Loki's green eyes rolled about sluggishly in their sockets as he sat in his front row desk in his English class. His pen scratched upon the notebook before him in an illegible manner (one which when he looks back on later will cause him to laugh and shake his head). He could hear his teacher's voice, Ms. Pirelli, sounding from the end of a tunnel, fading in and out with his jumbled thoughts about blueberry muffins and crisps on the walls.

"Loki?" her voice cut in through the fog dramatically and the young adolescent dropped his propped up arm from his chin smacking his limb onto the desk in surprise. He hissed quietly as a few other classmates behind him chuckled cynically.

"Yes?" came his questioning quip, as his eyes refocused on Ms. Pirelli's yellow and pink blossom sweater.

She raised a slim brow in response, and shook her head lightly, responding with, "Please do try and stay awake in my class. I know after lunch classes are difficult for any of us, but if you could at least pretend to be paying attention, I'd appreciate it."

She turned back then to the whiteboard and began explaining the climax of a story and how one gets there from the beginning hook.

Loki shook himself lightly and sighed deeply. He scrubbed his face with his hands, and flipped to a new page of his notebook to begin taking more legible notes. A piece of paper from behind him tapped him on the back and he didn't even have to turn around to know it was from the goofy grin of his older brother.

"Not now, Thor," he hissed quietly beneath his breath, only sending a daring glare over his shoulder to his brother.

Thor, dark red sweatshirt and all, smiled back and prepared to toss another paper at Loki before Ms. Pirelli turned around again.

Loki sighed; his brother wouldn't stop with his shenanigans until he was foolishly caught by Ms. Pirelli (as was always the case).

It was about three minutes later that Ms. Pirelli was looking unamused at Thor, a crumpled up piece of paper clenched in her small fists.

Loki couldn't help but laugh out loud, then.

The gentle autumn breeze stroked through Loki's dark hair as he began the trek back home. Thor was racing up the street ahead of him, practically dodging cars like a football player, while Loki shook his head back and forth in disapproval, warning his brother that he'd be the one in trouble if Thor got hit by a truck.

"You know father would point the finger at me!" Loki called up to him, shifting the weight of his backpack on his shoulders.

Thor laughed without a care in the world, swinging around the trunk of an oak tree, "And mother? What of she?"

Loki bit his lip to correct his brother's word choice.

"Mother… Mother would fret about your lack of limbs and ask where I was as you pranced about the streets!"

Thor chortled at Loki's response.

"Oh, brother, you are too funny!" Thor slowed down his pace so he wasn't in danger of being hit by anything large, metal and moving.

Loki's chin tilted upwards in pride, "Of course I am."

Thor smiled in approval, his blue eyes twinkling. He rubbed his hands together in glee, lightly pushing on his younger brother's shoulder so that the younger sibling stumbled back slightly.

"When do you think Mother will be back from her trip?"

Loki gazed at him in mild perplexity. Thor was more of their father's child while Loki was more of their mother's. Loki spent the most time with their mother, and the two were very close. Which isn't to say that their mother didn't love Thor, by far the opposite was true (although Loki felt that their father had distaste for him). It's just that Thor didn't often ask about her, especially when she was away on business trips, as she was now.

"I'm not sure; I think she said it would take another week?" Loki guessed, trying to recall what their mother had said from the last time they spoke with her over the phone.

"I hope it's soon! I can't wait to tell her about the-"

And that's where Loki tuned out again, not having to listen to his brother go into another long ramble about the wrestling match he won (which, yes, was the same story from this morning). Thor's stories never got old in his ears so he loved telling and re-telling them. Loki, on the other hand, got bored after listening even the first time.

Instead, Loki gazed off into the distance, watching the yellow and orange tinged leaves rustling in the crooks of their branches. They softly muttered to themselves in the light breeze, the sun behind them shining brightly, daring to twinkle between the gaps of air. Loki smiled at the sight, inhaling deeply through his nose to better smell the autumn scent that lingered in the air.

Soon, October would be strolling along and their world would be consumed in pumpkin themed drinks, festivities and snacks. He couldn't help but admit to himself (and no one else) that he was excited for Halloween. Dressing up as anyone but you for one night to get candy from random people? Come on, who doesn't like that?

Loki certainly loved it, he liked the spooky atmosphere of the holiday, getting to hear campfire stories and scare the shit out of his fellow classmates… it was a particularly mischievous month for him and he was enthralled by the aspect of being someone other than himself. He had the freedom to be any person, thing, monster or whatever that he wanted and no one could stop him.

A buried part of him also enjoyed the holiday because he felt he could pretend to be the son his father wanted him to be, and in that way, get his love and acceptance. It certainly didn't work for Loki any other day of the year. But, he tried not to think about that too much, winning his father's acceptance was difficult and his own burden to bear.

He thought back to this morning when Thor had offered to fight his battle for him, and his lips slipped into a small frown. He knew it wouldn't help, Thor had tried that tactic in the past and it had only make Odin's sharp eyes stare at Loki like he was some cursed, inhuman creature from another planet.

His green eyes watered slightly at the memory, forcing himself to choke back the sadness that gripped his heart like a vice. A pang of loneliness struck him then and he had to put all his remaining energy into not expressing it, not that Thor was noticing his internal war anyways, so that no one asked any questions.

He didn't have time to answer questions he didn't know the answer to himself. He couldn't understand the loneliness, the lack of acceptance and the heaviness these burdens carried upon his shoulders. He didn't even dare tell Frigga about them, for fear she would discuss the matter with Odin himself-and then of course Loki would just wind up with another Thor situation on his hands.

No, Loki could handle things on his own. He didn't have to tell anyone. He could get by.

He was a smart teenager. He kept his nose in the books and one day Odin would see how smart and great and accomplished he was. He just had to keep pushing out great grades. He'd be recognized for his own unique talents, just as Thor was recognized for his, some day. He just had to keep working.

Keep working, keep working and you'll be perfect, he thought to himself.

Perfection was his to attain. And that was the last thought he had before Thor and he slipped into their shadowy home.

A/N: Back again! Actually got a writing vibe this evening so I present to you another (bonus for longer!) chapter! =]

I'd like to thank Bellasiel for the awesome review they left me, since reading over your message got me thinking about some answers to your questions and that got me into writing this. I've been meaning to explain where Frigga has been so far in this story, so it was helpful to mention it here. We also get further insight into what issues Loki is dealing with (I'm thinking some undiagnosed depression is underway as well)

I hope you all enjoy this update! Thank you all for reading, fav-ing, and following! Reviews are candy that I will happily eat up, too!

Hope to see you guys again by the end of this week or start of next! =]