A/N: Ah the start of my long, complicated author's note. Yey. This story is in direct correlation to my other fic, "Your One and Only"; more than one person has expressed interest in reading more and well, I am now obliging. Of course, a first usual few notes though. This fic contains MPREG! Which, if you know a bit about Norse mythology involving Loki, is not out of place.

In the context of the story though, due to the absence of any female frost giants/jotuns in the movie "Thor", it was theorized that there are only male frost giants, therefore they have the ability to reproduce. This begins way before the movie Thor, and is completely AU from "The Avengers", that being so, neither Loki nor Thor know that the result of their relationship is going to produce a child. Currently they still believe they are blood brothers but are pursuing a relationship anyway. Their close friends know about it, but it is generally a secret. The character 'Eir' was created so they had someone to go to. She is supposedly the goddess associated with medical skill.

Feel free to review with questions and I will answer them when I update. I currently am without internet so I apologize if the updates are sporadic. This was originally a roleplay. Half-credit for everything to do with this fic goes to my former roleplay partner.

Heavy In Your Arms

Chapter One

Certainly, Loki had to have been saying something. He and Thor had clearly been talking about something, clearly. They'd been sitting on the steps in the large, golden room for quite some time now, but the subject manner instantly left his head as an intense wave of nausea came over him so quickly that he reached out and grabbed his brother's arm to keep himself steady even in his seated position. "I need a goblet," he said in a somewhat urgent tone, feeling his face go pale, before adding rather ineloquently, "or something."

Detaching his arm temporarily, Thor quickly ran to grab a thankfully empty bowl from the table at the top of the stairs and gave it to his brother before taking a seat by him again. He rested his hands on Loki's shoulders reassuringly. "You don't get sick very often," the blonde said quietly. The younger man had seemed really ill lately and it was starting to worry him.

Taking the bowl gratefully, Loki was hoping to respond before losing his stomach but found he didn't have the time before he was emptying what little food he'd had this morning into the bowl. He took momentary comfort in Thor's touch to his shoulders as he heaved, just wishing it would end because even though it was a relief for his poor churning stomach, it certainly did nothing to help his headache. When he was finally finished, he was hoping to say something remotely intelligent to his older brother but could only manage a tired, "Nngghuh..."

"Do you need to lie down?" Thor asked, brushing a few strands of hair out of Loki's face. He really was unsure about what could be causing his brother to become so sick almost every day. He felt so helpless, unable to do much of anything but sit and watch the dark-haired man's already pale skin turn to almost pure white as he fell more ill.

Loki shook his head and waved his hand dismissively, setting the bowl distastefully next to him and making a repulsed face. "No, I'm fine. I swear. And don't you dare pick me up and make me lie down like you did yesterday because that was extremely out of line."

Making a small smile at that, he moved his hand so it was resting in the small of his brother's back. "I just care about you, Loki. You needed to rest, you were pushing yourself too much." Thor protested with an excuse.

"You don't get to decide that, dear brother," Loki said slyly and poked Thor's nose, uneasily rising to his feet and closing his eyes for a moment to keep from feeling dizzy again. Finally he held his arms out as if in victory. "See? I'm perfectly fine." A few moments later he looked around and murmured, "And hungry..."

"How, may I ask, can you be hungry after that?" Thor said, incredulously, standing as well, worried the younger man might lose his balance. He didn't trust his brother when it came to his health. He knew Loki would rather suffer in silence most of the time.

"I don't know, honestly," he said, making a contemplative face before the urge overtook him again. "...but I physically need a honeyed pheasant. Does Volstaag keep them lying about the castle?" When Loki saw the incredulous look Thor was giving him, he asked blankly, "You're thinking I should see Eir, aren't you?"

"I've thought you should have gone to see her days ago." The blonde replied dryly. Loki's food cravings were getting more and more ridiculous as time went by as well. Thor shook his head. "Do you want me to come with?" He didn't voice the thought in the back of his mind that this might be something very bad; to think that was morbid and he decided to push it aside.

