I feel like this is kinda rushed; I'm not too happy with it. Oh well.

Thor watched himself in the mirror. Examined his eye, fiddled with the new eye patch, looked behind his reflection to find Loki stumbling into the room.

His breath caught in his throat. Loki didn't stumble.

"Loki?" he asked, turning quickly to find his brother - his little brother - standing unsteadily, with burns littered on his arms and legs and torso, and one bad one on the left side of his face; his clothes, usually impeccable, were singed badly.

"Loki!" He hurried forward to take Loki's arms in his own to try and steady him. At his touch, Loki hissed in pain, and Thor tried not to panic at how bad everything looked.

He let Loki tip forward and rest his head against Thor's chest as he lowered them both to the ground.

"Thor," Loki breathed out, tightening his grip on Thor's arms with badly burned fingers.

"I'm here. I'm here," Thor said, running his hand through mostly-intact hair. Small mercies, he thought.

He continued the mantra of soothing words as he tried to think of what to do. The people were scattered. Still unorganized. Did they even have proper medical supplies on board? How was he supposed to get the healers? He swallowed and pushed down the panic. Loki needed him. He couldn't panic. For Loki. Always for Loki.

"Heimdall!" Thor called out to the room. He hoped Heimdall wasn't too busy. "Heimdall!" He hoped that was enough.

"Everyone...okay?" Loki rasped out, immediately starting to cough.

Thor patted his back a little. "Everyone's fine except for you."

"It...hurts."

"I know." Thor rubbed his back, ignoring the rips in the fabric. "The healers are coming." The healers better be coming.

Loki whimpered a little as Thor shifted him so they were sitting rather than kneeling. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Thor murmured, trying to ignore the smell of burnt flesh.

He looked down. Loki's eyes were closed. "Hey." He tapped his cheek a few times. "Stay awake."

Loki grimaced. "Don't want to," he mumbled.

"You have to."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes." Despite the situation, Thor grinned.

Eventually, Valkyrie ran into the room, followed by a small group of healers. Thor stood up as soon as Loki was taken from his arms, running a hand through his hair.

He watched them work on his brother for a moment before Valkyrie pulled him away.

"What happened?"

Thor shook his head. "I shouldn't have sent him to start Ragnarok."

She punched him in the arm. "Ow." He rubbed at the sore spot. "What was that for?"

"For being an idiot."

Thor frowned. "But-"

He was punched in the arm again. "You had to do it to save Asgard. He agreed to it. It's not your fault Lackey's almost burned to a crisp. Stop acting like it is."

Thor winced. "He's not...burned to a crisp."

"Well he sure damn looked like it."

They found him in the makeshift healing rooms later.

He was blue.

Thor couldn't help but stare. He had never seen Loki in his true form before (and would probably never do so again, if Loki had his way).

"What the hell?" Valkyrie asked. She blinked, and then reached out, as if to prove that this was another of Loki's illusions.

Thor swiftly pulled her hand back. "Don't."

Her eyes widened. "He's really Jotun?!"

"Yes," Lady Eir said, walking towards them. She crossed her arms, looking down at her patient. "It seems to be his body's defense mechanism against the burns."

"But he'll be okay," Thor clarified.

She frowned a little, checking that the bandages were still secure before turning to leave the room. "It's not a problem. If anything, he'll just heal faster!" she called back.

After the echoes of her footsteps faded away into the background, Thor turned back to Valkyrie, whose wide eyes were still on Loki. "When Loki said he was adopted, I thought he meant another family, not another race," she said slowly.

Thor scowled. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No. No. Just surprised, is all. Does the rest of Asgard know?"

"No."

"Probably for the best."

"Yeah," Thor said, sighing and sitting by his brother's bedside.

He woke up to the sound of slightly panicked breathing.

He sat up quickly, groaning at the crick in his neck, to find Loki looking warily at his blue hands.

"Thor?" he asked uncertainly.

"Yes, Loki?"

"Is this real?"

"It is."

"I don't-" Loki grimaced, trying to put his Asgardian glamour back on. "I don't want it." He tried again, lighter skin crawling up to his wrists before submitting to the blue.

"It's fine," Thor murmured tiredly, putting a hand on Loki's clothed shoulder. He could feel the cold emanating from him, but otherwise didn't freeze.

Loki shook his head. "It's not."

"Loki, look at me." He did. "I don't care if you're Asgardian or Jotun. You're still Loki. You're still my brother."

His lips thinned. "That doesn't mean I have to like this." He looked down at his hands again, but with less panic and more disdain. Thor supposed it was an improvement.

He tried to put his glamour on again, but it worked the same way as before. "I don't think my glamour works without Father," he said, looking at Thor with worried eyes.

Thor frowned. "Here." He held out his hand.

Loki's eyes widened, and he leaned away from it as if it would burn him. "No!"

"Just - just hold it."

"What?! Why?!"

"It's-" Thor sighed, closing his one eye. "Just trust me."

He tried not to feel touched that Loki actually did what he said, hesitantly putting his much slimmer hand in Thor's.

Slowly, lighter skin started to spread from their joined hands until Loki looked Asgardian again.

He gaped. "How'd you do that?"

Thor shrugged. "I did all that lightning stuff, didn't I? I have some magic in me that's not from Mjolnir."

"And, what? You thought your magic could act like Father's and...help me gain my glamour back?"

"Yes?"

"Your magic is nowhere near Father's, nor mine, for that matter."

"Uh-huh. I'm starting to see where this is going."

"And you decided to risk getting frozen and hope for the best?!"

Thor rubbed the back of his neck. "It worked, did it not?"

Loki looked like he was regretting ever knowing Thor. He groaned, burying his face in his hands. "You idiot."

Thor chuckled, but it soon faded out into the quiet.

"Thank you," Loki said. It sounded sincere.

Thor smiled, cupping the side of his neck. "That's what brothers are for."