But Smile No More

Thor raced to the next room over as he heard his baby brother crying, and as he entered he found Loki curled up in his bed.

Loki was crying and when he saw Thor, he sniffed loudly and held out small, toddler arms.  “Bruh-er.  Help.”  he said piteously.

Thor all but leapt onto the bed, where he scooped Loki up into his arms as he pulled the blanket around him and cuddled his brother close.  “What is it, Loki?  What’s wrong?”  he asked worriedly.

Loki burrowed against Thor as best he could and clung to his big brother.  “Bad dreen.”  he sniffled.

“Ohh, you had a nightmare.”  Thor said sympathetically as he enveloped his brother in the hug and blanket.  He peppered kisses along Loki’s head and rocked him gently.  “I have you, brother.  I  am here.”  he soothed.

“Tor.”  Loki whimpered and rubbed his face into Thor’s chest.

“It is okay, Loki, I will not let you have any more bad dreams!  I will sleep right here and keep you safe.”  he promised.  Thor pressed their faces together and Loki pressed back, like he wanted to be as close as possible to his brother.  He situated them so that they were laying down, snugged in Loki’s blanket as Thor held Loki close and hummed lightly in his ear as Loki started to relax.  Thor took one of Loki’s wrists gently into his hand as he waved his and Loki’s hand in the air.  “We will do a spell, okay?  Like Mother does!   We will say ‘no more bad dreams’, okay?”

“Kay, Tor.”  Loki sniffed.

“Go!  No more bad dreams!”

“No…bad dreens!”  Loki chimed wetly.

“Good job, brother.”  Thor praised and Loki preened a little, a tiny smile finally on his face as he cuddled his big brother.  “I love you, Loki.”  Thor said warmly as he started kissing Loki’s cheeks, nose, the spot between his eyes, until Loki finally giggled and pushed at Thor’s face as he’d hoped for.

“Bruh-er, me.”  Loki protested before he pressed a kiss to Thor’s cheek.  “Luh you, Tor."

Thor smiled as he held his little brother and the pair went to sleep to no more nightmares.

--

Loki woke up with a pain in his chest, the saccharine memory one that currently existed only in his mind now.  He pushed himself up slowly as he determined the time, and flicked one of the dimmer lights on as he glanced to Thor.  The other man was still huddled in the corner, and asleep he looked far less menacing with his hair about his face and his expressions relaxed.  He took in the heritage lines, the body, and the new angle Thor had curled in during the night.  Loki realized with a shock there were a few scars he’d missed in all the tumult, rather vicious looking ones.   One on his lower back, almost obscured by the top of the loincloth, another on his upper thigh, and one several inches under his armpit.  What had his brother been through?

He waited until the last minute to wake Thor up, when they were some twenty minutes from Asgard he approached Thor.  “Thor, Thor?  We are-”  A pair of hands lunged for him and he stepped back with a curse.  “You just woke up!”

“I’ve been awake.”  Thor corrected as he glared up at Loki.  “And you were staring at me.”  he said, in an accusatory tone.

“I-I was not.”  Loki said dismissively.  “I noticed your scars.  They must have been grave wounds to have left such marks”  He knew at least the healing factor was high for the Jotnar, they were a sturdy race.

Thor seemed almost puzzled for a second.  “So?”

“I was thinking it must have been hard for you on Jotunheim, I was concerned.”  he tried.

Thor’s expression became one of derision again.  “Save your concern, Odinson.  For old one-eye when he learns of the death of his only son.”  Thor said ‘sweetly’.

Loki frowned at that.  “Did you just call our father ‘old one-eye’?”

“Your father.”  Thor snapped.

“Did you mourn?”

”We all did.  Our father-"

“Your father.”

“Have you ever even met Laufey?"

Thor scowled, and that at least was a familiar expression to Loki.  “So he could finish me off?  Stupid As.”  he muttered.

