Chapter 18
Odin cracks his eye open, feeling completely drained - not like he usually feels after waking from the Odinsleep. This time, it feels as though he's been completely and utterly drained instead of rejuvenated. When he shakily props himself up, he sees Thor sitting nearby, staring at Mjolnir as he thinks.
Oh, thank the Stars… "Thor, My son..."
Thor glances up, and his expression goes neutral after a moment and he says "Allfather."
Odin frowns, asking "Did something happen while you were on Midgard, Thor? You are not acting like yourself."
Thor snorts derisively, barely managing to bite back a retort he'd usually hear coming from Loki or Amora, then says "I'll inform Mother that you're awake." Yes, something happened down on Earth - he was forced to face a few home truths about his father, and they were ugly truths. Like the blatant favoritism that's been going on for a millennium now, or how Odin's kept him completely reliant on Mjolnir to use his powers - Amora's the one that slapped him in the face with that revelation, promising a full demonstration of what he can really do after she's recovered. How she thinks that'll happen is a mystery to him, but he's not going to argue with her right now.
Loki might just kill him if he argues with her right now.
The hardest reality to accept, though, was just how easily Odin tossed him to the side. How little he apparently means to the man despite how much he professes to care about him.
After letting Frigga know Odin's awake - discretely, as she's currently dealing with courtiers - Thor eventually makes his way to Loki's chambers once more. If there's anyone who can help him make sense of the mix of emotions running through him right now, it's Loki, Amora, and Hela if she's here.
Loki rather begrudgingly shared a few more details about Amora's previous life, including a man by the name of Albus Dumbledore - according to Loki, he used Amora, made her grow up in a personal hell, and gave her no choice but to sacrifice herself. He also raised her to be a weapon first, sacrifice second, and a person third - which would be why she didn't even hesitate when it came to ending an uprising on another realm by herself. Fighting, doing battle, it was the only thing she really knew how to do when she first arrived on Asgard.
Given all that, she might have some kind of idea for what to do now that he's disenchanted with Odin. When Thor gets into Loki's chambers - there's been no repeats of his very terrifying first experience with the Ward, thankfully, as Loki apparently worked it so it won't transport him to some pocket dimension to starve or die of thirst if he didn't check it in time - Thor quickly calls out "It's me, Loki!"
There's a muffled series of hissing - Thor's going to be generous to himself and say it's Selaena and Jormangundr - and then Loki opens the door to his sleeping quarters.
Thor purses his lips but doesn't say anything, Loki's hair is a mess but at least he's in different clothing from the last time he saw his brother even if they are rumpled - he'd always thought Loki was good at taking care of himself, given how he's never not been utterly pristine since the day he deemed himself old enough to start looking after his own appearance. Either that was Amora's doing, Thor thinks, or he's incapable of devoting even that much time and effort to anything that's not his Soulmate right now.
Amora's currently sitting on the edge of the bed, hands fisted into the sheets as her arms visibly shake, and Loki sits down next to her and starts hissing. Selaena slithers down and joins the hissed conversation, and Thor waits semi-patiently - he's got no idea what's actually being said, but from Amora's expression she's incredibly frustrated about something.
Eventually, Amora bursts out "I hate this, Loki! I hate feeling this weak!" She can't even walk on her own now, and she's been awake on and off for a few days now!
Loki hums soothingly in her ear, putting one arm around her back and the other on her elbow to steady her arms, and quietly says "It'll come, in time. But pushing until you hurt yourself worse won't do any good."
He's right, she knows he's right…but that doesn't make her feel any less like a burden right now. She loathes that feeling, even if she knows those thoughts are just something Vernon literally beat into her.
Thor asks "Can I help-"
Loki immediately says "Absolutely not, Thor." While he recognizes Thor is making some kind of attempt - though, for how long is another matter he's not thinking on just yet - Thor trying to help Amora get better is a disaster waiting to happen. He may as well just take the both of them to the Healing Room now and lock them in for the attempt, Eir waiting outside for the inevitable fallout.
Amora grumbles "Loki, I can't even get dressed on my own."
Thor winces, that must grate on her - he's always known Amora to be mostly self-sufficient, having no need for anyone else to get dressed or get some food, Stars forbid fight for her. So now, if she can't even stand up or get dressed herself…he might not know what it's like, but he's got no wish to find out either.
Amora eventually convinces Loki to help her try to take a few steps after she downs another of the Potions Thor's not brave enough to ask about - asking what the Potion does will inevitably lead to Loki explaining all the damage the poison did to Amora, and he knows for a fact he's not brave enough to face that level of wrath from his brother again.
Not in such a short period of time, at least. Once a decade, at least. Longer, preferably.
Unlike all the times she's stalked up to him, fury blazing in her green eyes, this time Amora can hardly take a step - her entire body seems to be shaking just from the effort of standing, even with Loki's hands at her elbows, and despite her best efforts she can hardly get her feet in front of her. She manages exactly four steps, barely away from the bed at all, before her limbs just seem to give out underneath her - luckily, Loki's there to ease her to the ground, else Thor's sure she'd have cracked her head open just now. And if Thor thought he knew what frustration looks like on Amora before, it's got nothing on now - she honestly looks like she's about to cry, with her eyes squeezed shut even as she hunches over while presumably swearing in Parseltongue.
Loki shushes her gently, murmuring that it'll get better in time as he picks her up and sets her back on the bed.
Once Loki's coaxed a Calming Draught into Amora - with the condition of no Dreamless Sleep until she actually starts feeling tired, something that tells Thor Loki has, in fact, drugged his Soulmate to sleep before successfully - Loki grabs Thor by the arm and practically drags him out. "What is it, Thor? Because, right now, Amora's in no shape or state for anything."
