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Chapter Text

Loki had not meant to upset the Allfather’s ravens, and as he slowed in his swoop to hover over the balcony, his first thought was that they made a very pleasing arc as they scattered away from him. The Allfather did not look pleased by it, but then, Loki always found him hard to read, so it was almost a relief to see an identifiable emotion on the elderly monarch’s face.

Thor was grinning up at Loki-bird as if he had done something amusing, and he supposed he had. For a few moments more, he continued to ride the updrafts that skirled around the side of the palace, and then alighted on Thor’s outstretched wrist. He had a strange feeling, as if he had forgotten something, but it surely wasn’t urgent.

This bird was a magnificent form to inhabit, with its golden-edged green plumage and black clawed feet, a terror of the skies. Loki-bird screamed a greeting to Thor and to the Allfather, and then cocked his head, unsure if he had erred or not.

Thor's amusement had given way to admiration, and Loki basked in it for a few rapid beats of his bird heart. He had been feeling so constrained these last few days, and on the spur of the moment had decided to strike out for freedom and ride the skies in the form of a hunting bird unique to Asgard. He did not recall its name. I am Loki. That is my name. He was forgetting something important though. He was sure of it.

Odin huffed and said, “Well, then, I shall retire for the afternoon. It is almost evening, anyway. Will I see you both at dinner?”

Thor smiled at his father, and replied, “Of course, Father. Until then.” Odin eyed Loki, nodded at his son and swept away, as regal as any bird of prey that Loki had seen.

“Loki?” Thor caught his attention, and Loki found himself suddenly confused, a thought rising in his bird mind that he could not quite grasp. He flapped furiously to try to disperse the thought, or to embrace it, he wasn’t quite sure. As he was still grasping Thor’s wrist, Thor was forced to hunch away to avoid the onslaught of muscle and feathers which comprised Loki’s wings.

“Alright, then,” said Thor, nodding as if in acceptance of something. “As you will, my love. Let us enter the palace, I have a meeting with the Council of Traders.”

Loki hopped onto Thor’s broad shoulder as they left the balcony and traced the route to the meeting chambers. Loki felt a little claustrophobic as the ceilings, high and all as they were, closed him in and blocked out the sky. There was a solution to this feeling of wrongness indoors, but he could not remember what it was.

They drew some attention, as much as when Loki occasionally walked through the palace in Jotunn form, curious whispers following them. Loki held himself proudly on the shoulder of the king of Asgard. He was Loki, and deserving of his fine, handsome mount. His Thor. His mate.

He glared at those he felt were staring too long, challenging them to a duel if they dared. His claws would gouge and tear, his beak would hack and puncture! Thor’s large fingers were suddenly, but carefully, stroking his feathered breast, soothing him. He flapped a little on Thor’s shoulder to show his challengers that he was a threat, but remembered he had no true need to defend himself here with Thor by his side.

He remembered that, but what had he forgotten? Puzzling. The thought skittered away as they approached the chamber. Loki-bird shrieked at the sight of the merchants before him and they scattered just as satisfyingly as Odin’s ravens had. It was not that he disliked them, exactly. He simply did not trust them, no matter what Thor told him of their contributions to the welfare of the realm and its subjects.

Loki could tell Thor was holding in a laugh, and so he too decided to be amused instead of contemptuous. He fluffed up his feathers to show how impressive his size, and flew the short distance to the chair he customarily sat in on these dreary occasions. Settling on the peak of it, he stared intensely at each of the merchants in turn as they hesitantly made their way back to their seats.

“Pay no mind to Loki,” Thor was saying. “He is merely observing proceedings today.” Thor appeared to be hiding a smile behind his hand. Loki continued to glare imperiously at the women and men present, all of whom seemed a little distracted. He did not listen to the details, such things being beneath concerns of a creature such as himself, and contented himself instead with the soothing sound of Thor's voice.

After a while, he realised that the tone of Thor’s voice had changed, and that he sounded increasingly stern, bordering on exasperation. Loki-bird was not sure of the matter at hand, but he knew that he would brook no disagreeableness from any of these people, not towards Thor. He began to make clicking noises in his throat, the sounds he would have made had he sighted snakes making for his nest, threatening his mate, his household.

He unfolded his wings, balancing on the back of his chair as carefully and as surely as he did the breezes and zephyrs of the upper skies of Asgard. He was ready to scream at the offending party, meaning everyone present bar Thor, ready to warn them that he would defend his mate and his nest.

Thor stood, and so Loki simply remained tensed and on guard and ready to pounce if a single person at the table moved or spoke disrespectfully. Thor said in a stern voice, “I feel we are at an impasse today. Let us speak of these matters in two days time when we have time to consider how to spread the pain around a little more evenly.”

The traders nodded agreement, and stood as well, carefully bowing to Thor while keeping Loki in their line of sight. All of them backed away a few steps before turning on their heels and practically fleeing the room. Thor smiled grimly and turned to Loki. “Is it not lovely to see revived the practice of never turning your back on your king while in his presence, Loki? I am sure that I have you to thank for that.” Loki settled back on the peak of the chair, satisfied that he had driven off the predators who had considered threatening his mate.

Thor sighed. “You are content to remain so even now, Loki? Do you intend to come to dinner in this form? My parents may wish to converse with us both while we eat.” Loki was not sure that he understood the question. Of course he was coming to dinner, he had not eaten since early this morning when he had leapt from the balcony of the royal bedchamber and flown off into the endless blue sky, where he could breathe free. And certainly he enjoyed speaking with Odin and Frigga. He was feeling somewhat claustrophobic now, being penned in by walls and ceiling, it was distracting. He could not think clearly. There was an easy solution to these problems, but what? He wished he could remember. He beat his wings in agitation.

Thor sighed again, and gestured for him to hop back on his shoulder. Loki did so, realising that there were only the faintest of air currents here for him to coast on. Flying would be a lot of effort, just as well he had his mate to ferry him around the palace. His mate was large and strong and beautiful and about to provide for Loki. Loki hoped there would be rabbit.

There was rabbit, and a selection of other cold meats as well as a delicious coarse bread and clear fresh water. Frigga looked mildly surprised and complimented him on his thick and beautiful plumage. He extended his wings and neck in an affectionate manner, displaying himself to show her how correct her observation was. Odin offered him the remains of his portion of rabbit, which Loki-bird gladly accepted, wolfing down the remains in a few powerful gulps. Odin shook his head, seeming more amused than he had been in their earlier encounter. Odin did like birds, after all, Loki knew. Of course he would come to admire Loki’s fine form and healthy coat of feathers. He groomed himself a little as Thor and his honourable parents had a post-meal glass of wine, making sure that he would be clean, orderly and well presented for his mate when they retired together for the evening, and then started grooming Thor. He cooed and chirruped contentedly as he preened at Thor's ear and hair. Perhaps this was not appropriate behaviour at the dinner table, Loki could not quite remember. In any case, Thor quickly bade his parents a good evening, and departed for their chambers.

Once in their bedchamber, Loki instinctively flew to the window, towards the entrance to the sky. Thor cried out his name, a note of unaccustomed anxiety in his voice. “Loki. Are you leaving again? It is dark, where would you go? Stay with me tonight.”

Loki looked at him, recognising concern on his mate’s features. He flew back and perched on the headboard of the bed. He did not want his mate to think that he was abandoning him, no. He was not flying off to hunt alone, or to seek another mate, or anything, really. He wasn’t sure why his first instinct was to leap out into the sky, except of course that this is what was done. It did not serve him to be cooped up, he needed to fly.

But more importantly, he needed to be with his mate, and this was their nest. Thor closed the window, and approached him cautiously, as if dealing with a wild animal. “Loki, do you remember who you are? What you are? You are many things, but you are not a bird.” Loki squawked at this and flapped his wings furiously.

Thor held up his hands, palms facing Loki placatingly. “Alright. Peace, Loki. You are a bird, for the moment, for as long as you wish to be. I do not object, I just am concerned that you may not realise that you are not only a bird. You are Loki, and have many forms, many shapes, all of them beautiful.”

Loki preened at this. He was beautiful. He was spending the night with his handsome, powerful mate, in his mate’s bed, their nest. Stretching himself out to display himself at his fullest, the candlelight in the bedchamber highlighting the iridescence of his green and gold-tipped feathers, he began a mating dance, cooing noises rose unbidden from his bird throat. He swayed from side to side and reached out his neck so he could rub his feathered cheek against Thor’s whiskered one, first the left side, then the right. He danced for Thor, swaying in one spot, showing his mate how healthy and beautiful and strong and worthy he was to share his nest.

