[Fill] Loki Knows when Thor is Injured [2/6] [character death]
anonymous
September 22 2012, 15:15:41 UTC
The next attempt was more accurate, albeit…overly effective. And more difficult to explain away, as Loki appeared in the middle of the training arena just as Thor was raising Mjolnir to deliver the winning blow.
“Thor!” Loki shrieked, dodging to the side just as Thor yelped, “Loki!” and dropped the hammer, narrowly missing his own foot.
Tyr glared up at them both from his place in the dirt.
“What is the meaning of this, Loki?” He barked.
His initial panic for Thor’s well-being subsided, Loki realized where he was, took in the crowd of onlookers and felt his stomach drop.
“I…” He swallowed hard. In his haste to complete the spell he had forgotten it was Thor’s Initiation day into the ranks of Asgard’s warriors. He had just interrupted Thor’s final trial against Tyr. In front of everyone. For what Loki could now see was a small rivulet of blood dripping from Thor’s nose. Loki could feel the Allfather’s eye burning a fiery hole in his back.
Even his beloved older brother frowned down at him; Thor had been training relentlessly for months to best Tyr in this bout.
“What is the meaning of this, brother?” Thor growled. Loki cursed the small jolt of fear that coursed through him.
“I..Well…Idunn has been kidnapped! We must go rescue her immediately or all of Asgard will wither without her golden apples!” Loki inwardly kicked himself for every word that rushed past his lips. He closed his eyes, feigning distress and magically whisked Idunn away from her orchard, lest anyone check.
Tyr leaped to his feet, gleaming sword in hand and Thor’s glower brightened like the sun piercing through clouds.
“Let this be my true test of courage, then!” Thor boomed. Loki nearly wept in relief.
(Trial Two: I must add more factors into the protection spell. Heart rate and blood loss alone are not indicative of a Thor in need of my assistance. I had to run all over the bloody Nine Realms with Idunn for a week to maintain my ruse and save my dignity. She was not pleased with me, but she did come along, thank the Norns. All of my apples have worms in them now.
Perhaps Thor’s emotional state will provide a more accurate measure?
Related note: This business of lying, while infinitely useful and amusing, is treacherous. Remember to think it through before you speak next time, you dullard.)
[Fill] Loki Knows when Thor is Injured [3/6] [character death]
anonymous
September 23 2012, 04:28:50 UTC
Loki’s fingers hovered over the button. Where was the telltalle screaming of magic in his head, warning him that Thor was about to die? Thor’s deep blue stare pierced right through him, waiting for Loki’s decision.
He reached for the red button, fingertips grazing its surface. Where was the spell? Would the spell not act if he was the one to kill Thor? Or perhaps it was because he couldn’t kill him? Rage bubbled up and Loki bared his teeth in a feral snarl.
Thor stared back at him, anxious but calm, willing Loki to see him. Thor felt no fear for his life but ached for his brother, wild with madness and pain. Thor pressed a hand to the glass in desperation.
Loki knew he had to move before the chaos surrounding them caught up to him, before any more agents found him. Yet he lingered for one more moment. One more.
Where was the spell?
Then Loki realized: Thor was not afraid of him.
Loki let the madness and rage boil over. He pressed the button. Thor dropped like a stone.
(Trial 1023: Unexplained malfunction of protection spell when Thor was in mortal peril. It matters not, now. As a prisoner I am unable to follow the spell to Thor.
[Fill] Loki Knows when Thor is Injured [4a/6] [character death]
anonymous
September 23 2012, 15:05:41 UTC
Thor had waded into battle on more occasions than he could count in his long years, but never before had he experienced such soul-piercing terror as he did this day.
He glanced over at his friends-comrades in arms. Steve smiled softly, patted his shoulder. Tony waggled his eyebrows over Steve’s shoulder.
“Still time to back out, big guy…”
“I will not run away like a coward,” Thor growled. Or at least, tried to growl. It came out more like a wheeze.
Just as the Midgardian instrument began to play, Thor found himself pinned to the ground by a wild-eyed God of Mischief in full battle armor.
“Where is the enemy?” Loki hissed into Thor’s ear before the thunder god could react. Thor paused.
