A/N: Okay, I'm going to take a moment to rant, because I just lost an entire chapter's worth of edits. There are some obvious things that FF . net needs to look into and I just added another one to my list: Don't allow the system to log me out if I'm IN THE MIDDLE OF EDITING! I get to the end of the bloody edits, hit 'save' and it says 'please log in' and gives me no option to save all my work... I love this site in that I love the people on here, but there are some basic bits that desperately need attention.

(Now on to my author's notes that I hope I can remember from before)

I forgot how much I love rain and thunderstorms... When it doesn't rain for weeks and weeks on end and then a glorious thunderstorm rolls through North Texas, most people go crazy, I just become absurdly happy and go wander around in it. Loving the cooler temperatures... Poor Loki. He might not have to suffer through the heat as much if I didn't. Poor guy.

Please note: This is part of my Thor and Loki series. If you'd like to see the order they should be read in, check out my profile!

Heavy Choice to Make

Though the pressure's hard to take

It's the only way I can escape

It seems a heavy choice to make

And now I am under all

~ Never Let Me Go, Florence + the Machines

He was sure that the summer heat had never been this bad. From as early in his childhood as he could remember the hot months were his least favorite. It wasn't as if Asgard's weather was prone to wild fluctuation, but every few centuries they would receive a stretch of time that was, in the second prince's opinion, unbearable.

Master Rowen had told him time and again that some Aesir were simply born with weaker constitutions than others. The heat had always drained him of energy and left him listless and at times feverish, but Asgard's lead healer seemed confident, at least to Loki's face, that it was not entirely abnormal. Everyone had one thing or another that affected them poorly.

"Not Thor," the younger prince had groused more than once when this had been the only explanation for the illness.

"Even Thor," Rowen had answered with a knowing smile.

To Loki, though, it had been one more thing to make him stand out from the other boys his age. It was one more strike against the smaller, weaker brother of the mighty Thor. It had sent him into fits of tears as a child - not that that had helped at all - and then he'd tried to hide it from everyone. That, of course, had made it all the more embarrassing when his knees gave out and he'd hit the ground, fever spiking in the hottest days of the summer months. Thor had joined in with the laughter the first time, and even the second time, but by the third time that summer - the last summer it had been unbearable, some five centuries back - he'd grown afraid when his younger brother did not stir. He had never mocked Loki for it again.

They were older now, and the younger prince had long since given up trying to be what he was not. He spent the warmer days entirely indoors, as far away from the heat as possible. So he sat and read, studying and learning in his rooms, ignoring anything that might have led him out into the heat.

He barely had time to glance up at the knock at the door when it burst open, Thor traipsing in. He was all grins that afternoon, dressed for practice in the arena and drenched in sweat. Loki wrinkled his nose at the smell. "Please, come in, brother. Waiting for an invite is not customary at all."

The blond rolled his eyes. "I knocked."

"You do realize that it is meant to ask permission to enter, not to simply announce," the younger prince growled irritable, returning to his book.

Thor's mood seemed to dampen at the sharp words and he perched himself on the arm of his brother's chair. "You've been hiding away," he grumbled sulkily.

"Have you been outside? No, don't answer that. There's no need. Do you mind keeping your distance? You smell."

The thunderer laughed as the dark haired trickster sent him tumbling off the arm. He knelt there, arms folders against the place he had just been sitting and set his chin against them. Blue eyes looked up, amusement shining. "You can't stay cooped up as you have."

"I'm perfectly fine indoors," Loki grumbled. At his brother's pleading look he sighed and set his book down on the small table. "You know I shouldn't. I'd much prefer not entering into all stages of embarrassment this afternoon."

"The heat hasn't made you ill in years," the elder prince stressed.

"Because I know to avoid it."

"What if you've outgrown it?"

"I have not."

"You don't know that. You haven't tried going into it."

"Master Rowen-"

"Doesn't even know what was wrong. He is a talented healer, I'll give him that, but Father is not wrong that Mother coddles you. You know it's on her order that Master Rowen advises you to stay in during the hot months,"

"Is that what Father says?" Loki asked, voice undecided between irritable and hurt.

