"It's probably for the best that we never see each other again."
Thor nods. "It's what you've always wanted."
Do you truly think such of me, brother? Is this all you can see? Can you not see through the lie I tell, trying to gauge your reaction? Can you not see the scared, lonely child inside? The child who would follow you around, stick as if glued to your side, your conquests in training as wondrous to his wide eyes as he most glorious of battles? The child who, as you grew in stature and he remained small, would seek out your comfort and safety during the rare storms that plagued Asgard? The child whom you comforted during those storms, showing him that the thunder was naught to be afraid of, telling him to think of you whenever lighting flashed across the heavens? The child who would run to you when Odin was too harsh, when no one but you understood the harsh realities of his life? The child who could be comforted only by your company?
Can you not still see him in the depths of my eyes?
But you avoid my gaze as the plague. You do not look at me, you do not care to search him out. You agree that perhaps we should be separated, you say it is what I have always wished.
You have not an inkling about how wrong you are.
I never wished to be apart from you. As a child, I was never fit enough to train with you, especially in the warm summer months, and so your mentors kept you away from me. Your friends never liked me, holding grudges against me for engaging in a lonely child's mischief, and so they preferred your company when it was without mine. I grudgingly obliged, not wishing to stir enmity, and so they stole more of your time from me. When Mother decided I should cultivate a strength apart from the physical, I threw myself headlong into my studies, finding solace and company – comfort, even – from my books and scrolls. Spells took up my mind and my time, leaving less and less to mourn the loss of your attention. I never wished to be apart from you. I only ever wished to be your brother.