A/N: This was inspired by a Tumblr post by sparkingstoryinspiration titled "Write a story including a set of three things." I picked optimist, ink stains, and secrets. Dunno how well I did on the optimist part, but I like this one-shot. And, shockingly, there's practically no angst. I never do that. I just went fluffy for once.

Note: This does take place between chapters 4 and 5 of my Lokyrie fic, New Beginnings, but you don't have to read that to be able to read this. There will be a few references to Lokyrie, though.

Loki sat in the mess hall with Thor. His brother was shoveling down his lunch like he hadn't eaten in days. Loki paused, his laden fork hovering in midair, and watched him, one eyebrow raised. "Hungry, are we?"

Thor froze with his lips closed around the fork, glancing between their two plates. He finished taking his bite and chewed in that agonizingly slow way everyone did when they were under pressure. "Um… maybe."

Loki laughed, taking a much smaller bite of his own. "I get it, Thor, I do. Reading all of those reports while Val and I teach the civilians how to defend themselves – it must be so stressful. You must work up such an appetite."

Thor glared. "I do more than that, Loki."

"Do you?" Loki asked teasingly. "I haven't noticed."

Thor rolled his eyes and changed topics. "Speaking of Valkyrie, how are you two doing?"

Loki squashed down the urge to stretch, suddenly reminded of all his aches from their sparring sessions. "We're good. I think. I don't know what we are, though."

Thor patted his hand, smiling softly. "You'll get there. You two have a lot to work past."

"Have we-" Loki started. "I mean, are we-?"

"We're good, Loki," Thor promised. "If there are any rough spots, well, we'll smooth them out when we get to them. From now on, whatever happens, all that matters is that we stick together. Deal?"

"Deal," Loki agreed, warmed by his brother's reassurance.

"We're different, though, aren't we?" Thor asked musingly, lifting his hand to tap his eye patch.

"Would you stop obsessing over that?" Loki rebuked, leaning forward to knock his hand aside. "You look fine. You look like a king."

"It itches," Thor complained.

Loki sighed. "Get Stark to make a non-itchy one when we reach Earth, then."

"Good idea," Thor said.

"I do have those," Loki pointed out, lowering his hand.

Thor caught it. He turned it over, looking at its edge. "Loki, what are those?"

Loki looked where Thor was looking, and noticed a few small black splotches. Ah. Shoot. "Nothing."

Thor arched an eyebrow. "That wasn't suspicious, brother."

Loki tugged his hand free, licked his thumb, and began scrubbing them off. "They're just ink stains, brother."

"Ink stains? Why are there ink stains on your hand?"

Loki shrugged. "The reason doesn't matter."

Thor pointed his fork at him. "It does if you're avoiding saying it."

"I'm not avoiding-"

"Then tell me."

Loki pursed his lips, looking away from his brother. He had kept this secret for a thousand years. It wasn't harmful or anything, just… not something his warrior older brother would approve of. "It's not important."

"Please, Loki," Thor insisted gently. "I won't mock you, if that's what you're concerned about. Like I said, we're different now."

Loki ducked his head, rubbing his hand to avoid fidgeting. "I draw."

"You… you what?"

"You know, pencils and pens and paper," Loki said, not looking up. "I paint, too."

"How long has that been a thing?" Thor asked.

Loki was shocked to hear no judgement in his tone, only surprise and genuine curiosity. Hesitantly, he glanced up. "Since we were fairly young. Sif taught me."

"So that's where you two kept disappearing to," Thor realized, speaking slowly, as if facts were just now becoming clear to him. "I thought you two were courting."

Loki huffed. "She was only ever interested in you, Thor. All the women are."

"Valkyrie isn't," Thor reminded him. "And I didn't do it on purpose. Much."

Loki relaxed a little, tension easing from his shoulders. "It's still annoying."

Thor went to flip his hair, awkwardly transitioning to scratching his head upon remembering that it had been chopped off. His tone still managed to be lofty as he joked, "It takes effort to be the most attractive man in the Nine Realms."

"You have muscles," Loki countered. "That does not equal attractiveness."

Thor lifted his arms, flexing dramatically. "I beg to differ."

"Beg all you want – it doesn't mean you're right."

Thor crossed his arms. "Fine."

Loki smirked triumphantly, taking a drink of water. Which he promptly choked on as Thor asked, "Can I see your drawings?"

"No," he rasped when he could breathe again.

"Please?" he pressed cheerfully, adding in puppy eyes for good measure. "You must be good, after all these centuries."

"Flattery will get you nowhere," Loki muttered.

"I'll let you sit on my throne," Thor cajoled.

"Thor-"

"Pretty please?" he continued, batting his eyelashes and resting his cheek on his hands.

Loki leaned back, nose wrinkling in disgust. "Just- If I say yes, will you stop looking at me like that? That's creepy."

