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Brunnhilde hadn’t had a drink in two days. Not intentionally, mind you. It had just been busy, lately. Thor and Lackey were… unavailable and have been for several weeks now, and curiosity at their disappearance was becoming increasingly difficult to tamper down. Bruce was getting more nervous the more she pushed him for answers. Heimdall was all but useless, unrelenting in his silence. And maybe she was a little worried, though she wasn’t intending on letting Thor know that particular piece of information.
Something was up and she was going to find out what it was.
Today had been particularly frustrating and only fuelled her desire to get the prince and king back on duty. Two squabbles between elders even she remembered from before Hela, later, she was more than ready for that drink. Which was where she was headed at this very moment.
Stewing in her own discontent with Thor and his mopey little brother, Brunnhilde found herself taking the long way to the bar. A shiver ran up her spine and she let out a curse, it was so damn cold in this ship. She had even seen Lackey catch a chill when they first set off on this shit space voyage.
She began to grow more thankful she had taken this route, rather than her usual one. There was next to no one the further she ventured from the main hall where everyone generally milled around and ate, even further again from the sleeping quarters. Maybe she should stop by the royals’ room to sneak a shower and probe with some questions. She couldn’t quite understand why she hadn’t done that sooner, come to think of it, rather than take Bruce and Heimdall’s word as sufficient.
Just as she was turning the last corner, bar doors in site, a small sound caught her attention. She stopped, glanced in the direction it came from. A storage closet, no doubt empty, so why would anyone bother entering.
She stood silently for a moment, waiting. Just as she was about to give up and head on her way, there it was again. Distinctly human in its sound, and tiny. Like a child…
Brunnhilde sighed, not at all in the mood to deal with a kid separated from their guardian. Children were not within her area of expertise, not in the slightest. They’re… fine, she doesn’t mind them, but something about them sends her into a panic under her care. Maybe it was her oath as a Valkyrie, or maybe she was simply unfit to deal with them.
Either way, as she stepped up to the closet door, she told herself she wasn’t doing this out of any good will, she was too rough around the edges for that.
The noise had grown in volume and persistence in the short minute she had been warring with herself and she hurried to slide the door open and get this over and done with.
Nothing could have prepared her for the sight that met her.
The moment her eyes locked onto the small, curled up figure in the corner of the small room, she recognised him. Dark, raven hair hung in loose, blessedly grease-free curls and not a moment later, emerald eyes peered up, gaze wet and wide.
The two stared at each other for a long moment, Loki’s crying had all but halted in his own stunned state and Brunnhilde was sure she had stopped breathing all together.
“Lackey?”
Why she said it like a question was beyond her. Of course it was him, she knew that stupid, grumpy face anywhere. Crown prince of Asgard, crying pitifully in a storage closet. Right, okay.
The question seemed to upset him, she supposed, because not a beat later he began to outright wail. Brunnhilde failed to bite back a flinch at the sharpness. It was unashamedly childlike—no, baby-like. It was weird.
And Brunnhilde had a sneaking suspicion it had a lot to do with the brothers’ self-imposed isolation. This wasn’t normal Loki behaviour, it was frightening, and yet Brunnhilde watched herself kneel beside the…man, hands out as if to placate.
She kept some distance between them, to appease Loki’s usual jumpiness. Loki sucked in a shuddering breath, before letting out a wet cough through the damp cloud of tears. Brunnhilde expected to feel disgusted by the display, but she only felt her chest swell with sympathy. That was new.
Alright, she could handle this.
“Lack—Loki,” right, she only really used that name to rile him up; not the most ideal time. She cleared her throat and with only the briefest hesitation, decided to throw caution to the wind.
“Are you lost?”
Loki coughed again and rubbed pitifully at his leaking eyes, before giving a barely perceptible nod. Right, Brunnhilde felt herself nodding too, somewhat absently, as she thought over her next move. She had seen this behaviour before, she was sure of it, but where? And who, besides a toddler—
Oh.
