Rated T

I don't own the Marvel stuff

~I~N~~T~H~E~~E~N~D~G~A~M~E~~N~O~W~

Chapter 4…

Despite the late feast last night, Loki was up early the next morning. The house was quiet, and surprisingly clean. Having convinced Thor to take the bed in his proper room, Loki had been able to keep the sofa all to himself last night, For such a lumpy piece of furniture, it wasn't too bad, and there were no fleas or pests to bother him. Wandering the tiny house, Loki noted with satisfaction that it no longer looked like a dumping ground for drunks, and for that matter, it no longer smelled bad. It had really been cleaned.

Loki rummaged in the pantry off the kitchen and found some things he could attempt to make for breakfast. He could make simple things, but he had never been much of a cook. On adventures, Fandral had actually been the one who had been the best at making delicious meals out of what they could scavenge.

Loki was rather proud that he had figured out the toaster and gas stove on his own by the time Thor woke up, stumbling into the kitchen and demanding coffee in a voice like a drunk's.

"Get it yourself," Loki retorted, struggling with the egg he was trying to flip without breaking the yolk. "I don't know how to work that Midgardian technology."

Thor obeyed without a word, though he looked more awake now. When the toaster flung two pieces of toast in the air, Loki snatched them without looking and arranged his egg between the two pieces of bread like a sandwich.

"We have cheese, I think," Thor pointed out, sounding rough and gravelly from sleep.

"You don't; I checked," Loki replied.

"Mmm," Thor mumbled incoherently. He poked his head into the cold-box, and Loki rolled his eyes. He didn't need cheese that badly.

He grabbed his glass of milk and his food and sat at the table, watching Thor give up on the quest for cheese and set about making coffee. He measured black powder into the strange looking contraption, added water, and punched a few buttons on it. While Loki ate, Thor grabbed a fragile box out of the pantry and tore it open, retrieving a silvery rectangular package from inside, and tearing that open as well. Thor set the box on the table while he put the pale-coloured pastry things in the toaster, and Loki grabbed the box to look at it, more out of curiosity than anything. He was horrified when he read the ingredients and nutrition facts. Small wonder Thor was so unhealthy if this was what he ate for breakfast.

"Thor!" Loki almost shouted. It startled Thor all the same.

"What?"

"Do you have any idea how toxic these things are?" Loki twisted the box around and curled his lip at the colourful image on the front.

"They are fruit pastries, how could they be toxic?" Thor protested.

"Just from the amount of sugar alone!" Loki retorted. "And do you even known what a quarter of these ingredients actually are?"

Thor gave the toaster a dubious glance. "You ought to try one before you complain about them, Brother. Some of my friends send me these since we do not have them in our nearby shops. Pop-Tarts are one of the most amazing Midgardian delicacies!"

"There is nothing delicate in these … Pop-Tarts," Loki scoffed as he perused the ingredients once again. "Hmm, at least now I know why you have a gut that would make Volstagg jealous."

Thor smiled uncertainly before he tried his earnest act again. "Try one with me, Loki. I guarantee you will be won over at the first taste."

Loki gave his brother an icy glare. Want to bet on that? His glare seemed to ask. Thor smiled.

The toaster popped and Thor pulled the hot pastries out onto a napkin. Smiling encouragingly, Thor sat at the table and pushed the napkin close enough to Loki so he could grab one himself. Slowly, still eyeing the box and its list of ingredients with disgust, Loki reached out his fork and cut off a corner of one, making certain it had a bit of everything: the tan outer crust, the red filling, and the white sprinkled frosting on top. He put the fork in his mouth and chewed slowly. He had always had a sweet tooth, and although these warm pastries were a bit on the sweet side, he enjoyed the slight tang in the red filling. Eaten cold, he likely would have spat it out in disgust, but warm … Loki nodded grudgingly and cut off another piece with his fork, eating it a little less dubiously this time. Thor was grinning as he broke the other pastry in half with his fingers and started munching on it, getting crumbs in his beard.

