a/n: can you tell I'm excited to be writing this story? because I am. o u o;;

Thank you to those who showed interest in the first chapter! ; o ;

vii. the first bruise

There is a smudge on Loki's arm. The spot is not that big, but it is dark and ugly. Thinking that his brother merely swiped his arm across food, Thor reaches out and swipes at it, rather roughly. Loki instantly jerks away from him and starts wailing.

"Hush," Thor says desperately, scooting closer to him. "Quiet, little brother, you'll wake Mother and Father." He gathers Loki into his arms clumsily, and Loki fights against the embrace, still wailing very loudly.

"Hush, Loki!" Thor tries again, but it's too late; there is the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. His father lifts Loki from his arms, while his mother demands, "What's happened?"

"There was something on his arm!" Thor cries, shooting up to his feet and pointing.

"Did you hurt him?"

"I did not! I thought it was a smudge and tried to wipe it away."

Loki is not wailing anymore, now just sniffling. He has his face buried into his father's chest and Thor glares, even though the toddler cannot see it.

"He must have hit it against something," sighs his mother to his father. "But the bruise is so big..."

"It's small and it doesn't look serious. I'll call the director, ask if perhaps he has a history of this." Odin turns to his older son then. "Did you see how he got it?"

"No," Thor mumbles. "I noticed it just now. I did not hurt him, I swear."

The tears have stopped. His father sets Loki down in front of Thor and turns to his wife. "Do you still have that number?" Their parents walk away to the study, after his mother leaves one last warning of, "Please, Thor, look after him."

Thor frowns at the toddler, but it doesn't stop Loki. The toddler pushes himself up to all fours and crawls into his big brother's lap, cooing, "Thow." He reaches up and unceremoniously sticks his hand into Thor's mouth.

"Stop that, Loki." Thor pushes the tiny hand away gently, but pulls his little brother closer. He is careful to avoid the bruise, not wanting to be scolded again.

Loki babbles something at him, and his eyes are bright and happy, as if Thor had never hurt him in the first place. He nuzzles into Thor's side, and Thor takes to stroking the smaller boy's dark hair until he hears soft snoring.

. . .

viii. that summer

Thor turns six, and Loki takes his first step. The last birthday present is being opened when Loki deigns to leave the safety of his father's legs and run for his older brother. His little legs carry him a grand total of two strides before he's falling, falling. Thor barely has enough time to reach out and catch him.

After that, everything passes like a blur: his parents fawn over Loki, encouraging him to try it again, again, Loki, you can do it, we are so proud.

Thor goes upstairs with his presents and a slice of birthday cake and stays in his room for the rest of the night.

Jealousy curdles in his stomach, and it is unpleasant.

. . .

ix. the wagon

To Thor, it is almost like Loki learned how to walk just so he could follow his older sibling around. Thor cannot go upstairs without Loki at the foot of the staircase, crying after him, babbling pleas to be taken with. Thor cannot eat dinner without Loki toddling up to the side of his seat at least once, tugging on his shirt, and presenting a block proudly. On Thor's first day of school, Loki bursts into tears and reaches chubby little arms after him.

Wherever Thor goes, Loki is no doubt following close behind.

When Loki turns two, he is gifted with a red wagon. He likes to clamber inside and point ambitiously to random spots in the room. And of course, who else is there but Thor to drag him around?

It is no fun at first, and Thor huffs when his parents are working together over some papers, leaving him with the task of entertaining Loki. He obeys whatever whim comes to his little brother, dragging him to that wall there, to this corner here.

"Pushy little boy," Thor grumbles when he finally lifts Loki out of the wagon. Loki thanks him by leaving a sloppy, open-mouthed kiss on his chin, and then clapping his hands on Thor's cheeks.

"Ow," Thor whines, but it's half-hearted. Loki seems to be pleased with himself.

. . .

x. he liked the moon

Loki likes to take Thor by his fingers and lead him to the window, pointing outside. "Moon," Loki would say, despite the blatant sun in the blue sky. And then: "Out."

Thor asks if he can take his brother outside, but his parents are quick to say no.

Loki's skin is very sensitive. That it why he bruises so easily. Too much sunlight can harm him. Do you want your little brother to get hurt, Thor?

In turn, Thor is quick to shake his head.

However, Loki does not seem to easily grasp the concept of no and constantly drags Thor to the window, asking in his clumsy tongue if they might go outside.

