The Origin Of Sleipnir

~ Child Of Svadilfari ~

. . .

"You're carrying a child?!" Thor questioned in shock, but was quickly brought to shut up when Loki cupped a hand over his mouth.

"Shh! Sh! What did I just tell you? Nobody else must know!" Loki hissed harshly and jerked his head from side to side to make sure they were still alone in the long halls. "Stay quite; We're going back to my champers. We can't speak safely here," he announced before letting go of his brother's jaw.

Although Thor was about to burst with a million questions, he closed his lips in a thin line to keep it all in as he hastily followed behind his brother.

. . .

As soon as the two brothers had reached Loki's champers, Loki closed the heavy doors and locked them securely. "Alright. Now you may freak out," he allowed with a surprisingly calm tone.

Thor was not at all as collected. "You're with child?!" he repeated with a hand on his head as if that could help him understand. "How is that even possible?"

"There are a lot of factors in this that you have yet to be informed about," Loki stated seriously and turned to his table. With his back facing Thor, he now began to look through the countless stacks of books, to find the specific page he needed.

Thor, however, had a hard time convincing himself what he witnessed was reality. "Factors? I strongly doubt factors of any kind can explain this. You're a male for peat's sake!" he claimed in denial, but then got a disturbed look on his face. "You are a male, are you not?" he questioned slightly uneasy. After all, Loki was a skilled shapeshifter.

"Of course I'm a male, you imbecile. Don't be foolish," Loki snapped back at him in annoyance and closed the book in his hands with a harsh motion. He then went to pick up another book from a pile on his nightstand and turned the pages swiftly.

"But that's physically impossible," Thor exclaimed as he turned on his heal to keep his eyes on his brother. "Even I would know you certainly can't have a child in that-… Shape," he said and made a small gesture towards Loki.

"I'm not-… Having a child… Per se," Loki corrected a little hesitant, only glancing back at Thor shortly before he turned his head to read the page he had found.

The frown on Thor's face seemed to never yield. "What do you mean: 'Per se'?" he questioned suspiciously, not sure if he could handle any more surprises. It would turn out, he would have to.

Closing the book between his hands when he had read the page through, Loki turned to finally face his brother. "I am carrying a fetus, but not one of an Asgardian child," he explained.

While Loki got his hands free to cast another spell, Thor's mind was running more wild than he was proud of. However, he would never have been able to prepare himself from what he was about to discover.

"It took me a while to accept, I must admit, but this spell is not to be mistaken," Loki said while he made a few fast moves with his hands to perform the magic. Once he was finished, a hologram similar to the soul forge appeared between him and Thor. However, instead of portraying his whole body, it only copied the fetus in his stomach.

"Much of what makes this 'incident' possible, involves complex magical connections that you will never understand, so I will spare you for the details," Loki said while he moved his hands around to make the hologram appear as clear as he could possibly make it.

While Loki continued with his speech, Thor went around the hologram to get on the same side as his brother.

"I have calculated the data and analyzed this hologram from one end to the other with various techniques and spells, and they all gave me the same result," Loki explained and finally lowered his hands when the spell was stable enough to hold itself.

"I'm not carrying a child; I'm carrying a foal," he announced dead seriously.

Thor's eyes looked as if they were about to pop out of his head. While he studied the holographic evidence, a million thoughts twirled and twisted around like a hurricane in his head. Only one response came out verbally. "You shagged a horse?!" he exclaimed in contempt and shock, not even daring to pay attention to the disturbing pictures that ran through his head.

"Watch your mouth! Of cause, I did not!" Loki hissed in offence and gave his brother a harsh nudge on his broad chest, to knock some sense into him. A red tint now flushed to his cheeks, but if it was due to anger or embarrassment was hard to tell.

"But that's madness! How did you even manage-…" Thor began, but then stopped himself mid-sentence when something clicked inside his mind. "How far are you?" he then questioned suspiciously.

Loki's lips zipped into a thin line. He took a moment to process the question, before he answered. "Six months, give or take," he said a little grudgingly. Having to actually relate to the time of his 'condition' wasn't exactly pleasant.

Thor was silent while he thought the information through in his head. Soon enough, he had counted back the weeks until his theory proved correct. Looking back at his brother somewhat in concern, Thor's brows morphed into a frown when he caught the trickster's eyes. "No you didn't, did you?" he said in denial, although the uneasy feeling in his stomach told him otherwise.

Although Loki's façade was calm and collected, his restless hands gave away how unsteady he was on the inside. "It was a matter of seconds."

"You got screwed by Svadilfari?!" Thor exclaimed in shock, the disturbed look never leaving his face.

"Will you stop saying that! That's not what happened; He caught me off guard," Loki hissed in frustration.

"I didn't think that was possible?" Thor said.

"Neither did I, but for what use is it now?" Loki sighted and turned his gaze ahead to study the hologram before them for the millionth time. "The point is that it is too late to remove the fetus by regular medical ways, so we have to come up with another solution."

Thor's expression changed when he once again looked at his brother. "You want to remove it?" he asked a little hesitant. To be honest, the thought made his chest tighten a little. "Yes, of cause," Loki said and met his brother's eyes with a questioning frown. "You said it yourself, this is madness. I'm not delivering a horse," he said with certainty, letting Thor know he had already made up his mind.

Although Thor found himself wanting to object, he just nodded his head and tried to accept Loki's decision. After all, the trickster had a point. So far, the magic from the shapeshifting seemed to hold up fine, but who knew if it would continue to do so. Letting the fetus stay and grow in a body incapable of carrying it could have fatal consequences.

"So what's the plan?" Thor questioned as he folded his broad arms across his chest.

"The plan is to get a plan," Loki answered. "That's why I included you. Maybe a second point of view will help to find a solution."

Thor couldn't help but crack a smile at his brother, despite the seriousness of the issue. "You value my opinion that much, brother?" he asked teasingly.

Loki refused to look at him. "I value the opportunity of sparing time," he corrected stiffly. "If you announce the useless ideas first, I won't have to waste time on them myself and I can move on to a better solution straight away." He explained, but Thor just kept the silly smile on his face.

"Fair enough. As long as we get a plan," he said and turned his eyes back to the hologram that still hovered before them.

They both stood in silence for a moment after that. At least, Thor felt it as silence. Loki was too caught up in his own thoughts to pay attention to anything else. That allowed the elder Asgardian to try a spontaneous idea of his.

With courteous moves, Thor slowly reached one hand out for Loki's stomach, hoping he wouldn't notice. He obviously did.

Just when Thor's palm came into touch with the fabric of Loki's tunica, the young god flinched and twisted himself away from his hold. "What are you doing?" he asked while he stared at his brother in offence.

"I'm sorry- I thought-," Thor tried.

"No."

"Maybe?"

"No! Stop it; it's odd! Don't do that," Loki said strictly and pushed Thor's hand away with certainty.

"Alright, I won't, I won't," Thor promised and took his hand back. "It was just-… You know… Six months and all," he coughed a little awkwardly, but Loki just shook his head at him.

With the awkward tension still hanging in the air, Loki returned to his analyzing and thinking with a disturbed look on his face.

However, there was only silence between the two for a few seconds before Thor decided to speak up again. "How come you're not rounding out yet?" he questioned curiously like it was second nature.

It only made Loki hang his head low while he growled in annoyance.

. . .