Oh.
She barely had time to register her epiphany, before Loki sucked in a trembling breath and stuck his thumb in his mouth. His eyes averted almost shamefully as he attempted to sooth himself. Brunnhilde felt herself swaying where she was knelt and forced herself back to the present.
Thor had a lot of explaining to do, especially if this was the reason the two of them had been holed up for near a month.
One problem at a time, she reasoned with herself, breathing through her frustration.
“Alright,” she muttered, leaning back on her haunches and taking a deep breath. “Okay.”
“I’ll help you, alright?” Loki hardly seemed to take in her words, only continuing his work on his thumb while tears continued to steadily drip down his cheeks. He kept his eyes on the floor in front of him.
Brunnhilde frowned, before schooling her expression into something, hopefully, encouraging.
“I need you to use your words, Highness. Can you do that for me?”
Where she cultivated the saccharine, high-pitched tone, commonly used for children, she had no idea, but much to her surprise, Loki looked up at that. His eyes pleading and hopeful and far too vulnerable for even someone as stoic as Brunnhilde to handle, though she kept herself from glancing away. How could Loki look so young? He hadn’t when they had first met on Sakaar… right?
Abruptly, she felt her stomach drop at the thought of all that Loki had… consumed on that dreadful, party planet.
“Tor…”
Brunnhilde was brought roughly back to reality at the small, hesitant voice, almost lost to the silence of the storage closet.
“You want to see Thor?”
Loki nodded before sucking in another shuddering breath and barking a sharp sob, curling into himself slightly.
“Hey, hey,” Brunnhilde rushed to comfort, bewildered by herself as she was. “It’s alright, we’ll get you to him.”
Tentatively and almost nervously, she settled a hand on Loki’s knee and gave a gentle squeeze. And, after a brief moment to let Loki gather himself a little, Brunnhilde slipped her hands up to rest at his elbows and helped him up to stand. He swayed somewhat on his feet, but quickly regained his balance. A little clumsy then, Brunnhilde smiled to herself.
She noticed what could only be a… nappy, under his grey sweatpants, though Loki was quick to tug his oversized, green sweater down to hide it. Which, if Brunnhilde was being honest with herself, struck her as odder than seeing him in a nappy in the first place. From the little she had gathered, he seemed quite young, Midgardian two at most, and from the little she had seen of kids that age, their need for nappies was never a point of shame.
Huh…
As Brunnhilde stepped away to open the door and head into the hallway, she was halted in her tracks by a cold hand latching onto her own slightly warmer one. A glance back showed Loki trying to make himself as small as possible, whilst keeping his thumb firmly between his teeth, eyes once again averted.
Self-conscious, but not to the point of losing his only form of self-soothing.
Good, the thought surprised her.
She squeezed his hand and stepped out.
Of course, it was empty. No one really set foot this far into the ship, preferring to stay in the general vicinity of everyone else. That made it the perfect hang out for kings and princes, away from prying eyes. Though that didn’t make Brunnhilde any less cautious as she led Loki through the halls. Loki, who kept stumbling and almost tripped several times. Very clumsy then, she grimaced.
She slowed her pace somewhat when he began to visibly flag. And, thankfully, they didn’t have to look for long before a tall, frantic looking figure appeared around the corner up ahead, another following close behind.
“Loki! Brunn!” Thor called as he fell into a jog toward them.
Loki’s attention snapped up from where his gaze was glued to the floor, and he broke away from Brunnhilde to clumsily run to his big brother. As the two collided in a hug, equally as hysteric as the other, both Brunnhilde and Heimdall sidled up beside them, eyes locking.
“Gatekeeper,” Brunn greeted, shoulders loosening and sloping as the last dregs of anxiety slipped away.
“Valkyrie.” Heimdall replied in turn, neutral as always, though his eyes did noticeably soften as he watched Thor check his brother over for injuries. Loki was quietly crying again, and his eyelids drooped down in obvious exhaustion.