Thor nods, refraining from commenting that he noticed that, and instead says "Fa…Allfather's awake." He can't even bring himself to call the man 'father' anymore, something he always frowned about when Loki didn't - Loki's just been disillusioned with Odin for far longer than him, it seems. And Odin's never cast Loki or Amora out, he doesn't even want to think about what Loki would call the man if that had taken place.
Loki sighs, and says "Of course he is, now that everything's passed. Typical."
Thor runs a hand through his hair, and says "I don't even know what I'm supposed to do, Loki. Should I be glad he's awake? Angry at him? Remorseful? Just…numb?" He almost wishes he were numb, he's close to it...if being so full of so many different emotions that he can't really feel any of them counts, that is.
Loki raises an eyebrow, and asks "Finally figured out he's not as wonderful as he seems, then?"
Thor nods his head, saying "I was a blind fool for a long time, Loki, I…"
"I'm aware."
Thor winces, that was…not exactly what he was hoping Loki would say.
He deserved that one, though.
A lot.
Loki adds "You looked up to him, wanted his approval since he kept giving it to you. Me? I gave up on that centuries ago. He never approved of me anyway, so it's not like I was losing anything. A question, though - why tell me?" Why not their Mother? Why not Hela, the next time she's around?
Thor runs a hand through his hair - he's been doing that a lot lately, and figures he's going to keep doing so for the foreseeable future - and says "I don't know what I'm supposed to do, Loki. How I'm supposed to feel - I can't even think about him without wanting to scream from the hurricane of conflicting emotions inside me."
Loki pinches the bridge of his nose, then says "Well, Thor? In case you haven't noticed, I currently can't leave Amora alone for even five minutes. She won't leave well enough alone when it comes to her own recovery, always pushing herself to get better faster even when it'll just hurt her instead. She's completely incapable of being on bedrest without someone being there with her to keep her in bed, and the instant she's capable of walking even a few steps without assistance she'll be going up and down staircases to keep that progress going. Do you see where I'm going with this?" And, at the moment, her magic is still recovering just as much as her body is - somehow or other, Sif managed to pick the perfect moment to pull her stunt because right now Amora's at the center of a metaphorical perfect storm of reasons why she can't be up and walking tomorrow morning.
Yes, Thor does - Loki's Soulmate is an impossibly-stubborn woman, and he should've gotten along with her fabulously if only he'd been able to see past her ability to use magic and hadn't been so arrogant.
"I do, Brother. I'd been hoping one of you two, or both of you perhaps, could help me make sense of what I'm feeling."
Loki sighs irritably, and says "We can read minds, Thor, but that doesn't mean either of us wants to. And, I can already see it, if I leave you alone with Amora to talk this through I'll come back to her with a concussion on top of everything else and you trying to come up with a story where that happened while she was still in bed."
Thor opens his mouth to deny it, but Loki just pins him with a deadpan look and he shuts it again wordlessly. Yes, it probably would happen.
Thor eventually leaves with 'ask again once Amora's not in danger of falling flat on her face' for an answer, and Loki heads back in to sit down on the bed next to Amora, who immediately turns to cuddle into his side. After a moment, Loki asks "How did it go on Jotunheim, anyway? I lost focus of everything the instant you were attacked."
Amora hums, resting her head on Loki's shoulder and quietly says "It went well. You know I talked King Laufey into ignoring Asgard's very existence for the next few centuries."
Loki nods, and says "I do. Along with the Casket's return to them."
"Well, Laufey told me something…really surprising, that first trip." This is probably long-overdue, she knows. She'd meant to tell him in private, after getting back from Jotunheim that second time - there hadn't been any time where she could casually drop that mess of a revelation on Loki before then, they had a treaty to write and Enchant. But then Sif struck, and there's been other pressing matters - like her being in a temporary coma. And her recovery, as well - they're putting off Sif's trial until Amora's strong enough to attend, but the Warriors Three's trial is set for two days from now.
Loki hums, asking "What's that?"
Amora waits a moment, then quietly says "You might want to take a Calming Draught yourself, Loki."
Loki glances over, asking "That bad?"
At Amora's nod, he goes and grabs one, saying "I'll take it if I'm about to have a meltdown."
Amora sighs, knowing there's no way to soften this particular bomb, then says "He said Odin took his firstborn kid and Heir along with the Casket after the final battle. A newborn baby, to be exact, who'd been placed in the temple far from the fighting, where he was supposed to have been safe."
Therein ensues a lot of swearing in Parseltongue, for a solid five minutes straight, before Loki finally collapses backwards onto the pillows and downs the Calming Draught. After a minute spent letting it get into his system, he tiredly asks "What the hell was he even thinking? What was he going to do, ransom me back to them or something? Take me to Jotunheim and threaten my safety if they didn't obey his every whim?" Surely even Odin knows just dropping that life-shattering revelation on someone out of the blue could only end badly. Is the man senile or something?
Amora shrugs, saying "I don't know, Laufey and Farbuti sure don't know…Loki, they didn't even know you were alive all this time."
Yep, definitely senile.
Loki processes that for a moment, then groans, feeling a migraine coming on even with the Calming Draught in his system…and screams "FUCK!!" Quite a lot more comes pouring out afterwards once more, Loki cursing every thought that goes through Odin's head even with the Calming Draught in him - but, Stars, what was the man thinking? Was he even thinking at all?! Did he just spot this random baby that just happened to be alone in the temple with the Casket and decide to adopt the Jotun baby while he was drenched in Jotun blood?! Did he even know he took Laufey's son?!
Amora summons him another Calming Draught once he winds down, and two Dreamless Sleeps, which Loki gratefully downs after she takes her own.