Chapter Text
The day of Thor's coronation finally arrives.
Loki cannot quite comprehend the difference these last few months have made—that he had first had all of his worst suspicions about himself confirmed, only to let all of his anger and jealousy go at nearly the same time.
He did not realize it until now, but he had never thought he would live to see his brother King.
Crowned, certainly, but not a King.
There is an empty space on the steps where Loki is supposed to be, but he grins as he leans against the back wall of the throne room. He has missed the introductions and all his cues, but he has made it in time to watch the crown get passed down, and he much prefers watching from the shadows in any case.
Let Thor have his light—Loki no longer needs it.
There is plenty enough sun on Midgard for everyone.
* * * * *
He had once gone directly up to Victor von Doom during the middle of a battle to question him on the singular integration design of magic and robotics used to make his DoomBots.
The strangest thing about it, perhaps, had been that Doom had stopped fighting to accommodate him. Fury had needed to send in Steve to pry Loki away from his meeting of the minds with Doom before he gave the super-villain any ideas.
At times like that Steve would remember exactly what he had gotten himself into. Then there were the other times—when Loki would be delighted by the strangest things, like a fireworks display or a ball point pen.
Loki had taken to their world rather well, all things considered. It was a constant source of amusement to Tony that Loki fit in better than Steve.
Steve thinks that might be debatable, but Loki certainly fit in better on Earth than the Avengers did on Asgard.
He sighs as he watches Bruce trying to surreptitiously scan pretty much anything he can with his supped-up Starkphone, while Tony tries to hit on an Asgardian warrior woman that's about two heads taller and nearly twice as wide. He'll keep an eye on that, but if it comes to a fight Steve decides Tony's on his own.
Natasha and Clint would almost be the ones he doesn't worry about, except believing that has gotten him into trouble more than once. They stand back to back, their wary eyes surveying the Asgardians with distrust. Steve had forced them to give up about three weapons each before going in the Biforst, which meant they still had at least twelve left between them.
"Stop being a soldier," Loki whispers in his ear. "They can do no harm here."
"They could do plenty," Steve says, narrowing his eyes at them all. "Why did you want to bring us again?"
"Because of all the things you can do," Loki says, his tone bordering on gleeful as he watches the Asgardians trying to navigate their way around the mortals.
"You just like to cause trouble," Steve accuses.
"It is a talent," Loki admits. "I had much worse things planned for Thor's coronation the first time around. Believe me, this is nothing. They're getting off easy."
"And we're very glad to hear it," Frigga says wryly, coming up behind them on Odin's arm. "Loki, darling, you're late."
"I arrived just exactly in time," Loki denies. "Right before Thor was crowned, and just after his speech."
"It was a good speech, brother," Thor booms, appearing out of nowhere to throw his arm around him. "You should have been there. I spoke very well."
"I'm sure your elocution was as precise as always," Loki says. "If not necessarily the arrangement of your chosen words."
"Well, it is of no matter." Thor grins at him happily, though Loki suspects he's caught the insult and simply does not mind it. "You are here now, and you have brought your friends!"
"Thor, you're needed in the banquet hall," Fandral calls. "We are about to have another toast!"
"I will be right there," Thor yells back, before turning to Loki. "I would speak with you before you leave, if you are able."
"You are crowned now," Loki says. "You could simply command it."
"Loki," Thor sighs. "I am asking as your brother."
"Then as your brother, I promise to make every effort possible," Loki says, his voice infused with a sincerity so genuine it might well have been false.
"Good." Thor grins. "Then let us drink!"
Frigga watches Thor go with long-suffering amusement, before turning back to her younger son. "Must you be cruel to your brother even on his coronation?" she chides.
"It's not as though anyone else would dare to do it," Loki replies, taking a flute of ambrosia from the table beside him. "It'll do him some good."
"I will not fight with you today," Frigga says wryly. "If only because I fear you may be right."
Frigga pauses as she notices Odin tense, and glances over at him. He and Loki had never quite resolved the rift that had grown between them. For all of her son's brilliant way with words, he never seemed to use his charm on Odin anymore—something had happened, when he found out he was adopted, and he's stopped trying to win Odin's approval altogether.
Frigga fears it is because he no longer believes it to be something he can attain, and Odin is all but useless in providing reassurance. Frigga has tried countless times to explain to Loki that his origin does not matter, that he is just as much their son as Thor. She thinks he believes she believes it, but that he does not quite trust Odin to think the same.
