Another Chance

Bifröst

When Loki entered the dining room he found the scene he was waiting for. Thor had knocked down one of the tables (smaller, and much lighter than Asgard's) with all the plates, mugs, cups and their respective contents. He was sitting on the floor, near one of the windows that led to the terrace beyond. He had his knees bent, his arms resting on them, and he was banging his head against the wall behind him.

He didn't see Loki approaching, having his eyes closed. Loki purposely made a noise as he walked over to him and sat down next to him, brushing his shoulder against his.

"It's foolish to keep me company now, brother," he growled, his voice echoing off the walls and through time, and he looked up at him. "This was going to be my day of triumph."

"It was just a staging. Nothing prevents you from signing the papers, even if the whole city isn't watching you." Loki said, trying to downplay the interruption of the ceremony.

The doors that Loki had closed behind him burst open, and Thor's four friends streamed in.

"What happened?" they asked.

"Don't let this tarnish your true achievement, Thor," Loki asked, searching for the opposite words to those he had spoken in another time and in another place. There has been no real damage and...

"No actual damage?" Thor looked at him, surprised and annoyed. "No actual damage? They entered our home."

No, no, no. That expression again. That storm brewing in his eyes, even in this world where thunder was not at his disposal. Cold gripped Loki, and he struggled not to let panic get the best of him.

"They have ridiculed us. In front of all our friends, acquaintances. In front of our employees and the people who trust us." Thor growled, getting up. "The Jotuns have invaded our home, and ridiculed us. Again. We must defend our home."

The same gestures, the same expression. He pointed his finger in the same way as Loki stood up.

"It's madness" he found himself saying, repeating the same useless phrase.

And in one more example of the absurdity of the universe, Volstagg looked at them from the side table, where he was stacking canapes on a small plate.

"Madness? What kind of madness?"

"We are going to Jotunheim."

What little color remained in Loki's face faded. The roar of his own blood in his ears deafened him for a second, as what had happened before, and what might happen played out again in his mind. What could he do? What was he supposed to do? Because nothing he said at the time would make Thor change his mind. He had been an idiot to think that he could make his brother think. And he knew that he would convince the idiots of his friends.

He attended, almost like the assistant to a play that he had already seen before and knew the tragic ending but could not do anything to avoid it, to the conversation in front of him.

"What? It's not like going to town to be worshiped for your hair and your family's money." Fandral looked almost fearful. "It's... It's the home of the Jotun."

His true origin, said a barely audible voice in Loki's head. They may not have been frost giants, but even here the Jotun had followed him to torment him. Thor, completely oblivious to the terror that ran through his veins, continued arguing with Fandral.

"My father defeated the Jotuns in his own home, and got his family heirloom to show for it. We're just going to investigate."

Loki covered his face with his hands. At some point that he couldn't remember he had sat down on the floor again.