Chapter Text
When Thor met Loki for the first time, he was confused.
“Mother – what?” Thor looked up from the bundle in her arms, hanging Mjolnir on his belt and stepping forward. “Who is this?”
Thor had just returned from a short excursion to Midgard, making sure that they were recovering well after the attack from Jotunheim. He wasn’t yet old enough to join the front lines, only being four-hundred ninety-four. But he was old enough and trusted enough to protect Midgard from any straggler Jotunn that had been left behind from the initial retreat.
Frigga smiled, cupping the baby’s cheek and stepping forward. “This is your brother,” she whispered, and the baby giggled, squirming in her arms.
Thor quirked a brow, and he looked at the baby, then at his mother’s slim figure. “I… I’d say that, as I’m nearing five-hundred years old, I think I know how babies come about, and – mother, you –“
The woman’s smile flattened, and her eyes widened. “My darling Thor, don’t tell me that you just thought I was getting fat?”
Thor took in a sharp breath, looking to his father for help – but the man was not paying attention in the slightest as Eir worried over his eye, which had been gouged out in battle. “No – no, I just –“ He grit his teeth, and then looked down at the baby again. “What’s his name?” He asked, and his mother relaxed at the subject change, adjusting her hold on the boy.
“He shall be called Loki.” She ran a hand over the fine tufts of the dark hair atop his head. “Would you like to hold him?”
Thor was still suspicious – but he couldn’t inquire again. So he sighed and nodded. “Yes, I… I would like that very much,” he said.
And when Thor held him for the first time… he fell in love.
The baby – Loki – cooed up at him, reaching for the long strands of blonde hair falling about his face. He smiled, and Thor couldn’t help but smile back, moving to sit down as he pulled him closer.
“Hi,” he greeted in a soft whisper, bringing up a hand to adjust the blankets. But Loki’s quick, tiny hands grabbed onto his fingers, and he immediately began to gum on them.
No matter how the boy came about, Thor knew in his heart that this was his brother. This was his family. He would do anything for him.
“Loki… Loki, I’m your brother, Thor. And I want you to know… that I will always protect you,” he whispered as Frigga watched, though her attention was split between the boy and her husband. “I can hardly believe just how small he is. Was I this small?” He asked, lifting his head to stare at his mother.
“Oh, you were smaller,” Frigga said, laughing softly. “He’s actually quite a large babe.”
Thor hummed. “Then, shouldn’t you be resting, mother?”
Frigga’s eyes crinkled with tension, and she clasped her hands together. “A queen cannot rest, especially not when each of her boys need her.” Then she stepped forward, moving to sit next to her sons. “But don’t worry, dear. I have been tended to.”
Thor backed off for now – but he would have to pursue this another time.
For now, he just focused on the adorable, sleepy baby that was to be his family.
“Loki…”
--
“LOKI!”
A quick-footed boy laughed brightly as he slipped beneath a guard’s outstretched arm, sprinting down the hall and risking a glance back at his brother.
“If you want it, you’ll have to catch me!” He shouted before leaping out the nearest window, much to the horror of everybody in the vicinity – though he floated his way down to the ground floor with the use of magic.
Thor ran after him, leaping out all the same and ducking into a roll as he landed before he broke into a run. “Give it back! I need it for the quest!”
Loki shrieked as he felt the heavy footsteps of his brother gaining on him, taking a sharp corner as he tucked the scroll closer to his side. “If you want it back, you have to take me with you!” He glanced back again, panicking at how close Thor was getting. But he was always incredibly clever, so he mumbled an incantation under his breath, enchanting his feet to stick to whatever surface he walked on – before taking off up the side of the castle.
“Come on, you know I cannot! You’re too young, brother!” Thor shouted as he came to a stop, his hand open as he began to call Mjolnir to him subtly – so that Loki wouldn’t notice. He’d just have to fly up there, then.
“Do not lie to me! You went on your first adventure at ten years old, and I’m already leagues smarter than you were at the time!” Loki shouted from his position, hopping up onto a windowsill. “I should be allowed to accompany you!”
He… made a good point. But even so, the idea unsettled Thor. They were hunting a beast that was terrorizing Vanaheim – with no accurate gauge on its strength.
