Author's Note: When I was writing this, I imagined Thor and Loki as young Teenagers.
Loki was standing in his room, looking through a pile of clothes, trying to find a clean pair of pyjamas, despite being on the verge of tears. Thor had been ignoring him again, and spending all his time in the weaponry, practising sword fighting. He knew very well that Loki did not enjoy fighting with weapons, or that he was any good at it. But Thor didn't seem to care. Loki spent most of his lonely time in the library, trying to improve his magic to show his mother. He had only started learning a mere 3 or so months ago, but already he could do some impressive tricks.
He picked out dark green trousers and a black tunic and placed them on his bed. Why did I tell mother I liked the colour green? That's literally the only colour of clothes I have now! he thought to himself, regretting that conversation with Frigga. He took his shirt off and folded it messily, dropping it on the bed. He grabbed the fresh tunic and threw it over his head, pushing his arms through the sleeves.
I don't think Thor even cares about me any more. a small voice kept saying in his head. He barely ever talks to you, but you won't accept it. You want his love. And there they were. The tears that he had been holding back came flowing now in a steady stream down his cheeks. He sat on his bed, hands now fisted muttering under his breath. "Damn Thor. I tried my best to be a good brother but you just pushed me out of your life." He whispered, tears falling faster now. "Why won't you just accept me!?" He cried, a lot louder than before. He slammed his fists on the bed and got up. Sighing, he took his trousers off and put on the clean ones. Loki grabbed the shirt and trousers off his bed and threw them into the corner, not bothering to put them in the basket for the maids to collect.
He climbed on the bed and sat with his legs crossed. There he sat for a few minutes, silently crying and thinking how he wished he could be with Thor. After drying his eyes with his sleeve, he reached to his pillow and retrieved a book he had borrowed from the library a few days before. He opened it to a random page and started reading. There he sat for hours, reading and practising and reading even more. This was what Loki would do most, if not every night when he went to bed. Frigga had told him that the latest he should go to bed was 11 o'clock, but Loki was often up at the early hours of the morning.
When he was feeling a bit fed up of reading (which was very rare), Loki put the book back under his pillow and decided to practice for an hour or so. He glanced at his clock and saw it was nearly half past one in the morning.
"Mother would kill me if she knew I was up" Loki muttered under his breath. "I can only hope no one comes in my room."
The first trick he thought he'd do was to play with the candles. He went into a drawer next to his bed and brought out a new candle. He plonked it onto his dressing table and lit it with a match. He stared at the candle and concentrated on it with all his might, then raised his right hand and flexed his fingers. No result. He released the breath he didn't realise he was holding and gave a sigh. Rearranging himself on the bed, he started the process again. At the moment he flexed his fingers, the flame lowered slightly, giving him a glimmer of hope, but again, nothing else happened. Loki gave a sigh of frustration and lay down on the bed.
Concentrate! He thought. You'll get no where if you keep getting frustrated.
He sat up on his bed again, being pushed by his own words. He shuffled to the edge of the mattress, dangling his legs off the side. He stared directly in to the flame, concentrating on nothing else and raised his right hand. With a flex of his fingers, the flame went out.
"Aha!" He said out loud in happiness. He immediately pressed his hands to his mouth, forgetting that he had to keep quiet. He got up and inspected the candle. He had done it! He had done magic! Setting it back down again with gentle hands, he got another match and lit it again. He placed himself back on the bed and started to stare at it again. With another movement of his hand, the flame went out again. Loki released a sigh of happiness and looked at the candle with a smile on his face. After a few moments, he reached back under his pillow and got out the book again. He flipped through the pages until he found the page titled Flames.He scanned his eyes over the words and started reading when he found the word lighting. After a couple of seconds, he set the book down with the pages open on the bottom, being held there. He looked back at the candle and this time raised his left hand. He clicked his fingers, being careful not to do it too loud, and watched in glee as the flame returned to the candle wick.
