So, it came to my attention that I might have been remiss in the last chapter not to remind people of my wording choice for some of the other species in the Nine. Since I couldn't find an Old Norse word for dwarves, I've gone with dökkálfar in this fic (think d for dwarf 😊). My dwarves are also different from what we saw in Infinity War, as those parts of this fic were written long before that came out. They are short and Niðavellir is a whole planet, not what we saw in the movie. Hreiðmarr is also their leader & queen in this fic.

Hopefully that clears things up and sorry for not reminding you at the end of the last chapter!

Now onto the new chapter, which is being posted much earlier in the day as I have a friend coming over later. She wants to get into the MCU, so we're having a movie marathon, starting from the beginning! I'm sure there will be many more to come, but it'll probably run late tonight.


Thor felt more than a little lost as he approached his father's desk. Only 'twas not his father's desk, not at the moment anyway. Nay, now 'twas Loki's desk, something which was immediately obvious as the books, parchments and manuscripts were strewn across it in his brother's typically chaotic style, rather than the far more strictly organized way Father kept it. Additionally, there was Loki's tea set and tea box on the back table along with a few objects he had seen before in his brother's chambers, but which he did not know the significance or purpose of. He had long since learned the hard way not to touch anything in Loki's chambers he did not recognize, for his brother liked to collect many dangerous things, sometimes simply for their beauty or lethal elegance.

It had made Thor wonder more than once what went on in his little brother's mind at times. Not that he always did so with the intention of truly knowing as he feared Loki's mind would either terrify or scar him forever if he were able to know it so well. Not that it stopped him from both loving and adoring his brother, but he had long ago learned to recognize Loki's dangerous side.

Not for the first time since he had returned to Ásgarðr, Thor felt like he had been gone for a few decades or even a century or two rather than simply a handful of days. So much seemed to have changed and merely the sight of Loki standing behind what Thor still thought of as their father's desk (even though it should have been his by now), was jarring enough in and of itself. But Loki cut quite the picture standing there in his ceremonial robes, dealing with a few business items and absently pushing a strand of long hair behind one ear.

Wait.

"You lengthened your hair," Thor noted.

He was certain it had not been so long the last time he had seen his brother. Nay, he had noted Loki's hair as it had been as wild as his brother would let it get when they returned from Jötunheimr. Somehow, despite the turbulent argument with his father which he had in Himinbjörg, Thor could clearly recall the image of his brother trying to intervene on his behalf and being silenced by a growl from Father. 'Twas an image he had clung to while in captivity on Miðgarðr as his brother had not had to try to intervene thus. Nay, Loki could have simply stood by and stayed out of Father's notice since his brother had advised him not to go to Jötunheimr, had warned him no good could come of it, and he had not listened.

'Twas not the first time Thor had come to regret not listening to Loki, though never to such detrimental consequences.

"What?" Loki blinked up at him, before Thor's question seemed to register. "Oh, hmm. It seemed like a good time for a change."

There were times when Thor did not understand his brother at all. Their family had just been through a massive upheaval with him disowned and banished, Father collapsing into the Óðinnsleep with no guarantee of recovering, and Loki had decided 'twas time to change his hairstyle? It made no sense, but then the way his brother treated his appearance had oft been a mystery to him as Loki spent far more time and care on it than most men he knew. Well, other than Fandral.

"Did Uncle Vé describe the situation with the Casket of Ancient Winters sufficiently?" Loki asked, quietly.

Glancing over at the servants setting up the meal near the sofas, Thor moved closer to his brother. "Aye," he replied, still stunned at what their uncle had told him. "I did not realize 'twas so vital to Jötunheimr's very survival. Mother had mentioned a little of it to me, but 'tis still unbelievable."

"I was unaware of it myself," Loki replied. "'Twas quite the shock, even if it might prove very beneficial for us."

"Aye," Thor admitted. "But still. I thought the frost giants-"

"Jötnar," Loki countered. "Frost giant is a-"

"Aye, Lord Birgir told me, it simply slipped out. But I thought the jötnar were..."

"Monsters?" Loki inquired, a strange bitterness to his voice.

"Aye," Thor admitted, not liking the almost pained look in his little brother's eyes. "'Tis what we were taught, is it not?"

"Hmm, 'twas."

"It will take some adjusting, knowing they had a truly valid reason for seeking the return of the Casket so desperately," Thor stated. "Though, if they were not so foul and monstrous, we might have listened more."

