Title: By Example

Fandom: Thor/Norse Mythology

Rating: G

Summary: Based of the prompt 'Loki has to discipline one of his children and fails utterly because CUTE'.

A/N: Fenrir and Vali are both from mythology, Aodh is an OC -but he will turn up again in my work.

By Example

"LOKI!"

Loki sighed as Thor's voice rang through the Palace of Asgard. Only one thing could set Thor off this badly. Loki, who had been reading in his private study, looked up in time to see his door open silently and three small figures darted inside to hide behind the fainting couch Sigyn loved to read on because she knew it distracted Loki completely when she did. Loki watched in amusement as the three disappeared, then looked around as Thor stormed into the room.

"Loki! Come and see what your children have done!"

Loki sighed and set his book aside to follow him. They went to the Throne Room and Loki stopped short as he looked around.

Somehow the boys had turned the Throne Room, once golden and glorious, now looked like a dark, dank jungle. Trees loomed up from the floor, leaves floated down from the tops, The buzzing of insects was almost deafening and the unseen birds chirped away with delight. Right in the middle, the golden throne remained. Except instead of regal Odin, there sat a one-eyed chimpanzee holding a stick.

"… that's not-"

"No, that is not father, he is out for the day, thankfully." Thor looked around and then shook Loki urgently. "Fix this before he comes back. I swore to him I would keep the boys from causing mischief and this will not be viewed in my favour.

The chimpanzee was scratching its nose with the stick. Loki swallowed every bit of laughter and simply said,

"You must admit, this is very good magic."

"LOKI!"

"All right, calm down!" Loki waved his hand and undid the illusion. He could taste his youngest's magic in this. Each of his children had a distinctive magical signature. This was definitely Vali's work.

"You had best discipline them too Loki." Thor said.

"Yes, I'm going to take advice from you about parenting." Loki muttered as he turned away. "I shall deal with my children how I see fit."

He went back to his private chambers and saw three sets of feet sticking out from under the couch. He shook his head and said,

"Come out from under there. We need to talk."

One by one they popped out. First Fenrir, with his shaggy dark hair, scrambled out and ran at Loki, bouncing around him excitedly.

"Did you see the monkey? Huh? Did you, did you, did you?"

After Fenrir came his youngest, Vali, who was trembling with excitement. His blonde hair caught in the light as he stumbled over and grabbed at Loki's tunic, tugging hard.

"I made everything like from the story you told last night! Did you see the trees, were they the right ones?"

Aodh was last, his wings catching on the frame of the couch, tugging himself free and looking around. He flexed his wings and lifted himself to Loki's height so he could fly straight into his arms and hook his hands around Loki's neck.

"Wasn't it funny athair? Uncle Thor's face was so delightful!"

"It was… very good magic." Loki admitted, patting Vali on the head and trying not to smile too much. "Your magic is getting very skilled."

Vali beamed with pride as Fenrir continued to run around Loki in circles, demanding to know if he saw the monkey.

"But you really cannot go around covering the throne room with illusions like that." Loki said finally.

Fenrir skidded to a halt next to Vali and Aodh stiffened his limbs so Loki would put him down. The three boys lined up and looked straight up at him with little determined faces.

"Why not? You did when you were little." Vali said calmly.

"You were the one we got the idea from!" Fenrir said, bouncing on his feet.

"And Uncle Thor has only himself to blame for the whole thing, since he was laughing that mere illusions no longer troubled him." said Aodh. "If he wants to be a good king, he must be aware of his faults."

"If Mama finds out you were giving us ideas she won't be happy about it!" Fenrir promised.

"How come we are not allowed to learn things the way you did?" Vali wondered with overly wide eyes.

"We must stretch our potential and discover who we are before we can become even better." Aodh stressed.

Oh dear… Loki felt his lips quirking in amusement. Each of his children had, for better or worse, gained some physical attributes from their mothers, but clearly they had all inherited Loki's talent for using words to their advantage.

Thor was doomed when the boys got older. He would never win an argument again.

For now though, his boys were still very young, and Loki had much to teach them.

"All good arguments. Very impressive." he said as he returned to his seat. The boys smirked in triumph. "However, you overplayed your hand."

As one the smiles fell and sulky confusion appeared. Loki chuckled and beckoned them over. They scrambled to sit and soon Vali was perched on his knee, Fenrir was nuzzling against his chest and Aodh was perched perfectly on his shoulder, with Fenrir hugging his feet.

"Now, if you want to win an argument, you cannot just throw a bunch of excuses at someone. Pick one, and drag it out, making sure every side of the argument is attended to."

The boys listened attentively to their father, as he guided them through this most delicate of arts.

He would deal with their irate mothers later.

A few days of calm passed. Then,

"LOKI!"

Thor was at his door again.

"What now?" Loki asked, not even bothering to look up.

"Your sons have-"

From seemingly nowhere, the three appeared around Thor, smiling up at him.

"We can explain!" Fenrir yelped.

"It's all perfectly sound." Aodh promised.

"If you will let us speak." Vali pleaded.

Thor looked from one face to another, looking slightly alarmed as he realised they had surrounded him.

"Uh…"

"You see Uncle Thor…"

Loki listened with pride as his sons took his lesson and used it to confuse Thor so badly, he forgot why he was upset with them and left holding his head. The boys leaned around the door to wave goodbye to him and then turned to Loki.

"How did we do Papa?" Vali asked, running up to him. Loki clapped, smiling with amusement.

"A most impressive display. Well done my boys."

They grinned. Then Fenrir sidled up to him,

"You know papa, we think we've learned so well from you that perhaps we deserve a reward."

"Oh do you now?" Loki smirked.

Three heads, two dark, one blonde, nodded eagerly at him. Loki laughed,

"What did you have in mind?"

Princess Sigyn had been attending her duties in Vanaheim for a few weeks, leaving her three sons, one by blood and two by love, with their father. She imagined they had caused a bit of chaos between them, but nothing too extreme.

She was not prepared for what she found.

"LOKI! You got them a dragon?"

"A baby dragon."

"Baby's grow up!"

"I know my love, precisely why I got them it. We do not want to deny them anything in these precious years."

As Sigyn watched Aodh try to teach the baby dragon to fly, she could not help but reach up and kiss Loki.

"You're a terrible example."

"Ah, but I'm so much fun!"

As the dragon sneezed flames and singed Vali's eyebrows off, Sigyn was not sure if fun was the most accurate term.

Not my best, but hey it was done in less than an hour, and just a little fun.

Night's Darkness