Between all the doting and training the young prince of Asgard had been put through, it was a wonder how Thor ever found the time to simply play. Despite its seeming impossibility, the sight of his brother running around with his many friend in the palace gardens was not foreign to Loki. In fact, it was much more frequent than he liked, seeing as how his wonderful brother, who already received far more praise than himself, always forgot to include Loki.
Thor, the favorite son.
Not that Loki would want to be there, of course, he wasn't the kind to be wielding around fake swords and saving little boys in wigs posing as fair maidens. No, his days were spent inside the palace. It was lavish, and there was always someone there to talk to if he wished. He could not shake the feeling though that, for him, no one really seemed to be there, so he retreated to books.
Thor, the favorite son.
Still, the occasional need to escape the palace tugged at him. On one particular afternoon, he had finished his lessons early, and had not even had to stay after for punishment as he had gone without a single prank, a great accomplishment for the young boy. With nothing else to do besides sit on the couch in his chamber and stare out at his brother enjoying the garden, he decided to pay him and his group of friends a visit - welcome or not.
No one paid him any mind as he exited the palace and walked onto the ground. The yells from Thor's friends signaled that they could not be far, and Loki barely had to walk before he saw the group. To him, it seemed like a bunch of boys wrestling, poking each other with fallen branches. He knew however, that in their heads every boy wore a shining suit of armor while fighting on the greatest battlefield of all. He watched them for a few moments before catching sight of another boy sitting somewhat away from the tussling group. Decorated with a straw wig and grass skirt, Loki realized the boy had been chosen as the fair maiden for the day. Curious to know what had brought the boy to this unfortunate fate, he proceeded cautiously in his direction. With Thor and his friends far too busy to notice him, and no where close to rescuing the maiden, Loki took the liberty of keeping him company.
He was not far form the boy when he caught sight of Loki, and in an attempt to be friendly, Loki let out a hurried "Hello!" In place of the desired warmth was a surprised shout.
Not quite silver-tongued yet.
Their eyes met for a moment, both distinct shades of green, but the other boy turned away with a slight blush and obligatory wave.
Loki stood there for a few moments, wondering what to do next. Though the sounds of the fighting boys could be heard clear in the background, the air between these two boys was silent and full of tension. Still a few feet away from the boy, Loki decided to break said silence.
"So why are you the girl?"
It was a blunt question, but this time the other boy shrugged and answered, "I volunteered."
From his slightly guarded tone, Loki knew the boy expected him to laugh.
"Oh," Choosing his words carefully, Loki made an attempt to not offend the boy, as he sensed something different in him from the others, "Actually, I rather like it."
"Really?"
The sudden energy and surprise in the boy's voice took Loki off guard, but he nodded in reply anyway. Seeing the boy brighten, Loki decided it would be alright to take a seat beside him. Silence again, though this time the type of silence that is no longer filled with tension, but inquiry. Loki moved to introduce himself.
"I am -"
"Loki, of course," the boy looked puzzled, as if Loki's name was as simple as knowing the color blue.
"I suppose you know that because of my father?"
"That, and Thor mentions you all the time."
Mentions. That's all he had, no invitations. It didn't matter anymore.
"Then who are you? Thor hasn't mentioned you to me," Indeed, Thor never spoke of his other friends to Loki. The boy's spirits suddenly dropped, and Loki wondered if he had taken personal offense to his previous statement.
"Avaldr," he quietly answered.
Wishing to brighten the boy up again, Loki moved back to his original topic, "Are you always the lady?"
"Most of the time," replied Avaldr, who still seemed weary of Loki, "I'm just not a big fighter."
"Oh."
Looking at Avaldr, Loki could see a definite size difference between him and his playmates. Although they were still young, Thor and his friends towered over Avaldr, who was much closer to Loki's own size. The two sat in silence again, their attention being capture by the smallest legendary battle in the history of Asgard unraveling in front of them. It didn't take long for a plan to begin to brew in Loki's head.
He'd always been particularly gifted with mischief.
He left Avaldr's side to walk over to the nearest tree on the grounds. It was like any of the other trees that surrounded the field of the garden in which they sat, yet still somehow spectacular. In fact, the entire garden had a perfection about it that was unattainable to any being of Midgard. Even the grassy area in which his brother stomped around was beautiful. Regardless, it did not stop Loki from reaching up and snapping two branches free from the tree. He carried them back to Avaldr, who had been watching him in curiosity, and held out one of the branches.
"No one would suspect a maiden to attack warriors," said Loki, with his yet-to-be infamous, mischievous smile.
It took a moment for the plan to register in Avaldr's head, and another moment of clear hesitation, but he soon reached out for the branch.
"Why do you have one then? You're not a maiden!" He joked, and watched as Loki mulled it over. In the next second, Loki had taken the straw wig from atop Avaldr's head, revealing short, golden, curly hair, and placed it on his own. He paused when a slight laugh escaped Avaldr.
"Is something wrong?" Loki wondered if he had made a mistake and managed to look more ridiculous than Avaldr had.
He had no reason to worry though, for he was met with a smile, "No, actually, I rather like it."
Maybe Loki rather liked him.
The two hid their branches, and waited for Thor and his friends to finish their battle.
It was just before dark when, finally, victors emerged from battle. Among them, as Loki had predicted, was Thor, who always seemed to be on the winning side. Every game ended with them saving the maiden, so as they looked around for where they left Avaldr, Loki saw his brother catch sight of him. Thor's friends soon took notice of the other maiden who kept Avaldr company, holding back laughs that were fighting to the surface. Only after Thor had burst out laughing had the others followed, as if making sure it was okay.
"Loki!" Thor said, calming his laugh, "What are you -"
He charged. Loki ran, branch in hand, straight at the group of boys. The rustling sound from the grass skirt Avaldr was meant to wear signaled he was not far behind. The duo had managed to knock down three of the boys before they realized what was going on.
"That's not how you play!" Thor whined, and picked up his own branch to join in the second battle of the day. Loki ignored his brother, and continued to fight besides Avaldr as the other boys began to fight back. The majority of the two maidens' damage had already been done, however. Now that the stronger boys were at it, they barely stood a chance. Loki managed to knock one more boy down, but was immediately disarmed by Thor. Avaldr, seeing this, ran at Thor.
He'd overestimated his own strength. In a matter of seconds, he had hit Thor, lost his balance from the reaction force, and was soon joined by Loki on the ground. That was the day Loki learned he was not meant for close-combat battles. Surrounded, their defeat was obvious. Thor looked at Loki in slight disapproval, while his friends gave little shouts of victory. With the sun continuing to set on Asgard, the group dispersed, leaving Loki and Avaldr still on the ground.
He thought it would work.
The two sat there, recovering from the fray, when Avaldr turned to Loki, smiling.
"That was fun!"
Loki, taken aback by his statement, looked at him, confused, "But we lost."
"I expected us to," Avaldr admitted, getting up and stepping out of his grass skirt, returning to his normal pants-wearing self. "It was nice to have a friend to fight with though."
Maybe he was someone's favorite.
Loki paused and then, still clad in his horrid straw wig, admitted that, yea, it had been nice.