It was strange…for a moment, he almost remembered what he had forgotten. The thought, whatever it was, hid itself behind the weight of his instincts to woo his mate and win his love again tonight, as he had on so many nights. He and Thor would fly together in the endless blue skies, their claws would entangle together and they would fall, circling each other as they plunged towards the ground. They would separate, together, and swoop back into the sky, together, and descend on their shared nest, together, and mate with all the tenderness and fierce need they felt for each other. Loki-bird would present Thor with their babes, protected by a strong shell until they were ready to face the world, and Loki would defend and nurture those babes until they were ready to fledge. Thor would protect them all and help provide for them. Their children would be clever and strong, and possess great beauty, and the skies would tremble to hear them scream their presence!

Suddenly, realisation hit Loki. He was a male bird. That’s not to say that Thor and he could not raise young together, but he would not be birthing them, not in male form. Something was not quite right. Come to think of it...Thor was not even a bird at all.

Loki settled down from his courting stance, and took a moment to settle his mind as well as his body. Thor was watching him with some awe, much affection, and a little worry.

Thor reached out a hand to pet Loki’s face, not minding the fierce beak and fiercer eyes. Loki leaned into his touch, and began to change. Thor’s hand, whose forefinger and thumb had been stroking a warm silky feathered cheek now found itself cupping a cool Jotunn face. Loki brought his own hand up to press it against his cheek and kissed its palm.

“I was becoming a little concerned, Loki,” Thor said, an edge of scolding in his voice. “I might have found myself chaining you to my wrist had you not come back properly come morning. What if you had truly forgot yourself?”

Loki laughed, tired but happy from his day of freedom from the confines and expectations of the palace. “That is always a risk, but never fear that I would forget you, Thor. As long as you remain as you are, I will always come back to you, in one form or the other. For as long as you wish me to, at least.”

Thor bent to kiss him, and said, “Bird, fish or snake, it matters not, I will always wish you to come back to me. But the conversation, and the bedplay, is best in this form, is it not?”

Loki embraced Thor for another kiss, and pulled him down so that they both sat on the bed. “If you say so, my love. Perhaps you need to remind me.”

Chapter Text

This is chapter 1 rewritten from Thor's point of view.

Thor looked upwards and grinned as, in typical dramatic fashion, Loki’s bird form blocked out the sun for a moment as it swooped down towards the balcony and caused the Allfather’s ravens to flit away in alarm. Except Huginn and Muninn, at least, but Loki did not even seem to notice as they settled in the shadows and looked at him askance.

Odin did not look pleased, but Thor knew he was fond of Loki in his way. At least, Thor thought he was. It was difficult to read the old man sometimes.

The bird was magnificent, with golden-edged green plumage and black clawed feet, a terror of the skies. A perfect vessel for Loki, thought Thor, admiring its remarkable strength and control as it hovered above the kings of Asgard for a few moments. Thor was glad Loki had found a solution to his feelings of claustrophobia that had been afflicting him recently. With a dazzling and mischievous smile at Thor, he had simply shifted into the form of a bird of prey and leapt from the window of the bedchamber.

Loki-bird rode the updrafts that skirled around the side of the palace for perhaps a few more moments than strictly necessary. Finally, to Thor’s relief, it alighted on Thor’s outstretched wrist, though it did not make any moves to resume a more typical Loki shape. Loki no doubt needed a few moments to gather himself before shifting back into Jotunn or Aes form. No need for concern.

Loki-bird screamed a greeting to Thor and to the Allfather, and then cocked his head as if unsure of its place on the balcony, among the Aes. Noticing Thor’s appraisal, however, it began to clearly bask in Thor’s obvious admiration, enjoying the attention.

Odin huffed and said, “Well, then, I shall retire for the afternoon. It is almost evening, anyway. Will I see you both at dinner?”

Loki-bird did not seem inclined to be anything other than a bird for the moment, so Thor smiled at his father, and answered for them both. “Of course, Father. Until then.” Odin eyed Loki, nodded at his son and swept away, with all the grace of a winged predator himself, despite his age.

“Loki?” Thor was a little concerned at Loki’s apparent lack of interest in being other than a bird. Loki flapped furiously, obviously unsettled, and as he was still grasping Thor’s wrist, Thor was forced to hunch away to avoid the onslaught of muscle and feathers which comprised Loki’s wings. Was Loki still feeling constrained by the pressures of palace life? If so, Thor would not demand that Loki change from a form he was comfortable in to suit Thor’s needs. 

“Alright, then,” said Thor, nodding his acceptance of Loki’s choice. He hoped it was a conscious choice, that Loki knew what he was doing. “As you will, my love. Let us enter the palace, I have a meeting with the Council of Traders.”

Loki hopped onto Thor’s broad shoulder as they left the balcony, and Thor traced the route to the meeting chambers as if everything was usual and Loki in a more typical form than a bird. He could feel Loki-bird tense a little as they ventured further into the palace. Perhaps Loki felt penned in again. Well, nothing Thor could do about that.

They drew some attention, whispers following them. Thor was not unused to this. On the rare occasions Loki walked with him in Jotunn skin, the curious watched and whispered, mesmerised at the sight of a Frost Giant walking freely in the palace of Asgard, the trusted companion of the king. Loki had not hidden his ability to move between shapes, so surely their observers knew this was merely another of Loki’s forms. Loki was holding himself proudly on Thor’s shoulder as they walked and were being whispered about, Thor could feel the arrogance of the bird as its talons gripped Thor’s shoulder with a tension just shy of bruising. 

Thor could also feel Loki-bird’s annoyance as some stared too long. No doubt Loki’s bird instincts - and to be fair, his Loki instincts - might lead to Loki rearing up and challenging them to a duel if he decided they were too rude. It really would not do for some poor kitchen boy to get his face scratched simply because he had looked a little too long at Loki. Thor carefully stroked Loki’s feathered breast, trying to soothe him, to bring his focus back to Thor. Loki flapped a little on Thor’s shoulder, no doubt to show his apparent challengers that he was a threat, but settled down at the reminder that Thor was with him, protecting him.

As they entered the meeting chamber, Loki-bird shrieked at the sight of the merchants before him, almost deafening Thor, and the merchants scattered just as Odin’s ravens had. It was not that Loki disliked them, exactly, but no matter what Thor told him of their contributions to the welfare of the realm and its subjects, Loki could not come to trust them. He was not entirely wrong. It was rather amusing to see the more pompous merchants try to keep their dignity in the face of being run off by a screech from a single bird, fierce and all as Loki-bird was.

Luckily, Loki chose not to press his attack on the merchants. Thor would have had to suffer the disapproval of everyone from his father - and his mother! - his companions and his Council had Loki decided to run amok. Instead, Loki merely fluffed up his feathers to show his impressive size, and flew the short distance to the chair he customarily sat in on these dreary occasions. Settling on the peak of it, he stared intensely at each of the merchants in turn as they hesitantly made their way back to their seats. 

“Pay no mind to Loki,” Thor said, hiding his smile behind the back of his hand. “He is merely observing proceedings today.” Loki continued to glare imperiously at the women and men present, all of whom seemed a little distracted. It gave Thor some advantage when trying to work out a reasonable - or at least not a terribly unreasonable- deal on a complex tax issue.

Loki’s intimidating stare only distracted for a short time, and soon the merchants began to push their agenda aggressively. Thor knew the importance of protecting Asgardian business but the merchants had to see that as king, his concerns were for the whole of Asgardian society. Yet they did not seem to accept that there were priorities other than their own. 

Loki must have picked up on his annoyance, as he began to make clicking noises in his throat which sounded quite menacing. 

Loki unfolded his wings, balancing on the back of his chair carefully and surely and in a manner that could have seemed ridiculous were it not backed by claw and by hooked beak and by Loki. Best for Thor to draw this conversation to a close for the moment before Loki-bird decided to finish it more decisively. Thor stood, and thankfully Loki simply remained at readiness to attack. Thor said in a stern voice, “I feel we are at an impasse today. Let us speak of these matters in two days time when we have time to consider how to spread the pain around a little more evenly.”

The traders nodded agreement, and stood as well, carefully bowing to Thor while keeping Loki in their line of sight. All of them backed away a few steps before turning on their heels and practically fleeing the room. Thor smiled grimly and turned to Loki. “Is it not lovely to see revived the practice of never turning your back on your king while in his presence, Loki? I am sure that I have you to thank for that.” Loki-bird settled back on the peak of the chair, satisfied that he had rid the room of whatever threat his bird-mind had perceived. 

Thor sighed. “You are content to remain so even now, Loki? Do you intend to come to dinner in this form? My parents may wish to converse with us both while we eat.” He wished he could be sure why Loki remained in bird form. If it was simply a whim, Thor would indulge him. But sometimes Loki spoke of how seductive the simplicity of animal thinking could be. He had never said so, but Thor knew that Loki worried a little about embracing a new form too enthusiastically, not even realising he was giving over his freedom of thought to a more limited consciousness. 

