The dwarfs and the Aesir had been living at peace with each other for over four thousand years. There had been a few rather bloody rebellions but no outright war as long as the princes could remember.

The tiny inhabitants of Nidavellir were great at crafting all kind of goods. Forging weapons and armour was their speciality and they were vicious in battle. More often then not they quarrelled with the Vanir, though that was mostly to keep their weapons sharp. They had a couple of wars with the Jotun and fire demons too. They were wealthy people who had earned a lot of money by selling their goods to other realms. Thors hammer Mjölnir was one of their finest pieces, as was Odins royal staff. Their main trading partners were the Light Elves of Alfheim, where they got primary goods and food from, the Aesir, who provided them with advanced technology and the Vanir, who they gave their weapons to to let them be enchanted. That was another reason why they chose to fight with the wild people so much, to lower the extraordinary high prices that they asked in turn for their magic.

Upon arriving at Nidavellir, Loki and Thor were welcomed with all the pomp and applause becoming of their status. It was seldom these days that Asgard was sending out such important people as ambassadors, as the relationship with their allied realm did not need much maintenance. There really was little reason for them to be here but Odin had wanted them to check the loyalty of all the realms, even the allied ones in case they were seeking to take advantage of Asgards weakness. Also it would have been an affront to the dwarfs not to show themselves here when they were visiting all the other worlds.

On their first day the princes took part in a great feast to their honour, drinking lots of mead and making pleasant conversation with the king of the dwarfs.

As it turned out, the tiny people were not the least bit concerned about Asgards misuse of the Bifrost as a weapon. On the contrary, they were congratulating Loki for 'showing those big-heads their place'. They looked down on the giants as barbarians for using neither armour nor weapons, despite the fact that one Jotun warrior could probably squash half a dozen of them simply by not looking where he put his feet. Loki found it quite hilarious but, diplomatically, chose not to let his amusement show.

The princes toured the realm for a couple of days, making note of the dwarfs problems and how to solve them using Asgardian technology and inventions. Negotiations were mainly economical in nature, leading to both of them quickly becoming bored out of their mind. After the tense atmosphere of Jotunheim though, this was practically a vacation.

Loki was quickly tired of numbers and thus decided he would play another game with Thor. His chance came when during one of the dinner-time feasts, a group of hairy little dwarfs challenged Loki to a drinking duel. Thor had already gone though this procedure twice, though on this evening he was still relatively sober. The dwarfs though brought out a new kind of drink, a booze far stronger then mead. Loki took the challenge, drinking the, in his opinion, quite disgusting fluid to the laughter and applause of the dwarfs and Thor alike. What they did not know was that Loki used his illusions to cover up the fact that he was drinking water half of the time. However the new brand gave him an excuse to act incredibly drunk and silly at the end of it.

The god of mischief won the duel when all five dwarfs started snoring under the table but he was staggering quite badly too. Thor was still laughing when he helped him up, putting one of Lokis arms over his shoulder as he dragged him back to his assigned room.

Loki fell onto his bed gracelessly. He could feel the effect of the alcohol, not really that strong but strong enough to make it easy to act the drunkard. He tugged at his clothing uselessly and Thor helped him to get rid of his shoes and outer armour with a grin.

When the blonde was kneeling over him on the bed, having just discarded the last of Lokis armour, leaving him in only his undershirt and some cotton pants, the god of mischief began phase two of his evil plan.

Magic playing around his fingers, he quickly banished Thors outer armour to his room, leaving them equally exposed.

"Loki...", Thor muttered uncertainly.

"Shh", the liar made and let out a giggle that was completely out of character. "Show me, Thor. I wanna see..."
"What are you talking about? Loki, you're drunk-"
"I wanna see that mark I gave you", he muttered, tugging at Thors shirt. "Show me..."

Thor gave up struggling and let Loki push his shirt up. There was the rune that Loki had carved into his flesh nearly two weeks ago. It had healed nicely but still left a faint scar.

"Still there", Loki purred and drew a blue finger over the section. "Still working."

He looked up at Thor, green eyes wide but clouded over, lips slightly parted. Inviting. The trap was open and ready and his brother... fell right into it.

Thor leaned down, hesitantly at first and captured those soft lips in a kiss.

Loki could not hide his smirk. He returned the affection hungrily and his brother was oh so eager to respond. Then he let himself fall backwards again, pulling the blonde with him.

For a moment the older brother was thrown off track and his arms gave in, causing him to almost fall on Loki. The other made a pleased sound.

Thor freed himself from his grip, staring at Loki with a mix of disbelief, hope and want. "Loki – I shouldn't be doing this."

Loki gave a purr and bend his leg to lightly rub it against the inside of Thors tight. "Oh, but you want to, don't you, brother?"

