A/N: Written for my birthday.

….

"Hi, Mr. Loki."

Loki looked up from where he sat in the grass, his legs crossed under him and an open book in his lap. He smiled at the boy entering the clearing, then marked the page he was on in his book before softly closing it. "Please, there is no need for formalities. Just Loki is fine," he said as he set the book aside. He folded his hands in his lap in replacement of the novel, and watched with a hint of a smirk as the child's face grew apologetic.

"I am so sorry, mist… I mean, uh … L-Loki." Peter's face became red, and Loki snorted.

"There's no need for apologies either," he dismissed, giving the boy a pointed look when the child opened his mouth once again, which quickly shut him up. Loki nodded in approval, then patted the open spot next to him. "Sit, tell me who brought you here today," he prompted, and Peter obediently sat down in the grass beside him.

"My aunt did," he replied as he plucked a blade of grass from in front of him. "My uncle had to go to work," he explained, picking up another blade to tie it to the other.

Loki nodded, and picked a green blade of his own to mess around with. "I see. So, what have you been up to in my absence?" It had been a while since he'd seen the boy. He had planned on coming at least once a week, but upon his acceptance back into Asgard, the defeat of the Frost Giants, and learning of his relation to them, he hadn't been able to see the child for about a month. He was almost unable to come to Midgard do to the near destruction of the bifrost, but luckily it was quickly restored, and things had returned to normal enough where he could journey back. Heindall had'nt questioned his travels, and for that he was thankful. This specific day he couldn't miss, he had to come today, and he couldn't have anyone trying to stop him.

Peter shrugged, his brows pulled down in a concentrated manner as he tied more blades of grass to his chain. "Not much. Last weekend Ned spent the night at my apartment, and a few days ago me and my aunt and uncle went school shopping," the boy said casually, but Loki couldn't help but frown slightly. The child was upset about something, he could tell by the brief response, and the lack of cheer in his tone and body language.

"What's wrong, child?" He asked bluntly, and he felt slightly bad for the startled look on the boy's face, but he was never one for drawn out complications.

"What?" Peter's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, his lips pulling down in a frown.

"Something is on your mind," Loki said. "You're as readable as a book." He picked up the novel for emphasis, and the boy lowered his head, fiddling with the tied pieces of grass in his hands.

"Oh…" he trailed off, and Loki felt something inside of him crack at the sad expression that dawned on the child's face.

"Aren't children supposed to be happy on their birthdays?" He asked softly, and Peter's eyes widened as he looked at him sharply.

"How did you know?!" He exclaimed, a bit of life coming back to his big brown eyes.

Loki chuckled, and patted the boy on the back. "I know a lot of things, child." He grinned at Peter's dazed look, but sobered quickly. He rested a hand on the boy's shoulder, and looked intensely into his innocent eyes. "But seriously. You are turning ten, it is a new step in your life, yet you are upset, why is that?" He asked, feeling slightly overwhelmed from the sudden unlocking of emotions that he didn't know he possessed within him.

It took Peter a minute, but he eventually met his gaze, and the words that next left his lips changed Loki's view of the way the boy's eyes appeared. "I'm just thinking of my parents … it's been four years since they died," Peter said quietly, his much more aged eyes then first perceived glossing over. "I-I just … I just really miss them." A single tear slid down his cheek, and Loki found himself reaching forward with a hand to gently thumb it away, the action purely instinctual.

"I wish I could say I understand," he whispered, his eyes locked with Peter's. "But this is your sorrow, something I couldn't begin to imagine, though even if I could, I still wouldn't be able to feel exactly what you are feeling. I want to apologize for your suffering, a reaction that most people have, but I believe even that isn't enough to compensate for your current emotions," he said as he rested his hand back on the boy's shoulder, squeezing lightly. "All I can offer you is my presence, and the knowledge that I have heard you, and will do anything I can to help."

Peter smiled up at him tearfully, and that tight feeling encircled his heart much like the first time he and the child met. That feeling of possibly failing this kind, and caring boy, but he still couldn't help reassuring him, if only to light the spark in those intelligent irises once more. Peter scooted a little closer to him, and his hesitation only lasted a moment before he spoke. "Can … can I have a hug?" He asked shyly, and Loki's lips curled up softly, the uncomfortable feeling he expected nonexistent.

"You may." And with that, Peter crawled into his lap, and rested his head on his shoulder, Loki's arms instinctually coming up to hug the boy to his chest.

He would always come back for this child, even if it killed him.

….

A/N: Sorry about the sudden ending, I really wanted to get this done before the day was over.

I hope you enjoyed … at least a little bit.

Sorry if the characters were OOC.