Cocking his head in confusion, Loki moved closer to Thor and let his hand rest on the back of the blonde's neck. "I almost can't believe this but - are you honestly more worried than I am?" This was a rare occurrence - although, admittedly, it only happened when in regards to Loki himself. He continued in an even, soothing tone, "Brother, really. I'll be fine...as long as you get me the honeyed pheasant," he finished in the same tone with a pleading smile.

Laughing quietly, Thor's expression grew soft. Loki really could easily talk people into doing what he wanted them to do. "I'm your older brother, it's my job to worry." He gave the dark-haired man a tight hug before striding off in search of the strange request.

Loki was still in shock from the meeting with Eir, so much so that he couldn't even dampen his facial expression as he headed to tell Thor. He was almost tempted to not tell him, to keep it a secret and somehow figure out how to hide this forever, but he knew he wouldn't be able to despite his talent with mischief and lies. He couldn't do this alone especially since he could barely believe it himself. Rubbing his hand on his forehead and taking deep breaths, Loki pushed open his brother's bedroom door, not even bothering to knock, and let it close shut behind him as he stood in the entryway.

Thor looked up when the door opened, surprised to see Loki standing there. Something was wrong, something was very very wrong. "What happened?" he demanded immediately, his voice staying calm and even regardless.

Looking up to meet Thor's eyes, Loki felt himself actually choking on his words, something that happened next to never. "I..." he shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose, slowly approaching his brother and trying to keep his composure even remotely although it was failing him the more reality was sinking in.

Standing, Thor also walked towards Loki but didn't touch him, nervous and unsure what was going on. A horrible icy feeling washed over him completely. The illness wasn't something normal, he had known it. His brother should have gone to see Eir way before today. "Loki, please." He begged. "Tell me."

"Um," Loki began, sinking into himself slightly and trying to take comfort in Thor's close proximity. He reached out to press a shaking hand over his brother's heart, staring at his fingers as they splayed out, wondering how he could possibly say what Eir told him aloud. It seemed so absurd, but she was right - she had proved to him that she was right, just before he had sworn her to secrecy. "You - you remember those nights?" Loki finally managed, although his voice was tight in his throat and he could barely speak, "When we..."

"Of course I do." The blonde said hurriedly. "How could I forget?" He put his own hand over his brother's, trying to imagine what had shaken Loki so much, but he could come up with nothing but empty theories. This frightened him as well, as much as he didn't want to admit it.

"Well, that's just the thing," Loki breathed, trying so hard to force the words out but found they were stuck and all that would come out were a few choked sounds. He raised his gaze to Thor's, searching them and praying that those eyes could read his own, his hand shifting on his brother's chest to entwine with the fingers over his.

"I'm .. I mean, I don't understand .." Thor admitted, trying to sort out what the fear in his brother's eyes meant but he couldn't see why what they'd done together would make Loki so ill. He squeezed the younger man's hand tightly. "Did I do something to you?" He said the question before he really had time to think it over, but it turned his own stomach slightly to think that he might have caused it.

Immediately, Loki shook his head. "No, it's not...it's not something you did, it's something we..." he stopped himself and closed his eyes again because this wasn't like him and wasn't getting them anywhere. He had to compose himself long enough to get it out, to make it the truth and let Thor know it was real. Then he could have any reaction he wanted. But he had to do this for both of their sakes. "Don't be terrified when I tell you this, the way I was when Eir told me," he said in a low and mostly smooth tone despite a few wavers, "but I'm - " Loki moved their interlocked hands from Thor's chest to his own abdomen, saying more nervously than he'd have liked, "with child."

