A/N: Two quick things. Firstly, I dropped the rating on this story from M to T. I wanted to make it more generally readable, and at the moment I'm not sure the story is going to develop into anything that would require a M rating. If something comes to mind, I can always post them separately as interludes or deleted scenes.

Secondly, I've gotten a couple of comments on the last chapter. I want you to know that yes, there are some places where I don't go into as much detail as I could. In part this is because I prefer to leave some things to your imagination, and in part it's because some things will become clearer later on and I don't want to write myself continuity problems.

As always, thank you to my faithful readers and reviewers. It's always appreciated; I love to hear people's thoughts on what I write.

Chapter 13

Late in the afternoon, a knock on the door to his study broke Loki's concentration. He looked up from his book, a study on the environmental norms of the Nine Realms which included Jotunheim, and frowned. There were few people likely to interrupt him here, and he wasn't sure he wanted to speak with any of them. Still, he called out, "Enter."

It was more than a little surprising to him to see Thor hesitating in the doorway; usually his brother didn't wait for permission to enter. There had been a time when it was difficult to convince him to knock first, but Loki was long used to such things. He waited, as patiently as he could, for Thor to enter the room and speak his mind.

"My apologies if I disturbed you, brother," Thor began after closing the door behind him. Loki hid his surprise; Thor seldom apologized, and never without prompting from someone. "I had hoped to speak with you."

Loki waved his hand at the chair across from him and marked his place in the book at the same time. "Since you are here and I have already been disturbed," Loki said with a glimmer of humor in his tone, "please, join me."

Thor sat as indicated and looked around the room. Loki's study had changed very little over the years; there were a few more odd books about, or so he thought, but it really was difficult to tell. Thor had never understood how Loki could love to study so much; he had only learned to accept that it was so. "I was speaking with Mother this morning," Thor began, not entirely sure how to broach the subject he wished to discuss. "She suggested that I may wish to seek your advice as well."

"Oh?" Loki raised an eyebrow. Thor, looking for input? Had his time on Midgard so changed the elder prince that his habits of centuries had changed almost overnight? "What about?"

"Lady Jane," Thor replied. He studied his brother for any sign of a reaction, but Loki's expression was as guarded as usual.

"What could you possibly need of my insight on Lady Jane? You have spent more time with her than I," Loki replied. He did not want to have this conversation with Thor. Not now, perhaps not ever.

"You know I care for her; you know she taught me much while I was banished to Midgard," Thor said slowly. "I would like to know your opinion of her, as a person."

Loki sighed to himself but kept his gaze steady on Thor, allowing the silence to stretch out as he collected his thoughts.. He did not want a repeat of the last time Thor asked his opinion of a woman. Much younger then, and still quite full of himself, Thor had asked Loki what he thought of a young Lady of the court. Loki had been very much smitten with her, being himself much younger and still content with his place in Thor's shadow, but had hesitated to approach.

"What do you think of her?" asked the Young Thor in Loki's memory. "I think she is quite lovely, very well spoken, but perhaps shy," had been Young Loki's answer.

"Then I should go make her more comfortable," Young Thor had said. Loki had watched, disappointed and growing resentful, as Thor's sunny smile and outgoing nature had fascinated the Lady in question. Loki had never even had a chance.

Of course, did he even have a chance now? Loki doubted it. Though he wasn't entirely sure that Thor did, either, at least where Lady Jane was concerned. They had so little in the way of common interest.

"I think," Loki began as he pulled himself out of his memories, "that Lady Jane is an amazingly talented woman." Loki smiled a little as he decided upon a particular path for his reply. "She is beautiful, as I'm sure you've noticed, but she is also brilliant. What she did with the Tesseract and the portal was a feat few could have even conceived of. She is thoughtful, not just of people, but also of situations. She never stops thinking, brother, not even when she is listening carefully." Loki paused, the better to keep a tight control on his own growing emotions. "She is also quite compassionate. She took you in, for one thing," Loki teased, and Thor laughed even as he nodded agreement. "But she also spent considerable effort in helping us, helping me break free of Thanos. And then she went on to offer me friendship, as if I had never kidnapped her and taken control of her mind. There are not many who would be able to forgive such things."

Thor looked thoughtfully at Loki, who hoped he had managed to display the right balance between admiration, respect and distance for the Midgardian woman. Loki was quickly coming to realize that Jane had touched more than his mind during her attempt to free him, but he could not believe that the feeling was mutual. He would accept the friendship she offered and try to be supportive when she chose between Thor and her home.

Loki couldn't see her making any other choice.

"I will have to think on what you have said," Thor said after several moments of shared silence. "I did notice the intensity with which she pursued her work, but I confess that I thought little of it at the time. I understood only some of what she was searching for, and I fear I do not share your urge to study so much. Perhaps she will develop other interests during her time in Asgard, though," Thor went on hopefully. "She did seem to enjoy our trip into the City, though we were not able to stay long."

Loki's gaze sharpened and he looked at Thor intently. "Whyever not? She couldn't see enough, it seemed, as we passed through yesterday."

"I do not know," Thor answered with a frown. "She seemed to be in a great deal of pain and I took her to the healers. I expect she is resting by now. The healers, of course, will not discuss her condition with me without her leave. She is a guest, not family."

"Of course," Loki agreed, knowing how firm Eir could be when looking after someone's well-being. "But she was not harmed?"

"Not in any way that I could see," Thor confirmed. "Perhaps we shall hear more at dinner."

"Perhaps we shall," Loki replied agreeably. He was rather surprised that their conversation had thus far been so congenial; they had not spent much time like this since they were young. How much of that distance between them, of the attitude change between Thor-his-brother and Thor-the-Crown-Prince, had caused his reaction to learning they did not share blood?

"So, what were you doing when I came in?" Thor asked with more of his usual exuberance. But there was no malice in it, and nothing of arrogance either. Perhaps their bond was truly reparable after all.

"Studying the natural climate of Jotunheim," Loki replied readily enough. "You know that I have been tasked with finding a way to repair the damage done by the Bifrost." Thor nodded; it had been discussed at dinner the night prior, after Jane had left. "I cannot do that without first knowing more of how it is supposed to be, there."

"But much of their world is rock and ice, is it not?" Thor questioned, puzzled.

"It is, but the question is how much and where were things different?" Loki explained patiently, as if they were children and Thor had been skipping lessons again. "It is a whole world; the entire face of it cannot all be the same. How many different climates have you been in, on Midgard?"

Thor frowned but nodded. "So there could be areas of Jotunheim that are warm?"

Loki chuckled. "It's possible, though I doubt it. What is more likely is that there are areas where warmth occurs in springs and pools, where wildlife can breed and thrive even if the Jotuns themselves do not."

The brothers continued to discuss the theory of restoring Jotunheim, as well as other topics, for much of the afternoon. It was something of a surprise to them when they were called to dinner, but a pleasant one. Loki couldn't recall the last time he and Thor had spent so much time discussing anything, let alone something he was studying. And Thor realized in that afternoon just how much he had missed the easy relationship he and his brother had shared when they were young, before responsibility and his own sense of self-importance had gotten in the way.

In short, both brothers realized that it was an afternoon that they should have had long ago. And that it should not be so long before such a thing happened again.

TBC...