There was no need to fret. Loki had done this sort of thing countless times and had always come back unharmed and unchanged, even if his appetites sometimes ran more to deer or dairy or spices than usual for a few days after inhabiting a different form. It was nothing to worry about. 

Loki beat his wings again, as if worried. 

Thor smiled at Loki-bird fondly and gestured for him to hop back on his shoulder. Loki did so, settling down, comforted by being physically close to Thor. It was strange that this hardly felt unusual at all to Thor. It was simply Loki being Loki, and it was as things were meant to be. 

Frigga looked mildly surprised at their avian dining companion, though Odin had no doubt informed her of Loki’s current mood. She complimented Loki-bird on his thick and beautiful plumage, which of course led to a rather magnificent display from the vain thing! Loki extended his wings and neck in an affectionate manner, inviting more compliments as he balanced on Thor’s shoulder. Odin offered him no compliments but instead the remains of his portion of rabbit, which Loki-bird gladly accepted as the peace offering it probably was. Odin shook his head, amused. 

Odin did like Loki, Thor thought, he was just very used to keeping his thoughts on the Jotunn people both in general and in particular to himself. Loki groomed himself a little as Thor enjoyed a glass of wine with his parents after dinner, perfecting the appearance of his already perfect coat of iridescent feathers.

When Loki then started to groom Thor, gently preening his ear and hair with accompanying cheeps and chirrups, Thor decided to call a close to dinner as he could no longer look his father in the eye, and his mother was clearly trying not to laugh. Loki-bird’s affectionate hoots accompanied them to their chambers, and while he was sure that his ear and hair was much more attractive to Loki-bird after the care and attention devoted to them, Thor was not sure he saw a difference himself.

Once in their chambers, rather than making whatever preparations a bird of prey would make to retire for the night, Loki-bird instead launched himself with unnerving speed towards the window through which he had left earlier that day, to Thor’s surprise and concern. Had Loki indeed forgotten himself? Was he abandoning Thor for the call of the skies? 

“Loki!” he called out, unable to keep the worry from his voice. “Are you leaving again? It is dark, where would you go? Stay with me tonight.” Would Loki remember to come back if he left now?

Loki turned and looked at him, then flew back and perched on the headboard of the bed. Thor could see Loki in those golden eyes, but the bird was strong in that gaze too. 

It was time to have a direct conversation. “Loki, do you remember who you are? What you are? You are many things, but you are not a bird.” Loki squawked at this and flapped his wings furiously, as if disagreeing. 

Thor held up his hands, palms facing Loki placatingly. “Alright. Peace, Loki. You are a bird, for the moment, for as long as you wish to be. I do not object, I just worry that you may not realise that you are not only a bird. You are Loki, and have many forms, many shapes, all of them beautiful.”

Loki preened at this and began to again coo affectionately at Thor. He swayed from side to side and reached out his neck so he could rub his feathered cheek against Thor’s whiskered one, first the left side, then the right. He was dancing for Thor, swaying in one spot, displaying his beauty, his strength, his love for his mate. Thor watched him with some awe, much affection, and a little worry.

What would happen if Loki forgot himself, and his true, whole self was trapped in this form for months, or years? This bird was most certainly Loki, Thor could see it in the passion in its eyes, its proud stance, its sharp intelligence. I am in love with a bird, thought Thor, slightly giddy. If Loki was trapped, then Thor would help him, stand by him. He would send messengers to every corner of the Nine Realms to find a seidr crafter who specialised in such things, who would draw Loki back to who he usually was. He would wait for as long as necessary, caring for Loki-bird, reminding him who loved him, who he was coming back to. 

Little would change in that he and Loki would be constant companions; after all Loki had proved himself adept at and adaptable to life at court today. Thor would not have a beautiful Aes or Jotunn body to worship and pleasure and hold close at night, but he could live with that. His love would be a beautiful bird who he would feed and groom as and when Loki allowed. They could still hunt together, and Thor was fairly sure the taverns of Asgard would not turn him and his companions away simply because the king’s unofficial consort was currently a bird. 

Loki could sleep in their rooms still; perhaps Thor needed to consider some sort of traditional bird-nest set up, though. He would miss talking with Loki, that was certain. He would miss Loki talking. And scheming, and manipulating with his clever words. Thor felt a little sad. Loki was not completely Loki without the full capacity for mischief, words his weapon and machinations his battlefield.

He would still love this Loki, though, no matter his seeming shortcomings.

Thor reached out a hand to pet Loki-bird’s face, not minding the fierce beak and fiercer eyes. He could see Loki in those eyes, so beautiful, so passionate. Loki-bird blinked and leaned into his touch, and to Thor’s relief, began to change. Thor’s hand, whose forefinger and thumb had been stroking a warm silky feathered cheek now found itself cupping a cool Jotunn face. Loki, and it was fully he, brought his own hand up to press it against his cheek and kissed its palm.

Thor could not keep an edge of scolding from his voice. “I was becoming a little concerned, Loki. I might have found myself chaining you to my wrist had you not come back properly come morning. What if you had truly forgot yourself?”

Loki laughed, as if it was nothing. How Thor loved his laugh. Ehehehe. “That is always a risk, but never fear that I would forget you, Thor. As long as you remain as you are, I will always come back to you, in one form or the other. For as long as you wish me to, at least.”

Thor bent to kiss him, and said, “Bird, fish or snake, it matters not, I will always wish you to come back to me. But the conversation, and the bedplay, is best in this form, is it not?”

Loki embraced Thor for another kiss, and pulled him down so that they both sat on the bed. “If you say so, my love. Perhaps you need to remind me.”

Chapter Text

It had been Thor’s idea. He had been adamant that he wanted to share the experience of exploring the skies of Asgard with Loki. Loki had questioned the wisdom of doing it, to Thor's puzzlement (“Loki, what harm could come to us? Even the beasts of the Asgardian lands and skies will surely recognise their king!”).

Loki had reluctantly agreed to it (for when had he ever been able to refuse his love anything?), and then decided to distract him in the hope that he would forget. However, the first time they set a day aside to fly, Loki had been the one who ended up distracted, to be fair.

Loki worked hard all day at diverting Thor to a hunt, or a drinking session, or even a sparring session, but eventually had to admit defeat in the face of Thor's stubborn refusal to be tempted by his otherwise favourite past-times. 

Rolling his eyes, he insisted that their adventure begin from the window of Thor's bedroom. They would likely feel compelled to return to that place that was essentially their home, their nest, should they lose themselves in their new shapes, instead of risking flying the skies of Asgard mindlessly for Norns knew how long. So they stood together at the window of the royal bedchamber, and looked to the skies.

After that, though, Loki lost all control of events before he had even had a chance to shape them at all. He had placed his hands on either side of Thor’s head, all the better to wield the form-changing seidr on him, and found himself taking a moment to appreciate the beauty of that face. Mesmerising. Thor was so perfectly handsome, it seemed wrong to change anything about those features. Loki saw amusement growing in Thor’s sky-blue eyes, his smile broadening the more Loki gazed at him hungrily. 

Suddenly, they were kissing, and Thor was steering Loki backwards from the window to the bed, murmuring fiercely about ‘my sorcerer and his temptations’ in between kisses and bites. He roughly pulled off Loki's clothes (roughly, but not rough enough for Loki’s liking), and pushed him face forward on the tall bed, bending him over on the edge of it with his legs hanging off. Loki tried to scrabble for a footing, the bed being too high for him to kneel on the floor. 

He got his feet under himself, only to yelp at the unexpected smack across his ass. “Ahhh! What... why? Do not lay your hands on me without good reason, Thunderer!”

“Stay as I arranged you to be!” snapped Thor, as he pulled off his own tunic and belt. “And I decide on what constitutes good reason for laying my hands on you! I may do it for no reason at all.” With that, he smacked Loki harder. Loki yelped again and snarled back at him, legs helplessly dangling off the bed once more, only to receive a proper wallop across his ass this time, the sound of it reverberating in the room. Loki howled at the pain of it, perhaps a little dramatically, though it stung badly enough. 

“I am not playing, Loki. Stay as you are, or I will teach you to stay as you are.” Thor gripped the back of Loki’s neck, turned furious, pained face towards the bed, and pushed him down. 

Ignoring Loki’s tears and his muffled complaints and curses and insults, Thor carelessly spilled oil all over his ass and, using a single finger, worked him open with slow, intense, dedication and affection. Loki did not dare turn his head to look at Thor, but lifted it slightly. "Thor, let me just…” He attempted again to get his feet under him, to see how far Thor would go.

To his surprise, he almost immediately got three lashes of Thor’s belt across his oiled backside and upper thighs. His muffled screams of, “Forgiveness! Forgiveness! ” seemed to mollify Thor a little, though he swatted Loki’s red, stinging backside with his open palm once more for good measure, ordering him again to be still. 

