A few weeks after the coronation, Loki, Thor, and the warriors three finally had a time they were all free, and met up at their usual rendezvous; the training field.

"We haven't seen the pair of you in ages!" Volstagg noticed, clapping his friends heartily on the shoulders.

"Castle work keeping you on your toes, I suppose?" Hogun guessed.

"Afraid so." Thor shrugged. "Who knew running a realm required so much paperwork?"

Loki dramatically feigned a swoon. "Och, the horror! Don't say that word around me, Thor!"

"What, Paperwork?" Fandral grinned.

Loki clapped his hands over his ears. "No! It's too boring!" He groaned.

"He still has PTSD from the peace accords with Nidavellir." Thor laughed. "Now, that was a battle to remember!"

"I brought a picnic for us!" Volstagg offered, holding up a truly enormous basket.

"Of course you did…" Fandral rolled his eyes. "Where Volstagg's heart is, there shall his stomach be, also."

The warrior had already begun setting up their meal (too early for dinner, and too late for lunch) when Thor pulled a sheaf of papers out of his satchel. "I thought you all might want to be here for this." He mentioned, laying it down on the picnic blanket.

"More paperwork?" Loki groaned dramatically. "Please, spare me!"

Thor grinned mischievously. "I think you don't want to be left out of this deal. Brother."

"What?!" The warriors gasped, and Loki looked up, suddenly far more enthusiastic about this idea.

"I wish to adopt Loki into the royal family." Thor explained. "He'll officially be my brother, now!"

Fandral and Volstagg's faces burst into wide grins, and even Hogun offered a small smile. "That's wonderful! Loki, you'll be a prince, now!"

Loki shrugged one shoulder in slight embarrassment. "I can't see what all the fuss is."

"All the fuss?" Fandral snorted. "We've been his closest friends for decades, and then you come in and get adopted after three weeks!"

"Are you jealous, Fandral?" Thor grinned, elbowing Fandral playfully.

Fandral rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "Being in your council is enough work for me. I'm happy for you two."

"Would that document be what I think it is?" Loki picked up the papers, reading the first few lines. "It is!" He laughed in disbelief. "I'm finally going to…" He trailed off. He had been about to say, "Have a real family", or "Have somewhere to belong", but that sounded really corny, and slightly pathetic.

Thor clapped him on the shoulder, handing him a quill pen. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and sign it!"

Loki glanced down at the pen in his hand. This was the moment of truth. He was actually going to become part of a family. He didn't even remember his parents, except for fuzzy, vague images, but now, he'd have a brother, a real one, who actually cared about him. His heart skipped nervously in his chest, and he wrapped his fist around the pen in determination.

"Not like that, Loki." Thor gently corrected, moving his fingers on the pen so that it was pinched between his finger and thumb, instead of his fist wrapped around it. "That's the proper way to hold a pen." Thor explained amiably.

Loki glanced down in slight embarrassment. He hadn't been kidding when he said he didn't know how to write very well. Even though he'd spent two weeks as chief advisor, none of the documents had needed him to sign them. Thor's signature was beautiful, flowy, and elegant, but, in truth, Loki had only held a pen in his hand twice before that day, and his fingers weren't used to writing. His hands had done nothing but hard labor, all his life, and the small muscles coordination hadn't been necessary for anything more than his violin playing.

Hesitantly, he scrawled out the four letters that made his name, misshapen and crooked, but still legal and binding. He'd need more practice with writing, and perhaps, someday, he could have a signature like Thor's, but, for now, this would have to work.

The ink was on the paper.

Loki the slave was now Loki Odinson, prince of Asgard.

