The boys are about 16/18 now
TLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTL
As Loki grew, Frigga began to worry after him less. His illnesses came with lesser duration and frequency. He came into his height, and though he would never have Thor's strength – there were few who possessed that gift – he was nevertheless a formidable foe. His speed and agility complemented Thor's power. If ever they could learn to work beside one another, she thought a touch wryly, there were few who would dare stand against them.
The anxiety he'd exhibited as a child did not entirely vanish as he grew, but the form it took changed. Where as a child he had shrunk within himself, altering all he could to better blend in among his peers, as a youth, he flashed. He drove his differences in the faces of those who would belittle him for them. He employed the magic that had once embarrassed him in the tests of his training, and when the masters confronted him on it he only tipped his head back and demanded they check the records to find if such practice was ever once forbidden.
It was not. But the thing missed by her younger son was that such forceful ways of putting his detractors down prevented them from feeling any willingness to be more than that. He did not make friends easily, or well. He never had. He showed little desire for them, barricading himself behind his sharp tongue and his books. But he was young, yet. He would learn.
She hoped he might learn soon, but such wisdom was slow coming. To either of her sons.
Thor had grown bold. Arrogance colored his postures and actions, and it was few weeks that would go by without Odin's disciplining him for some infraction or other.
Loki was less often implicated, but she wryly thought him no less defiant of their father's commands. Every bit the equal of his brother in temper and flair, if not more so for his quiet, Loki was often overlooked by Odin in the AllFather's bursts of parental correction. Where Thor would shout in return till the palace shook, Loki would vanish with a contrite look on his face, thinking his own thoughts. Odin was not still enough himself to notice the nuances of Loki's more subdued expressions. Frigga well knew the boy's games, and she had his trust where Odin did not.
So it was that Loki was standing in her chambers, eyes flashing and mouth a thin line, recounting some clash between himself and one of his latest companions.
She and Odin had spoken at length the night before about some new foolery of Thor's, much in the same manner as she and Loki took now. She, sitting on a low couch with her feet drawn up and a book only just recently closed on her lap, with her visitor agitated and pacing, gesturing with his hands and throwing broad and heated jabs with his tongue.
As she watched Loki pace, the similarity between him and his father did not escape her and abruptly she caught herself about to laugh.
He was not so distracted by his own frustration as to ignore that. His brows darted together and he folded his arms. His chin went up and she knew she'd hurt his pride.
She straightened on the couch, putting her feet down onto the floor. She looked down to try and hide her smile.
"What?" he demanded.
"I'm sorry, Loki," she breathed a quick laugh, "I didn't mean to laugh at you. It's just," she reached out and gripped his arm, "you can be so like your father."
Stung, he jerked away.
They shared that, also, he and Odin. Neither would be compared to his father, each certain he had made some great leap his forebear had never dreamed to manage.
Tickled as she was by the similitude, the humor was rather lost on Loki, so she set it aside. She folded her hands in her lap and tipped her chin up to face him.
"Had you considered apologizing?" she asked him seriously.
"Have I –" he looked at her, incredulous, flicking his eyes between hers as though to find the joke hidden between them. But there was none and she only looked at him very seriously and after a time he had to admit defeat. He drew all of his injured pride to him, looking loftily away to the side of the room, "I had not."
She wanted very much in that moment to laugh at him. But she swallowed the impulse back, looking down at her hands, folded in her lap. When she'd regained her tongue, she raised her head.
Loki hadn't moved. He stood facing her with his arms folded and his head turned away. His mouth was a very thin line.
"It seems to me," Frigga ventured, softly. "That what you are being asked to do now is to choose, between the friendship, and your own pride."
Loki was unhappy with the direction the conversation was taking. He was looking down his nose at her. "It is not my place," he said coldly, "to beg forgiveness when the wrong is another's."
"Loki, it was a quarrel!"
He only grimaced and turned his head again. He'd wanted her to pet him in his sulk. He was impatient with how she prompted him. It was well enough. He need not enjoy all aspects of his upbringing.
"Also,"
She waited, but he did not turn.
"Loki, look at me."
Giving a much put-upon breath through his nose, Loki swung around and met her eyes.
"I've heard you argue before," she said, choosing to ignore his petulance. "And while the fight is not often your fault, you do say unkind things. Perhaps a bit more unkind than you ought." He started to protest and she lifted one hand. "Perhaps," she said, "you do not mean it as it sounds – and I do understand that. Understand now that I merely bring it to your attention as a point to be kept in your mind as you decide upon your course."
And having said that, she reached over beside her to the little table and, picking up her book, she flipped it open to her page.
Loki hovered for one moment, then let his arms drop. "What –" he fumbled. Then he stopped. He exhaled, then, much softer, he asked her, "What would you have me do?"
Giving a slight raise of one eyebrow, she glanced at him once, then back to the pages before her, "I think you old enough to make that decision for yourself, Loki."
The corners of his mouth tipped down. He waited, watching her to see if she might change her mind.
She looked at him then, and she smiled. "I know you'll do me proud."
TLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTLTL
I feel like Frigga probably said that a lot. She had a lot of faith in her boys. Let's hope they live up to it come Ragnarok ;)
Oo. With that. Almost forgot. Bonus for anyone interested.
watch?v=2hIvjTRm9U
I mean, I'm not gonna tell you not to watch the whole thing, BUT. Specifically pause at 27 seconds. Look at the bottom right hand corner.
WTF.
I need this explained to me.
Love to hear your response/explanation.
