Marvel Oneshots And Crack

Comfort ~ Frigga and Loki

Frigga POV

"Your majesty, Loki seems...distressed." Heimdall delivers a message, bowing before leaving. I rush to the dungeons immediately. 

Odin sighs. "Dearest, really, I am sure they are fine."

I give him a stern look. "Mother's intuition is stronger than any logic of a man."

That shuts him up. I smirk and go on my way. 

When I reach Loki's cell, accompanied by a guard, my heart drops. I rush into the cell, kneeling by Loki, who is curled up in their bed. Their hair is adorably mussed, they are in their nightclothes, and a frightened expression is on their face. They are frantically babbling to themself, rocking back and forth. I sit by them, and Loki latches onto me with a trembling lip. "M-Mother!"

I shush him. "There, there. I am here now. Do tell me what is the matter?"

Loki sobs in fear, shaking like a leaf. "Mother, where am I? What is this place?!"

Fear grips my chest, fear for Loki's wellbeing. Anyone who knows Loki even a little knows that Loki is far from alright, and hasn't been for a long time. But as time goes on, more concerning symptoms are showing up. First the odd instances of Loki not knowing their own name, the moments of hysterical laughter, the obvious, er...genocidal tendencies, and now forgetting where they are? Oh dear. 

I reassure Loki who is now cowering into my chest. "You are in Asgard, Loki, in a prison cell."

He sobs. "What'd I do? What'd I do, Mother?"

Tears spring to my eyes as the distressed young person in my arms sobs out something I can't understand. I gently sing, an old Asgardian lullaby that always soothed them as a young one. It works, thankfully, the magic of the ancient music closing Loki's eyes. They sigh in contentment, clinging onto me more as they fall asleep. 

As I lay Loki in bed and tuck them in as I did when they were a younger child, I can't help but think of the worrying signs I could see before all of....this started. The times Loki spaced out, wandering around in a complete daze, sometimes getting themself into trouble because they were so unaware. Or even scarier, the times Loki was near catatonic, slumping into chairs lifeless, no light in their eyes, not moving, not answering questions, not twitching a single muscle. 

I'd be lying if I said there weren't always reasons for concern. The way Loki lost their temper and would impulsively lash out at Thor, or break something special, or suddenly spit out words full of venom. When Loki thought they were alone, they talked to themself, as if in conversation with someone we could not see. Back then, I simply attributed it to the intense bullying Loki faced as a child. 

But when Loki hit their teenage years, it started to become painfully obvious that the youngest child was not well. Loki's studies began to suffer, they could be heard talking to themself at all hours, the spacing out began, and Loki went through what I could only describe as an identity crisis. Their style changed constantly, they were shape shifting nearly all the time, and most worrying, they forgot who they were completely. At first I thought it was creative and endearing when Loki would introduce themself as characters they had drawings of in their bedroom, but when a week passed and Loki was still insisting they were not Loki, but a Midgardian named Edward, Odin and I arranged for them to see a Healer. Loki balked, and quite literally ran away. We gave up, knowing it would only cause Loki to act out if we forced it.

Thor began to express his worries when he watched Loki yell at Volstagg, "For the last time, I am not Loki! I'm Marquis de Lafayette!"

He held his hammer to his chest, ever the nervous teenager. "Mother, Father, I worry for Loki. They won't answer to their own name, they talk to themself more than anyone else now, and they keep doing that thing...you know, where they don't move, don't respond to anything..."

Odin and I were at a loss. It wasn't long before Loki, for the first time, was sent home from school with bloody fists and a letter detailing their recent abhorrent behavior. Loki had stood up in the middle of lessons, looking furious, and yelled in a foreign Midgardian language before throwing their desk. 

Loki glowered and sulked in their quarters, and to my fright, Heimdall could see Loki destroying their possessions. Thor tried to talk to them, but to no avail. In fact, Loki stabbed him.