jane grabbed him by his shirt and the waistband of his jeans and pulled him back.

“No, no! Let go!” he cried, trying to wriggle out of Jane’s hold. He eyed the needle. “I don’t want that thing stuck in me.”

“Loki, calm down. Just let her give you the shots and we can all go home.”

“NO!”

“Do you want to stay in the hospital?”

“I don’t care if I stay here forever; she’s not going to stick those darts in me.” Loki hugged himself, shielding his arms with his hands so the nurse couldn’t get to them.

“Come on, act your age,” Jane grunted, trying to drag Loki to the bed, her Odin strength coming in handy once again.

“Mister, we can do this the easy way or we can do this the unpleasant way.” said the nurse. “And I don’t think you want to go the unpleasant route.”

Loki glared at her. “Stay away from me!” he seethed.

The nurse shrugged. “All right, I guess we’ll have to go the unpleasant route. Mainly because I don’t have all day to stand here and fight with you.”

The nurse walked out of the room.

“Now, you see what you’ve done?” said Jane, giving his backside a hard smack. She doubted that he felt it through his jeans, but at least it made him jump and crawl back onto the bed. “You’ll probably regret this.”

Loki sat huddled up, his knees to his chest, scowling.

“You can look grumpy all you want, but you’re not getting out of here until you get those shots. And I have a feeling you’re going to wish you had acted better.”

Ten minutes passed and the nurse returned. She brought two other female nurses, each one carrying a tray full of syringes. Behind them came at least four male nurses. Loki’s eyes grew huge and he scrambled to the farthest side of the bed, trying to get as far away as he possibly could without tumbling off backward. He swallowed hard, his eyes locking onto the trays and the weapons of doom they carried.

“Ma’am,” one of the nurses turned to Jane. “Please wait outside until we’re done.”

“Uh…Is it okay if I stay here with him?” she asked, her eyes turning to Loki.

The nurse shook his head. “Please, wait outside.”

“Jane!” Loki called, watching as the male nurses gathered around the bed and grabbed hold of his arms. “Jane, help!”

It was too late, though. Jane had been pushed outside and the door closed. Loki panicked when he realized he was alone with these humans in white coats. He began struggling and kicking, trying to break free of the nurses that had hold of him. It was hard for him to even think. The room was full of noise as the nurses busied themselves with preparing the syringes and moving equipment out of the way so they would have more room to work within.

“Wha-what are you going to do to me?” he asked with a whimper, swallowing. But he felt like his question was lost in the sea of noise.

“It’s okay. Just keep calm. This is for your own safety.” One of the nurses said. They quickly turned him over on his stomach and fastened straps around the upper part of his body, pinning his arms to his sides. The action alone caused fear to grip him to the point of hyperventilating and feeling nauseous. He didn’t like being restrained. He hated it more than being confined within a small space. The Chitauri had restrained him a lot. Bad memories flashed through his mind as a strap was also applied to his kicking legs and he felt close to going insane.

“Please don’t do this. I don’t like being restrained,” he said, but no one heard him. He jerked a leg and an arm, only to find himself pinned in place to the bed. He lifted his head out of the pillow and twisted around to look over his shoulder. One of the female nurses was standing close by the bed, holding one of the trays of syringes in her hands.

Loki’s eyes nervously moved around, trying to take in all that was happening as the male nurses adjusted his restraints and made sure he couldn’t move. His breathing quickened and his heart felt like it would burst through his chest as he was prepared for whatever horrors these nurses were going to lavish on him.

Loki jumped at the sudden feeling of his shirt being pulled up to the small of his back and strange fingers inserted into the waistband of his jeans and feeling them being pulled down to his knees, his boxers pulled down after them. Cold air met his bared backside and caused him to shiver. Fear washed over him. His first thoughts were that he was going to be spanked for acting up. They did that in hospitals too? But why would they have to strap him down?

Suddenly he was very mindful of the fact that he was fully exposed in front of a group of strangers. His cheeks turned red and he attempted to cover himself with his legs but forgot they had been restrained. It was then that he felt very vulnerable and it scared him more than he liked to have admitted.