“Enemy? There is no enemy here, brother.”
One hand splayed on Thor’s chest, Loki looked around the strange, vaulted chamber in disbelief. Thor obliged his overwrought little brother and stayed on the ground until Loki slowly rose to his feet.
The assembled mortals murmured worriedly but Loki ignored them in favor of addressing the Avengers standing nearby. Tony openly glared from his position: cowering behind Captain America.
“The hell, Rudolph? You can’t let Thor have one day without your daily dose of mayhem? The guy’s about to give up his freedom as it is-“
Quick as a flash, Loki ducked under Steve’s arm and wrapped a hand around Tony’s throat, ignoring the Captain’s protest or the cocked gun Clint now pointed at his temple.
“What do you speak of, Stark? Who seeks to imprison Thor?” he hissed.
“Loki, stop!” Thor said just as Pepper said, “Yeah, Tony, what exactly are you talking about?”
Tony’s eyes bugged out-more than they were, given Loki’s grip on his neck.
“Oh shit, bridesmaids are here.”
Loki peered over Stark’s head to see the Widow, Potts and an unfamiliar girl with waves of chestnut hair all in matching (hideous canary yellow) dresses hurrying up the aisle. Natasha had pulled a gun from somewhere and trained it on the chaos god.
“Drop him.” She ordered.
“Take your time, though,” Pepper interrupted, a tiny smile on her face that smacked of unspeakable evil. Natasha and Loki both gaped at her before Loki let Tony crumple to the floor-not because he was a little terrified, not at all- and whirled on Thor.
“You are surrounded by every mortal you hold dear, dressed in a suit no less, and yet you act as if you are in mortal peril. What is the meaning of this, Thor?”
Thor blinked owlishly. Loki resisted the urge to choke him next.
“I do not understand, brother. I am the furthest from peril I have ever been. I am to be married in the Midgardian fashion to Jane Foster today. Did you not receive the invitation?”
“You invited him?!” Tony and Clint yelped in unison.
“Of course, he is my brother.”
Loki didn’t dignify that with a response. He was too busy letting relief ('not' some fuzzy warmth at Thor’s words) course through his veins.
“You gargantuan oaf,” he grumbled. “For heaven’s sake, Thor, marry the woman with some courage and save me the trip!”
Before Thor could reply, Loki vanished. As one, the Avengers plus Pepper and Darcy turned to stare at the Thunder god. Thor’s ears were turning an interesting shade of pink, to everyone’s surprise.
“Sooo…care to share what the latest episode of family feud was all about?” Tony asked mildly now that he had stopped coughing.
“My brother was merely concerned for my well-being,” Thor said with a strange mixture of pride and embarrassment. “The protection spell he has placed on me must have mistaken my….excitement for fear and warned Loki accordingly.”
Steve very nearly said ‘awww’ out loud. Everyone else wore expressions of varying levels of incredulity.
“A protection spell. On the brother that he wants to kill. Um, why?” Clint asked as he made his gun disappear into his suit. Thor looked at the archer as if he had grown two heads.
“We may occasionally battle to the death, but Loki is still my brother. This spell has saved my life on many an adventure across the Nine. I only hope one day to be able to show Loki the depth of love and devotion he has shown to me.”
Not even Tony could find a comment for that.
“I can see now why Bruce said he doesn’t do weddings,” Natasha mused.
Re: [Fill] Loki Knows when Thor is Injured [4b/6] [character death]
anonymous
September 23 2012, 15:07:02 UTC
(Trial 1329: The spell continues to operate satisfactorily, save for the times when Thor is being a half-wit. Come to think of it, that continues to be the source of the spell’s trouble.
He should have just got blazing drunk before his wedding so he wouldn’t have activated the spell.
Stark was, as always an excruciating pain in the arse. I noticed a few more streaks of grey in his hair. Time passes too quickly on Midgard.)
[Fill] Loki Knows when Thor is Injured [5/6] [character death]
anonymous
September 25 2012, 01:47:41 UTC
((Warning: mentions of frostiron ahead))
The spell woke him from a dead slumber. It screamed in his mind like a banshee. Without a second thought Loki teleported to his brother’s side, still dressed in his Batman pajamas, a fistful of throwing knives in each hand.