It was a few hours after that, while Thor was attending some official meeting, that Loki strolled into the room they'd shared for three weeks, ripped all the blankets off of Thor's bed, all the cushions off the couch, and piled them all up in the corner of the room. One by one, he began strategically stacking the cushions together to create a frame, then carefully draped the blankets over the entirety to make a tent. Gathering a few lanterns, and lighting them at strategic places in the interior of the little tent he'd made, he was able to light up the whole tiny fort he'd made. He laid out the extra pillows and blankets into two separate nests, set a plate of honey cakes he'd filched from the kitchens in the center of the tent, and settled down to wait for Thor, a soft green blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

It astounded him to think that only a month ago, he was a slave. He had had no rights, no property, nothing. Beatings and floggings were cruel facts of life, and anything anyone wished to do to him was acceptable, and in some cases, commendable. Death had loomed over his head at every turn, and he barely knew what it was like to have a full belly, or to sleep on a soft bed. Now, he was a prince, servants at his beck and call, riches surrounding him, and feasts every weekend. He'd truly risen from Rags to Riches.

Now the question was… Now What?

All his life, Loki had a purpose: annoying all free men senseless – literally and figuratively. Now that he, himself, was in that free man category, he really couldn't do that, anymore. Slavery had been abolished, and everyone had to listen to the king, so that wasn't an adequate goal, anymore, either. Perhaps he could settle down and start a family? He soon realized that goal was entirely unrealistic as well, what with his Jotun heritage not lining up in the least with the Asgardian ideas of attractive-ness. How could he find a wife, here, with the skin he wore? Ridiculous. Even on Jotunheim, he was considered plain; here, he was probably some sort of hideous freak.

Just then, his thoughts were interrupted by Thor walking into the room. "Hello, Brother!" Loki smiled cheerfully, burrowing down into the fleece blanket.

"What's all this?" Thor asked, surveying the blanket fort in amused confusion.

Loki shrugged. "There was a particular plantation I worked on, where the slaves would create elaborate forts out of the rags they had for blankets, whenever there was any reason for celebration. I always liked the idea, therefore…" He trailed off, smiling at his handiwork.

Thor shrugged in resignment, and crawled inside the enclosure. "It's cozy." He noticed.

Loki nodded, and there was a moment of comfortable silence. Thor ate a honey cake.

"So, how do you like being a prince?" Thor grinned when he was finished, leaning back against his nest of pillows.

Loki snorted. "How am I supposed to know? I've only been prince for a few hours."

"Fair." Thor agreed. "You know, as prince, you really shouldn't be sleeping on my couch."

"Why not?" Loki frowned in confusion. "Where else would I sleep?"

"You ought to have your own apartments." Thor smiled, though Loki noticed there was a bit of a pained edge to his cheerful demeanor.

"What's wrong, brother?" He asked softly, sitting up in concern.

Thor shrugged. "Nothing. Why do you ask?"

"You look upset." Loki noticed.

Thor shrugged, but didn't explain further. "I have rooms ready for you, if you wish it."

Loki nodded eagerly. He'd never had his own room, before, much less a whole royal apartment. "Can I see them, now?"

Thor agreed, and scrambled out of the tent, careful not to knock it down. Loki merely stood up, the entire thing collapsing around him. Thor would need his blankets, that night, after all. The Thunderer gave him an exasperated look, and nodded for Loki to follow him.

As it turned out, the rooms Thor had readied for him were just across the hall. Thor's eyes were dull and morose, as he opened the doors for Loki.

"Thor…" The Trickster sighed. "What's going on?"

Thor simply shook his head, and gestured toward the interior of the rooms. The front room was beautifully decorated in blue and silver. Fully stocked bookshelves lined the walls, and the carpet was fluffy, and soft, and Loki wiggled his bare toes in it delightedly. "I love it!" He cried, running his fingers over the spines of the books in glee.

The king nodded in put-on enthusiasm. That was the moment Loki knew something was up. "Brother, please tell me what troubles you." He pleaded.

"It's nothing." Thor shook his head again, prompting a skeptical raised eyebrow from Loki. "It's just that…" Thor sighed. "These used to be my other brother's apartments."

TheOnlyHuman.