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Chapter Text

Twenty days had passed since Loki made his way to his brother’s room and offered a smile and two words.  ‘I’m here’.  

Two simple words that after eight years of strife were hard won.  Loki had followed Thor to Asgard, and now would follow him to New Asgard.  

“And here you called me predictable.”  Loki had said, and his heart warmed in a way he would never admit out loud when Thor gave him a wide, warm smile and clasped his neck in their old gesture of affection.

Loki still wasn’t sure what place he occupied, both in relation to Thor and in relation to their people, or even on the ship at the very moment.  He was skeptical of returning to Midgard, and of what ‘New Asgard’ would be like.  The temptation to run was exceptional, not least of which because in the back of his mind he knew two things that Thor didn’t:  Thanos would come for him eventually, and he had stolen the Tesseract.

But here and now, the threat seemed not so looming and Loki busied himself where he could.  Including keeping a casual eye on his brother, which was how he had discovered a pattern of behavior that raised his curiosity.  Every few days or so, an Asgardian man named Erryl visited Thor’s room late in the ‘night’.  There wasn’t really a day or night in space, but what passed for night for them at least.  Loki hadn’t thought much of it at first but the re-occurrence and late hour gave him pause.  Thor had only ever been interested in maidens, as far as Loki knew, and there were those of Asgard who still held archaic notions that mutual male passions led to one being the less manly of the two.  

Loki had tried to casually inquire about it, hinted with simple jests.  But Thor had dismissed it and evaded in so nonchalant a way that Loki would have had to believe him if not for one thing: Thor had learned to lie, and not badly.  Thor had eventually informed him it was ‘stress relief’, but that it wasn’t sexual, and he seemed annoyed that he even had to clarify that to Loki.  Of course, that answer was far too vague, and Loki’s curiosity far too piqued on the boring Statesmen.  He resolved to sneak in shielded the next time such a meeting occurred and take a quick peek at what his brother essentially called ‘non-sexual stress relief’.  Loki got his chance two nights later, and after waiting about twenty minutes, he shielded himself as he teleported into the room.

Thor was on his knees on the floor with his arms behind his back and bound at the wrists.  A black blindfold was over his eyes, and a loose cloth gag had been slipped into his mouth and tied around his head.  Erryl had a wet rag that he was used to whip across Thor’s back as he spoke.

“You deserve this, Odinson.”  Another slap of the rag.  “At least take your punishment like a man.”  Another slap.  Erryl gripped two fingers under Thor’s neck and tilted his head up while his booted foot pressed down on Thor’s thigh.  

Loki couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing as shock slid over him, and then a flicker of rage.  What was Thor, King of [New] Asgard allowing this commoner to do?  What if he spoke and told everyone what the king was letting him do?   Furthermore, why did Thor allow it, what did he want it for?  

Loki couldn’t help but let his eyes roam over his brother in the hitherto unseen position.  Thor bound and gagged on his knees while submitting to physical 'punishments'.  Every inch of him dripped with muscles and the promise of power, he was more than the king.  Thor was the God of Thunder, the intended future Allfather, who had given the order to start Ragnarok, who had bested the Hulk and more.  

Warmth pooled in his stomach as it had not since he was a much younger man and still capable of flights of fancy.  When he too had been enthralled by the Golden Prince of Asgard.  But Thor was no longer that prince, nor Loki that younger man, yet the sight of his brother like that…Loki inhaled slowly before he revealed himself.  When Erryl noticed him, his eyes widened and he looked horrified as he took a few steps back.  Loki smiled coldly and after a few seconds Thor made a muffled noise, clearly wondering why Erryl had fallen silent.  

Loki held out a hand to take the rag and then inclined his head towards the door, his meaning clear.  Erryl looked from Loki to Thor and opened his mouth to speak, but Loki put a finger to his lips and shook his head.   The man hesitated, Loki’s eyes narrowed slightly, and the man made a hasty retreat with an apologetic glance at the unseeing Thor.  

Loki used sorcery to ensure the door was locked before he turned his attentions to his now irked and confused brother.   He trailed a fingertip near Thor’s collarbone playfully and his brother paused before he made a questioning noise through the gag.  Thor’s arms began to move and Loki knew he was about to break the bindings that held him, so he waved his hand and reinforced them with layers of sorcerous energy.  Thor seemed taken aback when he couldn’t break the bindings and he said something angrily into the gag.  

“Temper, temper, brother.”  Loki finally said, and Thor froze before he groaned exasperatedly.  A flurry of muffled words followed and Loki could surmise Thor was instructing him to take off the gag.  After a teasing delay, he lowered it and got Thor’s angry voice as reward.  

“Loki, undo your spell, you damned sneak.  You just couldn’t leave well enough alone, could you?”

“I believe I should be the one asking questions, brother.”  Loki said as he trailed a fingertip along Thor’s cheek, and he smirked when Thor shivered.  

“Loki.”  Thor’s voice was a warning growl that sent a delicious shiver up Loki’s own spine.  

“So this is ‘stress relief’, is it?  Letting a nobody put the king of Asgard on his knees to be degraded?  I am sure our parents would be so proud.”  He saw Thor tense at that as he struggled anew to break himself free.  “Ah, ah.”  Loki chided as he set his hand on Thor’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze.  “Relax, brother, this is your ‘stress relief’ time, isn’t it?”

“You’ve had your fun, Loki, enough.”  

“On the contrary, I’m only just getting started.  But I would like an explanation for all of this.”  he said as he began to circle around Thor.  

“I am sure you would.”  Thor replied, somewhere between mocking and dry.  

“Come now, you trust that commoner but not me?  That hardly seems right, given that we’re so kindly reconciled now.”

“Uh huh.”  

There was a sardonic edge to Thor’s tone that gave Loki pause.  The truth was, he still didn’t know where he stood with his brother or how much trust Thor actually had for him.  The sarcasm put a flicker of discomfort in Loki as his mind raced to look for all of the possible negatives Thor could mean by it.  Another ‘two simple words’ with potentially greater meaning.

“Are we not?”  Loki couldn’t help but add, his tone was teasing but the question was more genuine than he cared to admit even to himself.  

“Not really the time for that conversation, is it?”

“Does it need a conversation?”

“Take your spell off and we’ll find out.”

“Tell me why you’re doing this and perhaps I’ll remove the spell.”

“Loki.”

“Thor.”  Loki mocked back.  “You know perfectly well I will keep you here as long as I must.”

“People will come looking for me.”

“And it would be such a shame for them to find you in this state, wouldn’t it?  Perhaps I should leave you like this with the door wide open for anyone to find.”

A curious thing happened at that, because while Thor’s expression revealed angry displeasure…a flush crept up his neck as a notable twitch in his pants occurred.  He was aroused by the idea.

Loki had just found a chink in Thor’s armor and knew he was on the path to a wonderful diversion, perhaps for them both.  That the thought came to him so easily though caught Loki off guard.  A diversion for he and Thor?  Of a nature that was unquestionably crossing the boundaries of brotherly behavior?  Was that what Loki wanted?  Would Thor want that?

“I will be freed eventually, brother.  And when I get my hands on you…”  Thor growled.

“What, will you whip me with a wet cloth, brother?”  Loki asked with his voice playfully husky.  He was astonished when he received an even greater response than to the threat of leaving Thor bound and displayed.  “Norns, Thor, how have you been hiding this from me?”