His laugh died almost unvoiced as, instead of joining in his mirth, Loki actually flinched as if hit.

"Loki?" Thor asked, stepping even closer to his brother.

"Nothing," Loki brushed off. "You may want to rethink your grand plan, all things considered."

"My grand plan?" Thor questioned, confused.

"Do you not remember what you said down in the vault when Father took us to see the Casket of Ancient Winters for the first time?"

"Nay," Thor frowned.

"Oh, well you said that when you were king, you would hunt the monsters down and slay them all."

As Loki said it, Thor could recall saying it and the exuberance and delight of the moment returned, and a smile had already crossed his face before he realized what his brother meant, and it dimmed. The tightness he could now see on Loki's face made him feel ashamed and merely the thought of what Lady Jane would say if she had heard that made him feel even worse.

"That was unkind of me and uncalled for," Thor said after a moment, feeling strangely desperate as he looked at his brother. "I was young and foolish and did not understand what I said."

Thor did not know why he felt such an urgent need to make himself clear on the issue, but it felt like Loki was pulling away from him even as his brother stood there before him. His time alone on Miðgarðr had made him come to realize precisely how much he relied not only on his friends, but on his brother as well. For all that Loki could be prickly and spiteful, sharp tongued and untruthful, willing to do the dishonorable and cowardly, at the end of it all Loki was still his little brother and Thor could rely on him to be there when he truly needed him most. It might not always be the way he wanted Loki to help or save him, but if 'twas in his brother's not inconsiderable power to do so, Loki would help him. In that, Thor could trust.

It had simply escaped his notice that over the last few centuries Loki had been drawing further and further away from him and their friends, and Thor did not like it.

He had come to realize on Miðgarðr how much he actually missed his brother. And not simply his near constant presence from before, but the way Loki used to confide in him, either secrets his brother had discovered, or simple stories of things Loki had observed with his sharp eyes and ears. His brother had always seemed to know everything which was going on at court from who knew what, to who was sleeping or cheating on whom. Thor had wondered why Loki had stopped telling him all about it, until he had remembered more than one instance of his cutting his brother off or telling him he had better things to do than to gossip like some witless maid. Truly, was it any wonder his brother had pulled back after that?

The problem was Thor no longer knew how to mend the rift between them now and it had been ages since he had noticed any attempt on Loki's part to do so. The mere thought of them staying thus, or even drifting apart even further, pained Thor and he wanted desperately to prevent that from happening.

"So, what, now you love the jötnar?" Loki demanded, a look of disbelief on his face.

"Nay, of course not," Thor denied. "But, mayhap, I have been too hasty in my assessment of them, given they were merely seeking to ensure the very survival of their Realm and species."

Thor was not quite certain what to make of the look which crossed his brother's face then. It seemed to consist of many different emotions and Thor could not catch them all, but he was certain longing, hope and disbelief were amongst them.

"Loki?" Thor inquired gently, unused to this display of raw emotions from his brother and it scared him a little.

The emotions vanished as Loki reigned himself in and while part of Thor felt relieved, a greater part of him felt disappointed, like he had lost something precious. There had been a time once, back when they were young, when Loki had shared all of his emotions with him and Thor found he missed it now, annoying as he had found it at one point. Had he been the one to drive Loki away every single time? That seemed to be all he could remember right now.

"I... I am simply surprised to hear you say that, Thor," Loki said, softly. "Perhaps Father was right to send you to Miðgarðr."

Anger was Thor's first response to those words, but then he had to admit the shock of being both disowned and banished had forced him to rethink a lot of his behavior as of late. Plus, the free time had made it impossible for him to avoid facing all that which was unpleasant.

"It does not seem to have been enough, though," Thor pointed out.

"Nay, but perhaps you are closer to learning your lesson than you think," Loki replied, gently.

"Do you know what Father wished to teach me, Brother?"

"He did not confide in me, nay."

"But you can guess?"

Loki paused. "Based on what he said to you and what he said as he spoke to Mjǫllnir, before he sent her after you to Miðgarðr, I strongly believe you are on the right track."

"How?"

"You no longer blindly believe the only way to handle the jötnar is through battle and war."

Thor snorted. "I still do not trust Laufey."

"Good, you would be a fool to do so, Laufey is both dangerous and power hungry."

"But you still feel it important to do the treaty?"

"The whole Realm does not deserve to perish for one king's stupidity," Loki declared. "Besides, the possible effects on the Yggdrasill of one of the Nine dying..."

"It does not bear thinking about."

