Chapter Text
“I’ve… got… this!” Loki’s voice strains. He’s got both arms raised towards a large pile of boxes in front of him. Each of them is labeled according to their contents, with the words ‘Food’, ‘Hygiene’, ‘Clothing’, ‘Blankets’, ‘Mechanical’ or ‘Medical’ written across the side. The boxes levitate a few inches off the ground, but then quickly fall back down at the same time as Loki’s arms drop to his sides.
Loki examines his hands. A faint thread of green energy flows between his fingers. It flickers briefly before it dissipates into the air. This is the third time he’s tried and failed to lift the boxes using magic.
“You okay?” asks Thor.
“I’m fine,” says Loki, “it’s just… something feels off.”
“You’re probably just tired. We all are.” Valkyrie shrugs. “Look, let’s not waste any more time and just carry them back to the main hall.”
“It’s alright, Loki!” Korg gives him a pat on the shoulder as he walks past. “Don’t feel ashamed.”
Korg moves the boxes around until he has distributed them into four stacks of equal weight. He lifts the first one to hand over to Thor, then the second to Valkyrie, but when he gestures for Loki to take the third, the prince simply gives them a long stare.
The boxes are heavy. Loki knows this well.
After Thor discovered a storage room at the back of the Statesman, the four friends took it to themselves to gather as many supplies as they could find. They spent hour after hour loading boxes with all kinds of goods and delivering them to everyone on board.
Thankfully, though, it all went a lot faster with the help of Loki’s magic. With just a swift wave of his hand, he could pack a dozen items at once and take them down to the main hall faster than any one of them could’ve done manually. But as the day grew longer, his magic began to fail him.
Loki finally takes a deep breath and places both hands at the base of the stack being handed to him. But as soon as Korg releases his grip, the boxes slide down to the floor and Loki is caressing his left hand against his chest with his eyes shut tight in a wince.
“Oops!” says Korg. “Sorry, man, I knew your magic was weak but I didn’t realize you were physically weak as well.”
“He’s not weak, he’s hurt.” Thor sets his boxes aside and walks up to Loki. “Show me your hand.”
“I’m not hurt, I just didn’t get a proper grip on it.” Loki lifts his left hand and rotates it to display both sides. “See? I’m perfectly fine. Just tired. Long day. Perhaps we should just–”
“Lift your illusions, Loki,” Thor demands.
Loki rolls his eyes. A glimmer of light runs from his forearm all the way up to the tip of his fingers. His leather brace is gone, the cuff of his sleeve is burnt, and his once apparently unharmed hand is now red and swollen with several blisters along the palm.
“Eugh!” Valkyrie scrunches her nose in disgust. “That looks horrible.”
“It looks like the chicken Miek and I boiled for breakfast this morning,” says Korg. “It tasted about as awful as it looked.”
“Is that flesh?” Valkyrie’s finger wanders towards the wounds, but Thor stops her before she can poke at them.
Thor gently grabs Loki’s forearm to get a better look at his wounds. The burns extend over both sides of his hand and wrist. Fortunately, only the skin seems to be affected.
“When did this happen?” asks a concerned Thor.
“Summoning Surtur,” says Loki. “Didn’t get out of the way fast enough.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“There’s no need to worry anyone about something that’ll be healed by the morning.”
“It’s been a full day since we left Asgard. If it hasn’t healed at all since then, do you really think leaving it unattended a few more hours will make a difference?”
Loki pulls his arm away from Thor. The elder of the brothers proceeds to stack Loki’s boxes atop of his own and carries them out the door without problem. Loki and the rest follow closely behind.
“We’re getting these supplies to the main hall and then I’m taking you to the infirmary,” says Thor.
“I can go on my own,” says Loki.
“Oh, so you can simply pretend to go and cover it up with illusions again?” Thor scoffs. “No, we’re going together, just like the old times!”
Loki furrows his brow, “The old times? You mean the one time you accompanied me to the infirmary?”
“What are you talking about? It was more than one!”
Thor remembers exactly three.
“Father’s home! Father’s home!” a young Thor proclaimed as he ran to his mother’s room as fast as his little legs allowed.
News had spread among the palace of the Allfather’s return from battle that evening. And from the moment it reached the young prince’s ears, an immense joy radiated from every fibre of his being. Nothing in the world could ruin his day, not even the young handmaiden who chased him down the palace corridors, shouting something about how she had just dressed him in his finest robes.
Thor pushed the doors to his mother’s room wide open and found her sitting at her vanity desk, braiding her golden hair neatly to the side. She caught sight of him from the reflection on the mirror before her and smiled softly.
“Mother, is it really true?” asked Thor. “Is father really back?”
“Yes, he is!” Frigga gestured to her young child to come close, then proceeded to seat him upon her lap. “Are you ready for the celebrations?”
“Yes, mother.” Thor pulled the sides of his mouth wide open. “I even brushed my teeth all on my own!”
“And look at how bright they are!” said Frigga. “Now, Thor, you must remember that your father has just returned from an arduous and tiresome battle. So, he might not be able to run and play straight away. We must allow him to rest well tonight, do you understand?”
