For we once so loved the world by HowlingDarkness95

Chapter 8

In the weeks that followed Perseus' fall, the tensions between the avengers were thick. Thor was not the brightest of Asgardians, he wasn't as smart as his fellow avengers, nor was he as witty as his brother, but he wasn't stupid,not by a long stretch, and Loki had taught him the value of observation a long time ago. It was only through his folly that he failed to pay attention to Loki's teachings in the past, not even realizing his brother's hurts and growing anger. Thor was an act-first-think-later kind of guy, and being unable to do anything to help his fellow warriors made him feel helpless, with little more to do than sit around and twiddle his thumbs. And he hated that feeling. As an Asgardian, he had a home to go to if Midgard fell, but he loved this planet and its inhabitants deeply, and to think of abandoning it seemed sacrilegious. These mortals were fighting for their own home, and Thor knew that while his friends did not resent him, it also did not help that he was the only avenger to be able to defeat their recent enemies.

Barton's sudden question had shocked them all, but none more so than Thor. Back then, he had only concentrated on dealing with the Chitauri as per his father's orders, leaving the aftermath of the attack to the SHIELD director and Steven Rogers. He felt guilty for leaving such responsibilities to them but like what his brother had said, he did not truly know the humans well enough to speak to them. That job was better left to those who had the charisma to affect the majority. That had been his job on Asgard, but as he was so often reminded, he was no longer on Asgard.

Thor spun the thought in his mind, he remembered questioning Loki atop that cliff side-who controls the would-be king?- and as hard as he thought, he could not remember Loki ever giving him an answer to that. Loki was a master of lies, but his brother was always fond of saying that the best lies were the truth. Yet, in that moment, he had deflected, with less than his usual grace. If that was true, if there truly was someone else controlling the strings, then perhaps his brother was not as lost as he thought. Thor let hope surge within him for a moment, before clamping down harshly on it. His brother was known as the Silvertongue and Liesmith, it would not surprise him that even if Loki was not the chitauri's leader, he still had been in league with whoever was behind the scenes.

That thought pained him, he longed for the brother who had fought beside him, not against him. He longed for the Loki that had laughed delightfully when a prank was pulled off successfully, who begged non-stop to accompany him on a hunt, who smiled so brightly at him when Thor accepted his gift. But still, doubt lingered in his mind, there was one more thing that was not right, something that his fellow avengers would not know about. He understood their resentment and hatred towards his brother, for Loki had invaded and nearly destroyed their home, but Loki, despite all his faults and anger, was still Thor's brother. He was still the person that Thor had spent most of his life with. He was the brother of Thor who had tottered after him when they were mere children. And even though Thor, who, thinking back now, could barely even list what Loki loved to do other than devour his books in a solitary corner, knew one thing for sure.

He knew that Loki crafted his own weapons more often than not, causing him to be mocked by the people of Asgard for his actions. It was unbecoming of a prince of Asgard to dirty his hands with coal and fire, but Loki did not care what his peers thought, he continued crafting his own weapons, imbuing them with his own power. He knew that his brother preferred fighting with his own carefully crafted weapons, especially the daggers that their mother had given to him, his favourite daggers. Their father had gifted Loki with a staff once, an ebony staff that had enchantments placed on it to strengthen it and a power source at the head of the staff. Loki had thanked their father, and promptly returned to his room to tear out all the enchantments placed on it. He had reconstructed the staff in terms of seidr, adding his own enchantments along with several crystals to the staff. When Thor saw his staff next, it also had an obsidian snake with emerald eyes coiled around its length. The staff had a pointed end that could pierce through even the hardest of armors, and near the power source, it had a curved head with a hooked end. All in all, the staff had made him uncomfortable, looking as wicked as it did. When Loki caught him staring, he had just smirked and twirled the staff expertly.