(A/N) I actually drew a picture of my version of Loki, you can find it on my tumblr (link is on my profile page) One side not, pardon any mistakes, its reaally late here.
There are preparations being made and Thor wants nothing to do with them. He stalked through the halls of Asgard, red cape dancing along the marble and loathed the very sight of servants and warriors readying things for the arrival of King Laufey. Food being prepared, tables cleaned and men shine their ceremonial armor to impress. It's all so normal, he's seen this kind of frantic movement inside the palace before, when they received the Elves many times in the past. Thor all but stomped to the training grounds and relished the sight of the warriors three and Sif fighting, finally, something to take his mind off of the coming days. They greet him with joyous calls and he sinks into the easy push and pull of scrapping with his friends.
All too quickly three days' time passed and he found himself standing beside his mother and father halfway down the bifrost, Heimdall an ever present statue at the end. He doesn't even realize he's fidgeting till he feels his mother's hand alight to his shoulder and she whispers for him to be calm. Easier said than done but his posture stiffens nonetheless. He had always been enchanted by the sight of the bifrost opening, thousands of colors dazzle around the entrance, beautiful enough to rival the bridge itself and in the blink of an eye the party of Jotuns is walking toward them. They are massive, at least a good two feet taller than his father and their skin a deep ocean blue. As they approach he can see the scars, jagged designs on their skin and the horns that curl from their faces. He could never have imagined them to look so otherworldly. The party stops a few paces away and King Laufey speaks.
"Hail, all father, we come to speak words of peace."
His father came forward and the two met, hands clasping around the other's forearms.
"Aye, King Laufey, let the words spoken from here forth be nothing but peaceful."
Everyone heard the soft snort at the all father's words and Thor could feel his blood boil; someone would dare mock his father? No one paid mind to it though and Laufey continued.
"My sons, Helblindi, Býleistr and Loki," he gestured to the two in front and apparently a third behind them, "have accompanied me on this journey for they have known nothing but war these many years."
Odin nodded, his face solemn, "Many in Asgard have grown hearing the stories of this wretched war, my son Thor included. Now is the time to end this and calm the storm we have stirred."
The two kings walk side by side back to the palace. His mother stands aside, pulling him with her by a gentle hand and the sons of Laufey follow. It's then Thor sees who had made the insulting noise and every single story from his childhood rushed to the forefront of his thoughts.
Raven black hair, gleaming red eyes and no taller than Thor himself is a Jotun trailing after the two taller frost giants and he knew just who the smirking prince was. The man continued on, barely nodding to them as he passed and his green cape fluttered in the wake of an ocean zephyr. Anger simmers under his skin and it takes more restraint than he knew he had to walk calmly behind the Jotun brothers. How could his father let such a rat into their palace and how could such a runt be so formidable?.
"Thor," Frigga whispered beside him, "it would be wise to put aside all that you have heard about their people and try to look a bit more welcoming."
"I will try mother."
Except he doesn't know how long he will have to try for and that is what trouble him the most. Once inside the palace, as per most customs on Asgard, there was a welcoming celebration for the party of Jotuns and all sorts of food were laid out on the numerous tables. Servants waited in the wings with pitchers of mead and empty plates were almost immediately replaced with full ones. At the head table Thor watched their guests, Laufey and Odin talked as if they are old friends, Helblindi and Býleistr focused on the food in front of them and then there was Loki.
The small frost giant ate so slowly it was as if nothing had disappeared from his plate but he's hardly paying attention to it, the man is looking around the grand hall like he's expecting some kind of attack. Then those crimson eyes fall on him and Thor feels the anger coming back. The Jotun smirked at him and raised a hand and he watched muscles tense as Loki waved it over the food in front of him. Immediately the food froze and he picked up a grape to eat it, looking all too pleased with himself.
For the rest of the meal Thor tried to ignore the fact that Loki froze anything and everything he could get his hands on, he even obliged to freeze some of Helblindi's food when the other asked him to. The night wore on and soon his father stood, the two kings adjourning to a private room to speak and then his father has the gall to ask him to show the brothers to the guest quarters.
