Bonds

As soon as Loki was officially off the hook for the whole 'part of palace in a parallel dimension' incident he went back to Midgard to visit Jack Frost. He didn't sneak past Heimdall this time, since he wouldn't be gone so long. He just told the gate keeper that he needed to stretch his legs after being cooped up for nearly a year.

The boy was overjoyed to see him again, bouncing off trees and whooping excitedly the moment he recognized Loki, and the two resumed their usual competition. Just as Loki promised, he tipped the count back into his favor. He went back to Asgard after a couple of days, but started coming more frequently. He'd find an excuse to sneak off every few months and spend a few days with Jack. Loki was surprised by how much he himself started to look forward to these little trips. Spending time with the winter sprite was often the perfect respite after dealing with his family and Thor's friends.
Which was why he was so eager for a visit right now. Tensions had been running high between Asgard and Jotunheim, and Odin didn't want anyone traveling off world. If fighting broke out he wanted every citizen safe in Asgard and every warrior at his disposal. After a few skirmishes things had finally calmed down enough for that rule to be lifted, but it had now been several years since his last trip to Midgard.

“You're leaving now brother? But we're nearly finished planning the feast to celebrate our victories and the return of peace!” Thor's voice boomed, even when laced with confusion. Loki casually adjusted his cuffs as he strode down the glimmering pathway that lead to the bifrost.

“Oh I'm sure I'll be back in time to catch a little bit of the merriment, but I simply can't enjoy myself until I get out and stretch my legs a bit.”

“You seek adventure brother?” Thor smiled widely. “Then wait until after the feast when I and the warriors three can join you. We shall venture throughout the nine realms proclaiming the greatness of Asgard and smiting those who may dream of succeeding where the Jotunheim failed!”

The smaller Asgardian resisted the urge to sigh. As amusing as his brother's arrogance could be it was annoying and frustrating just as often. And truth be told he hated most feasts. They started out fine but it wasn't long before everyone was completely drunk and trying to rope him into singing ballads, or worse, wrestling matches.

“Maybe you're right. I was planning on trying some new spells while I was out, but I suppose I could do that at the feast as well.” Loki's words wiped the smile off of Thor's face. The blonde man suddenly decided that he needed to find Volstagg and compose a drinking song tribute to one of their recent battles. He told Loki to enjoy himself and beat a hasty retreat. The ebony haired Agardian couldn't help smiling smugly.

That smugness quickly changed to confusion as he arrived on Midgard.

Loki was bombarded with the sensation of Jack's magic being used the moment he materialized on the frozen lake shore. The shock of it actually made him stumble a bit.

Whenever Loki went to visit Jack he started at the lake near Burgess. It seemed to be a kind of home base for the boy, the place he always came back to. He wasn't always there of course, so Loki sometimes had to use his powers to locate him. He would extend his senses, feeling for Jack's now familiar brand of magic. Often he'd only get a general direction, and he'd have to shape shift into something that could fly him that way. Once he was close enough to get an exact location he'd sometimes shift back to his normal appearance and teleport himself there. He loved seeing the look of surprise on the boy's face when he materialized out of nowhere.

This time it was different. Jack magic was so prominent that, even though he was miles away, Loki knew precisely where the winter sprite was. Without thinking, Loki immediately transported himself there. The moment he rematerialized he got a face full of jagged ice crystals.

One of the fiercest winter storms Loki had every experienced raged around him. The wind howled in anguish; ice and snow clawed at him and bit into his exposed skin. Parts of his pale skin were already starting to turn a light shade of blue from the extreme cold. And at the epicenter of it all floated Jack Frost.
The boy had curled himself into a tight ball around his staff, his entire frame shaking. The storm swirled around like Jack was the eye of a hurricane.

“Jack! Jack Frost!” Loki tried calling but the wind ripped the sound away. Loki did not have the same control over weather that Jack had; he could't stop the storm himself. The Asgardian closed his eyes, concentrating despite the noise and cold. He cast out his thoughts, willing them to travel the distance and enter into the boy's mind.

'JACK FROST. STOP THIS.'

Jack's face shot up and his eyes met Loki's. The snow and winds gradually started to calm, and the temperature rose slightly. A few minutes more and the storm had dissolved into normal snowfall. The barren tundra around them was now visible. Finally able to approach the young spirit, Loki strode forward ready to complain, but stopped when he got a closer look. The boy sat on his knees, head bowed and should slumped forward. Hands desperately clutched his staff. His body trembled with each shuddering breath, and beads of ice were stuck to his cheeks and eye lashes.

The god of mischief stopped several feet away. He didn't know how to respond to this. He'd only seen his brother Thor shed tears a couple of time in his long life, and he hadn't done so since they were children.

“You...you came back.” Jack's voice broke Loki out of his thoughts. “You were gone for so long, I thought you wouldn't.”

“I wasn't gone that long.” Loki protested. Jack looked up at him balefully.

“It's been years Loki. No one talked to me, not even other spirits, unless it was to tell me to go away and stop being a pest. Everyone walked through me no matter what I did. It's like I don't even exist. What am I supposed to do with that?”

Loki stared down at the boy, now even more unsure. He and Jack had never talked like this before, they spent too much time playing and pranking. Loki had known, in the back of his mind, that Jack was lonely; since he rarely saw the boy spend time with anyone else. He never thought it was this bad though. Loki crouched down next to the spirit, awkwardly placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. Jack started at the touch, but didn't try to move away.

“Jack, if there's one thing I've learned in my years, it's that there isn't much you can do about the idiots in your life. Well, not much that's considered legal anyway.”
Jack laughed just a little, which encouraged Loki to continue.

“You just have to learn how to deal with them. Remind yourself of what idiots they are, and brush it off.”

“How are you so sure that the spirits who ignore me are idiots?” Jack asked, voice still a little shaky.

“Well, they'd have to be wouldn't they? To know your role, and not respect it. To see all the care and power behind your work and not respect you. Only an idiot would do that.”

Jack seemed a bit mollified, but wasn't finished yet.
“What about all the humans that don't see me? That walk right through me?” Jack sounded very concerned, but Loki just shrugged.

“Don't let it worry you, they're only mortals. They don't really count.” Jack frowned deeply at Loki's dismissal, and opened his mouth to protest, but Loki didn't notice and pressed on.

“The point is that you can't force other people to improve, you can only improve yourself. For now, we'll start with improving your control over your powers.”

Now Jack's frown was for an entirely different reason.
“Why are we going to work on that? And what do you mean 'we'?”

“You can't be causing a raging blizzard every time you have a temper tantrum Jack. It's counter productive to lose control like that, especially if you're trying to improve your standing with the other spirits. And by 'we' I mean, I'm going to teach you a few of my methods for control and focus.”

“It was not a tantrum. I'm not a little kid.” Jack said, sounding petulant. “And I thought you said that the others were idiots and I shouldn't bother with them.”

“No, what I said was that you couldn't do much about them and you have to learn how to deal with them. Some of the other spirits may be idiots, but even idiots can be useful. So it is important to have good relations with them. If you improve yourself enough, it will be hard for even the idiots of this world to not show you respect.”

“Fine, how do we start?” Jack gave in with a huff.

So Loki settled himself on the snow to give Jack the same control and focus lessons he had learned when he was first learning to practice magic. It didn't occur to Loki until after the lesson, that what he said to Jack was what he often told himself after someone on Asgard called him weak or cowardly for relying on magic.