Title: A Happy Family of Sorts
Pairing: Thor and Loki
Fandom: Thor (mix, comic and mythology)
Reviews are love!
Loki's brushes were slow, firm in pressure, and followed tentatively by a bare hand. He wore a loose black tunic with dirty, off-white pants, his feet were bare and his hair lay slightly mussed, still holding it's elegant shape. He reached around and stroked his daughter's cheek, down her face and between her nostrils. She always gave a full flesh shiver and small huff when he tickled her nose like that and he always smiled when she gave the reaction time and time again.
"I will request to take you out to the yellow fields tomorrow, let you run free with the others for a long while. I bet that would make you happy." She arched her neck to face Loki and nuzzled her face into his neck affectionately. His smile grew even wider, reaching his eyes easily. "Yes, I knew you'd like that idea. I like this new stable boy, he takes good care of you. He seems to be brushing and washing you regularly, your shoes are fitted more nicely and he seems to be feeding you a bit extra. You seem much hap-" Loki paused when he heard the stable entrance open. "I'm not done boy, I ordered you to… wait."
"So the stable boy knows about these visits and not I? Loki, I'm hurt." Thor walked up, dressed in his own light wear, a sincere smile on his face. Blinding, as always.
"Who told you." Loki hissed out, it was more of a statement than a question, he had an idea. Heimdall, damn him.
"That matters not." Thor kept his glowing smile set as he reached up and stroked the fringe between the mare's ears. Loki immediately lashed out and swatted his brother's hand away from his child.
"Don't you dare. Only three people are allowed to touch my Sleipnir, Odin, the stable boy and myself. Touch her again and lose your hand." The brightness in Thor's face faded significantly as a sigh passed his lips. He raised his hand to Loki's face and stroked his thumb over his brother's cheek, so high, so perfect, so beautiful.
"Calm, my dearest Loki. I only wish to convey fondness to your beautiful daughter." Loki inhaled deeply and turned his cheek into Thor's touch. He can't help but become over protective of Sleipnir, it was dreadful enough what Odin had made her into, he despised the idea of others disturbing his darling or causing her discomfort. Truth be told, Loki has always wanted to share these peaceful moments of their bonding with Thor. He had always hoped that if Thor were to find out, he would not mock him or think poorly of him. He loved his brother so. A loud whiney from Sleipnir acted as a nudging elbow for her father to apologize to his lover.
"I am sorry, Thor. She is the moon and stars of my life, I only wish to keep her happy as she keeps me. I didn't mean to snap." Thor smiled softly this time, tenderly planting a kiss on the smaller's forehead. "Go on, she doesn't mind. She quite enjoys the attention."
Thor reached up again with both hands and pulled her face gently closer to him, stroking her cheeks and scratching behind her ears, smoothing out her mane and kissing her on the nose when she lifted it to his face. He laughed and brushed his hand down her strong neck.
"Do you talk to her?" Loki hummed in response. "And she understands?" Loki smirked and glanced at Sleipnir who bobbed her head up and down in a silly motion. Thor laughed again and clasped his hands together.
"We like to gossip about boys and the love affair that takes place in this stable between one of the servants and a fellow court member. I've confronted them on the matter, I don't feel comfortable with my darling being forced to watch and listen to such perverted affairs. They had no clue as to how I found out, wouldn't they like to know?" Loki grinned with a tight pinch at the corner of his lip, like he was trying to hold back a fit of giggles when Sleipnir let out a sharp whine and nudged his shoulder with her nose, stomping a hoof playfully.
"Goodness, you poor girl. I suppose she'd learn about the birds and the bees sooner or later." Loki immediately snapped his head back to Sleipnir with his mouth gaping open.
"Silence, I will not hear you speak of such thi- I don't care if he can't hear you, I can and I'm telling you to stop, that's vile. You naughty girl."
"What does she say?"
"She's suggesting things she needs to keep her nose out of. I… May have uttered a few words about our relationship… And… Things…" Thor snorted to hold back a dangerously loud laugh and patted the mare between her eyes softly.
"Don't worry, my dear, I have wonderful plans for your father tonight. I can assure you, he will have nothing to complain about in the next visit." Loki attempted to shove Thor playfully, Thor clearly not budging, and held his hand up between his little girl and himself as he kissed the thunder god deeply. Don't want to gross her out, now. He was rewarded with giddy jaunting and snickers, surprisingly and humorously enough, from both Sleipnir and the grown man he was now kissing.
Children. The both of them, really.
Thor was uneasy about visiting the wolf. He had heard nothing but savagery in the stories and gossips of passer biers. He dared not bring up the prophecies, he could only imagine how Loki felt of them. His brother had never spoke of him, though Loki was more than delighted when Thor agreed to go with him this time.
