I had an idea. I had an idea and it had to follow through. This story will not impact in any way any others I am currently writing or posting.

All characters belong to Marvel Comics, not me, why would you think that?

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It's not the first time they've heard their parents arguing, but somehow it feels like this is a lot worse. Thor has never heard his mother shout so loud, or his father, but from where he and his brother are, curled up together on his bed, the sounds are muffled, and they can convince themselves that it's just the same as the other arguments. When the door slams, they tell themselves softly that it's just like when he walked out last time, and that he'll be along some time.

This time though it's Odin that comes up the stairs and knocks on their door, and when he opens it to see them cuddled together he doesn't even raise an eyebrow. Instead he just sinks down next to them and pulls them close, placing a kiss on first Loki's, then Thor's foreheads and tells them he loves them.

Loki looks up at Odin, smoothing a hand across his cheek, his face a question mark.

"Your mother has...has left us," he explains, swallowing hard. "You probably heard us arguing before - it was because she was-"

He can't finish the sentence, but Thor can, in his head. He knew his mother was cheating, because he could see that faraway look in her eyes that she would get when she used to look at his father, but this was about someone else. He knew it was. It died whenever Odin came into the room.

Loki is only eleven, but he's shrewd, and Thor has never hesitated to share his opinions with his brother. It doesn't take him long to work it out.

"She's not coming back?" he asks softly, his thin, childish voice cutting the silence, and Odin smoothes his hair.

"Not this time," he says sadly, and both Thor and Loki give him a squeeze around the waist, because they can see that he's breaking inside. "But you never know," he sighs, trying to be a good parent and raise their spirits, because he should. He doesn't want to burden his children at such a young age. "She might be along, some time."

It's a well used family phrase - they've never been especially careful, the four of them, and they all know that if someone goes out for longer than planned, that they'll be along soon enough. This time Frigga won't come back though. She's thrown herself out, or rather, she's chosen to leave, but she's announced her departure as violently as possible in the process.

The three of them stay there long into the night, curled up close to one another. The comfort is feeble, but it's the best they can do, and once Odin has fallen asleep on the bed the two of them make a promise that they will do whatever they can to make it easier for their father, and to make life go on.

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They divide the chores between them, and soon enough Thor becomes a reasonable cook; Loki learns how to operate all the cleaning equipment and is soon running the house, as best as an eleven-year-old boy can do. Thor takes over managing the bills, the shopping and the money, and his maths grades soar as a result, until they rival even Loki's.

Odin declines pretty quickly after that, spiralling further down into a mess of alcohol until his children don't recognise him anymore. He drinks more than his weight in beer and spirits every fortnight, and it makes him dangerous. Mostly it's arguing, but both Thor and Loki have been hit several times when they got on the wrong side of a rage.

The pair of them press on with things though, supporting one another, and they manage to work out a suitable system to survive for two and a half years. Odin's job pays them little, but by the time Loki turns fourteen Thor has devised a system that is nearly foolproof, and makes plenty of allowance for their father's drinking habits, which they know will not change. Loki knows exactly how to manage the cleaning to make sure the house is liveable in, but he knows where they live is far from perfect. When they were younger, their friends Sif and Fandral would come over frequently for afternoons and sleepovers. One thing both Thor and Loki miss is the ability to have friends round.

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It's a Friday afternoon, and Thor and Loki have promised one another that this weekend they will clean the entire ground floor, even if they have to take Monday off to do it. The initial problem is the magnitude of the task - just the living room alone is a tip, and they have to wade through piles of cans and boxes to even reach the sofa. They both know it's a mess, but recently Odin has been drinking more and more, and just dealing with him is enough to stop them from doing their daily work.

Odin has got in, and has trudged his way up the stairs so he's out the way as the pair of them begin to face the living room.

"We can't really do anything in here until we move the big rubbish," Loki says, looking for a bin. Thor nods and looks at the cans strewn across the floor, rolling his eyes. Loki finds one and together they begin to sort the litter, Thor taking recycling, Loki taking the rest.

"Do you want to get dinner?" Thor asks, taking one container full of empty beer cans out to the utility room.

"Is there anything to eat?"

"I'll look," Thor calls, emptying his box into the recycling bin. He searches the kitchen cupboards for something edible, and alights on a box of minestrone cup-a-soups and some bread. He calls out what there is and Loki agrees, so Thor puts on some toast and boils the kettle. He fetches two mugs and fills them with the powder, getting the margarine out the fridge. When Loki comes through with his first load, the kettle pings and Thor pours out the soups, stirring them carefully in the way Loki likes it. His brother rinses his hands and takes the steaming cup, sipping at it while Thor butters the toast.

"How much more?"

"We're halfway." It shames Loki to admit just how much litter was on the floor of their living room, but they both understand it. They live with Odin, and he is the priority. Mess just comes with the job.

Thor carries the plate of toast into the living room and is surprised to find a free space to set it down. He takes a piece and begins to work on the next load, finding cans stuffed in drawers and behind the sofa, places he didn't think it was possible.

"Do you think the lair will be anything like this?" he asks Loki. The lair is what used to be the study, but now Odin has taken it over as his solace room. If he's not in his bedroom, he's shut in the lair in the dark. The brothers rarely go in there, probably out of a combination of respect for Odin's privacy, and out of fear of what they'll find.

"It'll be worse," comes the matter-of-fact response. Loki's seen what that room is like when they don't go in it for even just a week. They've left it a month now.

