The Origin Of Sleipnir

~ Abnormal Apatite ~

. . .

Loki was met by a room filled with laugher when he entered the dining hall. That in itself was not unusual - The dinners typically held a lot of amusement for the Asgardians joining in, but the story that would course the laugher this time was far from pleasing from Loki's point of view.

"And then, Thor kicked him so hard that he threw up in one of the buckets!" Volstagg exclaimed, his words having a major outburst of laugher to follow from everyone around the table. "And guess who had to clean those weapons afterwards! Ha! Guess who!," he added with a snicker and bumped his elbow into Fandral's arm on repeat.

The fellow worrier was not quit as amused of the story as everybody else. "Oh please, you weren't even there," Fandral huffed in annoyance.

"No, but by Odin's beard how I wish I was!" Volstagg laughed, having the rest of the table follow his example and burst into laugher once more.

"Another one please!" Fandral called out and slammed his cup into the table, his wish to drown his embarrassment in alcohol only making him cause more laugher. It made Loki do that much more of an effort to stay low and practically sneak in on his place by the long table.

"I can't believe that story is still that amusing to them after four weeks on repeat," Loki spoke lowly when taking place by his brother's side.

Thor just shrugged and took another bite of the huge chunk of goat he had made sure to grab before anyone else. "Volstagg has a way of telling the same story without making it run out of interest," he said, although he himself had stopped laughing at the tale much earlier than anyone else; Perhaps because he had experienced it himself.

"I just hope it won't last for much longer. People are still talking about how the two of us was in disguise as bride and bridesmaid to get your hammer back from Jotunheim that one time." Loki said as he began to shove one slice of meat after the other onto his plate. He wasn't able to keep a smile from pulling at his mouth when he thought of the ridiculous memory.

Thor shook his head with a small laugh and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "That was more embarrassing for me than for you," he claimed and reached out for a new mug of bear when one of the servants passed by with a tray. "But perchance they would forget it faster if you stopped reminding-," Freezing mid-sentence after turning towards his brother once more, Thor stared at all the meat, sauce and root crops that now was stacked on Loki's plate. The slender Odinson was already devouring a large piece of goat, despite his claim of not finding it the least bit tasty. "-Them…," Thor finished in disbelief, his brother's sudden appetite standing in complete contrast to how he had refused to even look at any of the food by the breakfast table the past many mornings.

It took Loki a good couple of mouthfuls before he even glanced back at his elder brother. The awareness of Thor's surprised stare brought him to a hold. "What?" he managed to get out between layers of meat in his mouth.

His question unwillingly made Thor give away a small chuckle. "What? This morning you wouldn't even enter this room and now you seem like you're eating for a whole army!" Thor snickered a little, hoping his brother could see how ridiculous that actually was.

"Oh please, as if I ever question your humongous appetite," The God Of Mischief practically snapped in defense, but did seem to take notice of his brother's comment and have his meal enter in more suitable mouthfuls.

Noticing the frown on his brother's face, Thor feared he might have said something wrong and immediately tried to fix the problem. After all, Loki had barely eaten anything the past many weeks, so perhaps a mountain of protein and what not was just what he needed to get back on track.

"Okay, I'm sorry. If you feel like challenging the entire table in an eating contest, you just go ahead. That sure would move their attention from that four weeks old story," He tried with a small smirk, but the outburst of annoyance there was to follow from his brother's side let him know that he had once again chosen the wrong words.

"You have to do this every single time haven't you?!" Loki snapped and slammed a hand onto the table as the cutlery clattered from the impact.

"What? Do what?" Thor questioned in confusion, his ignorance of the problem only making Loki more hostile.

"This! Pointing fingers at me when you obviously have some health problems of your own," The younger Odinson hissed. At least he managed to keep his voice low enough to not cause a scene, despite his clear frustration.

"Health problems? What health problems? I don't have any health problems - I'm the God of Thunder," Thor claimed a little annoyed himself.

Loki just roll his eyes at him as if everything he said was the stupidest thing he had ever heard. "Of course - As if eating the same resurrected goats over and over again isn't coursing your well-being any kind of damage." Loki said sarcastically, the dark-haired Asgardian reaching back to grab a big mug of bear from a servant's tray, immediately starting to drink it all in one long go. The golden liquid slid down his throat like a waterfall, and this was despite the fact that Loki preferred wine. At all times!

"I would-… Be more concerned for your well-being at the moment, actually…" Thor spoke in disbelief, his sentences broken by the unusual sight before him. His brother's behavior actually started to cause him a bit of concern.

As soon as the giant mug was empty, Loki slammed it back onto the table before standing determinately. "Now if you will excuse me, but I think I left the brazier burning in my champers," he said as an apology for leaving, although Thor found it hard to believe that a God who otherwise relied so much on precision, would forget anything so obvious.

"But you just got here? Loki!" Thor called out when Loki paced out of the room, but he got no reaction in return. "Storming off like that for a trifle is just immature and you know it!" the Odinson then yelled in frustration, his angry outburst only followed by Loki slamming the gate behind him.

The God of Thunder muttered in slight irritation as he watched his brother leave. He was now left to silently ponder if he really could trust his statement about being fine. If Thor could trust him at all had always been a bit of a gamble to be honest, but this was different. This was strange even for Loki.

"Hey, how about the time Thor went into Jotunheim in a dress!" Fandral then exclaimed to change the subject, successfully making people burst into laughter, this time on Thor's expense.

As the laughing spread across the table once more, Thor groaned to himself and rubbed his eyes. However, not even the embarrassment of having that story retold kept his mind from wandering back to his brother's odd behavior. Weather it was nothing but another twisted spell or trick Thor couldn't tell, but something was defiantly up. Loki's change of behavior had got to have a reason.

. . .