Loki was looking up at the wall of the labyrinth with an intense focus. So much so, that Thor could gawk at him openly without risking being discovered. His profile was as elegant as ever and the way he kept still while slightly frowning was quite mesmerizing on itself. Suddenly, Loki came into montion, jumping and grabbing the edge of the wall, though he didn't get enough momentum and seconds later he let himself drop. Thor walked back a few steps, watching.

Loki, on his part, walked away a few more paces and ran towards the wall, jumping. This time he almost made it, but Thor saw his left leg give in and heard Loki's grunt. In seconds he was there to take Loki's weight in his amrs.

"Damn! I swear I want to go back in time and kill myself myself for being such an idiot!" he was grumbling. Thor felt another wave of fondness wash over him. "Let me down, nephew. I've got this!" he said, wrigging himself free and walking even further away.

On his third try he did manage to get half up, hauling himself and using his righ leg more than his left, he managed to sit on top of the wall. He giggled in victory.

"What now?" Thor asked, laughing too.

"Now you enter and I'll be following your progress." When he lifted an eyebrow in question, Loki gave him a dismissive gesture and added: "Oh! C'mon, you already knew we would be here all morning." He got up on the top and started walking. Then, he hopped on top of another of the walls, losing his balance for a second and almost falling. Thor felt his heart stopping. "Ups! Better not to fall, hahaha! C'mon, nephew! The adventure awaits us!" he comanded, and then, Thor lost sight of him.

Heart in his throat, Thor rushed to the entrance and tried to find Loki. It shouldn't be difficult, right? He should be able to find him right away! But he couldn't see him.

"Loki!? I cannot see you!" he yelled after a few moments of panic. Then, he heard his uncle right above him, at his back.

"What, are you scared of something? I'm not going to get lost, Thor! I have already beaten this place twice. I just wanted to see all the worng turns to know which walls should be moving."

Thor looked at Loki and found him squatting on the wall's top, looking down at him and then up at the horizont, as if trying to draw a mental map.

"It's not about getting lost," Thor mumbled. Loki looked back down at him and smiled.

"You shouldn't worry. At least not yet. Worry when you become king. Then you can grow grey and wrinkled with it. Mark my words, you will hate it," he said, laughing. Then he got up and started skipping over the wall then jumping from one side to the other.

Thor felt his stomach turn. What if Loki fell? What if he got injured!? No, please. Loki shouldn't be playing such dangerous games. Finding no other solution, Thor jumped up too, trying to get to the top, but inside the labyrinth the sun hadn't dried all of it from last night storm –thanks to him imagining Loki and Svad in bed together, again– and it took him too long. By the time he reached the top. Loki was quite far.

"Loki! Uncle, please, let's get down. It's dangerous and the stone is slippery," he pleaded, while trying to reach him. Loki just giggled, glidding from one wall to another with such ease it looked like he was floating, hair following him in a dark cloud. Once or twice he looked back and Thor had a strong sense of déjà vu until he remembered where he had seen Loki looking back at him before. It had been the first time he had laid eyes upon the witch.

Thor had snuck out his own birthday party, bored to death by all the nobles trying to push their daughters onto Thor's arms. He had seen a strange mer stalking by some rocks, looking bewildered and angry. He saw the transition from normal to berserkr in mere seconds, muscles becoming taunt, eyes completely open with vertical pupils, fangs growing larger and pointier as well as the claws. He had never seen a mer become berserkr before and, as far as he knew, only very powerful mer could become that. The mer almost pulverised the rock in which he was glaring towards the palace and for a wild moment he feared the mer would attack, but instead he swam away and then... Thor saw tentacles unfurl and was so bewitched by the movement he had to follow.

Several times he thought he had lost the curious mer, trying to recollect if he knew of mer who were half octopus. Only one. The Witch. But he had thought the Witch would be an old crone filled with wrinkles and graysh hair. Instead it was a berserkr. A berserkr who was fighting a zambezi shark no less! On his own! With bare hands! The shark looked to be nearing the length of four metres and was attacking as ferociously as the mer. Maybe that mer was just an octopus, after all. If he was the Witch, he would be throwing magic, right?