So Loki hung off the bed helplessly, whimpering as Thor kicked his legs apart and stood between them. He groaned Thor’s name into the blankets as Thor pressed a second finger inside him, gripping the blankets in a futile attempt to take back some control of his body, Thor’s fingers inside him the only thing fixing him in place.

Thor scissored his fingers gently for a few moments and, seeming satisfied, pulled his breeches down to his knees and followed his fingers with the head of his cock. Loki groaned again and panted with the intensity of the burn, the pressure, but it was worth it to feel Thor enter him, inch by inch, his body open and willing to accommodate his love. 

Thor bottomed out with a grunt, his weight borne almost entirely by his pelvis, it seemed to Loki. He was pinned beneath that weight, speared on Thor’s cock, unable to pull away or push back into it. He groaned gutterally, the sound, the feeling coming from deep inside him, travelling up from where Thor penetrated him, through his torso and escaping in a low, pained moan.

His own cock was hard and thrumming with anticipation, though he was mainly focussed on the feel of Thor inside him. Loki wriggled in an attempt to shift Thor, to show him that Loki would not simply lie there and take it, but Thor just laughed and pinned his wrists to the bed, using them to steady himself. 

Loki kicked his legs and grunted, but that just intensified the feeling of helplessness and worked Thor’s cock inside him even deeper if it was possible. He was whining and panting and Thor wasn’t even breathing hard, it was not fair! Thor let him tire himself out, struggling to get free, and when Loki gave up with a gasp, Thor leaned his weight further forward and planted a kiss on the back of his neck. Loki felt his entire body goosepimple and thrill at the warmth and strength behind the kiss, the gesture carrying so much of Thor’s affection and possessiveness and desire. 

“Ready?” he murmured against Loki’s nape, and Loki hissed, defeated but unwilling to give up. His entire body was so sensitised, as if he had just indulged in a salt scrub, his skin feeling aglow with sensation. The hiss was taken as assent, and Thor began to move his hips gently at first. He took his time, rolling his hips, giving Loki more time to adjust, thrusting shallowly but slowly, sensuously, making unselfconscious noises of satisfaction as he did so. Soon, the thrusts deepened, and became faster and more urgent, driving gasps from Loki. 

Finally, Thor started to rut into Loki, pounding into him, seeking his peak. Loki tried to pull one of his wrists away from Thor’s tight grip so that he could see to his own needs, but Thor growled into his ear that Loki was to come from Thor’s cock and his cock alone. Loki started to object, but his snarl quickly turned into a shriek as Thor thrust savagely into him as a warning, pleasure blooming in Loki as Thor brushed his prostate. 

It wasn’t enough, though. Thor fucked into him with vigour but Loki could not quite get there, Thor’s technique somehow lacking. Loki’s cries turned into sobs as his climax eluded him, and he began to beg Thor to take pity on him. ”Ah. A little deeper, my love. A little more... harder. Please, harder, deeper, more...” He could not understand the problem, Thor had never failed to pleasure Loki thus before, and he had certainly plenty of practice. 

Instead of granting mercy, and freeing one of Loki’s hands so he could take care of himself, Thor told him to be silent, and so Loki was. He felt desperate, stimulated to the point of pain, his climax just out of reach, his mind ablaze with the joy and pleasure of being used by Thor, being pinned down and fucked by Thor, having Thor penetrate and physically control him, his weight a comforting certainty. He could not understand why he could not come!

Thor just missed his prostate again, but seemed ready for his own climax. Loki focussed on Thor, perhaps he could vicariously enjoy Thor’s pleasure at least. Sure enough, he felt the hot pulse of seed inside him as Thor moaned and grunted, his final thrusts inside Loki almost enough to send Loki over the edge too but not quite. He felt Thor collapse on him, his cock slipping out in a mess of seed and oil. They lay still for a moment, Loki basking in Thor’s weight and heat, the contentment in that almost outweighing a more visceral need that was making his balls ache. 

Strange, too, that Thor had not accompanied his climax with words of love and desire for Loki. He had not even gasped Loki’s name, as he almost always did as he came. Loki was not sure Thor was aware he did this, and it would have almost been worth not coming just to hear Thor’s desire for him in the height of passion. Loki sighed sadly. He had never been disappointed by Thor’s lovemaking, and he wasn’t exactly disappointed now, as it had almost been worth the frustration to feel the intensity of Thor’s climax. But all the same…

Thor gently pulled him onto the bed properly, turning him over so he was looking up at Thor’s triumphant face, his lashes longer and darkened with sweat, his eyes a deeper blue than usual. Loki was about to ask permission again to use his hand, when Thor put a finger to his lips.

“Hush now, my love. I told you that you could only come on my cock, or not at all. What a shame it turned out to be not at all. Why would you disappoint me like this? Perhaps I was not clear enough with you. I expected you to come on my cock."

Loki frowned in confusion, and then, in foolish anger, tried to defend himself. “I tried to guide you! It is my fault if your efforts fail to satisfy me? You...ah!”

A sharp slap to the face stopped him in his tracks, and made his cock twitch. He looked at Thor, shocked, the pleasure of arousal sparking in him again, the ache of satisfaction denied fading. He glared at Thor and held a hand to his face, genuinely annoyed despite his body’s appreciation of Thor’s attentions. Thor grabbed a hank of his hair and twisted it painfully. “Get that look off your face, sorcerer. You’ve already failed to please me, then talked back, and now you try me with a dirty look?”

Loki wisely held his tongue as he stared up as expressionlessly as he could at Thor, who still held him by the hair. His attempt at appearing meek failed utterly, to judge by the grin on his love’s face. 

“Aren’t you going to apologise, Loki?” Thor was very pleased with himself.

“No,” gritted Loki, against his better judgement.

“Apologise, Loki. Apologise for not coming on my cock, and perhaps,” Thor said in a musing voice as he raised Loki’s hips with one strong hand underneath his backside,“I shall try again with my tongue, or maybe my fingers will be better.” He slid a thick pillow beneath Loki’s backside and ran his large, warm hand along his thighs. 

A shiver ran up Loki’s spine. His backside was propped up by the thick pillow, and he felt strangely vulnerable with, well, his vulnerables on display so. All the same, he decided to stick to his guns.

“No, I will not apologise. I did not come, because you did not fuck me properly, and you know it full well!” He made to get up from the bed, but was prevented by Thor’s hand in his hair.

Thor was smiling, not kindly, as he leaned down and kissed Loki, a deep, possessive kiss that made Loki’s toes curl. Loki tried to follow the kiss as Thor sat back up but could not because of Thor’s unyielding grip. He tried not to whimper; Thor was not going to force an apology from him with implicit threats or promises of reward, and that was that! He tried to disentangle Thor’s fingers from where they were fixed in his hair, but Thor taunted him by steering him from side to side as he scrabbled at Thor’s fingers. 

The distraction worked. Before Loki realised what had happened, Thor had lowered Mjolnir on his chest, not heavy, but rendering him immobile. While Loki was spluttering with outrage, Thor let go of his hair, grabbed his wrist and quickly strapped it to the bedpost. “What are you…” Loki cried out in surprise as grabbed his ankle and pulled his leg up so his ankle was by his wrist, and he lashed the two together. 

“What is it you expect to gain from this, Thor? This will not end well for you, mark my words!” He wriggled very inelegantly as Thor finished tying his other ankle to the bedpost, thrilled and outraged at the same time.

Loki could hear the smile in Thor’s response. “This has already ended well for me, Loki.” He thrust his half-hard cock against Loki’s stomach to underline his words. “Anything else is a bonus. Now hush, and take your punishment.”

Punishment? Before Loki could process this, Thor had raised the looped belt and Loki heard before he felt a sharp crack as his backside went numb for a moment and then bright, delicious pain bloomed across his buttocks. He gave a strangled cry and wriggled again uselessly. Thor dipped between his legs and Loki felt the strong, supple, hot sensation of a tongue licking the inside of his thighs, wetly flicking his sac, lapping between his cheeks and up to his sore, sensitive hole. He groaned helplessly at the dual stimulation of pleasure and pain, which burned white hot on his ass and deep and throbbing in his crotch. 

“Thor, you do not need to punish me. Can you not just - aaah!” He shrieked as another sharp, burning blow struck his backside lightning-fast. 

“But I want to, Loki. And you want me to, do you not? A reminder of your place is never any harm. Beside, you are being disagreeable, and will be punished as you deserve. ” Loki growled at this. Thor smiled brightly at him. “So many reasons and so many ways to punish you. I will stop once you agree to come on my cock.”

Agree to…? “That is hardly up to me, Thunderer...aoww!” Loki yelped at a hard smack across his buttocks, close enough to his balls that they tried to climb up and away out of Thor’s reach. This appeared to be right into Thor’s barrow, a sadistic gleam in his eye as he moved so he was between Loki’s spread legs

Loki was hyper-ware of being completely exposed to him, completely helpless. His neglected cock was still hard and weeping, balls ready to tighten and pump, hole tender and leaking seed and oil. Loki whimpered at the vulnerability of it all, relieved too that he was completely safe in Thor’s tender mercies.

