A/N: And, here's chapter two! Thanks so much for the support so far with this one, you're all amazing. If you have an idea or something, go ahead and review. I have a rough idea of where I want this to go, but the middle parts are a bit fuzzy.
Chapter Two
Loki grew rather quickly through his first couple years of life. He'd displayed how clever he was, especially for such a small boy, at an early age, talking and saying his first words before people truly expected him to. Frigga would say something to him, and he'd repeat it back to her with a small smile as it was made clear that he was trying as much as he could to understand them. Then, only a couple months later, he'd begun standing up with the help of a chair or something to hold on to. Soon enough, he was walking on his own, toddling around the palace happily.
"Brovver! Brovver!" He cried out to Thor as he toddled along behind the blonde.
Thor turned around and couldn't help but smile at the sight of his tiny younger brother toddling towards him with his arms held out in front of him, moving as quickly as his tiny legs would allow.
"Are you sure we should take him with, Thor? You know how curious he gets. Besides, my mother says the training grounds are no place for little kids like him." Fandral asked, watching as Loki caught up with them and the small boy grabbed Thor's hand in his own tiny hands.
"Woki go wif brovver." Loki said determinedly, staying close to his older brother, who just smiled a bit and ruffled his raven curls lovingly.
"Alright, Loki. But you need to stay right by me and Fandral." Thor said to Loki, crouching down to look the child in the eyes. Loki smiled his tiny smile and nodded.
With that, they started off to the training grounds, meeting Hogun, Sif, and Volstagg there. The warriors and soldiers of the realm were already beginning their training, fighting each other with dulled swords. They sat down next to the other three, Loki climbing into Thor's lap and leaning against his larger older brother.
They watched with amusement as the soldiers fought each other. Loki smiled as he watched, but gasped when he saw a baby bird fall from a tree on the other side of the training grounds. "Oh, no!" he cried before pulling away from Thor and running off, straight down the middle of the training grounds to get to the bird.
"Loki, no!" Thor cried, though it was too late. The soldiers all froze as the tiny prince ran past them and over to the bird, watching as the child crouched down and took the thing in his hands. Thor ran over to Loki promptly, gently rubbing his shoulder.
"Is huwt, brovver. Birdie huwt." Loki said to Thor, large tears rolling down his small cheeks out of sympathy for the tiny bird in his arms. Thor had known for quite a long time that Loki was an extremely gentle child. He didn't like seeing anything in pain whatsoever, whether it was other people or animals.
"Let's take it to the healers, then. Come on, Loki." Thor replied, lifting his small brother into his arms, carrying him and the baby bird back to the palace, listening as Loki whimpered, but cooed protectively to the bird. He couldn't help but think that had Loki been born female, he could one day be a wonderful mother.
They got to the healers' room in the palace and moved to find a nurse. "Oh, dear, what's wrong?" she asked, spying the tears the rolled down the youngest prince's cheeks.
"Birdie huwt." Loki replied to her, holding the little peeping chick to her. She nodded and took the little thing from his hands, examining it. It was standing rather well, but one of its wings was broken. She gently held a hand over the little thing, letting a white mist flow from her fingers and into the baby bird's wing, mending it.
Loki watched with awe, smiling when the bird seemed to peep with happiness again. "How you do that?" he asked the healer when she handed him the tiny bird.
"It's magic, my prince. I'm a mage. You might be, too, you'll have to ask your mother." She explained to the little boy with a smile. Thor thanked her and carried Loki back out to where he'd found the bird. He held his brother in the air, letting him put the chick back in its nest before the parent birds came back for it.
"Bye bye, birdie." Loki said to the little bird, waving to it before Thor put him down on the ground and took his hand. They walked back to the palace, keeping the little boy close to himself, keeping track of where he was at all times as they walked slowly back to the palace, moving at the pace Loki was comfortable with.
Frigga met them at the door of the palace, smiling at the boys. "Hello, dears. You're home just in time for lunch." She said to them with a grin, ushering the two boys over to the dining hall with her.
"Mama, we hewped birdie!" Loki said to her excitedly as she picked him up into her arms, holding him close. They walked down to the dining halls as a family.
"Oh, did you? How did you do that, dears?" she asked them with a smile as they walked, looking down at Thor and opening the door for them to go into the large room.
"The bird's wing was broken, so Loki carried it and I carried him to the healers and they fixed it." Thor replied with a smile as they walked into the room, taking their seats and beginning to gather the food that they were going to eat. Frigga smiled and listened as Loki started talking as he ate his grapes, babbling away and rambling on about nothing in particular.
After lunch, Frigga had Loki go to hug Odin before he was put down for a nap. "See you at supper, Daddy!" Loki said to Odin with a big grin as he hugged him.
The Allfather smiled and hugged the tiny Jotun back just as lovingly. "Have a nice nap, little Loki." He replied to the child before letting him go. The child slid off his lap and took Frigga's hand, walking with her back to his bedchambers that had changed from a baby's nursery to a room for a small boy.
Odin watched as his wife and adopted son walked away. He knew Loki would grow to be clever and cunning, and he'd soon discover all the power he had a mage. He knew he didn't exactly vocalize it, but he had his own little ways of letting his boys know how much he truly loved and cared about them, whether it was just smiling at them and ruffling their hair, or if it was hugging them close and telling them stories before bed. The brothers were so different. While Thor liked watching warriors, Loki watched bees in the gardens. Thor liked bedtime stories about battles, and Loki liked stories about people finding true love. They were polar opposites, but for some reason, they meshed together perfectly.