“I killed Laufey in my last life.”  Loki informed Thor, who looked slightly startled before seeming disbelieving.  “I let him into Asgard under pretense that I would let him kill Odin.  Then I killed him instead.”

“...Why?”  Thor asked, not necessarily believing Loki, but a little curious about such a story and why this one would claim to do it.

“To impress Odin.  To seem noble.  To do what my brother couldn’t.  Take your pick.”  Loki said wryly.

Thor eyed Loki a moment before he shifted uncomfortably.  “You sound like you believe that bunder’s dung.”  he muttered.

“...A what?  A ‘bunder’?”

Thor gave Loki a look like he was now questioning Loki’s intelligence alongside his sanity.  “A creature of Jotunheim.  Common enough.”

“...Right.”  Loki clicked his tongue before he crouched down in front of Thor but out of his reach.  “We will reach Asgard shortly.  I would like to put an enchantment on you to keep you cool until I can fashion you something permanent.  I’d also like to put a glamour on you to make you appear Asgardian-”

“-Like Hel.”  Thor snarled.

“A Jotun suddenly appearing in Asgard would cause…a problem.  At least until I can get you to my room-”

Thor’s body went almost rigidly tense as fury filled his expression.  “The truth at last.”  he hissed.

Loki was perplexed by the sudden venom, what would offend Thor about being taken to his- “No!  Thor, no.  My room only because no one will ever come in there, until we can get this figured out.  There is no other intention.  I would never-I see you as my brother, and I mean that.  You are not free to go but in all other ways you are a free man.”

Thor scoffed.  “Aesir don’t see the Jotnar as people, you don’t see me as a man.”  he sneered.

Loki wondered if this was how Thor felt at any point trying to convince Loki of his sentiments.  “Is there nothing I can do to prove that I mean what I say?”

Thor seemed to be about to say something snarky, but then he paused and said suddenly.  “Take the chains off.”

“So you can kill me?  I think not.”  Loki said dryly.

“You want me to believe that you aren’t just a mad bastard?  Show me you believe me to be a man.”  Thor challenged.

“You have threatened to kill me repeatedly!  That and this are not the same!”

“They both come down to trust, don’t they?  You want me to show you some, return the favor.”

Loki considered it for a moment as he locked eyes with the other man.  “Men kill each other, chained or not.”

“Take the chains off, and I won’t kill you at least for today.  How’s that?  I am a man of my word.”

Loki blinked at the familiar phrase, Thor had put much stock in honor and in honoring his oaths and agreements, he was indeed a ‘man of his word’.  This Thor had said it with a touch of sarcasm…but if he was Thor deep down, perhaps it did carry weight.

He worked a bit of quick sorcery to leave an illusion in his place as he shielded his true self and stepped back to see what would happen.  Loki’s illusion waved his hand and seemed to perform sorcery as he rose and stepped back as the chains fell from Thor.

Thor seemed deeply surprised for a few seconds that Loki had actually done it, and he rubbed at his neck and wrists a moment.  “…I have been stuck in that damned collar for…most of the time I was there.”  he muttered.

Loki recalled that Tivan had said about two years, and his stomach lurched with horror at the thought.  “I would happily never see you in chains again, Thor.  Truce?”  he waited to see if things were about to go unpleasant quickly.

Thor seemed not to hear for a moment as he pulled off leather gloves, and Loki was mortified to see that his hands had a slightly mottled, discolored look.

“...Have you…worn those gloves since you were brought to Knowhere?”

Thor frowned at his hands before he nodded, and Loki felt the words like a punch to the gut.

Loki took the place of his illusion as he held his palms out towards Thor who looked immediately wary.  “I am not proficient in healing sorcery, but I can help soothe your hands, if you will let me.”

“...Why would you do that?”