For a moment, truthfully, Thor's mind went completely and utterly blank. This was not possible. Not at all. His fingers trembled slightly where he touched Loki's stomach. His emotions returned, torn in a thousand different directions. How could he have done this to his own brother? The younger man was terrified by this apparent fact, because Eir was never wrong about this sort of thing. He was still having trouble even wrapping his mind around knowing that Loki was carrying his child; but as he began to recover slightly, his first reaction wasn't even about this .. miracle or disaster depending upon how you looked at it .. it was about his brother. "Loki .. are you okay, though? Are you going to be okay?" He had to know that before he could move on.

Having said it himself, Loki felt his body start shaking with the reality and knowing Thor would be able to feel it, so despite the fact that he wanted to set his jaw and lie through his teeth because he hated being this vulnerable to anyone, even his brother, he knew it would be worthless. "I don't know," he said in a voice that was barely there. "I really don't know."

If anything could ever break his heart, that was something that did. Knowing that he had done something to hurt Loki pained him more than he thought possible but he had to keep it together. At the very least he could be there for his brother. He kept his hand pressed where it was, looking down at it as he spoke. "If there's anything I can do to help, I'll do it for you. Just tell me what you need." His voice cut off slightly at the end. He could offer that much. It completely eluded him on what else could be done to solve the problem.

Loki closed his eyes and let out a breath, his head a whirlwind of confusing thoughts that were moving faster than he could express outwardly. He could barely make sense of them in his head especially as he felt his frame shake slightly more with the mental overload, and the younger brother just let his subconscious speak because it was the only thing that knew what he really wanted amidst his cluttered thinking, "...please just kiss me."

Thor didn't waste time pulling his brother close and kissing him. He pressed his eyes shut tightly, his head still spinning at what had just been revealed. It occurred to him that he had no clue how anyone else would react to this but at the moment his only concern was Loki. Though, even at that he felt kind of helpless.

There was a strange sort of comfort at his brother's lips on his, the kiss genuine but gentle although the hold on Loki was firm and protective. It was a combination that he'd always had a weakness for and knew would always. Loki's feelings for Thor were difficult only when others were brought into the picture, but when it was just the two of them, it was raw and bare and exactly what he needed at this moment to settle the shock, at least to a manageable extent. He threaded his hands through the light locks and kissed him even more passionately.

It had been a very long time since Thor even thought about the fact that he was in love with his brother and that that was supposed to be wrong. It was all too evident though to him now, even as he kissed Loki back just as hard. It still didn't bother him; all he knew was that he loved the younger man and wanted to be with him regardless of what was 'right' or 'wrong' ... but he did feel guilt well up inside him at this. How was he supposed to know it was even possible? Yet still, he did blame himself for the trouble they were facing together now.

Reluctantly pulling away from the kiss, having helped his thoughts settle into a tangible line, Loki breathed against Thor's lips as if reading the emotions on the older brother's face, their noses pressed gingerly together, "This isn't your fault. It was a choice we made together...of course we couldn't see the consequences. We didn't know. But this is just as much mine as it is yours."

Thor let out a soft sigh. His brother's reassurances were touching, but he couldn't wholly believe them. He left another light kiss on the dark-haired man's lips and gave him a weak smile. "We'll both get through this somehow." He answered, again brushing back a little of Loki's hair.

"I know, Brother," Loki breathed, subconsciously leaning into the touch. "And I need you," he admitted almost hesitantly. They weren't words he spoke often. Or ever, really. But they were true now all the same - this situation had obviously never applied before.

There was an audible noise when Thor's breath stopped for a moment. He drew another in sharply, holding Loki against him. "I need you too."

Loki dispelled a breath of tension to ease his way from silence, shifting beneath his covers to rest his head on Thor's shoulder just before the crook of his neck, arm draped lazily around his brother. Nothing had happened really, but wordlessly they knew that they both needed to just feel each other's skin and stay near, to give them both any hope of processing this because their daily charades had done them no good besides simply letting it sink in further. "Thank you for coming," he murmured in a tone that was somewhat exhausted with the knowledge he'd been keeping in his daily life.

