He'd missed supper, which was the whole reason they stayed out so late in the first place. While he dined with Frigga on a frequent basis Loki still had nightmares about his first supper with the royal family as a child. Now part of that family, and with everything he'd done, he didn't want to think what the atmosphere would be like. So he made a point of staying out late, and when Frigga tracked him down he made some excuse about checking on the people. Somewhat true, it definitely gave him good boy points, Frigga often remarking when Odin joined them the scant occasions he did for tea that Loki was taking his role much more seriously than they had thought he would.

Whatever kept them off his back, he thought.

Thor was missing when he stepped through. His loving husband would be out until near daybreak. Either one of his friends persuaded him to go for a drink after his supper or he was just plain avoiding Loki. Both options Loki found in his favour since it meant he could take a bath or read without being scrutinised every second.

He picked at the fruit that the servants had taken to lay out for him, bundling up the meat when he passed and stuffing a bread roll in his mouth as he changed out of his princely garb and into his nightshirt.

The hours between evening fall and true night passed slowly. Slow enough Loki managed to read a few more chapters of the book Freyja had gifted him before the moon hit his chair just right.

He changed form, his talons grasping the bundle of meat as he flew out his window and to the hut Loki had once called a home.

It had changed in the almost month he'd been back in Asgard. No longer was it decrepit or falling apart. Instead, by order of Odin, the walls had been erected once more and enforced with strong magic. It had expanded to, something it would need to do again when Loki changed back and took in Fenrir's new size.

"What am I going to do with you," Loki sighed, tossing the meat he'd brought his son's way.

Fenrir nibbled at it delicately, the both of them knowing that Fenrir wasn't being fed as much as he should be. "How are you?" Loki asked, feeling much like Thor every night he came here.

Fenrir huffed in response, and Loki knew it was a response not just an involuntary noise. Fenrir wasn't stupid. He understood. He couldn't speak but he could understand Loki and reply as best he could.

"I know, stupid question."

At first Loki had only come every other night. Fear had him staying away more than anything. But when he saw how miserable and lonely Fenrir was growing he made a point to come every night he could make it. He would come through the day, but last time he had tried Thor had seemingly appeared from nowhere and steered him away from the forest.

He looked over Fenrir, seeing the glossy coat and wet nose. Well fed he might not be but Fenrir was fed enough to keep him healthy. Odin was making sure Skrymir's gift wasn't shirked or ignored, giving Fenrir the whole forest behind the palace to make his home. The only reason he was here with Loki now instead of off sniffing some trees was because Loki was only decent conversation he got.

The animals were too dull for Fenrir. Loki had spent time as an animal himself and couldn't believe how dull their lives were when they weren't fighting for their lives. The Asgardians, while better conversationalists, didn't even attempt to communicate with Fenrir. To them, he was just an exotic beast for Thor's monstrous spouse. No doubt, when they did speak to Fenrir, they treated him like most people treated animals, and for someone with an intellect like Loki's son that couldn't have been pleasurable.

Loki was planning on bringing a book down here at some point. He wanted to see if he could get Fenrir to read. If he could, Loki could start devising some wolf proof scripts to bring down. But until then, he contented both of them with magic and stories of his own devising.

He was there a good portion of the night. Enough to see Fenrir off into a little nap before he turned in himself.

Thor was there when he got back, seeming to take advantage of the empty bed by sprawling himself out over it. Loki actually considered staying a bird to get some sleep, but since his cat was eyeing him up from on top of Thor's chest he decided against it.

With all that muscle came quite a bit of weight. Much more than Loki had anyway, and while Loki wasn't exactly weak, Thor, when asleep, seemed to just stick to the ground. It made sleeping under him as children unbearable and moving him now almost impossible.

However, luck, or misfortune, whichever it was tonight, seemed to be on his side as Thor wasn't as asleep as Loki first thought. "How's Sigyn?" he asked, rolling to his side of the bed.

"Er, good." Loki said, lying on top of the covers. "Asleep I think."

Thor grunted mumbling, "I bet."

Something about how Thor said that niggled at his mind. Yet, Loki was too tired to think about it right now, so he did like Thor, he rolled over and went to sleep.

Sigyn looked like she had been waiting a while when Loki met up with her the next morning. She didn't waste any time when he did get to her either, dragging him off and putting him in position as Balder started his usual stroll around the palace.