Thor finally looked up once he deemed Loki well. “Where did you find him?” He asked, a little breathlessly.
“Storage closet,” she replied with a sympathetic smile. Thor’s shoulders slumped and he absently smoothed back stray curls from Loki’s forehead.
“Thank you,” Thor attempted to smile, though it came off more as a grimace than anything. Brunnhilde only sighed and fixed him with a stern look.
“It was quite a surprise, Highness.”
Thor paused, but conceded with a willing nod, understanding the intended message, before his attention slipped back to the little one whose cries were growing louder the longer they lingered. Though Thor could command and frighten when needed, it was clear he struggled when it came to his little brother, when he aimed a frown at him that was barely scolding. Brunnhilde couldn’t really blame him.
“Loki don’t you ever, ever do that again,” he cupped Loki’s neck, but the boy began to bawl. His thumb was back in his mouth before anyone could protest. Thor sighed, before slipping his hands under Loki’s armpits and hefting him up into his arms, hand supporting bottom. It was undeniably cute, if a little unnerving how Thor could so easily handle his brother like he was a regular sized toddler, and how small Loki looked in his arms. Loki wasn’t as tall as his older brother, sure, but he wasn’t exactly short either. Though he was considerably leaner.
Thor tipped his head in the general direction of his and Loki’s room, hand rubbing soothing circles over the little one’s back as he sobbed, before he stepped away, Heimdall and Brunnhilde following close behind.
Loki sniffled around his pacifier, gaze locked on Thor as he clipped a new nappy cloth around his waist.
Thor finally felt the residual nerves draining from his trembling fingers. Loki may have only been gone for twenty minutes at most, but it was the longest twenty minutes of his life.
“How does that feel, brother?” Thor asked as he pulled Loki’s sweatpants back up and helped him sit up. “Better?”
Loki gave a subdued nod and rubbed wearily at one eye. With a sigh Thor hung his head for a moment, taking a deep, calming breath for the first time in half an hour. He settled his hand in his little brother’s raven curls in his usual attempt at calming them both.
“Loki,” he began slowly. The babe looked up at Thor’s hesitance, obviously wary. “You can’t run off like that. If—if we happen across someone, let me handle it,” he ran his fingers through those silky locks. “Let big brother handle it.” Loki whined and pressed closer in an attempt to hide, but Thor ducked his head to catch his eye.
“Do you understand, Loki?”
Loki watched him with big, wet emerald eyes. He clutched a hand around his pacifier and gave a tight nod. Thor had little doubt he had learnt his lesson.
“B-beeg,” Loki stammered, eyes still glued to Thor. “Beeg buh…”
Thor huffed a small laugh and pressed a kiss to the baby’s forehead. “Yeah, big brother will always take care of you...”
Loki wanted to walk on his own when they left the bathroom, so Thor helped him up and led him to the sofa where both Brunnhilde and Heimdall were sitting in opposite armchairs, the former looking apprehensive. A word Thor never thought he would associate with the Valkyrie. He sat and grabbed a multicoloured fruit from the bowl on the coffee table, peeling the skin away as Loki climbed onto the cushions beside him, cuddling up to his side with a nervous glance at the other two watching them.
There was silence for awhile as Thor worked away at the tough skin of the unnamed fruit in his hands. Heimdall, settled into the silence, unnervingly at ease with the fraught atmosphere. Brunnhilde, however, appeared to be close to bursting, knee jittering and eyes set in an odd mix between hard and unbearably soft. Loki clearly felt it all quite keenly, still clinging to his self-preservation as he was, he only lasted a short while before burying his face against Thor’s shoulder.
“So,” Brunnhilde finally snapped, though she winced when Loki visibly flinched.
Thor sighed, eyes not leaving the fruit. “I suppose you want an explanation.”
“Not want, no,” she retorted, though she was careful to keep her voice considerably gentler. “But you owe me one.”