It might not have been an issue if Loki had remained on Asgard, where Odin could at least display through his actions that nothing had changed—but her son was determined to play hero on Midgard, a pastime she would have thought Thor more suited to than Loki.
Though she wonders if she would have been wrong, because her son looks happy in a way she can't remember seeing for centuries. The mischievous glint in his eyes is playful again, instead of malicious—his tricks haven't changed, but perhaps the intent behind them has.
"Steve," Frigga says pleasantly. "I need another drink. Would you escort me?"
Odin flashes her a wary glance, but Loki just smirks because he is well aware of what she is doing. She smiles sweetly at them both.
"Of course," Steve says obligingly, and she lets go of Odin to take his arm and lead him away.
"I think your mother wishes us to talk," Odin says.
"It's almost as though she doesn't know very well that it is our preferred method of battle," Loki says.
"I do not wish to fight with you," Odin protests. "Though I do wonder if you had to bring quite so many of your 'Avengers' with you here."
"They are my family," Loki says simply.
"They are mortal," Odin disagrees.
"I have it on rather good authority that family is more than simple blood," Loki says slyly. "Wouldn't you agree?"
Odin watches Loki steadily, and Loki's smile fades under his gaze. He has never been very good at withstanding his father's attention. "Will you never forgive me?"
"It's very unlike a King to ask for forgiveness," Loki says.
"I am no longer King," Odin says. "The crown has passed to your brother."
"You will always be King," Loki denies. "The crown does not do nearly so much as the head that wears it."
"Can you not give me a straight answer?" Odin asks softly.
"I could, but I learned from my father a long time ago how to evade them," Loki says. "He taught me never to give my emotions away."
"Then he was a fool," Odin says. "And you should forgive him."
Loki turns his sharp green eyes at his father, assessing him slowly. "If that is true, then it is only by a fool's wisdom that I have survived."
"Look at us," Odin says, grinning wryly. "We cannot admit our feelings even now. Instead we speak in riddles."
"There is nothing wrong with a riddle, father," Loki says, and raises his glass. "So long as its meaning is understood."
* * * * *
"It's amazing, ma'am," Steve says.
Frigga watches him with amusement. "You may call me Frigga," she says. "You are, after all, practically family."
Steve reddens slightly, trying to shrug it off as he glances back to do a quick mental inventory of his teammates and their positions. "Frigga then," he says politely.
"Do I make you nervous?" she asks slyly. "Loki has assured me you are an extremely powerful warrior, and I have seen you brave the heart of the Tesseract itself."
"No, it's not that," Steve says, sounding apologetic. "This is just sort of overwhelming. I didn't really get to take it in last time I was here, and Loki, he's just—he's so different from Thor, and I don't think I really considered him part of this place until now."
Steve swallows hard and looks away. "I just can't help feeling that Loki belongs here. That I'm taking him from his destiny—" he trails off.
"You have taken him from his destiny," Frigga agrees easily. "It's the thing I like most about you."
Steve looks up in surprise. "What?" he asks.
"You have nothing to prove to us, Captain Rogers," Frigga says. "You have already given to me all the proof I need of your worth."
"Thank you," he says quietly. "But I know you don't approve, you know, of Loki and I, and—"
"Who says I do not approve?" Frigga asks curiously.
"Well, it's just sort of assumed, I guess," Steve says. "By pretty much everyone."
"Your friend who wears the Iron," Frigga decides.
"Mostly, yeah," Steve says wryly.
"I would be a fool not to approve of you," Frigga says after a moment. "You make my son happy, and I do not think you truly understand how remarkable a thing that is—fate has been nipping at Loki's heels his entire life, trying to drag him into the dark. You brought him out into the light."
Frigga eyes assess Steve carefully, and he finally forces himself to meet them head on. He hadn't found it hard to believe that Thor and Loki were not blood-related, but he does not think he would have ever suspected Frigga was not Loki's birth mother. Her eyes have that same depthless intelligence that sinks into his mind, ghosting across his soul and cataloguing everything that is found there in case she may need it again.
Steve had been so worried about coming here to meet the King, but he's starting to suspect he should have been far more worried about Asgard's Queen.
"I owe you more than I can ever repay," Frigga assures him. "However, that does not mean I should not try. Ask for something—anything—and I will do my best to give it to you."
"There's nothing I need," Steve says at once. "But thank you all the same."
"You did not even hesitate." Frigga's lips twitch upwards. "Gold is valuable on your world, is it not? We have so much of it that it is woven into our clothes. You could have asked for that."
"I don't mean to offend you," Steve assures her, holding her gaze. "But the only thing I want from this world is Loki."