It was a simple trick, changing Balder's belt into a snake, but it got him panicked enough to ignore his surroundings and start running towards Sigyn's waiting arms. With Balder dealt with, Loki took care of Nanna, intercepting her on her way to Balder's meeting spot and, knowing she liked birds, continued to have a lengthy, if somewhat one sided, discussion on whether Odin's birds were crows or ravens.

"You know I can never tell the difference," he said, hearing Balder's cries even from this distance. Loki could tell Nanna could as well, but since Loki was somewhat a person not to trifle with, she suffered through explaining the differences as best she could as the shrieks quietened and Sigyn did her thing.

Only, something went wrong. Just as Nanna was explaining the difference in wing span Sigyn let out one bellow and stormed down the hall, away from Balder, away from Loki even, until she was out the palace altogether. It was quite worrying. Especially since Balder appeared moments later and called Nanna over in a tone that was less than the gentle nature he'd always been known for.

Loki followed after a moment, but the time he'd delayed had allowed Sigyn to get a good head start on him. No matter how much he looked he couldn't find Sigyn the rest of the day.

Eventually he ended up back in Fenrir's woods, changing his form into a wolf and spending the day hunting the elk that lived nearer the mountain terrain. Sigyn stayed on his mind the whole while. It wasn't just that she was upset, it was Balder. Never, no matter how much Loki had tricked or tripped him up, had he seen Balder so much as raise his voice. In the tales, Balder wasn't a warrior, he was this gentle creature doted on by his mother and loved by all that met him. In Asgard, much of that had been the same save a few things. One, he didn't grow up with Frigga. Two, Loki wasn't sure whether the gentle name could apply to him anymore. Not if he made Sigyn shriek.

Fenrir didn't have an opinion when Loki asked for one. He seemed to find anything not related to actual fighting in the palace boring. This little spat between Sigyn and Balder only had Fenrir changing the subject to who got hurt at noon, something Loki didn't know but promised to find out for next time.

When he got back, it was dark once more. Gliding into his room he was more than surprised to see Thor still up. He'd sat himself in a chair near the fire, one of their books he'd been gifted at their wedding in hand. He didn't look up from it as Loki landed, so Loki didn't think much of it.

So Thor was having a late night in their rooms for once, it was his right to.

He shed his cloak, his boots and britches too until nothing but his soft tunic was between him and the top sheet. It was harder to fall asleep with Thor still wide awake. In bed with him was different. There was no looking, no silent judgment. All things Loki could feel Thor doing now.

With a pointed glare, he shifted onto his side, trying all the while to get a good nights sleep.

It turned out that wouldn't be the only time Thor would pull a stunt like this. In the coming months Loki got used to it enough that he could just ignore it and doze off, but the question for why the sudden scrutiny was rearing its head continued to baffle him.

Two months turned to three, and the judgment stopped coming. The looks didn't, but they held a completely different weight to them now. That was when Thor was in their chambers. Around the three month mark those nightly watches shifted back to the routine they had favoured in their first couple of weeks married. Ergo, Thor would spend all night drinking and Loki would be left to his own devices until they both collapsed into their respective sides in silence.

The five month mark Loki didn't even see Thor in the mornings, he just stopped coming home at all. Loki would say it was a big loss, but, well, the baths he took without anyone interrupting him or eating half his food made that quite impossible.

Then the sixth month rolled around and Loki longed for the fifth month again. Almost overnight Thor seemed to change his attitude. He came home, he slept, he woke in the morning and even sat to eat breakfast with Loki.

They had conversations. Actual words of civility. They steered clear of topics they knew would end up with the both of them bloody, and usually the topic consisted of the weather. But it still stood to reason that they were having conversations.

There was more. On top of all the appearances at home Thor started showing up in the most weirdest places. He was in the city when Loki was for instance. Standing with his buddies, all of whom still cowered when Loki passed by like he was going to turn blue and bludgeon them any second. He bade them farewell loud enough, and took Loki's arm before any two thoughts could be strung together.

Sigyn seemed to find it all rather amusing. Until Thor started requesting more and more of Loki's time without her present.