Thor grinned up at Loki from the center of a rapidly growing pool of blood. Loki’s own blood ran cold as he darted forward to catch Thor, lower him to the ground. Dropping the knives, the trickster summoned every ounce of his magic and poured it into his brother to heal the wound in his chest. The wound that was….smaller than Loki had anticipated.
Just as the hole closed up in a swirl of green smoke, Loki caught sight of the kitchen knife in Thor’s hand. Before he could think, Loki pulled back and punched Thor with all of his might.
“Dammit to Hel, Thor!” Loki screamed. “Are you trying to kill yourself, is that it? You dull, half-witted, imbecilic….that’s not the side your heart is on, you know! You’re doing a piss-poor job of offing yourself, with a bloody kitchen knife no less-“
“Loki.”
“What?”
“Tony is dying.”
“……what?”
Thor simply watched his brother as Loki visibly deflated, righteous fury melting off him to pool at the floor with Thor’s blood. The trickster’s hands were not shaking. Were not.
“Where is he?” Loki whispered harshly. Thor took Loki’s hand and guided him to the elevator that will take them to Tony’s floor. Loki doesn’t protest the contact.
In fact, Loki grips Thor’s hand like a vice while Loki kneels at Tony’s bedside, the golden-haired god standing over them like a watchful…well, god. When Loki cradles Tony’s face between his fingers, Thor cards large hands through his little brother’s hair.
“Always knew I’d have a hot young gold-digger when I got wrinkly,” Tony joked, earning a small huff from the trickster. Loki stroked Tony’s snow-white hair.
“I hardly qualify as young, Tony.”
“So just a gold-digger then? Bummer.”
Loki’s grin cracked in half as tears finally escaped. Tony reached over and Loki took his weathered hand, pressed it to his chest.
“Please,” Loki begged. Please stay.
Tony’s own eyes were wet, but his lips quirked into his trademark shit-eating grin. Or the best impression of it he can, when Loki is coming undone in front of him. Tony mustered up the last of his strength-he was pretty sure it was the last of it-and leaned over to plant a kiss on the god.
“Twenty bucks says Valhalla.”
Loki tasted the salt on Tony’s lips.
“Forty says Niflheim.” Hela would give him permission to visit. Loki selfishly hoped he was right, even though he knew that if Iron Man was not granted Valhalla then no one ever would be.
“No cheating,” Tony whispered, eyes fluttering.
Loki held him as his heart stilled, and Thor held Loki for hours after that.
Thor carried Loki to his bed, after, curling around his brother’s lithe frame as it shook with muffled sobs that Loki refused to let free. Thor refused to let go of him when Loki screamed and clawed and struggled, drawing lines of red down Thor’s arms and chest.
The spell woke Loki in the middle of the night. He rolled over to see his brother with tears streaking down his cheeks, watching Loki with a sea of grief in his eyes. Loki finally let himself keen then, clutching to Thor like the lifeline he had always been.
[Fill] Loki Knows when Thor is Injured [6a/6] [character death]
anonymous
September 26 2012, 04:56:24 UTC
To be honest, Loki was the last thing on Thor’s mind when the fire giant barreled toward him. Thankfully the spell did not require the Thunder god to call out to the god of Mischief for it to work.
Loki appeared in all of his armored and horned glory just in time to shove Thor out of the way, summon the Casket of Ancient Winters and freeze the fire giant into a block of ice several feet deep.
“How many more?” Loki called, ruby red eyes blazing. Thor grinned up at his brother.
“Plenty for the both of us!”
Loki rolled his eyes but his lips twitched. He drew his knives and followed Thor as he charged back over the lip of the crater and into a horde of fire demons.
Loki was a whirlwind of motion, too quick to catch, deadly knives flying in every direction to catch in eyes and throats. Thor roared and brought Mjolnir down with a mighty crack of lightning, sending twenty fire demons flying. Thor hurled his hammer at the nearest fire giant, a new joy alight in his chest; his brother was back!
Later, when they are panting for breath, covered in ash and second-degree burns but victorious, Thor asks Loki where he has been.