"That is a very good answer," Frigga says. "I cannot give him to you, but then I suspect he is already yours."
"I don't know if he'll ever belong to anyone," Steve says, smiling slightly. "But I'll take what I can get."
"I am very glad my son found you," Frigga says, though she knows, Loki always would—what had worried her was what would happen then. She turns, shaking the visions away, and smiles at Steve again. "Though it would be nice if our son were to visit us sometime. Thor had received some semblance of a promise that he would do so, but with Loki there is always a way out of a promise. I would give anything to see my son for dinner at least once in one of your months."
"I'll speak to him," Steve says. "I certainly wouldn't mind visiting here again."
"You are of course welcome any time," Frigga says at once. "Even Odin would have no objection to your presence, though he is wary of some of your friends."
"I'm wary of some of my friends," Steve says.
"You should be wary of all of them," Loki says, as he wanders back over to join them. "They're wildly unpredictable. It's why I like them so much."
Steve half rolls his eyes as Frigga watches her son with long-suffering fondness. "How did it go with your father?" she asks. There was no reason to dance around the subject with Loki—he was much too good at it.
"We wept like children in each other's arms," Loki says flatly.
"You think you're being clever." Frigga stares him down. "But I have long known how to see through your lies, to the truth that lay behind them."
"Think you could teach that trick to me?" Steve asks.
"It's his eyes," Frigga says, ignoring Loki's frustrated glance. "They never lie."
"Not everyone sees so clearly as you, mother," Loki reminds her.
"Perhaps not," Frigga says knowingly. "However, I think you'll find that your chosen is up to the task."
Loki glances between his mother and Steve in concern. "I do not know how I feel about the two of you getting along," he decides. "I feel as though I should be worried."
"Turnabout is fair-play, is that not one of your new sayings?" Frigga laughs at him. "And you've certainly worried me enough to last the next millennia."
"She wants us to come to dinner once a month," Steve explains. "I told her that would be great."
"You told her—" Loki narrows his eyes. "We can hardly afford to make plans. Your tiny little world is plagued with all sorts of villainy, and I have sworn to protect it."
"We can take a night off once and awhile," Steve decides.
"It's so nice to have someone reasonable to speak with," Frigga says. "It is decided."
"I can't believe you've been plotting against me," Loki says.
"Well, darling, I can hardly let you have all the fun," Frigga says, kissing him quickly on his temple before walking off to find her husband.
* * * * *
Asgard itself was as unchangeable as the stones that it was built of.
Steve senses it and grabs his wrist, tugging him out onto one of the balconies. They sit down together by the edge, looking out over Asgard.
"Should we slip away home, do you think?" Loki asks
"And leave the rest of the Avengers on Asgard?" Steve asks incredulously. "They'd level the place."
Loki shrugs, pressing his forehead against the railing to look down. The drop is a long-way down, though the grounds of the palace glitter deceptively like it wouldn't hurt. That was the trouble with Asgard. It lied so well Loki was branded a trickster when mostly he'd just told the truth.
"It's just so strange being back," Loki says. "I'm closer to my family than ever but this place—"
"We don't have to come back," Steve says quietly. "If you don't want to, we won't. I just thought maybe it would be good for you."
"You're probably right," Loki says. "But I've rarely done what's good for me."
"That's what you've got me for," Steve says. "So dinner with the parents then, alright? What do I need to know? And should I bring my shield?"
There is a laugh behind them, and they look up to see Thor. "You should indeed, Steve," Thor says. "I have often thought to brave the darkness of Svartalfheim rather than face a royal dinner."
Steve tenses. "Is King Odin that terrifying?"
"Father?" Thor laughs. "It is my brother that causes the trouble."
"Did you need something?" Loki asks, glaring up at him.
Thor's grin slips. "I was hoping we could speak."
Steve clears his throat and climbs to his feet. "Well, I better go make sure Tony hasn't snuck off to try and break into the vault." He looks back at Loki carefully. "Just come find me when you're ready, okay? And we'll go home."
Loki nods and Thor drops down beside him, clumsily taking Steve's place.
"Home?" Thor asks quietly. "Is this not still your home?"
"Are we meant to have only one?" Loki asks. "If we are, then is not mine on Jotunhiem?"
"Why is it you always answer questions with questions, when you know very well what it is I mean?" Thor asks, glancing back at him. "Are you ever coming back?"
"Are you asking if we are ever going to be like we were?" Loki asks. "I certainly hope not. Don't you?"
"You're doing it again," Thor says. "Please at least answer me this, Loki. Are you happy on Midgard? With Steve?"