Thor must have realized he’d shown more than he intended then, and with his arms still bound he started to push his legs up to stand.  

Loki pressed a firm hand down on Thor to keep him in place as he waved his free hand and put more bonds on Thor.  The bonds trapped Thor's calves to his thighs and kept him in a forced kneeling position.  Thor seemed taken aback and then angry.  

“You’ve had your fun, Loki, let me up.  I mean it.”  Thor’s tone did indeed sound serious now.

Music to Loki’s ears.

“I haven’t nearly had my fun, nor you yours, I think.  Tell me why, Thor.”  Loki ordered lightly.

Thor scowled and Loki tweaked his nose playfully.  His brother made a noise of irritation as he began to strain at his bonds and Loki reinforced them again.  Loki’s bonds were far stronger than they’d been when they were boys, but so was Thor, he wasn’t sure in a pure contest of wills who would win out.  Thor’s strength or Loki’s sorcery.  

Loki brought his hand to Thor’s throat and gripped it on either side just under the chin as he used the cradle of his hand to tilt Thor’s chin up.  He felt the hitch of Thor’s breath, an indication of excitement, and Loki felt a little thrill.  Thor, bound and helpless, responding to the lightest of Loki’s touches with his body revealing what his words would not.  “Come, brother.”  he murmured.  “Am I not your advisor?  Shouldn’t I know what it is you’re risking your kingly reputation for?”

“Loki.”  The name sounded slightly pained, just slightly breathless, and oh so faintly like a plea.  

Loki let his long fingers trace Thor’s cheek in a gentle caress with a little smirk on his lips that his older brother couldn’t see.  “Tell me.”  he ordered softly as he watched the rise and fall of Thor’s chest beneath his tight clothing.  

“Stress relief, I told you.”  Thor bit out.  

“Elaborate.”

“I-…what do you want me to say?  This…relaxes me.”

“Funny, you don’t look terribly relaxed from where I’m standing.”  Loki said as he tapped the edge of his boot against Thor’s thigh, his meaning clear.

Thor stilled and seemed surprised before he frowned as he growled lowly.  “Whatever game this is, it ends now.”

“Whyever for?  We’ve only just started.”  

“We’ve started nothing.”  Lightning began to crackle across Thor, which made it clear his brother was more agitated than Loki had realized.  “Brother.”

And there it was, the rub.  Their brotherhood.  Loki crouched down in front of Thor as he tipped the blindfold up and let Thor see him.  Thor seemed slightly surprised again before he glared.  “Release me.”

“I think not.”  Loki said thoughtfully.  “I’m rather peeved at you.”

“At me?”

“You require someone to bind you and make you kneel, to subject you to punishments and presumably some level of humiliations…to humble you…and you didn’t come to me?”

Thor blinked, his expression faintly incredulous.  “One, don’t say it like that.  And two, no, Loki.  My first thought of who to go to for this was not my little brother.”  he said, rife with sarcasm.

“A mistake on your part.”  Loki informed him wryly, and Thor looked somewhere between confused and suspicious.  “Why let someone beneath your strength and station do a subpar job, when you can have your equal do it better?”  he said, and he let the question hang in the air, a silent challenge.  Would Thor deny they were equals, protest his words?

“My little brother.”  Thor said again, and Loki rolled his eyes.

He wasn’t entirely sure what he was even pressing for.  What did he hope to gain out of the situation?  Thor’s apparent submission held a certain appeal, though not in the way it once would have.  He didn’t bear Thor ill will, nor was he boiling over with unanswered rage and resentment.  Loki and Thor were the only family they had left, brothers on good terms again, and Loki didn’t want to jeopardize that.  But despite his repeat emphasis that Loki was his ‘little brother’, Thor’s body revealed a lack of minding.  And Loki, for his part, had more than passing interest by the moment.

“Exactly.”  Loki said as he tried a different tack.  “Who better to rely on for discretion and not to take advantage of the situation?”

“That might be true of any brother except you.”  Thor said wryly, and he saw a quick flash of hurt in Loki’s expression before his brother masked it.  Was Loki really surprised by the comment, given their history?  But still, Thor didn’t want to give Loki the wrong impression so he played it off.  “You’d love to have me under your thumb, trickster.”  Loki’s expression revealed nothing, but Thor felt he might have gotten away with that one.

“It seems I do, at the moment.”  Loki said as he playfully pressed his thumb against Thor’s chin, pleased when Thor’s breath again hitched.  “For someone who keeps complaining about our familial bond, you seem awfully responsive to my touch.”

“Loki!”  Thor snapped, and he sounded a little scandalized to Loki’s amusement.  “You go too far.”

“The 'too far' was happening long before I entered this room, brother.  What would our people think if they knew what you were up to in here with one of their own?”

Thor wasn’t sure what Loki wanted.  He had thought it simple enough teasing at first, but Loki kept pressing the boundaries, testing the waters in a way that made no sense to him.  It seemed almost to be implying that Thor was aroused by the situation, which was no kind of comment for one brother to make to another.  “I saved Erryl’s sister’s life.  He wished to repay me and I kept declining.  We got to speaking and…this happened.”

Loki stared.  “This ‘happened’?  Tell me, Thor, how exactly does one trip, fall, and land in a gag with wrists restrained?  I am rather curious.”

Thor scowled again.  “I might be willing to discuss it out of the restraints.”  

“But we haven’t even gotten started, brother.  I interrupted your stress relief, it’s only right that I make it up to you.”  he drawled.  “But I’d like to know what it is you’re after, why this.”  Loki said with a gesture at Thor in his trussed up state.

Thor glared and said nothing, so Loki eyed him a moment before he shrugged and rose.  “I suppose I’ll have to leave you like this all night then.”  he pushed the blindfold back over Thor’s eyes as the lightning began to crackle around him again.  “So dramatic.”  Loki said as he grabbed the gag and was quite slow about replacing it, giving Thor time for the inevitable-

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“You really wish to bet on that?”  Loki queried slyly. 

Thor was silent a few seconds before he cursed and relented.  “I never wanted to be king, you know that now.”

Loki paused and let go of the gag.  “Go on.”

The words seemed dragged out of Thor as he admitted in a mutter.  “I’ve had obligations all my life, as you have…you know how it is.  Now I’m the king, the king who destroyed Asgard, and I have a ship full of people relying on me to make them a new one.  To take care of them.  And I…”  the reluctant mutter became more resigned as he sighed.  “I have no idea what I’m doing, Loki.  I take it one day at a time but…if I make a mistake, if I make the wrong decision…"  He trailed off briefly before he picked back up.  "Our people put their faith in me and I have a responsibility to see it through.  But I’m not our father, and I…I don’t want to disappoint them…disappoint…you.”  The last admission was terribly quiet, and Thor shifted uncomfortably as he seemed to be looking down at the floor despite being in a blindfold.

Loki, whatever he might have expected, had not expected that.  He had come to realize, given Thor’s tendency to decline the throne and love of gallivanting around playing hero, that Thor truly did not desire the throne.  But that Thor was hiding insecurities and self-doubts, that he was worrying about such things, worrying about disappointing Loki…that was a surprise.  The notion put a strange feeling in his chest, the idea that his seemingly perfect, invincible brother had such mundane fears.  That Loki featured centrally among them despite their [particularly recent] history.

