runnerfivestillalive:

The Finer Things

The tesseract dropped them on Asgard, a short walk from the city.

Thor doesn’t want to look at his brother. It hurts too much. He’s alive, as Thor had wished so many times, but even madder than before. mad and dangerous.

He takes his arm and pulls him toward the palace. Loki’s too good at slipping him mid-flight to risk anything faster.

Loki risists his pull, but not as if he wants to escape. As if-

It doesn’t matter what he wants. It stopped mattering.

But Loki keeps shrinking back, dragging his feet. Thor finally looks at him, scowling, and Loki can barely meet his eyes. He just pulls them back.

Thor clenches his jaw, and marches forward. He’ll drag Loki, if he has to.

Loki’s hands shoot out, touch Thor’s side, and Thor can almost feel his words. ‘Wait wait wait!’

Thor looks back at him again. Loki gestures for the muzzle to come off.

Thor turns away.

Loki jerks back hard, and even tries to trip Thor.

Thor snarls at him, and Loki gestures for him to take the muzzle off. A princely, imperial demand.

Well. No reason not to, here. Thor sighs, and complies.

“What?”

Loki takes his time, stretching his jaw, and breathing deep, trying to be irritating. But Thor can see that embarrassment that hides around his eyes when he has to ask for something.

“Can we just… walk slowly?”

Thor frowns. “Are you hurt?”

“No. I…. Can we?” He looks up, and closes his eyes, and for just a moment looks peaceful. “There was no sun there. There won’t be any sun wherever your father sends me. Please.”

No sun.

Thor watches him a long moment.

No sun.

They walk back very, very slowly.