“Here and there,” Loki answered absently, sheathing another knife. Thor knew Loki was being vague to annoy him, but the antic only served to heighten his joy. Loki had barely spoken in those months after Tony died before he vanished completely. The third generation of Avengers now defended the earth, and Thor hadn’t seen nor heard from Loki since Tony.
“Why did you come here, now?” Thor pressed. Loki shot him one of his many ‘you are an idiot’ looks.
“Because you were in mortal peril, you twit. It is no great secret anymore, my protection spell. Unless I have severely overestimated your intelligence.”
Thor opened his mouth to argue that he had not, in fact, been in mortal peril (he was moments away from hurling Mjolnir at the fire giant. ‘Really’.) but decided against it. Before Loki could react, Thor crushed him to his armored chest.
“I have missed you, my brother.”
“Thor….I can’t breathe….”
Thor eased up a fraction. Loki gasped dramatically like a fish, but the Thunderer ignored him; he knew this trick of Loki’s well. Eventually the Trickster gave up and sagged against Thor’s chest, submitting to his bear hug of a prison.
“You are king of Asgard, now,” Loki murmured in surprise. Thor did release him then.
“How did you realize that, brother?”
Loki frowned at the space between Thor’s brows.
“Gungir’s magic flows through you. You cannot sense it?”
“Oh,” Thor glanced down at himself, as if said magic would suddenly make itself known by oozing out of his skin in bright neon orange. “I can, a little. Not like Father could.”
Loki’s frown deepened into a scowl. “Thor. As king of Asgard, you should be fully aware of the power at your command. You are bumbling around with this kind of magic and you can only sense it a ‘little’? That is madness.”
Thor had the decency to look sheepish. An idea struck him and Thor deepened the sheepish look into the territory of ‘lost puppy’.
“There are no sorcerers with enough skill to instruct me.” When Loki pointedly didn’t ask about Odin, Thor sighed and continued, “And Father sleeps. We are...not certain if he will wake.”
Loki did not flinch, but his lips thinned and his gaze dropped from Thor’s for the briefest of moments. Thor widened his eyes a little and hunched his shoulders, tilting his head to the side ever so slightly. Loki leveled him with an unimpressed glare.
“I know what you are doing, Thor. Stop it.”
“I know not of what you speak, brother,” Thor replied evenly, not breaking eye contact. He silently willed his eyes to water, just a little bit.
At last, Loki threw his hands-and several knives-up into the air in world-weary exasperation.
“Fine! I will teach you, now stop looking at me like that.”
Thor frowned. “I do not simply want you to teach me, Loki.”
Loki’s brows furrowed. “What?”
“I want you…to sit at my right hand. As my advisor. I have….I have always wanted that.”
[Fill] Loki Knows when Thor is Injured [6b/6] [character death]
anonymous
September 26 2012, 04:58:41 UTC
It is Loki’s turn to cock his head and widen his eyes, albeit in utter confusion.
“You…what now?”
Thor smiled, tentatively. “I tried to ask you before….before you left.” A flicker of a shadow passed in front of Loki’s face. Thor hastily adds, “Even before that, when I was first to be crowned king, my first official act was going to be to name you my advisor.”
Loki’s mouth opened and closed a few times.
“Oh.” He managed at last.
Thor’s grin widened. “Is that a yes?”
Loki raised a haughty eyebrow. “Does that mean that you will actually listen to me when I advise you?”
“Of course,” Thor replied easily. At Loki’s unimpressed stare: “Well, even if I do not, I know that you will be able to find me and drag me out of trouble.”
“I would prefer it if you refrained from stabbing yourself to get my attention,” Loki deadpanned.
“Perhaps…you could teach me how to summon you as my first lesson?”
Loki’s lip curled in disdain. “I will never teach you how to ‘summon’ me, Thor. I will, however, teach you how to ‘call’ for me.”
Thor reached out to wrap an arm around his brother, ignoring Loki’s undignified squawk.
“Come then, brother, and let us learn to rule together!”
“I already know how to rule, brother,” Loki grumbled, rolling his eyes and summoning the magic to transport them back to Asgard.