The old Loki could have used it to tear into Thor and would have done so gladly.  His mind wandered about that path for a few seconds.  Loki contemplated the ways in which he could manipulate Thor with this knowledge, hurt him with it, or work against him with it.

But that path was of no interest to him and he turned to a more comfortable, familiar one.  The path of being Thor’s brother, one well-traveled when they were younger and close.  

“You have not been a disappointment to me for quite some time, brother.  Put that from your mind.”  he admitted as he brushed his fingers over Thor’s head and through his shorn hair.  

“Quite some time.”  Thor repeated with a cross between a chuckle and a sigh.  “That’s comforting.”  he said wryly.

“Not being Odin is a good thing.  You have strengths he never had.”

Thor snorted.  “Such as?”

“Our father struggled to balance compassion with rule.  He was feared more than beloved.  Mother was relied on to make up the difference as a loving Allmother.  You’re different.  Our people love you, you’re disgustingly sentimental and kind, and you balance that with your monstrous strength and willingness to fight unhesitatingly whenever needed.”

Thor’s mouth had parted slightly as listened and seemed taken aback, it didn't go unnoticed either that Loki had said 'our father'.  Loki’s fingers continued to stroke his brother’s head before it fell to Thor’s neck in their gesture of affection, rarely used by Loki himself and far more often used by Thor on him.  Thor leaned slightly into the touch and Loki smiled to himself, unseen by the blindfolded Thor.  “Loki?  Saying something nice?  Has Ragnarok come again?”

Loki squeezed Thor’s neck in retribution for that little comment and Thor chuckled lightly.  “I thought I might try speaking the truth, given that this seems to be a ‘night’ of strange revelations.”

Thor’s smile slipped.  “…You find this strange…well-”

“-Not strange, not least of all after your explanation.  I think I understand now.  Having undertaken the burden of the throne for four years, I know well what a weight it is.  And I had the benefit of having Asgard whole while the Mighty Thor took care of the dirty work.  Also it was Father’s reputation I was wielding.”

“And you sat in your bathrobe eating grapes.”  Thor said dryly, not best pleased at the reminder of Loki’s trickery and what it later cost them.  

Loki recognized that, but let it pass.  “And writing excellent plays.”

“Awful plays.”

“No accounting for taste.”  Loki drawled before he continued.  “You are expected to be strong, all-knowing, and ever-confident.  The king must be the best among us, after all.  Our people have lost much and look to you for guidance and their future.  The weight is heavy indeed.  Especially given your ridiculous habit of taking responsibility for things that aren’t yours to bear and making yourself unreasonably guilty about them.”

“I do not.”  Thor protested.

“Oh, you absolutely do.  You do realize we destroyed Asgard together?  Arguably it could not have been done without my aid, so I’ll thank you not to take my credit.  Furthermore, was it not you who said Asgard is ‘not a place, it’s a people’?  Asgard is here on this ship, heading for Midgard.”

“You know what I mean.”  Thor muttered.

“That you feel the need to castigate yourself, often for non-existent reasons?”

“I do no-”

“Shh.”  Loki placed a finger against Thor’s lips.  “You may have managed to surprise me a few times, but ultimately, I would argue I still know you better than you know yourself.”  Loki felt a stutter in Thor’s breathing via the exhalations of air from his nose as his finger was on Thor’s lips.  Even that was enough to garner a response, was it?  Was Thor that pleased by the situation…or by Loki?

Was it madness even to wonder?  To keep going?

“So.”  Loki continued.  “You find a heavy weight upon your shoulders, all eyes looking to you to make decisions and carry the burden.  But here in this room for a snatch of time, you can pretend it isn’t so.  Put yourself at the mercy of another’s decisions and whims.  Unable to do a thing about it.  And the punishment…assuages your guilt.  Your rather unwarranted guilt, if I might again add.  That is what relieves your stress, being in some small way, undone.  Becoming not king, or even Thor…simply a helpless being at another’s behest…”  he dragged his finger across Thor’s lips as saw a little shiver overtake Thor’s body again.  “And truly, brother, how dare you let anyone other than me see you this way.  Do those things to you.  You may be utterly helpless at the moment,” he chose those words carefully, delighted by the way Thor swallowed hard at them, “But when you leave this room you will be a king again.  You have a responsibility to yourself to maintain your dignity.”

“And that’s achieved by letting my little brother lord himself over me, is it?”  Thor asked, clearly meaning to be sarcastic, but it came off a little too breathless and they both knew it.  

Loki slid his hand over Thor’s head and jerked it back, just a little roughly as he murmured.  “Between us, who is the little one at the moment?”  And Thor’s arousal became stunningly clear then as his pants tented, and Loki’s eyes widened slightly.  He had, in some way, seen that the game would lead there but in another vein…Thor was right, they were brothers…

And too similar, it seemed, because Loki found himself also sporting the physical indicator of arousal.

Loki was enjoying it every bit as much as Thor was.

“You do like that, don’t you, brother?”  He slipped the endearment in testingly and Thor’s heart rate increased, Loki could see it in the rise and fall of his brother’s chest.  “Being rendered small?  The Mighty Thor, reduced to this.”  Loki gave a tug on the collar of Thor’s shirt.  “Sorcery could do much for you, brother.”  he used the endearment again.  “I could make you feel small indeed, mortal even, if you wished it.  Imagine knowing you couldn’t escape those restraints, that I had absolute power over you…would you trust me to do that to you, I wonder?”  Loki ran a hand over Thor’s shoulder.  

“Brother.”  Thor’s voice was strained.  “We can’t do this.”

“Do what?  Relieve your stress?”

“You know that’s not what I mean.”

“Do I?”  Loki traced an elegant finger along Thor’s collar bones.  “Even if knew, why could we not do this?”

“I-…we’re brothers.”

“Not by blood.”

Hurt flashed across what Loki could see of Thor’s expression and he felt a flare of fondness for it.  Thor was so defensive of their brotherhood, it was endearing, despite the fact it was getting a bit in the way at the moment.  “We are brothers, Thor.”  Loki said gently as he brushed his knuckles against Thor’s cheek.  “And we are more than that.  We’ve been complicated for quite some time now, have we not?”

Thor hesitated, and silence passed between them a few seconds before Thor said.  “I’ve only just gotten you back, Loki…I don’t…I don’t want to lose you again.”  The admission was made quietly, but earnestly, and the flare of fondness became a rush of love as he smiled down at his brother.  Sentimental oaf.  

“I’m here.”  Loki repeated his words from his arrival on the Statesmen.  “And I am not going anywhere, Thor.”

Thor inhaled slowly as he tilted and his lips brushed against Loki’s knuckles.  “How can you want this?”

Loki frowned as he pulled away, a little offended.  “I displease you, is that it?”

“What?  No!   Why would you-”  Thor shook his head.  “Me.  This.  Us doing…Gods, Loki, I can’t even say it.  I never thought-…you’ve never wanted this before, have you?”

“Have you?”  Loki replied, not wanting to be the first to yield in anything, or at all preferably.  

“I asked you first.”