“Please untie me. It’s most uncomfortable.” Loki sniveled. “I’m sorry for acting up. I’ll be good.” He cringed inside at how childish he sounded to himself, but he couldn’t help it. He was doing all he could to keep from panicking even more. Besides, maybe his innocent look would get him out of this mess. At that thought, he put on his puppy face and turned to look up at the nurse standing beside him, the one holding the tray. She smiled down at him and shook her head before turning to address the nurse standing next to her. She picked up a syringe off her tray and handed it to the other nurse. Loki’s eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat as he eyed the needle being passed from nurse to nurse. Something told him right then that this situation was about to get very, very ugly.

“Wh-wha-what are you going to do?” He began struggling against his restraints. “Where is that going to go?”

With his backside being bare, there was a faint voice in the back of his mind that told him whereabouts it was going, but he wanted to convince himself it wasn’t true. No way were they going to stick that…thing…in his rear. Where they? They only stuck them in the arms, right? A sob bubbled up in his throat and he whimpered and whined. He struggled with the restraints again, hoping he could rip them off. Why did everything have to be applied to the rear???

“Y-you aren’t serious about this, are you?” he asked, his voice about to crack. No one would answer his questions and it made him that much more nervous and terrified. He strained to see over his shoulder, but the nurse beside him gently pushed his head back down and patted his back.

“It’ll be okay; you won’t feel a thing,” she told him. He hated not being able to see what was going on. He felt something cold and wet quickly being swiped over his bottom. He blushed at the humiliating action. Was that it? He tried looking over his shoulder again, but the nurse put her hand on the back of his neck and held him still.

“I’m a prince!—a god! You can’t do this to me!” Loki shouted, his voice watery. “Please don’t,”

Suddenly, a sharp, piercing sting shot through the right side of his rear, knocking the breath out of him. It felt like he had been stung by the world’s largest bee. This was worse than getting it in the arm! His eyes widened and he began to struggle again, but his actions were quickly brought under control as several nurses roughly grabbed hold of him and held him in place so he couldn’t move.

“OW!” he shouted, struggling against the nurses’ hold. He hissed through his teeth and tears started to form at the corners of his eyes. “Ow, ow, ow, owwwwwwww!”

He wouldn’t feel a thing, huh? The nurse was a bigger liar than he was! He was almost impressed…almost. Under different circumstances, he would have been.

Just when he thought everything was over, another sharp sting like the first one was applied not far from the first one, causing Loki to suck in his breath and whimper. He clenched the bed sheets in his fingers and fought to bite back another scream.

“Worse than a spanking.” he sobbed. “Much worse. Whatever I’ve done to offend you mortals, I’m sorry! I’m truly sorry!”

Another needle painfully landed in his left cheek and he screamed, feeling sure the nurses were using his backside as a dartboard. By now tears were flowing out of his eyes and he didn’t care. The nurse beside him patted his back, but it didn’t help make him feel any better.

“Yaaaah!!!”

Pain came again to his left cheek. If he hadn’t been strapped down, he would have come out of the bed. How many more were they going to stick in him??? He gasped at the burning sting that was quickly building in his cheeks. His breathing was now coming in hitched sobs as he fought to regain his breath.

“YOU’RE ALL EVIL!” Loki screamed out in a hoarse sob, choking. As if in reply, another needle was thrust into his bottom, making Loki let out an undignified squeal that sounded more like a trapped animal.

When the nurses were finally done, someone gently pulled Loki’s pants back in place and the restraints were taken off him. He didn’t bother to move, though. Instead, he continued to lie there, weeping into his pillow and feeling sick to his stomach. He hoped he wouldn’t throw up. He wasn’t sure how to react to this. The situation both mortified and shamed him greatly. Thinking back on the past few minutes made his face turn a deeper red than it already was. Especially when the final needle inserted into his very sensitive backside had made him involuntarily scream out like he had been stabbed by a hot sword. One of the nurses had to lie across his back to keep him held down.

Loki moved his rear a little bit and immediately regretted doing so. He winced. Slowly, he moved his hands back and felt of the one big massive sore that was his bottom…or it used to be his bottom, anyway, before the evil mortals in white coats used it as a pin cushion. He was convinced that there wasn’t an area of it that hadn’t been stuck.