“No, Loki. Get down, and give me back the scrolls,” Thor called up to him, feeling that his hammer was getting close.
“Please, Thor? I’m sure that I’ll be safe the whole time! I’ll be right by your side, and then the Warriors Three and Lady Sif will be there too! I’d be in absolutely no danger!” Loki exclaimed – before the window behind him opened, and he yelped, jumping away from the hands that tried to grab him.
Except his enchantment on his feet had already broken, and he screamed when he began to plummet to the ground.
“Loki!” Thor’s eyes widened before he jumped, meeting Loki mid-air and catching him before he could hit the ground. “Are you okay?” He asked frantically, setting his brother down and checking over him.
Loki pouted up at him. “I’m fine,” he huffed, and Thor frowned, fixing his hair before he took the scrolls back. “You’re awful.”
The older rolled his eyes. “Perhaps I should have just let you fall, hm?” He suggested, and Loki shoved his arm, turning away. Clearly he was upset, but it was unusual in its intensity given the situation. “Loki, is something the matter?”
The boy crossed his arms and began to march away. “Nothing is the matter, just leave me alone already! You got your damned scrolls!”
“Aye, watch your mouth! There’s no need for such strong language, especially not from someone as young as you!” Thor chastised before he jogged forward, stopping Loki in his tracks. “Listen – I am truly sorry you cannot accompany my friends and I. But this is just one quest, and there will be hundreds more!”
Loki stared up at him, sniffling. “You get to go adventuring and I’m stuck with that annoying governess! I’m never given the sort of chances that you were at my age!” He exclaimed. “And she’s a fool who won’t let me progress through my coursework as my own pace, she insists upon a bizarre schedule – even though I’ve finished all the reading for the next decade!”
Thor sat and listened to his grievances, nodding. “Perhaps she thinks you’re trying to skip your courses, like I used to do.” He grimaced at his brother’s expression of exasperation (“of course you would”). “If you were to demonstrate your knowledge, maybe she would advance your learning,” he suggested.
“Ha! She would just tell father that I’m being a smart-ass,” Loki replied, rubbing at his eyes as tears began to collect on his lashes. He wouldn’t cry. “And that never goes well.”
It was a well-known fact around the palace that Loki had always received harsh punishments from the All-Father for any misstep. Thor didn’t like it, because his childhood had never had anything of the sort. He had always been informed and corrected of his mistakes – and had always been told why; whereas Loki’s punishments were rarely ever anything other than physical.
His disobedience earned him hours on the training field, or hits across his backside, or a measuring stick to his knuckles. And that was just for minor infractions.
Thor pursed his lips, kneeling and leaning back on his haunches as he considered the options. “Perhaps I could say something, then.”
“And have father call me a coward for not bringing it up myself? I am not willing to sit through another lecture over dinner for this.” Loki sniffled, and he wiped at his eyes before he could actually start to cry. Then he shook his head, turning away. “Just - forget it, brother. I probably would have gotten a more severe punishment if I had gone with anyway.”
Thor frowned, reaching out to clasp his shoulder, but his hand went right through it. Loki’s illusion faded, and his real form was disappearing around the corner.
So, as any older brother would do – he set out to speak to his parents, despite Loki’s comments. Not Odin, because his brother was correct in that Odin would only hear disrespect if they tried to speak to him about the situation.
He entered his mother’s garden, finding her head bent over a book, her expression contemplative. He bowed his head as he approached. “Mother – I must speak with you urgently. It concerns Loki.”
The queen immediately sat up, frowning as she looked to her oldest son. “Oh, what has he done now?” She asked, sighing.
Thor quirked a brow. “No, he – he didn’t do anything, Mother. But I am worried.” He lifted his head and chose to take a seat next to her on a bench. “He is… incredibly intelligent. Smarter than I ever was at his age, and he knows it.” He smiled a little, and Frigga relaxed. “I cannot bring this up with father, so I bring it up to you. He has expressed interest in accelerating his learning courses – going through them faster, learning all he can as soon as possible. Perhaps that could be arranged?”
Frigga blinked in surprise and then tilted her head. “Well – Yes, I suppose it can be,” she replied simply. “Is that all?”
