Loki wasn't sure what was going on, but it was important.
His mother and her ladies in waiting floated around him, their skirts rustling like wind through reeds, as they fussed over him. This was sort of why he liked to get hurt, sometimes, since he became the center of attention for a long time. Thor and Father were arguing in loud voices over something-or-other, apart from them, as his mother sang softly, hoping to calm him down (he was already calm) and put funny-smelling cream on his bruises. Cheerfully, he sucked on a peppermint stick, and thoroughly enjoyed himself.
He wasn't sure what his brother and father were talking about; he'd tuned them out after they'd stopped talking about locking the bad men who'd kicked him in a cell for a very very long time, and he wasn't sure what "Avengers" were, so he couldn't really understand them, now.
"Mother?"
"Yes, my little mouse?" Frigga cupped his cheek in her hand and gave him a warm smile.
Sticking his lower lip out in a pout, he made his eyes tragically wide, to look even more pitiful. "Please may I have some juice?"
The power of being an injured child was unbelievable. The juice arrived within five minutes. The peppermint on his tongue made it taste a little funny, but it was juice all the same, and he was sore, but content.
Thor and Odin came from their corner of the room, and sat on the couch on either side of him. "My son," Odin began, the kind of smile grownups used to break bad news in a positive way on his face. "You're going to go on a little vacation, alright?"
Loki narrowed his eyes suspiciously. There was sure to be a catch, somewhere. "Where to?"
"We're not sure, yet." Thor pitched in. Oh, lovely. They were both in on it. "How does Midgard sound? I have some friends, there. They would really like you, I think."
"Like Volstagg?" Loki grinned hopefully. "Do they like to play hide-and-seek?"
"Maybe." Thor nodded, an overly enthusiastic look in his eyes. This was fake. "You'd have lots of fun with them. And you'd get to come home very soon…"
There it was. "Wait, I can't come home?" He looked up at his father desperately. "You're gonna leave me there?"
Awkwardly, Odin cleared his throat. "Well, Loki…" That meant yes.
"I don't want to go!" Loki insisted. "I wanna stay here with you and Mother and Thor! He said he'd take care of me! He promised!"
"Loki, listen." Odin tried again, taking Loki's tiny hands in his own. "Those men who hurt you are not the only ones. We need to send you away until it's safe, here. It won't be long, you know, but we've got to stay here, and take care of Asgard."
"But why's it got to be with Midgardians?" Loki whined. "Can't I go stay on Vanaheim, with Aunty Freyja?"
There was an awkward silence, until Frigga spoke up softly. "Aunty Freyja died seven years ago, love."
Died… seven years ago. Loki's brows creased together, and he blinked in surprise. "Died dead? Forever?"
That couldn't be. Aunty Freyja was his favorite aunt, the one he'd looked forward to Yuletide for, who would always bake cookies for him, and listen to him tell his stories, and he'd loved her, and she was gone. Forever. Never coming back. It had been seven years, and he was only six. She'd been gone for longer than he'd been alive.
He'd never known anyone who was dead, before. Only a kitten, who'd been hiding under the hay in the stables, and had been trodden on by a horse. He remembered taking the tiny lifeless body in his hands, and bringing it to his father, hoping they could heal the little thing, not quite understanding what dead had meant, but it had already been too late.
Now it was too late for Aunty Freyja, too, and he hadn't even been able to say goodbye.
Gently, Thor pulled Loki into a hug, and rubbed his back softly.
"I think Midgard's the only place we've got for you." Odin quietly stated. "It's either there, or we could try the Jotnar…"
"No!" Loki sat bolt upright, terror flooding his eyes. "Not them! I don't like them!"
"Why not?" Frigga wondered. "They aren't so bad as the stories say, you know."
Loki shuffled a little closer to Thor, and didn't contradict her, although his mind was full of contradictions.
"It's alright to be afraid, mouse." Frigga sighed. "We won't take you there unless we absolutely have no other choice." With that, she stood up, and called for one of her ladies to bring Loki's shoes. The tiny Trickster was filled with dread, as he realized they'd be starting off immediately. As in, he was leaving at that very moment.
Where to was an immense question, indeed.
Thor went ahead of Loki, leaving him with his mother, as he went to ensure his Midgardian friends would care for him.
Even if they didn't trust him, it would be better around the Avengers. They were good people, with good hearts, and they'd be sure to take Loki in and protect him.
Right?
Wrong. The moment Loki's name had come out of Thor's mouth, Tony had basically forced him out of the tower.
"Are you nuts? Not only is he evil, even if he weren't, the public has a microscope on my life." Tony had insisted. "They'd turn him into chopped liver in three days."
So Thor had gone to Jane.
Jane had smacked him for not showing up earlier, broken up with him, and claimed she never wanted to see him again.
…Lovely.
After that reception, Thor was pretty sure the feeling was mutual. It was a shame Darcy wasn't more responsible, or he would've trusted her. Loki would probably have a lot of fun with her, if he wasn't mistaken.
Where could he go from there? Not to SHIELD. Nicholas Fury was not the kind of man to keep promises or secrets that he considered threats to the safety of the realm. Plus, he'd probably raise him to be a mini-agent, and as adorable as that idea was, it wasn't what Thor wanted for his baby brother.
Midgard, it seems, was closed.
Vanaheim would have the same biases towards his brother, as they were basically a sister realm to Asgard, and a crime against Asgard was held as a crime against themselves.
Alfheim was currently not on good terms with Asgard, thanks to a particularly heated card game gone awry, and wasn't even accepting Bifrost, at the moment.
Muspleheim was off-limits, because their climate would quite literally melt Loki.
The only other realm on relatively good terms with Asgard was…
Jotunheim. Just Thor's luck.
Since Loki's older counterpart had turned the Bifrost on Jotunheim's barren surface, Odin had formally signed an armistice with the realm, and was now officially an ally. Their queen, Farbauti, had come to visit Asgard, and in honor of the new-found peace, Odin had returned their casket to them. They knew about Loki, but Thor had no idea how they would treat him, or how they would react.
It was an option, but it obviously wasn't the best. For one thing, Loki was terrified of Jotunheim, and especially his blood family.
However, it was the only option they had, left.
Glumly, he called for Heimdall to return him to Asgard. His mother and Loki were already waiting for him, Loki wearing his little backpack, and bouncing in anticipation. "Thor, you're back!" He cheered. Somehow, it seemed, his mother had gotten Loki to be excited for the temporary moving away. "Can I go see your Midgardian friends, now?"
"I'm afraid not." Thor sighed, sending a helpless glance in his mother's direction. "They say they can't house you."
"Oh." Loki glanced down at his teeny boots, disappointment all over his face. "No Midgardian candies, then?"
Aha. So that was what Frigga had explained to him. It was true that Midgard's confectionary skills were unparalleled in the nine realms, but Thor wished she'd have waited to tell him the wonders of Midgard. Now the poor child would be needlessly disappointed.
"Sorry, Loki." Thor sighed, and knelt down in front of the little boy. "I'm sure where you're going will have lovely candies, as well."
His gaze flicked up to his mother's, and he mouthed the word "Jotunheim".
It was the only feasible destination.
Not going to lie, I'm not proud of this chapter.
I hope you enjoyed it, though, and I'll see you next time, with major smol bean angst and our first Jotunheim scene!
TheOnlyHuman.