That morning… Thor was woken by the ever pleasant sensation of a boot in his face.
That boot covered a foot belonging to a certain god of mischief, and then a condescending voice followed.
"Rise and shine! Oh mighty prince of Asgard!" Sounded the call, and then the boot returned in full force kicking Thor in the chest, and sent him rolling off the bed and down to the floor in a big thud.
"Urgh," Thor groaned from where he landed on the floor. "Auw..." he looked up, only to see Loki sitting on his bed with crossed legs, looking down at him with a glare.
"Oh don't complain, all you have done the last few days is laying in that stupid bed," Loki snorted.
Thor rolled onto his back, looking up and groaning.
"Get up," Loki demanded.
"Why..." Thor began.
"Because I am hungry!" Loki snapped. "However, to eat I need to go to the dining hall. But I am not letting you out of my sight so you have to come with me. Unfortunately, you're gross!" he stated. "Your hair looks like a bird is about to lay eggs in it, your beard has way to much nasty stuff stuck to it and you stink!" he stated. "Bath, now!" Loki demanded pointing at the bathroom door. "I am not going to be seen with someone looking like he was just scraped off the ground of a slum alleyway."
Slowly Thor sat up, then looked up at Loki.
"Have you gone deaf to?" Loki asked. "I am not going to carry you in there and bathe you as if you were a babe!"
"I didn't ask you to do that," Thor gaped. "I can bathe myself!"
"Good! Then do it," Loki demanded. "And make it quick, I'm hungry."
Thor stood up, looking oddly at Loki, remembering their encounter during the night… So, all of that had actually happened. And Loki was… kind of on his side of things… Kind of. His eyes were still on Loki.
"What?!" Loki asked.
"You..." Thor halted. "You're not a very nice person."
"I'm nice when there is a reason to be!" Loki exclaimed as he threw his hands up into the air.
Thor frowned slightly.
"What am I supposed to say?" Loki asked. "Oh no my sweet little prince, it's not so bad, laying in your room all day. There is pride in that, what a brave and stunning action. Oh, your sweat has the scent of roses, it is so delightful, and how practical of you to stash crumbs in your beard. Dinner for later. Please," he rolled his eyes. "I know I am Loki Lie-smith, but this is just the truth; you're gross."
Thor smiled lightly, he could only imagine what Loki would say if he had seen what he had actually looked like before, probably the exact same.
It hurt a bit to hear but… It was also nice that someone would just say it, and not treat him like a small porcelain figure about to break. Someone willing to give him some resistance."You seriously intend to keep your eyes on me all day?" he asked.
"Obviously." Loki rolled his eyes. "I am still not sure what is going on, at all! Your mind, it..." he halted, he paled a little bit and then turned his head away.
"Loki," Thor breathed.
"You didn't suddenly develop the gift of foresight, did you?"Loki asked, turning back to Thor.
Thor was quiet, then he shook his head.
Loki sighed deeply. "Alternative timeline then, I am stuck with a Thor from an alternative timeline… Fantastic. Well, that is assuming what I saw in there was in any way real," he muttered.
"That… That's really possible?" Thor asked. Honestly, he still wasn't sure what was going on, he had partly been convinced he had gone mad to be honest.
"Yes," Loki sighed. "There are an infinite amount of alternative dimensions and universes out there. We don't mess around with that, though, it is forbidden! You are from the..." he halted. "From a different future, yes."
Thor swallowed. "I… I think so," he breathed. "I'm from… The future."
"Not the future. A future!" Loki corrected him. "Your presence here has already changed this dimension's future. Think of it like this." Loki stood up then walked to the wall, a piece of chalk appearing in his hand. "This here is the original timeline, the prime timeline." He drew a line. "You've been traveling the entire original timeline, but then jumped back here." He went down. "And by acting out of character, created a split!" He drew a new line going from the bottom of the first line. "A new timeline! You are creating a new turn of events, thus also creating a new Loki, a new Odin, a new everything. None of this was the same before, you created this new version of us."
"And… your Thor?" Thor breathed.
"Is in the other timeline on his journey to become you," Loki breathed as he stood up. "Don't worry, you didn't erase him or anything… You just created an entire alternative dimension around your new personage."
