A/N: First drabble, hope you enjoy! Any reviews/comments/suggestions welcome, for this piece or any future pieces!

Content: Young Loki, angst, the moment where it all starts going wrong...the 'beginning' of Loki's breakdown.

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters


Day 1: 'Beginning'.

Loki and Thor had always done everything together; joined at the hip; as close as can be, brothers and best friends. They played together, ate together, attended lessons together and more often than not crept into each others rooms after everyone else had gone to bed and spent a few sleepy moments laughing and whispering together before falling asleep, two bundles wrapped up in the same sheet, snoring together. Their maids always found them like this in the morning, but never said anything, never rebuked them; they just smiled because no one had ever seen such love and affection between two boys as there was between the two Odinsons.

Growing up meant growing into themselves, and although there were clear differences in their personalities and demeanour, they still remained as close as ever. Thor was loud, confident, a fantastic fighter, excelling at martial arts, interested in history and war; he was popular, with many friends outside the palace. Loki was smaller and quieter, with no real interest in physical combat; he wasn't as strong as his brother and he didn't enjoy the fights, preferring instead to lose himself in books and the arts, specifically the practice of magic and enchantments. Whereas Thor was the golden boy, practically shining, centre of everyone's attention, Loki was his darker shadow, always on the outskirts, enjoying his own company. But the boys loved each other for their differences, and for who they were, they didn't see either of themselves as superior or inferior.

But that wasn't true of everyone.

It was the little things that Loki began to notice, the little things that pricked at his conscious and caused a momentary stab of pain in his otherwise enjoyable life. The way their 'friends' would always call for Thor, only greeting Loki if he showed up alongside his brother. The way their servers offered Thor first refusal of every meal, after Odin and Frigga, passing over Loki even if it was one of his favourites. The way their swordsmaster always praised Thor, but criticised Loki, making jests about his scrawny arms and weak stance. The only thing that Loki excelled in was his academic studies, and that hardly won him any recognition at all, because people were used to him being clever, used to him getting the best marks. Consequently, whenever Thor did something even a little over his usual (lower) standard, he was praised extravagantly, while Loki sat nearby and wondered where his prize for the last 8-years-plus-and-counting had been. For although Loki used to see the differences between himself and Thor, they never bothered him, not until he realised that they seemed to bother everyone else.

And even this didn't hurt him really, not properly, not until the one day he realised that they bothered the one person who he had always counted on, the one person who had always made him feel good about himself, the one person who always made an effort with him and always made sure he felt loved and included.

Thor hadn't meant to slight Loki, hadn't meant to upset him; he had merely woken up, got dressed and set off to meet his friends who were waiting outside for him; they were going on an adventure into the forest and had packed up knapsacks for their journey, with enough snacks and games and supplies to keep them occupied for days. Loki woke to the sound of laughter trailing up to his open window, and he rose sleepily out of bed, wondering what the excitement was about. He was just pulling his cotton undershirt off when he caught site of who the group outside his window was, and he stopped abruptly, a lump rising in his throat, his hands curling into the fabric of his shirt. Thor was there, and Sif and Volstagg and Fandral and Hogan, his little group; although now it seemed they were Thor's little group and he didn't belong anymore, because he hadn't known there was a trip planned and Thor had never mentioned it and neither had any of the others and no one had invited him. He hadn't even had chance to accept or refuse the adventure, he had been overlooked, forgotten and abandoned by the people who were supposedly his friends. More than that, he had been forgotten and abandoned by the one person who could have made that OK.

As tears fell silently from Loki's eyes, he realised that it wasn't the knowledge that they didn't want him that was causing that stabbing ache in his chest. It wasn't that they had said no.

It was that they hadn't said anything at all.


Hope you enjoyed the first drabble! Also check out my ongoing FrostIron fic, Doors Open From Both Sides, on here and on my tumblr - .com :)