She seemed to disappear completely as the seventh month rolled around, something he only hoped was because she'd managed to garner Balder's attentions or at least forgive whatever it was he'd said to her. It made Loki's days, when Thor wasn't with him, lonely once more. He ended up spending more time with Frigga as a result, ambling behind her like a duckling on the pretence of learning his real duties to the crown.

"He's being weird," Loki tried to tell her once over breakfast. It was one of the first meals he'd managed to eat away from Thor, the man who had started bathing with Loki once more when he didn't kick him out that first time.

Frigga just laughed at his complaints. "He's taking his role more seriously," she said, adding on, "Besides, isn't it good that we're showing Asgard a united front instead of leaving you to roam alone?"

Which meant Frigga had meddled until Thor bent to her will. This new change in heart was probably all her doing. "I suppose," he'd sulked anyway. "Speaking of, how are the other realms?"

One topic of conversation he'd never been able to escape whilst he was out and talking with grown ups was his involvement in almost destroying two realms. If he wasn't hearing about the death toll from the people of Asgard he was dragged most unkindly to the Bifrost sight where Asgardians were still working to get the stains of Jotun blood from their precious gold. Thor had managed to scare the worst of them away when he was near. But, like Loki had explained, Thor wasn't there all the time, so the people of Asgard found a way eventually.

Frigga, here, turned a bit ashen as she told Loki about the recovery attempts. Asgard had gotten off lightly. They barely had any casualties. Jotunheim, too, considering how many had died before Loki took action, was now a prospering realm under the guidance of Skrymir. The only one that was still finding it difficult to stand on its feet again was Vanaheim. Frigga's home.

"Why did you involve them?" Frigga had asked him once, at the beginning of his stay here.

To that, Loki wanted to tell her the truth about the stories, about Skrymir's plan. But Frigga was angry and hurt. Loki had used her homeland in a skirmish it needn't have even been in. It hadn't made Frigga hate him, but it had hardened some of the gentleness within her the more information Odin gave her about Vanir death tolls and uprisings.

Loki had eventually come up with some excuse, one that Frigga didn't believe in the slightest. But since it was the easiest excuse to accept she didn't question it out of sheer desperation.

Now, seven months on from that fateful uprising, Vanaheim had quietened down. No longer did the people fight back against Odin's purge. Instead, subdued as they were, they tried to just avoid conflict altogether, focusing instead in replenishing their land. They had bounced back once, Frigga had said, and they would so again. Even if this time there were so many more losses than last.

When he retreated back to his chambers Loki thought that he'd always had one regret about raiding Asgard, and that had been Frigga. It hadn't lessened over time, it had only grown in fact. At this rate he'd be going to Vanaheim himself to try and help. Something he was sure Frigga was just waiting for him to suggest, Odin keeping Loki under realm arrest or not.

Thor was there when Loki got back, a bath waiting and the day already planned for him. Apparently, someone- Frigga- had gotten him out of all his duties today, so Thor had the whole day to spend lavishing Loki with attention. Joy.

He did take that bath however. He gave himself that one pleasure before he spent the day in mindless conversation and eventual silence. It was almost a relief being back in his chambers when they were done. Almost. Thor was still behind him, and while Frigga may have talked him into accompanying Loki, it seemed Thor had taken his new role with some kind of excitement. If he hadn't, he would merely chaperone Loki around the city until the two of them could be seen getting along cordially by enough people. Never would Thor have attempted the feats he was making in conversation or sharing Loki's more intimate routines. As ridiculous as they were, Thor was trying to mend a bridge between them. One Loki couldn't help but feel had more weight behind it than Frigga's gentle encouragement.

Regardless, it lessened the glares they got when they were out, so Loki suffered through it for now. Especially if it meant he got his baths drawn for him, that he didn't mind.

Currently he had his candles moved closer to his bed, courtesy of a great thought by Thor. It meant Loki could read propped up against his pillows. He also wasn't blind to the fact that his new position meant Thor was able to amble that bit closer than usual in the gap Loki's body created against the pillows.

It was all, nicer than Loki had been wanting, and for that fact he just knew there was an ulterior motive behind it. The question of what would still remain to be seen.

He actively sought Sigyn out the next day, purely because Thor had left him alone once more when Sif and Fandral requested Thor's presence on the training field. He found her in Frigga's garden, Nanna firmly planted by her side. He considered them for a while, watching the easy way Sigyn was interacting with her, and how, unlike with Loki, she actually looked like she wanted to be there.