He watched as the fight became more and more aggressive and he felt fear when the cloud of blood obscured his field of sight, but they were moving constantly, so they reappeared soon after. Then, in a split second, he saw something change. The mer's demeanor shifted and he stopped moving at all, hands lowered and eyes closed. Without time to think, Thor reacted, calling in his bident and throwing it with impeccable aim.

When the mer turned around to look at him, face obscured shortly by his long black hair Thor forgot how to breathe. Even with all the scratches and wounds, the sickly, pale tone of his face –most surely caused by the loss of blood– the mer was a sight to behold. Powerful, deathly, beautiful. And when they talked Thor discovered he was a fast thinker, sassy and had no regards about anyone else. He had faint markings all over his body. Thor had to strain his sight to see them but they were there, binding the Witch form. A curse? He couldn't be sure yet. What he was, though, was intrigued.

And then he got his confirmation. He really was the Witch! After that, Thor didn't remember much about that day. The strongest impression was that the Witch was a powerful mer with seidr that could grant his wish. Now, looking at Loki moving switfly about, even doing somersaults Thor felt strange. This man, this powerful berserkr, who had an incommesurable amount of seidr, knowledge was his father's older brother, his uncle. And he wondered who from the two was more powerful. He suddered. If Loki wanted he could make all of Asgard disappear. He was dangerous and still as deathly. He thrived in killing those who slighted him. Thor could remember clearly how he had taken care of the raiders almost on his own. Quietly. As if he hadn't wanted to wake them up.

"Is this how you are going to get me down?" Loki mocked, smiling, looking free and childlike, enjoying the chase. "Come get me, Thor!" he taunted.

Thor growled and jumped.

"You asked for it, uncle!" he grunted, as he landed on the new wall. Loki just laughed and ran in circles around him, taunting.

"You won't be able to touch me," he said throwing a kiss and a wink.

The chase continued through the morning. More than once Thor's fingertips almost touched Loki's hair, clothes or arms, but he was always out of reach. So close yet so far away. It was so ironicly frustrating that a soft drizze strated to fall, wetting the stone. None had realized it, though both of them welcomed the refreshing feeling after being under the sun running and jumping around. It wasn't until Loki skidded and fell down with a yelp.

"LOKI!" he yelled. In seconds, he was climbing down besides his uncle. Loki was sprawled on the floor, facing down, laying on his left side. He was shaking. "Loki, are you alright!? Are you injured? Loki!"

"Stop yelling, Thor, I can hear you," he said, muffled by his arms. When he looked up he looked pained, but he was also laughing. Thor felt confused. "I should have known not to taunt you too much. Luckily for me the ground here is still soft after all that water." he said then chuckled some more and winced when he tried to get up. "Be a dear and help me up, will you?" he said, reaching for him with both arms.

Thor felt the time freezing. Loki, laying on his back with his cheeks red, eyes glistening, hair around his head over the grass. His clothes were damp now, shirt open by the lack of buttons and cravat, only staying put by the waist. He hauled him up to his feet, but Loki didn't use his left leg.

"You are hurt, after all. Should I carry you back?"

"Oh, yes you will. This is completely your fault," Loki said, cheeky grin on his face. Then, as if nothing he climbed to sit on his shoulder. How he did it, Thor was not sure, but he had now his uncle on his left shoulder, holding him with his left arm, right hand on Loki's shin. "What are you waiting for, steed? Go forwards!" he comanded, kicking him slightly on the stomach with the heel of his right leg.

Thor started walking then, worried any brusque movement would further the injury on Loki's left leg.

"We should call the physician when we reach the mansion," he said while Loki directed him out of the labyrinth. He kicked and pulled his hair like a little excited kid, and ever Thor's mood couldn't say somber, even though he could see Loki massaging his injured leg.

"No, don't worry about that, Thor. I am weaving a calming charm right now."

