Another Chance

Odin

Odin was waiting for them in the library, as his mother had told him. He was standing by one of the windows that overlooked the garden, and he gave no sign of having heard them come in, even though Thor hadn't been the least bit subtle about opening the double doors. Odin, like the others, was dressed in Midgardian clothing. But in him all that seemed out of place. More like a costume than real clothes. For Loki to see him so... human, so close, it was strange.

Then Odin turned towards them, and Loki froze in place. Because even in that world, the look of the All-Father's good eye could make him shudder. Or maybe it was the memories of their last meeting that did it. Because despite everything, that Odin was as human as Frigga or Thor.

The patch that covered his eye was not the gold plate he was used to, but a black leather patch held with a black leather band that crossed his forehead and temple and was lost in the strands of gray hair. The black suit with gold buttons, accompanied by a white shirt with gold lines, was nothing like the armor he had worn on the day of Thor's failed coronation.

And yet, this man commanded the same respect (and fear) as the one he had known for centuries. It made him wonder how many other similarities there were between them. Was that Odin the biological father of (that version of) Loki, or had he also lied to her about his true origin? And if it wasn't his son, who were Loki's parents in that world without gods or ice giants?

Loki kept all his doubts in a corner of his mind, knowing that he needed to be attentive in the present. Until then the situation seemed very similar to the world he came from: Frigga was the same mother who cared for him, and Thor, the same impulsive man unable to notice his brother's discomfort. He must suppose that Odin felt the same mistrust towards his son, or supposed son of him, that he had avoided all his life the activities that united him to his father.

He must, then, approach the man. If he had gotten there a few weeks earlier... But, if he wasn't mistaken, there were only a few hours left before the event that in that world replaced the coronation of his brother. So he had little wiggle room to gain the trust, and perhaps the approval, of Odin. And for that he needed to keep his eyes and ears open.

"My children, come closer," Odin asked, without moving from the spot.

Loki suppressed a grimace. At the moment, this Odin and the one who had dropped him from the Bifrost were the same.

Thor took the lead and Loki followed with much less enthusiasm. The two of them stood near Odin, by the window. Loki glanced outside. The garden of the house? Mansion? Castle? it looked a lot like the one in the Asgard palace, but more...human. The golden statues and Asgardian flowers had been replaced by marble statues and rose bushes. The dimensions were also somewhat humbler, although perhaps the Midgardians would not use that word to define it. Ostentatious? Definitely. But not compared to the golden beauty of Asgard.

Comparison aside, Loki didn't understand what they were seeing. Why did Odin seem so interested in the garden? He struggled to understand it, and the reflection of the sun in the water of one of the fountains gave him the clue. That garden faced east. If things were close enough, Frigga tended that garden herself. Those rosebushes, though mundane compared to her plants in Asgard, were the fruit of the few hours Frigga managed to carve out for herself. Did she have more time here for her hobbies, or was she just as busy?

Loki blinked and shook his head, trying to push the memories of his mother away from him (and her fate, because of him) before the pain of loss filled him. That this garden was taken care of by Frigga did not explain why Odin seemed so mesmerized by it. In her world the Kings of Asgard (and the Nine Worlds) hadn't exactly been the most loving couple in the world. At least, Odin had not been the most passionate husband known. So there must be something else.