“Ah, but I’m not the one trussed up like a captured beast.”  A strain as Thor inhaled deeply, he liked that, did he?  Loki smirked, it figured his brother would enjoy such a comparison.  “Such a change of fortune, isn’t it, brother?  You, once a mighty hunter, feared across the realms…”  he stepped behind Thor as he drew a finger along Thor’s neck.  “And now you’re the one caught.  Waiting to see what will become of you.”  

“Loki.”  The name was spoken as a groan and Loki grinned.  “If you mean to make sport of me-”

“-Oh, I do.  But I can tease you relentlessly for it later while earnestly assisting you now.  Former king to the current one and all that.”  

“I don’t want you to think that it…you are my brother, you have been and always will be.  I have never thought otherwise.”  Thor said earnestly, and Loki silently reveled in the words and tone.

“Duly noted.”  He could see Thor’s discomfort in his posture, the hesitation to speak and Loki felt he might know why.  “If nothing between us thus far has changed that, nothing will.  Rest assured.”  

Thor grimaced as if bracing himself for something before he muttered.  “I wanted this…you…”

Loki blinked, both at the admission and Thor’s reticence.  He wasn’t used to a lack of confidence in his brother.  But he knew Thor was truly worried about their potentially tentative brotherhood, particularly having just restored it.  This was certainly an odd leap to make after reconciling, but had they ever done things in a typical fashion?  “Since when?”

Thor hesitated.  “...Too long.”  

“Hm.”  Loki said as he ran his fingers up over Thor’s scalp and was treated to his brother leaning slightly back with a sharp inhale.  “Since we were young?”

“...Yes.”  Thor admitted.

“And yet you never told me.”

“Obviously not.”  Thor growled.  “Should that surprise you?”

“A little.  Since when did the Mighty Thor hesitate to go after someone he wanted?”

“Since that someone was his little brother.”  Thor retorted automatically before he winced at his own admission.

“We are alike in the strangest ways, truly.”  Loki said casually, and he waited for it to sink in as Thor frowned.  

“You’re lying.”

“Not at all.”

“You hated me!”

“Not always.  Arguably not really.  Resented you immensely, plotted your downfall and so on…but hate is…again, too uncomplicated for us.”

“Only you would play semantics with something like that.”  Thor huffed.

Loki smiled lightly.  "Perhaps, but there it is.  We share a propensity for supposed deviance.”

“Supposed?”

“Still not blood.”  Loki shrugged though Thor couldn’t see it.  “It is our business alone at any rate.”

Thor fell silent a moment as he thought it over, finally he asked.  “What is it you mean to do here?”

“Relieve your stress?”  Loki’s tone made it sound like a joke.  “Push the boundaries of your newfound trust for me?  I assume there must be some, if you’ve let me go this far.  I’d scold you for that were it not so convenient presently.”  he smiled wryly when Thor scoffed.  But being Loki, he craved reassurance and pressed a little harder, to see what he might wring from Thor in this moment.  “Or am I wrong?”  Loki asked casually, as though his heart weren’t clenched a bit waiting for the answer.  As if it didn’t matter to him if Thor trusted him or not, despite all Loki had done break that trust and might yet do again.  

Thor was silent for a few seconds again before he replied with his newfound mischief, the one that let him slip an obedience disc onto Loki at Sakaar.  “Trust is too uncomplicated for us.”  he turned Loki’s words back on him.  A beat, and then he added rather softly.  “What I said on Sakaar holds true, as it always has.  I want us to fight side by side forever.  There is no one I would rather have with me, now and going forward, than you.”  

Loki was glad Thor couldn’t see his face, because he was sure he couldn’t have composed his expression quickly enough not to reveal the way the words made him ache.  Thor’s forgiveness and warmth, that he wanted and valued Loki…it was worth all of the trouble of following him from Sakaar and being here even now.  Headed for an uncertain future with an uncertain place in New Asgard.  His place by Thor’s side was familiar and desired, and he felt a rush of love for his brother in that moment that Loki didn’t know quite what to do with.  But since he apparently was at liberty too, he brought his hand to Thor’s neck as he mimicked their gesture of affection again and brushed his thumb against his brother’s cheek.  His own breath caught as Thor leaned into his hand.  A pretty picture indeed, his brother bound and trusting before him, and endearingly affectionate.  “What am I to do with you, brother?”  he murmured.

“...Whatever you’d like.”  Thor threw the offer out, caught up in the moment and Loki’s seemingly positive reception thus far.  

And if Loki hadn’t already wanted this, if he hadn’t already been tense with his own desire and the notion of how utterly delectable Thor looked [always] at present…that would have sealed the deal.  “A dangerous thing to say to the God of Mischief, brother.”  he said as he tugged his thumb over Thor’s lower lip.  

Thor grinned lightly.  "You’ve always called me reckless.”

“I am not Erryl.”  Loki said as he lifted Thor’s blindfold to meet his one-eyed gaze.

“I can see that.”  Thor quipped wryly.

Loki lifted a brow.  “I have the power and the will to go further than your grateful little follower.  And if we play this game, I have no wish to end it early for some silly reservation of yours.  Tell me now if you can manage, or else there’s no point.”

Thor's brow furrowed.  "Be a little more plain in what you’re asking?”  

“Nothing will change us being brothers, so let this be the point where you stop any consideration of that in whatever comes next.  Neither of us will speak of this to anyone outside of us.  Nor, and I feel quite generous in this concession, will there be any using it against the other.”

“Gods, who are you and what have you done with my brother?”  Thor mock-marveled and Loki pinched his cheek.  

“So I suppose my question is: are there any limits?  Or may I do as I please?”

Thor’s eye widened slightly, a mixture of wariness and what Loki recognized as naked desire splayed across his brother's face.  “Now see, when you ask that, it’s a little bit exciting, and a little bit scary.”

“You know me so well, brother.”  Loki teasingly praised.  “My answer?”

Thor considered it as he looked at his brother.  Not long ago, it would have been nothing short of suicidal to grant Loki this position of trust.  Dangerous to let Loki near him even when Thor was armed and fighting fit.  But times had changed, and he had wondered at a way to bridge the remaining gaps between he and his brother.  This was not the method he had ever imagined or intended, but he could think of few things else that would show Loki such a level of trust.  And such a level of equality.  

“I never wanted the throne!  I only ever wanted to be your equal!”

“I remember a shadow!  Living in the shade of your greatness!”

Loki had proven to want a throne, but that didn’t mean the other words hadn’t held true in his feelings.  And though Loki seemed at peace, more or less, with their past…Thor never wished his brother to feel slighted or second to him again.  Thor wanted Loki to understand how cherished he was, and how very much Thor wanted him to stay.   How he valued his brother, and recognized his worth as he had taken it for granted before.  Whatever wrongs Loki had done him, it didn't change that Thor too had made mistakes.  Thor had hurt his brother with his carelessness, he had grown to feel unduly entitled to Loki without respecting him properly.

‘Humbling’ himself, as Loki called it, seemed a method of demonstrating Thor's feelings and resolve.  Perhaps Loki might gain some satisfaction from it on a deeper level.  Despite the fact that Thor had allowed a ‘commoner’ as Loki put it, to do so also but then again…what Erryl would and could do was far less than what Loki could and would.  Both by virtue of individual capability and what Thor would actually allow.

“Do whatever you think best.  I trust you, Loki.”  Thor said as he used his brother's name intentionally.  He wanted to drive the point home that he trusted Loki, not simply offered some obligatory trust to his brother.