Loki again found himself wondering if this was how Thor felt when he faced a doubtful Loki.  He knew so clearly that he loved his brother, that Thor’s pain was painful to him, that he simply wanted to help him.  But Thor couldn’t see or believe it, and it frustrated and hurt Loki, he desperately wanted to be able to take care of his brother properly but he was being questioned even on offering to tend his hands.  This Thor had no trust in him, and he had no one to blame but himself for it, for all of it.  So he would say it as many times as he needed to.  “Because you are my brother, Thor.”

Thor eyed him a couple seconds before he muttered.  “Not your brother.”  and then slowly held his hands out towards Loki.  “I could freeze you.”  he pointed out.

Loki hesitated.  “Are you going to?”

“You think I’d tell you if I was?”  Thor snorted, and that too sounded so familiar it hurt.

“If you wish to think me mad, then fine.  Consider it taking advantage of a madman.  But let me help you, Thor…please?”

Thor inhaled slowly as he seemed to consider it before he made a gesture of ‘come on’ with his hands.

Loki tried not to look as hesitant as he felt as he slipped his hands onto Thor’s, and for a few seconds they stared at each other as if each expected foul play from the other.  But Loki didn’t freeze, and no harm was done to Thor, and Loki let himself relax slightly.

Loki was, in a way, holding Thor’s hands.

The realization seemed suddenly so immense that his breath stuttered slightly.  He had thought Thor gone forever, that he had utterly destroyed his brother down to his very existence.  But he was here, alive in front of Loki, and for the first time in Norns knew how long they were holding hands again [in a manner of speaking].  Loki summoned his sorcery as he did what he could to soothe and men the flesh, struck by how cold Thor was compared to him.  It had always been Thor who was abnormally hot for an Asgardian, and Loki abnormally cold [for later obvious reasons].  Now Thor was the frost giant between them, the ‘outsider’.  “…How’s that?”

Thor pulled his hands away and flexed them before he inclined his head.  “Better.”  he said gruffly.

Loki made a bit of a show of using his sorcery to make the chains and gloves disappear, and Thor eyed the floor where they had been before he looked to Loki and asked.  “What now?”

Loki had a feeling Thor still expected something negative from Loki.  “If you will not let me shift your appearance…then would you consent to a hooded cloak?”

”Why?”  Thor asked mockingly.  “Would your people be afraid to see a bloodthirsty monster among them?”

“You are not a-”  Loki cursed and snatched Thor’s wrists as Thor’s hands went for his throat.  “We had a truce!”

“Did I say that?”  Thor asked as he narrowed his eyes at Loki and seemed to be expecting something.

Loki didn’t know what that would be, and Thor was making no struggle so he released Thor’s hands but kept a wary eye on Thor and his guard ready.

Thor seemed vaguely puzzled.  “You didn’t use the fire stick.”

“The what?”  And then he remembered as disgust crossed his expression, the device Tivan had used to put Thor in agony.  “Of course not.  It hurt you.”

That answer seemed even more puzzling to Thor who stared at Loki with a frown before he seemed to reach a decision.  “…I will wear the cloak…if you can really make me colder.”

“Of course.”  Loki said, and hoped he could consider this a measure of progress.  He conjured a thick, dark cloak and left Thor to wrap it around himself before he used an enchantment to decrease Thor’s temperature.

Thor seemed dubious about the cloak but pulled it on anyway, but he would not consent to shoes.  Loki felt the makings of a headache coming on and sighed.  “The cloak will mean little if your blue feet give you away, br-Thor.”  he said, as the endearment almost slipped out.  Was it so natural to fall back into using it even with such a different Thor, did this feel so much like Thor to him, or did he long that strongly to have his brother back?

“No more bindings.”  Thor said, and for a moment Loki didn’t quite understand until Thor began to fidget with his hands.

“Thor.”  he tried for a gentle tone as he pulled upon a well of patience and kindness he had not quite known he’d possessed.  “I realize I will likely have to continue explaining this, and that is fine.  But in as much as possible, I will do whatever I can to keep you comfortable.  Treat me with respect, and I will treat you with the same-”  Thor scoffed and Loki paused.

