Radioactive Mirrors Chapter Twenty –
After comforting him for about half an hour, Thor left Loki alone for some time to himself and returned downstairs. He tried to continue with his party, but he couldn't concentrate on any games. He noticed that Tony had sent his apologies and left by the time he got there, but he apologised himself and told everyone to leave, thanking them for coming.
When Frigga returned home from work, she was very surprised to find the house almost empty. Both Freyr and Odin were still out, and Thor was talking with Loki in his room. She immediately sensed something was wrong, dropped her bags and ran towards Loki's room.
When the door opened, Frigga saw Thor sitting against the head of Loki's bed, Loki curled into his side. Both looked up when she entered.
"Loki? Thor? What's going on? Where are your father and uncle? And your friends? Has something happened?"
"We know mother." Thor said quietly as Loki sat up and rubbed his eyes. "About our un- Freyr.
"Oh Loki!" She cried, rushing to her boy and taking her hands in his. "I am so sorry Loki."
"Why didn't you tell me?" He said, looking into her eyes.
"How do you tell a young boy that his immediate family aren't biologically true?" She answered, lifting a hand to brush a lock of hair out of his face. "And we didn't want to hurt you anymore. I am sorry we didn't. I know now that we should've." She turned to Thor. "How did you find out?"
"Loki heard Father and Freyr arguing in the kitchen earlier. I think they both left the house once they discovered Loki had heard them."
"Uh, they are nothing but overgrown children. Loki, you don't realise how incredibly lucky you are. You have two fathers and a mother that loves you. You may think Freyr is selfish, but he honestly did what he thought was best for you. Imagine what would have happened if he had raised you." She stroked Loki's cheek tenderly. "He's tried his best but..." She frowned sadly at him. "And if we told you then you and Freyr would have never had the same relationship you do now."
Loki looked down at the floor but looked up when he felt Thor's arm around his and Frigga sitting beside him on the other side.
"We love you Loki, we all do." Frigga said soothingly, stroking his hand with her thumb. Thor nodded.
"But why must everyone always lie to me?"
"Sometime, we have to lie to protect." Frigga said after a moment of silent thought. "It's sometimes better to lie so that the person will not be hurt, or hurt as much."
"But everyone knew except for me." Loki sighed. "I should call Anthony. I was horrible to him and it wasn't his fault. I'm sorry for ruining your birthday, Thor."
Thor shook his head and smiled. "It is alright. And that's not true- I didn't know until after you. Our friends do not know either."
"They're not my friends they're yours." Loki got up. "I think I'll call him now."
"Okay, I'll be downstairs making dinner, okay?" Frigga said and also got up then left the room. Thor stood up from the bed, also leaving to give Loki some privacy on the phone.
"They are your friends too Loki. I know you may not think so but they are." He said before leaving. Loki didn't say anything in response, merely looked away and reached for his phone to call Tony, who answered after two rings.
"I'm sorry." Loki said before Tony could even say hello.
"Uh, yeah, could you just hold on a sec?" He said quickly then took the phone away from his ear. Loki heard the faint sound of rustling and Tony's voice which sounded a little harsh to whoever he was speaking to, although he couldn't quite make out what was being said. A few seconds later, the phone was brought back up to Tony's ear.
"Yeah, hey, no I'm sorry I didn't tell you."
"No, it's not your fault. I understand. I didn't need to be so mean to you." Loki lay on his bed staring at the ceiling. "I love you."
"I love you too, Loki... Hey shut up! Don't laugh at- sorry, Obie's niece and nephew are visiting, I forgot they were coming today." He lifted the phone away from his ears and Loki faintly heard him growl "get lost" before holding it to his ear again.
Loki laughed. "So, we're okay?"
"Yeah, we're good." Tony smiled before he realised that Loki couldn't see him and stopped. "So what's happening now? Have you had a chance to discuss things over with Anyone? Do you just want to forget it all and have me not bring it up?"
"I need to speak to Freyr. I need to know why."
"Yeah, fair enough."
"Will I see you tomorrow?"
"Unless I get mutilated or are kept awake by these two little shits then yes."
"Well that better not happen, I like your face as it is thank you."
"Cheers doll." Tony said in a cheesy sounding accent. "So yeah, see ya."
"Goodbye love."