"What do you think, Brother?" Thor asked around a mouthful.

Loki sighed, put his fork down, and grabbed the rest of the pastry he'd cut into. If Thor was eating it with his hands, Loki might as well follow suit. Besides the crumbs, they really weren't that messy. "You'd best put another two in the toaster, I suppose," Loki muttered in defeat. He reached out and pushed the box onto its side so he wouldn't have to see the long list of ingredients. He'd prefer not to think about all the mystery things that were now going to be assimilated into his bloodstream.

~I~N~~T~H~E~~E~N~D~G~A~M~E~~N~O~W~

Loki managed to get Thor to go out for a walk in the fresh air after breakfast. The two of them would have to start sparring sometime if he was ever to assess Thor's battle prowess, which may have gotten rusty in the last five years of beer and Pop-Tarts, and he would prefer to fight in the open air. It was warmer today than it was yesterday, and sounds of life echoed up from the village. Was it just him, or did the village sound much more alive than it had yesterday? The wind was brisk and cold, but the sun was warm and the ocean rumbled on the edge of hearing, along with the cries of seabirds. It reminded him of the ocean cliffs of Alfheim.

Thor was winded when they reached the cliff and Loki turned to him in concern. "Must we rest so soon?" the Prince demanded sarcastically. "Surely you're not so badly out of shape as that!"

"Ah, no," Thor panted. "I just … haven't left the house very often in the last … four years?"

"No sparring? No walking? No exercise at all?" Loki demanded, shaking his head in scorn.

"Just beer and moping," Thor confessed shamefacedly.

"Tell me, Brother," Loki sighed. "If I really had turned out to be dead, what would it have taken to get you up off your fat backside?"

Thor turned away uncomfortably. "I don't know," he mumbled. "My … friends might have forced me to do something. Eventually."

"Brunnhilde?"

"Is too loyal to her King to try her usual tactics," Thor replied, shaking his head. "And she won't let me call her Brunnhilde."

"She always did prefer Scrapper 142," Loki smirked with amusement. But he was rather confused. So far as he knew, Thor had never learned the Valkyrie's name from her, but rather from him, when he called her Brunnhilde. Had she not wanted Thor to call her that for fear of others hearing and also starting to address her by name?

"Loki …" Thor suddenly spoke up, but he sounded hesitant. "I have so many questions. But … I don't want to upset you. By asking them."

Loki blinked and looked back at his brother, surprised by the sudden thoughtfulness. "Well, I suppose you may ask. Whether or not I will answer, that is another matter."

"I completely understand," Thor said eagerly. "And you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, that's fine. I just … You didn't say much in your tale before the feast, and even later when you gave a slightly longer version, including Sif's message to all of us survivors. Thank you for bringing that to us, by the way. You've no idea how much it meant to me, especially."

"I know how much it meant," Loki replied wearily. "She gave me a message for you as well."

"Really?"

"She salutes you as her King, swears to you her undying loyalty, and wishes she were here beside you so you could name her the first female Chief Einherjar."

Thor laughed heartily, and Loki smirked. He had been amused when she gave him that message, but more because Sif's cheeks had been blushing scarlet and she looked a breath away from pummeling him if he let any trace of a smirk past his control.

"Thank you, Loki," Thor laughed, wiping a tear from his eye. "I will treasure her words, but I doubt we will be together again anytime soon … if ever. And I do not believe we will ever need Einherjar in this Realm. They have their own rules and police."

"I have actually been curious about … about your eye," Loki said carefully, unsure if it was a sore spot.

"My eye?" Thor repeated, sounding confused. They he reached up and prodded the brown one and its surrounding scar from when Hela had torn it out. "Ah! That's right, you didn't know. I was rescued from the wreckage of the Statesman by a crew of Guardians, and there was a talking rabbit among them. He was a charming fellow of many talents, and stole this from an undeserving pirate in an earlier adventure. He kindly offered it to me free of charge. Wasn't that a kind thing for him to do?"

"Very kind," Loki agreed, only somewhat drily.