Looking at the mischief in Thor’s eyes, his loving, mocking smile, Loki was also beginning to suspect that the mystery of Thor’s sub-par technique this fine morning was not a mystery at all. 

Thor made a show of popping his own index finger in his mouth and withdrew it so it was gleaming with saliva. He then dipped his head, and Loki whined as a hot, dextrous tongue began to lick at his sac while a slick finger delved into his sore, twitching hole, swirling around it and traced the rim with a gentle fingertip, undulating his tongue around Loki’s sac. Raising his head for a moment, he grinned up at Loki and asked, apparently sincerely, “I wonder how long it will take for me to discover if my tongue is up to the task at hand?”

Loki was suddenly sure that despite Thor’s considerable efforts, Loki was not going to come on Thor’s tongue or fingers, but would have to wait until Thor felt good and ready to fuck him again.

He started to struggle against his restraints. He looked ridiculous, he was sure, lying on his back, lashed together at the wrist and ankles to either of Thor’s bedposts. Legs spread wide, helplessly and inelegantly, completely undignified. Loki decided that he did not like it. 

“Enough, Thor! I will not be treated like this. This is a most unflattering display and I will not be part of it.”

Instead of the slap on the backside that he expected, there was nothing. Loki risked a glance at Thor’s face. The fond expression had faded from it, the gleam gone from Thor’s eye. Thor seemed to loom, suddenly, no longer playful, a dead serious expression on his face, a quiet anger radiating from his body. Loki quailed as Thor bent forward, placing one large palm beside his head. He leaned down so their faces were only inches apart, and Loki could feel the heat of his semi-naked body radiating along Loki’s completely naked one.

His voice was a low growl. “How you are treated, sorcerer, is at my discretion. Whether how I arrange your body for my pleasure is flattering or not is for me to decide.” He put his hand in Loki’s hair again and tugged, painfully. “And what part of your wishes do you think I am concerned about?”

He was right, and it took the full morning and most of the afternoon for Thor to finally bring Loki to orgasm, though he himself had two more. Eventually, blessedly, Thor allowed Loki to ride him. 

Loki frantically worked himself on Thor’s cock, still not allowed to touch his own, twisting and turning his hips as he impaled himself again and again, finally coming, crying and moaning as Thor held his hips and fucked up into him. He heard Thor gasp his name as he again shot thick ropes of come into Loki’s finally satiated body.

Loki lay back to recover, enveloped in Thor's arms, satisfied that Thor entirely forgotten the plan to shift into bird form together and explore the skies. They rested a while, limbs entangled, before cleaning up and descending on the palace kitchens to beg for a late lunch from the startled staff. An active afternoon and evening stretched out before them after all, back in Thor’s bed.

The second day they set aside to fly proved to be just as unproductive, and for much the same reasons.

Chapter Text

The second day they set aside to fly started with a picnic breakfast in Frigga’s garden. Loki had roused early on the warm sunny morning. Eager to get started on a rare day alone together with Thor, he poked his love into semi-wakefulness, looking forward to distracting him with a lazy breakfast and whatever other diversions arose in the day.

Thor made agreeable noises at him while pulling on his clothes, clearly still mostly asleep. He smiled a sunshine smile at Loki as he finally focussed, but seemed a bit befuddled when Loki steered him to the kitchen to collect a basket of pastries and jams and fresh fruit spiced with cinnamon and clove.

Loki knew that an early start and the romantic nature of a bright, sunny summer morning spent kissing in the gardens would tempt Thor into passing a lazy day, all thoughts of the excitement of adventure buried under the pleasant weight of a warming sun and the promise of the next meal. 

Sure enough, the sun was rising to its peak when Thor seemed to wake fully. He kissed Loki on the cheek, stretched and stood up, leaving Loki to admire his large, muscular form as he scratched his belly lazily, his tunic riding up in a most interesting way. 

“Shall we fly, Loki?” he said, strolling over to his allotment in Frigga’s garden, a riot of wildflowers, a tiny meadow. Loki was not concerned, he could almost feel the thrum of Thor’s fertility seidr in the rich earth as his beloved walked among his carelessly but enthusiastically cultivated blossoms, fronds, shrubs and grasses. Thor was a god of earth and fertility as well as a sky god, and Loki had planned well for Thor to be drawn to the first two of these today. 

It was a wonder to see Thor among the greenery, all the same. The flowers seemed to turn slightly towards Thor as he strolled among them, as if he were the sun itself, and they dreaming of touching him. Thor was all Loki’s to play with on a day like this, and it was all the more fun that Thor did not even realise that a game was afoot.

Stepping carefully into Thor’s allotment, Loki trailed his hands gently along the heads of waist-high flowers as he walked toward Thor. Plotting though he was, he could not help but embrace the peace and beauty of the place. Thor was the god of hallowing, too, and though all of Asgard was technically a sacred space, those places that Thor loved seemed especially blessed. 

Loki plucked a red blossom and carefully adopted a pose that made him look lithe and strong and slender as he focussed fiercely on channelling the luscious, languid and carefree nature of the blooms around him. Thor turned to him, which instantly threw off Loki’s carefully laid plan. It really was like staring straight at the sun. 

The beauty of that face was near-blinding, the calm strength, the certainty. Thor caught his pollen-covered hands and kissed ithe back of each one. “Will these clever hands launch us both into the skies today, hmm?” Loki sighed internally. So much for distracting Thor with the promise of romance and sex.

Thor did not understand Loki’s reservations about transforming both of them into another form. Why would he? He did not understand how powerful the call of another form could be. As far as Thor was concerned, if Loki could do it, why not do it? And Loki could. It took more nuance and control to change the form of another, but it could be done. The danger lay in the possibility of losing themselves in their new shape, especially for Thor as he was unaccustomed to it. He did not seem to grasp this danger. 

Loki was content enough to take the risk for himself; he had long practice in it, and more recently, he had Thor drawing him back, like a lodestone, a point of certainty. He felt uneasy about risking Thor. Well, they were at least unlikely to completely lose themselves to their new forms if they had Frigga’s gardens, something so distinctive and familiar, even viewed from the air, to come back to.

Thor pulled him close and they were kissing, the scent of grass and pollen and sweet flowering plants adding to the sensuality of it all. Loki followed Thor to the ground, the small meadow around them soft and yielding, and began to take Thor’s clothes off slowly in between kisses. Perhaps he had succeeded after all. The distinctive swelling against though certainly felt like victory.

“Now!” said Thor brightly, as they were both naked and languid in the sun’s heat and the soft grasses and plants around them. “We can move into the form of birds more easily now, can we not?”

Loki frowned at him, sure that once they were naked, Thor would have lost interest in the skies and focussed on more earthly pleasures. Then he realised what Thor had actually said, and rolled his eyes. “Thor, I told you, when I change shape, I simultaneously place my clothing in a dimensional pocket. You know this! We do not have to be nude to move into another form.” 

Thor grinned at him. “But it does not hinder, does it?” 

Loki could not entirely decide if Thor was being deliberately obtuse or not, and found himself laughing too. Exasperating oaf. But also an endearing one. Thor really wanted to experience another form, share it with Loki. How could Loki refuse, given how much Thor wanted this?

“Fine, you ninny. I wish I had brought a breakfast of cheeses and meats and breads to slow you down. Sit, now.” At Loki’s direction, they sat facing each other, naked. Loki sent their clothes to a pocket dimension as he began to focus on changing Thor’s shape, placing his hands on Thor’s chest to try to avoid getting distracted by his face. Well, the chest was nearly as distracting, but he would be disciplined this time. Focused. He stroked the broad, muscular chest, and could feel the smugness of Thor’s grin. Focus.

Loki could change forms at the blink of an eye thanks to long practice, but changing Thor’s would take more time and concentration. As Loki focussed on shifting him into a bird form, Thor at first sat perfectly still. After a few long moments, though, his hands settled on Loki’s knees, and started to wander up his thighs. 

Loki slapped those roving hands away, muttering, “Be still, please!”, and started over again. He was just about to set the spell when he realised that one of Thor’s hands were moving slowly down over his stomach and towards his cock while his other hand was grasping his own cock quite firmly. Loki grabbed both of Thor’s wrists and and pulled them away from each of their crotches. “Do you want to become a half-Aes, half-bird, mangled, thing ? Behave yourself!” 

Thor put on an entirely fake abashed look on his face, and obediently settled his hands somewhere respectable. Loki knew that Thor had a warrior’s discipline and patience when he wanted to, Loki was usually the one who was impatient and twitched at physical restrictions. What was Thor up to?

