ASGARD

Estimated Ages (Earth-based)

Thor: 8.7

Loki: 8.1

A little while after Odin spoke to the brothers about the past and how one of the two will be king.

PART 1: A DAY LIKE ANY OTHER

Like any other day, Loki was wandering around the library, checking some books he felt were interesting and useful for any new tricks he planned on playing to others.

The room was very quiet, him being the only one in it, though there was the occasional yelling coming from the training grounds. And, really, it was far too obvious that Thor was one of them, or rather the one to yell the most.

That was his brother alright. Obnoxious. Careless. Irresponsible. Not ever thinking of the consequences his actions could cause.

Sighing, he reached up to look through another book. And then another. And another.

No, he did not want to be out there, spending time with friends and family.

After all, his friends were not even friends with him, having only met them through-of course-Thor, since his brother was much more fun to be with if people ever compared them.

Loki was the boring, book-loving, mischievous, trickster that you could never predict.

Thor was fun, loved fighting, lives-in-the-moment, and a lot friendlier brother everyone chose over Loki.

And while Loki did understand the fact all those things were true, he always disliked being compared to the older brother he could never spend time with.

Their father also, like their friends, chose to be with Thor most of the little time someone like him could spend.

Though Odin and Loki did not have that well a bond, his mother and himself, Frigga and Loki had a much stronger bond, his mother teaching him different sorts of magic whenever she had free time, the two going to the garden inside the castle walls, a peaceful silence covering that area since people barely ever visited the place.

Like this place. The library.

Finally finding a very nice magic trick he could do, a grin slowly spread across his face, eyes glinting with amusement at what the outcome of this might be.

He couldn't wait to see the reaction he would get after playing this trick.

After he practiced how to do it, of course.

"Brother!" Thor spoke in his loud voice right behind him, nearly causing Loki to drop the book in his hands. Eyes wide, he shut the book and held it in one hand, the other casually holding a part of the bookshelf to appear the way he usually did, but inside he could feel his heart racing so fast it felt like it would explode.

He never did like being spooked. By anyone. Especially Thor, which was nearly impossible considering how much of a loud person Thor was-

Just how interested was he in this book that he did not hear the stomping of his older brother?

"You've missed seeing my victory against another warrior." Loki couldn't help internally laughing at that statement.

After all, that was not anything new.

Neither was that sad look Thor was wearing for some reason or another. It was the same look all the other times he didn't-or wasn't able to go and watch the fighting happen.

"I knew you'd win, so I didn't think me being there would change anything." He said dryly.

And it was true! Thor was one of the best at fighting. "Well, you would have chances of winning so long as Lady Sif isn't your opponent." He added thoughtfully.

Thor chuckled at the true statement, then gave a sincere smile, and put a strong hand on his green clothed shoulder. "I know, brother, but it would have been better if you were there too." And while he may have said this honestly, and with complete sincerity, Loki was-for a moment-conflicted on whether he really should play this trick at the person standing in front of him.

Quickly giving a slightly amused smile back, he knew there was nothing wrong with playing this trick. He'd done worse tricks at worse times. "Then I'll make sure to be there on your next fight."

He thought he saw Thor's smile widen, but Loki was much more focused on the completely ruined outfit, and especially the footsteps made by mud that showed the trail made when Thor must've walked here.

Putting the book back to the shelf-he would come back to check it-he took a few steps towards the door, and was not at all surprised to find more mud tracks.

Oh, no. Thor would get in trouble once again.

It was getting on his nerves-the amount of times Thor could get in trouble without him doing anything. But that was expected since Thor never thought about what his actions caused, or how his actions were seen by others.

His smile nearly fell at the thought of Thor taking over the throne. After all these actions Thor made, there would be a chance for him to be king, right? Even though Thor was a little older, he acted without thought, so Odin would take that into consideration and perhaps, just maybe, he could be king instead of Thor?

He was hopeful.

Now, about the problem at hand…

"Thor, you do realize you made a trail of mud, right?"

A panicked look covered Thor's entire face as he continued speaking. "I wonder what father would say about this."

Loki felt something clench inside his chest when Thor started babbling, obviously trying to find a way to please his father. And, really, it was a bit ridiculous, how much Thor kept trying to impress father. "I-I didn't think there was any mud left after the fight since the place we fought-It wasn't that dirty…And-Wait, how are my clothes this bad? They weren't in this state before, I'm serious! You'd back me up, right? If father were to confront me about it? Wait, Loki, you don't think father is going to be angry about the mud, do you? It's a little mud, could easily be cleaned up-"

Sometimes, very rarely, like now, he wished there was no next in throne, no expectations waiting to be met, and especially no need to please people by doing what was expected.

"-and after the entire area is clean, it would be like nothing was ever dirty! But when we do this, we must be sure there is nobody around. Sounds like a great plan, right Loki?"

Glancing back at Thor, he sighed and shrugged, not really knowing if any plan Thor of all people made would work.

But Thor seemed to be hopeful, asking where the cleaning tools were while searching for some. "Thor, this is the library-there are no cleaning tools here." He answered it like it was the most obvious thing in the world, which, to him, might have been one of the most obvious things in the universe.

Feeling bad for what might actually happen once Thor was found as the culprit for getting the area dirty, he thought about what they could do.

Right! He had learned a trick some time ago which would be extremely useful right now.

Telling Thor to just not move around anymore since there was more and more mud everywhere with every step taken by the fool, the fool he called a brother (or the brother he called a fool) he tried remembering how the spell began.

After a few seconds of leaning against the bookshelf and thinking, he remembered how it worked.

As soon as the spell was used, the mud was gone, both the ones on the ground, and the one on Thor's shoes. "That should do it."

Looking around, he felt proud at how clean the place seemed after he used his magic.

See? Magic was useful. And could be used for good things too. "Wow, Loki. Your magic really is amazing!"

"That's the result of learning magic, brother." He said in return. Thor had not even once tried to learn magic. At all. He had, unlike his older brother, and this was one of the benefits of knowing how to use magic.

Standing up, Thor ran up to him with a grin, grabbing his arm as he spoke.

"Now that neither of us are busy, how about we go and look around the town?"

The trick could wait for later, he thought, as he gave a real smile in return, feeling happy-a feeling he felt less and less with each passing day for some reason.

Making the best of what may be the last times the two would ever have fun together seemed like a great idea.

"Sounds good."