Sigyn really was sneakier than she looked.

"There you are," Loki called, plastering on his most charming smile.

Nanna looked ready to bolt as he strode over to them, stopped only by Sigyn's arm chaining her in her place and courtesy forcing her to say, "Good morning prince Loki."

"Morning." He ignored the pointed looks Sigyn was sending his way, knowing she would thank him later. "I was considering going for a stroll through the woods. You ladies wouldn't like to join me would you? It gets terribly lonely among the flowers."

Nanna paled at the question, Sigyn hinting more with her eyes than words that, "I don't think that's a good idea. That wolf lives there now doesn't he?"

"Fenrir?" Loki scoffed, "He'll be asleep right now. Besides, are you really telling me you don't feel safe with a frost giant keeping watch? Surely something as terrifying as a Jotun should have nothing else to fear and therefore be unable to fight."

"I suppose," Nanna mumbled, not looking too happy about it.

"Excellent." He didn't give them time to come up with another excuse, wrapping himself in the middle of the two of them and starting off towards the back of Frigga's gardens and into the woods where Thor, thankfully, was too busy to keep him away from today.

He had a goal in mind as he wandered amongst the trees. Chatting idly with the two ladies he tried to keep them on his path, while also keeping an eye out for Fenrir. Loki wasn't actually too sure Fenrir would be sleeping, and while Loki knew his son wouldn't attack if Loki said not to, just the sight of him would have Sigyn and Nanna running back for the nearest guards. So he avoided any freshly trodden paths and by late noon he steered his two companions into the little niche he'd found as a child.

"Wonderful isn't it?" He asked, watching the waterfall. It fed into the river that ran not too far from his hut. The mountain was still a good stretch away, the water itself flowing from a cliff face that marked the beginning of the rocky terrain.

"It's beautiful," Nanna murmured, already transfixed on the hawk that was preening in the rocks.

She was there most of the afternoon, sitting in a bed of flowers and just watching the bird above. As boring as the past time was, Loki much preferring to play or aggravate the hawk than simply watch it, the distraction gave Loki time to catch up to Sigyn's new plot.

"Could have filled me in earlier," Loki huffed.

"I doubt Thor would have been as approving of it as you," Sigyn countered, the both of them agreeing that Thor's renewed interest wasn't working out for either of their bored minds. "Besides, it's much easier approaching her when you're not around. She's been rather helpful."

Especially in getting nearer Balder. Being friends with Nanna meant that she got invitations to spend time with the two of them when before it had just been her showing up in his path. It also meant that Nanna was more open to spilling little details about Balder that only a lover would know. Something that explained the new hairstyle anyway.

Loki didn't know if he liked it. Sigyn was starting to look less like Sigyn every time he saw her.

They journeyed back before it got too dark, Loki claiming Fenrir would be waking soon. The girls were almost running as night did fall as they breached the steps. Sigyn Loki waved off easily, but Nanna had started sleeping more and more in the palace now Balder had officially moved in. It meant he was stuck walking with her in an uneasy silence until they reached the hall that would split them into different sections of the palace.

"I had a great time," Nanna said before Loki could simply walk off.

"Yes, me too. I know Sigyn likes her fluffy things and often there are rabbits that live there." He used to turn into a fox and chase them when he got frustrated in his Allspeak lessons.

"Do you think we could go back some time?" Nanna asked.

"To the meadow?" Loki clarified, still baffled when Nanna nodded. "With me?"

"Well you didn't eat me did you?" Her laugh tapering off when Loki didn't join in. "I think I've been rather unfair to you and I'm sorry. You seem nice, and you have a good smile- when you do smile that is."

He almost laughed himself at the way she was basically prostrating herself so she could get back to that meadow. Loki didn't think Balder would take her, even if she begged him and sucked him until he couldn't walk. Balder wasn't a fighter and Nanna knew that, so if anyone was going to keep the big bad wolf and whatever else lay in that forest away from her so she could see a pretty waterfall it would be the Jotun.

Still, an opportunity was an opportunity. He even plastered on another smile for her, "You're very kind. And of course I would love to take you back. Besides, just because Sigyn didn't see her bunnies today doesn't mean she won't want to go back and find them. She can be insatiable when she wants to be."