"Is that what you are doing? I thought it was just a massage."

Loki laughed, bending slightly to the side almost managing to make Thor lose balance.

"No, Thor. I am drawing the runes over it. When we arrive at the mansion it will start working and by dinnertime my leg will be just fine."

It took them another fifteen minutes to finally get out of the labyrinth, cross the garden and reach the crystal doors. Svadilfari came out, a worried expression on his face when he saw Loki on his shoulder.

"What happened?"

"Nothing," Loki said.

"He fell down the wall," Thor answered at the same time. Loki pulled at his hair, vengeful while Svad looked instantly at Loki, checking for injuries. He reached with both arms towards his uncle. For a second, Thor had the thought of stepping back and tightening his grip on Loki. Instead, he hunched forwards while Loki's arms wound up around Svad's neck and Svad's hands gripped his waist.

"I am fine, now. My nephew, as you saw, took me here. I just need a little rest for the runes to finish their job," Loki said.

"Still, I don't like it. You could have gotten severely hurt!"

"What am I, a child? Both of you are insufferable! I've been alive way longer and before you two even were eggs!" Loki snapped, materializing a couple of crutch and storming inside. Thor couldn't help but to laugh.

"He does act like a child," Svad said, frowning. Then he looked towards Thor. "Thank you."

Thor looked back, surprised.

"What for?"

"You are really trying to... To get to know him better. Maybe you don't know jet but for him, family, is the most important thing. That you are willing to override whatever your father did, means a lot to him. He is happier thanks to you," Svad clarified then went inside.

Thor felt weird. On the one hand he felt good knowing that thanks to him Loki was happier. On the other hand, that it was Svadilfari the one telling him instead of Loki was irritating.

"He is family," he mumbled to himself. Maybe that was the way to go? Clearly, Loki had been playing with him as one would play with family and he had touched him, yes, but not in any sensual way, no the same he did with Svadilfari.

"Hey!"

He turned to see Jane coming his way, Stark in tow. Both seemed knackered and were sweating.

"Hello," he greeted, smiling at Jane and nodding at Stark.

"I'll be inside. Tomorrow, same time, same place. This time try to come ready," Stark said before leaving them. He saw Jane nod and then she turned towards him, smiling.

"Had a good morning?"

"More or less."

"So, how's the labyrinth thing coming along?" she asked as they entered.

"I don't have the slightles idea, to be honest," he siad and both laughed. "I don't know what's going on in his head. I don't even know why he is planning so many things. He was even saying that either we take out some of the tricks or we have to make the labyrinth bigger," Thor commented, shaking his head. "I honestly don't know how we are going to do any of this before we have to go back," he sighed.

"You are right. If the planning stage doesn't reach the final point already, there won't be any contest," Jane said.

00000

He knew it had been childish to hide from Thor and Svad all afternoon until dinnertime arrived, but he was just so angry at them! It wasn't the first time he fell from high ground! Once, when he had been with Sygin, they had been attacked by barbarians. Sygin managed to escape while he lured them. They shot him with bows and some arrows pierced his shoulder and he fell off a cliff that was quite higher than the stupid mansion. And here he was! Alive! Ugh!

But his pride had been hurt by the fall and then by how they had tried to baby him, so now he refused to walk into the dinner hall aided by his cane. When he entered, Jane greeted him first and then Loki ignored his nephew and his lover, sitting by Jane's side and chatting with her while they were served. He was aware of the stares of the other two, but he refused to look or talk with them until they apologized, and he could hold gudges for centuries, so...

"So, what's going to happen with the contest?" she asked him.

"That? Well, I will need to expand the whole thing, or either blow up three more kilometers to the east to flaten the terrain, which will be too exhausting and I decided it'll be as originally planned," he commented, while taking spoonfuls of his soup, still not looking at either men.

"Really? And can we know what was the original plan?"

"Oh, yes! It was a game of hide and seek. Though to make it more interesting there's going to ve several its. The goal will be to trap the one with the pize," he said, smiling.

"What will be the prize?" Thor asked.

