The meeting could not have adjourned quickly enough. Loki walked to the door, fighting a throbbing headache leftover from the spectacular hangover he'd had that morning. However, it had not pushed the desire for alcohol out of his mind. Perhaps I still have some mead at home, he thought. The walk from the great hall to his house was long on normal days, though it was even longer on days when he was hungover. He didn't even bother to look up as he sulked through the halls.

After what seemed like hours, he finally approached the doors of his house. They were plain, unlike the doors of the other houses. A proper family was needed to obtain a family crest. Loki no longer had a proper family since Angrboda had left him, taking the children with her. Should have seen it coming, he thought regrettably. The marriage had been formed more on lust than real love; and had been formed far too young. They had only been married for five years, but it was just long enough to produce three children.

"My, aren't you a sight?" a voice behind him made him wheel around, which he regretted a moment later, as the entire corridor was now swimming. Frigga now stood in front of him with her arms crossed. "Mother!" said Loki as cheerfully as he could. "How may I be of service to you?" Frigga snorted. "You could start by sobering up," she replied flatly.

Loki attempted to act surprised. "I beg your pardon?" he asked. "I am quite sober this morning!" Frigga rolled her eyes. "You know that I know very well that you are only partially sober this morning, and are no doubt going back inside to get drunk again," Loki attempted to open his mouth to argue, but Frigga cut him off, "Don't you dare argue, you know I can see through your lies!" Loki lowered his head, out of both defeat and his hangover. "Yes, Mother," he said quietly.

Loki sighed and picked his head back up. "So is my sobriety all you ask of me this morning?" he inquired. "Unfortunately no," replied Frigga, "I have more to discuss, shall we go in?" Loki froze as Frigga's words sank in. He could not remember the last time he'd had it cleaned. "I- I do not think that would be a good idea," he said quickly.

Frigga raised her eyebrows. "Why not?" she asked. "Is it dangerous?" Loki looked from the door to his mother. "Well, no," he answered slowly. "Then we go in," she said firmly. Loki sighed and opened the door.

The house was, of course, filthy. Frigga's eyes widened when she entered. Clothes, books, old dishes, and even old mead and wine bottles were strewn about the place. "Loki, when was this last cleaned?" she asked. He lowered his head again. "I cannot remember," he said guiltily. Frigga sighed. "I think it would be best if we were to sit down," she said.

Loki flopped down on a bench with and undignified thump, not bothering to remove the piles of clothes from it. Frigga picked some books off of a chair and took her seat. "Now," said Loki, massaging his temples, "what exactly did you come here to tell me?" Appearing the complete opposite of her son, Frigga sat in her chair, back ramrod straight, looking quite composed.

"Firstly, I came to tell you that your drinking must come to an end," she said. Loki rolled his eyes. "And that I have made sure that it will," she continued. Loki snorted. "Have you, now?" he asked. "Yes," replied Frigga, stiffly. She was reaching the end of her patience with her youngest son. "I came to tell you that I have ordered the local pubs and distilleries to never serve you as long as I see fit. This also applies to the great hall," she continued.

"Fine," huffed Loki. He then eyed a cabinet on the other side of the room. Frigga followed his eyes. Realizing his mistake, Loki's eyes snapped back to Frigga. With a flick of Frigga's wrist, the cabinet doors flew open, revealing several sizeable bottles of mead.

Frigga stared at Loki with wide eyes. "Loki, what has gotten into you?!" she asked in amazement. Loki rolled his eyes. "You know damn well what has gotten into me," he replied lazily. Frigga looked at him with a worried expresion. "You are not well," she said, "The Loki I know would not have revealed his secret so carelessly."

Loki glared at his mother, suddenly angered. "Do you expect me to run across the realms causing myhem after that retched woman ripped my heart out?!" he raved. "I mean, why don't I just pop on over to Jotunhiem and pester their king for a while?" Frigga's eyes flitted away from her son. "You know that is not what I mean," she said softly.