"Like I would stay away," Thor murmured, his arm around his brother's back as they lie together. Both himself and Loki had things to do and appearances to keep up with the people they spent time with; and this secret ate away at them, unspoken most of the time. But they had to eventually do something, come to some sort of conclusion. He sighed gently.

A small laugh made its way past Loki's closed lips, letting his eyes fall shut and shifting the position of his face to rest the bridge of his nose against Thor's neck. The position was indeed strangely comforting to him, to the point where he almost didn't want to speak, but the words had repeated themselves so much in his head they were already making their way to the roof of his mouth, sticking there until he finally parted his lips and they came spilling off in a breath, "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know." It was an automatic reply, really. Thor knew they couldn't actually keep the child, even though the thought intrigued him a bit more than it should have. It would have been something Loki and himself had created together, something special even. He closed his eyes tightly for a moment, attempting to force the thoughts from his mind now. There was no reason to think that way, no reason to get attached. "No, Loki. I think we both know. We're going to have to keep it a secret and then give it away .. and then go back to how things were I guess." He frowned.

There was a moment where Loki was as still as he was quiet, although for what reason, he was completely unsure. Nevertheless he nodded and raised his head from Thor's neck, shifting into a better sitting position. "You're right," he said in a serious tone before adding teasingly, "how often does that happen?"

Shifting a little as well, Thor smiled at his brother. "Hey, I'm right more often than not," he insisted. His expression faded to an almost sad one as he gently placed his hand over Loki's bare stomach again. He still really couldn't believe it, but Eir was never wrong. There was still no real clue to him on how this had even occurred, just that it did and they had to deal with it now.

The gentle touch of those calloused fingers to his bare stomach made Loki gasp quietly, his frame giving a slight shudder as he tensed for a brief moment before allowing himself to relax. It was still so fresh to him, that having Thor acknowledge the situation truthfully with that simple touch rapidly made it even more real.

There was a short moment of silence before Thor spoke, not looking up at at the dark-haired man any longer. "You can talk to me if you need to." he offered, knowing if he bothered Loki too much about it, he might just shut himself up tighter instead. But there had to be more to be said, there had to be more things running through the younger man's mind.

"I know," Loki breathed, not looking at his brother but rather the hand that was still on his abdomen, hesitantly covering said hand with his own and clearing his throat. "But I probably won't. If you want me to be honest. Be thankful you even get such a privilege," he added as if trying to lighten the mood but failed at selling it, so the situation simply became more awkward. He shook his head. "Sorry," the younger brother murmured. "This is all too strange to me."

"I assure you," Thor said, attempting to recover a little of the humor his brother tried to inject in the conversation. "This isn't very normal for me either." He moved his hand away to push lightly on Loki's face and kissed him softly. It was typical of the dark-haired man to want to sort out things on his own. He was almost used to it at this point but that didn't stop him from offering.

Loki accepted the kiss graciously, letting it soothe him and help him get his mental bearings. As much as he denied needing any sort of protecting, knowing that Thor would always offer was touching if not irritating on the days when the younger attempted to be fiercely independent. Today was certainly not one of those days. He let himself lie back against his bed, momentarily refusing to break the kiss, his hand resting gingerly on the back of his older brother's neck. Eventually, he pulled away and murmured, "I hate it when you do that. It makes me feel like agreeing to anything."

Thor laughed softly. "Then my plans work on you, don't they?" He ran his fingertips along his brother's face and then cradled it gently, leaving another soft kiss. "You should talk to me." His voice was low, his lips still close to Loki's.

Letting out a purposefully overdramatic protesting noise, Loki squirmed slightly beneath Thor, nipping slightly at the lower lip that was still so close to his own. "I said it makes me feel like agreeing to anything," the younger teased, enjoying some semblance of lighthearted conversation. Searching Thor's genuine eyes, though, the ones that could never lie about how they were feeling, Loki felt himself give in with a sigh. "...I'm terrified, Brother."