"Nay, it does not."

His brother's gaze drifted past him, and Thor turned to find Livunn standing close by.

"Your dinner is ready," she said, motioning towards the sofas.

"Come, let us eat," Loki said, stepping past him. "My lunch, at least, was not very satisfying."

"Very well, but I must warn you, Brother, my appetite is not what it was before," Thor admitted sadly. "I fear we will have many leftovers."

Loki shrugged as Thor joined him and he had to admit, the familiar smells made his stomach growl. Perhaps he would be able to eat more than he had managed on Miðgarðr with some of their unfamiliar foods, particularly with SHIELD. Thor was not certain what they had done with it, but it did not taste as fresh as Lady Jane's food had.

The first part of their meal passed in silence and Thor could see his brother had not been lying when Loki had spoken of being hungry as his brother ate with a gusto Thor had rarely witnessed as of late. He was glad for it because, now that he looked, he saw Loki was far too thin and he could not immediately recall if 'twas a new thing or not.

"Will you go back to Niflheimr tomorrow?" Thor finally asked.

"Hmm, we have negotiations planned for both tomorrow and the day after," Loki replied.

"But not the day after that?"

"Nay, the shifting of the days between Ásgarðr and Jötunheimr means we need to catch up somewhere and it coincides with the traditional day of mourning for the jötnar, so we will skip that day if we have not yet reached a new truce."

"Day of mourning, for the war?" Thor asked, warily.

"Nay, thankfully not as that would not help if 'twas focused solely on the dead of the last war. Nay, this is apparently something far older, a day dedicated to all who have died. A remembrance day if you will."

"Even for those who died dishonorable or ignoble deaths?" Thor demanded, startled.

"Hmm. Apparently the jötnar do not place the same emphasis on honor we do."

How strange. But then, if they were more like the æsir, there probably would never have been a war between them, Thor supposed.

"So, what will you do that day?" Thor asked. "Finally rest a little?"

Loki sighed, looked at his unfinished plate, before setting it aside. Thor frowned at the action. Though his brother had eaten, it had hardly seemed like enough, even for Loki who had never had quite the same appetite as he or the others had. Well, at least as either Hogun or Fandral had as no one could match Volstagg's appetite, not even he himself at his hungriest!

Before Thor could even think to comment, his brother had squared his shoulders and looked up at him. He could already tell from the look on Loki's face he would not like what came next.

"Nay, Thor, I will not rest on that day as 'tis when Lord Ragnvaldr has arranged for Lady Sif and the Warriors Three to have their trial. It needs doing sooner rather than later, seeing as they are currently simply being held in the dungeons," Loki stated.

Thor felt his earlier good mood vanish at the reminder of his friends and their current situation. Mother had told him they were currently in the dungeons, but she had not known anymore and, strangely, had not seemed upset about their situation, though he had figured 'twas probably due to almost all of her focus being on Father and his precarious position. Otherwise, Thor was certain, she would be properly upset over it too.

"I wish to have words with you over that," Thor stated, trying to curb his anger.

"Aye, I had thought you would," Loki replied, before looking past him. "That will be all for dinner, Livunn."

"You have not yet finished, Brother," Thor protested.

Given how hungry Loki had said he was, his brother had not eaten nearly enough. Hardly even more than him with his newly decreased mortal appetite.

"I find I am not hungry anymore," Loki replied, rising to his feet. "Say what you must, Thor, and be gone. I have more work to do."

Thor scowled at that, his anger driving him to his feet as well. "How can you be so callous about this, Loki? These are your friends we are talking about!"

"Your friends, Thor, not mine. Never mine."

"What are you talking about, Brother? Of course they are your friends!"

"Thor, they only ever tolerated me and my presence because you wanted me there. Otherwise they would not have given me the time of day."

"That is not true!"

How could Loki say that? After all of the centuries they had all spent together, fighting, laughing and confiding in each other?

"Then how do you think we are in this position to begin with?" Loki demanded. "The moment you were out of sight, they disobeyed a direct order to remain at their posts and left in an attempt to usurp Hliðskjálf."

"I do not know," Thor admitted. "But you know them, they would not do it maliciously. They thought they were acting in Ásgarðr's best interests."

"Ásgarðr's best interests?" Loki spat, incredulous, and Thor took a step back in surprise; not having witnessed his brother so angry in a very long time. "By destabilizing an already precarious position? Nay, Thor, they did not even care to look at the situation, they merely acted as they always have, making assumptions and doing what was in their own best interests."