Thor shook his head, and he ran a hand over his beard, thinking carefully about what to say. “Unfortunately not, mother. I worry about much more than just his courses,” he admitted. “I hardly see him anymore. I’ve been traveling a lot, as of late – and he can never accompany me. So, when he truly needs me, I’m hardly ever there.”
Frigga frowned, but didn’t interrupt as he pursed his lips in thought.
“I’d like to be able to spend more time with him. He is my brother – and with how far apart we are in age, it seems all the more pertinent to make more of an effort to bond.” He faced Frigga, then. “It is to my understanding that he has taken quite well to pulling many tricks and jokes upon those around him. Now, I won’t question the methods that All-Father uses for his punishments, but… I fear the damage that could be done if that is all he receives in the way of attention.”
His mother nodded, closing her book and setting it to the side to pick at her palm. “I understand completely, my son. And I find myself agreeing with those sentiments quite often, but as you know, I’m… a very busy woman.” She sighed, thinking over the whole situation before nodding. “I shall speak to my husband – and don’t worry, he won’t know this came from you,” she reassured when she spotted the scowl that crossed her son’s face. “Thank you, Thor, for coming to me and sticking up for your brother.”
She opened her arms, and Thor leaned into her, hugging her tightly to his chest. “Thank you for taking me seriously, mother.” He stayed there for a long while, just breathing slowly and enjoying the floral scents surrounding them. “Your garden is getting quite expansive as of late. I don’t think I’ve seen many of these flowers… Is there any particular reason for it?” He asked as he pulled away, and she finally let go.
Frigga smiled, her keen eyes twinkling with mischief. “It’s a secret for now, my dear, but you shall know in time.” She reached up, cupping his cheek. “Now, you must excuse me – I’ve been asked to assist with some Alfheim marriage negotiations, and they are being quite difficult on the matter. I took a short break, but now I must return.”
Thor nodded, following her outside the garden before he sighed. “Well – it is high time I depart with my friends.” He smiled at his mother. “I shall see you in a week – though I hope that we can perhaps finish sooner than that.”
Frigga reached up and patted his cheek. “Take care until then, my dear.”
As Thor assembled with his friends to be sent to Vanaheim, he chanced one look back. He could swear, for a split second, he saw Loki at the end of the bridge.
But then he blinked, and he was in the land of the Vanir, to assist them with finding the monster that had been killing their people.
He sighed and forced himself to focus on the task at hand. He could resolve the situation with Loki upon his return.
In the end, it took him over a fortnight of hunting with his friends before the beast was slain - and upon his return, there was to be a feast in his honor.
He got home – nodded his head, waved back at people, smiled when he needed, and then ducked away to take a long hot bath.
A soft rap on the door echoed in the room after he had been soaking for some time, and Thor knew only one who would dare to enter his room without permission.
“Give me a few more moments, brother. I’ll tell you all about it once I’m done,” Thor called, and Loki giggled on the other side of the door.
“Okay! And spare no details! I wish to hear everything!”
Thor smiled. Even if he had initially wanted to be alone, the thought of hanging out with his brother instead was not as annoying as it should have been.
He left the bath and went to dry off and dress himself.
Loki was waiting, cross-legged on his bed as Thor went to sit next to him, and he ruffled his hair. “I missed you,” he said, hugging Thor as tight as he could.
“I missed you too. How have things been?” He asked, and Loki hummed.
“Better. The teacher is accelerating her courses,” he said. “Not quite as fast as I’d like, but… it’s an improvement. I can manage it.” He rubbed his hands together. “And Mother has started to teach me small spells – to keep me engaged, she says. I think she’s trying to keep me busy so I don’t pull as many pranks.”
He smiled a little, picking more at his palms. “The last one didn’t go so well, so maybe I’ll stop, at least for a little while. But –“ He shook his head, as though to shake the thought free. “I want to hear about your quest! Tell me, tell me, pleaaaase?”
Thor relaxed, nodding as he pulled him close against his side, leaning his head back. “Alright, I will, settle down,” he said before he began to spin the tale of the two-week chase across all of Vanaheim. Loki had a knack for story-telling, but he wasn’t terrible himself.
And if he fell asleep before the story was over, well… Loki didn’t mind. He’d hear the rest of it when Thor woke.