"Night." Tony said, and then hung up. Loki then, after a moments hesitation, dialled Freyr's number into his phone.
"Hello?" His voice came after a few rings.
"Freyr. We need to talk don't we."
"We do but..." He sighed heavily. "I'd rather we talk in person, I have something I need to show you. Are you still at home?"
Loki nodded. "Yeah."
"I'm just down the road. Would you rather I came to talk to you in the house or we go somewhere... Like the park?" He suggested.
"Whatever."
There was a pause as Freyr thought for a second then spoke. "Meet me in the park. That way we won't be interrupted by any of our family members."
Loki put the phone down and went downstairs.
-Page Break-
When Loki got to the park, he found Freyr sitting on a bench, his head tilted backwards and looking up at the sky. As he neared, he saw an envelope in his hands.
Freyr didn't noticed him until he coughed, which made the man jump but smile when he saw it was Loki. "Hey, Loki." He said.
"Hello." Loki said a little awkwardly before sitting down next to him.
"I'm sorry..." Freyr said after they had sat a minute in silence. "When you were born, I didn't have the means to look after you. If not for Frigga and Odin, only the Gods know where you would have turned out, and then I would have never been able to see you again." He clasped his hands together and looked down at the floor.
"I get why you did it, I just hate the lies. Why did nobody tell me about this when I found out I was adopted?"
"I... I don't know. Odin never really wanted me to keep in touch with you. So when you found out, we said that it was probably better if you waited until you were older before you knew..." He sighed again and ran a hand through his hair. "I should have though. I regret it now..." He looked up at Loki. "Do you resent me?"
Loki sighed and seemed to be thinking about it. "I always resented my birth parents. For leaving me. But now I've found out it's you... It's different. It's hard for me to hate you because I already like you so much."
Freyr nodded and they fell silent again. As they sat and watched as life carried on around them, they saw multiple families and thought about what life would be like if Freyr hadn't abandoned him.
"I have this picture of me, you and your mother when you were born..." He handed Loki the envelope in his hands. "Do you want to know about her? She's been... gone, for a while... but I can tell you what I know?" He asked.
Loki nodded and opened the envelope.
Inside there was a picture of a dark haired woman on a hospital bed. She was holding a small bundle in her arms, and next to her sat a proud looking young Freyr. The woman had shoulder length wavy, dishevelled hair, and piercing amber eyes. They almost looked red, although that could have been the picture quality.
"Her name was Laufey. She was... My girlfriend when I entered college. It was a few days after this photo was taken that she died.
"Did you love each other?"
"We did." He smiled sadly. "She is, was, the only person I have ever loved..." He trailed off.
Loki wanted to hug Freyr, but was still angry at him. "I'm sorry. I wish I could have met her."
Freyr looked up and smiled. "You'd have liked her. You're quite similar, in both looks at times and personality. Though I think you've acquired my talent for mischief."
Loki smiled. "I get why you did it but... I don't know." His head rested on Freyr's shoulder. "I'm running out of reasons to be mad at you. I really want to be angry."
"Understandable." Freyr said. "I don't blame you if you want to be mad. What I want to know is... What do you want to do now?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well... I'm guessing you want to stay here. Your friends are here, your boyfriend, your cousin. But... I mean, do you want to move out with me so we could try having a father/son relationship? Do you want to stay where you are but with me near? Or do you want to not see me again?"
If he was honest, Loki hadn't actually considered a life with Freyr before. He just presumed the man would be too busy with whatever he spent his day doing. "Um, I don't know. I'm not really attached to this place. We haven't been back long. But haven't you got other things you need to be doing? What about your book?"
"I've travelled for background research and I have contacts if I need any more information. I've just got to finish writing it all. I can do whatever, although if you need time to think about it I understand. You don't have to make a decision now." He shrugged and smiled. "I don't want to get in the way of your life. But I still want to be a part of it."
Freyr grinned at Loki then hesitated momentarily before he pulled him into a hug.
"Okay. Take some time to think my offer, it won't disturb my work at all, and if it's what you want then I'm more than happy to oblige." He said.
Loki hesitantly put his arms round Freyr and nodded.
AN: All tied up; Tony forgiven by Loki and safe from Howard, Freyr and Loki slowly mending things, all is good. Only one chapter left now :)