Nanna's eyes grew distant for a moment, a red tint overtaking her cheeks before she ducked her head, muttered goodnight and strode off down the hallway to Balder. He thought it odd until he felt the hand come up to the small of his back and Thor's, "Who's insatiable?"

"Sigyn," Loki said, striding off to their chambers before he could be herded there like an errant child.

He took Sigyn and Nanna out to the meadow three times that month, on each Nanna would journey off to some part of the meadow to gaze at the birds. Sigyn, Loki managed to keep entertained. At first, he found the rabbits he'd claimed lived there and watched as she cooed and brought up memories Loki would rather soon forget about his time being one of the furry animals in her lap. But, since the rabbits weren't always certain there were other things he found that kept her from attempting to coerce him to play pet again.

Swimming it was that day, the pair of them stripped down and underwater, splashing each other like children while Nanna watched on aghast. He was pretty sure Nanna had skipped out on fun in childhood and was merely born into plain boring adulthood. That thought only got stronger as Nanna refused to look at them any longer while they were unclothed.

"It's not like I've never seen a naked woman before," Loki called, him and Sigyn giggling to themselves as Nanna turned further away from them, the only sign they had she was listening the colour of her cheeks. "On Midgard, if it was hot enough we just lay around naked all day. And Jotnar aren't shy either."

Sigyn snorted before adding, "It's not like we're doing anything. It's fun Nanna."

"You're both children," she called, still not facing them.

"Fair enough," Loki agreed, splashing Sigyn quickly.

They had a quick tussle, Loki seeing Nanna turn around at one point before scandalously whipping back to her intense gaze at that poor hawk. After that Loki didn't see much of anything as Sigyn managed to dunk his head.

He came up to a sight he wished he hadn't, one of Sigyn's nipples grazing his arm and starkly reminding him why fate hated him. Here was a beautiful woman, one he was sure he could persuade to his bed for one night if he so wished, and he could do nothing about it. He felt cheated, and while he may once have damned Sigyn's company altogether she wasn't exactly a bad looking girl. In fact, she was very beautiful. Witty, smart, and so very naked.

"I don't understand why you waste your time on Balder," Loki said quietly.

The easy smile slipped from Sigyn's mouth, replaced instead with a wary look at Nanna and a small blush. "What do you mean?"

"Just that he doesn't deserve you." He really didn't. "He's beautiful, I'll give you that. But what else is there to him? No, tell me," he insisted when he saw Sigyn rear up.

She deflated, but only slightly as she considered his question. "Well he's- I mean, he's kind."

"And? Will kindness serve you forever?"

"I suppose not," She agreed, looking more and more confused the longer Loki was on this path of conversation.

"What did he say to you?" A question he'd been more than eager to ask since the day it happened. "That day with the prank. What did he say?"

At that she reared up once more, that defensive fire back in her eyes as she hissed, "Nothing. Leave it."

"Fine," he agreed, if not completely sincerely, "But it makes my point. Balder can't be eternally kind. There must be more to him."

"Well there isn't," Sigyn snapped, the pair of them rearing up when the trees rustled and in stepped in a party Loki certainly wasn't expecting today.

"My, my," Loki drolled when he got his wits about him, "If it isn't my darling husband. What are you doing here Thor?"

Thor made that annoyed grunt he always did when Loki made sarcastic husband remarks, his eyes roaming over the abandoned clothes and the two in the stream. "Balder thought you might be up to some mischief."

"And I wasn't wrong," Balder sniffed, practically flounding over to Nanna, the both of them sharing a sickening embrace. "Honestly Thor," He called, "He's indecent. Nanna doesn't need to see that."

It took calm Loki didn't know he had not to snap back at that. He took a breath, separating himself further from Sigyn to pointedly drag himself out the stream in full view of Balder. A little revenge, but not enough to make Sigyn whack him about the ears later. He put all of his attention back on Thor, "I thought you were busy today."

"I was," Thor agreed. "But then Balder told me about your little hideaway in the woods."

"Let me guess," Loki stopped him, "He was too afraid to come himself." If his voice carried loud enough to reach Balder then so be it.

Thor smothered a smile, "There is a wolf here now." At the mention of it the mirth left Thor's face, "Speaking of which we should head back. It was foolish of you to come without telling anyone."