"Maaaaaybe."

"Fine! Fine. Just. Stop."

"Ha!" Thor said triumphantly, straightening up. "Eat up, and then we'll go."

Loki tried to eat as slowly as possible, but Thor saw right through it. He tried the same tactic with walking, but Thor just clamped a hand on his shoulder and urged him onwards. So, far too soon for Loki's liking, they were arriving at his quarters. He pushed the door open and shut it securely behind them, locking his art away from other prying eyes. Then he knelt down, reaching under the bed to carefully pull out the pad of paper someone had found lying around a day or two after they boarded the ship.

Thor held his hand out, but Loki tucked it behind his back. "No mocking."

"I won't. Promise. Unless you draw, like, bananas and grapes."

Loki stuck it in Thor's hand before he could think better of it. "I do not draw bananas. Anymore."

Thor chuckled, turning his attention to the pages. Carefully, he began flipping through them. The first few had been abandoned, ruined by the pen jerking across the page thanks to turbulence. After Loki had learned to cast a stabilizing spell no matter how smooth the flight felt when he started, they started looking like the projects they were.

"Loki, these are amazing," he breathed, pausing on a black-and-white cityscape of Asgard. It was detailed, right down to goats on the streets and the stars in the sky. The palace rose up left of center, buildings sprawling out around it. Thor brushed a finger over its contours, grief sparking in his gaze.

He flipped the page, finding a portrait of Val, still in monotone. She beamed brightly, her face tilted to the sky. Her eyes were fiery and dreamy all at once, stars sparkling within them. Her hair billowed behind her, loose and waving elegantly in a breeze. Tearing his gaze away from her beautiful face, Loki looked at Thor, expecting some sort of joke about being a stalker.

There was none. There was only awe, Thor's jaw hanging open a little. "Damn. I thought she couldn't get any more beautiful."

Loki twisted his hands together, trying to shrug the comment off. "It's not that good."

"Are you kidding me?" Thor exclaimed, switching to a picture of their parents gazing happily at each other, one of Thor and his Avenger friends hanging out, and one of Thor and Jane holding hands and looking out over Asgard together. "These look better than the portraits Father paid a fortune commissioning. And they spent hours staring at us, while you've hardly seen some of these people."

Still seeing only stunned honesty in Thor's expression, Loki felt himself relaxing. "Really?" he checked, for once not really caring that he sounded exactly like a baby brother seeking approval.

"Really," Thor confirmed, his gaze lingering over Jane. "Have you colored anything?"

"Uh, I don't have a lot of paint, but there's one…" Loki said, taking the pad back and flipping through the pages until he found what he was looking for. "Here."

Thor took it back with the utmost care, his eye going wide as he saw the page's contents. "I remember this," he murmured. "It was-"

"-the first time Mother let us on the bridge," Loki finished.

She was front and center, sitting on the edge of the bridge with her feet dangling in midair, her features younger than Loki last remembered, but she was still the kind, caring woman that had raised them. Her right arm was wrapped tightly around child Loki, who held a fistful of her light blue dress for safety as he peered at the water below. Her left hand reached for Thor, their fingertips brushing as he tried to wander off, ever the adventurer. Her expression was the amused exasperation both brothers had quickly become intimately familiar with in their boyhood. Heimdall and Father stood behind them, their own expressions fond as they gazed upon the young family. Beneath the group glimmered the bridge itself, its various hues blended together on paper as seamlessly as they had been in reality.

Thor chuckled, some of the noise's mirth lost to reminiscence. "She was holding you so tightly because you tried to shove me off, but I shoved back and you were the one who almost fell off."

Loki smiled, crossing his arms. "I hadn't perfected the trickster art yet."

"No, but you were already very good at stabbing me."

Just to mess with him, Loki conjured a small knife. "I still am," he joked, twirling it between his fingers.

Thor edged back, trying to look wary but not quite succeeding. "You wouldn't want to get blood on your art, now would you?"

Using his magic, Loki plucked the papers from Thor's grip and settled them on the bed, well out of reach of any blood splatter. "That's no longer a problem."

Thor kept up the pretense a moment longer, then burst into laughter. "Gods, I've missed this, Loki," he gasped between laughs, clapping an arm around his shoulders and tugging him close.

In a wave of green light, the knife disappeared as Loki laughed too, leaning into his brother's grip. He had been right, back in the mess hall – they were different. They were orphans, Loki was a Frost Giant, Thor had lost his hair and eye, and Loki had done awful things. But, in this moment, it was all worth it. The ego and jealousy that had once stood between them, poisoning almost their every interaction, had disappeared – after everything they had endured, they were closer than ever.

"I missed this, too."

"Hey, can you draw-"

"I can summon that knife again in a heartbeat."

"...Never mind."