Curiosity Killed the Cat

Chapter 8:Bother Me While I'm Reading...

The two stood there for a while before they finally let go and sat down on the couch, the others doing the same. Frigga took Loki's hands in her own and noticed something was off. She looked down and saw his arms. "Who did this to you?!" she asked with anger.

Loki looked down at his feet and muttered something none of them could hear. He then looked up at his mother and said, " The wounds were caused by the Mad Titan, but Odin is the one who created the scars."

Frigga looked like all of the fires of Muspelheim burned in her eyes. "Odin... did... WHAT?!" She brought her arms protectively around Loki again. "Was he the one who forces you to blatantly show them like this as well?"

Bruce rubbed the nape of his neck. "Uhhh...actually, that was us, but we didn't notice them at the time."

Frigga pressed her lips together and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath before relaxing again. She looked around the room at all of them. "Well, I am happy to see that my son at least has good friends now. I am counting on you to protect him."

Loki got a look of childlike defiance on his face. "Amma! I can protect myse--"

"Of course you can!" Frigga gave a smirk to the others, making Peter giggle.

Frigga pulled away and smiled at her son. Loki suddenly looked confused. "Wait... how are you even here right now?"

"I was doing my annual visit to Thor. Didn't he tell you?" Frigga asked, concerned.

Loki mouth parted and he shook his head. "Thor hasn't come to see me since I was incarcerated. You've been coming here for years and he hasn't told me?" he asked, feelings of betrayal rising up in him.

"Thor said you didn't want to see me. He said during his visits to you every other week you told him that you wished him gone."

That was the last straw for Loki. "HE NEVER VISITED ME!!! NOT ONCE!!! ALL I EVER WANTED WAS FOR SOMEONE TO TALK TO ME WHEN I WAS DOWN THERE... ALONE!!"

Frigga rubbed soothing circles on Loki's back. "I think we all need some fresh air." They all walked onto the balcony, Frigga continuing to soothe Loki as they walked. "You know that I am about 1 incident from turning your brother into a frog..."

They all laughed at this. Frigga looked at Loki's troubled face. "What is the matter, my son?"

Loki took a deep breath before responding. "All of those years down there, I thought everyone hated me. I have to ask... did you hate me? Did you ever hate me?"

"Of course not! You are my son, my beautiful son, I would never willingly abandon you! I would never have allowed Odin to do this to you either, had I known..."

Loki looked thoughtful as he nodded. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being my mother."

They stood there for many minutes before Bruce said, "I hate to do this, but we really need to have Loki do a physical..." he paused as he saw their downcast faces. "Frigga, do you want to come with us?"

"I would be glad to accompany you," she said with a smile. The small group started to make their way down to the labs. When they got into the elevator, Peter asked Frigga, "Mrs Loki's Mom, Was Loki always this mischievous?"

Loki looked at his mother and shook his head, silently praying for her not to say anything, but it seemed that they were not heard. His mother chuckled before saying, "Yes. You have no idea how much trouble my little Norbert got into!"

Loki groaned at the old nickname. "Norbert?" Peter asked.

"It means hero because when Loki was little he said that he 'would always protect me from bad things', and so it became my little affectionate name for him."

"That I thought would never see the light of day..." Loki muttered.

Peter chuckled," So what kinds of things did he get into?" he asked as they entered the labs.

Frigga now had a huge smile on her face. "One time when he was around 10 in Midgardian years, he had gotten himself in trouble with his tutor because he used magic to help him win a sparring match against another student and skipped 3 days of practice because he wanted to read. He thought it was completely fair to use magic, and so the tutor told him that he had to use a physical weapon in his next match and he told Loki that he couldn't read for the rest of the week until the match. The next week at the match, the sparring weapons are nowhere to be seen. Then, Loki comes strolling out the training area door, with his textbooks in a bag, and he picks out the heaviest one and starts using it as a club against another student 2 times his size. He won the match and the other child had to go to the healing rooms with a concussion. He then went into the middle of the arena and shouted,'If all of you brutes read instead of bashing each other's heads out, then you would know where your weapons were!' Sure enough, we go to the library, and in the middle of the room sat all of the sparring weapons in a large pile, with a note on top that said, 'Never tell me I can't read again.' No one ever did"

Nat, Bruce, and Peter burst out laughing and Loki quietly chuckled to himself.

"What can I say, that tutor was probably the most stupid brute in all of Asgard."