Loki’s expression softened as a little smile quirked his lips.  “Fool.”  he said fondly.  He bent down and pressed a kiss to the crown of Thor’s head, as his brother had often done to him in their childhood.  Thor’s expression grew visibly tender, and Loki had the sudden urge, of all things, to hug his brother.  “Sentimental oaf.”  he chided Thor as Loki pulled away, as if Loki were not perhaps the more moved in the moment.

Loki considered his options a moment and decided to go relatively simply to start.  There would be time later, if all went well, to show Thor all the reasons Loki was a superior option as a…stress relief partner.

Loki shifted his apparel with magic, he wore his hair loose and curly because Thor had commented more than once in their lives that he preferred it.  He wore the small golden horned half-helmet he’d worn when they went to fight on Asgard.  Loki had a thought to wear his old king’s regalia, but that didn’t suit him so much anymore, and was a reminder of a time best left in the past.  So he forged himself something new of dark green, black, a hint of gold, and a touch of red.  His brother’s color.

Thor looked suitably impressed as his eye roamed over Loki, and not for the first time Loki regretted that he hadn’t been able to do much about Thor’s eye.  He’d healed what he could of it though healing was not his forte, but he could not replace the eye.

Loki waved a hand and all bindings, the blindfold, the loose gag, disappeared from Thor who seemed puzzled.  Thor rose with a stretch as he moved his limbs and looked to his brother.  “Was that all you wished to do?  Show me how good you look with your hair down?”  he teased.  “I knew that already.”

“Save your oafish attempts at charm for later.”  Loki advised him as he approached and looked at his brother while Loki considered him.  He was a little surprised at how fast Thor had come around to making what seemed to be an almost flirtatious compliment, but then again…before they’d grown apart in their later years…hadn’t that always been their way?  A strange line of intimacies passed off as close brotherhood between the only princes of the realm that were a touch beyond the pale?

Loki put his hand to Thor’s neck and dragged downwards on his chest as a collar with chains materialized.  Thor seemed surprised and found his hands snagged by manacles and pulled behind him where they joined with a short length of chain between them.  The chains and collar were essentially those worn by Loki for his trial, but they bound Thor’s arms behind him instead of in front of him.  “Nostalgic, aren’t they?”  Loki cooed.

“Not exactly the word I’d use.”  Thor said with a scrunched expression.

“Hm, and what of this?”  Loki asked as he brought his hand to Thor’s mouth.  Thor made a muffled noise of surprise as a muzzle identical to the one Thor had put on Loki after his New York invasion slipped in place over Thor’s mouth.  Loki fixed his brother with a wry smirk.  “Turnabout is fair play, brother.”

Thor eyed his brother as he wondered how much of it was Loki amusing himself, and how much if any was a little bit of vengeance on Loki’s part.  Loki waved his hand again and Thor’s shirt was gone, leaving his chest exposed.  His pants shortly followed, leaving him only in his under garments.  Thor’s brow furrowed as he looked down at himself and back at Loki with a question in his eye.

“Those were the clothes of a king.  Not meant for a mere servant to the king.”  Loki drawled.

Thor’s brows rose at the game Loki had apparently chosen to go with for what they were doing.  Trust Loki to find an excuse to truly make himself king above Thor, the little brat.

“Not to mention…”  Loki said, as if genuinely considering it out loud although he knew well what he was saying as he trailed a fingernail along Thor’s bare chest and saw Thor’s eye darken.  “Can you not feel the difference in our stations?  Me, dressed as a king, and you dressed in nearly nothing?”

And it was true, Thor had noted that quickly enough on his own.  Having his little brother [what a strange thing to think of him as in this moment still] be fully clothed and splendidly so while Thor was all but bare was a power move on Loki’s part.

Loki began to circle Thor as he looked his brother over appraisingly.  When he reached Thor’s front, he used his most imperious tone to order.  “Kneel, boy.”

‘Boy’ was a surprise, but Thor supposed if he was meant not to be a king or even himself [given that Thor himself had always been at least a prince], it was a way of further lowering him.  Loki was several centuries younger, and he wasn’t sure if Loki wished to pretend Thor was younger or if he just meant it to be demeaning.

Amused, intrigued, and more than a little turned on despite himself, he decided to disobey as he tilted his head at his brother with a challenge in his eye.  His posture was confident despite his state of undress and his bindings, and had a very ‘make me’ air.

Loki’s eyes narrowed, and Thor thought he detected a genuine hint of rivalry there.  They had always been competitive, even when they’d been close.

Loki debated for a moment.  Physical strength was Thor’s go-to, and to use it to force him to submit held a certain appeal.  But using sorcery, often mocked by Thor in the past, to best him was pleasing to Loki as well.  Loki supposed he could save the sorcery for when he was being more creative, and would settle for playing it at Thor’s level.  He stepped behind his brother as he slipped his fingers into Thor’s collar.  With swift movements he kicked at the back of Thor’s calves, right near the back of the knees while he jerked roughly on Thor’s collar to force the other man to the ground.

Thor went  to his knees with a muffled grunt.  Loki thought with satisfaction that Erryl had not possibly been strong enough or bold enough to do that much.  Certainly not with his silly little wet rag and bindings that Thor could have gotten free from any time.

Loki stepped back in front of Thor as he smirked down at him.  He pressed his own boot against Thor’s thigh as he loomed over his kneeling brother.  “It seems you are in need of training, to learn your place.”  he said, and Thor wondered if that too was a pointed throwback to an old wound whether consciously or unconsciously.

“Know your place, brother."

Thor wanted to know the lay of Loki’s mind, to better understand what brought his brother back to Thor's side and how he could ensure Loki wished to stay.  He wanted to discuss their past, to learn what Loki had truly thought when Loki took the actions he did.  Thor also wanted to assure Loki that he was not that same arrogant boy.  He supposed Loki must know it, on some level, or his brother likely wouldn’t be here now.

Thor, being Thor, laughed beneath his muzzle to rile Loki and further the game.  He wasn’t going to play nicely, neither of them would find that exciting although Thor had given up the ghost rather a lot already as it was.

Loki heard the laughter and supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised.  This was between them, Thor wasn’t going to meekly sit and take half-assed ministrations as he’d done with that commoner.  But what to do about it?

Loki smiled then as he conjured a solid illusion to his hands, a well-crafted snake of green and blue.  Thor seemed puzzled again, but then Loki brought the slithering creature to Thor’s neck where it wound around above the collar gently at first.  Then more and more tightly until Thor gave a little gasp under the muzzle as he stared at Loki.

“Did you expect more little rag smacks?  No, I am not so nice as that.”  Loki mused as he trailed a finger over one of his brother’s pectorals before he gave his brother’s stomach a hard smack.  Thor’s stomach was solid with muscle and the sound was satisfyingly loud as Thor grunted into his muzzle.  A combination of restricted airflow and a hint of pain, and his inability to bring his arms forward or adjust much.

Loki waved a hand as the bindings on Thor’s wrists tugged as though pulled back by an invisible chain even as his calves seemed bound to the floor.  He was forced into a position with his shoulders back and his chests out, unable to move from it.  Thor seemed less enthused about that and watched Loki with what he took to be a frowning expression.

