Of all the possibilities that could have come from Loki chasing Kang through the timelines, reuniting with his other half hadn't been considered one of them.
*********
He'd been following a powerful energy that he thought was one of the Conquerer's variants....but instead it was an insane creature known as Gorr the Goð Butcher.
Loki had stepped through the portal just as Valkyrie and Jane(he had no idea how that woman was wielding Mjölnir and wasn't sure he wanted to know)got knocked to the side, leaving a clear path for his sword to strike the Thunderer. Acting on instinct, the mage summoned the sword away from Gorr and into his own hand...
Then rammed it straight through the God Butcher's heart.
When the dust settled, the man was dead, and everyone was staring at Loki in varying degrees of shock, with the Valkyrie muttering something about Zombie Lackeys picking a fine time to show up.
But the only one he had eyes for was Thor.
Sweet, beautiful Thor....who looked so different from the last time he'd seen him, and yet so utterly the same.
He started to approach , causing the mage to drop the weapon in his hands and raise them above his head.
"Thor, I know how this looks, but I promise you that this was not another attempt at faking my death. I come from a different timeli—"
His sentence was cut off as Thor grabbed the sides of his face and pulled him into a searing kiss.
He was startled at first, but soon melted into the Thunder Góð's embrace, wrapping his arms around the other man's shoulders. Vaguely, he heard one of the women shout "I knew it!"......but he had no idea which one it was.
Nor did he care.
When they finally broke apart for air, Thor was looking at him with a smile more brilliant than all of the sunrises he'd witnessed over the millenia.
"Welcome home, ástin mín."
***************
The trip back to New Ásgarð was a bit of a blur. As soon as Thor locked the door to his room, he picked Loki up and tossed him onto the bed before climbing on top of him.
From there, it was a frenzy of tongues, teeth, and sparks as they made love for the first time in years(or centuries in Loki's case). The storms outside picked up as they rocked together, creating a massive explosion of thunder and lightning as they reached their climax.
Thor withdrew slowly and collapsed next to the exhausted mage. It was when he turned to lay on his stomach that Loki spotted the tattoo.
"Where did this come from?"
He traced the swirls of ink etched along the Thunderer's back with reverence. There was a large depiction of his battle helm with the phrase "RIP Loki" inbetween the horns, and parchment paper next to it with the phrase "Never doubt that I love you" scrawled across it.
He would never doubt it again.
"The rabbit introduced me to an artist on one of the planets we visited," Thor said with an amused grin," although I suppose I'll have to cover up the RIP part."
"No, leave it."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, it's a testament to all that we have lost..and a promise of what we're set to gain."
Thor turned into his side and pulled Loki into his arms, running his fingers through the mage's soft, raven tresses. They laid there quietly for several minutes before he finally asked the question that had been plaguing him since they reunited.
"Will you stay?"
"I still have to hunt down Kang's variants and help my friends but yes, I will stay with you."
"That's the best news I've heard in years...now, tell me about these friends of yours and how I can help?"
Loki began to explain all about Sylvie, Mobius, the TVA and everything that had gone on since he'd fled with the Tesseract during the Time Heist. The Thunderer gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead and held on tightly as he talked, relieved to have his sun shining shining for him once again.