(Trial 3694: The protection spell continues to work without fail. Unfortunately I am now faced with a new set of problems as Thor now knows how to call me and he does so ‘incessantly’. I am devising a ‘mute button’, as Tony would call it, so that I may have a moment’s peace.
It must be some kind of miracle that I haven’t killed him yet, or perhaps a cruel cosmic joke.
Oaf.)
((Thank you for reading! Hope this fills at least part of the prompt!))
Re: [Fill] Loki Knows when Thor is Injured [6b/6] [character death]
anonymous
September 28 2012, 00:10:55 UTC
ANON I LOVE YOU This is so beautiful. How you showed the changing relationship between Thor and Loki (and something unchanging with it) through the passing of time was truly amazing. The last three parts are expecially, fatally wonderful... The ending killed me with happiness. Thank you for the wonderful work!
Re: [Fill] Loki Knows when Thor is Injured [3/6] [character death]onapageSeptember 23 2012, 16:09:54 UTC
I love you including the Avenger's scene! Loki waiting for the spell to kick in and then realizing it won't because of the parameters he's set was awesome. ^^
“Thor!” Loki shrieked, dodging to the side just as Thor yelped, “Loki!” and dropped the hammer, narrowly missing his own foot.
Tyr glared up at them both from his place in the dirt.
“What is the meaning of this, Loki?” He barked.
His initial panic for Thor’s well-being subsided, Loki realized where he was, took in the crowd of onlookers and felt his stomach drop.
“I…” He swallowed hard. In his haste to complete the spell he had forgotten it was Thor’s Initiation day into the ranks of Asgard’s warriors. He had just interrupted Thor’s final trial against Tyr. In front of everyone. For what Loki could now see was a small rivulet of blood dripping from Thor’s nose. Loki could feel the Allfather’s eye burning a fiery hole in his back.
Even his beloved older brother frowned down at him; Thor had been training relentlessly for months to best Tyr in this bout.
“What is the meaning of this, brother?” Thor growled. Loki cursed the small jolt of fear that coursed through him.
“I..Well…Idunn has been kidnapped! We must go rescue her immediately or all of Asgard will wither without her golden apples!” Loki inwardly kicked himself for every word that rushed past his lips. He closed his eyes, feigning distress and magically whisked Idunn away from her orchard, lest anyone check.
Tyr leaped to his feet, gleaming sword in hand and Thor’s glower brightened like the sun piercing through clouds.
“Let this be my true test of courage, then!” Thor boomed. Loki nearly wept in relief.
(Trial Two: I must add more factors into the protection spell. Heart rate and blood loss alone are not indicative of a Thor in need of my assistance. I had to run all over the bloody Nine Realms with Idunn for a week to maintain my ruse and save my dignity. She was not pleased with me, but she did come along, thank the Norns. All of my apples have worms in them now.
Perhaps Thor’s emotional state will provide a more accurate measure?
Related note: This business of lying, while infinitely useful and amusing, is treacherous. Remember to think it through before you speak next time, you dullard.)
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He reached for the red button, fingertips grazing its surface. Where was the spell? Would the spell not act if he was the one to kill Thor? Or perhaps it was because he couldn’t kill him? Rage bubbled up and Loki bared his teeth in a feral snarl.
Thor stared back at him, anxious but calm, willing Loki to see him. Thor felt no fear for his life but ached for his brother, wild with madness and pain. Thor pressed a hand to the glass in desperation.
Loki knew he had to move before the chaos surrounding them caught up to him, before any more agents found him. Yet he lingered for one more moment. One more.
Where was the spell?
Then Loki realized: Thor was not afraid of him.
Loki let the madness and rage boil over. He pressed the button. Thor dropped like a stone.
(Trial 1023: Unexplained malfunction of protection spell when Thor was in mortal peril. It matters not, now. As a prisoner I am unable to follow the spell to Thor.
Not that I would.
New priority: escape.)
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He glanced over at his friends-comrades in arms. Steve smiled softly, patted his shoulder. Tony waggled his eyebrows over Steve’s shoulder.
“Still time to back out, big guy…”
“I will not run away like a coward,” Thor growled. Or at least, tried to growl. It came out more like a wheeze.
