"I... Am... HUNGRY!" Volstagg shouted.
"Me too..." Thor groaned.
"Groaning's not going to help." Loki spoke, rolling on his back.
The five children were laying out on the lawn outside the palace. They had finished riding lessons for the day, and had spare time. They thought that they would be riding the horses, so they had a light breakfast. But they ended up just tending to the horses instead, so they were very hungry. Unfortunately, Frigga was hosting a salon for the ladies of the court, where children were strictly not allowed. They tried to go into the kitchen, but it was locked. The chefs couldn't hear them outside.
"It feels like it will." Fandral said.
Sif poked Volstagg's belly with a stick. "We can go to my house..."
"It's too far." Loki spoke.
Fandral sat up. "How about mine?"
"Last I recall, your mother hates cooking for more than four people." Hogun pointed out.
"My mother's in the salon." Volstagg sputtered, rolling onto his stomach. "What are we going to do?"
Thor mumbled and mulled it over in his head. A room full of women... How to sneak past, or... Get them to leave. He looked at Loki.
"Hey, brother." He rolled over to him.
Loki blinked at him curiously. "Yes?"
"Didn't mother teach you to do simple illusions last week?"
"Uh... Yes? Why are you asking?"
"EEK! A MOUSE!"
"NO TWO MICE!"
"FIVE!"
Frigga was talking to her elven friend, Lilde, when she heard the ruckus. Suddenly servants and ladies were screaming. A colorful flurry of fabric dresses ran out of the ballroom. Servants with nets and guards with arrows rushed in. Frigga sighed.
"For the love of the Nine Realms they are only MICE! Put away the arrows!" She created a small ball of fire in her hand. "Hold your noses."
"I'll leave you." Lilde spoke with a curtsy.
Frigga paused to calm down a sobbing Lady Fulda, who was crying about some traumatic experience, which allowed the children to slip in... Loki was on the roof beams, staying hidden while continuing to guide the mice into the kitchen, which resulted in the hoots and screeches of the chefs. The others were hiding under table cloths, scooping up whatever food and stuffing it into clean bags. Volstagg couldn't wait, he stuffed whatever he grabbed into his mouth, even if it was half-eaten (Which made Loki and most of the others wince).
"We better not push our luck, this is enough." Sif whispered.
"I agree, let's leave." Thor replied. He whistled three times to Loki.
Loki gestured by doing a two-finger salute. He made the mice disappear, and the others went out the windows into the bushes. Loki stood and balanced himself.
"It's only a couple feet away... I can go a little faster." One part of him said.
"No you don't! Slow and steady wins the race!"
"Are you gonna listen to him? He's a total sycophant."
"That's not even the right definition, cur."
"Bastard."
"Stuffy."
"Mama's boy."
"OH HEL NO."
"Will you both shut up? I'm almost there..."
Loki felt the sole of his shoe slip on one edge. With a light mumble and crash, his leg hung off the edge. His heart beat faster. He wasn't afraid of heights, oh no, but he was afraid of falling. Pulling his leg up, he got a glimpse of the ground. The ladies were reentering, his mother at the head with a ball of fire in her hand. Loki squeaked in fear to himself as he got back up and went out an open window.
"Brother, are you hurt?" Thor called from the ground.
"No, but I saw mother."
"Hurry, come on. We can go eat in the maze."
Loki climbed down from a rope they had tossed up, and landed safely on the ground. They all sprinted off into the rose maze on the far corner of the garden. After following the left wall they reached a dead end. It was a small marble gazebo, a couple benches and a little bird bath within. The children plopped themselves down on the benches and dug through the food.
They managed to scrape together enough steaks to have one and a half each, half baked potatoes, a couple slices of bread, cheese, and a bottle of cider. They munched down to their hearts content, giving the remnants to Volstagg. Loki sipped away the last of his cider, content. He laid down next to his brother.
"That actually went well." He said, wiping off crumbs on his cheek.
Thor nodded, and smiled. "Hey Loki, I have something left in my bag."
"What is it?"
Thor grinned as he pulled it out. It was a baked good, shaped like rigid dome, topped with a gracious amount of frosting.
"A sweet roll!" Fandral cried out.
The others surrounded him in envy. Even Hogun looked at him with a bit of jealousy. Thor grinned as he held it up.
"We all did well, but honestly, I think Loki deserves it." Thor spoke.
Volstagg flopped down on his behind. "Well... He did make the mice."
"It would be fair." Sif agreed.
"Really?" Loki smiled brightly. "Thank you brother."
Thor dropped it in his hand. Loki squealed and smiled at it. Then looked at his brother, who looked a little dim in the eyes. Loki frowned. He used both of his hands and split in awkwardly in half.
"Here." Loki said. "You came up with the plan."
Thor smiled as he took the half. "Thank you, brother."
The pair laughed as they took bites in unison. They swiftly finished, allowing all the children just rest lazily.
"So... Do you think Heimdall will tell our parents what happened?" Volstagg asked.
"Do you think he really cares that we made a mess in the hall to get food?" Thor replied.
"Yes, in fact, he does."
They all jolted up. Much to their horror, Frigga was before them. With crossed arms and narrowed eyes, she pointed at them. Several guards came and took everyone but Thor and Loki. The pair shook in horror as their mother stomped toward them.
"What do you have to say for yourselves?"
Loki looked around nervously. "Well... We..."
"WE WERE HUNGRY!" Thor shouted as he began crying. "THE DOOR WAS LOCKED! IT WAS MY IDEA! DON'T PUNISH LOKI AND THE OTHERS." Thor fell on his knees and looked at her hopefully. "Please."
Frigga rolled her eyes. "Tears won't work on me, young man. You may have come up with the plan, but no one stopped it."
"We're sorry mother, we really are." Loki spoke.
"You'll be even more sorry when your father hears about this."
"NO!" Thor and Loki yelled.