The moment Laufey left the table the other three stood as if their presence wass no longer required. Frigga whispered into his ear to stop clenching his jaw and he led the giants from the waning party. It's like being followed by a ghost, or being haunted by a spirit, he knows they're behind him but he doesn't want to look back for fear of actually seeing them. One by one he showed them to a room till he was walking quietly, Loki just a step behind him.
He stood dutifully beside the last room and opened the door before standing aside. Loki smiled at him, teeth shockingly white and he glided forward. The gold clasps of his cloak glinted from the torches in the hallway as he swiveled around and a hand gently closed the door as he looked to Thor.
"Good night Odinson," he whispered and slipped into the room, braids trailing behind him and cloak just barely making it through the door as it closed.
Thor left with not but a glance at the door, eager to thaw the cold that had managed to seep into his skin somehow.
/
Morning brought with it the painful fact that the Jotuns would still be residing in the halls of Asgard. Thor was reluctant to leave his room and face the men, though he's saved the choice when a servant called on him; his mother was waiting in the gardens. Frigga rested on a bench, a book open in her lap and when he's seated next to her she finally looks at him.
"You called for me mother?"
"Yes. Thor, your behavior at the feast last night was most unbecoming of a prince."
"What-"
His mother closes the book in her lap rather loudly and he sits a little straighter.
"Staring at them as if they are here to do nothing more than fight. I do not even want to begin to describe how sickened your face became when their youngest performed magic. Your entire attitude spoke of misplaced hatred; they are here for peace Thor."
Sighing he looked away, truly he had not realized he was making faces, he would strive to hide it better.
"My apologies mother. I will try to be a better host."
"You fail to understand my intentions Thor. I'm not asking you to tolerate them, I am asking that you understand them."
"Understand? Mother, for years I have heard nothing but stories of-"
"Exactly," she interrupted him, "stories Thor."
Standing up Thor swept his hands out, "You say that Laufey comes to our kingdom not because we have beaten his people down, defeated his armies, but because he truly seeks peace. No, he comes here because he cannot stand up to us any longer, Asgard has proven itself against them and those Jotuns have not the strength to defend themselves. Peace is their only option."
His mother shook her head and before she could reply Thor left the gardens, his mood dipped into annoyance and frustration. Had he known his mother would try to lecture him, Thor would have feigned sickness and sulked in his room. Upon entering the feasting hall he was glad to see many of the warriors back in their daily armor and to his delight the warriors three and Sif eating breakfast as well. He joined them with a smile and already the morning seemed to be looking up.
Before he was able to escape to the training grounds he was once again summoned, this time to his father at one of the balconies overlooking Asgard. To his dismay the peace talks were still going on and would be for a few days if he read his father's careful words right.
"Thor, Laufey's youngest has requested entrance into our forests and I know of the prince's extensive affinity for magic. He will be allowed but only with an escort, Thor you are to accompany Prince Loki."
"Father, any warrior may join him, why must-"
"Enough, it is a gesture of goodwill that I would trust you alongside Laufey's son, do not argue with me."
Thor had to bite back an exasperated sigh but nodded, "As you wish father."
He was dismissed to collect the sorcerer from where he had been waiting in his chambers. The Jotun prince was in nothing but trousers that came to his knees, the man had foregone his cloak and replaced it with a bag slung over one shoulder. They didn't speak the entire walk, not as Thor stopped by the armory to pick up his sword or when they finally left the palace.
/
They're standing at the edge of one of the larger forests and Thor feels like maybe he should say something about the wild boars and massive bears that roamed inside. Or he would have, if Loki hadn't just brushed past him and started to walk in without a word.
"Wait, you do not know these forests-"
The Jotun prince looked at him from over his shoulder and merely smirked, "Just try to keep up Odinson."
Loki slipped away, over gnarled tree roots, between bushes and if Thor hadn't known better, he would have thought the sorcerer to be part deer or something. Hurrying after he ducked around branches and tried to keep from slipping over wet moss.