"I flinch one time," Loki sighed, but dutifully got dressed and threw Sigyn's dress her way.

The way back was full of half hearted attempts at conversation with Balder. The man didn't know whether to cast suspicion or be jovial, which just made Loki's earlier assumption that kindness wasn't a constant state of mind all the more truthful.

Although what mischief Balder thought Loki was up to with Nanna of all people he couldn't begin to contemplate.

So Loki tuned out the conversation when it turned into another long stare up and down Loki's person, and instead drove his gaze back to his adoring husband, especially since Sigyn was just as dreamy eyed as Nanna right now with Balder present.

"You didn't have to come all this way to fetch me. I've lived in these woods alone for years, or have you forgotten that?"

"I haven't." Thor huffed, "But that was before there was a wolf living here."

Always back to Fenrir. "The wolf isn't going to hurt us. It was a gift. If my brother wanted me dead he would have sent something more certain than a wolf to eat me Thor."

"But…" Thor frowned, "You're afraid of it."

"No," Loki may have gotten a fright but he wasn't afraid. "It's a wolf. There are far more frightening things out in the nine realms than a wolf." Like Skrymir. "Besides, I can shapeshift. One swift bark and Fenrir would turn tail back to his den."

"Fenrir?" Thor repeated slowly, "You named the wolf?"

"It," Loki stalled, ending with, "Seemed fitting. I didn't think you would mind anyway. It's not like you've visited him."

He could tell Thor was rearing up to start on just when Loki had visited Fenrir himself, but at that moment they came into the brightly lit path that led into Frigga's garden. Also, where all four of Thor's friends were waiting for them, none of them too pleased with the interruption to their no doubt busy day.

"Sigyn," Thor said, "I think it best you go with Balder. Loki and I need to have a talk about a few things."

"Sounds ominous," Loki noted, waving Sigyn off anyway.

She barely seemed to hear them, floating behind Balder in a daze that only love could instill.

Of course, Thor's little talk couldn't happen immediately. He had his friends to see to first, all of whom had been in conference with him about some upcoming quest to Vanaheim to see how the repairs were doing when Balder had come rushing in with tales of Loki's wickedness. He was sent to wait, therefore, in a room adjoining the one they retired to like an errant child. No books were gifted his way, no parchment or ink, nothing to relieve the boredom that pressed in almost instantly as he waited.

They were in there hours. Long enough for Loki to consider sneaking out Thor's words be damned. But, without Sigyn as his companion, or Thor walking him about, Loki wasn't sure how well he would be received should he go wandering. Again, it had improved since he'd first returned, but not so much that Loki felt safe wandering the streets for a long period of time. Especially when it was starting to get dark.

Finally, just as Loki managed to snag the best portions of meat before it went in to the others, Thor called it a day and took him back to the palace.

The so called talk Thor wanted to have, Loki thought, was just an excuse to have him watched since there was no talking when they got in. Instead, Loki was subjected to a long, hard stare, before Thor moved off to his little niche and the book that was always waiting there for him.

A waste of an afternoon if you asked Loki.

Come the next day, Loki found certain things, once more, made difficult for him. Sigyn and Nanna were very pointedly off limits, Balder going so far as to situate them in a crowd that Loki knew hated his very guts since they were all Balder's less than kind peers. The forest now had guards patrolling anywhere they thought Loki might sneak through, and while Loki had thought this was Thor's doing to begin with he was proven wrong when, asking, he found out it was Balder himself that had put in a complaint to the king and queen about the lack of security surrounding the wolf.

He could have just flown over the guards, he probably should have too, but Frigga caught him before he could do such a thing and had him in her chambers for the majority of the day instead. It was pleasant work. Between checking Odin's papers Frigga would come sit with him, maybe ask which of her collection had taken Loki's liking that day. Mostly, however, she tried to use this time with him to talk about how he was, a subject not really that comfortable, but easy enough to answer so long as he was speaking on a broad plane.

"And what about Jotunheim?" Frigga had moved from her desk, Loki taking the little invitation to curl up in the niche at her side almost unconsciously.

"What about it?"

"How is it?" She asked.

