Starting Over - Loki (COMPLETE)

47) A Brotherly Convo

Loki led Thor into the next room which was, thankfully, deserted.

"What did you want to speak to me about?" Loki asked.

"I wanted to say that I am glad to see you happy, after all this time. You deserve to be happy, Loki."

Loki was ashamed to admit that his eyes felt a little watery. Thor chuckled nervously.

"I am not very good at this kind of thing. Having a civil conversation, speaking peacefully."

"I've noticed," Loki remarked drily and both brothers laughed.

Thor sighed.

"I have not been a brilliant brother," Thor admitted regretfully.

Loki stayed silent.

"I could not find you for years and then, when I did, I treated you with hostility. I had not known what you had gone through, that you had suffered, but I was uncivil nonetheless. I should have been a brother who could assist you in getting through this."

"You know I'm not too comfortable with emotions, Thor," Loki said, with a hint of amusement.

Thor smiled, albeit sadly.

"Perhaps I wouldn't have opened up to you anyway. I do not blame you for being angered. To you, it looked as if I had merely faked my death in order to live in chaos somewhere else."

There was a pause. Loki tried to work out what to say.

"I thought I would die, Thor. When I... Let go, that was what I presumed would happen. But I ended up surviving. Something I had never even considered. What happened next is due to the Norns and it was a torturous time I endured but then I fell to Midgard and met all these wonderful people."

Loki smiled but it was a pained smile and Thor saw right through him.

"I am so sorry, Loki," Thor said heavily. "You are my only brother, the best brother I could ever ask for, and I failed you. Please forgive me."

He hugged Loki close to his chest. Loki cherished the warmth of the embrace and a few tears slipped, unbidden, down his cheeks.

"Oh, Thor, I already have."

*

"Mother will be delighted to hear that you are alive," Thor told Loki after they'd broken apart and wiped away their tears. "She has missed you a lot, spending time in the library only to find books you once read and weep over them. I think you should visit her."

"I am sorry that I have caused her so much grief," Loki said uncomfortably. "I will visit her soon but I have no wish to speak to Odin."

"I know," said Thor, choosing to ignore Loki's blatant disrespect for his adopted father.

Odin had, after all, been the cause of Loki's fall, both from grace and from Asgard.

"Keep well, Loki," Thor smiled, patting his younger brother on the shoulder. "I shall return to Asgard later but know that I will always be at your side. The sun is shining on our reunion, brother."