"He is a very sweet rabbit," Thor said wistfully. "He lost his entire crew in the dust, including the tree who gave his arm for Stormbreaker."

Loki coughed in surprise, wondering why he hadn't made the connection before. "Stormbreaker?" he repeated.

"My axe," Thor explained, mistaking his surprise as incredulity. "And I didn't name it. Eitri did when he forged it."

"Eitri, of course," Loki murmured, looking up at Thor with a strange glint in his eye. "I wondered where the axe came from."

"Did you speak to him at all? How many of his people survived?"

"Anyone who was not on Nidavellir when Thanos came through survived," Loki replied, pretending to forget that Thor got twitchy when that name was mentioned. "Some traders, a couple of families who were on vacation, and some dwarves who had been staying elsewhere … When news spread that King Eitri was alone, apparently most of the scattered Dwarves returned. The forge was in the middle of being repaired when I arrived. It was all very busy. Eitri and I had a long conversation, and yes, we spoke about you. He told me that you had a weapon that could summon the Bifrost, and that was when I determined to track you down."

"That's when …" Thor faltered and looked at him worriedly. "You weren't trying to fine me before? It was only after you thought I had something you could use?"

Loki looked away from the stricken, (betrayed) look on Thor's face. "At the beginning," he answered uncomfortably. "It wasn't simply because I missed your ugly face, you know."

"Are you lying to me?" Thor asked heartbrokenly. "Because I really don't care whether you sought me out because, oh I don't know, I'm the only family you have left, or if it was because I'm useful. I just want you to tell me the truth."

"The truth is an ugly thing," Loki snapped. "You don't want it."

"I need it," Thor protested. "Tell me your ugly truth, Brother. However ugly it may be, it will not change who or what we are."

"I blamed you for everything, you miserable idiot!" Loki shouted, turning and clenching his fists at his sides. "I wanted to die on that ship, yet I lived. I lived to be looted and sold into slavery, beaten and humiliated and tortured and still unable to die, and when I made it to Nidavellir, all Eitri would talk about was Thor this and Thor that … Norns, I hated you so much. I always have."

Thor blinked silently and Loki watched a tear roll slowly down his cheek from the blue eye that would always be Thor's.

"But I didn't," Loki said in a small, ashamed voice. He folded his arms across his chest and bowed his head so he didn't have to see his brother's wounded face. "I didn't hate you. I missed you. I longed to know if you yet lived. I said that I was ill when I reached Alfheim … I was experimented on by one of my masters … the last one I escaped from. They found out how to limit my Seidr by draining it out of me. I was leaking Seidr like a sieve, and the dwarves couldn't help me, save giving me a device to catch the excess with. I couldn't even perform a simple locating magic without nearly killing myself. I was forced to become a pilgrim, to sell even the clothes off my back to pay for passage off worlds."

Loki didn't look up, but Thor was not replying, so he took a peek. Thor still had tears rolling down his cheek and he looked as if he was in pain. Suddenly, Thor stepped forward and Loki flinched, but he didn't bother to defend himself. He held himself stiff, and turned even stiffer with surprise when his brother simply threw his arms around him and hugged him fiercely. Stupid oaf. He thought everything could be fixed with a big hug.

"Loki," Thor whispered, his voice choked with tears. "Forgive me. I misspoke. Forgive me. I don't take anything you ever said to heart, I promise you. But all you endured, all you went through … and it was all for me. My dear Brother … never can I repay you for this. For any of it."

"Stop it," Loki protested feebly, fighting uselessly against the tears of old pain and regret. "I did my duty to my King. Is that not enough?"

"A King may still owe a life debt."

"You're my brother," Loki muttered, his hands reluctantly coming up around Thor's back. "Brothers don't owe that sort of thing to each other."

"I'm so sorry, Loki," Thor sobbed, clutching him tighter. "I am so very sorry."

"Stop apologizing," Loki pleaded, feeling more tears trickling down his face.

"I never thanked you," Thor said quietly, pulling away from Loki at last. "For my life."

