The boys are about 15/17 now
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Frigga was agitated. Of a summer, she would like to visit Fensalir with her husband and her sons. Not for any real length of time, even for a day. But Odin would not.
He was too busy, he said.
They had argued it back and forth between them year upon year. He'd promised her he would attend her this time, and he had fallen through, once more, on his promise.
She berated him fiercely for it, but to no avail.
She remembered the days before Thor's birth. How they had wandered the dunes together.
In the past years, she had set their trip aside by days and sometimes even weeks in an attempt to bring him along with them. She would set it back and aid him in any way she could to hasten his hand. But never did it shift the outcome.
So, having argued with him well into the small hours, she rose early with her mind set upon its course. This, and no other. She would leave with the dawn.
The Norns would say otherwise. She was forestalled by business for many hours, and the sun was beginning its downward trek across the sky by the time they finally could set out.
"Finally!" Thor exulted, throwing his hands down on the table.
Loki was sitting on the window ledge with one leg hanging down and a book open on his lap. He did not look up.
Thor was up and out of his chair and gone before Frigga had chance to utter a second word.
"Should we not wait for the morrow?" Loki asked languidly. "It seems late to be setting out."
She had expected something nearer Thor's enthusiasm from him. She remembered last summer, how excited they both had been, and she missed that. It was likely that he didn't want to come at all. That was due largely to his age, she thought, comforting herself. Thor had often been more reticent at that age.
"I told your father I would be leaving today," she told him, "and leave today we shall."
The way he pressed his lips told her he well knew what form that 'telling' had taken. He'd always been perceptive in that regard. She could recall a time when he was very small, one of the first occasions when she'd brought the boys alone. Thor had ridden off ahead with a friend and Loki had bided by with her. He'd looked at her with his big green eyes in his child's face and asked her why father so much did not want to come that he would shout.
Giving a resigned sigh through his nose he put a marker in his book and slung his leg down from the window frame.
"I'll be along in a moment," he said.
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The sun was just sinking beneath the line of the sea as they arrived at Fensalir, her Sea Palace. It stood beautiful and alone on the edge of the water, flanked by the dunes, lulled by the sounds of the sea and the water-birds that cried overhead. Frigga was relieved to be free of the heat of the city.
She had brought only a few serving men to attend them. If she had her way, she would bring none, but Odin insisted on a retinue, for safety if nothing else, and this had become their compromise. Neither he nor the boys had to like it.
When they finally alighted and it came time to unload the carts, however, Thor was nowhere to be found, which left herself and Loki to coordinate the unpacking. And Loki was put out enough at coming as it was. He had less tolerance for the heat than Thor had, and the ride was a long one.
She went and put a hand on his shoulder, "I know you're tired," she said, cutting him off. He was going to say something scathing about his brother, and she didn't want to have to address that. "Why don't you go and lie down for a while," she brushed a hand across his forehead, "wait for it to cool off."
He looked at her, caught a little off guard. "You don't, require my help?" he asked.
She smiled. "If I can manage the both of you and your father on my own, I'm sure I can succeed in this with what help I have here. Go and rest."
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The sun set and the water lapped black and velvety along the coast. The house was quiet now, but Frigga was not tired. Far from it, she was excited. There was peace in these walls, leaching from them and into the air all about her, and the wind blew cool over the water, chasing off the oppressive heat.
Smiling, she gave a soft tap on the frame of Loki's door. Knowing the likelihood of receiving answer, she did not wait but slipped in. He'd been sleeping since their arrival, some four or five hours prior, and she found him as she'd expected to, with his face half turned on one arm.
"Loki," she touched his shoulder, "wake up,"
"Mm," his brows came down and he turned his face away against the pillow. "Can't it wait?"
Laughing, she shook him, "Come, you!" she said, "You'll miss it!"
"How important," he grumbled, driving his face into his arm, "can it possibly be?"
She prodded him until, finally, still grumbling, he sat up and swung his legs out of the bed. She didn't give him time to change his mind but grasped his wrist and dragged him protesting out of the room and down the hall and out onto the balcony overlooking the coast.
"What time is…" he stopped.
The sea was still in the calm of the night, the stars shining cold and untouchable in the velvet sky. The water was thickly black, but above it, just under the very surface of the water, patterns arose. They were pale green, scattering and swirling across the surface of the water in a breathtaking dance.
"It's still enough on the water tonight that they came out," she whispered. She turned her head and she saw him looking out at the water. The weird green light played across his face and reflected in his eyes, so like the signature of their shared magic. "Would you like to get a closer look?" she whispered.
Slowly, he smiled.
They spent much of that night on the water in a boat they had fitted out between the two of them, or on the beach, wading into the biting cold of the night-time water.
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They both slept late the next morning, and by the time they'd awoken, Thor had returned. He asked where they'd been that they broke their fast so much later than usual.
Loki did not seem to want to answer him. He wasn't making eye contact, peeling the crusts distractedly from a piece of bread and looking down over the ledge beside them at the sea.
Frigga was noncommittal. "We were busy," she said, pouring herself tea. She offered the pot to Thor but he shook his head.
"What with?" he asked.
"Oh," she said lightly, laying aside the teapot, "things. I happened to know where one of my sons was when I found myself in want of a companion."
Dropping her gaze, Thor chuckled. Leaning back in his chair he looked back as if trying to follow some sound within the house. He rubbed the back of his neck.
Smiling, she lifted her tea to her lips, and setting it down she saw the startled look on Loki's face and how he was watching her, like he was trying to piece her out.
She raised one eyebrow at him and slowly, he smiled.
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Almost didn't include this chapter. But...it's actually one of my favorite moments. Let me know if you're glad I included it ;)
And there's a point later…kind of. Fensalir comes in at least one more time….soooon.
If you've been following all my updates as I go, 'In the End' chapter 22 should be about… next. Yes. Next.