Looking back into Loki's green eyes and seeing the true fear there tore the blonde up inside. Guilt still gnawed at him somewhat even though his brother had reassured him multiple times that it wasn't solely his fault. "Would it surprise you to know that I am too?" Thor admitted, his voice barely above a whisper at that confession. He wasn't sure what was going to happen to Loki, after all or how this all worked. It obviously couldn't be exactly the same.

Swallowing and then letting out the barest breath of a mostly humorless laugh, Loki nodded slightly and murmured, "A little bit, I suppose. But not completely." He reached up to tuck a lock of his brother's blonde hair behind his ear. "Most fathers-to-be work themselves into a stupor when they find out." The words tasted strange on his tongue, especially when relating them to describe Thor. 'Father-to-be.' Which the man above him was now, even if they knew it wouldn't stay that way for long.

Those words filled him with a warm feeling he didn't quite understand; but Thor grasped the fact that he couldn't let himself care for this child that wouldn't truly be his in the end. There was no description for what he felt when he thought of what the future could be like. If Loki and himself could leave and actually have a family away from everyone. But that was impossible for both of them. For so many reasons. He needed to instead focus on protecting his brother above everything else. "That's true," he murmured in response to the dark-haired man's statement, his mind still elsewhere. "Loki .. maybe we should talk to Eir again .. about you. About what's going to happen .."

Loki tensed immediately at the thought. "No," he murmured, sitting up slightly on his elbow and holding up the finger of his opposite hand to Thor to describe how much the idea of even thinking about that now uneased him, "no, no no no. No."

"I know, I know," Thor immediately said, his tone soothing. He had half been expecting that sort of reaction. "But we don't know what's going to happen and I don't .. I mean .. I can't let anything happen to you .. if I can prevent it." He knew he was probably starting to annoy Loki with his over-protectiveness, but this wasn't exactly a common problem.

"Thor..." the younger brother warned. "I can - I can take care of that myself. Believe me. I have time to figure out how that's going to happen." Loki made a face and dropped his gaze to his abdomen. "I'm still trying to grasp the abstract concept that there's anything even growing inside of me, let alone how I'm supposed to get it out."

Thor sighed in frustration and shook his head. "You have to go sometime. Even if I have to drag you there myself." He smiled a little at the end to show he was kidding, and hoped Loki couldn't tell that he wasn't entirely joking.

"Ha-ha," Loki began and stole another quick kiss before saying, "and don't think I don't know you actually would. But there's no way you could drag me kicking and screaming without injuring the baby - " He stopped immediately, having spoken before he could really think to choose his words. 'The baby.'

There was a silence where Thor was almost positive neither of them were breathing as their eyes met. "I wouldn't do that," he began. ".. but this may be harder than we thought." He again looked at Loki's stomach. It still looked the same as always really, not even much different. It was hard to even imagine a child was in there, but there was. His and Loki's child. He felt like he was choking on his breath again.

Staring forward and setting his jaw to not let his emotions come to the surface although he was sure they were in his eyes, eventually Loki managed a soft, "Yes. Yes, you're right. It is. And it's going to stay that way." Hesitantly, Loki reached up to take Thor's face in his hands. "But you have to promise me you'll stand by your word. I can keep it hidden and go through with this...as long as you do the same. Can you?"

"I will, I promise." Thor said reassuringly. Really, who would believe him if he did tell them and beyond that even if they did believe him, what would they think? He leaned down to kiss Loki gently, trying to comfort his brother.

Loki hummed into Thor's lips, resting his hand gently on his brother's chest and murmuring into the kiss, "Good, because I'm counting on you for this." Honestly, it was just one thing. One thing - it would be difficult but certainly Thor could manage to keep one thing a secret.

