Written to: Come On, Get Higher - Matt Nathanson, crosspost from AO3
Apricate: To bask in the sun.
Frigga smiles down at her two little charges as she spreads out a blanket on the soft grass, sets a picnic basket down on top of it. Modi clings to her long skirt, his thumb stuck firmly in his mouth as he looks out over the rolling hills of Asgard. Jory, from his perch atop Modi's head, looks down at the domain and flicks his tongue in distaste. It is far too colourful and bright and cheerful for the little snake's tastes.
"What do you think, little princes?" Frigga asks the two of them. "Do you like what you see? One day this will be yours. Not for a very long time, of course," she says, straightening up and watching Thor weaving dandelions into Loki's hair a few yards away. "The big princes have their turn first."
"Of course," Frigga says, laughing behind her hand, "you might have your turn sooner than you think, if your mama and papa drive each other crazy before too long." Thor has accidentally gotten Loki's hair tangled in Mjolnir's bindings, and is desperately trying to extricate the shaft as quickly as possible without Loki noticing.
"But you don't like ruling very much, do you?" Frigga asks her two little grandsons. Jory is curled around Modi's wrist, flicking at the air contentedly, and Modi has already crawled over to the centre of the blanket and has begun rooting through the picnic basket, tossing sandwiches and hams onto the side. Frigga picks them up and packs them back into the basket. "Oh, no, you two just want to have fun and play in the fields all day long. That's what little princes like to do, don't they?"
Modi finds what he is looking for, a little bowl of grapes, and sits down on a corner of the blanket, plucking grapes off the bunch and stuffing them in his mouth. He turns to look at Frigga, his cheeks bulging with fruit, and gives her a little smile, showing off his brand new front teeth. Frigga smiles, reaches over and pinches his cheek.
"Ba?" Modi asks, holding a grape out to Jory. "Ba?"
Jory is completely uninterested in the grape Modi is offering him, and ignores him, turning his head towards the afternoon sun.
"Oh, that's nice, you're sharing," Frigga says, laughing. "Good rulers must learn to compromise as well, that's very good that you can share."
She takes this statement back a few moments later, as Modi shoves the grape into Jory's mouth and the little snake hisses at him, a circular lump visible right under his head. Jory slithers over to Frigga's ankle, coils himself around it, and snuggles his head down into the coils of his body as he settles down for an afternoon nap.