“Too much already?  And here I expected more from you.”  he tutted and Thor scoffed beneath the muzzle.

Loki let the snake tighten just slightly more and Thor made a choked noise.  Loki brought his hand to one of Thor’s pecs and pressed the nails of one hand in sharply.  Thor arched a bit with something that sounded suspiciously like a whimper.  Loki lifted a brow as he smirked.  “Liked that, did you?  But this is supposed to be a punishment, you oaf.”

A muffled reply and Loki let the snake slither off from Thor and onto his hand as Thor inhaled deeply.

“Perhaps you need words more than force to understand your position.”  Loki plotted out loud as an idea caught his mind, and it was all mischief and perhaps a touch too far but Thor had told him to do as he pleased so…”And yet, instead of either, perhaps a demonstration.”

Loki conjured a throne much like the one on Asgard, though a little larger.  He clamped fingers into Thor’s collar again, from the front this time, as he released the bindings that kept floor onto the ground and pull him forward roughly.   Thor stumbled to put a foot out and stand, and Loki wasted no time in dragging him forward to the throne.

“Sit, boy.”  Loki ordered and Thor cast Loki an almost quizzical glance but obliged, clearly curious.  The bindings on his arms split apart as Thor’s collar seemed to meld partially into the back of the throne and forced him to remain perfectly upright while his arms and wrists found the throne arms and seemed held in place.  Thor’s legs too seemed bound to the chair and left him in a position that mimicked the throne itself.

Loki gave Thor a smug glance before he sat in his brother’s lap and lounged against him lazily.  Thor made more muffled attempts to speak that went ignored.  Loki conjured a book as he pressed against Thor’s chest and adjusted himself against Thor, quite intentionally rubbing a certain at attention spot between his brother’s thighs.  Thor gave a muffled groan and Loki smirked as he settled in.  “This book may take an hour or so to finish…I’m not certain if you’re comfortable, but I certainly am.”  he let his shoulders rub against Thor’s chest as he lazily adjusted himself again and then leaned back in a slightly slouched posture that left his head near Thor’s collar bone.  Loki began to read and after a couple of minutes passed, Thor made a disbelieving noise.

“Oh, did you think I was jesting?  I quite intend to finish this book.  As you apparently need a reminder, chairs are meant to be silent.”

Thor was a little aghast.  This wasn’t something he’d ever imagined or fantasized about, being treated like furniture, let alone by Loki.  And his brother had thought it up and done it so casually.  Had Loki done this kind of thing before?  Did he actually enjoy it or was this all what he thought Thor wanted?  Thor hoped it was the former even though it was a little flattering to think Loki would go so far purely for Thor’s benefit.

Loki rubbed against him and shifted on his lap and Thor’s arousal only grew, uncomfortably painful with the long-held and long-repressed object of his affection currently snuggled against him.  He wasn’t treating Thor as a king, or even a servant now, he’d been reduced to being a bloody chair.  And some part of Thor was angered by it, some part of Thor thought Loki had gone too far, and wanted to end the ‘game’ there.

But mostly he was a little embarrassed and surprised by how much he was enjoying the humiliating and surprising state.  Thor wasn’t able to move, and he could feel the press of his brother’s body keenly as he intermittently shifted and made little murmurs as he adjusted here and there.  At one point, Loki spun to lean his back against Thor’s arm while he slipped his legs over Thor’s other arm.  Loki leaned his head against Thor’s chest, and the posture was oddly reminiscent of Loki seeking comfort from him in their youth.  Thor had loved being Loki’s protector and reliable big brother, he had happily nestled his brother against him and shared affection and warmth.

This was a similar position, in some ways, but with a far different feeling about it.

Loki adjusted again with his hand this time, and Thor grunted into the muzzle as Loki’s hand pressed hard ‘accidentally’ against his arousal which caused a burst of pain and pleasure both to Thor.  The urge to hold his brother was immense and he strained his arms against invisible bonds while Loki smirked into his book.  Loki was aware of his brother’s plight, and in no hurry to do anything about it.

He heard a muffled monosyllabic word from Thor and had a sense that it was ‘Loki’.  Loki glanced up at Thor imperiously.  “You are a terribly noisy chair.”  he chided and Thor’s nostrils flared.  “How does it feel?  Having once been a king, once been the Mighty Thor?  Now little more than a seat for your, as you say, little brother.”  Loki affected a light laugh.  “I could get used to having you like this.  Perhaps use an illusion to look like you, make myself king in your name as I did before.  And you will be my new throne.  Of course, I’ll have to cast an illusion so you look as a normal throne to the others.  But we’ll know, won’t we, brother?”

Thor swallowed hard and a sort of whining noise bubbled up his throat to what seemed their mutual surprises.  His older brother seemed not aware he could make such a sound, given the way his eye widened and his gaze flicked away as if embarrassed.

Loki wasn’t going to let that go.

“My.”  Loki said as he disappeared his book back to his pocket dimension.  He tilted so that his legs were on either side of Thor’s thighs as he straddled his brother’s lap and sat in that way.  “I had no idea being my throne appealed so highly to you.  Being used as nothing but a common object.  Ignored, humbled, a possession of the true king of Asgard.”  He didn’t notice quite the same excitement from that and he wondered if it was something else.  “Ah, but it’s not the king’s possession you wish to be, is it?  It’s mine.  You wish to belong to me.”  Thor’s pupil dilated visibly at that, a clear indication of the little rush those words caused.  “Such revelations this night.”  Loki murmured as he trailed elegant fingers down Thor’s bare chest, cold against hot.  “Tell me, when you were letting that commoner do what only I should ever have been allowed…were you thinking of me?  Imaging I was the one teaching you your place?”

Loki pulled the muzzle off and smirked at Thor, who looked a bit flushed.

“Loki.”  he growled, as soon as his mouth was free, but there was no anger in it.  Far from it.  There was a hunger in the tone and in the way Thor’s hands strained to free from the sorcery binding his arms to the chair.

“Your king.”  Loki corrected and then added slyly as he leaned closer, face inches from Thor’s own as he murmured.  “Your brother.”

Thor cursed and inhaled.  “Do you mean to kill me with your game?”

“Of course not.”  Loki crooned.  “I mean to make use of you for a very long time, now that I know that’s what you really want.”  he taunted.  “What fun we could have had if you had only told me sooner.  Mm, well, better late than never.”

Whatever reaction Loki expected, it wasn’t the sudden, hopeful look on Thor’s face.

“You mean to stay then?  When we reach Midgard?”

Loki stared at his brother a few moments, taken aback by the turn of conversation but he collected himself.  “Didn’t I say so?”

“Yes, but you didn’t say how long.  You haven’t said what you really want to do.”

The bindings on Thor released, and as his arms were freed, he tentatively set them about Loki’s waist, not sure if it was what his brother wanted.

“Perhaps I’ll stay forever.”  It sounded vaguely like a threat as Loki studied Thor’s expression carefully.

Thor brought his hand up to the side of Loki’s face as he ran a few fingers through the curls and tucked them behind Loki’s ear.  “I’d like nothing more.”  he said, as he met his brother’s gaze.

“I’ll likely cause trouble again.”

“That does tend to be a pattern with you.”  Thor agreed.

“I can be very demanding.”

“I am aware.”  Thor said with a chuckle.

