"Stop fidgeting!" Loki scolded.
"You're tickling me."
"I am not. Ugh." Loki threw her hands up and stepped back. "There, you're done. I cannot help you anymore."
Thor grinned at her. In his full regalia, he felt dignified, important. He knew he was a sight to behold. In the three days since he'd returned from the hunt, this was the first opportunity he'd had to dress up. It felt good. And he knew Loki fancied him, despite her irritation.
"You fancy me, I know you do." Thor gathered her into his arms.
"No one can deny that you are regal. But this," Loki rapped her knuckles against the thick metal of his chest place. "Makes it most unpleasant to hug you."
A glint flashed across Thor's cerulean eyes. "I prefer you without clothing as well." His finger caught the strap of her gown and pulled it off her shoulder before leaning in to press a kiss to the bare skin there.
Loki shivered, and suddenly Thor wanted nothing more than to continue stripping Loki of her clothes, and then follow until they were both naked again. But a slender hand stopped him.
"Thor, you keep the All-Father waiting."
"Relax, my love," Thor said softly. The endearment came easily now that they'd admitted their true feelings. Loki had been hesitant to accept his words, insisting that his love for her was based on a false body. While he couldn't deny that he did love her body, he was able to convince her that he loved what was inside it just as much. That he would love her in any form, even Jotun. And when Loki had said she loved him too, Thor took those words and cherished them. They invigorated him, made him feel invincible.
Now, he used that confidence to reassure Loki. "I know you're worried, but all will be fine! You'll see."
"You will ask Odin? Find out the details of this deal?"
"Yes, of course. Right after he tells me about the feast they're planning for me." He boasted.
"Your optimism is frighteningly unrealistic. You're flying without wings or a net."
"I fly that way all the time," Thor leaned in and kissed her, quickly, but passionately. "I will return shortly. Please don't fret."
"I will try."
"There are still things to be moved over, if you feel up to it." Thor suggested. They had decided to move Loki into his room, since they were together every night anyway. It made more sense to just bring her things over. "I will stop at the kitchens on my way back and bring us some lunch."
"Now you are the one fretting." Loki gently pushed him toward the door. "Go. I will be fine."
Thor gave her a mirthful smile, then bent to kiss her cheek once more. "I love you."
"You act as though you'll be gone a week again, rather than an hour!" Loki complained with a roll of her eyes. But at Thor's pout, she softened and put a hand to his cheek. "I love you, too."
Thor made his way quickly through the palace. His jaunty stride was bolstered by confidence and bravado as he made his way to the king's chambers. He hadn't actually spoken to his father in some time, and he was anxious to hear his praise. Anxious to tell the king his news.
When Thor had been summoned earlier that morning, he'd assumed he was going to get a congratulatory pat on the pack for his heroism during the wolf attack. Most likely Odin wanted to announce a feast in his honor. The rest of the men had returned safely from the hunt the previous day. Those injured were swiftly healing, all but Fandral had already left the healing rooms. All that was in no small part thanks to Thor's bravery and quick action. It was cause to celebrate, and Thor was in the mood for a party.
The celebration would serve another purpose for Thor, and he was most excited about the second one. He planned to formally announce his courtship of Loki. It would set her mind at ease, and would hopefully put a stop to unwanted advances.
There would be quite a few broken hearts there, Thor knew. Many women in the court still held out hope that he'd settle down with one of them. None of them had ever captivated him like Loki had, and it was time he made his feelings public. He didn't want another incident like the one with Sif. Nor did he want Fandral to forget what he'd told him. Loki was his, and it was time the whole of Asgard knew it.
Of course, Odin would have to publicly bless the courtship, but Thor wasn't expecting that to be a problem. And so it was with a wide grin that Thor strode through the door into Odin's informal meeting room. The king was standing at a large table in the center of the room, conferring with a palace guard and pointing to a large scroll of paper on the table. He looked up when Thor entered, but offered no greeting.
"Father! You wished to see me? You have heard of the perils of our last hunt!" Thor approached Odin, grinning proudly. Odin nodded, but his face remained serious. The scroll was a map of Asgard, laid out on the table and Thor wondered if he was interrupting something important.
"Yes, but I wish to speak with you on a different matter." He turned and spoke quietly to the guard, too low for Thor to hear. The guard gave an affirmative nod, then left quickly. Odin spoke to Thor again as he began to roll the map up. "It has come to my attention that you and the Jotun have become close."
Thor smiled wide, missing the All-Father's grim expression in his excitement. "Yes! Father, Loki is wonderful! I have never met anyone like her. I wish to court her. Well, I am courting her. But I wish to make it known. Officially."
"No! It cannot happen!" Odin snapped, slamming the map back down to the table. He calmed himself immediately, taking a few deep breaths, as if fortifying himself for what was to come. His next words felt like a physical blow to Thor's stomach. "You will not court her."
Thor's brow furrowed deeply, and his mouth fell open in a mix of shock, disbelief, and heartbreak. "But, father...I am in love with her. And she with me."
"All the women in Asgard, and you choose a Jotun to give your heart to? I was a fool to think you could handle this." Disappointment laded the king's voice as he turned his face away from Thor's.
Thor raised his voice, but it cracked, straining under the knowledge that his wishes, as always, had little bearing on his father's decisions.