They arrived to Ván in high anticipation. Loki to see his bitter but loving son once more and Thor to find out if the "evil beast" could accept him into his life as Sleipnir has. Though he highly doubted it.
Loki stepped up to the river and dipped his hand into the water, splashing the dark liquid far to the other side of the river. Quiet spoken words slid past his lips and the water parted the river to uncover an entrance in the bed of it. Thor quirked an eyebrow but silently followed Loki into the cave as the water collapsed behind them and the river set again.
The cave seemed to go on forever, Loki had lit the way with his magic. When they reached a fork in the passage way, Loki halted and looked down each path. Thor was further confused when his brother began humming a lullaby that was not so well known among most Asgardians. It was shortly after the first verse was finished when a disturbingly wicked howl echoed through the far left passage way. Loki smiled and gripped Thor's hand firmly.
"He already hates you. You smell of mead and foolishness." Thor groaned softly. "Don't worry, he won't bite. He'll try, but I won't let him. He's very hard headed and bitter, quite the unpleasant combination of you and I."
"I assume you can speak with him as well?"
"Yes and he can speak to us in our tongue if he wishes. He normally refuses to, when I come to him he speaks so only I and the family understand." Loki lit up suddenly when he remembered he had not informed Thor of his recent good news. "Oh! I've forgotten to tell you, he has two pups, I'm a grandfather! They're still quite young, very playful, they'll love you. Fenrir may snap at them if they become too much of a nuisance, don't mind him. Oh, and please, for the good of us all, do-not-ever… bring up father. I'm sure you understand."
"You realize I can hear you, father?" Out of the shadows before them, the large black wolf, as tall as the both of them on all fours alone, stepped up appearing calm and docile. Loki smiled and opened his arms wide, still remaining cautious when approaching. He never knew what mood Fenrir was in, he had a tendency to snap when he seemed content. Luckily, he appeared to be genuinely happy to see his father when Loki's lanky arms wrapped around his large furry neck. "I've missed you, why did it take you so long to visit this time? And why is he here?" A small snarl flashed at Thor, he maintained a blank façade, holding back a challenging smirk.
"I have missed you too and I truly am sorry for the delay, things have been quite hectic in Asgard as of late." Loki pulled away and kissed the large beast on his head. "And I brought my lover because your sister, Sleipnir, has welcomed him into her life and I hope for you to do so as well. Just give him a chance." Fenrir sniffed in Thor's direction and leaned his face closer to Loki's.
"As you wish. The pups have grown quite a bit in your absence. They're growing strong and I'll soon be teaching them to hunt." Fenrir lifted his attention back up to Thor. "Your mate is hungry, I'll send Malti out to fetch you dinner. You will have to cook it yourself." Thor nodded in appreciation before they all turned to finish walking through the passage way to the den. Soon, Loki put out the floating fire as they entered the den filled with warm daylight and a soft breeze.
Malti, Fenrir's mate, sat with the pups, washing them with her long tongue. She was a beautiful wolf, gray and gold and white with loving brown eyes. Fenrir let out a soft bark and nuzzled his nose to her face. She got up to her paws and exited the den quietly, the pups jumping up to greet their guests playfully. Loki knelt down with open arms, hugging them and ruffling their heads, scratching roughly down their backs. Thor laughed when one jumped up and rested his paws on his shoulders, licking him repeatedly on the cheek.
"That's enough, you're smothering them! Go scout for trespassers, off with you!" They barked playfully and pranced out of the den, racing each other to the outskirts of their father's territory.
Thor sat quietly, listening to Loki and his son catch up on time lost. He wished to join in on the conversation but had no clue what he could say, he didn't want to overstep and seem too chummy with the wolf but he knew that if he opened his mouth, he'd say something to irk the beast. His options were limited, and seeing as how he wanted this visit to go as smoothly as his brother, he kept his mouth shut. Several minutes had passed when Malti had returned with a wild stallion for the guests to eat. Loki paused and Thor shifted uncomfortably, Thor hadn't had a problem with eating a horse until he grew close with Sleipnir, Loki, of course, was never comfortable with the idea of eating one of his child's kind. Fenrir let out a nasty growl with several vicious barks, approaching Malti who tucked her tail between her legs and dipped her head down.
"You fool! You know of my sister, why would you bring a horse for her father to eat! Are yo-"
"Fenrir!" Loki held up his hands flat up, stepping up cautiously. "It's alright. It was a mistake, there was no harm done. I know you feed on horses, save it for yourselves, Thor and I can manage. Calm yourself." The hairs on Fenrir's back flattened and he pulled the horse to the back of the cave for later use. Loki walked up to Malti and stroked her head reassuringly with his small hands. "Thank you, Malti, but I'm afraid I'd only be thinking of my dear daughter if I were to eat him. But, my, you were very fast with the hunt, and it looks like a clean kill, you should be proud of yourself. Very well done." Finrir sat on his hind quarters next to Thor who seemed bewildered by something.