“And if you mean me to be your advisor, I expect you to listen this time around.  I won’t have you blustering about and ignoring my excellent advice.”

“I wouldn’t dream of doing otherwise.”  Thor said, amusement mixed with solemnity.

“Good, because I will stab you, king or not.”  Loki warned.

“I expect nothing less.”  Thor said genially.

Loki eyed his brother with a frown.  “You’re being awfully agreeable.”

“You said you’d stay.”  Thor said, as though it explained everything.

“...It means that much to you, does it?”

”To have my brother back?  It means everything to me.”  Thor admitted, not about to lose the bit of ground he’d finally gained with Loki by hesitating.  He would not fail to make it clear to his brother this time around and give Loki cause to doubt him again.  “I took you for granted before.  I won’t make that mistake twice.”

Loki searched Thor’s expression and found only sincerity alongside his brother’s weariness and hard-won wisdom.  Thor had matured and changed in unexpected ways in Loki’s absence, and it bothered him to have missed it, to not understand how these came about.  “No more Erryl.”  he added, and Thor laughed.

“Naturally.  Why settle for a commoner when I can have a king?”  Thor teased.

“Damn straight.”  Loki said archly before he brought his hand to Thor’s face next to his eye patch as he brushed gentle fingers around it.  “We’ve come so far, haven’t we.”   It wasn’t really a question.

“A long way from the coronation.”  Thor murmured as he let his hand fall to cup Loki’s face, where he brushed his thumb against it lightly.

“A long way from home.”

“They have a saying on Midgard.  ‘Home is where the heart is’.”

Loki’s eyes narrowed slightly, a suspicion creeping over him.  “Mmhm, and where, pray tell, is your heart?”

“I think you know what I meant to answer, and you look like you might stab me if I say it, so…”  Thor made a face of mock-fear, but he was smiling.

“You’re too sentimental for a king.”

”I thought you said my compassion was my strength.”

“I was clearly just trying to make you feel better.”

“Lying on my behalf is better than the alternative.”  Thor reasoned.  

Loki snorted as he brought his hand lower and watched his fingers trail along Thor’s upper chest.  “…And what more than brothers would you have us be?”

Thor considered the question and shrugged.  “Whatever makes you happy, brother.”

Loki made a disgusted face.  “Oh, for Norns’ sake, a proper answer.”

“That was a proper answer.”

“We clearly have different definitions of-”

Thor kissed him, gently at first as though seeking permission and as Loki’s hand slid up Thor’s chest to clasp his neck, more deeply.  The pair kissed for several seconds as Thor’s grip on Loki’s waist tightened, and when they broke away, Loki was left a little breathless that time.  “How does that answer suit you?”  Thor asked, voice roughened with desire and pleasure.

“I think I might like to hear it again.”  Loki said before he kissed Thor roughly, and Thor’s hand moved up to press against the upper part of Loki’s back and bring him close in an iron embrace.

Loki moved up against Thor, brushing his arousal, and Thor groaned into the kiss as his fingers slid up into Loki’s hair and gripped it lightly.

“No need to be so gentle.”  Loki murmured against his lips as he pulled just slightly away.  “We aren’t children anymore.”

“No?  But you’re still such a little brat.”  Thor teased before he kissed away Loki’s response and slipped a hand under his shirt where a quick pinch of Loki’s nipple earned him a moan.  Loki looked startled and Thor grinned as he bumped their noses together.  “I might yet have things to teach you, my king.”

“Gods.”  Loki muttered as he brought his hands up to either side of Thor’s face and stared at his brother, chest heaving with unrestrained want and quickened breath.  “How did it take so long to get here?”

“Planetary destruction and brotherly murder attempts take time?”

“Brotherly murder attempts?”  Loki growled.  “You bring this up now?”

“You asked.”  Thor teased, and Loki bit his lower lip in punishment while Thor grinned against his mouth.  He stole Loki’s words, used on Asgard when he’d shifted Thor’s form to Sif’s.  “Ooh, brother.  You look ravishing.”

Loki recognized the words, huffed, and then pressed against Thor before he trailed his lips from Thor’s lips to his neck where he licked and then nipped at the pulse point.  “Leaving yourself vulnerable, brother.  Bold of you.”

“I’ll take my chances.”  Thor said as he put his hands on Loki’s thighs near his hips and hiked his brother up firmly against him, giving Loki the higher position.

Loki pressed his forehead to Thor’s as he looked down into his eye.  He took a few seconds before he said.  “Are you sure you want this? …Want me?”

“And you’re supposed to be the clever one.”  Thor muttered as Loki’s eyes narrowed.  “I have wanted you my whole life, little brat.  As my brother,” he kissed Loki’s neck, “As my best friend,” he kissed Loki’s chin, “And…as things more than that.”  Thor kissed his lips, and Loki sighed against him as he returned it.

“I shall need you to elaborate.”  Loki murmured.

“Gladly.”  Thor said as he rose from the throne with his brother in his arms.  Loki’s legs wrapped around his waist as his arms went around Thor’s neck as they kissed their way to the bed.  He set Loki down as he hovered over him, and then gave his brother a speculative glance.  “You are wearing far too many clothes, my king, allow me to help with that.”  he said as he began removing the layers.

“About time.”  Loki said, even as his hands roved over Thor like he couldn’t get enough contact.  But as Thor prepared to move his under shirt, Loki pushed at his shoulders as they paused.

“I am not built like…most Asgardian men.”

“A thousand or so years of being your older brother has taught me that much.”  Thor said, seeming amused and fond.

“I only…” he trailed off.

Thor was a little puzzled.  “You’ve bedded others before, haven’t you?”

“Yes…but none of them…” he muttered the last bit quickly.  “Have been you.”

Thor blinked and then smiled warmly as he lowered to bring his lips to Loki’s cheek and nuzzle against him as he did when they were children, before he brought his lips to the crown of Loki’s head.  “What is your worry?”

Loki was reluctant to admit it, and he glanced away before he glanced back at Thor.  “That you might find reason to be…disappointed.”  he admitted faintly.

Thor laughed and Loki instantly glared as he dug his nails into Thor’s shoulders and tried to shove him off.  “Peace, brother.”  Thor said as he brought his arms around Loki on either side of him.  “I couldn’t help but laugh.  That you think it’s even a possibility you could ever be a disappointment in my eyes.”  Loki swallowed hard at that and watched Thor closely.  “You are a wonder, brother.”  Thor murmured as he began his little game of peppering kisses on Loki as he praised him.

“Clever and witty.”  A kiss near the collar bone.  “A fearsome warrior.”  A kiss near the pulse point on his neck.  “The finest sorcerer of Asgard.”  A kiss at the point between the lower ear and face, which elicited a little moan from Loki.  “Resourceful.”  A kiss to the temple.

”Resourceful?”  Loki asked with amusement.  “How charming.”

Thor grinned against his brother’s head as he brushed his lips down and pulled away to meet Loki’s gaze.  “You are the God of Mischief, but with looks such as yours, you could well have been the God of Beauty.”

“That is disgustingly corny.  But I will accept it.”  Loki said generously.  “What else?”

Thor snorted, but recognized that beneath the demand, lay his brother who had always felt lesser and unloved, who struggled to feel seen and validated.  “You have had my back all of my life.”

“Most of it.”  Loki corrected wryly.

“Aye, most, minx.”