Just as the Midgardian instrument began to play, Thor found himself pinned to the ground by a wild-eyed God of Mischief in full battle armor.
“Where is the enemy?” Loki hissed into Thor’s ear before the thunder god could react. Thor paused.
“Enemy? There is no enemy here, brother.”
One hand splayed on Thor’s chest, Loki looked around the strange, vaulted chamber in disbelief. Thor obliged his overwrought little brother and stayed on the ground until Loki slowly rose to his feet.
The assembled mortals murmured worriedly but Loki ignored them in favor of addressing the Avengers standing nearby. Tony openly glared from his position: cowering behind Captain America.
“The hell, Rudolph? You can’t let Thor have one day without your daily dose of mayhem? The guy’s about to give up his freedom as it is-“
Quick as a flash, Loki ducked under Steve’s arm and wrapped a hand around Tony’s throat, ignoring the Captain’s protest or the cocked gun Clint now pointed at his temple.
“What do you speak of, Stark? Who seeks to imprison Thor?” he hissed.
“Loki, stop!” Thor said just as Pepper said, “Yeah, Tony, what exactly are you talking about?”
Tony’s eyes bugged out-more than they were, given Loki’s grip on his neck.
“Oh shit, bridesmaids are here.”
Loki peered over Stark’s head to see the Widow, Potts and an unfamiliar girl with waves of chestnut hair all in matching (hideous canary yellow) dresses hurrying up the aisle. Natasha had pulled a gun from somewhere and trained it on the chaos god.
“Drop him.” She ordered.
“Take your time, though,” Pepper interrupted, a tiny smile on her face that smacked of unspeakable evil. Natasha and Loki both gaped at her before Loki let Tony crumple to the floor-not because he was a little terrified, not at all- and whirled on Thor.
“You are surrounded by every mortal you hold dear, dressed in a suit no less, and yet you act as if you are in mortal peril. What is the meaning of this, Thor?”
Thor blinked owlishly. Loki resisted the urge to choke him next.
“I do not understand, brother. I am the furthest from peril I have ever been. I am to be married in the Midgardian fashion to Jane Foster today. Did you not receive the invitation?”
“You invited him?!” Tony and Clint yelped in unison.
“Of course, he is my brother.”
Loki didn’t dignify that with a response. He was too busy letting relief ('not' some fuzzy warmth at Thor’s words) course through his veins.
“You gargantuan oaf,” he grumbled. “For heaven’s sake, Thor, marry the woman with some courage and save me the trip!”
Before Thor could reply, Loki vanished. As one, the Avengers plus Pepper and Darcy turned to stare at the Thunder god. Thor’s ears were turning an interesting shade of pink, to everyone’s surprise.
“Sooo…care to share what the latest episode of family feud was all about?” Tony asked mildly now that he had stopped coughing.
“My brother was merely concerned for my well-being,” Thor said with a strange mixture of pride and embarrassment. “The protection spell he has placed on me must have mistaken my….excitement for fear and warned Loki accordingly.”
Steve very nearly said ‘awww’ out loud. Everyone else wore expressions of varying levels of incredulity.
“A protection spell. On the brother that he wants to kill. Um, why?” Clint asked as he made his gun disappear into his suit. Thor looked at the archer as if he had grown two heads.
“We may occasionally battle to the death, but Loki is still my brother. This spell has saved my life on many an adventure across the Nine. I only hope one day to be able to show Loki the depth of love and devotion he has shown to me.”
Not even Tony could find a comment for that.
“I can see now why Bruce said he doesn’t do weddings,” Natasha mused.
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He should have just got blazing drunk before his wedding so he wouldn’t have activated the spell.
Stark was, as always an excruciating pain in the arse. I noticed a few more streaks of grey in his hair. Time passes too quickly on Midgard.)
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The spell woke him from a dead slumber. It screamed in his mind like a banshee. Without a second thought Loki teleported to his brother’s side, still dressed in his Batman pajamas, a fistful of throwing knives in each hand.