Thor paced back and forth in the hall he was usually in with his friends but it was empty right now. Loki had finally gone to see Eir but he wanted to go alone. The blonde was impatient to find out what Eir had to say in the end but his brother hadn't actually been gone that long. He was distracted enough to not pay attention to footsteps coming towards him.

As Sif approached Thor, she crossed her arms and studied him carefully. He had been incredibly on edge lately, which wasn't like him, especially around Loki. Of course, Loki and Thor being seen together wasn't exactly an oddity by any means, but the air between them made her worried - and also, she'd admit it, downright curious. Seeing her friend like this was just terribly strange to her, he didn't even notice her approaching. "Thor...?" she finally tried when she was in close earshot.

Turning when he heard his name, Thor saw Sif standing nearby. He tried to compose his expression. "Sif, when did you get here?" He managed to smile. "I'm sorry, I was thinking about something and was somewhat distracted ..."

Narrowing her eyes and surveying her friend again, Sif reached out and touched her hand to Thor's forehead as if checking for an abnormal temperature. "Thor, really, are you feeling alright? You're worrying us lately. Something is wrong," it wasn't a question.

Thor stepped back, 'I'm fine' almost immediately making it's way out of his mouth before he paused and shook his head. Sinking down to sit on the steps in the room, he said nothing. Yes, he had promised Loki to not say anything, but trying to lie to Sif was almost pointless. She'd know.

Sif slowly let her hand fall to her side as she watched Thor back away from her and sit down silently. Silently. Her worry lost it's teasing tone and turned fully legitimate despite having already been bothering her immensely. She carefully moved to sit next to him, tucking her dress beneath her and resting her hands comfortingly on Thor's shoulders. "It's just me. If there is something truly wrong, you shouldn't keep it inside. It does you no good there and it terrifies the rest of us."

"This .." Thor began but dropped off. It took a moment for him to pick it back up but he still couldn't find words. "This isn't something I can just tell you, Sif, or I would. You know I would." He didn't meet her eyes at all.

"But why?" She felt urgent but managed to keep her tone soothing. "Why the secrecy? Is something dangerous happening to you?" Sif's mind searched for so many possibilities of whatever it could be that was so intense that Thor couldn't even tell her, and she didn't like any of the results that her brain came up with. Against her better judgment she asked quietly, "Did Loki put you up to this?"

"I can't talk about it." Thor quickly reiterated, realizing his fast answer probably gave it away. "Really, you don't want to know this. And I don't even know what you'd think if you did know. It's better this way."

"Valhalla, it is Loki," Sif said tensely, forcing Thor to look at her and keeping her hand at his face to enforce his gaze not to stray. "What's he doing? And how is it you get to decide if it's better if the people most loyal to and caring of you get to know or not?"

"It's not his fault, if anything it's my fault." Thor mumbled at first. He knew he had promised Loki to say nothing but .. this was Sif, it wasn't just anyone. "If I tell you, you can literally not tell anyone, anyone at all, okay? I'm serious." He gazed back intensely into her eyes.

For a moment Sif wasn't sure how to respond to such a grave request - Thor was deadly serious and apparently dead set against any type of blame. This wasn't a side she'd ever seen and she needed to know both for her own sanity and for what appeared to be Thor's sanity as well. "Of course," she said honorably accompanied with a warrior's nod. "No one will know, I promise you."

"Loki isn't here because he's seeing Eir." Thor said, unsure how to even remotely complete what he wanted to tell her. He opted for as few words as possible, gritting his teeth as he said the last part. "He's having a .. a child."

There was a small silence as Sif tried to first process the words and then figure out how the heck Loki had managed to have yet another affair when she had seen him with Thor almost constantly. For a moment, she wondered why her friend would even be upset about this before it clicked. "Oh..." it came off of her lips quietly, more awkward silence hanging in the air before she managed, "who...who's the mother then? Do you just secretly want to bash her head in?"

