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 30: Days Are Numbered

A/N: I'm a little sad that this is finished already. It all worked out exactly the way that I wanted it to, but I'm still a little melancholy. I find that the Marvel universe, particularly the characters within Thor, just offer so much to work with. There are multiple stories within the same worlds, multiple depictions of the same characters, and so much to play with and expand upon. So many thrilling possibilities. Even so, all good things must end.

On the up side, I've been drafting the first several chapters to the follow-up of my post-Avengers fic, "Like Pulling Teeth." Entitled "Total Paranoia," it takes place three years after the events detailed in LPT. I intend to have the first chapter up tomorrow, once I finish it, if not by Saturday.

Thank you to all who have read through "The Glory Days." You are all magnificent. I am very proud to have such wonderful readers, and look forward to hearing from you yet again as I continue to write for the Thor and Avengers fandoms.

For the first time in a long while, they all sat at table, though a bit uncomfortably. They had complied for the sake of their mother, who had asked that they all make an effort to correct past foolishness, and thus found themselves bored stiff and silent over a dinner that, Loki at least, didn't care about. In fact, as Thor had observed throughout the whole of the meal, the only thing his brother had done, besides bite the end of his fork and tap the blade of the knife against his place, was down three goblets of ale, all the while looking positively miserable.

Purposely, it seemed the trickster prince avoided their father's hardened gaze. Thor had heard them as he'd passed by the Allfather's study the night before, quarreling over Loki's unseemly behavior at the party, but had said nothing, deciding that, if he really needed it, his brother would come and ask for his help. That, and the thunderer still had no idea as to how to approach his brother now.

However, he had heard, quite by surprise, that Loki had actually manged a coherent apology to Sif, though the story went that he hadn't looked at her and had nearly laughed as he went about it. Even so, his friends had all agreed that it was quite a bit of progress, and had decided not to pursue the matter of the woman's hair any further. Even so, Loki hadn't deigned to partner with a one of them for anything in the past couple of days, had contented himself with sitting on the library balcony above the frozen lake while Thor and the others had taken to shoving each other across the ice.

Thor's eyes moved quickly away as Loki's moved to look at him, a stirring of discontent sharp and evident. He couldn't help feeling strange, as though nothing between them would ever be quite the same again. Still, Thor wouldn't allow their last argument to change anything. Though Loki was sometimes an ass, the God of Thunder wouldn't permit himself to be swallowed by those memories of their slights against one another. Rather, he'd keep true to his promise, do his utmost to find the things in his brother that made him swell with pride. And he would say so, as often as he could.

"I'm proud of you."

Otherwise, he feared, someday soon, they'd come to hate one another. And Thor could not stand the thought of ever going to war with his beloved brother.

"I've had enough," Loki suddenly announced, and shoved his chair from the table, tossing the napkin onto his plate without another word or even a glance to any of them.

Thor heard the sharp intake of breath from the head of the table as his father stirred, set his silverware down and drummed his fingers. He closed his eyes, anticipating another explosive battle between the two of them, but it did not come. When Thor chanced to peek, he saw his father with a stern expression upon his face, met with the equally passive look that had settled upon his brother's. The two stared at one another for a moment before Loki turned on his heel and walked right out of the room, leaving Thor to wonder just what the two of them had said to one another with their eyes.

The God of Thunder waited several minutes before excusing himself as well, not once having touched the slab of meat and gravy that graced his plate. He hurried through the hallways until he made it outside, wound his way around the palace a couple of times so that Loki would not believe that he had followed, and climbed one of the walls that dropped into the gardens. The plants were dusted with a fine white powder, and his brother was nowhere to be found. Not even a footprint. So Thor sighed, eyes widening as an idea struck him, and ran through the white grass until he reached the orchard, caught sight of his brother as he dropped out of one of the bare trees. It would seem that he had been playing lookout, as Sigyn quickly appeared beside him.

Thor couldn't understand. He had thought that Loki had given up on smiling, on being sincere. But watching him, seeing the way his sharp eyes seemed to light up like the stars, the prince couldn't help thinking otherwise. How long had that been going on, he wondered? It seemed as though the woman had just appeared one day, and hadn't vanished since.

He settled down on the ground, ignoring the bite of the cold as it sank through the seat of his trousers, threatened to turn his rump into a thick piece of ice. Thor could only smile, wonder if and when he'd find such joy in Asgard.

Loki's head turned then, their eyes meeting abruptly. Thor held his breath, tried not to look guilty as his brother stared. Instead of that irritated snarl, there came a crooked smile, the sort that the trickster would sport when the thunderer knew he was up to no good and caught him in the midst of stirring up trouble.

Relieved, Thor beamed back, trying to hide the heaviness of his heart.

Their mother was right. Things were certainly changing in Asgard, and the two of them couldn't be together forever.