Oh that look, that look!

Unbeknownst to Thor, Loki had slipped an aphrodisiac into his mead before the drinking match had started. By now the lust was clouding his view and when Loki grabbed his head to pull him into another kiss, he didn't fight. Instead he returned his affection with passion, his tongue soon pressing against Lokis lips, demanding entrance. He opened his mouth for him but Thor was quickly met with a vicious tongue, attacking his own and pushing it back. The Jotun bit on his lower lip, eliciting a sharp hiss from Thor, only to lick over it shortly after, nibbling it softly, leaving his lips swollen and thriving for more.

Thor gave a throaty moan and now Loki did not need to pull him down anymore. He gave him a one-armed hug, pulling the smaller man closer and let go of his lips, kissing down his jawline, his throat, down to his collarbone.

"I shouldn't be doing this", he muttered again, "you're not in your right mind."

"Hm... no, I'm not", Loki agreed with his most seductive, velvety voice that drove all doubts from Thors mind.

His hands wandered along his sides, under his shirt. Loki blamed the alcohol for the moan that escaped him as he felt those callous hands on his skin that was tingling everywhere they touched.

The blonde tried to pull the shirt over his head but it got stuck.

"Thor", Loki complained, grabbing his wrist, not knowing whenever he wanted to stop him or to make him hurry up.

Thor interpreted it as the latter and resigned to simply rip away the green cloth.

"By the Norns, Loki... I love you."

They were pressed flush together now, Thor rubbing his groin against his in an attempt to get some friction for his growing erection while kissing along Lokis chest. The younger man felt his own desire spark as he circled his tongue around his nipple. There was excitement and pleasure and a growing tension in his lower abdomen.

"Loki, my sweet Loki, my dear, I love you so much..."

But there was also the vague reminder of a plan. He was not supposed to enjoy this. He must not enjoy this.

"Ah, Thor!", he moaned despite himself as the blonde buried his tongue in his belly button, the sensation sending sparks of electricity up his spine. "S-Stop it!"

He did not stop and Loki found that he was quite pleased about that. But it was not enough.

Loki struggled weakly in Thors embrace, taking care to raise his hips as he did so to meet Thors. He was repaid with a deep growl and Thor strengthening his embrace, pulling him into another bruising kiss. This time Loki did not fight but he did not reciprocate either. Thor didn't seem to notice.

"B-Brother... let go of me!" His words were slurred and not spoken with much vehemence. He wasn't looking into his eyes, he felt he could not. The god let go a little but he was still on top of him, kissing his neck, occasionally biting down on it, only to quickly kiss and lick the spot to soothe the pain. It was very arousing and for a moment Loki felt his resolve weaken, another moan escaping him.

Thor was caressing him, kissing him and then his hand slipped between Lokis legs, up his tights, making his toes curl. For a second his hand hesitated, hovering over his waistband and he looked up at him as if asking for permission and Loki knew it was now or never.

His body was screaming "Yes! Yes! Yes!" at him and he opened his mouth and called out, not as loud as he would've liked but still angry and frustrated: "No, I don't want that! Let go of me, Thor!"

Thor froze in mid motion, staring at Loki with wide eyes. The god of deceit used the moment of shock, he brought his knee up and kicked Thor away from him.

The mighty god of thunder gave a surprised yelp and promptly fell onto the ground. Loki was scrambling to the head of the bed, as far away from Thor as he could and pulled his legs close to him. That is how Thor found him as he was able to raise his head again, confusion and pain in his eyes.

"Loki", he called out with a rasp voice but the Jotun was glaring daggers at him, letting just a hint of panic slip into his voice for good measure.

"Get out, Thor, GET OUT!"

The older prince scrambled to his feet, the beginnings of a horrifying realization showing on his face. He slammed the door behind him and Loki was left on his own.

The god of deceit relaxed only slowly as he heard Thors hurried steps growing fainter. The blood was still flowing hotly in his veins, his skin still tingling. He looked down at himself, taking notice of a prominent bulge in his pants. Damn. That had not been part of the plan.

XxX

The next morning Loki woke up with a headache. Groaning he put his hands at his temples, willing healing magic into his tormented skull. He hated to be hungover.

Loki went to take a shower and slowly his mind began working again, memories of last night coming back bit by bit. The challenge of the dwarfs, how he had tricked Thor to help him into his room and ultimately...

Loki groaned and pressed his forehead against the cold tiles. He still felt the tingling on his skin, especially on those slightly darkened spots on his neck... That had gotten way out of hand. He must have been quite drunk despite his efforts. How was he ever going to look into Thors eyes again? This was beyond embarrassing.