He shrugged, "I don't know. Shouldn't you? You get reports from them now don't you?" Ever since the casket had been restored there was really no reason to keep Jotunheim isolated. Not since doing so might mean another rebellion. While they wouldn't have Loki at the forefront, Jotunheim had tasted victory, and it would be all too easy for someone to say the right words and Asgard was looking at another Vanaheim situation.

"We're supposed to," Frigga agreed. "And from what I hear the people are prospering. But I meant have you looked in on them." She made a motion to the mirror opposite them, her meaning becoming clear at last.

He hadn't actually looked in on them. He'd wanted to, those first few weeks in Asgard. He'd wanted nothing more than to conjure Jotunheim and step through, wreak his revenge through the land until there was nothing but bodies piled up. But he'd relented and did nothing, figuring it was better to bide his time while Jotunheim was still strong and he so weak. At full strength now, his desire to see Jotunheim had dwindled even further. There was something humiliating about looking in on a world that was doing so well without him. He may have brought them victory, but it as Skrymir's name they were all worshipping now. So, "No, I haven't. They've turned their back on me, so why shouldn't I do the same to them."

"Your brother asks after you," Frigga said.

He hesitated only a moment before asking, "Which one?" His curiosity always needing to be sated.

"Helblindi," Frigga answered, the name wholly unexpected. "He wants to know whether you are well. Among other things." She said the last part quieter than the other, Loki sitting up slightly in response.

"What other things?" Here it was, the crux of why she had been forcing Thor to be nice to him. He could feel it in his bones this was it.

"Well, as Thor's husband and future ruler of Asgard there are certain-"

"Are you joking?" Loki hissed, knowing what lay at the end of Frigga's sentence. "Of course," he huffed, "Of course! I should have known there was a reason this was accepted by the council." Even if half of them had been adamant against it being Loki himself that should be the one tied to their prince. Something about him being an upstart and a sneaky snake that would be their undoing. "So tell me, just how long do I have before I have to be pinned down every evening?"

"Loki!" Frigga admonished, "You know Thor would never."

"No, he's just trying to sweet talk me into his bed." All those nice things Thor had been doing for him. He had just known it. Thor hadn't forgiven him. Of course he hadn't. This was all just a ploy to get Loki to give him little heirs. "Why-why! Why me? He has children. Just name one of those heir, or- why me? He's part Jotun," he was grasping at straws, the scant hope he'd had that maybe things could calm down enough for them to be civil once more gone in favour of this deceit. "Why do I have to be the one to do- that. I mean, there's magic, just get him to change his form or-"

"Loki," Frigga hushed, "Loki no. I didn't mean it that way. Darling you know I would never let you be used like that. I'm just saying that's what your brother is concerned about. Children we can sort out later, whether it be one of Thor's children or… your own. But it doesn't have to come to anything you don't want."

"I don't want children," he muttered. He couldn't have any more children. The ones he had, they came out wrong, and while Loki didn't look to Fenrir and see him as wrong the boy wasn't like Loki or Angrboda in appearance. He was a wolf, a monster Loki had been brought up fearing. Jormungandr, Loki didn't even know what he looked like. All he knew was that fate had made it so he was the monster Angrboda mated with, and as such his children would be so too. If he did have a child with Thor who knew how it would turn out. Everyone on Asgard would know however. They would know he was wrong even for a Jotun. "I can't have children," he said, finding traitorous tears running down his cheeks as what he is finally set in.

"Oh Loki." Frigga sighed, hugging him like he was a child again. "No one is going to force you," she promised.

He stayed there the rest of the day instead of returning to his chambers, content to lie in the warm haven Frigga provided him. When he did go back, after a rather extensive nap, he got the feeling perhaps Frigga hadn't stayed with him the whole time.

It may have had something to do with the absence of Thor. It also may have had something to do with all of his favourite dishes laid out like some sort of apology. Embarrassment warred with delayed anger as he picked at the meal, sliding into bed while he still could and hoping, when he woke, there would be no one there still to ask him about something stupid like how he was feeling.

Naturally, he didn't get his wish, namely because he woke earlier than expected. It wasn't morning, the bed dipping dangerously close to the edge jolting him into flinging a magicked knife in his assailant's face. It was avoided, Thor clamping a big meaty hand around Loki's fist to stop another one.

"I have to go to Vanaheim sooner than expected," Thor said before anything else could occur.