"Just stop," Loki interrupted him, pushing away and angrily wiping his face. "You're making a fool out of yourself. And me as well."

Thor smiled through his tears. "That's what brothers do, isn't it?"

Loki shrugged and they turned in silence to watch the ocean's slow, hushed heaving beyond the cliff. After some time, Loki realized that he did feel better. It had been a relief to let it all out. Now, Loki was wondering how he was going to go about this next part of his mission.

"After Nidavellir," Loki said quietly. "I had a great many things to think about."

"Oh?" Thor murmured.

"Mmm," Loki nodded slowly. "I …learned a great deal about my heritage."

Now Thor was interested. He turned to face Loki, his face alight with curiosity. "You used it to keep yourself from freezing to death in the storm, didn't you? I was so confused about that part. Being drunk didn't help."

"Occasionally, I'm grateful to be a freak," Loki said softly. "I am a freak even by Jotun standards. I was never meant to survive."

"Loki, please don't …"

"Hush, Thor, I'm telling a story," Loki cut him off. "I told you I was very ill from … from what those experiments did to me. The elves eventually cured me, but long before that, I would have died. But … this Jotun woman found me in the street on Ria and took me in."

"A Jotun? On Ria?" Thor repeated incredulously.

"I'm not the only shape-shifting midget of my race, Thor," Loki snorted crossly. "It seems undersized young are occasionally born among the Frost Giants, and these make up for their size with extra Seidr. All Jotuns have abilities to do with Ice. They literally suck the warmth out of things and convert it into energy. They produce ice with their own body, but those more skilled can do much, much more with their powers."

Thor shivered. "I've never faced a Jotun mage in battle," he muttered. "That would be terrifying."

"Indeed it is," Loki smirked. "After all, you've faced me, have you not?"

Thor rolled his eyes and laughed, thumping his brother on the shoulder. "You didn't do anything with ice. It would have been incredible if you had, though. To think, we could have been learning so much about the Jotuns if Father had just decided to trust us. I would have seen them as people rather than nameless enemies far sooner."

Loki felt his face pinch in discomfort. Thor really didn't understand, but he meant well enough, so he let it go. Jotuns were strange, alien, and terrifying and they always would be. Loki still hated his true skin, despite the kind Jotun sorceress who had taken him in.

"Angrboda saved my life," Loki muttered. "She helped me to use my monstrous heritage to slow the process that was sucking my life force away."

"Loki, don't call yourself a monster," Thor scolded. "I do not let anyone call you such things, and I won't allow you to do that yourself."

"The Mighty Thor has spoken," Loki sneered. But Thor had the same point old Angrboda had given him, so he reluctantly gave in. "Fine; I won't refer to myself as a monster again."

"Or the Jotuns," Thor added. "We need to stop treating them like that in our stories as well."

"Fine!" Loki snapped. "It's not as if we'd meet another one anyway."

"Yes, fine," Thor beamed. "Now, what else did you learn?"

Loki shrugged. His point was a different one anyway. "Angrboda was a runt as well, and most Jotun runts were well-respected in the old days. Apparently, when Laufey rose to rule, he did not want the powerful mages getting in his way and decreed that all of the undersized young born to his people were to be gifts for the ice gods."

"What of those who were already around?"

"They staged a rebellion, which failed. I had no idea there was a civil war on Jotunheim before Laufey's invasion of Midgard; did you? Anyway, Angrboda was one of the survivors, and they fled along the paths of Yggdrasil to the various realms, changing their faces to fit in among the other races."

"Lucky for you," Thor added.

"Indeed. Once I was somewhat better, she helped me get to Nornheim."

"I should like to thank her someday," Thor said wistfully. "It seems you learned more from her about Jotuns than either of us could in a lifetime. Sometimes … I am angry at Father for keeping such a thing secret. Brothers should not have such big secrets between them, don't you agree?"

