Thor sat on the cold, hard bench, tracing a familiar pattern on his left vambrace. More weighed upon him from the past several days' events than ever before in his life; he felt old, weary, and sad. He sighed, his breath misting into fog before him and then fading just as quickly. He felt hollowed out, defeated even though they had won.
The abrasive sound of stone on stone could be heard as the door to his left swung open. Thor heavily stood, turning to face the man, his father, who walked out.
If Thor felt old, felt weary, it was nothing to how this man looked. Odin's one good eye fell upon Thor, and narrowed, as if he was unexpected and unwelcomed.
"Why aren't you at the feast?" he asked gruffly.
"I have a greater desire to have words with my brother."
"I've told you Thor, no one shall see him except me."
Thor stood his ground, meeting his father's eyes defiantly, his iron-willed gaze and hard-set mouth a mirror image of the man across from him. He would not back down, not from this.
Odin growled low in his throat impatiently, aggravated. "Fine, you petulant, obstinate boy, you can go in. But hear me well, Thor…"
He stepped forward, seemingly dwarfing Thor through the sheer power he exuded, so that they were standing inches apart.
"Nothing you do will change anything. Nothing you say will erase the wrongs, the transgressions, the absolute malevolence he has brought forth. Anything you try will be meaningless. He is worth nothing, and," Odin motioned to the cracked, chilly, silent tomb of a room around them. "Nothing is where he will remain."
Throughout this speech Thor remained motionless, but his face only hardened more at these remarks.
"For all your wisdom and power, Father, you know nothing of this."
And with that Thor stepped to the side, walking deftly around Odin to the heavy, dark stone door, which was flanked by two guards. He nodded to each in turn and pulled the door open.
Stepping inside, Thor was greeted by darkness. Blinking, he let his eyes adjust to the feeble light one torch was giving off in the small room.
Thor's gaze immediately went to the body lying on the clammy, chilly floor, and he rushed down to kneel beside him.
Loki, curled up on the rough stone, appeared to Thor very much the youth he once was, and it clawed at his heart. It was like seeing a mirage of water in the desert after countless days of thirst, but knowing very well what you saw was a lie.
Thor carefully brushed back the black hair that was laying haphazardly over Loki's face to reveal that the gag was still bound to his head.
Loki's eyes shot open, as if he had not heard the heavy door open and close once more, but they were gazed and unfocused, rimmed with red.
His hands were bound in chains to the floor but he still managed to push himself up, his breath uneven through the gag. His legs were gathered to his chest, curled up in a ball, as if by holding himself close, he could disappear like the breath in the air.
He eyed Thor warily. Though he could not speak, Thor could hear what he was thinking loud and clear. "What do you want?"
"Loki… I…" Thor faltered, unable to decide exactly what he wanted, no, needed to say to him. "I desired to make certain you were well."
Loki raised an eyebrow and gestured to himself and the prison, the chain clanking with his movements.
Thor sighed heavily, attempting to place a hand on his brother's shoulder, but Loki instantly jerked away from it.
He could practically hear Loki's harsh voice in his head, "I don't need your comfort, your pity."
"I know, I know," he muttered, unable to shake the concerned expression on his face.
"You're angry with me. Beyond angry. Perhaps you hate me, I am uncertain." He looked into Loki's eyes, but Loki quickly turned away to stare at the floor instead.
"I know not of how to fix it, to fix how you feel towards me or of how everyone views you. Perhaps now none of that can be changed. We have become who we were meant to be, we have found our true roles in this lifetime. You see it as thus, at least."
Thor moved so that he was sitting against the wall to the right of Loki, and his hand absent-mindedly went back to tracing the pattern on his vambraces.
"I have mistreated you, I have wronged you and for that I am truly sorry, brother. And yes, I know of your true lineage," he said softly.
"Whether you'd been Frost Giant or Dark Elf or Dwarf or human, I would still love you as my brother. None of it matters. It never mattered. Odin, for all his wisdom, does not understand the bond we have, why we have it, but I know you do. "
Thor trailed off, scrutinizing Loki's expression. Loki was still resolutely studying the floor, but his face had become a broken mask of emotions.
There was so much he wanted him to know, to feel, to understand, but lacked the proper ability to express it. That was always Loki's expertise and his mouth was currently bound. Silence hung between them, but Thor did not move to leave.
The minutes passed as they sat side by side in that prison. After a stretch of time, Loki suddenly turned to Thor with a questioning expression.
Thor carefully, slowly placed his hand on Loki's. Loki's eyes were wide, as if with surprise, but he did not move his hand away.
"Call me weak, berate my sentiment, but I'll walk with you Loki. Wherever you go."
There was a loud knock at the door and it slid open. One of the guards slipped his head in.
"We're fine, you may leave," Thor ordered quickly.
"M'lord, it's been over an hour."
"And it will be many more. You. May. Leave," he said severely.
The guard nodded and the door shut once again. Thor turned back to Loki.
Confusion and a glint of something else entirely flashed through Loki's eyes. Thor reached up to his face, his fingertips ghosting over the gag.
"All may abandon you to Hel, brother." His hand moved to the back of Loki's head, fingers pushing his dark hair away to find their mark.
There was a soft click, and the gag fell open. Thor pulled it off, and threw it against the opposite wall, where it shattered into a thousand shards.
"But you will not be alone."