Loki took a deep breath and settled again to focus on Thor’s shape. It was a very pleasing shape, currently. No, concentrate. He really did not want to do this, and would have to be extra conscientious to ensure that all went well. 

He was aware of Thor’s large, warm hand brushing the side of his face, gently. He sighed and reached up to place his own against it, closing his eyes as he leaned into the strong, reliable touch.

Thor cupped his face in both his hands, then, and kissed him tenderly. Loki opened his eyes and looked at Thor, and, without a word passing between them, he shifted so that he sat in Thor’s lap, being almost cradled in strong arms. 

Thor kissed him again, above his ear, and murmured into his hair, “If you truly do not wish for this, I will not insist upon it.” Loki said nothing. He did not need to say anything. Words were Loki’s tools and his treasures and his weapons, and he often needed them not at all with his prince. 

Thor lowered them both into the soft, yielding pillowing plants that surrounded them, and lay half across Loki, propped up on one elbow as he gazed down at him. “Well, here we are, my sorcerer, earthbound in the loveliest way, and in the loveliest place. I think I would like to see if I can make you feel that you are flying while you are just lying here on the rich soil of Asgard. What do you think?”

Before Loki had a chance to answer, Thor was already kissing his neck and Loki gasped something, Thor’s name most likely. He lay back and stared at the blue sky as he felt Thor’s hot mouth make its way down his body, and then he felt wet, sucking heat envelop the head of his cock, the delicious pressure making him whine. 

Later, Thor groaned his own release into Loki’s willing body as Loki revelled in laying below him, supported by the stems and mosses and grasses so beloved of his beloved. The day had gone as he had planned, even if he had, as usual, somehow completely lost control and been outsmarted by Thor. Thor lifted his head from Loki’s shoulder and grinned at him, pleased. Loki pulled his head down for a kiss, looked into eyes as blue as the skies above them, and knew he would be dreaming of flying free that night. 

Chapter Text

Deep in the forest, Loki-bird stared down, astonished, at the orb that had plopped out of his body. It sat still and silent in the soft lining of the nest, but Loki could feel the life pulsing inside. Instinct stopped him from probing it with his sharp beak, and he began instead to clean the area around it, though he knew his nest to be pristine. Really, he thought, in the first lucid moment he had had in days, I only have myself to blame.

He heard the beating of wings as Thor-bird descended on their nest.

Some days earlier

Loki patted his horse’s nose as it cropped the grass around where he sat, propped against the oak’s broad trunk. A golden-brown bird of prey was wheeling above the canopy of trees, no doubt hunting for food with which to woo its mate. Thor handed Loki a meal of roast boar, wild mushrooms and root veg, and sat down beside him. They ate in comfortable silence, Loki staring at the treetops, Thor more interested in the contents of his bowl.

Lunch was washed down with cold, clear delicious water from the river. Neither of them were inclined to move, except for Thor reaching for Loki’s hand. They sat, fingers intertwined, bodies aligned, listening to the sound of the woods, their horses munching on the lush grass, the rush of the river accompanying the occasional cry and whistle of the birds above.

Loki began to embrace a kind of peace that was unusual for him, his usually whirring mind slowing to a rare deep calm. He blinked slowly as Thor moved into his field of vision, large and beautiful and golden. His arms went around Loki, and Loki sighed, stroking Thor’s shoulders and upper arms. Thor was smiling at him, drinking him in.

“You look so content, Loki,” he said, in a low voice, as unwilling to disturb the peace as Loki was. Loki smiled back, and pulled Thor towards him for kisses. He could feel Thor’s half-hard cock against his thigh and Thor’s eagerness to hold him close as slow, hot kisses dissolved the boundary between them.

After some time, Thor pulled away gently, and drew Loki to his feet. Images of Thor making love to him in the grass floated in Loki’s mind, a pleasant heat now pulsing in his crotch. Or perhaps Thor would bend him across a fallen tree trunk and fuck him silly. Or he might tie Loki up and simply take, instead. The thoughts of Thor’s long, heavy cock filling Loki’s mouth with the taste of salt and earthiness made him shiver.

The call of a bird drew his attention to the trees, and he watched as a bonded pair swooped across the sky, the iridescent green of the female drawing the eye in the noon light. Thor followed his line of sight and smiled. “She’s pretty. It seems they are in love too, hmm?”

Lost in the moment, Loki felt an impulse of daring. “Let’s join them,” he said, resting a hand against Thor's face. “Let’s fly together. You would like it, would you not?”

Thor knew that Loki would not ask if he were not serious, but he had a question in his voice as he replied. “It would be wonderful...if you wish it.”

Loki did wish it. Despite resisting this idea for weeks, it seemed entirely natural now that together, they would become one with the woods in this way, at this time, with Spring in the air. He carefully took Thor’s face in both hands and focussed, and it took but a short moment for Loki’s seidr to begin to morph Thor’s large shape.

He followed Thor’s form downwards as it grew closer to the ground, and found himself squatting before a large golden-brown hunting bird almost indistinguishable from the one that circled above them even now. Almost, but not quite. Cornflower blue eyes gazed at him where yellow would be more typical.

Then Thor-bird was examining his new shape, stretching his wings, his neck, and, rather comically, his legs. He made pleased bird noises as he flexed his claws, gouging small trenches in the soft earth effortlessly.

Thor-bird eyed Loki, and cooed an invitation. With a speed that caught Loki off-guard, Thor-bird turned from him, opened powerful wings, and with strong legs launched himself into the air as if born to it.

To Loki’s heart-pounding relief, Thor-bird did not fly far, just barely around the clearing, circling back and landing effortlessly on a branch a few feet above Loki. Loki watched in some astonishment as Thor settled there as if it was the most natural thing for him to be a bird sitting on a branch, clearly lord of all he surveyed.

Loki realised he was panting from surprise, for all he was responsible for this. This was uncharted territory. Had Thor already lost his higher sense of self? Was he a bird in mind as well as in form? He was watching Loki calmly, steadily, for all the world as if nothing was out of the ordinary and he was simply waiting for Loki to join him.

Loki calmed himself, strangely reassured by the bird’s Thor-like steadfastness. Loneliness suddenly washed over him instead, a sense of separateness from Thor that he did not like at all. Thor was only a few feet away, but unreachable to Loki in any way that mattered. They were separated by species now, and this was too much for Loki to bear for long.

He shifted with little effort into a bird of the same family and flew to join Thor-bird. Thor welcomed him by rubbing his beak against Loki’s, a gesture of affection that reassured Loki that he at least instinctively recognised Loki as his mate. As long as that was true, everything else could burn as far as Loki was concerned.

As if of one mind, the Asgardian eagles spread their wings and leapt into the skies.

Loki managed to hold onto his higher thinking for much of the morning, but it was difficult to resist the temptation to let go and fully indulge in the pleasures of this existence. They flew together for hours, their speed and power exhilarating, intoxicating. They dined on freshly caught rabbit, afterwards resting a while together on the branch of a tree overlooking a large valley, side by side. Loki reminded himself that he needed to keep the horses in mind; if he lost himself in this form, he would not be able to care for the animals as they needed. But right now, the horses were safe, with plentiful grass and water in their reach, so he did not have to overly concern himself with them.

In the afternoon, Thor-bird decided to show off. Beating his powerful wings, he climbed upwards and upwards until he was merely a silhouette against the sky, radiating power and kingship though he should have seemed insignificant and small against that vast sky. 

Thor-bird plummeted downwards again, his speed and control thrilling to witness. Loki settled on a branch to watch the display, luxuriating in the knowledge that this display was meant for him, all of it for him, and only for him. Thor climbed again, retracting his wings into his hunter-bird’s body at the apex of his ascent to start another downward swoop, spreading his wings to cushion the sharpness and speed of his plunge. He whirled and pirouetted and pivoted, power and grace and beauty combined, dancing in the sky for Loki.

He swooped down and picked sticks up from the ground in his powerful claws, flew high into the air as fast as he could, then dropped the sticks and grabbed them again mid-air as they fell, to impress Loki. And Loki was impressed. What a fine mate he had chosen. Beautiful, strong, fast, intelligent and fearless. Who would not wish for such?

These feelings were perhaps compounded by the fact that Loki had, without thinking, apparently shifted into a dual-sexed bird form. He sported the golden-brown of the male that Thor-bird wore so proudly, but also the iridescent green of the female. It was closer to his Jotunn form than his Aes, he supposed. He didn’t think about it overly much, though he preened the green of his coat of feathers especially thoroughly whenever he felt he had Thor’s attention.

Later that day, building a nest together seemed entirely natural. It was entirely natural. Loki chose a tree with a fine view over the clearing and the river, and saw their horses below, looking relaxed and content. Thor-bird screamed a warning to all other birds of prey in the vicinity. This tree, this clearing, was their territory, his and Loki’s, and woe betide any who thought to dispute it.