"Yes," Loki says softly. "Perhaps for the first time in my life."
Thor looks wounded. "Have I been such a horrible brother?"
"You were pretty awful," Loki says, as he nudges Thor to soften the truth. "But then, so was I."
Thor purses his lips, pulling slightly away. He looks out over Asgard and Loki frowns, unused to his brother not pushing back. They had their own way of verbal sparring—Loki would tease him and Thor would blunder on ahead ignoring him, not half as oblivious as he would like everyone to think.
"Thor, what is the matter?" Loki asks. "What did you wish to speak to me about?"
"I had been planning to ask you to stay," Thor says.
Loki goes tense, swallowing hard as he wraps a hand around the banister. Thor winces and looks away, because Loki looks like he's just been challenged for battle.
"I don't think I have the heart to ask it of you now," Thor continues. "As much as I worry I cannot do this alone."
"Cannot do what alone? Rule?" Loki asks. "Thor, you have been raised for this. You have been meant for this your entire life, and you have never been afraid of anything."
"I know how much you have been through, Loki, by learning who you are," Thor says. "I do not mean to claim my circumstances are near to yours, but I am not the same person that I was. I have changed too."
"I know you have," Loki says. "Do you think I would let you become King, if you were not ready?"
"No, I don't suppose you would," Thor says, smiling sadly. "Perhaps I am ready, but am I worthy?"
"If you've learned enough to question it, then you are," Loki says.
"It is not so ago I would not have questioned it. I always thought I understood what was needed of me, but things have never been what they seemed," Thor says.
"The people of Asgard are your primary concern and they are as they have always been," Loki says. "For better or worse they have not changed. What are you truly worrying over?"
"I just keep thinking of our childhood," Thor says. "Do you remember when Freyja's necklace was lost in the wilds of Asgard? Father sent us to recover the Brísingamen from the caverns by the lake, and promised a feast in the honor of whoever should find it first. I did not realize at the time that it was a test. But you did."
"Of course it was a test. It is always a test," Loki says. "Thor—"
"I think that was when things started to change between us," Thor says quietly. "I think it was the first time we were on opposite sides."
"I remember," Loki says, trying to cut the story off in its tracks. Thor won't let him.
"I left before you were awake," Thor says. "I fought my way through the Bilgesnip to the cavern Freyja thought she had left it. I was injured and tired and triumphant, because I had reached it first."
"Why are you thinking of this now?" Loki demands.
"Because I don't think I've ever told this story right," Thor says. "I always thought myself the hero of it."
"You are always the hero of the story," Loki says.
"How could I have been? You were the one to truly reach it first," Thor says. "You had followed the trails of its magic and crept through the cavern unnoticed. You were halfway to the city with it when I found you."
Thor looks over at his brother with regret. "I thought myself so cheated and believed I was justified in my anger. I turned it all on you and I expected—I don't know what I expected, for you to agree, for you to gladly turn the necklace over to me." He laughs. "I was so surprised that you were angry, too."
"I was always angry then," Loki says. "That was just the day I tired of pretending that I wasn't."
"I couldn't understand then why you would be, but I realize now it was because you had not cheated at all. You always just did everything so swiftly, and with such ease, that none of us could accept it as anything but a cheat."
"I was cheating, Thor," Loki says. "It's the only way I know how to win."
"Sometimes I think you were always the most honest of us all," Thor contradicts. "I still remember when you threw that necklace at my feet and told me to take it. You had this look in your eyes like you could destroy me with but a thought. Even with the Tesseract wrapping itself around your mind, you did not look at me like that."
"It is in the past," Loki says. "And I never tried to destroy you, you got the necklace in the end and the feast was in your honor and not mine. It went just as it always did. There is no reason to worry over it now."
"But I do. I fear that I have never appreciated your talents properly." His brother looks away, his blue eyes holding a seriousness that did not suit them. "I never told you for fear of speaking it aloud, but I had a dream that night that we were enemies."
"I think maybe we were," Loki says. "I thought I wanted what you had."
"If you want the crown, brother, you only have to ask," Thor says. "I would give it to you."
"You really would, wouldn't you?" Loki laughs. "Perhaps you haven't learned as much as I thought." He turns his eyes back towards the water. "Father may have said we were both born to be Kings, but I was never meant for a throne. My mistake was thinking what I was meant for was something less—but we each have our parts to play."
"And what is yours?" Thor asks.
"I'm not sure yet," Loki says, and grins. "But I think I'm going to enjoy searching it out."