Suspicious Minds

Not even a week since Thor's visit, and Loki still hadn't fully wrapped his head around the information he'd been handed. The locations of the other Infinity Stones was a fine gift indeed, one of the finest he'd ever received from his brother. Especially since one of them was the one he'd lost. His terrible master would be wanting it back, no doubt about it. Loki suppressed a shudder at the thought.

It still meant two were unaccounted for, but they'd turn up. Loki had no doubt of that. He thought the Aether might still be on Knowhere where he'd sent it for safekeeping, and the Tessaract was still secure. He still wasn't sure how to go about retrieving it without arousing suspicion, but he was sure an idea would come to him.

One of the ravens perched on the back of his throne cawed, and startled him. He turned his eye on it, not sure which one it was. Gods, he could never tell them apart. It seemed to be trying to tell him something, but he didn't speak stupid bird. It took off toward the door, the other following shortly. He supposed they wanted him to follow them. The ravens were Odin's mind and thoughts, and maybe they could sense that he was restless. Or not their rightful master. Either way, he had to keep up appearances.

He followed them to the training grounds, where they landed on the stone railing overlooking the expanse. So this was where they'd wanted to go. One of them looked up at him with an accusing look and he glared back at it. It cawed and hopped to one side, then back, still with that look in its little black eyes. Perhaps it thought it had been too long since "Odin" had visited his warriors.

Maybe the damn thing was right. He still didn't know which one it was.

A voice called to him and he tore his eyes from the raven to focus on Sif. He should have expected she'd be here. He offered her a smile, as he knew Odin would have. Her question caught him a little off guard, and he supposed telling her that Hugin and Munin had thought he needed to put in an appearance wouldn't go over well.

"I thought it best that I come observe the training." He cast a look over the field. "It seems that I am early." Loki gestured vaguely to the few other warriors sparring in a distant area. "Not many out just yet, it seems."

And there it was. Thor. He should have known she'd ask about him. Her dear friend. Loki had been a friend to her once, but she, and the others, had betrayed him. Disobeyed his direct commands during the brief time he held the throne. He rested his hands on the railing to keep from clenching them into fists at his side.

"He came to visit late last week," he answered slowly. "Something had him worried, but I believe he is feeling much better now. As far as I know, he has left Asgard again, though I cannot say where he has gone." He allowed a saddened look to fall over his face, as he figured Odin would be upset. Despite allowing it, he gave the impression that he wished Thor would spend more time at home.

He hated pretending such things.

Loki nodded slowly in agreement at her observation. He supposed that made sense. When he was young, he'd always favored the early morning or late evening for his own training, when it was cool. The heat of midday had always interfered with his focus, and the light of Asgard's sun in his eyes hadn't helped his aim.

He supposed he probably shouldn't mention that, however.

He did have to resist the urge to raise an eyebrow or roll his eyes as he watched her interactions with one of the ravens. Of course she'd be able to tell them apart. He allowed a small smile at the mention of cake. He'd often seen Hugin take bits of cake or bread from his plate since he'd taken over. Loki had wondered why, and now he knew.

At least he had a way of telling them apart now, he supposed.

A heavy sigh passed his lips. He'd really rather not be talking about his brother, but he couldn't very well avoid the subject if Sif insisted on talking about him. He leaned heavily on the railing, casting his eye down.

"He feels that he cannot properly protect the Nine Realms from here. I cannot keep him from what he sets his mind to." His eye flicked back up to her, filled with sadness. Not a day went by that Loki didn't think of his mother, blame himself for her murder. Part of him knew it wasn't his fault, that he had no way of knowing what would happen after Kurse left the prison.

A curious look passed over his face for a brief instant when she claimed that she missed him. Well, that was an interesting development. She'd held her sword to his throat, threatened to kill him, and now said she missed him. Had Thor perhaps told her, and all of his friends, that Loki had died valiantly in combat? A death worthy of the halls of Valhalla. He was forced by necessity to hold back a snort of derision. His infinite luck, he'd end up in Hel when Death finally grew tired of being cheated by him.

