Past Christmas: Thor

1- A small, blonde, mischievous head popped up from it's hiding place behind an ornate table, followed closely by, as it usually was, a black-haired head.

The Yule log was burning, as it had been the last few nights. There were intricately carved runes and wishes on it, slowly turning to ash. As future King, Thor had been allowed to help pick out the largest tree in the forest to burn for the celebrations.

Loki crept closer, behind his brother.

"Want me to freeze it?"

He asked. Their mother had been teaching Loki magic, much to the dismay of their tutors.

"No."

Thor laughed, obviously attempting to appear older and bigger than he was.

"The Yule log represents the flame of the season."

"I don't see the big deal."

Loki yawned.

Thor punched him on the arm, perhaps a bit too hard, and they continued to creep forwards.

They met with a small, dark-haired girl with wild hair and two daggers on her hip.

"Hi, Sif."

Thor greeted, while Loki simply nodded. It was getting dark outside, the almost ethereal lights of Asgard beginning to dim.

"Ready?"

The little girl asked, hefting a sack over her shoulder.

"Yeah."

Thor said.

"Sure."

Loki said.

"You know Heimdall can see everything."

Sif whispered as they got closer to their target.

"Only if he's looking."

Thor said.

"But all the adults are celebrating Yule in the Great Hall."

"Which is where you two should be." Said Sif. "Even if your dad has overindulged on the mead again, your mom is bound to notice."

"Nah."

Loki said with a yawn.

"I conjured up some projections of us playing at a table. As long as no one tries to talk to them, we should be okay."

Sif looked at him, a little wonderingly.

"That's so cool! I wish my mom would teach me magic. It took me forever just to convince my parents to let me swordfight."

"And swordfight you can."

Thor said, appreciatively. The small, dark haired girl in front of him was the only one who had ever beaten the young prince in a fight, with swords or fists.

Sif gave him a look- of course- and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"We should get going."

She said.

"We don't want the adults to figure out we're gone."

Thor nodded, too-long blonde hair bobbing excitedly.

They crept forward, until they were in an outdoor balcony of sorts, if it could be called a balcony if it was as wide and long as a pasture.

They met Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogan, all gangly teenagers taller than them, at the doorway.

Volstagg, too, was carrying a sack over his shoulder, and he bumped Thor companionably on the shoulder when he arrived.

"Ready?"

Thor asked the group at large, tilting his chin in what he probably thought was a kingly manner.

"Ready."
The children all confirmed, except Loki, who did so after a moment of puppy eyes from Thor.

The balcony opened into a wide ledge, below which there was nothing but dark open sky, quickly becoming nighttime. Sif opened the sack on her back, revealing thickly rolled furry blankets. One, they laid on the ground, and the other the kids wrapped around themselves as they sat on the edge of the precipice. Volstagg dove into his own pack and emerged with small sweet breads, which he gave out.

After a moment of shushing each other, the show they had been waiting for began.

Every year on this date at Yule Time, on Asgard there was a light show to rival anything they'd ever seen. Red, green, gold, and silver lights danced across the sky, a mixture of magic and the makings of scientists.

Even Hogun stopped talking for a while, and they simply watched the stars.

The future would almost never be this serene for this group again, but for now, everything was perfect.

"Happy Yule, brother."

Thor whispered to the dark-haired boy beside him.

"Happy Yule, brother."

Loki repeated, eyes shining in the lights.

2- "This is not a good idea."

Thor said.

Loki, now a tall, gangly teenager, rolled his eyes.

"Like starting a fistfight with someone because they said you were short?"

He asked. Thor, full of righteous fury, drew himself up tall (which, admittedly, was not extremely tall) and sniffed.

"It is a king's right to defend his honor."

He said.

"Suuuree." Loki drew out the word. "Now let's do this."

A burst of flurries and heaps of snow, tinged with the touch of magic, immediately fell on the two kingly figures walking through the doors, visiting neighbors from another realm.

"Run?"

Thor asked.

"Run."

Loki agreed.

They sprinted away, a burst of snow behind them.

3- Jane seemed to take personal offense at Thor's confusion on a few aspects of Midgard's Christmas traditions. Although the scientist chattered on about the Norse influence on modern-day Christmas, many of the items Thor saw while being led through the aisles of Walmart were completely foreign to him.

However, Jane looked so lovely wearing what she insisted was a Santa hat and excitedly explaining mistletoe to him that he did not mind.

Darcy met them in the electronics aisle, where devices that were primitive to Thor were brand new for many Midgardians.

The lady Darcy had a bright green elf hat of painfully familiar color perched upon her head, and was pushing what seemed to be a cart filled with nothing but Christmas sweets.

Thor smiled broadly at her and motioned to take the cart. She accepted rather easily and took a moment to squeeze his bicep consideringly.

Jane threw her head back and laughed. Thor thought he had never seen something so beautiful as this Midgard woman in jeans and a messy bun, not even in all the halls of Asgard.

Selvig emerged from an aisle, disgruntledly clutching Darcy's purse and trying to shoo jane away from the children's chemistry set the next aisle over.

Thor smiled.

Although shopping in a Walmart on Christmas on Earth might not have been what he envisioned as a child, Thor was completely content.