"Handle what?! W-Why would you send me to retrieve and allow me to keep her if it were not to court her? I wish to marry her!"
Odin shook his head, lamenting either his own foolishness or Thor's.
"A Jotun coming to Asgard, realm of her enemies, would require a strong protector, someone who would treat her fairly and keep her safe while she found her way. Had I known you would bed her, court her," Odin sneered at this, as if the very words tasted bitter. "I would have sent someone else."
Thor snapped back. "But you sent me and now I love her and she is mine!"
"You love her? What do you know of love? You're just a boy. You see love as a fanciful tale of romance and jubilation and nothing of consequence. As a man, as a crowned prince, you will learn that /nothing/ comes before obligation. The future of Asgard, the peace of the entire Nine Realms will rest on your shoulders. I will not allow you to throw that away on a childish whim."
"I would have her as my wife before I would have any of your foolish obligations! What care does the Nine have whether or not Loki and I are together?!" Thor seethed. He could feel Mjolnir crackling quietly in its holster near his hand as his anger surged through him.
"A Jotun as queen of Asgard?" That sneer returned. "That is sacrilege. You think her loyal? You think her fit to rule at your side? You've forgotten everything I taught you about the Frost Giants."
"Loki is different. She is not like the other Frost Giants. She is no monster. Her heritage does not matter to me."
"You think your feelings matter?" Odin barked a laugh. "Son, you still have so much to learn. I have let you sow your wild oats long enough, perhaps too long. It is time you matured. Start focusing on what it means to be a king."
"She is mine and I will not let you take her from me!" Thor was now completely enraged. With Mjolnir heavy and charged under his hand, he felt very nearly ready to strike his father down where he stood, king or no. But he could not bring himself to wield his hammer in his father's presence.
Odin remained calm, infuriatingly calm in the face of Thor's rage. "She was never yours. I should have made that clear from the start. She was not brought here to warm your bed."
"Then what was she brought here for?" Thor demanded.
Odin stopped, carefully considering his words before he spoke them.
"As king, it is my responsibility to ensure the safety of our borders, to keep peace among all the realms. As your father, it is my duty to guide you and teach you how to be an effective king. I do not, as your king or as your father, need to explain my actions. And you, as my son and my subject, need follow my orders without question."
Thor's furious scowl returned at Odin's blatant evasion of the question. He knew he would get no answer from his father. He was merely a puppet on a string, and Odin the tyrannical puppetmaster. Thor would stand it no longer.
"I care not for your silly games, only for Loki. You cannot force us to do your bidding, no matter your grandiose notions!"
Odin growled at the show of disrespect and Thor cringed by reflex.
"Know your place, son, and do not forget who is in charge here. You will focus on your training, on finding yourself a suitable wife, on learning what it means to be a king. You will have no further contact with Loki." Odin shouted his orders as if he were laying down the law in no uncertain terms.
"I am no longer a child! You cannot tell me what to do!" Thor sneered as he turned and stormed towards the door, suddenly very worried about seeing Loki.
Odin allowed him to leave. He called out, "It is too late, son. It has already been done."
Thor didn't hear him, refused to hear him, as he flew through the palace back to his room. Storm clouds roiled in the sky overhead and outside people scrambled to take cover from the pounding rain that began to fall. The thunder overhead matched the thunder of Thor's heart in both intensity and, within Thor's head, in volume. Odin's words echoed just as loudly in his mind, tormenting him.
You will not court her. Sacrilege. No further contact.
His father had oft been harsh and unreasonable. Cruel even. But this was too much. Thor needed to get Loki and get her away from Odin. They would run away. Hide out somewhere. He didn't know where. The woods for now, until he could think of something more permanent. Maybe Midgard. His thoughts ran as wild and fast as his feet.
The door to his room nearly tore from its hinges as Thor burst through it.
"Loki!" Thor shouted to the empty room. His heart stopped. She wasn't there. He rushed to the wardrobe and yanked it open. Bare. The gowns and other clothes she'd moved from her room were gone, hangers littered the bottom as though they'd been yanked quickly from the rack. The stack of books and Loki's collection of vials were also gone from the table.
"No." Thor whispered. He turned and bolted across the hall to Loki's room. He called Loki's name as he flung the door open, but she wasn't there either.
Curse Odin! If he took Loki away, sent her off into Asgard or back to Jotunheim, Thor would go mad. He wanted to kill him. Oh, he could kill the king easily right now, with the rage that boiled in his blood. Mjolnir sparked excitedly in his hand, as if supportive of that idea. But he knew he'd lose his own head before he ever got close to touching Odin's.
Thor returned to his own room and headed out to the balcony. Standing in the deluge that his own temper had stirred up, he peered out to the Bifrost, but it remained quiet. Which meant Loki remained in Asgard.
"Loki!" he hollered to the ground below, but he knew she was gone. He could feel it in his bones, a crushing weight that drove him to his knees and his bellow of rage was nearly drowned out by the clap of thunder that rattled the whole palace.
Bad, bad cliffhanger! Bad, bad author! I know. I accept all your rage. Please throw it at me. Am I sorry? Maybe. Ehehehe!
Ugh, though. Does Odin piss you off as much as he does me? What do you think he did with Loki? I know, of course, but I'd love to hear your theories.
Thank you in advance for reading and supporting my humble little story! :D