Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel. Obviously.
Why the Hel was he in a garden? Where the Hel even was he? It certainly wasn't Asgard. Or maybe it was.
It was hard to tell.
He got up and looked around, frowning before calling "Hello?" There wasn't any reply, though there was a fountain somewhere. With a sigh, he got up and started off, trying to find people.
It didn't take very long. He found a person with copper-colored skin, deep red markings etched into his—well, he wasn't sure if they were a he or not—skin, hair orange and wispy. He approached the figure and said "Um. Hello?"
The person looked up, their blue eyes blinking.
"Greetings," they said. "Who might you be?"
"Thor," he replied. "Odinson. Who are you?"
The person gave him a slow smile. "Odinson. Well, that's fun." They stood, and Thor was a bit put off to find that they were at least a foot taller than him.
"Who are you?" Thor repeated. The giant, for that was what Thor assumed they were, bent and picked up what looked like a sketchbook, sticking the pencil behind their ear.
"My name," they said when they straightened, "is Loptr, blood brother to Odin. I've heard a lot about you."
Thor stared at them in disbelief. "You...? I did not know my father had a blood brother."
"With the animosity between jotnar and æsir, are you surprised?" Loptr asked, raising an eyebrow. "Most forget that Odin himself is half Jotnar on his mother's side. You are a quarter jotnar and Loki is full. I, however, am a fire giant."
Thor stared at the jotun. He had met fire giants before, but they were bulkier. This giant had a slender, almost woman-like figure. He shook his head and said "I'm sorry but- Are you a woman or a man?"
The jotun threw back their head, laughing. "Oh, boy, don't you know anything about the jotnar? Not? Oh, goodness..." Loptr shook their head, still giggling. "Jotnar are not typically one or the other, but both. Or neither. It depends. Fire giants use the pronouns xe, xym, and xyr. Frost giants use ze, zim, zir instead."
"Oh," Thor said. Loptr looked at him and shook xyr head.
"I thought you would have tried to get to know the jotnar as much as possible, especially considering it was æs ignorance about them that half drove him mad? What happened in the Void managed the other half... He's okay now, though," Loptr assured him as Thor looked up. "He's made friends here, and I showed him the library not long after he arrived."
Thor swallowed and nodded, following. They reached the edge of the garden when Loptr spoke again. "So, who would you like to see first? Frigga and Odin are usually found together and they're probably in the dining hall. Loki was in the library when I left."
"Um..." Thor hesitated.
"The library it is," Loptr decided for him. "This way, nephew. Loki will be quite pleased to see you."
"Will he?" Thor murmured to himself. Loptr smiled and threw an arm around his shoulders.
"You have no idea just how much he loves you, do you?" Xe said, a faint note of amusement in xyr voice. "He gave his life for you, did he not? He knew he wouldn't return from the Dark World. Oh, and don't give me that look," the jotun added. "It's not your fault. But he does miss you."
Thor said nothing as they carried on, tuning out most of what Loptr said. Xe took his arm back from around Thor as they approached large wooden doors, pushing them open. Thor's eyes widened at the sheer size of the place. It seemed to go forever in all directions. Loptr caught sight of his expression and grinned.
"Every book ever has or will be written," xe said, lowering xyr voice. "Organized by subject and alphabetically. Loki was almost bursting with joy when he saw it."
"I can believe it," Thor said, looking around. They walked along the shelves, seeing people at the many tables and chairs, pouring over the books, until Loptr said "Ah. Here we are."
They had reached a table. And under the table, there was a person, who had rolled out a map of some sorts. Thor hung back, shifting from foot to foot, wondering why he had become nervous all of the sudden.
Loptr walked over and knocked against the table. "Loki! Guess who's here?"
"Go away, Loptr," came Loki's voice from under the table. "I'm busy."
"Doing what?" Loptr asked. There was no reply. Xe sighed and said "Why are you under the table?"
"There's not enough room on it," Loki said. Sure enough, there were a number of things on the desk. There were open books, pens, pencils, bits of charcoal, and notes littered it. Thor looked at the written words, wondering what they were as Loptr sighed.
"Loki, Thor's here."
Loki huffed. "Not every big, blond, blue-eyed oaf is Thor, Loptr. In fact, that's the description for most æsir."
"But it is!" Loptr said, then turned to Thor. "Thor, tell your brother that it's you."
"Um..." Thor furrowed his brows as he looked over at Loki's notes. "Loki, what are you doing?"
There was a thwack and the table jumped up as Loki hit his head on the underside, several stick of charcoal rolling off and breaking.
"Oww," Loki mumbled, clutching the top of his head as he scooted backwards out from under the table. Loptr snorted and looked away to hide xyr smile. "Wow," xe said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Graceful."
Loki shot xym a filthy look before looking at Thor. Thor looked back before glancing away.
"Do... Do you need help?" He offered, looking back and holding his hand out to Loki. Loki took it and Thor pulled him to his feet.
"Let me look at you," Loki said and put his hands on either side of Thor's face, frowning as he looked his brother up and down. Thor stood, awkward in his hesitance, until Loki let go of his face and pulled him into a tight embrace instead. "You oaf," he said to Thor. "I missed you."
