Chapter Text
Loki sprawls across the throne like it was made for him, as if it were always his. Loki sits there, an overconfident grin smeared across his face as his arrogance rolls off him in waves. He taps his fingers impatiently on the armrest as he looks at Thor - he’s clearly taken too long to say his lines.
“Well?” Loki prods, and Thor tightens his grip on Mjolnir, “How are you planning to save me this time?”
Loki’s words leave a bitter taste in Thor’s mouth, and he swallows thickly, sweat beading on his forehead. He looks at Loki - finally, truly, looks at Loki. He looks at Loki for all that he is, all that he will be - not what he was. It’s a weight lifted and a weight gained as the truth of it all collapses onto Thor.
Thor realizes, for the first time, that Loki is beyond saving… Thor can’t fix Loki. It hurts. It’s a deep, burning, crushing hurt, too. Thor didn’t want to accept it. He fought so hard against it. Funny - wasn’t Loki supposed to be the liar of the two?
“I’m not.”
And he doesn’t need to. It isn’t Thor’s job - it never was his job. Loki is not his problem to solve, his eternal struggle… Loki is his own problem. It will always be Thor’s task to clean up the messes Loki leaves behind, but the actual mess that is Loki was never Thor’s to disinfect.
“What?” Loki asks, almost nervous, sitting upright in his stolen throne.