Shaking his head, Thor again tried to find words for what he wanted to say, especially at her incorrect assumption. "There is no mother." he murmured, not even knowing if she'd understand that at all.

"What?" Sif asked, her face the perfect picture of confusion because now Thor was just speaking nonsense to her. The words themselves made sense, but they didn't come together in any sort of context that even existed. "What do you mean there's no mother, Thor, there has to be a..."

Thor shook his head no and looked at her darkly. "That's what I'm trying to say."

Sif blinked at Thor for what felt like ages, letting the pieces of nonsense fall into the only crevice that seemed to fit, before she began laughing nervously. "Hah, that's - that's really funny, Thor. Come on now, what is the problem, really. You honestly had me worried for...a..." she trailed off, realizing that he wasn't laughing with her. For a moment, she choked on her words and moved slightly closer to him to really look into his eyes, almost afraid to even entertain this idea as a potential reality, "...heavens, are you serious?"

"Very much so." Thor looked away then, crossing his arms. "I honestly didn't know it was even possible." Again his voice dropped low enough that he was almost only talking to himself. "Was there something I could have done to prevent this?" That same regret returned again to torment him.

"Thor," she began, although she had no clue how to finish what she assumed was going to be a comforting sentiment because really her mind was still being assaulted by the fact that apparently Loki was with child - with Thor's child. It simply wasn't possible, and yet since her friend just said something showing his own former disbelief of the possibility, it meant it had to be true. Which made sense. Somehow. In her mind. At least it was a way for her to process it. "Of course there wasn't anything you could have done to prevent it. How could you have known?"

Unable to shake off the feeling that he was responsible for everything, Thor simply shrugged and changed the subject a little. "You really cannot tell anyone. I'm not even sure what's going to happen if .. or when .. Loki finds out that I told you."

"Oh, you mean like right now?" Loki's voice came seemingly out of nowhere, standing in front of Thor and Sif with his arms crossed and a judgmental eyebrow raised at his older brother specifically.

Sif practically snapped her head to Loki when she heard his voice. Oh, hell, this was just far too much for her brain to handle. She knew she should come to Thor's aid somehow, but she'd just found out an impossible secret and now she was in trouble for it, and on top of that all she could really do was concentrate on Loki's abdomen because holy shit there was someone growing inside there. It made any attempts at vocal dissuasion completely void.

"When Loki finds out I told you," Thor sarcastically corrected himself. He elbowed Sif slightly and hoped she would stop staring awkwardly at Loki's stomach. "Sif was really worried, I needed to tell her."

"Really, Brother, we agreed on one thing. One thing!" Loki attempted a forced laugh as he said this and held out his index finger to Thor, about to say something more when he was interrupted by Sif leaning over to her friend and murmuring quietly, seemingly having composed herself in the last few moments,

"Ah, so the mood swings have started already, I see."

"Hush, you" he said forcefully, narrowing his eyes, his accusatory finger having moved to point at Sif. "Not funny."

"Actually, it kind of is," she said, attempting to sound sheepish about it but there was definite amusement in her eyes now that the initial shock had worn off and she resumed her role as being actually helpful to Thor.

"Look, Sif is .. taking it fairly well, so it's nothing to worry about. You know, it's really hard to keep this in forever. I needed someone to talk to. And you don't like to talk." Thor managed to point out, somehow keeping himself from laughing at Sif.

Closing his eyes, Loki took a deep breath and counted to ten in his head, which surprisingly worked. Who would have thought that would have been the result. "Look," he said in a calmer tone when he opened his eyes, moving to sit at Thor's other side on the steps. "Do you want to hear what happened with Eir or not?"

Sif looked between the two and felt slightly out of place at Loki's suggestion. "...do you want me to leave you two alone?"

"It's not necessary since you already know," he said with a shrug and another pointed look at Thor.

