A Second Chance // Thorki

chapter seventeen

Thor was careful with how he worded the announcement, having written down a speech and then getting his brother to look over it a few times and critique him. But now, with his hands shaking and all eyes on him, he felt weak, powerless, scared, and he found his words straying from what he had written.

"Food supplies... are short, and starvation is... imminent, if we do not take action I-immediately." Thor stood on a table in the middle of the dining hall, surrounded by Asgardians with rumbling tummies, all surrounding their king, hoping for answers as to why. He cleared his throat before continuing. "We will be cutting back on how much food a person is allowed a day. For mothers to be and mothers of infants, there will be little change, however, for adults and children above a certain age, you will only be allowed one full meal a day."

There was a sudden burst of discontent which caught Thor off guard, shouting and groaning and grumbling in the crowd. "It is what we must do to survive. Like this, we will last much longer."

More groaning and growling, and Thor stepped down from the table, the people parting around him, the room loud with the chatter of different people in different conversations. Loki found him towards the door, a plate of food in hand. He had not eaten.

"Thor, you should've stuck to the speech. The speech made everything feel much more hopeful." Loki found himself scolding him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

The planet they'd found had a thick enough upper atmosphere that it would be almost impossible to penetrate. Banner's scanners were not powerful enough to analyze the planet inside, however, he knew it was somewhat earth-sized and possibly could sustain life. The atmosphere was rather rich in oxygen, at least compared to Asgard, and was somewhat hot, but suitable for life. They'd been in orbit for about an hour.

Thor crumpled up the piece of paper the speech had been on and tossed it at Loki, a somewhat amused smile rising to his lips when it bounced off his temple and the trickster growled, punching his brother half-heartedly in the arm, below the wound, of course.

When the two of them reached the make-shift orphanage, it was no longer an orphanage. It was Albin's private quarters, and the little man sat at the table he'd been supplied with, hunched over a book, legs swinging under the table. He didn't look up, but greeted his family with a soft, "Hello."

Loki slid the plate in front of him, the boy perking up immediately, shoving the book aside before diving into his food.

"This is my meal, so it's bigger than what you'd usually get. Enjoy." Loki uttered, smiling softly as he sat across from him.

Thor was almost a bit surprised. "You're giving him your meal?"

Loki looked at him and spoke as if he was explaining things to a dull child. "Yes, Thor, I am giving Albin my dinner. See? I just handed him the plate, full of food. It was mine. Now it is his."

Thor smiled, "Yes, I understand that, I'm simply a bit surprised that you'd give up your food."

"Well, he is a growing boy."

"Thank you," Albin's words were muffled by the food stuffed in his cheeks. "It's super good!"

Thor turned to Loki, "We'd best be off, Loki. Or there may not be any food left for our growing boy."

"Give us a minute, Thor."

"Why didn't you eat?" The king demanded, turning to his brother.

"I'm not hungry."

"That's impossible, I've barely seen you eat anything lately."

Loki fell silent for a moment.

"If I am to starve until we find more food, then I starve. But I will not let Albin go without the food he needs. He is a growing boy, and... he needs that meal a lot more than I do, brother."