"Come, brother, just you and me. No one else. If you begin to feel ill all you must do is say so. You know I will listen."

"You never do, why should now be any different?"

Thor looked stung by the words and shifted, his blue eyes more earnest than Loki thought possible for one to be. "I promise I'll listen. We'll go to the small pond in the woods, just like when we were young. Please, Loki?"

The second prince felt his resolve melting away and he glanced towards the pulled drapes, the sun only breaking through in a few places. It had been years since he had had grown ill, and Thor had a point that they could not be sure he was still affected by it if he steered away from it every year. "Fine," he said at last and his brother leapt to his feet, grabbing Loki's arm and pulling him up as well. The trickster only squirmed for a moment as he was pulled into a crushing embrace.

"You'll see. You're a son of Odin. Weakness is not in our blood."

It was meant as encouragement, Loki knew, but he couldn't help but feel the unease begin to take hold.

Halfway there Loki was growing more and more certain this was a terrible idea. Though every time he thought he might voice it to Thor he couldn't quite bring himself to. While the heat drained him, it seemed to invigorate his brother and the blond seemed thrilled to be on their way.

Thor stopped abruptly and turned when he realized his brother was lagging behind. His gaze was worried, as if second guessing his own enthusiasm at the site. Loki offered his best smile, though he hardly felt he was convincing the other. "We're almost there, no reason to turn back now."

Blue eyes studied him and the thunderer frowned. "Perhaps-"

"No, you don't get to say that now," Loki said as he pushed past him. The water, at least would be cool. They'd visited the spot in their youth, their mother often taking them to the deep-shaded pond.

Thor nodded and they continued, though he slowed his pace to match his brother's. They reached the hidden pond some few minutes later, the younger prince strangely red in the face and short of breath. He sat on a fallen log as Thor kicked his boots from his feet and stripped down to the barest amount of clothing for the swim. Loki followed suit, though much slower and with more care for for his garments than the elder prince showed.

"You don't look well," Thor said bluntly as he stood at the water's edge.

"I'll be better once I've cooled down."

The blond grinned widely as he stepped closer, and, without warning, picked his younger brother up and tossed him into the water.

Loki resurfaced sputtering and cursing, though it did not last as Thor jumped in as well, water flying all around them. The trickster couldn't help but laugh as the blond prince came back up, hair flattened across his face. He sank down again, the water pushing it back. He began kicking up, but floundered a bit as he felt thin hands on his shoulders and that allowed him to top just long enough to catch a breath before he was back down again.

The brothers wrestled around, Loki able to get the upper hand on Thor once or twice while in the water. Laughter echoed through the surrounding woods until they had worn themselves out, each taking to the bank.

Thor glanced over. "How are you feeling, brother?"

"Well," Loki answered cheerfully, using his magic to cause the water to splash his brother in the face. "Perhaps you were right afterall. I just needed to push through it."

Thor returned the splash, though his with a swinging arm and a mini-tidal wave that completely submerged the younger prince. He waited for him to swim back to the side from where the wave had knocked him. "I told you, did I not? The sons of Odin have no weakness in them!" He laughed loudly as Loki rolled his eyes.

"Idiot," the younger prince murmured as he pulled himself from the water and laid face up on the grass, staring at the thick trees above them. It was quiet and peaceful there, and he tried to remember how long it had been that just he and his brother had had quite as much fun as they had that day.

Loki had returned to the palace without further incident, tired and dragging, but Thor had been a bit as well. He'd seemed happy and well when his elder brother left him, so when the blond prince woke to a strange sound coming from the room next to his, it caused concern.

Thor shifted from his bed, padding over to the far wall where a small door still remained, always closed as the had grown much too tall for it. It had been their secret passage to each other in their childhood, one that had been built when the two toddler princes had thrown tantrums over being split into two rooms. Now its only use was to allow bits of sound through that might not have made it past the thick walls. Usually it was limited to the strained sounds of a nightmare the younger brother couldn't free himself from, but tonight as Thor knelt and listened, he could only cringe and feel guilty at the painful coughing and choking sounds he could hear.