Thor grinned up at Loki from the center of a rapidly growing pool of blood. Loki’s own blood ran cold as he darted forward to catch Thor, lower him to the ground. Dropping the knives, the trickster summoned every ounce of his magic and poured it into his brother to heal the wound in his chest. The wound that was….smaller than Loki had anticipated.
Just as the hole closed up in a swirl of green smoke, Loki caught sight of the kitchen knife in Thor’s hand. Before he could think, Loki pulled back and punched Thor with all of his might.
“Dammit to Hel, Thor!” Loki screamed. “Are you trying to kill yourself, is that it? You dull, half-witted, imbecilic….that’s not the side your heart is on, you know! You’re doing a piss-poor job of offing yourself, with a bloody kitchen knife no less-“
“Loki.”
“What?”
“Tony is dying.”
“……what?”
Thor simply watched his brother as Loki visibly deflated, righteous fury melting off him to pool at the floor with Thor’s blood. The trickster’s hands were not shaking. Were not.
“Where is he?” Loki whispered harshly. Thor took Loki’s hand and guided him to the elevator that will take them to Tony’s floor. Loki doesn’t protest the contact.
In fact, Loki grips Thor’s hand like a vice while Loki kneels at Tony’s bedside, the golden-haired god standing over them like a watchful…well, god. When Loki cradles Tony’s face between his fingers, Thor cards large hands through his little brother’s hair.
“Always knew I’d have a hot young gold-digger when I got wrinkly,” Tony joked, earning a small huff from the trickster. Loki stroked Tony’s snow-white hair.
“I hardly qualify as young, Tony.”
“So just a gold-digger then? Bummer.”
Loki’s grin cracked in half as tears finally escaped. Tony reached over and Loki took his weathered hand, pressed it to his chest.
“Please,” Loki begged. Please stay.
Tony’s own eyes were wet, but his lips quirked into his trademark shit-eating grin. Or the best impression of it he can, when Loki is coming undone in front of him. Tony mustered up the last of his strength-he was pretty sure it was the last of it-and leaned over to plant a kiss on the god.
“Twenty bucks says Valhalla.”
Loki tasted the salt on Tony’s lips.
“Forty says Niflheim.” Hela would give him permission to visit. Loki selfishly hoped he was right, even though he knew that if Iron Man was not granted Valhalla then no one ever would be.
“No cheating,” Tony whispered, eyes fluttering.
Loki held him as his heart stilled, and Thor held Loki for hours after that.
Thor carried Loki to his bed, after, curling around his brother’s lithe frame as it shook with muffled sobs that Loki refused to let free. Thor refused to let go of him when Loki screamed and clawed and struggled, drawing lines of red down Thor’s arms and chest.
The spell woke Loki in the middle of the night. He rolled over to see his brother with tears streaking down his cheeks, watching Loki with a sea of grief in his eyes. Loki finally let himself keen then, clutching to Thor like the lifeline he had always been.
(Trial 3693: The spell responds to heartbreak.)
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Loki appeared in all of his armored and horned glory just in time to shove Thor out of the way, summon the Casket of Ancient Winters and freeze the fire giant into a block of ice several feet deep.
“How many more?” Loki called, ruby red eyes blazing. Thor grinned up at his brother.
“Plenty for the both of us!”
Loki rolled his eyes but his lips twitched. He drew his knives and followed Thor as he charged back over the lip of the crater and into a horde of fire demons.
Loki was a whirlwind of motion, too quick to catch, deadly knives flying in every direction to catch in eyes and throats. Thor roared and brought Mjolnir down with a mighty crack of lightning, sending twenty fire demons flying. Thor hurled his hammer at the nearest fire giant, a new joy alight in his chest; his brother was back!
Later, when they are panting for breath, covered in ash and second-degree burns but victorious, Thor asks Loki where he has been.
“Here and there,” Loki answered absently, sheathing another knife. Thor knew Loki was being vague to annoy him, but the antic only served to heighten his joy. Loki had barely spoken in those months after Tony died before he vanished completely. The third generation of Avengers now defended the earth, and Thor hadn’t seen nor heard from Loki since Tony.
“Why did you come here, now?” Thor pressed. Loki shot him one of his many ‘you are an idiot’ looks.