For the better part of an hour he followed the Jotun prince, sometimes he had thought the man lost, only to catch a glimpse of a black braid or blue skin and then he would be hot on the trail again. Finally, the sorcerer stopped in a small clearing and Thor wanted to throttle the Jotun. Circling around he watched as Loki bent over, placing a hand on the ground before speaking words of magic. From nowhere frost clawed at the ground spreading out and then the sorcerer raised his hand. Appearing, as If the earth itself had birthed it, a long staff grew from the dirt made of ice and when Loki pulled his hand away it stood straight with no assistance.
"What are you doing Laufeyson, I will not allow you to-"
"Stay your tongue," Loki hissed, "I am merely sending a message back to my father's palace. Or would you rather no word be sent and our people fear the worst for us?"
Thor resisted scowling, "Continue then."
From the top of the staff, encased in ice a blue fire burned then spilled out from its cage and Loki withdrew from his satchel a rolled piece of parchment. Muttering another incantation over the message he held it over the flames and it was engulfed, burning until the ashes too were swallowed by the fire. Brushing his hands off on his pants Loki merely waved his hand and the staff descended into the earth and the frost melted into water.
"Now that, that is done, I want to gather plants."
Thor didn't agree or decline but merely followed the man into the forest, thankfully at a more leisurely pace. He couldn't even begin to recognize half the plants and roots that Loki dug up from the ground, but each and every one went into his pack and it seemed never ending. From where he stood, a few paces behind the Jotun Thor could not help but look at the designs across Loki's back. They were much different than the one he had seen on the others, instead of sharp lines his were swirling and if possible, softer looking. It's odd, he thinks, that one so small as Loki could be revered as so formidable that most warriors he knew of would never want to face the prince alone.
Following quietly he continued to watch and if possible, learn something from the little frost giant. All he knew was that somewhere under all that hair the man's horn sprouted from the back of his head and curled forward, the others of his family all curled backwards. Loki moved so quietly Thor might have thought the little frost giant had grown up in such forests, but he had not heard any stories of there ever being any forest on Jotunheim, maybe the prince had to tread lightly for reasons unknown to him.
For all their wandering Thor had only thought they would be out for a couple of hours, but now the sun was high and blazing down signaling somewhere around noon time.
"We should head back, they will be expecting us at-"
"Go ahead, I am not yet done."
Clenching his hands Thor resisted dragging the man back by his ridiculous braids.
"I am to escort you through this forest, I will not leave you alone."
Loki snorted, "Go catch something to eat, I will be at the lake."
With that the prince walked away and Thor watched, how one person could be so aggravating he couldn't fathom. It didn't take him long to trap a rabbit and find the lake Loki had mentioned. His satchel was there, his pants were there and yet there was no prince. Thor set about preparing his own food and waited. Truthfully, if the Jotun had somehow been snatched up by a bear or something he would not lose sleep over it. His fantasy did not come true for a commotion in the water drew his attention and from the depths came Loki and his catch.
Had Thor known the man was nude he would not have stared so long, but his eyes lighted onto the Jotun's lithe form and he marveled at how the markings of his skin continued even where his clothes hid. Were they ceremonial, maybe for passage into manhood or were natural? There many things about Jotuns he did not know and it struck him then that all he knew were what the warriors brought back from battle and the vague books from the library.
"As amused as I am by that dumb look on your face, keep staring and you will find the consequences not to your liking."
Snapping his eyes back to the rabbit cooking Thor didn't reply and promptly ignored the prince as he pulled his trouser back on. They say in silence, cooking at their respective little fires and out the corner of his Thor watched as Loki methodically squeezed the water from his braids. Tension and silence swirled together around them and though neither was apt to striking up a conversation, eventually they had to leave. Loki continued to gather plants on the way back, as if the handfuls he had gathered before weren't enough. Their arrival at the palace was quiet and soon Thor found himself alone, Loki having slipped away to unknown places.
That night he dined with his mother, a simple meal but one he enjoyed nonetheless for his mother relayed some of what was going on between Odin and Laufey.
"Is that all they're talking about? I find it hard to believe that they should have any say in the matter," Thor groused around a leg of meat.