After a moment of thought, weighing his brother's dignity and pride against necessity, he stood and left his room, pulling at the door to Loki's. The younger prince had told him once that he had placed wards at his door to keep people from entering without permission, but he'd made an exception for Thor as he knew his brother would be too stubborn and would try to get through them anyway.

Loki was not visible when he first entered, but Thor heard a terrible sound coming from the washroom. He peered in, seeing him leaned over the side of the tub and retching anything he'd eaten that day into it. Finally he stopped, easing down onto his knees and resting his head against the cool white tub.

"Loki?" the blond called quietly, not wanting to startle the younger prince. He saw him tense, but gave no other sign that he'd heard his brother as he began another round of choking and coughing. Thor lingered back, unsure of what he could do. His brother's hair was plastered down with sweat, his skin tinged red as if he'd been burned by the sun, and he was gripping the sides of the tub so tightly that his knuckles had turned white against it. His breathing came in short, pained gasps and Thor finally knelt beside him, unsure what he should do.

"Just... give me a moment," Loki managed, suddenly leaned over the edge again. His green eyes were squeezed tightly shut and his entire body tensed as if he were trying to keep from from following the same pattern he'd been at. He seemed to win this round and he eased back down again, looking worn.

Thor reached a large hand to the side of his face, feeling the warmth radiating from it. He frowned and stood slowly, motioning for his brother to stay where he was. He returned a moment later with a glass of water.

Loki accepted it with trembling hands and choked on the first couple of sips. Slowly, he coaxed it down his raw throat until his stomach began to roll again. A groan escaped his thin lips and he found worried blue eyes staring at him. "I'm alright," he said, or at least tried to, but the sound barely made it from him. He painfully cleared his throat and forced himself to take another sip of water. "I don't think... I've outgrown it."

"Perhaps not," his brother agreed and hastily took the glass as the younger prince lost what he had drunk over the side of the tub. He frowned deeply. "How long have you been in here?"

Green eyes flickered back and Loki ran one thin hand across his mouth. "I don't know. A while."

Thor nodded. "When you're well enough, I'll help you to your bed and fetch Master Rowen."

"He can't do anything for it," Loki mumbled, eyelids drooping dangerously. He had been leaned up against the tub, but slipped suddenly and would have hit the floor had his brother not reached out to catch him. He gave a pained moan and Thor tightened his hold on him.

"Easy, little brother," the thunderer said softly and stood, balancing the long-limbed trickster against his broad chest and setting the half finished glass on a small washroom table. Worry bubbled in him as Loki curled closer.

He moved slowly out into the bedroom, careful not to jostle the younger prince too badly. This had been the first day Loki had left the palace in a week's time and Thor was kicking himself for being the one to pull him along. He should have trusted his younger brother.

A small sigh escaped the god of thunder as he eased his brother into the bed. Loki was already drifting off, but had a deathgrip on Thor's sleeping shirt nevertheless. Large hands eased thinner fingers open and he squeezed them gently, setting the limp hand down to the bed before turning to make his way to the rooms closest to the healing chambers.

"Thor?"

The blond turned and noted the glassy look to his eyes and the red tint to his face. His brother reached out to him, looking strangely young. "Don't go," he pled, his voice strained.

"I need to fetch Master Rowen. I'll be right back."

"It'll pass," Loki promised, still trying to catch hold of Thor's fingers in his own. He finally did as his elder brother took a step closer. "Please stay."

Thor looked at the door, indecision pulling at him, but his brother's grip finally made him nod and ease down to the bed. Loki curled into him, using his shoulder as a pillow and the elder prince winced at the heat radiating off of the youth that usually was so cool to the touch. He found himself holding onto his brother, offering what little comfort he could, as they both fell into an uneasy sleep.

TBC

A/N: I really meant for this to be a one or a two-shot, but it may be three or four. I don't expect it to get as long as the others, but this is just how it's turning out lol. Can't argue with the characters. They tell the story, right? :)