A Whole Bunch of Loki's

To Be You

(A friend put a 'what if' scenario on Twitter and I said that I would take the idea and run with it.

This is the result of that. I hope you like it!)

It had proven to be a strange but also joyous day for Loki.

Not to receive stares and whispers of contempt from those he walked past, or to be ignored completely as if he didn't exist at all.

To have people come up to him to talk with vigor and praise, wide smiles on their faces and looks of admiration in their eyes.

He loved the attention he was receiving.

He would have loved it more, if he didn't have to use Thor's guise to get it.

But he was taking what he could get while he could.

With Thor being away longer than he had anticipated, Loki wanted to use just one day of his brother's extended journey to feel what Thor would feel on an almost daily basis.

What it was like to be unquestionably loved by those surrounding you.

Loki enjoyed time sparring on the training grounds, showing off that he too had the skills in fighting to match his brother, though he didn't have Thor's brute strength and he had to get accustomed to not using his go to seiðr.

When anyone commented on how Thor's skills were there, but his usual muscle power was not, Loki would mimic his brother's signature cheeky grin and merely laugh out; "Of course not, I have to go easy on you sometimes."

And although he knew that they weren't congratulating him as himself on his skills, he still felt a swelling of pride at their words.

After the evening feast, he'd shared mead, jokes and stories with 'friends' and had had a conversation with Odin that didn't end in scorn or looks of disappointment, he could roam the halls without whispers of loathing and instead received ones of love.

His name came up a few times during the group conversations and although internally he winced, Loki had to push any feelings aside and laugh along, though he made mental notes of who had said what so that he could see to them at a later date.

Though, it surprised him when Fandral had looked at him curiously and asked;

"You're laughing along with us today? Don't you usually defend your nuisance of a brother?"

He would never admit it openly, but hearing that Thor would defend his name made Loki's stomach flutter just a little.

The day had been wonderful and for a few brief moments throughout the course of the day, Loki could almost pretend that it was him getting the admiration and not Thor.

By the time night rolled around, he was mentally exhausted from the day's socializing events and was more than happy to head to bed.

Had he wanted to take further advantage of the situation, he would have taken one of the many women that threw themselves at him to bed that night to tire himself out physically, but Loki couldn't bring himself to do that.

That, he felt, would have been a step too far.

He was mere minutes from being able to drop the façade and the relief was spilling from every pore, the day had been fun, but he was ready to be himself again, to sit down with a good book and relax.

Loki had been prepared to drop his disguise as he turned the final corner for the corridor that led to his room, but a minor collision stopped him in his tracks.

The person stumbled back with a small yelp of surprise and Loki quickly grabbed onto their arms to steady them and stop them from falling.

"I'm sorry, my prince."

Loki looked down at them and smiled.

He knew this servant well, they had been serving his family when they were both still considerably younger, barely even children.

Though in those days, they would more run around after their mother as she worked and got given small tasks to complete, most likely in order to keep them out of the way.

"Do not fret, I wasn't watching where I was going."

They nodded and bowed a little, letting out another apology and moving to step around him.

It was unusual, they were typically very friendly and loved to stop and chat about all sorts of topics, from the books he was currently reading to gossip within the palace.

Today though, he noticed that their eyes didn't hold their usual sparkle and though they were smiling, it wasn't as bright as it typically was.

"Was there something you needed?" He asked, glancing down the corridor from which they had come from on the off chance that he would notice something.

"No," they replied, shaking their head and holding something to their chest, something that looked vaguely book shaped in a cloth binding. "I was just looking for Prince Loki."

"Any particular reason why?"

"Not really, I just wanted to speak to him."

"Perhaps I can deliver a message?"

They shook their head and stepped around him with a bow of respect.

"No, sir, thank you, I really wanted to speak to him personally."

Loki nodded slowly then smiled, "Of course, I won't hold you back."

They gave another bow before hurrying off, clutching the suspected book so tightly that their knuckles had turned white.

He watched after them and then continued to his room, finally letting his magic drop so that he could become himself again.

As he closed his bedroom door, he smiled widely.

It felt good to know that someone who wasn't his mother wanted to speak to him, not out of obligation, but out of genuine friendship.