"Yes, of course I want to know what happened with Eir," Thor insisted, trying to ignore that his tone of voice changed sometimes when he was dealing with Loki. He couldn't hide the fact that this was constantly on his mind, that he was always worrying about his brother. It made him feel sort of weak, but he didn't know how to deal with it any other way.

For a moment, Loki rubbed his forehead and let out a quick breath, formulating everything in his brain. Although they were always in close proximity, Thor and Loki tried not to be overtly affectionate in public due to the taboo (even though many knew anyway), but despite that he found himself linking his hand with his brother's almost subconsciously - and he noticed that Sif's eyes immediately shot to the point of contact, further illustrating the rarity. "First off," he began, "right now everything is fine. She assured me that we're both healthy, but she said she needed to do some research to figure out how to deal with the future, which completely confused me, because honestly...when does this happen and where the hell could she possibly find research?" Loki waved dismissively to push aside his confusion on that subject, because there were more pressing matters and he didn't want to waste his breath. "But whatever."

Thor let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad everything is alright." He squeezed his brother's hand, keeping their fingers locked. "And I don't know where she'd look either." He puzzled over that but he had literally never heard of this happening before.

"Right? Thank you, I feel validated," he responded with a wild gesture of his free hand to illustrate his confusion, squeezing Thor's with his other in return.

"You can add me to the list of confused people," Sif piped up, trying to not look too intrigued at how this all managed to work, and Loki offered a brief thanks before continuing.

"As is to be expected, though...yes, it's dangerous. The whole situation is particularly dangerous, and she is really not thrilled with the idea that I have her keep it a secret, but eventually she agreed. We do have time, yet, although admittedly not as much time as I expected or was hoping for, but she wants to see me often to monitor my progress. And update me on whatever she finds concerning how we're going to make this happen." Loki was honestly surprised that he managed to relay everything to Thor and Sif, although keeping a calm demeanor and trying to sound businesslike certainly helped him. He didn't want to get too emotionally attached to the situation, positively or negatively. It needed to just remain something he had to deal with, rather than have an opinion on.

Nodding at first, Thor paused. "Are you actually going to let me come with you next time?" he murmured lightly. As confident as Loki sounded, he knew his brother wasn't on the inside. Even though everything was fine for now, he was sure they were both still worried.

Loki choked on his response for a moment, scratching the back of his neck and letting his hand loosely fall from Thor's. "I...I'm not sure," he admitted awkwardly.

"At least think about it." Thor frowned, crossing his arms.

"I have," he responded quickly. "And I'm just not sure if it's such a good idea."

"Loki," Sif stepped in with a definitive and yet also soothing tone. "You should let him be part of this. If you don't want to go through it alone the worst thing you can possibly do is shut him out - can't you tell how much it's affecting him as well?" She was met with a contemplative silence from Loki, who looked away from them both and clicked his tongue against his teeth.

"She has a point." The blonde began before dropping his voice down a little lower. "Why do you want to push me away so much?"

Feeling himself tense at the question but not quite even understanding why himself, Loki looked between Thor and Sif and just shook his head before standing. "Not here," was all he could manage to whisper. He waved dismissively at the two friends on the steps, mumbling some excuse that he needed to lie down, before stalking out of the room to go truly figure out the answer.

Shaking his head, Thor turned to look at Sif. "I don't understand him sometimes. Even though he's my own brother."

"I know," Sif said comfortingly, patting Thor's back and briefly looking towards the exit. "He'll come around," she said fairly confidently. "I know he will. Just remember that Loki doesn't just throw words about the way we do, they're far too important to him - he probably just needs time to collect himself before attempting to talk. I mean really once he does get going does he ever stop?"

"I suppose you're right." Thor conceded. It still bothered him that Loki closed himself off so much though. He didn't know what kind of thoughts ran through the younger man's head sometimes; he couldn't even guess.

"Of course I'm right," she reiterated and patted Thor's cheek, hoping to cheer him up at least a little. "Everything's going to be fine, no matter what you both think."