Written to: Intro - The Xx, crosspost from AO3
Sabaism/Sabaeanism: The worship of stars.
Thor finds Loki and Modi lying outside one cool spring night, staring up at the dark velvet of the nighttime sky all studded with starry jewels. Modi's eyes track the progress of a meteor or a shooting star or some other cosmic object as it streaks across the sky, and Thor can see its reflection in his son's delighted gaze.
Loki, his head pillowed on one of his arms, points up at the different constellations and picks out shapes in the sky that Thor can only see after he watches Loki carve it out. He tells Modi about the constellations and the stories, tells Modi tales of gods that Thor has never heard of; of Orion and his belt of three stars, how he liked to hunt across the cosmos for magnificent animals; of Cassiopeia, the queen of Aethiopia, who was put into the sky as a punishment for boastfulness; of the many-headed monster called the Hydra, who grew more heads when one was chopped off. Modi listens with interest, and Thor wonders if he can understand what Loki is saying beyond the melodic flow and ebbs of the syllables that slip past his tongue.
He can just make out the faint curve of a smile on Loki's face as he lies himself carefully down beside him, can feel the grin widen against his shoulder as he wriggles a strong arm underneath Loki and curls him to his chest.
"Perhaps one day, your papa will have a constellation just for himself," Loki tells Modi, splaying his fingers against Thor's broad chest. "So that all the realms may know him."
Loki laughs. "I say that as if all the realms have not heard of you," he teases Thor. "You are quite loud. Your voice rings from Asgard all the way to Svartalfheim and makes Malekith punch his pillows in anger because he cannot sleep for all your roaring."
"I would imagine I might get quite lonely among the stars," Thor comments, running his fingers through Loki's silky hair. "It would not be a pleasurable experience unless you and Modi were also there, and preferably not legions away in the sky. The sky is very vast."
Loki snorts at this obvious statement. "It is indeed," he agrees. "Fortunately, I do not believe either of us have warranted a punishment so great as to be banished to the skies. Not yet, at least."
Thor traces the swell of Loki's lower lip with his thumb, remembering a time when he would feel stitches along the plump flesh. Loki remembers, too, if the expression on his face is anything to go by.
Loki opens his mouth, as though he wants to say something, and Thor wonders if it will be a long overdue explanation for the incident leading up to the stitches. Loki closes his mouth after a few moments, silent, and Thor decides that Loki will tell him eventually, decides not to press the matter, and tracks the progress of shooting stars held in the reflection of Loki's eyes.