Loki-bird surveyed all from the apex of their beautiful tree. He fluffed up his feathers, delighted with himself, with the tall, bounteous tree that he had staked out, and with the fierceness of his mate in claiming the territory that Loki had chosen for them. Let any who might dare contest their claim to this tree!

His higher self was thinking, one night together in the woods like this, or even two, would do no harm. They were expected back in the palace in a week, there was no rush. So what if they spent some time playing at being wild and free? Building a nest meant nothing. They needed shelter overnight, this was no different than pitching a tent for their Aes forms.

Loki was not entirely happy with the first nest that he and Thor built together. The materials and construction were fine, but the location was not what he wanted, after all. He decided that he would prefer a nest that was higher up the tree, and indicated as such to Thor. Thor rubbed his beak along Loki's, a promise to fulfill Loki’s fancy, but they were both tired after an exhausting day. They settled into the unworthily-placed nest, which was comfortable enough all the same and protected them from the night breeze. Thor-bird kept watch while Loki-bird tucked his head under a wing, his body aligned along Thor’s for warmth, and he slept for some hours. On waking, he allowed Thor to do the same while he stood guard on their makeshift home.

Thor woke at dawn and dashed off to hunt for breakfast while Loki worked on determining exactly where would be the best location for the new nest. It was important to him that the nest be exactly as he wished it to be. Returning with a fish to share, Thor immediately afterwards began gathering new materials and began to place them where Loki indicated he wanted the new nest built.

Loki spent the morning sorting and organising Thor’s findings, but by the time Thor had hunted and brought back lunch, Loki realised he wasn’t happy with this one either. The construction was just not as he wished it to be, despite the fine materials and the lovely location. Thor gave a short cry of agreement, acknowledging Loki’s complaint, and plunged towards the forest floor, apparently to search for nesting materials.

He disappeared under the canopy of trees, but only for a few moments as he arrived back with fresh materials for their newest nest. It was as if the first two nests did not exist at all as far as Thor was concerned, because Loki had deemed them unworthy. He cawed and beaked Loki affectionately, and was gone again, searching hard and focussing intensely on gathering materials, at Loki’s whim. Loki smugly began constructing another nest, high enough to satisfy him and constructed just so.

It was late in the afternoon, and Loki was very pleased with their new nest. It was in an ideal spot, with a perfect view of the clearing at the front, and of the river at the side, the materials were sturdy and soft where needed, and it was constructed exactly as he had wished for it to be. Thor was still diligently pulling twigs and small branches into place, and Loki was happy to let him do so.

Reluctantly, Loki raised his consciousness from birdlike to his full Aes or Jotunn self. They had had their fun, it was time to reclaim their usual forms, embrace their usual lives, and take back on their usual responsibilities. He flew to a low branch of their tree to check on the horses. The poor things had been tied up on a long rope for over a day now. Loki had allowed himself and Thor to neglect them. Proof that Thor had definitely submerged himself in his bird form; he would never have let the horses alone for so long had he been thinking clearly.

Loki’s bird heart started to pound with anxiety as he realised that the horses were no longer in the clearing! Distressed, he descended from the branch and searched for signs of them. The dead tree trunk that they had used as a post for the horses was still there, and there was surely little chance that the horses managed to lift the looped rope from it themselves. Launching himself into the air, he followed faint horse tracks for a time at top speed, and to his relief, eventually spotted the horses trotting peaceably along the trail that would bring them back to the villages that skirted the edge of the forest in a matter of hours. They seemed refreshed and content enough.

Landing on a branch, he watched them pass under him, heading home. Should he shift back into Aes form and lead them back to the clearing? Probably. But he did not want to. None would harm the royal mounts, and they themselves seemed confident of finding their way home. The mystery of how they got free was puzzling, but no harm seemed to have been done, so he screamed a godspeed at them and whirled around for home, for Thor.

Thor was meticulously cleaning their nest, not that it needed it. It was as if he was preparing it for something. Loki settled back into the nest. Thor was probably too far gone in his bird form to worry about the horses, so Loki did not feel the need to explain the situation to him. And with the horses gone, Loki had no real reason to think about their responsibilities. A week was a long time. They could spend a few days here, enjoying the fruits of their hunts and their fine, well-placed and beautifully constructed home. Why not?

Thor stroked his beak against Loki’s, lovingly and happily. Thor-bird was so handsome, a true wonder. He invited Loki to fly again, and so they did.

They climbed and dived together, plunging and soaring, the two as one, silhouetting against the high sun in the bright noon light. Thor screamed at Loki, his tone carrying a quality that Loki could not identify, but which made him shiver. They were flying high, side by side. Thor tilted himself slightly and reached out his talons towards Loki’s, a clear invitation for Loki to do the same. Loki instinctively reached out and grasped Thor’s proffered talons with his own, and without thinking, they were both suddenly pinwheeling across the skies, talon to talon.

They tumbled and cartwheeled, locked together, spinning in a controlled, wild fall towards the earth. It was thrilling, each of them depending on the other to give up mastery of themselves to share control, delighting in the freely offered nature of the power they were turning over to the other. Loki-bird was intoxicated by the freedom and power that pulsed from their binding of themselves together, and forgot everything else. He was a hunter, a bird of prey, he was Thor-bird’s and Thor-bird was his and they were united, mighty and free; one being, melded, together in body and soul and passion and love, and they circled each other, as one, as they fell.

They uncoupled their talons as the earth loomed nearer, and flew straight back to their tree. Loki instinctively bowed his head and raised his tail, and felt Thor flap as he gently mounted and balanced on top of Loki’s lower back. Loki moved his tail aside as Thor arched his body, tottering and flapping his wings to stay balanced. Loki felt Thor rub against his intimacy while leaning over his body to stroke his beak affectionately, and with that, Thor was done. It was perfunctory, but not unpleasant. Thor flapped beside him and cawed softly at him as Loki fluffed his feathers and decided that a long sleep was in order.

The next two days passed without Loki noting anything other than the rising and setting of the sun, of meals hunted and shared with Thor, of perfecting their already perfect nest. Loki noticed something of a heaviness about himself, and some minor fatigue; flying was a little more challenging than it had been. All the same, he felt content and quite well and Thor was feeding him a wonderful variety of small mammals and fish so he himself did not have to fly too fast or too far from the nest.

The cramps surprised him, though he had been instinctively sticking close to the nest all day in anticipation of...something. He suddenly felt a profound need for Thor to be with him, and called to him, a long, yearning cry. Thor was close by, he had been staying nearly as close to Loki as Loki had been to the nest this past day.

Loki felt the urge to push, and went with it. The cramps weren’t precisely painful, he just was aware that his internal muscles were moving. After a moment, he felt a weight he had been barely aware of moving downwards through his body. He felt the weight move from his passage out into the air, and squatted slightly to allow it to roll safely from him onto the floor of the nest. He curved his neck to look at it as his body readjusted.

A pale, off-white, marbled orb lay between his legs. Suddenly, his full awareness slammed back into his mind. An egg. An egg. An unborn chick. He had birthed a babe. Thor’s babe. He and Thor had really mated.

He could feel the pulse of life within the motionless orb. Tiny, fluttering, helpless. He began to clean around it, unnecessarily, but his bird body had to do something while his higher mind panicked. He heard the beating of wings as Thor-bird descended on their nest, only seconds after Loki’s plaintive cry for him. Loki dared to look at Thor-bird, wondering whether the reality of the creation of a new life would shock Thor back into his higher mind, as it had Loki, or whether Thor-bird was still in the ascendant.

Thor-bird stared at the egg that Loki was hovering over, and bent his head to gently stroke it with his beak. Then he threw his head back and began to scream victoriously, the call of a male celebrating his offspring, honouring his mate, and warning his rivals. He beaked Loki then, and Loki could only respond in kind.

Thor gently nudged the egg over to a more sheltered part of the nest. Loki calmed himself, it was no use panicking over what could not be undone. He and Thor had together produced young and now they had to see this through. There was no reason not to. Thor-bird seemed very enthused by the idea and Loki could not say he was reluctant. He worried slightly about their delay in returning to the palace, but that could not be helped. They would simply have to care for their babe until it hatched, care for it until it fledged, and make sure it got a fine start in life.

Loi would just have to keep his wits about him from now on, and not allow his bird instincts to dominate again. One slip was enough, one unintended babe enough of a responsibility. A few weeks in the forest raising their one chick was an acceptable diversion of Thor and Loki’s time and efforts. Loki would stay alert, ensuring that this was their only happy accident.

Two days later, they did it again.

And again.

And again.

Chapter Text

Four eggs and some days later, a young female, a bird of his and Thor-bird’s kind, tried to lure Thor away.

Loki spotted her flying lazily over their territory in a way that showed off her carriage and fine plumage to its best advantage. She had dared circle back twice around the boundary of their territory, as if wandering aimlessly though her focus was clear, while Thor in turn watched her from their nest below, his body angled towards her in the sky.