"What? Nay!" Thor turned away from his brother to try to control his temper.

"Aye," Loki argued. "They knew they would not find the favor with me they enjoy with you, and thus acted to regain it by seeking to place you on Hliðskjálf."

Thor whirled around at that and took a few frustrated steps towards his brother, hands raised to grab Loki and shake some sense into him. His brother took an instinctive step back before Loki's hands flew up. Thor flinched, expecting a spell before he realized his brother's hands were flung outward; fore and middle fingers raised, thumb folded in.

'Twas a hold-stay gesture.

Startled, Thor looked around to find several of the Einherjar posted around the study had moved forwards, hands on the pummels of their swords. Lieutenant-General Yngvarr amongst them.

"What? But..." Thor stammered out, shocked, as he stumbled back, realizing what they had thought he was about to do. "I would never!"

Loki. They had thought he was going to attack Loki!

That he would hurt Loki!

The realization made him feel ill even as he caught sight of the wide-eyed gaze of the serving girl who had been helping Livunn wait on them during dinner.

"Thor, you fool," Loki muttered, as he waved back the Einherjar.

Anger quickly swamped back in as Thor turned to face his brother.

"I am a fool?" he demanded, before he whirled on the head of the king's personal guard. The man who should have been reporting to him by now and protecting him. "How could you possibly think I would hurt Loki? He is my brother!"

"Oh, for the Nine- Think, Thor, think!" Loki interjected.

"What?"

Thor's staring contest with the stone wall for all the emotions he showed that was Yngvarr was interrupted as Loki stepped up beside him and shoved him hard enough to regain his attention.

"We are four days away from one regicide attempt from a most trusted individual and now here you are, arguing in favor of traitors who sought you out to replace me with," Loki snapped. "You will not reprimand Lieutenant-General Yngvarr for doing his job, not in these circumstances and not with the precedent within so many royal families."

The words made Thor blanch. Was that truly what he had looked like to the Einherjar? 'Twas not what he had meant! How had things become so horrible so quickly? Only a few days ago he was preparing for one of the biggest and best days of his life and now here he was; his little brother on Hliðskjálf, his father potentially on the brink of death, his friends imprisoned for treason and Ásgarðr at war with her greatest enemy, all because of him and his emotions.

He did not know what to say. Clearly, he had not been able to explain himself properly so far and now Lady Sif and the Warriors Three would pay for it. He would need to think on it some more so he could do a better job of explaining it all at their trial, so they were not sentenced and punished for something they had not done. Even if Father could overrule it later, the damage to their reputations would be done, if it had not already.

"As for you, Lieutenant-General," Loki continued, turning to Yngvarr. "Please do remember this fool is now essentially mortal and I could probably hurt him by breathing too strongly."

"You could not!" Thor protested. He was not so weak! "Ow!" he exclaimed when Loki jabbed him, hard, with merely one finger.

"Want to bet that will bruise?" Loki asked.

Thor scowled and rubbed his bicep petulantly, unused to his brother being the one with superior strength. He did not think it had ever been the case before.

"Out," Loki ordered, arm sweeping to include both the Einherjar and the servants.

"My Liege," Lieutenant-General Yngvarr protested, and Thor felt all of two inches tall.

Did the man truly feel he was a threat to his brother? Was that all he had become? 'Twas an ugly thought and he could not make it fit even with all Loki had said. Aye, if one only looked at the history of royal families within the Nine, the biggest threats always came from within, even he knew that, but surely Yngvarr of all people should know them better than that! He had been around for as long as Thor could remember, which meant the lieutenant-general had known both him and Loki since they were mere lads.

What had ever given Yngvarr the impression they could possibly turn on each other? Thor could think of nothing. Aye, he had not seen Heimdallr's treason coming, and he had trusted the man with his life and even Loki's life, but he was a far cry from family, no matter how trusted. Both himself and his brother would be dead a dozen times over if it had not been for the other, or Lady Sif and the Warriors Three for that matter. 'Twas sheer madness to think they would just turn on each other, especially for something so stupid as a throne! They were worth far more to each other than that!

"Yngvarr, Thor is no threat to me," Loki stated and Thor felt a swell of relief. "Well, at least not physically. Mentally is another tale altogether."

"Loki!" Thor protested with a glare.

His brother, the bastard, merely glanced at him and raised a single eyebrow.

"As if you need me to claim madness," Thor muttered.

