Working Title : Loki & Annie

85 Lies and Other Truths

Annie had kicked her shoes off, hung up her jacket, and gone to kneel by the boys. Having no idea what Thor was meaning she quickly had him tell her what had happened in the short time she had left them alone. At this rate she was beginning to think going to work tomorrow was a really bad idea. Who knew what they would get up to in an entire workday?

Thor had explained the breakthrough and though Annie felt he had skipped over telling some important parts, she got the main idea. Loki believed that Thor was his brother despite the age and size difference. Which was good, but Annie couldn't help but wonder about all the little details in between because those usually were important too. And they were usually the ones that bit you in the ass.

Now she was in the kitchen getting dinner plated while keeping a close eye on the two of them. Thor sat in his chair while Loki sat sideways on his lap, wrapped in a blanket while clinging to both Hulk and Thor. There were times when Loki had his eyes closed though his little fingers continued to show he was awake as they twisted in the yellow yarn on Thor's head as well as the black ones on Hulk. At other times he was staring up at Thor, his fingers still twisting. Occasionally she could hear murmured words spoken between the two of them, the rhythm of the words telling her they weren't speaking English or any language she was familiar with.

Thor used Old Asgardian to speak to Loki, not because he was trying to hide anything from Annie but rather because it was their first language. The language of the heart for the Aesir. Using the language brought them comfort and touched their heart. In Asgard, its main use was between those who had an intimate relationship, husband and wife, parents and children, siblings, and the closest of companions. The AllSpeak did not translate it. It made for the perfect language between the two Brothers.

"You know I will protect you from those who would harm you, yes?" Thor leaned closer to Loki's head, his volume low as he tried to convince Loki that he was safe by putting those assurances into his words.

Looking down at a yellow string that he was twisting around his pinky Loki thought about Not-His-, no, His-Thor. Thor's words. He knew this Thor was all grown up and was strong but he still wasn't sure that this Thor was strong enough to keep him safe. He hadn't kept him safe before. "But, but," Loki sucked in a quivering breath, "but you didn't keep me safe before." He looked up in time to see the wince of guilt cross over his Brother's face. 

With a heavy sigh, Thor closed his eyes for several seconds in the hope that words would suddenly appear that would satisfy Loki's curiosity yet not reveal their Father's treachery. Nothing came to him by the time he opened his eyes to peer into green eyes that were too old for the face they were in. "I know. And for that, I can never forgive myself." He watched Loki blink slowly as it was obvious that he had never thought someone would even need to forgive themselves. "I will always feel guilty that I made little effort to assure myself that you were well and being treated fairly. I failed as a Brother, and I am sorry, so very, very sorry." He took a deep breath which caused Loki to rise against his chest.

Loki looked away from Not-, from Thor while frowning slightly. He watched his fingers twist the string, winding it first around his finger one way then unwinding it to go the other way. He bit his bottom lip as he thought of Thor's words. He didn't know what Thor meant when he said he would never forgive himself because that meant he would have to first apologize to himself and Loki didn't understand how that was done. Then he wondered if he wanted to forgive Thor for not protecting him in the dungeons because he really didn't like what was done to him and he was still mad at Thor for just leaving him there even though he didn't know what was happening to Loki. Because Thor should have known. He just should have. Instead of speaking about this confusing idea, Loki attempted to trick Thor into telling him what he wanted to know. "You said Father put me in the dungeon because I was mean to someone. Was I mean to you?" He looked up at Thor, "Was I mean to Father?" There was a small hitch in his voice.