“Because you were in mortal peril, you twit. It is no great secret anymore, my protection spell. Unless I have severely overestimated your intelligence.”
Thor opened his mouth to argue that he had not, in fact, been in mortal peril (he was moments away from hurling Mjolnir at the fire giant. ‘Really’.) but decided against it. Before Loki could react, Thor crushed him to his armored chest.
“I have missed you, my brother.”
“Thor….I can’t breathe….”
Thor eased up a fraction. Loki gasped dramatically like a fish, but the Thunderer ignored him; he knew this trick of Loki’s well. Eventually the Trickster gave up and sagged against Thor’s chest, submitting to his bear hug of a prison.
“You are king of Asgard, now,” Loki murmured in surprise. Thor did release him then.
“How did you realize that, brother?”
Loki frowned at the space between Thor’s brows.
“Gungir’s magic flows through you. You cannot sense it?”
“Oh,” Thor glanced down at himself, as if said magic would suddenly make itself known by oozing out of his skin in bright neon orange. “I can, a little. Not like Father could.”
Loki’s frown deepened into a scowl. “Thor. As king of Asgard, you should be fully aware of the power at your command. You are bumbling around with this kind of magic and you can only sense it a ‘little’? That is madness.”
Thor had the decency to look sheepish. An idea struck him and Thor deepened the sheepish look into the territory of ‘lost puppy’.
“There are no sorcerers with enough skill to instruct me.” When Loki pointedly didn’t ask about Odin, Thor sighed and continued, “And Father sleeps. We are...not certain if he will wake.”
Loki did not flinch, but his lips thinned and his gaze dropped from Thor’s for the briefest of moments. Thor widened his eyes a little and hunched his shoulders, tilting his head to the side ever so slightly. Loki leveled him with an unimpressed glare.
“I know what you are doing, Thor. Stop it.”
“I know not of what you speak, brother,” Thor replied evenly, not breaking eye contact. He silently willed his eyes to water, just a little bit.
At last, Loki threw his hands-and several knives-up into the air in world-weary exasperation.
“Fine! I will teach you, now stop looking at me like that.”
Thor frowned. “I do not simply want you to teach me, Loki.”
Loki’s brows furrowed. “What?”
“I want you…to sit at my right hand. As my advisor. I have….I have always wanted that.”
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“You…what now?”
Thor smiled, tentatively. “I tried to ask you before….before you left.” A flicker of a shadow passed in front of Loki’s face. Thor hastily adds, “Even before that, when I was first to be crowned king, my first official act was going to be to name you my advisor.”
Loki’s mouth opened and closed a few times.
“Oh.” He managed at last.
Thor’s grin widened. “Is that a yes?”
Loki raised a haughty eyebrow. “Does that mean that you will actually listen to me when I advise you?”
“Of course,” Thor replied easily. At Loki’s unimpressed stare: “Well, even if I do not, I know that you will be able to find me and drag me out of trouble.”
“I would prefer it if you refrained from stabbing yourself to get my attention,” Loki deadpanned.
“Perhaps…you could teach me how to summon you as my first lesson?”
Loki’s lip curled in disdain. “I will never teach you how to ‘summon’ me, Thor. I will, however, teach you how to ‘call’ for me.”
Thor reached out to wrap an arm around his brother, ignoring Loki’s undignified squawk.
“Come then, brother, and let us learn to rule together!”
“I already know how to rule, brother,” Loki grumbled, rolling his eyes and summoning the magic to transport them back to Asgard.
(Trial 3694: The protection spell continues to work without fail. Unfortunately I am now faced with a new set of problems as Thor now knows how to call me and he does so ‘incessantly’. I am devising a ‘mute button’, as Tony would call it, so that I may have a moment’s peace.
It must be some kind of miracle that I haven’t killed him yet, or perhaps a cruel cosmic joke.
Oaf.)
((Thank you for reading! Hope this fills at least part of the prompt!))
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This is so beautiful. How you showed the changing relationship between Thor and Loki (and something unchanging with it) through the passing of time was truly amazing. The last three parts are expecially, fatally wonderful...
The ending killed me with happiness. Thank you for the wonderful work!
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