With apparent great reluctance, the Einherjar and servants filtered out of the study leaving only him and Loki. When Thor looked over at his brother once more, Loki looked both tired and stressed, and Thor suddenly felt ashamed. He himself had been saying his brother was taking on too much, and here he was adding more stress, but they were talking about the future of their friends' lives!

"I am not simply planning to lock them up without a trial," Loki said, sinking back down into one of the sofas next to the leftovers of their dinner. "They will have a chance to have their say."

"Everyone has been acting like the outcome is already decided," Thor replied, careful to keep his tone even.

"Because they have already seen part of the evidence at Heimdallr's trial," Loki explained. "Lady Sif pretty much outright admitted to everything."

"She was not even there!"

"Nay, I meant before. You know everything in Himinbjörg is recorded, right?"

"What? Nay, why?"

"Father told us about this, Thor."

"I do not remember. And you did not say why."

"So, if anyone were ever able to come in via the Bifröst, we would know how and how many of them there were."

Aye, that made sense. "And?"

"And 'tis on one of these recordings that Lady Sif admitted to everything. Here, let me show you."

As Loki said it, he stretched across the sofa to reach Gungnir. The spear in hand, Loki closed his eyes and the air above his brother shimmered. Thor stepped close as an image revealed itself and he could soon see Heimdallr standing with Höfuð sheathed into place in the Bifröst mechanism. Across from him, arrayed in a line, stood Lady Sif and the Warriors Three. They looked very nervous for some reason Thor could not fathom. Had Heimdallr done something else he was not aware of?

"You would defy the command of Loki, your king?" Heimdallr demanded. "Break every oath you have taken as warriors and commit treason to bring Thor back?"

Thor winced as he started to see where this was going. He also could not believe Heimdallr had asked them all of that.

"Aye," Lady Sif began.

"Good," Heimdallr stated, cutting her off, moving across Himinbjörg.

"So you will help us?" Lady Sif asked.

"I am bound by honor to our king. I cannot open the bridge to you."

"Complicated fellow, isn't he?" Fandral stated.

"Well now what do we do?" Volstagg questioned.

"Look!" Lady Sif exclaimed as she turned around to see Höfuð, not only still in the Bifröst mechanism, but already activating it.

With another movement of Gungnir, Loki dismissed the recording and looked at him.

"That is why most people already consider Lady Sif and the other traitors," Loki explained. "They will still be allowed to speak for themselves, of course, but this will be hard to recover from."

"They only had the best intentions!" Thor protested.

"Damnit, Thor! Treason is never in the best intentions of anyone but those plotting it!"

"Loki-"

"And what if they had been needed? They abandoned their posts without a word to anyone. What if I had need of them and they were not there? What if someone else had been relying on them to be there?"

"They would never have done that."

"They did!" Loki shouted, rising back to his feet. "'Twas an admission of high treason you heard, Thor. One way or another, this will not end well for your friends, and you had better start to realize it now. I cannot let treason of this nature go, not now of all times."

Thor growled but forced himself to pace away from his brother rather than towards him.

"Loki, this is Sif, Fandral, Volstagg and Hogun we are discussing here!" Thor implored.

"If anything, that only makes it worse," Loki snapped back. "They are close enough to us to know the rules of succession better than most, so they should have been less likely to pull something so stupid. Nay, this merely proves what I have thought all along, that 'tis me they dislike."

"Brother-"

"You keep protesting it, but then how would you explain it? And if you dare say they thought 'twas for the best of Ásgarðr, you had better be willing to explain how in a way which does not prove my point."

"I..." Thor began, words suddenly fleeing him.

He had never been great at winning arguments with his brother since Loki was far better at words than him, a proper wordsmith and flyting expert. There had been times when his brother had been able to twist his words around so thoroughly that even Thor had become confused, and he did not want that to happen here. Not with his friends' very freedom and futures at stake!

"First, I want to make it clear I do not agree with what they did," Thor said. "'Twas wrong and I told them this when they came to me."

"Seeking you to overthrow me, right?" Loki asked.

"Brother."

"'Tis a valid question and one that I, as king, could ask at the trial and probably should."

Thor felt stricken at the words. Much as he wished to deny them, Loki was correct. As a king who had the person of interest of those accused present, and not as a hostile participant, Loki should question him on what Lady Sif and the Warriors Three had wanted from him. For a moment he considered refusing to answer, but he knew he could not. As a prince of the realm and its future king, he simply could not do anything which would look like he was perverting the course of justice.

"Loki," Thor pleaded, desperately.