“An As, treating a Jotun with respect.  A Jotun runt.”  Thor said the word with weight, as if it should mean something.

“I suspected it, given that Laufey left me to die-”  Thor blinked at that. “-But runts are not…well looked upon?”

Thor was silent before he answered simply.  “No.”

“...I will not bind you as long as you do not harm anyone, Thor.  The shoes will be off as soon as we reach my room, and there will be no gloves.”  he said, having realized what troubled Thor.  “No chains, no cages…you will have to keep to my room for the time being, but my room is, I imagine, larger than you expect.  You will have your own bed.”

Thor flexed his hands again with a frown before he muttered.  “Give me the damn shoes and let’s go then.  I am tired of looking at your face.”

A flicker of annoyance caught Loki and he pushed it down.  This wasn’t Thor Thor, he needed to be patient, he owed his brother at least that much surely.  And given that part of Thor’s fears involved being treated like an animal and tricked into bondage again, well, the thought snuffed the flicker of annoyance quickly.

In short order, Thor was cloaked, wore shoes, and seemed to have agreed to a truce for the time being.  That being said, Loki was ready for anything and kept a careful eye on his brother.  Everyone aboard the ship was told his acquisition was a present for the All-Father and to say nothing.  And since they had traveled by ship, Loki could avoid Heimdall for the moment.  Loki knew he was expected to report straightaway to Odin, but he needed Thor settled first.  He walked by Thor’s side as they left the ship, careful as well to make sure no hint of his skin showed.

Loki received and returned greetings as he walked, and Thor said nothing till they were almost to his room.

“It feels like the air is made of fire.”  he said, through what sounded like gritted teeth.

Loki’s eyes widened.  “It feels that warm to you?”  He was curious how Thor would know about fire, having come from Jotunheim, but left the matter for the moment.

“Not warm.  Hot.”  Thor muttered.

“I will fashion you an amulet quickly then.”  Loki assured him as they entered the palace.  He saw Thor’s head tilt from side to side, apparently glancing around from under the hood.

“Ymir’s balls.”  Thor muttered, and Loki almost snorted at hearing his brother’s voice around the frost giant curse.  They passed by the medical wing and Thor paused as he stared into the room where Asgardians were laid out on strange, metal platforms.

Loki was tempted to hurry Thor along but explained instead.  “The healing room.  Those beds can heal most anything, so you need not worry about injuries or illness here.”  he turned to start walking again but found that Thor had not moved and he stepped back towards his brother.  “Thor?”

“This room…those beds…they can cure any sickness?”

“...Just about.”  He heard Thor make a noise like a snarl beneath his hood.

“Fucking Asgardians.”  Thor snarled as he stepped towards the healer’s room and Loki feared what he might be about to do.

Loki stepped in front of Thor with splayed palms, though he offered a genial smile to a passerby.  “Thor, I know not why you are so angry but please calm yourself-”

“-Do not tell me to be calm, Aesir shit.”  Thor spat.

Loki had no idea what had incensed Thor so, but he seemed enraged and full of venom.  “Come with me, Thor.”  he tried to speak soothingly and when Thor made to step around him, Loki stepped in his path again.  “Truce, remember, truce?”  he finally snapped.

“You can shove your truce up your-”  Thor started to snarl loudly, and Loki cursed before he clamped a hand over Thor’s mouth with the intention to use sorcery.  He was surprised when his hand began to feel painfully cold and he yanked it back quickly as a thin layer of ice covered his palm.

Loki looked at Thor, astonished.  “Did you just-”  A hand grabbed for his neck as a fist went for his face.  He grabbed one of Thor’s wrists and started to twist it, the hood fell back in the struggle and by then guards had been called for as ‘Prince Loki’ was attacked in the hall.

