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“Thor.” Loki called from the doorway of his brother’s room. It was dark out, and the only light came from Thor’s large balcony window. The moonlight shone dimly, not at all enough to make Loki feel even slightly less afraid.
“Thor,” he called again, and this time, the blond rose quickly from his bed.
“What is it?” He said groggily, but Loki expected as much.
“I’m… Can I… It’s too dark.” Thor threw his gaze to the window, and Loki knew it was probably plenty of light to Thor.
“It’s light enough here.” Thor whispered back, settling on his knees and wrapping his quilt around himself.
“My room. It’s too dark in my room.” Loki looked behind him, seeing the shadow of his own thick blanket trailing the floor. He held it closer to his body, and prayed to himself, or his mother, or perhaps his father that no monsters would get him while he stood here. He knew they wouldn’t dare once he was safely in his big brother’s arms, but for now, it was anyone's game.
“Oh,” Thor muttered. “You should come in here then. You’ll feel better here.” He opened his arm, gesturing for Loki to go to him. The younger brother pulled his own quilt inside, closing the door shut with such a loud thud he wondered if it might have traveled all the way to his parents room.
He didn’t need to be asked twice to climb into bed, and it wasn’t a minute later he was settled next to Thor, the two of them under their shared covers, creating enough body heat to cook a person.
It was too hot for Loki, almost everything was too hot for him, but never cold enough. But it was okay, because Thor had said monsters don’t like heat, and they’d never get him if he wrapped himself up like this, hot as can be.
“You could ask Mother,” Thor whispered once they’d both settled, facing one another. “About a spell, a light spell. You would not be so scared if you could do a light spell, brother.”
“I asked.” Loki whispered, his own face inches from Thor’s.
“Then she did not show you.”
“She showed me,” he said, even quieter than before.
“Then,” Thor began. He always had a way about him, a way he spoke. Like he was sure of everything, like nothing he said could be wrong. “Then you’ve forgotten how to do it.”
“No,” Loki frowned, wondering if he should reveal his weakness. Thor nudged him then, and Loki remembered he could tell his brother most anything without worrying if he’d be mocked for it. “I could do it now.”
Thor was silent, a rarity, and Loki knew he was to continue. “Mother says it’s about confidence.”
Loki breathed while Thor hummed. He was thinking, also a rarity. “The stories make you apprehensive.” Loki huffed, he didn’t begin to know what that meant, and he was surprised Thor did at all.
“The monsters are the ones scaring me.”
“The monsters are not real, brother. The stories are what you know them by.”
“The monsters are real.”
“Who says so?”
“Mother.” Loki said, like the quarrel was done.
“Father says Mother can sometimes-”
“-And Heimdall.”
“Oh.” Thor sighed, Loki grinned. He’d won. “The monsters make you afraid, brother?”
Loki cleared his throat. "Only a bit."
Loki felt a hot hand on his ear, felt it squeezing his face and he worried Thor might forget his strength. “When I’m king, I’ll hunt the monsters down and slay them all,” Thor promised. “I won’t let them scare you ever again.”
“Do you swear it?”
“On the Allfather.” Loki giggled, and Thor pulled him into his chest. It was hot, and Loki’s sweat was mingling with Thor’s, but he was safe, and not apprehensive, and he’d won an argument.
It was a good time to sleep.