Loki sat there with the stupidest grin ever on his face. I can't wait to show mother and Tho- oh yeah. Why would he care? he thought, the grin fading from his face as quickly as it came. Why should I care if Thor loves me or not. It's not as if he ever will. He tried to put the thought aside to carry on practicing his magic. He grabbed his book again, looking at the next few pages. He stopped at a page showing how to conjure fire from your hands. He blew out the candle and put it back in his draw, then placed the book down in the empty space, smoothing the pages out with his hands. As Loki read, his index finger followed. When he finished reading the rather large paragraph, he tapped his finger on the page, thinking to himself. After a few moments, he got up and walked to the centre of his room. Don't want anything to catch on fire. He raised both of his hands and rubbed them together, just below his chin. Cupping his hands, he blew on them gently to get them warmer. Loki then rubbed the tips of his fingers together, needing them to be the warmest. Aligning his fingers of his right hand with those of his left, he swiped them quickly, making a small orange glow. He kept repeating this and the glow got bigger and bigger, brighter and brighter. After one last swipe, there it was! The flame! He held his hands near his head, his whole face being lit up. The grin on his lips came back again, bigger than ever, and he started laughing like a child with new toys. He threw his hands up in the air, making the flame float without being held up by Loki's fingers. With gestures of his hands, Loki could make the flame move and flow in the air, making it appear as if there was a river of lava above his head. It was truly mesmerising, and Loki stood there for a good fifteen minutes just watching the fire twist and turn above him. He heard footsteps outside his door and quickly extinguished the flame, holding his breath, hoping that the footsteps would move away again. After mere seconds, the person carried on walking along the hallway and through the main doors, putting Loki back into silence.
God, that was close. I have to be quiet! Loki thought, giving himself a stern look through the mirror on his wall. After sitting in silence for a few minutes to be sure no one else would be interrupting him, he walked to his wall and took down a painting he did when he was younger. It was a very badly drawn snake, with a strangely shaped tongue and a surprisingly long body. It was painted messily in various shades of green, starting at dark, almost black, to a very bright shade of green. Loki wasn't exactly proud of it, but Frigga had persuaded him to keep it. It's a terrible painting, but it will do for this. Not that I'm any better at drawing now. He thought, pointing a fact out to himself. If anything, I'm even worse.
He looked at it with gentle eyes, remembering the moment in his nursery, lying down on the floor, a pencil in hand. Thor was watching over him, laughing and playing with his toys, joking around with Loki. They were both smiling and happy, happy to be with each other, not ignoring one another. With a sad sigh, he carefully placed it on his desk, smoothing out the edges. He reminded himself on what to do to complete the spell, and got himself comfy on his chair. Loki stuck out his index finger and flicked the paper. The painting came to life, and the snake jumped off the paper. It danced around the room, making Loki jump up with glee. He started giggling and laughing, not caring if anyone heard him. Watching in awe, Loki got another painting out of his drawer, and did the same thing, this time with a raven. Watching the paintings made Loki feel so proud, and he couldn't wait 'till morning to show his mother how far he'd come with his magic.
Jumping around his room, Loki was laughing with a huge grin on his face. He walked around the room with spring in his step, reaching his hand up to touch the paintings. His hand went straight through them as if they were clouds of steam, but he could feel them. They felt like a stream of water, swirling around his hands.
As Loki was enjoying himself with his magic, Thor, on the other hand, was trying to sleep. With a grunt, he woke up to the faint sound of someone laughing, and the low thump of someone jumping. He reached over to his lamp and flicked it on, blinking his eyes a few times to adjust his eyes to the light. Grasping his blanket, he threw it off himself and swung his legs so he was sitting on the side of the bed. Thor sat there for a couple of seconds, trying to figure out who it was.
What the hell..? Who is laughing at this time of night? He thought, still feeling as if he was asleep. He placed his hands on the bed and pushed himself up, shuffling towards the door. With a creak, it opened and Thor trudged into the hall, walking along all the doors trying to find the source of the noise. After he walked past a few doors the noise became louder and clearer, and Thor knew exactly who it was.
Loki
Thor walked quicker now he know where he was going, and came up to Loki's door. With an aggravated sigh, he knocked on the door.
"Loki, I swear to the Gods I am going to kill you. I can hear you in my damn bedroom!" Thor whispered, trying his best to sound annoyed.
Oooh no.. Loki quickly stood still, hoping and preying Thor would go away.
No such luck.
