"Happy birthday."
Thor looks up to see Loki's smiling face looking down at him, a tray of croissants and tea in his hands. He grunts and shuffles so he's sitting up in bed, taking the tray and setting it on his lap. Beside the breakfast is a neat arrangement of envelopes in size order, with the biggest at the bottom.
"Dad and I got your present, but it's downstairs because I wanted you to have it after breakfast," Loki explains, sitting down on his side of the bed. It's been three months since Thor arrived back at home, and whilst he refused therapy, his PTSD has resulted in some recurring nightmares that mean Loki has moved into his room. It's an arrangement that neither of them mind, even if Thor has a tendency to kick. Since Loki still had trouble sleeping at first anyway, it turned out to be more beneficial than expected because they could comfort one another and leave Odin to catch up on precious rest.
Although it's Friday, and Loki has started school again, Odin has booked him the day off to spend with his family. Thor's recovery was rapid, but he's still skittish, and he has difficulty settling down in places that aren't his own home. Odin has recently begun paying for a tutor so he can stay at home. She's very kind, but sometimes even the simplest of things can set off a memory which has Thor desperately crying for his father or brother, and there can be no progress that day.
Thor opens the first card with his finger, messing up the edge of the envelope in the process, and pulls out a card with a monkey baring a photoshopped grin and googly eyes. He laughs when he opens it and a £10 note falls out along with a cheery message from Fandral, Volstagg and Hogun.
"That's nice of them," Odin says as he picks up the note and puts it on the bedside table. Thor nods and takes the next card, obviously from Sif because of all the little doodles. Hers says she'll drop her present round on the weekend, and also invites him and Loki to come to the cinema to celebrate, if he's up to it. Thor decides he'll think about it.
There are some cards from relatives, aunts and uncles, even one from his tutor, which he thinks is sweet. Then Loki's is at the bottom. It's twice the size of an ordinary card, with the envelope beautifully decorated in one of Loki's trademark paisley patterns. The card is a huge '16 TODAY' number along with some silly cartoons, and Thor rolls his eyes. He knows Loki only got one of those cards to irritate him. It worked.
He lifts an arm, making it look like he's going to give his brother a 'thank you' hug but once Loki is close enough, Thor clobbers his head gently, poking out his tongue. Odin chuckles and drags them both into a hug anyway, ruffling Loki's hair in the process. Both brothers give each other death glares from around their father's arms.
Once the first few days were over, and Thor was suitably out of shock, Loki asked him about what happened. He wasn't interested in the details; more important for him was what Frigga had said and done. He was trying to work out in his head why she had done it. Thor hadn't been able to say much, not wanting to bring memories back, but he'd done enough to get Loki's brain going. He'd visited the station, where they were moving to put the kidnappers on trial, and asked for details of his mother's address. It was his aim to visit her after Thor's birthday, to learn more of what happened.
Thor finishes his croissants and stretches. "Should I be suspicious of what you got me, going by the card?" he asks Loki with a glance from the corner of his eye. His brother smiles innocently and scampers away down the stairs.
Odin laughs. "I think you'll love it."
.
Sometimes it bothers Thor how hard it is, adjusting back. He doesn't understand why the smallest thing can set him off into a fit of terror no-one can get him out of, that he just has to endure. He thinks about people in films who get kidnapped, or traumatised, that develop PTSD and all of them seem to have gone through worse horrors than him. He knows he was thrown around a bit, and completely wrenched from his family life without a chance to contact them or see the outside world for nigh on a month. But he was never really hurt.
He can sit for hours brooding on it, until Loki comes in and asks what's wrong, and he has to look up and think of a reason, because he can't say 'nothing'. Loki will know 'nothing' is a lie.
He's tried to talk to his father about it.
"Why is it so hard? Why is it that I only have to look at a physics book to get set off? Why do I get so terrified when, looking back, it really wasn't that traumatising?"
"Thor, no-one expects things to just go back to normal. You're going to be upset for a while, because of the nature of what happened. It's not something to worry about."
It's the answer Thor knows he will get, but still doesn't want to hear. "But I want to know why I'm so upset," he replies, turning out the room. It's more for peace of mind than anything. He's angry at himself for letting everybody down.
"Thor?" Loki whispers when he hears his brother go up the stairs. His only reply is a redundant grunt, and Loki decides to leave it. Sometimes it's better to leave Thor alone.