"How do you know that?" Thor asked. "How do you know I didn't... You know, erase it all."
"Because that's impossible," Loki sighed deeply. "For you to be here, there has to be another timeline where the current you was created. Look, the rules of time travel are... complicated. It has been well researched though. Just imagine a powerful sorceress who lost loved ones, doing desperate things such as attempting time travel to save them. Due to their foolishness we do have data," he tried to explain. "What they found out is this... They can jump timelines, but they cannot erase the original one," Loki informed. "Because... If they erased the original one, they would have to erase their own origin; their own knowledge or memory of the events leading to the jump wouldn't exist, making the jump impossible... You understand?"
"Not... really," Thor admitted.
Loki sighed deeply, rubbing his forehead.
"It's okay, you don't have to explain further. I think I get most of it... At least the important parts," Thor stated. "What I don't understand is this. What am I doing here? How did I get here?"
"How should I know?!" Loki exclaimed. "How do you think you got here?!"
"I don't know!" Thor exclaimed. "One moment I was passing out, the next I was back here!" he exclaimed. "But that shouldn't be possible. Asgard is gone, everyone is dead. Including you! And this time, I think, really really dead!"
"Hm." Loki frowned holding his chin. "Well… You are a god, Thor."
"God of Thunder," Thor reminded him.
"Yes, our father has great magic. Our mother, even greater. I am a natural spell caster as well, considered the greatest magical protege of our own generation; your entire blood family is immensely gifted with magic, Thor," Loki pointed out. "You're the only one not practicing it seriously."
"Erh..." Thor halted… Okay, this was awkward, really awkward. Loki still had no idea about his true origins, it hadn't even been revealed in the mind reading because well, it hadn't really been in the forefront of Thor's mind, so much else was of a much greater concern to him.
"You do have massive raw power within you. It takes form as lightning for you, but it is basically magic. If you ever bothered with it, your potential for the magic craft would be great," Loki continued, ignoring how Thor halted. "You just never bothered developing it… Strong enough to send you back in time, though?" he asked in a deep frown. "That would take a lot of magic… A lot. Way more than it takes to create a typhoon... It would take the power of at least a thousand of your Typhoons..."
Thor swallowed. There was silence. Loki seemed to be in deep thought.
"Loki?" Thor asked.
Loki frowned. "Asgard's destruction, it didn't seem that far away… We looked the same age. How long?" he asked.
Thor looked at Loki and he swallowed. "Six Midgard years," he informed.
Taken aback, Loki looked up. There was quiet. "Well..." Loki halted. "That's… bad," he commented. "Are those threats still a concern to us now?"
Thor nodded seriously.
"If you just did nothing… Do you believe all those things would happen again?" Loki asked.
"Perhaps not in the same order or at the same times, but yes… definitely," Thor replied.
"I… see," Loki spoke, a little wide-eyed. "Then what were you doing laying in bed all day?!" He suddenly exclaimed in a frustrated voice. "Asgard could be in danger, and you were just laying there?!"
Thor halted, then he looked down, shame building up in his body, burning his cheeks.
Loki groaned. "Go take that shower," he said, not commenting on the tears stinging Thor's eyes. "Trim your beard, do something about that hair. Then we eat and then… " he groaned. "We talk!"
Thor smiled, then wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "I really missed you, Loki."
"Well, apparently you are lost without me, so of course you did," Loki snorted. "Do I have to kick you into the shower, or what?" he asked.
Thor smiled as he shook his head, then finally walked into the bathroom, before he closed the door, though, he turned to Loki. "Thank you, Loki," he finally spoke.
"I'm not doing this for you!" Loki exclaimed. "I just don't like not knowing things! And no, I don't want to see Asgard fall! Obviously! If that is what is supposed to happen in six years, I think I have greater concerns than you."
Thor laughed, amused. "That's true!"
"Get out of my face," Loki demanded and Thor chuckled as he finally closed the door, then suddenly Thor realized.
Laughing… He was laughing! He had not laughed since… Since Loki had appeared back on the spaceship.
When Thor had said that if Loki had actually been there, he might have even hugged him… And Loki had been there.
It had surprised Thor, but in a good way, he had been happy and he had laughed back then.
It felt good laughing, even if it was just a small laugh. It felt good.