Well, Thor thought, he couldn’t argue with that. He couldn’t deny this exact scenario had been stuck on a loop in his head these last couple of weeks, worrying how he could possibly explain this. Heimdall would perhaps be easier, given that he had watched both he and Loki grow up, watched Loki stunted growth and struggles. But Brunnhilde, gruff and headstrong Brunn…
Well, one could easily describe Thor the same and now he was the sole parent to his little brother.
“Alright,” he conceded willingly. “Loki,” He prompted, handing over the peeled fruit as the toddler popped his head up to take the offering eagerly. The fruit broke apart easily into eighths, a lot easier to avoid mess with.
As Thor explained, he felt the knot in his stomach loosening the more Brunnhilde’s frown softened into something almost thoughtful. He couldn’t deny that he had expected her to be crude and abrasive with Loki, not willing to understand, but he knew that to be a cruel assumption. She could be harsh at times, but she was kind… not unlike Loki, despite his patchy past few years. They both had their respective demons to handle, he couldn’t deny them that sympathy.
Loki ate his snack contentedly through the explanation. Thor had expected him to grow upset with the unearthing of such unpleasant memories, but he hardly seemed to be listening. Occasionally he had trouble separating a piece from another and would tentatively ask for assistance. Once he finished he looked well and truly ready for a nap, eyes drooping and leaning heavily into Thor’s side.
When Thor finally finished his retelling, silence fell over the room once more, though it was considerably more contemplative than confrontational. Brunnhilde sat with her elbows perched on her knees, brow set in a thoughtful furrow. A soft smile quirked Heimdall’s lips, which may as well be a blinding grin for the Gatekeeper.
“Alright,” Brunn finally spoke up, leaning back against her armchair with a nod.
Thor waited for her to continue, but she only stared back at him. He raised an eyebrow.
“Alright?”
“Yeah,” she smirked. “What do you want me to say?”
Thor shrugged.
“Well, it doesn’t bother me if that’s what you’re worried about.” He felt like a weight lifted from his shoulders at the words. Like he said, she was kind.
Thor felt the weight beside him shuffle and he lifted an arm to make way for Loki crawling into his lap, facing him to rest his head on Thor’s shoulder. Thor instinctively wrapped his arms around his brother’s smaller frame and rubbed slow, comforting circles over his back.
“Heimdall?” He asked, shifting his eyes to the golden ones that met his evenly.
“I feel,” the other man began, eyes shifting briefly to where Loki was suckling on his pacifier with half lidded eyes. “That we have all been waiting for a change from the prince for a long time now. It comes as no surprise to me that this is the result. I might call it a relief, your Highness.”
Thor looked to the drowsy babe in his arms, his Little brother, and couldn’t agree more.
“He’s kind of cute…”
Both Thor and Heimdall looked to Brunnhilde with raised eyebrows. Her eyes snapped up from where she too was watching the prince and glared them both down.
“What?” She snapped when Thor gave her his winning grin. Jane had called it a Golden Retriever smile. Brunnhilde flushed and stood abruptly from her chair and stormed toward the door.
“B’unn…” A little voice tentatively called through the commotion. All parties froze and looked back at the small figure in Thor’s arms, who was watching Brunnhilde, pacifier bobbing.
“Nigh-nigh, B’unn,” he mumbled around his soother, giving a small wave.
Brunnhilde stared for a moment, before shaking herself from her revery and planting her feet firmly apart, hand on sword hilt to give a short bow.
“Goodnight, Prince. Have a good sleep,” she very clearly struggled to keep her smile to a minimum.
Apparently happy with the reply, Loki returned back to tuck his face against Thor’s neck. Thor struggled to keep himself from laughing, which earned him a glare from the Valkyrie.
“Shut up, Thor.” And with that, she marched from the room.
Thor turned his smile to Heimdall. Loki was considerably more comfortable sleeping in Thor’s arms than on his own, so he conceded to staying seated as the baby’s breaths evened out. Not that the God of Thunder at all minded the extra cuddles.
“So,” he said to Heimdall. “What have I missed?”