Dinner was a tense affair. Thor had lingered in his bath as long as he'd dared and still it hadn't been long enough. As he'd been sitting there in the warm water he hadn't been able to get it out of his mind. He'd shut his eyes and see it there before him, the tan hand of a stranger on his brother's pale smooth skin. It tormented Thor for reasons he couldn't fathom. The audacity of that stranger to presume he had the right to touch such a fine and precious thing as Loki. And try as he might Thor couldn't work out what the ambassador could have possibly said to reduce his brother to such flirtatious laughter. He'd been giggling like a coquettish schoolgirl. The whole thing just burned Thor up inside, he could all but feel the lightening flaring beneath his skin. It had been all he could not to lose control right there in the bath and split the sky with storm. The most vexing part of it was that it made no sense. Why should he care what company Loki kept? It was no affair of his. His rage was misplaced and certainly ill timed for here Thor was now and feasts such as this one could last days. He might have to keep his anger in check for days.

Odin had since introduced Thor to all the ambassadors, but he was damned if he could remember the name of a single one save that interloper that had seen fit to manhandle his brother. That vile snake was named Valinad and he was from Varnaheim after all. Apparently he was the sixth son of the current ruler and as such was trained as ambassador as he had no hope for a throne.

Thor was dimly aware that Fandral was trying to engage him in some kind of conversation, but he could not hear him over the pounding of the blood in his ears. His eyes were fixed at the opposite end of the table. Valinad was sitting beside Loki, with an arm thrown about his brother's shoulders. Valinad had leaned in to whisper in Loki's ear. Loki was grinning like fool from ear to ear. Thor had a white-knuckled grip on his knife and he felt a tide of red threatening to overwhelm his vision.

"Thor," came the soft voice of his mother from a ways down the table. "Are you okay my son? You look unwell."

"I am fine mother." Thor ground out between clenched teeth. "It is just this deer is tough and dry. Not to my liking, I'm afraid."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Shall I tell the cook to fetch you something else?"

"Do not trouble yourself, mother. I fear I have no appetite tonight," Thor replied more softly.

"Thor not hungry? Has Jotunheim thawed?!" Fandral exclaimed.

"Hold your tongue, Fandral. I am not in the mood." Thor grumbled.

Thor was still staring at Loki who had paused his conversation with Valinad to look at Thor questioningly. Thor returned his stare, caught in the deep green of his brother's gaze. Loki tore his eyes away first. Thor watched as his brother quietly excused himself.

He found himself making his own excuses and following his brother out of the hall. Thor was practically sprinting to catch up with Loki's quick strides. When he did catch up with him, he grabbed Loki by his cape and flung him against the hard stone wall. He pinned his brother there, watching him squirm. For the first time, he found himself marveling at the feel of Loki's skin, cool and soft as the finest silk against the arm he had pressed to his throat. It made him crowd Loki closer hoping to touch more of it.

"Norns! What do you think you're doing brother?" Loki asked.

"Since I have you pinned here, Loki. I think I am the one that will be doing the questioning."

"Fine, have it your way. What have you to say to me, Thor?"

"What did you think you were doing in there, Loki!" Thor shouted. Loki paused his struggle to free himself looking confused. "You let that filthy Varnaheim ambassador put his hands all over you like some cheap whore!" Thor said pressing his arm harder into Loki's throat.

Loki looked even more befuddled for a moment before it turned to rage. "I hardly see what concern it is of yours, Thor," he choked out.

Thor was enraged beyond reason. "It was sickening. He had his hands in your lap. What would he have done, had I not walked in on the two of you earlier." Thor leaned in so close that he found himself tasting Loki's panting breath on his lips. "He made you laugh," he whispered roughly. Loki's breath smelled sweet despite the meal he'd been enjoying earlier. It smelled like syrup and sugar melting on pancakes. Thor found himself hungry, craving more of it.

Loki no longer seemed so affronted. In fact, he looked about to laugh. Like he knew some great secret, Thor was missing.

"So Valinad made me laugh. So what? I ask you again, Thor, what does it concern you. Why should you care if he wants to tumble me in the stables or make love to me in the moonlight? Perhaps, I encourage his advances because I long to feel a man between my thighs. How is it your business?"

Thor couldn't control himself. He couldn't stop picturing what Loki was describing. Imaging that ambassador spreading those white thighs in a moonlit bedroom and taking his fill. Thor grabbed Loki tightly by the arms, even though he knew he would surely bruise the delicate flesh. He pulled Loki from the wall and threw him down on the ornate crimson carpet.

Loki glared up at him. In the distance thunder boomed and Thor could feel the lightening in his veins about to flash. There was a loud crack illuminating the dim hallway as Thor's lightening flared out before racing skyward to join the echoing thunder.

"Do not test me brother," Thor said quietly, helping Loki to his feet. "Stay away from him. He is not to be trusted. And you shouldn't play the whore in our father's house." The minute the words left Thor's mouth he regretted them. He regretted them more when he saw Loki's delicate features twist in rage as he wrenched his arm from Thor's grip and stalked down the hall, further from the banquet.

Thor did not follow Loki, though he longed to chase after him and apologize. He didn't understand how things could get so out of hand, any more than he could understand why Valinad's attentions to Loki vexed him so much in the first place.