With a sigh Loki turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. It was no use now. He would have to deal with the aftermath eventually. Hopefully Thor hadn't noticed how... affected he had been and would be busy worrying about his own skin because Loki was so going to kill him if he dared mentioning it.

The god of lies managed to avoid seeing Thor the whole morning. He even skipped a meeting, though he did go to the second that day even if just because if someone was searching for him, by then they wouldn't look at the place where he was supposed to be. But of course even he could not avoid the unavoidable forever.

Of all the places, he run into his brother in the library. In hindsight, coming here had been a stupid idea. Everyone who knew Loki would look here first for him. But he really did need something to take his mind off the matter and magic spell tomes usually did the job.

When he saw Thor sitting by a windowsill, just staring out, he almost turned on his heel and walked out again. But something held him back. He felt as if he had been running away his whole life. He had changed. He was better then that now.

Purposefully Loki went to the shelf he had been heading for, pulling out a book of his desire.

Thor threw a glance behind and upon recognizing his brother, quickly stood.

"Loki!"

The god of lies simply gave him a glare but otherwise ignored him as he took his book with him and turned around.

"W-Wait!"

Thor hurried after him, quickly falling into step next to him. "Loki, please..."
"What, Thor?", he snapped, stopping abruptly. "I am trying my hardest not to rip your head off at this moment so talk fast before I change my mind!"

"I..." Thor swallowed. He looked miserable. Dark bags under his eyes from sleep deprivation, pale skin, a slight shake to his hands. Loki noted these signs but they gave him no satisfaction.

"I know you don't want to see me right now", Thor finally whispered. "I... I scared you. I'm sorry."

"Scared me?", Loki repeated incredulously. "What the hell, Thor?! I'm not fucking scared of you, I'm damn furious!"

"Uh..."
"You did it again, Thor! I told you to keep your hands away, but you, you never listen, do you?" Loki was mad by this point, having barely enough mind to be thankful that the library was deserted. "You never listen to me, you never do what I want! You're such a selfish bastard, you don't care one bit what I want!" Only that that wasn't right. When Loki had told him to stop, that hadn't been what he had wanted. He had wanted him to continue. He had enjoyed it. Thor had felt that and that was why he had continued.

"Just a few days ago you told me how you had never touched me in any way that is unbecoming and as soon as my defence gets a tiny crack you jump at me like a horny teenager!" Only that he had cracked on purpose, had provoked the disaster himself by slipping drugs into Thors mead. Not very strong ones, admittedly, but still enough to have only himself to blame.

Loki was raising his voice with every sentence, until he screamed the last words at Thor. The god of thunder flinched, not daring to look into his eyes but he was also giving off a strange feeling of... relief?

"You are right. My desire was clouding my view. I did not recognize that you were feeling violated until it was too late. If you have changed your mind about having me stay at your side... I understand it."

This was wrong. This was all so wrong.

Everything was going according to his plan but it was so wrong.

Loki knew now why Thor was sounding so relieved. It was because Loki was being angry at him and vocal about him. Yes, his brother was feeling guilty, very much so, just as planned. He thought he had violated Loki – attempted to rape him and it was a horrifying thought. If Loki had acted scared of him, he was sure he could've broken Thor this very moment. He could've gotten him to hate himself, craving for even a shard of Lokis forgiveness just as he had planned. If Loki had acted scared, if he had pretended to see nothing but a monster in him, no chance of ever returning any kind of love, even a brotherly one, he would've taken from Thor the one thing that gave his life beauty. Instead Loki had screamed at him in anger and in doing so he had told him that it was his pride that had been hurt most last night. Thor could live with hurting Lokis pride. He could not live with betraying his trust.

Loki recognized this but he found himself unable to regret his outburst. He did not want Thor to think he had violated him. He was Loki, the god of chaos, he did not get violated, dammit! He refused to base his victory upon something as dirty as this. Even if nobody but Thor would ever know, he could not accept it. And also... I found he couldn't do this to Thor. Provoking his brother to hurt him and rub it into his face later was one thing. Blaming the broken state of his mind on him was another entirely.

Yes, Loki was broken. He was constantly balancing that thin ridge between controlled chaos and insanity. And yes, he did feel abused and violated, mostly by Odin and his endless lies, his inaction when he had needed him most and the ignorance of the people that should've been his. But Thor had little to do with this. And he... he loved him so much. Loki had no idea how he could've missed it all those years. It was in every glance, in every gesture, in every word. Thor loved him and though a part of Loki still hated him, he also... He didn't want to destroy Thor. Not anymore.

Loki took a deep breath and stepped towards the blonde.

He had to put this straight before Thor fell apart in front of his very eyes.