By the time the floor is cleared it's eleven at night, and the pair of them flop down together on the sofa. Thor pulls Loki up close to his chest and ruffles his hair, wrapping his arms around his brother tightly. Loki is already falling asleep, so Thor doesn't hesitate to make him comfortable against the side of the settee and covers them with his hoodie as a blanket. They're both gone almost straight away.

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In the morning, Loki is grumpy and stiff from sleeping the whole night on the sofa, with Thor as a pillow. He disentangles himself from his brother's arms and stretches, groaning internally at the thought of what they have to do that day. There are better ways to spend a Saturday than cleaning, but both brothers know by now that jobs have to be done, and that complaining is useless.

Thor climbs off the sofa shortly afterwards, immediately searching for his brother in the kitchen. Loki is making cereal and more toast, which is a staple to their diets these days. Toast with everything, because they can always afford the bread, unlike a lot of other things.

"I feel like such a tramp," Loki says as he potters around, checking the milk and looking for a nonexistent alternative to Rice Krispies. "But I guess it's not worth getting changed if we're working all day."

Thor hums in agreement and unzips his hoodie. He doesn't like sleeping in his clothes either, but Loki has a fair point. They eat in silence, and then Loki goes to get the hoover while Thor washes up. He starts to work on the floor of the front room, listening to the sound of crumbs and bits of debris get sucked up the tube.

"I think everything in here needs a proper clean. As in, it needs to be sterilised. Why can't we see the mould yet?" Thor jokes as he dances around Loki's hoovering action. He climbs up onto the bay window ledge and pulls down the curtains, bundling them up in his arms. He chucks them out the room and then takes all the cushions off the sofa and strips them of their cases, leaving everything in the hallway so Loki can vacuum up the crumbs in the crevasses of the settee. He puts it all in the washing machine and then moves all the ornaments, which aren't particularly abundant, out to be cleaned.

As he works, Loki looks down at the carpet, which used to be an attractive sea-green. He thinks about the adverts he's seen, where people have carpet steamers that remove the stains. Perhaps they just need a new carpet.

Thor cleans each little trinket carefully, and then damp-dusts the cabinets. By the time he's done, Loki has finished too and the room looks amazing, despite the missing cushions and furniture. He pats Loki on the back and fetches some pasta pots from the fridge for lunch. The machine is finished and the load is out, drying in the sun.

The front door opens, and Odin comes in. They hear the door of the lair shut. Loki groans.

"That's one room we won't be sorting today, then," he says, closing his eyes.

"I could try to move him?" Thor suggests, but is met with a dark look.

"He'll hit you," Loki says bluntly, and Thor doesn't doubt it. Instead he brings in the already dry washing and together they put it back where it should be, fluffing up the cushions and altogether the room looks as if it was brand new. Almost.

Since the lair is occupied, they move on to the downstairs bathroom. It's not as bad, but it still needs a thorough clean, and that is the rest of the afternoon gone. They scrape some dinner, and surprisingly Odin comes in to talk to them. He takes a beer out the fridge and downs it straight away, tossing the can in the overflowing bin next to the freezer. Thor bends to pick it up and put it in the recycling, emphasising his actions in the futile hope their father will learn.

"Sorry," Odin says meekly. Both brothers look up. Their father smiles, a warm, genuine smile that they can't help returning, and secretly Loki is glad that this is one of those times that Odin has drunk himself past being angry or sad, and into kindness. He shuffles back to his lair quietly, and the brothers follow, still grinning like imps at one another.

"How are you, my boys?" Odin asks, patting the seats either side of him and then slinging an arm around each of his sons' shoulders when they sit down.

"Loki and I are cleaning the ground floor," Thor explains, hoping that if Odin knows he will assist them in some way, even if it's just staying out of the room when they're working. Their father nods, smiling again.

"You're too good for me, your dad," he says, ruffling both their hair. "I should do more for you, I know."

"It's fine, dad, really," Loki lies quickly, not wanting to ruin Odin's good mood with guilt. "Thor and I are coping really well." Odin looks vacant, but nods slowly and squeezes them both.

Thor is plunged into memories as they sit there, cuddled up like a normal family, almost. The room stinks of alcohol, and it makes him think back to the time he and Loki had got drunk on Odin's beer supply when they were eleven and twelve. They had both sat there on the floor, waiting for their mother to catch them, giggling and rolling about like babies.

He would give anything to see Loki smile like that again.

Thor loves his brother dearly, almost too dearly, and they have been brought almost unhealthily close through their experience. His friends wonder why they never fight like normal brothers, and it's true they have their quarrels, but if they ever fell out seriously they both know it would be the end.

Odin falls asleep with his arms still around them, and Thor sees Loki give a tired smile. They're both too old for their fourteen and fifteen years, too worn by time and life already, but they both know it will not change. Loki hooks his arms under Odin's knees and Thor takes his shoulders, and they carry their father up the stairs into his bedroom.

"You should go to bed," Thor says softly, stroking Loki's cheek as he yawns.

"We have things to do," he replies tiredly, but Thor shakes his head.

"Go. I'll look after it."

Loki is too tired to argue, so he totters off to his room and shuts the door, and in five minutes Thor can hear silence that means he's gone to sleep. He pads down the stairs and begins to prepare the lair, staying up for another two hours removing the large rubbish. He counts nearly two hundred cans in the room alone. It's a miracle there's enough beer in the world, but it's more of a godsend that his father isn't dead yet.

At one in the morning Thor makes it into his bed, where he crashes and is asleep in an instant.