Thanks to The Arcane Phoenix for the fav and follow, here's the second chapter!

He took the child. Took him into a village. Got a room. A simple, antique inn. Then he sat on the end of his own bed and thought. Thor slept on. Peaceful and with a child's innocence. Untroubled by the world and the wicked things that lived in it. Perhaps he knew of them but he did not truly understand them. He slept on his back, open to the world. How careless and arrogant. But not so. Simply the form of a child.

Loki cringed at the thought and that night did not sleep. He could not. He didn't want to. He knew he would dream and he would dream of good things and he would remember happiness and it would make him feel guilty and wicked and he wasn't. They were. His father, his ignorant brother. They were guilty. Guilty for pretending they loved him and guilty for trying to make him one of them when he never could be. When now he never wanted to be. He hated them. He didn't want to love. Yet he watched the sleeping child and hated himself for tarnishing those memories. He wanted to hate him and yet here and now that was so difficult. Every angle he looked at the boy another memory came and the worst part was that they were all good.

The next morning Thor awoke with a yawn and a growling stomach. "You're still big!" He said in delight. "Won't you tell me how you did it?"

"It's a secret." He said as snidely as he could. It went over the boy's head.

"Not that's not fair Loki! You have to tell me. Was it magic? It was, wasn't it? You learned some magic! Show me some!"

"Not today." He said curtly.

Thor pouted. "I only wanted to see. Just because you look grown up doesn't mean you have to act grown up."

"I am grown up. You're not." Loki said.

"Why not?"

Loki shook his head solemnly. "I don't know." He didn't know if he could do more than whisper. As it turned out, it didn't matter much. Thor was easily distracted.

"I'm hungry." Thor said after a moment of looking around the room. "Can we eat?"

Loki swallowed. His brother was a child and of course he couldn't refuse him food. Children needed to eat. He waved his hand and Thor was dressed. He copied the clothes of a mortal child he had seen before. Thor was delighted by them as he was by everything else. He truly believed he was on a grand adventure and Loki was his confidant. How many times had Loki seen that light in his eyes and that smile on his face before.

He took the boy out and they found a little restaurant serving breakfast. Thor ate happily and Loki ate little. He could hardly take his eyes from the child and yet at the same time couldn't bare to look at him. An old lady out for breakfast cooed over Thor. Loki took little notice and pretended he couldn't hear her.

"I said, is this your son?" She asked kindly.

Loki found himself forced into the conversation. "No. my brother."

The old lady talked some more but he couldn't brink himself to listen. It hurt. He had made a mistake. He found himself wishing he had left Thor on the mountain and soon after having the thought he hated himself. How could he wish that for his brother? It was all too much and grabbing Thor's hand he dragged him from the restaurant. Thor protested. He had enjoyed talking to the woman. She was the first Midguardian he had spoken to. Loki dragged him back to the inn and then Locked himself in the bathroom. He had to get away from Thor but he couldn't leave him alone.

He stood staring at himself in the mirror, revulsion and fear coursing thorough him. He didn't know what he was afraid of only that he was. Afraid of some unknown, bodyless thing. In the other room he could hear Thor calling his name, asking what was wrong. He sounded scared, unsure. He he longed to hear that in his brother's voice. . . but not like this. He clenched his hands around the sink and shook from the effort of reigning in his thoughts.

Once back out he found Thor sitting on the bed looking worried. "What's wrong, Loki? Are you homesick?" The boy asked.

"No." The cheery voice, the concern he didn't want to hear. "I'm fine."

Thor nodded, still looking worried. "Okay." He looked down for a moment. "Do you want to go exploring?" He sounded both hopeful and concerned, like he thought exploring would help.

Loki shook his head. "No, not now."

Thor looked disappointed. "Oh. Then what to you want to do?"

In truth he didn't know what he wanted to do. He wanted to run away and leave the boy. He thought of his spell. It was temporary. A few days at most. Perhaps he only had to care for the child for a few days and then all would be right again. He could go back to hating his brother for his foolishness and his lies. He could hate him and things would be as they were supposed to be.

Thor sat on his bed, gazing out the window, sunlight catching in his hair and creating a halo. His face was open and bright and he smiled as he watched a bird fly by. Loki remembered his brother at this age. He had been happy and full of energy. A little prince. He cringed at the thought. They had both been little princes. Free to do whatever they wished, to run wild and play. And run they did. Thor, always looking for a new adventure. Loki, dragged along but never truly hating it.

He looked at the child and hated him. Tried to hate him but couldn't. He could hate the adult. Hate the man but never the child. Those memories he had tried to hate, wanted to hate but still couldn't. Quite suddenly he realized that he couldn't stay in the little room with him. He would go mad if he did.

"Come." He said softly. "Perhaps we will go exploring."

With glee Thor leaped from the bed and followed him out. They left the inn and wandered through the village. It was old. Old and isolated. Thor was mesmerized by everything he saw. He was dazzled by cars especially. He watched them with fascination as they made their way through the winding streets. The village was small and peaceful. Loki was glad they were not in a big city. Perhaps if they were he could have left the child with the Avengers but he thought maybe this was better. He could keep his name out of it. He didn't even know if when returned to normal, Thor would remember any of it.

He watched the boy run ahead and talk to an old man working in his garden. He had cast a spell early on to avoid suspicion. They were in Germany and his spell cloaked their words, made the locals hear words they would understand. He did it often when traveling. Thor talked brightly to the old man who leaned on his garden hoe and talked amiably.

When whatever trivial conversation the boy had started ended and he returned to Loki's side. He watched Thor with detachment, unwilling to feel anything. Thor babbled happily, running and jumping. They wandered out of the town and followed a little brook. Loki hardly payed any attention to where they went. When he looked up they were standing on a hill overlooking the village. Thor was poking around by the stream, looking content and happy. It was a picturesque scene. Loki looked from his brother, to the village. It would be so easy to leave him. He would turn back in a couple of days. It would be so easy. He envisioned it. He could leave, Thor would be alone and he would be free. He took a step back and the boy failed to notice. He took another and then another and then disappeared.

He found himself far away. A big city. He could hide there, lost among the anonymity of midguard. Just another face in the endless crows of mortals. They bustled around him like flies and he was able to escape. He retreated to lick his wounds.

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