"Who's going to be chased?" Svad asked.

Loki ignored them.

"Really? I don't know. What if one of the its steals the prize from the winner?"

"Ah! That's where I enter into play. I am going to be hiding in the maze and they have to find me. The first one to catch me will have the prize –I made it already, it's gorgeous– and I will teleport them to the exit. The rest will have to get out on their own," Loki sipped from his wine. "Are you in? It's going to be fun, no strange creatures, no magic trick," he winked at Jane and she shoved him playfully. He, then, caught her and and kissed her knuckles. "I could also give you some balm to help with the blisters and the hardening of the skin so your sword practise won't be as excruciating."

"Really?" she asked, almost relieved, even though her hand must be paining her. He nodded and turned her palm upwards. With his other hand he drew a rune over her hand, not touching the blisters, and blew softly. She sighed. "That's quite nice! Thank you."

"You are welcome," he said, winking again.

It was such a pity that she and Thor weren't going to get together. She was the perfect human for his nephew. He approved! Even if at first he didn't care that she would be a dullar. But now that he knew her it felt like a waste. Maybe if both of them participated in the game, he could do something to help, to mend their relationship. He was already picturing several romantic scenarios for both pups when Svadilfari too his hand with a firm grip.

"I know why you are upset with me, and I am sorry, but please, stop acting like a brat," he said with a stern voice. A shiver ran through his spine. Oh! He was going to make Svad pay that night. And well, at least he apologized, right?. "Pleas, Loki. Look at me," he did, "I am sorry. I shouldn't have acted that way. It's just that the longer I know you, the most reckless I discover you to be."

Loki grinned.

"Did you know that when we first met I had just been in a fight with a zambezi shark? That was the reason one of my tentacles was missing. I let it bit it off," he said grinning viciously. "I was so, so angry and hurt that I was ready to let it rip off my head. And in hindsight it was just to get back at someone who had hurt me," he whispered the last part so only Svad could hear it. "So, take into account that I am going to go to extreme ways to avenge any slight done to me, no matter what."

"Duly noted, but please, make it so that next time you want to get revenge, you won't be the party that gets injuries, no matter if it's Odin, your mother or the holy beast in the west!" Svad grumbled, looking dead serious. Loki felt another shiver.

"Tonight..." he started, deliberately slow, "I am going to fill you up with my seed, pup. Get yourself ready," he purred. Svad's reaction was instant, his pupils dilated and he licked his lips.

"Your wish is my command," he whispered and leaned in to kiss him.

Thor, at the other side of the table, was still being ignored. After all, he had not apologized to his uncle.

00000

He was alone in the reading room, flashes of lightnings illuminating from time to time the dark stance, followed by the rumble of thunders that shook the windowpanes. The storm outside was raging, but Thor was doing everything in his power to will it away. He was trying. It was just not enough. He knew that his uncle was currently having sex with his human lover and meanwhile he was there, left in the dark to sulk. Because he was sulking.

How could he be such an idiot and fall for his own uncle? Or even then, for someone who already had a lover! He tried to remember how his life had been before coming to the human world and discovered that he had always been kind of idiotic, it was just that people let him be. He huffed! Why had no one told him no, even once? Only his father and mother said that word to him! And now he was in a pinch, because he didn't want to go home until he had Loki pinned down underneath him, panting, pleading for release, scratching his skin. Thor blushes and another thunder echoes through the distance.

He had discovered that afternoon that lately it didn't matter his mood, it would rain, and then most intense he felt the worst the storm. So, if he was exuberant with happiness, storm. If he was in the pits of misery, storm. If he was angry with the world, storm. It. Didn't. Matter! And it was also exhausting.

"That's because you are unconscously channeling your inner seidr through your ability," a voice told him. Thor jolted up, surprised. Had he said that out loud. The voice laughed. "No. And I cannot read minds either, pup. It's just that I have seen this before. Though never with the weather," Loki was leaning against a bookcase so casually that Thor was tempted to think that he had been there for at least several minutes, though he wasn't looking at Thor.

