When Thor and Loki showed up on Freyja's doorstep, sweaty and exhausted, the woman looked the thunderer up and down and pursed her lips.
"You bloodied my dress." She said simply and allowed them inside.
Thor apologized and changed out of the gown and back into his regular attire, swearing that he would have the royal seamstress make her a new one. Freyja declined, claiming she could have Amora take the blood out for her and that she wasn't surprised that they'd brought it home dirtied. She took the dress upstairs while the brothers made themselves comfortable.
The Thunderer sat heavily in one of Freyja's dining chairs when Loki handed him a damp cloth with which to clean Mjölnir. Sitting beside him and leaning back in his chair, Loki sighed and watched his brother dejectedly clean the blood off the hammer. When he spoke to him next, he spoke quietly and sympathetically,
"I know you didn't intend to kill him, Thor."
Thor growled in frustration and clenched the bloodied rag in his fist, "Urgh! I was furious that he had my hammer! Did you see the way that Frost Giant carried it- like it a toy?"
Loki didn't divulge that he was the one who put the hammer on Jötunheim, but he still hadn't planned on it ending up in Laufey's hands.
"Well, now the truce between the All Father and Laufey is broken, and the Jötunheim King is dead by your hand- war will be upon us."
Thor's head fell into his hands and he growled again. Then he took a deep breath to calm him. "What will we tell Father?"
Loki scoffed, "The truth, of course!"
"What?!" The golden prince's head jerked up to squint at Loki like he just grown eight heads, "We can't say-"
"The truth is that Laufey stole Mjölnir and, when we traveled to Jötunheim to bargain for it- he attacked us and you killed him, yes?"
Thor stared into Loki's eyes, seeing how calm he looked about it all, but he reasoned that Loki had to cover things like this a lot. The man was a trickster after all.
"We cannot tell it any other way, Thor; we must be united in this, you understand."
After a moment Thor nodded and agreed on the story. It was the truth anyway, as Thor knew it- the hammer had been stolen, and he and Loki had gone to retrieve it through a bargain, but Thor decided he couldn't bear the humiliation he would receive by revealing that he had gone about it in a dress, so an attack on Laufey's part it was. He was feeling better about the story already.
A few more moments of going over what they would say to their father, and then they left Freyja's home after assuring her that her spinster life was safe for another day.
Standing in front of the throne room doors, the princes took deep breaths and steeled themselves for what was surely to be a long and harsh talking to by the All Father. But they opened the doors and strode inside the large hall, seeing Odin 'All Father' waiting with Frigga standing beside him; pulling away from him where she had most likely been whispering teases into his ear.
Choosing to beat Odin to the punch, Loki spoke first when he and Thor reached the base of the throne.
"All Father, has Heimdal told you of the situation?"
The All Father watched the two princes for a moment, no emotion on his face. "I have not been to see Heimdal this day."
Loki sighed regretfully. "Laufey is dead." He said.
Odin continued to watch his sons, waiting for an explanation. The stare of a father never fails to fluster and make children squirm. Just as Loki opened his mouth to speak, Thor spoke up in a confident tone.
"I killed him, Father; it was an accident. He attacked us."
"You were not supposed to be on Jötunheim in the first place."
"He had stolen Mjölnir!"
"And I see you have it back."
"Yes. Loki and I went to Jötunheim to bargain it back when he set his warriors upon us- we were forced to fight our way out. He believed he could defeat us by wielding Mjölnir himself and I had no choice but to-"
"But to prove him wrong by killing him?"
Thor deflated at his father's admonishment and Loki stepped forward to cover him.
"It truly was an accident, Father: Thor cannot comprehend his own strength. But we have Mjölnir back at that cost."
Frigga spoke then, keeping her voice calm, "The truce is broken then... Will we be at war?"
"Yes," Odin confirmed, "The Frost Giants will no doubt seek revenge for their dead king. The both of you were foolish not to come to me when Mjölnir went missing, and now through your folly and presumption a king is dead."
Angered by his father's words, Thor stepped up, "He wouldn't be dead is he hadn't attacked us! He's the arrogant fool who thought he could thieve and ransom from Asgard!"
"Be silent!" Odin shouted, startling his wife and effectively snapping shut the princes mouths. With their silence, he spoke quieter, in a calming tone. "I understand what you say, Thor, but you must understand that a king is dead and a war has been ignited by your inability to think ahead. We will discuss it at a later time, for now I must speak with the council and prepare for war. Begone now."
The princes bowed and began to walk away when Thor remembered a thought he had meant to ask of his father. He stopped and turned back to him.
"Father..." Thor hesitated, really not being able to believe he was going to ask this of the All Father, "It concerns me that anyone, be it friend or foe, is capable of wielding the hammer against us. I would feel less anxious if I were to easily have Mjölnir within reach..."
Odin nodded slowly, understanding that every moment without the hammer was an uneasy moment for his burly son, having kept Mjölnir by his side for so long. The hammer was a part of him now.
"Leave it with me- I will look into it."
Thor gave his thanks and set Mjölnir on the floor with a heavy 'thump' before his father and exited the throne room behind Loki.
"Loki! Brother, you must see this!"
Loki sighed in exasperation from his place on the sofa when Thor burst into his room. He didn't look up from his book, settling for turning the page a little harsher than usual.
"I really wish you would knock before intruding upon my chambers." He grumbled.
Thor laughed the comment off, "There is nothing you need hide from me, brother, but that is not why I come to you now. Father enchanted the hammer so that it may come straight to my hand when I wish it- watch!"
Loki sighed again as he looked over the back of the sofa to see the blonde standing in the middle of his room, one arm extended out to his side, hand open. The raven haired man gifted Thor with a bored expression and Thor nodded in a signal to wait- it was coming.
When a few screams from the palace maids sounded and a crashing and rumbling could be heard, the wall to which Thor's hand was extended blasted open and debris flew across the room right ahead of the mighty hammer which guided itself squarely into the Thunderer's waiting hand.
The muscled Ás grinned with his entire face at his brother for his accomplishment and Loki returned the given joy with a glare, noting the dust and chunks of palace wall all over his chambers. A servant girl on the other side of the wall looked through the freshly made hole in shock.
From down the halls Frigga's voice called, "Thor? What is all this noise?"
Loki's glare broke into a smirk at the sound of their mother. "You've done it now, haven't you?" He sneered at Thor and stood, making himself look shocked and ruffled before yelling out through his open doors. "Mother, Thor's smashing holes in the walls of the palace!"
"What?! Thor!" Queen Frigga chided as she still hustled to get to Loki's room.
Thor shook his head and squinted at Loki, "You are childish, brother."
Loki clicked his tongue, "I could say the same of you, Thor."
Another chapter, short and hopefully a little sweet. So Thor's hammer does what it's supposed to now, and there is impending war between Asgard and Jotunheim. What's the first thing to do when Frost Giants are liable to show up at your door? Build a big damn wall.