Loki had a smile on his face as he sat at the breakfast table early, a cup of tea cradled in two delicate hands. His composure was graceful as ever, back and shoulders straight, chin up, chest forward, legs bend in a perfect angle under the table. He was even dressed for the day already, in black skinny-jeans that flattered his long legs and a green cashmere sweater. Loki's hair was slicked back in its usual way. Yet despite his perfect demeanor, mischief had already been prepared and the only thing left was to wait for his victims to arrive.

His mother, Frigga, was the first to arrive downstairs, dressed in a silk white bathrobe, her hair in a braid. Frigga smiled and kissed Loki's forehead: "Morning, sweetheart. Have you rested well?"

"Fairly, mother. Have you rested properly yourself?"

Frigga laughed lightheartedly as she took the seat across Loki: "I haven't rested properly since I've met your dad; you know how loud his snores are."

Loki's smile widened, recalling how Thor and he used to sneak up on their room at night only to run away in a fit of giggles for their dad sounded like a boar when he snored: "That I do."

Thor walked in while Loki and Frigga were laughing, his own smile immediately appearing as he took in the sight. Much like Frigga had done to Loki, Thor kissed his mother's forehead: "Good morning, mother." After which he went over to Loki and gently squeezed the younger's shoulder: "And brother."

Thor sat down on the chair next to Loki, his long blonde hair messy from sleeping, he was still wearing the garments he had likely worn to bed, black jogging pants and a tight grey shirt that showed off his muscles. Loki and Frigga bid Thor a good morning as well. After that Thor broke into a story about the dream he had. About his friends and himself, how they went off to camp at an abandoned farm and how in his dream they had found a hidden dungeon under the building. Thor was loud as he told his story, making grand gestures while laughing loudly. Frigga laughed and Loki looked at his bigger brother with a smile on his face.

They grew silent when Odin entered the room and Thor and Loki quickly rose, greeting their father in unison: "Good morning, father."

Odin nodded his head in approval, which was a sign that they could both sit down. Once they were all seated they finally started breakfast. Odin immediately reached for his coffee and took a sip before deciding he'd have to add some sugar to it. After he had added it he put the cup back down, leaving it to rest while he took a slice of toast and buttered it. Thor had immediately reached for the yoghurt, sweetening it with sugar. Loki watched with a grin on his face as Thor took a spoonful of yoghurt in his mouth while Odin took his cup of coffee and took another sip. There was about a moment of confusion, disgust apparent on both of their faces and as Loki burst out into laughter, they realized that Loki had replaced the sugar with salt, again.

Before Odin or Thor could do something about it, Loki had risen from his chair and ran off, his laughter echoing through the house as he locked himself in his room, hearing the angered call of his name. Muffling his laughter with a scarf, Loki crawled into his closet like he had done many times after angering Odin, knowing that if the latter found him, the fun would be over quickly. To Loki's horror however, he heard his door being broken in and before he could do something about it, the closet doors opened and Odin dragged him out by the collar of the sweater. Loki held his hands up, honestly scared for how angry Odin looked: "I'm sorry father; it was a mere jest, merely to have a bit of entertainment early in the morning."

"It has not only been this morning, Loki, how long will you keep these childish pranks up?! You are almost an adult. You are 17 years old, 18 in a month, grow up. You should take an example on Thor sometime."

Loki snorted at this, completely forgetting who he was up against: "Please, my grades have always been higher than Thor's. He should take an example on me."

Before Loki could comprehend what was happening Odin had tossed his younger son on the bed, lowered the fashionable pants and was swatting at Loki's pale white ass with something hard, bruising the skin immediately. Loki gritted his teeth as it was all he could do to bear the pain and the humiliation, only letting out an occasional gasp or whimper at the more painful swats. When Odin was done he yanked Loki back up and pulled the skinny jeans back up, the tight fabric hurting against Loki's skin. Loki looked dazed, shocked at his father. Odin then gave the boy a hard slap across the face: "Tell your mother or Thor about this and I will make sure you feel much more pain than this."

And then Odin was gone, leaving Loki on his own. He quickly took of his skinny jeans and went over to the bathroom, turning around in front of the mirror to assess the damage. The skin was deep red and some streaks of purple were sprawled across it… worst of all was the sting, it hurt. Loki took a deep breath and quickly changed into some more comfortable clothes. Loose fitting grey slacks and a black hoodie. When he changed he grabbed his schoolbag and flung it over his shoulder like only he could. Moments later Loki stormed out of the house, calling out to Thor that he would walk to school.

Loki thought that being at the school would clear his mind up, if even just a little, instead being at school made him even more at a loss of what to do, Loki stood near his locker, hesitatingly roaming around it before deciding to take his insecurity to the restroom instead. It was empty, luckily. This was when Loki got sight of the bruise on his face in the mirror and he could only lean closer to the mirror, fingers ghosting over the bruise, surprise apparent on his face. He hadn't thought the slap was all that hard, nor had he noticed the bruise earlier.

Suddenly the door opened, causing Loki to snap his head up and towards it, looking like a deer trapped in the headlights. Worst of all was the person standing in the doorway, Tony Stark. Loki's hands grabbed the shoulder band of his bag tightly, as if it was his safety line. Tony however, did something unexpected and closed the door behind him, blocking it, his expression seeming to be filled with worry: "Whoa.. dude, what happened?"

Loki huffed and turned his gaze away: "None of your concern."

"Maybe not, but your expression only is giving away that you are freaking out."

Loki looked insulted and was about to open his mouth when Tony asked: "Fought with Thor?"

"No… worse," Loki said, "with father."

Tony frowned: "Your father did that? What did Thor say about it?"

Loki shook his head: "He doesn't know. It's not a big deal either, just a bruise. I deserved it too."

Tony reached out and tilted Loki's chin up so he had a better view of the bruise, making a face: "When Thor sees he'll freak out."

Loki shrugged and gently brushed Tony's hand aside: "He doesn't need to find out that father did it. I'll make something up."

Tony nodded: "Are you all right though?"

Now it was Loki turn to frown: "I thought you were a genius, I just said a second ago that it wasn't a big deal."

"Certainly am, which is why I am asking if you are all right. I mean mentally. You look a little out of it, like you are not quite sure what to do," Tony stated, having noted how defensive Loki's usually elegant stance was.

Loki smiled thinly: "It is merely shock that you see, I am processing the past events still."

Tony coughed awkwardly: "Well… if you need someone to talk to I'm available for that."

Loki rolled his eyes: "Right. We both don't want me to talk to you so that's not happening, Stark. I do hope you realize that what I told you here should not in any way reach Thor's or anyone else's ears. I know where to find you if you do decide to spill my secrets."

Loki sent a brief glare at Tony before pushing past him and headed towards the library.

Loki was reading quietly, ignoring the way people were glancing at him and whispering about him. He sat on the chair that basically had his name on it. When a student was sitting on it when Loki entered, they always left as they saw him stride over to the bookcases nearest to the chair. Poetry, that's mostly what he liked to read, once he found himself a preferred book the armchair was always empty and he could settle down on the chair comfortably.

This time however Loki could not quite settle down, his backside stinging even in the comfortable chair. He put up a good pretense though, head cocked to the right ever so slightly, eyes gliding over the paper as if he was actually reading, composure perfect as he managed to conceal the discomfort he was experiencing.