I feel All Kinds of Ways about this.
- Loki and Thor are raised together, brought up being told that they were both born to be kings and taught to rule. When he was small, Loki questioned why he received far more instruction about Jotunheim than Thor did, but Father had said that it was best for them to learn different things, so that their combined knowledge would serve them as they worked together in the future.
- When Odin calls them to his audience chamber to announce which one of them will be taking the throne, they’re both stunned when their father says that they both will be. Thor is to rule Asgard, and Loki is to rule Jotunheim. After all the courtiers take their leave, and they’re left alone with Odin, Loki and Thor both start talking at once, desperate for answers, but the question that Odin seizes upon is Loki’s: Why in the Nine would Jotunheim obey me? And so Loki finds out what he is, and who his real father is only weeks before his scheduled coronation.
- Thor shuts himself in his rooms and refuses to speak to anyone for a few days after the revelation, and Loki hates him for it on some level, but he’s also terrified to see how Thor will look at him differently now, knowing what he is, so he leaves him be. But the silent treatment ends when Thor sneaks into Loki’s bedroom one night, like Loki used to do to Thor himself when they were children, and they huddle up under the blankets and don’t say anything for a while… until Thor speaks up and tells Loki how he’s loved Loki for centuries and hated himself for it, and even though it’s come out that they’re not really brothers, Thor still knows in his heart that they are, and he feels even more wretched. Loki doesn’t know what to say to this and can’t wrap his head around it, and he winds up lying awake all night, conflicted and miserable, while Thor drops off with his head on Loki’s shoulder.
- In the morning, Loki goes to Odin and demands to know how he meant to unite the two realms and bring about peace, and when his–when the Allfather has no immediate answer for him, he suggests his own. The look on Odin’s face is worth the sleepless night, and when he argues, Loki just says, “Ask Thor, then, if you like,” and Odin dismisses him.
- Loki’s coronation is well-attended, due less to the admiration of his people and more their curiosity. Why would Laufey step down and let the Aesir take over? they all wonder, but then they see their new king, and though he’s small and dressed like an Asgardian, his clan lines tell them all they need to know. They’re aware that Laufey’s abdication was not entirely his decision, but they can’t argue with the choice of successor.
- Some years later, when Loki has accepted the sight of his blue skin and red eyes in the mirror, he allows Thor to see him as he is on a diplomatic visit, and it goes better than expected. (He hadn’t anticipated being swept off his feet and carried to his bedchamber the instant they were alone, but he has no complaints, and he could certainly learn to get used to it.)
- Neither of them have really gone against Odin’s wishes all throughout their separate rules, and once he’s grown comfortable in his retirement and old age, they make a joint announcement of their intent to wed, and by then it’s far too late for him to say anything against it.
Now somebody write this.
Send me an AU, and I’ll give you 5+ headcanons about it– Requests are now closed ❤