Loki wasted no time in deploying sharp beak and cruel claws in chasing her off, driving very satisfied squawks from her as she fled. So focused on Thor was she that she did not notice Loki swoop on her until his clawed feet were already pulling her away from the clearing and his beak ripping tufts from her coat. Let her strut around another's mate with bald patches across her head!

Loki almost brought a few of her admittedly pretty green feathers back to the nest as trophies but instead flicked them contemptuously from his talons into the river as he swooped back to his nest and his babes and his mate. His mate.

Thor-bird was tending to their eggs when Loki swooped back into their nest with a flourish. He did not indicate he had noticed anything of the skybound kerfuffle between Loki and his erstwhile rival, but Loki knew he must have heard, if not seen, the encounter. Certainly the forest all around had fallen silent for a long moment afterwards, as if holding its breath to see what Loki would do next. With no little satisfaction, he settled down beside Thor, who was peaceably minding their eggs, and stared at him challengingly.

Thor gazed back impassively, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Good, thought Loki-bird. Had Thor paid her any heed, it would have been his feathers too in the river, and a cold night outside the nest.

Loki could not help but feel that despite no longer being equipped to do so, Thor-bird was smiling.

Not long after, Loki heard a familiar sound that he felt he had not heard in a long, long time. As if it was from another life.

It was from another life. Flying to a high branch, he looked down at the rough track that led to the clearing and saw four Aes figures on horseback approaching, calling his name and Thor’s.

Loki-bird panicked. They would take Thor! They would try to force him to go back! Loki would be left alone to raise their brood! Loki screamed at them, claws gripping the branch where his perfect nest sat, the nest which contained his beautiful babes, so near to hatching! He screamed, teetering on the branch, a furious terrified cry. Thor is mine. He is mine more than he is yours!

There was the beating of strong wings, and Loki looked up to see Thor-bird land on the wall of their nest. He seemed unperturbed, and paid no attention to the figures below, who had fallen silent. Thor checked on their brood, gently turning an egg slightly to make sure the chick within continued to grow large and healthy. He half-leaped, half-flew up to Loki-bird, tapped his beak reassuringly and curved his neck around Loki’s in a strange sort of hug that he had not done before.

Loki calmed, his fears settled by Thor’s attentions, by his lack of urgency in responding to the invaders. They could not be a true threat if Thor was ignoring them. Loki could hear them chatter quietly amongst themselves in their own way of talking. He was vaguely aware that he should be able to understand them, but he did not wish for them, and their world, to impinge on his world now and so he dismissed their talk as just formless chatter. His world was his nest, his chicks, his mate, his tree, his clearing, his forest. He would have preferred to pretend that these invaders did not exist, but here they were, wanting to lure his mate away.

These four, these companions of Thor, were proper rivals for Thor’s attention. Truly, he was Loki’s more than he was theirs, and they all knew it....but he was theirs before he was mine.

He could not help but worry as Thor-bird leapt from the nest and rode the breeze to alight on a branch of their tree just out of reach of the four. The female...Loki knew her name, once...spoke in that chattering way of theirs, and Loki thought he heard Thor’s name in it, and another name he recognised, Odin. Had Thor’s sire sent these companions to demand Thor’s return? Well, Loki would not help him do so if that was what Thor decided to do. If Thor was leaving, he was leaving as a bird.

Thor leapt down onto the woman’s inviting outstretched arm, and Loki could hear him chittering, a soothing sound he was not sure that humans could understand anymore than birds could understand human speech. Thor-bird looked up the tree towards where Loki-bird sat, fretting.

The eyes of the humans followed Thor’s gaze, and they saw Loki in his green and golden brown coat of feathers, glaring at them fit to kill. The fat one raised a hand awkwardly as if in greeting, and dropped it quickly, clearly unsure. Loki screamed at them again to let them know whose territory they were in, whose mate they were speaking to, whose tree this was!

Loki calmed a little as Thor-bird took off smoothly from the woman’s arm and landed beside him, caressing him with his neck again in that strange way. He cooed at Loki and rubbed at his beak with quiet reassurance until Loki’s agitation passed. Loki looked at over at their nest, at their eggs, and then back at Thor.

Why had he been worried? Thor would not leave him, would not leave he and their babes to fend for themselves. It was not in Thor’s nature, no matter what his form, or what other demands were made of him.

A tendril of guilt spiralled in Loki as he remembered that Thor probably had little true consciousness of the choice he was making. If he could understand what his friends were saying, would he choose to leave?

No matter. What was done was done, and Thor had made his choice.

Thor nudged Loki, clearly wanting him to go to the humans who still waited beneath their tree. Well, it might get rid of them if he did so and made it clear that they were not needed here. Loki flew down to the branch by them, but did not look at the four figures standing below him. They were not welcome! The woman chattered again, sounding concerned at first, but growing more annoyed as Loki continued to stick his beak in the air as if making a survey of the clearing while completely ignoring the Aes just below him.

She said his name loudly in a querulous tone, and Loki decided he had had enough. Without once giving them the benefit of acknowledgement, he decided to answer a well-timed call of nature. Relieving himself in a dramatic fashion, he then flapped his wings and took off into the air as his waste splattered on the ground in front of the horses with a satisfyingly wet sound. He heard the fat one laugh uproariously as the woman huffed in annoyance and disgust.

Back in the nest, Thor-bird somehow managed to roll his blue eyes at Loki, though Loki could tell he was amused. The four intruders seemed to have got the message, and turned their horses to leave.

As they trotted away, the woman looked back, and Loki screamed at her again, though this time it was not quite as aggressive. He is only mine, and mine only. For now. She was wise enough to accept that. Just as well. Loki was not sure that Thor would be so blaisé if Loki had ended up disposing of strands of her pretty brown hair in the river.

The next days and nights passed with rising and setting suns and moons, and the moon waxed larger. Thor was as attentive to the nest and to the eggs and to Loki as ever, as the pulse of life within the eggs became stronger and steadier. That is...in almost all of the eggs. One egg had struggled from the start, its spark of life a little dimmer, its responses to Thor and Loki’s warmth and love a little slower than the others.

Thor paid special attention to it, making sure to move it most gently, being especially careful to give exactly the right amount of warmth and protection to it. Nevertheless as its siblings grew stronger and more hardy, it stalled, and just as Loki had expected it to begin to chafe at the restrictions of its shell, the faint spark of life within began instead to fade away.

The others were strong and healthy and showed all signs of hatching soon. Loki knew in his heart of hearts that their most fragile babe was not going to join them in this, but it did not stop him from hoping.

The day of the first hatching was a joyous one, nonetheless. Thor and Loki watched in surprise as a tiny but heavy-seeming fluffy head finally poked through the shell after a long struggle. They had both felt the movement of the chick inside the shell over the last two days as they had each sat incubating the eggs, but it still seemed astonishing that an independent life had somehow developed and emerged there. Not an independent being, though, no, the newly emerged chick was very much dependent on them, her parents.

Their days were now dedicated to hunting for each other and for their helpless, always cheeping, always demanding, babe, while keeping the other eggs warm and safe as evers, and keeping the nest clean and dry. Loki returned from the hunt on the second afternoon in a light shower to find Thor standing above the eggs, wings extended to also protect their daughter from the wet. She seemed snug and warm where she was, cheeps alternating from demanding to content, still barely moving about the nest on her little legs as yet. Loki fed her first, and looked at his mate and their three remaining eggs, and marvelled at his luck and his life.

The next two eggs hatched in quick succession, two male chicks this time. The three were almost identical, except for their eyes. The female had Thor-bird’s blue eyes, the males had red eyes and green eyes, respectively. Otherwise, they were indistinguishable fluffy white-ish balls with large heads, though they would cultivate coats of green or golden-brown as they grew. Loki and Thor both continued to roost over the final egg, hoping for a happy outcome, despite the complete fading away of any sign of life within.

Loki nudged the egg gently one morning, one final time, in the hope of some kind of signal, but there was none. Thor watched him, stoic, strong, though sadness was evident in his blue eyes. Loki flew off to forage after, and took a little more time than he might, on a usual morning.

When he returned, there was no sign of the fourth egg, none at all, just three hungry chicks demanding a meal from their mother. There was no sign of Thor either, though Loki knew he would not have gone far, or for long, leaving the chicks alone. He fed their living babes, who squawked and squabbled over the berries he proffered.

Thor returned shortly, and lay his neck against Loki’s in that soothing way.

The next time Loki left the nest to hunt, he did not look at the small, carefully constructed mound of fresh earth at the foot of their tree.

That night, Thor-bird huddled closer than ever to Loki and their babes. Together they were one, as well as five.

The next morning, Loki flew down to the mound that sat at the foot of their tree, and mourned. Thor watched him from the tree-top, for when he was needed.