“My poor rear…” he sniveled to himself. “I’ll never be able to sit again.” Fresh tears spilled down his cheeks and he sniffled, wincing as he gently rubbed the sore areas. Stinging pain prickled over his cheeks at every rub. He lifted his hands and slowly slid them down into his pants and felt of the Band-Aids that were crisscrossed on both sides of his poor bottom. Moaning, he let his head fall back into the pillow and sniffed more tears away. His nose was all snotty and his hair was stuck to his face, but he didn’t care.

A knock on the room’s doorframe caused him to quickly pull his hands out of his pants and look over that way. He scowled when his eyes landed on Jane. She came into the room and closed the door. This was all her fault, he thought. She had abandoned and left him alone with those evil people.

“How are you doing?” she softly asked. How was he doing??? She had a lot of nerve to stand there and ask him how he was doing after having his tail stuck numerous times with sharp darts. He lifted himself up to rest on one arm, gasping and uttering a cry when he moved his rear wrong. Immediately his angry scowl melted into sniveling.

“How do you think I’m doing?!” he snapped at her. Jane suppressed a smile. Loki continued to glare up at her.

“I warned that you would regret acting up.” she said, shaking her head.

“Why didn’t you tell me they give shots back there?” He nodded to his backside. “I thought they just gave them in the arms.”

“They gave them to you back there?” Jane pointed at Loki’s bottom. “You poor baby. No wonder I heard you screaming.”

“Y-you heard me screaming?”

“I think the whole hospital did,” Jane said with a sheepish smile. Loki blushed. “Here, let me take a look. Maybe there’s something I can do to make you feel better.”

“Don’t touch it!” Loki cried, moving his rear out of Jane’s reach. The sudden action caused him to cry again at the sharp pain that went through it. Loki’s nostrils flared in anger. He could tell that Jane was trying to hide her amusement over everything.

“It’s not funny!” he sniveled.

“I’m not laughing.”

“No, but I can tell you’re amused by this.”

“Okay, maybe I am a little, but I don’t mean anything by it.”

Loki gave her the innocent eyes, his lower lip quivering. “I’ll never sit down again.” he sniffed.

“Awwww,” Jane ran her hand gently over Loki’s head, smoothing down his messy curls. By now, all of them were sticking up in every direction like they had been hit with a hundred volts of static. Having enough, Loki pulled away from her.

“Go away,” he mumbled. He had wanted it to come out sounding angry and menacing like he was feeling, but it, instead, only came out sounding watery and miserable to match how he looked. He turned to face the opposite direction so he wouldn’t have to see Jane.

“Aw, come on. Why are you mad at me? I’m not the one who stuck your butt.”

“You abandoned me!”

“I didn’t want to.” Jane countered. “The nurses forced me out of the room. I would have stayed here with you if it hadn’t been for that.”

Loki looked over at her, contemplating her words. His face relaxed somewhat, although it still displayed that he was in a considerable amount of pain.

“I just want to go home.” he sniveled, more tears spilling down his cheeks. Jane wrapped her arms around him and gave him a big hug.

“We can go home anytime you wish.”

“I wish to go now.”

“Can you stand up?” she asked, clutching his arm. Loki moved his legs a little.

“Ow! Ow, ow…” he hissed, easing himself off the bed and straightening up. He had a hard time standing, and had an even harder time walking. He took a few steps forward and immediately wished he was laying back on the bed on his stomach. He hissed out his discomfort and squeezed his eyes shut, stopping to place a hand behind him.

“It’s okay. Just take it easy.” Jane said in a soothing tone, rubbing his lower back. She kept one hand on his arm to keep him steady. “Uh…You might want to zip up your pants.” She pointed at his fly standing wide open. Loki looked down and blushed. He shakily reached to pull his jeans up and zip and snap them closed. He jerked at the action; his hands flying back to clutch his sore cheeks. Maybe pulling his pants up further hadn’t been such a good idea after all. Maybe he should have just let the world see his underwear.

“Come on, you can do it.” Jane leaned against his arm. “All of your stuff is already out in the car, so all we have to do is get you signed out of here.”

Loki stiffly waddled along beside Jane as they made their way out of the room and to the elevator.

Notes