Loptr shot Thor an I-told-you-so look over Loki's shoulder, and Thor rolled his eyes before hugging Loki back, just as tight.
It was Loki. Everything about this, the warmth, the feel, was familiar, and years upon years of guilt came back to Thor as he held his brother. Loki hummed as his thin fingers found the ends of Thor's hair. "You need a haircut."
"Loki," Thor said. "Loki, I'm sorry."
"For what?" Loki asked, sounding incredulous. It changed to suspicion, however, when he said "What did you do?"
Thor pulled away and looked at his brother's confused eyes. "You- I couldn't- I couldn't save you. I brought you to Svartalfheim that day, and I- It- I killed you."
Loki gave him an unimpressed look. "Thor, how long have you held on to this?"
Thor gave a hollow laugh, to which someone said "Shh!"
Loki glared over Thor's shoulder, then sighed. "This can wait. Loptr, can you make sure no one moves my things?"
"Depends. Can I look over your work?" Loptr asked.
"Fine. Don't change anything," Loki said, and grabbed the front of Thor's tunic, pulling him along out of the library. Once they were out, Loki released him, sighing. "Thor, you complete and utter idiot. Malekith killed me, not you."
"But Loki-"
"No," Loki said, holding up a hand. "Listen. What did you want me to do, let him kill you? No, Thor. The Nine Realms needed a hero and it was never supposed to be me. And that's fine." Seeing Thor's upset face, Loki rubbed his eyes. "Thor, I never meant to return to Asgard alive. Even if I had survived Svartalfheim, do you really think I would have just gone back to the dungeons? Of course not," he said, answering his own question. "I would have left at the first opportunity."
Thor swallowed, his throat feeling dry. "But... You said..."
"Liar, remember? You were right not to trust me," Loki said, shrugging. "But no longer. That has long since past." When Thor looked away, a hand came up to grasp his chin. "Thor. Look at me."
After a moment, Thor looked up to meet Loki's gaze. Loki smiled at him and said "Look at me. I'm okay, Thor. Hel, I'm better than okay, I'm happy. I'd forgotten how to be happy before, brother. I'm not angry any longer. Not at you, not at Father, not even at myself. And that reminds me," Loki pulled his hand back and stood straight.
"I did you wrong," Loki stated. "I betrayed you over and over again, without giving you a reason. I've lied to, plotted against, and nearly killed you, on multiple occasions. I do not ask for your forgiveness. To do so would be asking for too much. Instead I will only say that I am sorry, Thor, for all I have done."
Thor's mouth had fallen open. It must have looked comical, but Loki remained serious. Finally, Thor's mouth turned into a smile, and he almost tackled his brother in another hug, making Loki squawk. Thor ignored him and said "Brother, Loki, I forgive you." Of course he did, he thought to himself. He would always forgive Loki, no matter how terrible the crime, for Loki was back. His Loki was back. I have my brother back, he thought, ecstatic. But it faded as he remembered something as well. He pulled back from Loki, holding his brother at arms length.
"And Loki, I, too am fare from guiltless. I have wronged you as well, I realize, and I am sorry."
"I forgive you too," Loki said, also smiling, and Thor pulled him back into the hug, Loki replying in kind this time.
When they broke apart, Loki took Thor's arm, leading him again. "Have you seen Mother and Father yet? Oh, she'll be so happy to see you! And Father told us that you gave up the throne to Balder, I couldn't believe it! He also told me that you did in fact defeat Algrim, which was good to know, considering I never got to find out. And he told me you married Jane! I approve, brother, I quite liked her, so know you had my blessing in that, and Mother's as well. Though, I was surprised to hear that Odin granted her a golden apple, considering he didn't exactly like humans..."
Loki babbled on, stopping only to say "So tell me, how have things been since I left?"
So Thor told him. He talked about the various relations between the Realms, of the new treaty between Asgard and Jotunheim, of Sif and the Warrior's three. He told Loki of the passing of the Avengers, one by one, and how Darcy had accepted an apple, to join Jane on Asgard. Darcy had brought her taser along, and had threatened anyone who dared call her a "mere moral." Loki laughed at that.
"I wish I could have met her," he said. "She sounds wonderful."
"She is," Thor agreed. "I think the two of you will be great friends when he gains entrance to Valhalla."
"Oh, I hope so," Loki said, smiling. "I certainly hope so. Now come on! We're almost there."
"To where?" Thor asked, laughing. Loki looked back, still grinning.
"You'll see," he said, and led on, Thor following without any question, without any doubt in his mind.
And at last Loki found the word that had escaped him, sitting on that bench with Frigga. It was content. He was content, here, forgiven and loved by his family, pulling Thor along by his hand towards their—their—parents.
Loki was content at last.
And that's it! As I said in the last chapter, I may or may not continue this as a series, especially since I definitely want to do a piece on Loptr and Odin's relationship. If I end up doing a series, I'll post a notice here, so if you're following, keep following!