“Minx?”  

“Hush.”  Thor chided as he silenced him with a kiss that had Loki pressing against him till Thor pulled away and Loki faintly pouted at him like a child who had been denied a treat.  “You are wise, and thoughtful.  And I have ever loved the sound of your laugh.”  he cupped Loki’s cheek in his hand and Loki had a nearly pained expression as he leaned into the palm.  “You alone could lift my mood no matter how dark it was.  And you put up with me with remarkable patience.”

“Perhaps I should have been the God of Patience, putting up with you as I have.”  Loki huffed playfully.

“Perhaps.”  Thor agreed as he brought his forehead to Loki’s and bumped their noses again, and Loki stared up at his brother before he pressed a light kiss to the side of his mouth.  “I have needed you by my side always, though I was not always wise enough to recognize that.  And as I have always been honored in having you for my brother and my friend, I would be equally honored to cherish you in any other way you deem to permit.”

“Permit.”  Loki repeated, but there was a faint wetness to his eyes.  “Where did you learn to speak so well, thunderer?”

“From listening to you, probably.  I have paid more attention than you think.”  Thor murmured as he brought his cheek against Loki’s and more or less hugged his brother a moment, and Loki’s arms lifted to slide around his brother’s torso as he gripped him back.  “Gods, I love you, brother.”

Loki inhaled sharply and tilted up as he buried his face in Thor’s shoulder.  “Oaf.”  he said, muffled against Thor’s shoulder and Thor could feel a trace of wetness on his skin from what he knew were a bit of tears.

Thor smiled as he tilted to the side to better embrace Loki, and he rubbed a large, warm hand up and down Loki’s back soothingly.  “You are incredible, Loki.  I mean that truly.  I should have told you sooner.”

“You should have.”  Loki agreed wetly.  “But better late that never.”  he repeated as he made a sound suspiciously like a sniff against Thor’s shoulder.  He pushed suddenly so that Thor was on his back as Loki straddled him.  Loki moved Thor’s hands from him as he entwined his finger’s with Thor’s and pinned them slightly above and next to Thor’s head.  “You know how I am, Thor.  I am not one for sharing.  I prefer things I can name as mine.”

“Oh?”  Thor’s tone was one of exaggerated surprise as he playfully widened his eye.  “I had no idea, brother.  How have you kept such a thing from me this past millennia?”

Loki bared his teeth at Thor a little, a snide move, and then studied his brother.  “And if I decided you were mine?”

“About time.”  Thor said with a smirk.  “Better late than never.”  he repeated both of his brother’s phrases of the evening, and Loki’s grip on Thor’s hands tightened.

“You think you’re clever for that, I bet.”  Loki griped.

“I was thinking I was yours, actually.  But that works too.”

Loki felt a thrill at the words and demanded.  “Say it again.”  

”That works too?”  Thor asked innocently and Loki positively growled, to Thor’s delight and responding grin.

“Thor.”

“There’s the demanding side you told me about.”  Thor teased and Loki glared.  “I am all yours, brother.  For as long as you would have me.”

Loki felt another rush at that and he smirked triumphantly.  “Forever sounds like a nice start.”

“Now who’s the sentimental one?”

“I’ve been listening too.”  Loki teased as he leaned forward.  “You haven’t finished removing my clothes.”  he complained, in a tone fit for speaking to a servant.  A familiar servant.

Thor licked his lips with an amused grin as he complied and removed Loki’s shirt, and he made a show of letting his eye roam over Loki.  “Are you sure you aren’t the God of Beauty?  Perhaps the God of Sex-”

Loki covered Thor’s lips with his mouth, a little surprised by Thor’s teasing but not displeased.  He pulled away enough to meet Thor’s gaze again.  “I suppose you’ll be wanting to the do the honors.”  he said, and Thor seemed puzzled for a moment before it clicked.

“We can proceed however you wish.”  Thor said.

Loki was surprised.  “Wait…really?  Have you…been taken before?”

“No.”  Thor said.  “I’ve been waiting for my king in sorcerer’s robes, have you seen one around, by chance?”

“You are ridiculous.”  Loki complained, belied by the wide smile on his lips.  “But truly, Thor…”

Thor’s expression grew more serious even as his tone grew more playful, and he brushed his thumbs against the back of Loki’s hands entwined with his own.  “I would never let another man take what belongs to you, brother.”

“You picked the strangest time to use that endearment.”  Loki laughed.

“We’re always, brothers, isn’t that what you said?  So how can any time be strange?”

”Fair point.”  Loki conceded.  “As well as the point about taking what’s mine…I suppose I would be inclined for you to take what’s yours as well.  Whenever I permit you to be a king again.”

“Permit.”  Thor repeated as Loki had, continuing the game of using each other’s words against each other playfully.  “I should be so lucky.  And what is mine to take, exactly?”

“I think you can figure it out.”  Loki said as he laid his chest on Thor’s, and smirked against his lips as he brought them together.

“According to you, I’m an oaf and a fool.  I think I need to hear it.”  Thor tried, and Loki snorted.

“I suppose you have a point there too.”  Loki said as he trailed kisses down Thor’s face to his ear where he said lowly.  “I am yours, as you are mine…provided you do a proper job of claiming me.”

“That sounds like a challenge.”  Thor rumbled against Loki’s cheek.

“If you’re up for it.”

Thor brought his hips up against Loki’s rear with a lascivious smirk.  “I am certainly that.”

“Oaf.”

“Brat.”  

The brothers stared a moment before Thor, with his hands still entwined with Loki’s, brought them behind his brother’s back as he pinned Loki against his chest and kissed him soundly.

Mutual claims were made long into the ‘night’, before the brothers lay in each other’s arms snuggled under a blanket.  Thor held Loki close and brushed his lips against his brother’s tenderly, while Loki stroked his fingers over Thor’s scalp and through his short hair.  Thor nuzzled into Loki’s hair next, and Loki laughed.

“You really do like my hair, don’t you?”

“It’s one of your best features.”  Thor murmured.

“Oh?  And what else?”

“Your eyes…your skin…your face…your body...your voice.”  Thor said appreciatively.

“Did you just describe all of me?”

“Your hands.”  Thor added, and Loki snorted.  “I love every inch of you.”  Thor said as he brushed his lips over Loki’s temple and Loki was overcome with a warm, safe feeling, such as he’d not had since he was younger and still hero-worshipped his big brother.

Loki pulled away to look Thor in the eyes as he said, for the first time since Thor’s failed coronation.  “I love you.”

Thor stilled and stared, and Loki watched Thor’s one blue eye grow wet.  “Oh, you giant baby.”  he murmured fondly as he brushed his face against Thor’s before he kissed just under his eye.  A brush of Thor’s tears on his lips that he licked away with something between a smile and a smirk.

“I’ve missed you, brother.”  Thor said earnestly.  “I’ve missed us.”

Loki smiled, certain of his place now, and that he would let no force pull he and his brother apart again, least of all himself…he would need to tell Thor about the Tesseract, amongst other things…but for the moment, he settled on a reminder and a promise as he squeezed his arm around his brother.  “I’m here, brother.”

A soft kiss was exchanged, a returning murmur of ‘I love you’ from Thor, and the brothers fell asleep in each others arms for the first time in centuries.  They had both lost much but in each other, they found enough.