Unwittingly, Thor had given Loki the perfect opening. Swallowing hard, he reached deep into his dimensional pocket, grasping an item that had sat there for almost four years, barely touched, hardly looked at, only used as a vessel to collect leaking seidr. It materialized in his hand, a long shaft of sliver, three curved prongs of razor-edge at the end of the rod, and runes etched upon the metal. It was a trident, decorated with white gems that glowed softly from within. The central gem glowed blue deep in its heart, swirling like the Casket of Ancient Winters, and the two smaller gems on either side throbbed with a green glow like a heartbeat. It was a thing of delicate and deadly beauty. Thor did nothing but gape, and Loki found himself smiling as he decorated his body with the image of his old armor … but the illusion was silver instead of gold, to match his new weapon.

"That is beautiful, Brother," Thor whispered in hushed awe. "Is this …? Is it from Nidavellir?"

"A weapon fit for a King," Loki said wistfully, stepping back to admire the trident with more space. He twirled it in his hands, marveling at its perfect balance. "It was at Nidavellir that I learned something important, Brother." Loki paused, and Thor gazed at him in expectant silence. "Father always meant to tell me. To tell us. This is proof, as is Stormbreaker. This … this is Frostbringer."

Thor's eyes widened comically. "Bonded weapons?" he breathed in awe.

Loki smirked. "I see you paid attention in Ancient Lore class … at least where it came to powerful weapons."

"I thought they were but myth and wishful thinking!" Thor threw out his hand to wait for Stormbreaker, and when the huge hammer/axe came rushing toward them, Loki felt the tremor in his trident. There was a resonance between the two that he could sense deep in his bones. His heart pounded as Thor caught his weapon and his body sparked as if caught by static electricity. Loki smiled and gripped his own spear, feeling the blue and the green light of his powers swirling around him and the comforting cold deep in his bones that resonated with his ice powers. The top of the spear seemed to glow white, and Loki knew, with the power of the Casket behind this spear, it would be a formidable weapon or tool for the King of Jotunheim.

The sons of Odin stepped closer to one another, ice and lightning mingling in a terrifying blaze of blue and white light, surrounded by a swirl of green that was Loki's signature. As the swirling grew stronger, suddenly a pillar of rainbow light reached for the sky, powered by the axe and the trident. The light faded just as suddenly as it had appeared, leaving Thor and Loki breathless and gaping at one another. They could both feel it now, thrumming under their hands. Their weapons had been created for each other. They were stronger together.

"That was …" Thor whispered.

"Words fail me," Loki agreed. He gave his glowing trident an impressed look before he vanished the illusion of his horned armour. "Eitri told me they would be incredibly powerful together. Can you truly summon the Bifrost with that thing?"

"Only in great need," Thor explained. "But it would seem that when we stand together, we can journey through the Worlds' Tree at will."

"Your SHIELD people will have seen that," Loki suddenly realized, feeling sick with horror. He vanished Frostbringer into his dimensional pocket and clenched his fists tightly at his sides, watching the sky above for a jet that would take him back to a glass cage and a one-eyed commander with a fiercer scowl that Odin himself. "How could I have been so stupid?" Loki muttered angrily.

"Don't worry, Loki. SHIELD no longer exists," Thor explained. "The world is still struggling to cope with the effects of the dust."

"Ah yes," Loki mused, feeling suddenly foolish for panicking. He decided a swift change of subject was warranted. "About that: the true reason I sought you out. My true mission. I must know everything that transpired after my, ahem, demise. Most of all, why isn't Thanos ruling the universe?"

Thor gritted his teeth and his axe sparked alarmingly. "Because he is dead. I smote him with this very weapon."

"You're sure about that?" Loki asked drily. "He is a Titan, and moreover, he had the Infinity Stones. Are you certain he's dead, not just nursing his wounds somewhere?"

"I attacked him when he was weak and struck his head from his body!" Thor shouted. "Yes, Brother, I think he's dead!"

Loki raised his eyebrow and backed off slightly as Thor's rage began making the clouds pile up overhead and lightning spark off his body. Loki's main power had to do with frozen water, so he was rather vulnerable to lightning.