"Nay," Loki stated, finger flying out and up to point at him. "Do not ask it of me. 'Tis not my intention to use you against your friends, but I will not promise you anything. I may not have taken the oath you were in the process of speaking at the coronation ceremony, but that does not mean I am not aware of it, nor mean to do anything but follow it."

The reminder of the oath made Thor flinch once more as he started to fully realize the predicament his brother was in.

"Thank you," Thor said seriously, making certain to catch his brother's eyes.

Loki nodded at him before raising an eyebrow. "Well, your explanation."

"Ah, aye. Like everyone else, they had expected me to be on Hliðskjálf by the end of the day of the coronation day."

"Yet only they and Heimdallr reacted treasonously."

Loki would not be his brother without his cruel and poisonous words, always aimed to wound or kill. Thor did not think Loki understood the ability to use his words in any other way.

"And they knew how long I had prepared for it," Thor continued. "All of the training and time spent with Father. Without all of that, I believe they might have feared you would not know everything involved in kingship."

"So 'twas incompetence they feared rather than a personal dislike of me," Loki concluded. "Me, who spent far more time studying anything including law and government than you ever did!"

That angered Thor once more. "I spent long and hard preparing to take Hliðskjálf from Father!"

"Time you did not spend before, when we were taught all of it."

"I will not argue this with you, Loki," Thor stated. "I am merely explaining what they were thinking."

"'Tis still not an excuse, especially before I had even had the chance to do anything. 'Tis not up to random Einherjar to decide whether the king is qualified to be king."

"They are not random Einherjar."

"They were until you selected them to be part of your little group, but they are still officially Einherjar and as such are part of the normal chain of command. If they had a problem, they should have taken it to General Týr in light of your absence, but even he could not overrule a direct order given to them by me, which I did."

As Thor had feared, he could not make headway with Loki using words. He needed to consult with the others to formulate a proper strategy in order to best explain it all to his brother.

"'Tis getting late," Thor began. "And you said you had other work to do, aye?"

Loki nodded once, looking at him warily.

"Can we speak of this again later, before the trial?"

"Fine."

"And..."

"Spit it out, Thor."

"Can I go visit them?"

Thor hated having to request permission to do something like this of his little brother - especially when Loki's whole countenance simply shut down at his words - but he knew he needed the king's approval to do so when the accused were in the dungeons for treason.

"And you wonder why the Einherjar reacted the way they did," Loki sneered. "Here I am, dealing with a war you started, stuck in a precarious political situation with the rest of the Nine, newly out of a regicide attempt and with five warriors accused of treason, and you want permission to go consort with the traitors! Have you even thought of how this will appear to anyone else? Have you?"

Thor reared back at the slew of venom and anger from his brother. Gone was all of the decorum and finesse which Loki normally possessed, and, in its stead, there was an almost wild creature with wide eyes and uncontrolled emotions. 'Twas entirely unlike his normally composed and elegant brother and it left Thor speechless.

"I-" Thor started, scrabbling desperately for something to say to make all of this better.

How had things come so wildly off-track in so little time?

"Fine, go see them for all I care, 'tis not like you can do anything else at present."

"Loki!"

"Get out."

"Brother-"

"I said get out!"

The last was all but screamed and Thor knew the only reason the Einherjar did not rush into the study was because 'twas magically sound proofed unless the king wished otherwise.

Not certain what to do with this wild and uncontrolled version of his brother, Thor took a few steps back, watching Loki closely. Was it better to do as his brother asked and give Loki time to calm down and regain control? It seemed to be the best option, so Thor turned around and quickly left the study before his brother could change his mind on letting him go and visit his friends on the morrow.


So there, a very peaceful dinner, right? 😈

The explosive argument so many of you were expecting, just a little later than you might have thought. I really wanted this first one to be from Thor's pov, so that we can see some of his reasoning for things a lot of people weren't going to understand very well otherwise. Plus we know Loki's opinion on a lot of what was said already!

And, yes, I know what Loki says about treason only ever being in the best intentions of those plotting runs counter to his own thoughts on the matter when he did so. But, hey, he is the God of Lies, and it isn't exactly in his best interest to admit there can be other reasons for acting thus. Not given the circumstances in question here.

Finally, yes, poor Loki isn't able to control himself as well as he'd like around his brother, no matter how much he tries. He's injured and Thor is just so... argh!


Up next week: Loki turns his attention back to the King's Fund applications...

Warning, this will be the 2nd shortest chapter of the fic!