A guard rushed up immediately with a sword drawn, and Loki put a up a hand even as he kept struggling with Thor.  “Stop!”  he snapped at the guard, before he cursed as Thor’s fist found his stomach.  He shoved Thor backwards hard and caused the other man to stumble back.  “Thor-”

A small, thin wall of ice formed in front of Loki and the guard like a wave frozen mid-crash and he heard Thor’s feet pounding the floor as he ran.

Loki was taken aback, he had no idea Thor could do such a thing, or that any frost giant could actually.  And then there was how he had managed to nearly freeze Loki’s palm with his…mouth?   He teleported ahead of Thor who nearly fell as he scrambled back in surprise.  Loki snatched a handful of his cloak as he hurled him to the ground, he had not wanted to fight his brother, but he was left with no choice.  He quickly put a knee on Thor’s lower back as he pulled Thor’s wrists together and bound them with a sorcerous tether.  Thor struggled and cursed, and Loki put a hand on the back of Thor’s neck as he gripped it firmly.  “What are you doing?”  he hissed.

“Prince Loki!”  Several shouts, a scream, a gathering of concerned Asgardians approaching.  It was everything Loki had wanted to avoid.

There was no avoiding it now, Thor’s Jotun form had been seen and they had seen him ‘attacking’ the crown prince of Asgard.  His mind raced for how he could get out of this.  Loki quickly brought his mouth near Thor’s ear.  “Play along.”  he hissed.  “It’s our only chance.”  he rose as he hauled Thor up by the back of the cloak with his hands still bound behind his back.

“Worry not.”  Loki said in a calm tone.  “I have captured the frost giant intruder, all is well.”  Two guards with swords at the ready approached and he held up a free hand.  “That will be all.”  he said quickly.

“Your grace, are you well?”

“We will take the captive.”

”Kill it now!”  Someone else shouted.

“A frost giant, in Asgard?”

“Why is it so small?”

“It’s a monster.”

The words made Loki nauseous, both for that they once applied to him and that they now applied to his brother by his own hand.  “I will take the giant to the dungeon myself, please, stay back.”  he tried for his best genial prince tone.

“Your grace, with all due respect, we will handle the matter.”  One of the guards pressed.

Thor had wisely kept silent, for which Loki was grateful, he seemed at least to have realized the precarious position he’d put himself in.  “I said I have it.”  Loki said in a more curt tone as he proceeded to start walking and pushed Thor ahead of him as he did so, though he pulled Thor’s hood back up for what little it might do as they passed by those who had not seen.  He walked quickly, and supposed for the moment he would have to actually take Thor to a cell but what then?  Why couldn’t he have just behaved himself?  What had so upset him about the healing room?

As they passed through a narrower hallway and only a few people were around them, Thor again moved as if to pull away from Loki.

The situation was quite enough, as far as he was concerned, and he quickly shoved Thor’s chest into the nearest wall as he pressed against him and hissed.  “Are you trying to get yourself killed?  Now all of Asgard will know I have brought you here, and they think you attacked the crown prince!”

”I did.”  Thor growled, clearly unrepentant, and Loki was aghast.

“You are as much a fool as you ever were.”  Loki snapped and at that, Thor tried to headbutt him backwards.  His temper flared and he returned the favor of a punch to the stomach, but his was far harder than Thor’s had been and Thor doubled over with a gasp.  “You used to be a god of strength, I stole that too.”  he said irritably.  “Doesn’t feel so good, does it?”  Loki had been on the receiving end of Thor’s excessive strength far too many times to count.  “We need to go.”  he said as he gripped the cloak again and started to push Thor along.

“You will…pay for that.”  Thor wheezed as he coughed and caught his breath from the blow.

“I am trying to help you, you oaf!”  Loki snapped as an old, familiar habit bubbled forth in the face of corralling a reckless, aggressive Thor.

“A what?”  Thor sounded irritated as he walked.

“Never mind it.”  Loki growled, he found it unpleasant that this Thor didn’t even know what an ‘oaf’ was…the word was a long-standing insult and endearment both, and for Thor not to know it…it just made Thor feel that much further away.