"Loki, I know you're in there," Thor whispered, but still loud enough for Loki to hear him through the door. "Let me in!" He paused. "Or I'll tell mother!"
Damn.
With an aggravated sigh, Loki walked to the door, unlocking it with his magic. Thor traipsed in, looking half asleep but still annoyed. He clicked the door shut behind him and turned to Loki, looking him straight in the eye.
"What are you doing!? It's four in the morning and you're laughing and jumping around in your room!" Thor whispered loudly, slowly taking steps towards his brother. Loki shifted his feet, his pale white cheeks becoming a pale red.
"Please just tell me what you were doing." Thor spoke, sounding kinder after he noticed Loki looking embarrassed. Loki looked down at his feet before answering.
"I was practising magic..." He muttered, barely audible. Thor cupped his ear and turned his head.
"Practising. I was practising magic." Loki stated, making his voice louder. Thor gave a small sigh.
"You should be sleeping. You know mother would be angry."
"Yeah, well what about you?" Loki replied with an accusing tone in his voice.
"You're the reason I'm awake! I could hear you from my room, so goodness knows who else could hear you."
"Oh..."
"Yeah, oh." He paused. Looking back up at Loki, he said, "What were you practising?"
"Why does it matter to you?" Loki retorted, remembering how Thor had been ignoring him, all the bitterness coming out. Thor looked taken aback.
"I - uh - I just wanted to know. It doesn't matter though," Thor looked disappointed and slowly turned around to face the door again. "I'll just go back to bed..." He started walking to the door. As soon as Thor placed his hand around the handle, Loki reached forward and held Thor's shoulder.
"Fire." He answered.
"Fire?" Thor asked, turning around to face Loki again, and looking happier, said, "What do you mean?"
"I was controlling fire with candles and hands and then paintings, and brother, they danced around the room and it was just so mesmerising!" The younger brother chattered on, talking quickly with a grin on his face.
"Show me." Thor said, a gleam of excitement in his eyes.
"Wha-?"
"I want to see, brother! Show me your magic!" Thor wanted to see his magic! Loki's magic! Loki noticed how Thor had called him brother, something he hadn't done in a while. Stumbling over his own feet, Loki opened his drawer and, rooting through all the unsorted junk in there, grabbed the biggest candle he could find. He placed it in the middle of his desk and motioned for Thor to come over.
He looked at the candle wick, leaning in closer, focusing with all his might. He raised his right hand, quickly glancing at Thor, seeing a face full of anticipation. Looking back at the candle, he flexed his fingers, igniting the wick. Standing back up, he watched as Thor widened his eyes with excitement. Thor stood back up and patted Loki on the arm, "Do it again!" Thor said, an obvious tone of amazement in his voice. Loki did as he was asked and re-lit the candle, earning a smile from Thor.
"You wanna see something else..?" Loki asked.
"Yes!"
Walking over to his paintings, he picked the snake and the raven up and placed them on the desk in front of Thor. Thor looked at them for a few seconds then his face softened.
"I remember you drawing those," He said, with a gentle voice. "We were in the nursery and you were lying on the floor. You told me it was going to be the best snake in Asgard."
"Yeah, well," Loki started. "It looks more like Asgard's best cucumber." Thor gave a small giggle then looked at Loki.
"Well? Are you gonna show me?"
"Oh, right, yeah." Loki replied. "I forgot." He smiled. He pointed out his right index finger and flicked the snake first, then the raven. The paintings jumped from the paper, coming alive and dancing through the air.
"Brother, when did you learn this!?" Thor whispered, a big smile on his face.
"Ages ago." Loki said, as if it was nothing.
"Why didn't you show me Loki?"
"I just - you were always busy..." Loki looked away, staring at the floor. There was a moments silence before Loki heard footsteps and looked up again to see Thor's grinning face in front of his.
"Well I'm not busy now. Show me more!"
The grin quickly returned to Loki's face as he started rubbing his palms together.
"Loki, it looks like you're planning something mischievous."
"Well, I am the God of Mischief, brother, it's not exactly unlike me." Loki said as-a-matter-of-factly. Loki was known to play tricks on the maids and nurses, and often was caught pranking the people of Asgard, doing many things with his magic. Frigga often regretted teaching Loki her magic when she saw illusions of snakes in her bedroom and around the palace.