Thor calmed down and made an effort to dispel the clouds overhead. Carefully, he set his axe down on the dead, damp grass underfoot and raised his hands sheepishly. "I'm sorry about that," Thor mumbled regretfully. "One reason I stayed drunk all these years is because I kept losing control like that. My emotions were easier to keep a hold on when they were dulled."

Loki nodded. "I understand," he said quietly. "Truly I do. As I said before, I was too hard on you. But … if Thanos is dead, why do you still fear his name?"

"I do not fear it," Thor growled. He paused and took a deep breath to calm himself down. "It makes me so angry that I … I forbade it to be mentioned around me … for fear I would do damage."

Loki blinked in surprise. That was unexpected. Thor would do such a thing not to protect his own sensibilities, but to protect those around him who would be exposed to the god of thunder at his most volatile … "Sometimes, you surprise me," Loki mused with a slight smile. "Who knew that this whole time you actually banned the Titan's name to protect others?"

Thor raised his eyebrows, looking bemused and baffled.

Loki chuckled and shook his head. "I may have said it before and been entirely facetious, but I mean it now." He smirked affectionately. "You make a good King."

Thor actually winced, and his face reddened. Loki grinned in unabashed amusement. Thor was blushing?

"I … er, thank you," the King of Asgard stuttered, getting redder. "I'm dreadful at it, really. And … I actually hate it," he admitted. "The responsibility, the weight of it all … But I'm not so cruel as to beg you to take it off my hands, however much I believe you'd be a better King."

"I had a few years practice under a false face," Loki said airily. "I was able to be Odin, not myself, which gave me a bit of a template to work with. But if you need advice, I'm here. If Thanos truly is gone, I won't be going anywhere."

"Thank you, my brother," Thor murmured, looking like he was on the verge of tears once more.

"Stop crying already, you've shed enough tears for a funeral, not a reunion."

Thor laughed and wiped at the corner of his eye. "These are happy tears, Loki, not sad ones. Didn't Mother say once that she shed more tears in joy than in sadness?"

Loki sighed and clasped his hands behind his back, gazing off at the ocean again. "I have shed more tears from pain than anything else," he said quietly. "Do you know … when Odin and I spoke in the vault, after your banishment and my discovery of who … what … I was, my first reaction after horror was to cry?"

Thor stepped closer and wrapped his arm around his brother's shoulders. They stood in silence for some time, as Loki was simply feeling too content and comfortable to ruin the moment with talk.

"My greatest regret, Loki," Thor said softly. "My greatest regret is that I wasn't there for you that day … to assure you that you are still, and will always be, my brother. Above everything else. You are first and foremost my little brother, and I swore to always protect you. The colour of your skin will never change that."

"You know," Loki said quietly. "I think I'm starting to believe that."

~I~N~~T~H~E~~E~N~D~G~A~M~E~~N~O~W~

Thor sat in his favourite chair, bent over the coffee table with the some plans for a village gathering hall, but his gaze kept straying up. Korg and Miek were trying to show Loki how to play videogames, and Loki's frustration was too amusing to ignore. Thor was much better than Korg, but Korg was still much better than Loki.

"This is pointless!" Loki exploded as he lost yet again. They were playing a fighting game, and Loki's warrior had just succumbed to Korg's for the hundredth time. Loki threw his controller like a petulant child and glared at Thor, who was trying to suppress his laughter.

"If it's so pointless, why do you keep trying?" Thor asked with a teasing grin.

Loki threw him a murderous scowl. "If this Kronan can master such a useless pastime, I certainly can!" he growled, picking up his controller again."

"Was he always so competitive as a kid?" Korg candidly asked Thor.