As if all of this nonsense hadn’t done so enough already.

“He’s here, All-Father.” said a guard.

The words made Loki’s blood run cold as he said.  “Shit.”  he drew to a stop and Thor did likewise, and he must have also taken note of ‘All-Father’ because he stilled.

Odin stood in the hall flanked by a small group of guards, he held Gungnir in his hands and a grave expression on his face.  “A frost giant in Asgard.  What is the meaning of this?”

“A misunderstanding, Father.”  Loki tried quickly as he stepped ahead of Thor to put himself between Thor and Odin protectively.  “If we could speak privately-” he startled as an arm pressed against his throat from behind.  In the small window from pushing Thor back, Thor had lowered his hands and stepped through the ring of his arms so that his hands were bound in front of him.  He dropped his arm over Loki’s neck and then pulled him into a choke-hold.

“Move, and I break his neck.”  Thor snarled at the group of Asgardians, and he glared openly at Odin whose expression turned cold and furious.

“Brother, please.”  Loki tried in a whisper, in a vain hope that using the endearment might encourage Thor to at least remember Loki was trying to be on his side here.

“I am not your fucking brother.”  Thor hissed into Loki’s ear as his grip tightened.

“Enough!”  Odin thundered as he slammed the bottom of Gungnir’s shaft to the floor.

The weight left Loki’s neck as Thor dropped to his knees with a choked noise, and his body seemed to be being pressed into the floor by an invisible weight.  “Guards.”  Odin ordered, and the guards advanced with swords drawn.

“Father, no!”  Loki again stepped in front of the now incapacitated and gasping Thor.  “You must let me explain-”

”Loki, move.”  Odin ordered in a booming, angry tone.

“What is the meaning of this?”  A new voice joined the fray as Frigga came up from Loki’s side of the hall.

Loki turned with a flash of hope.  “Mother, please, we must speak.  The matter is more important than I can say.”

Frigga had heard tell of a frost giant in Asgard that had attacked her son, and so she did not understand why Loki now seemed to be defending the giant.  She looked to the ground where the giant lay and found it far smaller than she had expected, it was a runt, clearly.  And had long, golden hair which no Jotun should have.  She looked back at her son whose gaze was desperate and determined.  Loki was not one to take action lightly, nor make such passionate overtures.  “When this matter is dealt with, we will speak.”  she assured him.

“You cannot harm this giant.  We must speak, you, Father and I.”  he turned back to Odin.  “Please, Father.”

“What madness is this?  Have you been bewitched, boy?”  Odin asked and Loki fought a noise of irritation even as Thor continued to be in pain on the ground.

He tried again to plead to his mother.  “Please trust me, Mother.”

Frigga saw the panic and worry in her son’s face, so unusual to find there, and she saw the way his eyes flitted down to the giant with concern.  There was some greater matter at play, clearly, and she did indeed trust her son.  She met Odin’s gaze across the hall.  “There can be no harm in speaking before acting, Odin All-Father.”  she said, as she addressed him respectfully given the group around them.

“He attacked our son, the crown prince of Asgard!”  Odin snapped, baffled by his wife and son’s sudden protectiveness for the small frost giant.

Thor managed to lift his head somewhat to look at Loki with pained eyes and a strained expression.  Loki caught his gaze and the brothers locked eyes a moment before Thor’s head fell and Loki looked back to his father.  “You need to hear what I have to say, All-Father.”  he too used a more respectful address.  “I request an audience with you as crown prince of Asgard, with this Jotun in attendance.”

Odin frowned as he looked between his wife and son to the giant on the floor, he considered it and then with a quiet sigh tapped Gungnir to the ground again and removed the pressure from Thor.

Thor inhaled deeply as he was able to take a full breath, and curled up in the fetal position a moment as he breathed heavily.  His gaze again found Loki’s and Loki clamped a hand around Thor’s wrist as he pulled him up while he slid an arm around Thor’s back to help support him.  Thor didn’t fight him, Norns be praised, and Thor seemed to take a half-step closer to Loki.

