Disclaimer: I don't own Thor, or any of the characters used in this fic. They all belong to Marvel and their respective creators. I only own any original characters that I choose to include, as well as any original plot ideas.

Chapter 12: Adrift In A Sea

By his last count of the days, Thor found that his father and brother had not spoken to one another in nearly two months. Nor, as he soon came to realize, had Loki said a word to Sif.

He sat by the lakeside with her, fishing poles clasped in their hands as they waited with much boredom for something to take hold of the bait. They had not talked much either, though they had spent the entirety of the day in one another's company. The day had been hot, the sun bright and causing that bizarre sound, which Thor thought to be cicadas, to hum consistently through the air. Even with his boots kicked off and bare feet hanging in the water, he was seriously overheated, and thought that, if the fish did not show up within the next ten minutes, he was going to hop into the lake and go hand fishing himself.

"Damn," Sif muttered, and threw her pole towards his boots up the hill. "I've had it with this."

And, the second the words left her mouth, the woman leaned forward and dropped herself into the water, splashing Thor as she went. She surfaced not long after, wiping the moisture from her eyes and floating on her back. The thunderer followed, and, having left his armor with the rest of their things, jumped in and dove under.

It was strange to him, peering through the water with his blue eyes, realizing that it was not nearly as clear as it had seemed all those years ago. That made him wonder if the lake had somehow managed to age as he and his friends did. He felt Sif's hand on his head, tapping him with her fingers, and Thor surfaced, feeling much better as he followed her through the water, the two of them swimming towards the shade that sat on the east side of the palace. As they drew closer, Thor looked up to the balcony of the library, surprised to see that his brother sat there, hunched over with one hand holding up his head while the other held tightly to that same book he'd been trying to finish for weeks. Something about the history of Yggdrasil and the Nine Realms, if he remembered correctly.

Diving down, Thor plucked a rock from the soft sand, pushed himself further along through the water, raised his arm and threw the thing as hard as he could. He missed and scowled, hoping to finally pull a smile from Loki if he could, and repeated the process three times more until he at last pegged his brother in the back. He saw Loki wince, drop the book to the floor and spin around, peering down into the water as Thor and Sif ducked beneath it, peering through the rippling surface until the trickster shook his head and looked away.

"Fool!" Sif whispered as he surfaced again. "Are you trying to make him mad?"

Thor stuck out his lip, noting the disdain in her voice that Sif had tried to mask with urgency. She didn't fear Loki at all, not even when his temper was at its worst. In fact, she had laughed in his face on more than one occasion, insisting that his right eye would start to twitch when he was angry. Thor had never said anything about it to his brother, but it was true. He'd seen it plenty of times.

"You just don't want to talk to him," he replied. "You don't want to have to apologize for punching him again."

Sif crossed her arms. "I've never apologized to him," she said, matter-of-factly.

"Then you should start," he said, leaving no room for argument in his tone, and took another small stone in hand and flung it, this time hitting Loki square in the back of the head. Thor hoped that, were he to get his brother's attention, he could convince him to end at least a part of this childishness and talk to Sif.

Thor hurried back towards the bank as his brother toppled on the balcony, waving his arms and eventually losing his balance, falling backwards off and into the lake. Sif's eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she looked from Thor to Loki's point of entry, and quickly dove beneath the water and moved right past him, disappearing from sight as the trickster promptly pulled his head up and sputtered.

"Thor!" he yelled, swiping water out of his eyes, and the thunderer stood still as Loki turned, knowing that he'd been seen. He smiled sheepishly, trying to hide any hint of laughter that might try to escape from him. Loki growled. "What in the hell was that for?!"

"You're not bleeding, are you?" Thor inquired, grabbing Loki by the arm and patting the back of his head. His hand was slapped away. "You appear whole and well."

His brother made a face. "Right, because being whacked in the head with a damn stone and falling fifty feet into a lake certainly isn't hazardous to one's health," he muttered, dripping with sarcasm. He shoved Thor in the chest. "Idiot."

Thor cupped a hand and threw the water at Loki who, if they weren't in the lake, probably would have kicked him. Instead, his brother took a wild swing and Thor flipped more water into his face, dancing back and out of reach. He laughed, still trying to provoke a smile from the other, hoping that the foolishness of all this would be enough. But even as Loki swam after him, muttering under his breath, there was nothing in his eyes but that irritation.

Biting the inside of his cheek, Thor tugged himself up onto the bank, watching as his brother finally gave in, falling face first into the lake and allowing it to carry him. Once in reach, Thor leaned forward and grabbed him by the arm, pulled him up and onto the dirt and grass, deciding not to tell his brother that he was going to have to pick the stuff out of his hair, as he didn't think Loki really cared at this point.

The trickster swore as Thor let him go, slamming the heels of his hands against the dirt.

"What is it?" he asked, and felt his eyes widen. When the stone had hit his brother, the book had flipped back into the lake as well. Thor felt a nasty taste in his mouth as Loki stared at him. "I–"

"Oh, never mind," the trickster huffed. "You were bound to ruin it sooner or later. Besides," he rolled over, sat up beside Thor. "I'll find another one."

The sun soon set to drying them out, and Thor took to wiping away the dirt that stuck to his brother's forehead. He crossed his ankles, hunched over and tried in vain to count the trees that stuck to the side of the mountain. After hitting four hundred, he stopped, leaned back on the bank and wished things could always be like this. Thor had had these thoughts before as a child, almost daily, hoping that their world would never have to change. That he, his brother, and their friends could always be together, always go off on wild adventures and play their games without a care as to what the future would hold. But, he would admit, just living life the same way day after day would become rather boring after a time.

"You still want me to talk to her, don't you?"

Thor's head turned to watch as Loki picked up a leaf, shaped it with his fingers and set it on the surface of the water, breathing magic into it and forcing the thing to hold, to set off as though it were a ship adrift at sea. He grinned, blew on it, spun miniature waves around the little boat, watched as it rocked back and forth. If Loki conjured clouds to hover above it, Thor decided he would gladly provide sparks.

"Of course, I do," he replied, and watched as water rose up, crashed down upon the ship and returned it to its flattened state as a leaf.

The fun was clearly done with.

Loki huffed, stood up and scratched his head. "If I do, will you put playing peacekeeper out of your head?"

He was talking about his lack of conversation with their father.

Thor hesitated. He wanted so badly for them all to get along, for their days to be full of nothing but joy and laughter. But, if this was what it took for Loki to make his peace with Sif, then he would accept. After all, he still needed time to figure out how to quell his father's raging temper.

The thunderer nodded. "I will."

Loki smiled wryly. "No, you won't," he said, and turned to walk away.

"Will you still talk to her?" Thor hollered after him, now standing up. "Brother?"

All he received was a sideways glance and that crooked grin. "Don't worry your pretty little head about it, Thor. Everything will be taken care of."