Thor smothered a grin and nodded, keeping his eyes studiously fixed on the blueprints, as he rubbed his beard, which he'd trimmed this morning with Loki's help. Who knew his little brother kept scissors in his dimensional pocket? Loki had even helped trim his hair; though just the edges. He was still a bit traumatized from his last haircut. He knew he looked a hundred times better than he had before Loki's return, besides the weight gain. But his brother had cheerfully assured him that they would trim his waistline down soon with some vigorous sparring. Thor smiled again and turned his mind back to the papers on the table. Apparently, ideas and plans had been building up in last few years as New Asgard had grown from a settlement to a true village. Perhaps one day it would become a true city, but at the moment, they were only a small community under the authority of a Midgardian government. Every town needed a central building, and if the feast a few nights ago was any indication, having an indoor space in case of bad weather. Thor could help guide the clouds away, but he couldn't stop a cold wind.

Loki shouted in frustration yet again as Korg cheered in victory. Thor looked up and shook his head with a fond smile.

"Finished with that yet, Loki?" Thor teased.

Loki huffed and tossed his game controller at Korg. "I'll be back," he warned the grinning Kronan.

"I'll figure it out later," Loki vowed, his eyes sparking with annoyance and determination. "By myself," he added with a glare at the unapologetic Korg. He wandered over to Thor looked down at the coffee table strewn with papers.

"What do you think?" Thor asked, gesturing at the plans. Some of them showed plans of the public building and some showed maps of the town with potential spots for the new structure.

Loki picked up a stack and flipped through it. "There are quite a lot of ideas here," he commented.

"They've piled up," Thor admitted.

"Impractical as always," Loki muttered.

"Oi!" Korg suddenly yelled from the couch. "Noobmaster's calling me names again?"

Thor sighed and rolled his eyes. "Noobmaster? Again?" He got up and marched over to Korg, holding out his hand for the headset. "I'll take care of him."

He was painfully aware of Loki watching him with unconcealed bafflement and he felt a little embarrassed. He and the Noobmaster had had a few screaming matches back in the day, so he kept his voice in a low growl this time, hoping that it would have more of an effect than a drunken slur.

"Noobmaster," he growled into the headset's microphone. "This is Thor, God of Thunder. You knock it off right now, or I'll personally come to your basement and rip your arms off before I shove them up your butt, clear?" Satisfied, Thor tossed the headset back at Korg and grinned. "There. Let me know if he bothers you again."

Loki sniggered once Thor sat back down. The god of mischief looked positively gleeful. "Shove his arms up his butt?" he repeated. "Colorful imagery you've picked up here, Brother."

Thor shrugged in embarrassment, though he felt his lips curling into a mischievous smile of his own. "The juvenile idiots who inhabit the realms of multiplayer gaming only understand graphic threats. They are rather like stone giants, you might say."

"Er, the TV's broken again," Korg piped up from where he was trying to press buttons on his controller.

"Call the cable guys," Thor replied dismissively. He picked up another blueprint and compared it to a map. "I'm thinking the best place for a gathering hall would be as far from the ocean as possible," he mused. "And it's flatter on this side of the village."

Loki gave him an amused smirk. "I knew you had a brain between those ears," he teased. "I'm thinking your people are anticipating turning this hall into a palace."

Thor dropped the paper in shock and looked around in bewilderment. "But I'm fine here!" he protested. "I don't want a palace!"

Loki smiled and shrugged, tossing his stack of paper back on the coffee table. "I'm not saying that's what they are doing, but it just looks too similar to Asgard's palace that I'm not ruling out the possibility. On a smaller scale, of course."

"I suppose you're right," Thor grumbled.

"Asgardians are remarkably stubborn," Loki added.

"Including those who weren't even born on Asgard," Thor muttered.

Loki actually laughed, sounding pleased. Thor grinned, relieved that his joke hadn't been taken wrong.

"Leave this mess for later, Thor," Loki suddenly said. "Come outside and we'll see just how slow you've grown."

Thor glanced up at Loki in surprise. He was smirking mischievously, of course, but it was obvious that Loki was eager to test his brother in battle again. His blue eyes gleamed with excitement and his thin hands flexed impatiently at his sides. Thor realized that he and his brother hadn't sparred in a friendly fashion since before his banishment to Midgard … and that was a rather long time.