"I'm sorry about this morning," Thor said, sitting down again. Loki nodded. "I shouldn't have treated you like a kid. But in my defense you were completely acting like one. It was a bit difficult not to do it."

Loki chuckled and walked towards him, finally looking at him in the eye.

"I was going to ignore you until you came to me first, but since these storms keep getting worse I swallowed part of my pride to come and help," he said sitting on the armrest and putting a hand on his forehead. Thor froze. "Mm... There's something disturbing your core. Wait!" Loki procceeded to sit astride over his lap, hands on both sides of his face and foreheads connected.

Thor felt something weird and then he was disoriented. He heard a muffled voice but he couldn't make out the words.

"Wh-what?"

"...not you. It seems I will need to do something about it. And for that, we have to go to my cave. I have all my useful things there. Medusa knows I thought this would be short affair and you would be back already."

"What do you mean?" Thor felt drunk, but he could understand Loki now, though he was unable to focus.

"Well...," he could see what seemed to be a grimmace on Loki's handsome face. "Your father... Tasked me with a purpose to being here."

"You are my sitter?" Thor asked incredulously, squeaky voice and all. "Why?"

"Because you cannot do anything unsupervised and need at least one bodyguard –at which I am better than most of the pups assigned to you to date, clearly– and because he wanted to punish me."

Loki lifted one hand and Thor took his arm unthinkingly. There was a bracelet there. He had seen it before. Loki wore it all the time.

"What is this?"

"It's a rudimentary human curse. Like the one on your ring. Mine are better, of course, but since the king made this one, I cannot lift it on my own on risk of disobedience. You know what's the punishment to that, right?"

Thor nodded.

"Capital punishment..." his head lolled to the side. "Nooo! I don't want you to die!"

"Don't worry, nephew dearest, I don't have any intention of letting that happening to me."

"What can I do to help?" he asked. Fuck! He was trying to focus, but it was becoming increasily difficult. "What have you done to me?"

"That? Oh! Nothing. A simple spell to map your seidr. It's in disarray, thanks to the hasteful way in which your curse was broken. That's the reason why whatever you feel attracts the stomrs. Don't get me wrong, it's too hot during the day and having such a cool and gentle breeze at night is fantastic, but humans cannot live with this degree of humidity all the time. They get sad."

"You smell well," Thor said, eyes dropping. He was falling asleep.

"And that's a side effect. Saying stupid things," Loki laughed. Thor realized that Loki was still sitting astride over his lap. "I can correct it, I have the means, it's just that I have to go back to get some things... And for that, you have to want to go back home."

"But I don't want to go back yet..." Thor's hands moved on their own, caressing his uncle's thighs. He pulled him towards his chest and hid his face on his neck. Then, filled with raw feelings he whispered to his skin, "I don't want to leave you, I'm happy with you."

To his surprise, Loki hugged him back.

"I like you too, my little pup. My nephew," Loki answered.

And Thor hummed, content to be inside his uncle's heart. He smiled. Fuck, he felt wasted. Just like that time he had drink glass after glass of cheap ale and everything was turning and twisting around him.

"I want to sleep with you," Thor said, emboldened by the feeling.

"I'll take you to bed," Loki said against his ear, caressing his hair. Thor shivered.

Oh, yes! Please! He thought.

When he woke up, he was in bed and Loki at his side. At first, his heart stopped in his chest, then started to beat furiously. What had happened? He didn't remember meeting with his uncle after dinner. A fast check and he discovered, pouting, that both of them were clothed.

"D'aw..." he whined. But instead of letting their state of clotheness sour his mood, he just scooted closer to his uncle's sleeping form and threw an arm around him. "Mm..." He went back to sleep.


Notes: So... Next chapter is going to be the effing Labyrinth Tournament! :D Who's excited about it? Not me, though... I will have to describe people getting lost in a labyrinth and I lack the sense of direction. I have two left hands and two right parts, and only one foot that can be either two left, two right or none. xDDD Fek.