Loki had held his gaze on his mother. "What do you mean then, Mother?" he asked. Frigga took a deep breath. "It has been five months, Loki," she said, "you should have healed at least a little by now." Loki seemed to stare her down. "Five months," he said quietly, "Five months," he repeated. "Five months!?" he exclaimed. "I was with her for five years!" His expression softened. "Five years," his voice cracked, "and three children." Had Frigga blinked, she would have missed it; a solitary tear made its way down Loki's cheek. "Loki, dear, are you crying?" she asked gently. "No!" he snapped.

Frigga's eyes began to water as she looked up at her son. She remembered the day that Loki had burst into her house four years ago, brimming over with excitement. He had come to tell her that Angrboda was pregnant. All of the light that had been in his eyes that day was gone now. Any happiness that had accompanied the little girl that followed was gone as well. Frigga's heart sank as she remembered that day. It hurt even more when she compared the past Loki to the one standing before her.

His eyes were ringed with dark circles, his hair wasn't combed, clothes were wrinkled. The Loki she knew was never so unkempt. The Loki she knew didn't have such a broken look in his eyes. "Loki, I'm so sorry," she said as she wrapped her arms around her son, who returned the favor with a tight embrace. The smell of alcohol on him burned her nose, but she did not care. "I am sorry as well," he said softly, "I know you are only trying to help."

Frigga released her grip and took a step back. "Yes, that is all I want to do," her eyes darted to the ground as she thought of how she would relay the next peice of news. Loki's headache had apparently become to strong for him, and he flopped back on the bench.

"Is this all you have come for?" he groaned. Frigga returned to her chair. "I am afraid not," she said woefully, "We have extremely important business to discuss." Loki raised an eyebrow. "If it is so important, why was it not discussed in the meeting?" he asked. Frigga's eyes darted to the floor. "I feared you might have an outburst," she admitted. "Go on, then," said Loki, skeptically.

"As you know, the southern farmland areas have been rather unhappy with our leadership as of late," said Frigga. Loki nodded. "Yes," he said, "I heard they were forming a rebellion. Although it would seem as though this was our own doing," he admitted, "we have been rather unfair to them." "Such was my own conclusion," continued Frigga, "Odin and I met with their leader and were able to stave off a civil war."

Loki stared at her incredulously. "How did you manage that?" he asked. Frigga shifted in her seat uneasily. "It was not easy," she said, "we negotiated for quite some time. Finally we appointed Kjell, the leader, as a council representative for the region, and we gave him a good bit of gold as well."

"That doesn't sound so bad," mused Loki. "I am not finnished," said Frigga "He has a daughter, Sigyn, whom he says refuses to marry any suitor he presents her with. He has become quite frustrated with her, and wishes her to marry into as high a status as possible. Since he was still dissatisfied with our offer at the time, we offered him the highest status we knew of," she paused and swallowed nervously, "a prince."

The terrible realization hit Loki like Thor's hammer. He was now the only unmarried prince. "Y-you promised me!? " he sputtered angrily. "No! No, I won't accept!" "Kjell threatens war if all of his demands are not met. The man has a very strong influence on these people," Frigga tried to make her case, "a heavy bride price has already been paid, and Kjell wishes Sigyn to be married within the next month."

Loki buried his face in his hands. This was certainly not helping his headache. Frigga was right, though. He had heard of the man's ability to rally followers, and it rivaled that of Odin. He was clearly only doing this for personal gain. The bastard can get rich and dump off his daughter at the same time, he thought miserably. Loki knew this was not the sort of man that needed to be bargained with, but he knew as well as Odin and Frigga did that if he were to be executed, he would become an even more dangerous martyr.

"Fine," Loki groaned, "I'll do it, but this is not helping my drinking problem." Frigga sighed with relief. "Thank you, Loki," she said, "you have done a great service to Asgard." Loki let out a humorless chuckle. "Right," he said sarcastically, "this should be fun." Frigga stood up. "The house will need to be cleaned," she instructed, "I will send some servants to come by. And you can start sobering up." With another flick of her wrist, the bottles in the cupboard vanished.