A protective feeling welled in Loki at that and the situation overall as he was, for the moment, let to hold onto his brother.  Thor was the smaller one between them for once, a Jotun in a realm of people who regarded him as a dangerous monster, and he had just very nearly been killed by his own true father.

Odin and Frigga watched as their son exhibited an almost tender behavior towards the giant.  “We will adjourn to the East Sitting Room.  Come.”  he said in a curt tone as he turned to walk and the guards kept their swords drawn.

Frigga moved to walk alongside of Loki, and Thor glanced over at her with an almost anxious expression.  She noted that the giant had one blue eye and one red, another unique feature.  “You have brought him here?”  Frigga wanted to confirm.

”Yes, Mother.”  Loki said quietly.  “His name is Thor.”  Frigga looked momentarily startled by that.  “What is it?”

“...Had we been blessed with another child, your father and I had always thought to name another boy ‘Thor’…”

Thor looked faintly surprised and he shrugged Loki’s arm from his back.  Loki glanced back at Thor warily and Thor muttered.  “I will not fight.”

Loki hoped that was the truth, Thor would have to be the biggest fool in the Nine Realms to try something now.  “Mother, does Thor…seem familiar at all to you?”

Frigga considered the question as she met the gaze of the frost giant before her.  She had been raised by witches, after all, and her sight saw beyond the surface.  For a moment, as she looked at Thor, she caught the glimpse of a red cape.  A brush of golden hair and a pair of warm, blue eyes.  A feeling came over her heart, somewhere between a deep pain and a deep love.  Frigga looked back at her son.  “…I think perhaps he does…who is he, Loki?”

Loki felt a touch of giddy relief at that, at the hope that he was not alone in feeling Thor in this man.  “I will tell you when we arrive.”  he promised.  “The explanation will be…hard to believe.  But it will be the truth, Mother.”

“Very well.”  Frigga said softly as she looked Loki over with concern.  “Are you alright, my son?”

Thor’s brow furrowed at that words, it did not go unnoticed by Loki although he wasn’t sure if the words had sparked a familiar sense in Thor or if the words themselves struck Thor oddly.  “I am fine, Thor did not truly mean to hurt me.”

“Yes, I did.”  Thor objected and Loki’s jaw clenched as Frigga frowned deeply.  To Loki’s surprise, and Frigga’s slight look of puzzlement, Thor addressed Frigga.  “He punched me in the stomach.”

There was a slight pause before Frigga glanced at Loki with an air of polite humoring.  “…Did you?”

“I-yes, he kept trying to attack me!”

“You kept me from the room with the magic beds.”  Thor muttered.

“The what?”

“He means the healing room, it upset him-”  Loki cut off as they arrived at the sitting room and the trio went in.  Odin stood waiting with Gungnir still in hand and guards at the ready, and Loki gave them an uneasy glance.  “This conversation must be private.”

“The guards will keep our confidence.”  Odin said.

“Truly, All-Father, I guarantee you will wish you had sent them out when I am finished speaking.”  Loki pressed as he and Thor drew closer.   Frigga moved closer to Odin as she looked between the pair and her husband.

Odin’s hand tightened around Gungnir a moment before he inclined his head.  “Leave us.”  The guards did as commanded and when the four were left, Loki motioned Thor to a seat which he took up with an air of reluctance.  For good measure, Loki cast another cooling enchantment on Thor as he’d not had a chance to make the amulet.  Thor looked slightly startled, and then glanced at Loki almost questioningly.  Loki took a seat next to Thor’s and didn’t acknowledge that as he looked back at Odin.

“Very well, Loki.  Explain.”

Loki swallowed hard at his father’s stern tone and expression, he had to tread carefully for Thor’s sake and his own.  He gathered his thoughts and his courage as he started to speak.  “This will be a…strange story.” he said, and hoped this was not all about to end badly.