"You seem perplexed, Thor. I may have a temper, but for father's sake, I do wish to establish a bond with you. You may speak to me freely, I will bite my tongue if necessary, I ask that you remain patient with me is all." Thor let out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding and visually relaxed, the tension from his shoulders easing away quickly.
"He acts so differently around you and Sleipnir. I am not familiar with him smiling this much unless he's up to no good. But the way he smiles around you both, the tenderness he uses in his touches and the love in his words, it's all so… Foreign."
"You are his brother and his lover, Thor. I would have thought you've seen this side of him more often. Though I'm not surprised. Sometimes, when he speaks of you, he… He tends to give off an air of fear." Thor turned his head and quirked an eyebrow.
"Fear? You must be mistaken, he has no reason to fear me. I would never harm my brother, I love him."
"He is not afraid of physical harm, uncle, he is afraid of rejection. From my understanding, you've a history of mockery and throwing hurtful words at my father with your friends, Sif, to be precise. He absolutely detests that vile woman. She's done nothing but cause him pain since she's come into his life." Thor let out a sigh, his head drooping a bit knowing exactly what the wolf was speaking of. Fenrir looked down to him and leaned down low enough so that his head was near Thor's. "I do so wish for my father's happiness. As of late, you have granted him this, and for that, I do appreciate you. But I swear to you, if he comes crying to me again in the late hours of the night to tell me of the sick words you and your friends have wounded him with, I will come to Asgard, hunt you down, kill these friends of yours and I will tear through your skin with my fangs and rip out your innards for your own father to gaze upon. Do not doubt me, Thor. I will do anything for my father, don't make me come after you."
"Thor?" Loki tightened his hold on his brother's hand and yanked to pull him out of his trance-like state. They had arrived back to Asgard from the visit to Loki's son a night ago, they lay in bed now, nude and warm under the crisp linens.
"Hm?" Thor snapped his attention back to Loki from the moons and smiled warmly, kissing his brother on his forehead.
"We haven't really talked about Fenrir since we've returned. You two talked for a bit while I tended to Malti, were you two able to bond? I think he likes you after all." Thor kept his smile as he wrapped his arms around Loki, pulling him to his chest and holding him tight.
"Yes, we definitely bonded and I certainly felt a connection. A very strong connection."
"Good, I'm so happy." Loki mumbled sleepily into Thor's chest. "And soon we shall go see Hel?" Thor hummed lazily. "Thor, thank you. This means so much to me and the children that you are getting involved."
"I am only sorry that it took so long for me to become involved in their lives. But I must reiterate, that damned serpent is the only one I refuse to visit with you. I swear, he'll be the death of me, but only if I am to be the death of him."
"I understand. There is no hope for you two to get along, you're destined to hate each other, that's just the way it is. But that's alright, I'm just happy that you are a part of my family's life now. It feels like something that's been missing from the start is finally in its place, where it belongs. It feels good."
Thor hummed softly in response and held his gaze on the golden ceiling.
Thor came to the conclusion that he liked Fenrir and respected him greatly for his desire to protect and defend his father. Every visit beyond that point, they had gotten along wonderfully and Thor was perfect to play with the pups. Though, yes, they got along and respected each other to an extent, the occasional glance was thrown in Thor's direction from the wolf and his warning rang crystal clear in his head.
'Do not doubt me, Thor. I will do anything for my father, don't make me come after you.'
Loki was just happy that everyone was getting along for now. In his eyes, he finally had the happy family he'd desired for so long.
A happy family indeed.
A few fun facts about this fic and Norse Mythology:-Sleipnir is an eight legged mare conceived in one of Loki's brilliant fucking ideas to gain respect from Odin and the other gods. She was eventually turned into Odin's personal horse, for travel, war, what have you.
-Fenrir (Fenris) is prophesied to kill Odin in Ragnarok, and in turn be killed by Odin's son Vioarr (sorry no symbols). I couldn't find anything on who his mate was or who gave birth to the pups so I unfortunately had to make her up. The pups are involved with Ragnarok as well, something to do with one devouring the sun and the other devouring the moon? I forgot.
-The serpent, Jormungandr (again, sorry no symbols), is prophesied to battle Thor during Ragnarok, Thor kills the serpent but after taking nine paces, Thor falls dead as the serpent's venom take his life. Jormungandr was able to grow so large that he could wrap himself around the world and bite his tail and it is said that once he let's go of his tail, Ragnarok will begin and it will be the end of the world.
-Hel, or Hela in the comics, is a keeper of the dead. She watches over the realm of the dead that shares her name, in fact, the term "Go to Hel" originally just meant "Die and go to Hel", not literally "Go to Hell".So those are Loki's messed up kids, he has more, but those are the ones that matter. No body cares about Nari and Narfi. They're poop faces. I'm so mature.