“Yes, mother, I understand. But, do you think he can still tell me a bedtime story?”
“Perhaps, but if he cannot, I promise to read you one myself.” Frigga planted a kiss onto her son’s forehead and gently placed him back onto his feet. “Now, shall we go meet our guests?”
The queen and prince walked down to the dining hall together. It was tradition that, on the night war ended, the palace would host a grand feast to honour their glorious warriors for fulfilling their duties to Asgard.
The palace had been adorned for the occasion with paintings depicting the fight for peace across the Nine Realms throughout history. Statues carved in the shape of Asgard’s bravest men and women were lined up along the corridors for everyone to see.
As the first stars appeared in the night sky, the palace doors opened to welcome the asgardian warriors back home. The queen took the time to personally express her gratitude to each one of them. And as the night grew long and the halls echoed with battle stories, the queen and prince remained by the main entrance, waiting hour after hour until, finally, a familiar figure emerged from the night shadows.
“Father! I’ve missed you so much!” Thor was the first to greet the king with a warm embrace.
“My sweet boy,” Odin knelt down to his level, “what joy it brings me to see you as well.”
“Where have you been?” asked Frigga. “We had begun to worry!”
The Allfather stood to greet his wife with a kiss to her hand. “My precious queen, you need not worry over me.”
“Even when you’ve lost an eye?” Frigga cupped his face in her hands. “What happened?”
“We may discuss it later. For now, call for dinner to be served for our guests and ask for our absence this night to be forgiven. I’m afraid we have more important matters to attend to.”
“You've just returned all the way from Jotunheim. Could these matters not wait until after you’ve had a proper meal and a well-deserved rest?”
“They cannot.” Odin spoke something into Frigga’s ear in a whisper so soft that not even Thor, who stood right beside them, could hear. But whatever his words were, they caused Frigga’s eyes to widen in shock.
“We must head to the infirmary at once,” said Odin, “I shall explain everything there.”
As the Allfather asked, Frigga gave the order for the feast to be celebrated without their presence, stating that their duties as king and queen required them to be elsewhere. She then kissed the young Thor goodnight and had her handmaiden escort him back to his room.
Thor watched with a frown as his parents left the palace without him. What happened, he asked himself, that was so important that they had to leave him all alone?
He slept through the whole night, knowing it would be the fastest way for time to pass. He woke up eager to hear his father’s stories over breakfast, only to discover that the only plate that had been set upon the table that morning was his own. He didn’t even feel like playing in the gardens at noon, nor did he ask for any books to be read to him in the evening. He waited and waited all day long for the king and queen to come back home.
Finally, when Thor was about to head back to his room for another lonely night, a pair of guards arrived to the palace with orders to bring him to the infirmary to meet with his parents. And for the first time in the day, Thor's face lit up with a smile.
Although, at the same time, he couldn’t help feeling a bit worried at the thought of his parents spending the entire day at the infirmary. He remembered his mother mentioning something about the Allfather’s eye the night before, and he only hoped it wasn’t anything too serious.
Thor was led down a hall where two more guards stood before a tall, wooden door with a pattern of tree branches engraved onto it. He recognized the design as Yggdrasil, The World Tree, from the stories his father told him at bedtime. The guards stepped aside and held the door open, allowing only Thor to enter.
The room inside was rather small and dimly lit. The first thing that caught his attention was what he believed to be a small tree at the center. Except, it was shaped rather oddly. The trunk of the tree was about as tall as himself, and its branches intertwined to form a wide basket with a dome of gold energy covering the top.
And there was Frigga, sitting on a stool beside the tree, with Odin standing at her side. There was a young healer in the room with them as well, though she was too busy making annotations on some charts she carried.
“I shall give your family some privacy. I’ll return in an hour.” The healer bowed and made her way out of the room. The doors closed behind her almost immediately.
“Mother, father,” said Thor, “is everything alright?”
“Of course, my love, I’m so sorry we left for so long.” Frigga gestured for her son to come close. “Come, would you like to meet your brother?”
The queen picked up the young prince and seated him upon her lap. It was then that Thor discovered that the tree at the center of the room was not a real tree at all, but rather a bassinet. Thor took a peek into the basket and saw a baby covered in green blankets, sleeping soundly.
“You mean… I have a brother?” said Thor. “How come you didn’t tell me before?”
“His arrival comes as a surprise to us all,” said Odin.
“He is a gift,” said Frigga, “from the Tree of Life itself.”
“He’s so… small,” said Thor.
“Yes, he is quite small,” said Frigga, “that is why he must stay here for a few days to recover his strength, and then we shall all go home together.”
Thor reached for the infant’s hand and caressed it in his own. The healing energy radiating from the golden dome over the bassinet made his arm tickle, and his laughter caused the baby to stir. Green eyes met blue and, for the first time in their lives, the brothers shared a smile.
“What’s his name?” asked Thor.
Frigga and Odin shared a look, one of those which speaks a thousand words without even having to say a single one out loud. Then, the Allfather gave her a nod and the queen spoke with a smile.
“His name is Loki.”