Re: [quicklog: thor and loki, asgard's dungeon]
[A flicker of bemusement.] How very like you, to ask after the people first. [Thor was always so keen to put forward the impression of magnanimity. Was he too stupid to know he had been wronged, or too good? The former was easier to accept, while the latter was, grudgingly, likely true enough. How exhausting.] I have yet to impose martial law and the marketplace still sells wine and bread, so no one has tried to depose me yet. [There was a small spark in his eye. When he'd been younger, court intrigue had been good fun. But those were the days when being king had still seemed possible, when he had managed to be brilliant in the manipulation of courtiers and warriors alike, but foolish in his blind assumption that his brother would remain master at war while he was made master at home. No such arrangement had ever occurred before. The king had always been a hero in battle first, but such an arrangement could only last until a society civilized, and realized that an intelligent ruler, rather than one who owned only force, was best for any kingdom.
How wrong he had been. How he had underestimated tradition, and his father's affection for his golden son. A pity neither of his children had measured up to both roles, and that he had been such a fool himself.
Per the norm, most of this did not surface as even a flicker in Loki's expression.] I'm going to tell you a remarkable secret. [He leaned in close to the barrier, glancing exaggeratedly at the guards, eyes widening.]