"Come now Thor, the frost giants have lived on Jotunheim as long as we have here in Asgard. Odin is a fair ruler and will conduct the terms as such. Borders are very important to both parties."
"They should be so lucky to have the all father to speak to and not I."
"Oh Thor, were these roles reversed you would be grateful for one as giving as your father."
Thor only hummed in acknowledgment, he knew when talking back to his mother would get him nowhere; she was the image of patience. Bidding her goodnight he left and as he walked in silence his thoughts drifted back to the forest. The Jotun prince was more than he appeared to be, he seemed not only highly versed in the arcane art, but in traveling through the forest and was a natural swimmer. Before residing to his room Thor veered toward the library, surely there was something he had missed from his younger years of only skimming the many books that offered information about the other realms.
Entering the vast chamber he could smell the must of old books bound in leather. Pacing through the shelves he watched title after title go bye, surely the librarians had no thought it useful to move the books around? Round the library he went and now everything looked so different, he hadn't been there in years and frustration was starting to get the better of him. None of the titles look familiar and when he rounded yet another corner near the back he stopped, boots shuffling to halt when he saw he was not alone.
Two blood red eyes peered up at him, Loki was situated on the floor books piled around him as if he intended to read all of them that night.
"That idiotic look upon your face is starting to suit you more than that of restrained anger. Ah, there it is, has it been so long?"
Thor all but growled, "Good evening little Jotun."
Loki sneered at him but didn't seem ready to throw any more verbal knives his way, merely dipped his head back into the book he had been reading. Thor thus spent the next ten minutes looking around once more before he finally found the shelf of books dedicated to the other realms tucked into a corner. Rubbing his hands across the worn spines he finally found the flaking lettering that said 'Jotunheim'. Pulling it out he began to read, if impatiently for all the time he had spent just trying to find the damned thing. Minutes went by and nothing, all the same information he could remember from his younger years. Jotunheim, according to the text, was a wasteland of ice and snow drifts.
"Your books detailing my realm are insultingly ignorant of its true beauty."
The voice wavered mere inches from Thor's ear and his hands snapped together, closing the book as if caught reading something he shouldn't. Looking back Loki was standing there, arms crossed and face blank as he stared at the book in Thor's hands. Gripping the book tightly Thor stood a little straighter.
"I admit that I have not seen Jotunheim, but for all the years my people have been there, I have not heard a tale of forests on its icy plains. Today you traveled through the trees like one who is born there."
It sounded more like an accusation than a question and Loki quirked an eyebrow at him.
"Odinson, there is more to Jotunheim than you could ever dare dream of. I would not expect one such as yourself to understand the kinds of beauty it has to offer."
Thor leaned toward him, he's only taller than Loki by a couple inches but he likes that fact he can stare the Jotun down, "What do you mean, one such as myself?"
"You were no doubt born into silk and gold and from the day you could walk I expect you have been told that the throne will be yours. One such as yourself has only know the lavishness of a palace and the suns blessings. Jotunheim is encased in ice and because of that its beauty is unparalleled to your sickening warmth and nauseating excessiveness you would call wealth."
"Excessiveness? We rejoice in life, we enjoy the goods we are given-"
"You throw them away once they have lost your fancy. On Jotunheim nothing is wasted, everything has a purpose."
They are so close now that Thor can feel the coolness of Loki's breath across his face, he can see a fire burning behind those crimson eyes and in the back of his mind he thinks that maybe Loki's words seemed to have a deeper meaning than the frivolity of palace life. Thor knows that if he stays here any longer he won't be able to stop himself from trying to strangle the sorcerer. Though Loki seemed to have realized something before him, his eyes going wide and then he relaxed, his features settling back into that of carefully blank expression.
"Pardon my words Odinson, I did not mean to offend."
Taken aback Thor didn't have words for the sudden change in attitude; Loki bid him good night and then turned on his bare heel and strode away. He stood for a minute trying to think of why the other man would have such a switch of character. Quietly he replaced the book and left the library. Walking back to his room Thor was no closer to understanding the strange sorcerer then he was to learning about Jotunheim.