Loki continued to rub his palms together, then rubbed the tips of his fingers together, getting them warmer than the rest of his hands. Looking at Thor, he waited for him to signal he was ready to see. Thor nodded and concentrated on Loki's hands. Loki started swiping the tips of his fingers with great speed, as if he was lighting a match. A feint, orange glow appeared, and it grew stronger and bigger with every swipe. With one last movement, the flame appeared, flowing gently side to side. Looking back to Thor, Loki threw his hands up in the air. Thor gasped and stepped back, scared something was going to catch on fire, but Loki controlled the flames with his powers.
With movements from his hands, Loki could control where the flames would be going and when to grow bigger or die down a little. He glanced at Thor (who was watching with his mouth hanging open a little bit), and a smirk grew on his lips. When Thor least expected it, Loki jerked his hands towards him, sending the flames flying. The look on Thor's face was priceless as he realised what was happening. He ducked down, falling over in the process. Loki stopped the flames the moment they were going to hit him in the face, and whilst laughing so hard he couldn't breath, he extinguished the flames.
"Oh GOD - your - face," Loki was struggling to breath. "It was PRICELESS!" Thor looked up to find his face had not burned off, and it was in fact perfectly fine. He glared at Loki before pushing himself up off the floor.
"Brother..." He growled. "Don't you dare do that again."
"But your face!" Loki spluttered, holding his stomach with his hand. "Oh Gods, I'm definitely doing that again!" Thor's frowning face slowly turned into a small smirk, finding the funny side of the situation. He shoved Loki's shoulder, pushing him on the floor. He started tickling his belly, knowing that was his weak spot.
"No! Thor, no!" Loki cried, squirming and laughing even harder. "I can't - breath!"
"Payback!" Thor said with a big grin on his face.
"UGH! Thor!" Loki squealed, not able to stop laughing.
"Fine! Fine," Thor stopped tickling Loki and pulled him up to a standing position.
"Just don't do it again!" Loki smirked at Thor.
"Of course, brother, I would never do it again..." Thor grinned at his brother and Loki started giggling again. They both sat on the bed and laughed with each other, both forgetting the fact that it was 5 o' clock in the morning. The laughter died down into quiet sniggers and then silence. Needless to say, it was awkward.
Thor glanced at Loki, and he thought of what he said earlier. You were always busy. Why had Loki thought that Thor was too busy for him. If anything, Thor often got bored when Loki wasn't around.
"Loki... What did you mean before... that I was always too busy?" Loki shifted in his seat. "I'm never too busy for my little brother." Thor nudged Loki playfully with his shoulder.
"Yeah, well... You were always in the weaponry or with Sif or just somewhere doing something. The only time you'd ever see me was if we bumped into each other in the halls or the garden. Even when I tried to talk to you, you would just ignore me..." Loki muttered, a stinging feeling in his eyes. Don't you dare cry.
"Brother, I didn't know it upset you. I just... I was..." He was having trouble explaining. Thor looked down at his feet.
"You didn't want to be with me."
"No! Of course I wanted to be with you, brother! It's just whenever I went to find you, I never could. And when you saw me and I ignored you, I was angry with you for ignoring me!" Thor explained quickly. "I'm sorry, brother."
Loki looked back at Thor, seeing a face desperate for forgiveness and gave a sigh.
"I suppose we're both in the wrong, aren't we?"
"We are, brother. We are. I'm sorry if you thought I was ignoring you, I just -" He gave a sigh. "I was mad. Annoyed."
"As was I. I suppose we should try to forget about it?"
"Loki, I'll never forget the time my own brother ignored me for months."
"Well, we'll have to try." He turned to look at Thor. With a smirk, he said, "Care to join me in my daily mischief making?" He stood up, nodding towards the door.
"Why, my dearest brother, of course." With a small grin on his face, he followed Loki out of the door. As they were walking down the hall side by side, Thor stopped Loki and pulled him in for a hug.
"Brother, know that I love you." He said, nestling into the hug.
"And I you, Thor" Loki whispered, wrapping his arms around his older brother.