Thor grinned and got up at once, needing no encouragement. Stormbreaker flew from the corner into his hand, and Frostbringer shimmered into existence in Loki's hand. At that moment, the front door banged open and the Valkyrie stood there. She gaped at the sight of Loki and Thor facing each other with gorgeous and deadly weapons in their hands. The god of mischief clearly liked the dumbfounded expression on the Valkyrie's face, because his grin grew even bigger.

"Perfect timing, Brunnhilde; we could use a referee," Loki said casually, his eyes sparkling with teasing humour. "As a reward, you can spar the winner."

"How could I refuse an offer like that?" the Valkyrie grinned, her teeth flashing viciously. As the three Asgardians left the house, Korg was heard sighing behind them, something about how he would never understand the passion for violence shared by those raised under a monarchical government that glorified prowess in battle … Not that Thor understood a word of it.

~I~N~~T~H~E~~E~N~D~G~A~M~E~~N~O~W~

Loki was glad they'd taken this outside. Stormbreaker flashed with lightning and Frostbringer glittered with ice and magic almost as bright as an aurora. Thor was not much slower than he had been, and Loki was out of practice, though he was probably much faster. He had always preferred knives because they were more easily concealed and thrown, but he soon found that he could throw his spear and call it back the way Thor called Stormbreaker. Also, Loki was quite devastating with a long weapon like his trident, which relied on finesse and acrobatics to be effective, while Thor had a huge smashing weapon well-suited to his blunt personality. Their weapons practically sang when they clashed against one another, and Loki found himself laughing several times. Thor was laughing too, and they continued to feint and dodge and clash, only being careful not to hurt each other, despite the sparring spell Loki was maintaining over their dueling circle. Brunnhilde would call a halt if she noticed it fall, which it might. Loki was trying to concentrate on half a dozen things at once, from illusions to the slightly different fighting styles he and Thor now used, and his native Jotun ice magic. With the trident, he was able to draw on it without going blue, so that was helpful. The whole thing was actually far more fun than Loki could remember having in a very long time.

When they stopped, mostly because they were both tired out and ready for a break, they found that they had attracted quite the audience. Several villagers and a lot of children must have seen the light show on the hill, and though the Valkyrie was keeping them all at a safe distance, they were more than eager to cheer on their King and Prince.

Thor was strangely shy until Loki shoved him on ahead, and they spoke with the eager children and their awed relatives until some grandmother pointed out that it was past time for the midday meal. The crowd dispersed, most of them still excited and amazed, and Loki turned thoughtfully to his brother.

"Why don't you like playing up the crowds anymore?" he asked.

Thor cringed and ran his hand through his sweaty hair. "I do … and I don't. It feels strange now. It's like … I don't know who I am anymore. Does that make any sense?"

Loki laughed, but not unkindly. "Oh yes," he answered drily. "I believe I know better than anyone."

"I thought I was supposed to spar the winner?" Brunnhilde suddenly complained.

"We are well matched," Thor grinned. "Take your pick, dear Val. Neither of us will be offended if you pick one over the other; will we, Loki?"

Loki smirked at his brother. "Of course not," he said lightly. "Although I, personally, will be most disappointed if you do not choose to battle the one of us who is clearly superior."

"Fine," she snorted, drawing her dragonfang from her sheath and pointing it at Loki. "Only reason I'm picking you is I'm not fond of electric shocks. Ice, however, I can handle. Ready to be destroyed again, pretty boy?"

"Pretty boy?" Loki laughed, twirling his trident. "Did Thor ever tell you what happened to the drunken Vanir who called me that one time?"

"I think that was a compliment," Thor pointed out helpfully.

"This time? Or the last time?" Loki smirked. He beckoned the Valkyrie on, the gems in his trident glowing as he focused his magics in the silvery shaft.

Thor stepped back, chuckling, and Loki lost track of him, because the Valkyrie came hurtling at him like one of his brother's lightning strikes.

~I~N~~T~H~E~~E~N~D~G~A~M~E~~N~O~W~

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