One night, Thor wakes to the incessant rattling of Loki's crib. The six-year-old sits up in bed to see Loki peering from the other side of his crib. The boy is whining for him, one hand reached out and opening and closing in a gesture to be let out.

So Thor does, even though he has been explicitly told never to do so. He stands on his stool (though he has grown quite a lot, he still needs a little bit more height to reach over completely) and lifts Loki out.

He takes the child to his bed and holds him in his lap, facing the window. Loki's arms move animatedly, as if reaching for the moon itself. "Moon," he says over and over again, and he would giggle and squirm in Thor's lap.

Thor shushes him occasionally, lest their parents wake up and rap him on the hand for letting Loki out.

He thinks they must have sat there for a while, until Loki eventually dozes off. The clock reads only fifteen minutes later when Thor finally returns Loki to his crib and crawls back into his own bed.

. . .

xi. tricks

Loki turns three and does not let up following his brother ardently around. Everyone finds it endearing, but Thor is mostly unamused. He loves his brother, yes, but Loki is almost a burden. Thor does not completely trust himself to keep Loki safe from harm, and he fears the day that Loki does get hurt and it's his fault.

So sometimes, when Loki is trying to tug him to go someplace, Thor drops to the floor, closes his eyes, and does not move. He would lie limp like this for a few moments. When he cracks an eye open to see if Loki has ambled off to bother someone else, all he sees is the green of Loki's eye.

"Thow?" Loki presses even closer; Thor squeezes his eyes shut again and thinks, No, go to Mother or Father instead, leave me alone, Loki.

Then he hears a sniffle, a small whimper. Thor opens his eye just a little bit and sees Loki with his lower lip trembling, looking on the verge of tears. Instantly, Thor sits up, eyes wide open, exclaiming, "No, don't cry, I'm awake, see?"

He gathers his little brother into his arms and hugs him and averts a crisis. Loki pouts at him, but it doesn't take long for it to dissolve into a smile. He pats his older brother's cheeks, and if three year olds could somehow chide, then Loki was doing so.

Thor likes the attention, the fact that Loki seems to worry so much about him. It's a nice change from him having to worry about Loki so much.

But one time, he gets no reaction at all. He lies on the carpet, eyebrows twitching downards in a frown, and he opens his eyes. He expects Loki to have run off for the first time, but no, his younger brother is right there next to him, lying down with his eyes closed.

For a heart stopping moment, Thor thinks: oh, something must have happened, he must have fallen while I wasn't looking - then Loki slowly opens an eye, like he is the one playing dead.

Thor bursts out laughing, both from the hilarity he finds in the situation and the relief that blooms in his chest. He scoots closer to Loki, lifts his shirt up, and blows a raspberry into his tummy. Loki giggles and tugs on his hair; Thor tickles him on mercilessly. "You little trickster," he would later laugh, kissing Loki on the cheek affectionately. "Don't ever scare me like that again."

Loki plays with his fingers.

. . .

xii. the wagon, arc two

When Loki turns four, their parents buy him another wagon, this one with a convenient roof. Thor pulls him around their yard enthusiastically. "Dragon!" Loki would occasionally exclaim, or sometimes, "Monster!" (There was never a night that Thor did not read him a bedtime story.)

"Oh no!" Thor would cry out.

"Oh no!" Loki would echo, pounding his little fists on the floor of his wagon. "Go, Thor!"

And Thor would acquiesce, dodging whatever fiend Loki had conjured up. The air comes alive with the sound of two brothers laughing together.

A week later, Thor gives Loki one of his toy swords, and as he drags the wagon along, Loki waves the wooden sword around and protect them from the dark faeries and malevolent goblins.

Thor's arms are often sore.

When he carries Loki back inside, his little brother stares at him with eyes wide and says, "So brave, Thor."

Thor, eight years old now, teases, "You're the one who fought away the vicious monsters!"

But inside, he would swell with pride and soak in every bit of Loki's obvious awe.

. . .

xiii. the other kids

That same autumn, a mother and a daughter move into the house next to theirs. The daughter is Thor's age, and after the family has settled in, other kids start turning up. Thor watches them play on the sidewalk and thinks that it's a strange sight, three boys and a girl.

Loki tugs him away to his bucket of blocks (which Thor passed down to him).

Later that day, those four kids ring the doorbell and ask if they would want to play together.

. . .

xix. a note, an observation

The other kids initially did not like Loki, as Thor had.

. . .

xx. the difference

They never came to.