.
In the living room, Loki is clutching a suspicious package to his chest and waiting for Thor to come downstairs after dressing. He stayed up most of the night working on it, hoping this would be a time Thor had no nightmares. As luck would have it, his brother stayed silent all night. The fruits of his labours sit in his arms, wrapped in purple and gold wrapping paper and over-decorated with ribbons, bows and plastic flowers. Loki knows the over-the-top presentation will only make Thor more suspicious of what he's being given, which is exactly what Loki wants. That way, Thor's face when he opens it...
The other two members of the household finally sweep in, Odin with a casual smile and Thor with a wary glance at the object in Loki's hold.
"If you've got me chocolates," he warns, cocking an eyebrow as the present is handed to him and Loki plonks down on his right. Thor's never liked sickly things, but even less so now he's home. They just remind him more and more of his mother.
Odin moves to Thor's left and watches as he slowly unties every bow, piling the ribbon on the floor and flicking his eyes over to Loki every now and then as he tries to gauge what is going on. After five minutes there is a pile of multi-coloured fabric on the floor and the gift in his hands is considerably smaller. He begins to undo the paper, carefully pulling off the Sellotape and sticking each piece to the ends of Loki's hair as punishment for the ridiculousness of the wrapping. Loki makes a face and pulls the pieces off, making them into a sticky ball ready to throw at somebody.
Once Thor's patience fizzles out, he pulls off the paper and deposits it on the floor, expecting a box of sweets or chocolates, and completely surprised by what he sees. It's a scrapbook, handmade and bulging with photos. The cover is once again covered in those unique designs of Loki's. He opens to the first page and sees a photo of the three of them at Marwell. Frigga's been removed because Loki highly doubted Thor would want to look at her again, but it's still a nice photo. On the inside of the cover is written, 'Happy sixteenth birthday, Thor J' in Loki's handwriting, with another 'Happy birthday' written from Odin. Thor's eyes tear up and he grabs Loki and pulls him into a hug, then flops them both onto Odin where he can tickle them, and suddenly they're all in a heap on the floor, giggling and gasping for air. Loki pulls a camera out and shouts, "Smile!", then dashes off to the small office they created in the back half of the lair to print it off.
He returns a few minutes later with a Pritt Stick and takes the book from Thor's hands. "One last photo to stick in," he explains, turning to the back page with a convenient gap and pasting in the photo. Then he gives it back for Thor to continue looking through. There are photos of him with his friends at school trips and the park, photos Thor didn't even know existed, but that bring back fond memories all the same. He doesn't know how to say thank you.
"I knew you'd like it," Odin says, squeezing Thor's shoulder from where they are in a heap on the floor, and Thor nods in agreement. It's been the best birthday he's had.
"How long did this take?"
Loki shrugs. "About a month. I called it a school project and got out of some homework, but I think they'd have let me off anyway, because, you know..."
Thor nods. He knows Odin told the school about what happened, and he knows Loki gets allowances made for days off and lack of homework. Thor just sometimes wishes his brother didn't abuse the privileges quite so much.
"It's the best thing anyone's ever done for me," he breathes, hugging Loki again and kissing his cheek. "Thank you, Loki."
.
The rest of the day, they mess about at home, watching films and eating Pringles. Once school is over, Sif calls to confirm when she can come over. They go to bed late and sleep in 'til eleven in the morning, woken up by the doorbell going. Thankfully, it's followed by the rustle and steady thump of their father going down the stairs to answer it. Thor turns to face Loki, glad he doesn't have to get up just yet.
"So, do you think you'll be OK going to the cinema with us today?" Loki asks, squeezing Thor's hand under the duvet. Thor stills for a moment, thinking. It would be great to go out with all his friends on his birthday, and Loki would be there with him just in case. But on the other hand, what if he has an attack? He might start screaming in the cinema, and they wouldn't be able to get him out with ease.
Thor bites his lip. "What film would we see?" He tucks a stray piece of hair behind Loki's ear.
"I've heard Iron Man 3 is pretty good." Loki looks hopeful. He loves action movies.
Thor chuckles and stretches one arm. "I'll think about it."
END
A/N It's finally finished, at last! I hope everyone liked it, despite me toying around with a lot of concepts and reversing roles. My next story is likely to be a more canon one, because I owe someone a present and I have no more plots for AUs. But then, I never know what's round the corner in terms of fics...