He raised a hand to her cheek, a fatherly gesture he knew Odin would offer in these circumstances. "You have said nothing wrong, my dear. All of Asgard feels their absence, and it may, in fact, be why Thor chooses to defend the Realms from their center, rather than from here." He lowered his hand and followed her gaze across the training fields.

"Do not worry yourself. If I require anything of you, you will know." Loki sighed again. "We should take the quiet as a sign of peace. All that I require is that you keep up your training and make certain that others are doing the same. We may be at peace, but we can never know for certain when the next wave of chaos will crash over us."

All Loki had to hope for was that when that chaos did come, it wouldn't be purple.

"Your honor and sense of duty are admirable," he replied, even as he suspected that Sif would rather be wherever Thor was. All of his brother's friends were that way, no matter how hard they tried to hide it. Why else would they have done what they had so many years ago?

Defied him. Ignored his express commands. For Thor.

Well, they weren't ignoring him now.

Sif was talking about him again, and again, her words surprised him. Loki had never known that Sif felt that way. He'd always just assumed he was the tolerated sixth wheel in their little band. Because he was the prince and Thor's younger brother, he'd always guessed, rather than his tactical ability. Not that he was the only strategist in the group, but that only lent itself to his belief that they'd never truly counted him among their friends.

If they had, he thought, they wouldn't have turned on him as they did. Of course, the thought crossed his mind that she was only saying these things because she thought he was Odin and didn't wish to speak ill of the dead in front of him. That thought was harder to dismiss than the suspicion that she was being sincere.

"I'm sure your thoughts reach him, wherever he is." Loki sighed. He hoped being intentionally vague was what Odin would have done. Surely, his adoptive father wouldn't really assume he'd be honored in Valhalla after everything he'd done that Odin had been hypocritical enough to label as 'wicked' or whatever he'd said. Loki hadn't really been paying attention. Why should he have? But he also probably wouldn't proclaim out loud that he believed his youngest son had been bound to Hel, even if he secretly believed it.

"I would be worried if your warrior's instincts weren't so ready," he smiled softly. He knew he should refuse her offer, tempted though he was to see if she'd say anything else about him, but thought that refusing would be a disastrous slip-up on his part. Odin was a great king who would not refuse such an offer from any of his subjects. So what else could he do but accept?

"It would be my honor," he told her, holding out an arm for her. He would follow her lead.

He hid a cringe at her comment. He'd never noticed such a thing, but if she could feel the chill through his clothes and armor, then it wouldn't be so difficult to brush off. He could certainly try, though.

"I'm quite all right, my dear Lady, don't you worry about me," he answered, not too quickly, he hoped. If his Jotun blood was exerting itself, as he'd discovered it often did to keep him cool in excessive heat (though, it sometimes over-reacted and made him sick), then he'd have to find some excuse to stop physical contact, to protect his own identity. To preserve his rule for a while longer. He said nothing else as she led the way to the palace gardens, a place he hadn't visited in far too long.

His eye found a tree where he used to like to sit and read, and there was a faint twinge in his heart to see that it was filled with soft white blossoms. He'd always liked the smell of them, and to watch them fall from the branches like snowflakes. More memories than just of books flashed through his mind as a soft breeze broke a flower off, carrying it through the air and away. A dark look fell over his face then; those days were gone, and he was a much different man now than he had been then.

It took him a moment to realize that Sif was speaking again and he tore his eyes from the tree to focus on her. He only caught part of what she'd said, and figured he shouldn't ask her to repeat it. Something about the fountain.

"I remember..." he answered slowly. "We all should have been paying more attention." Loki's voice was soft, and he didn't realize what he'd said, lost in memories of what had once been. Memories of a simpler time, before he knew the truth of what he was. Memories of a time he belonged somewhere.

"No, of course not," he sighed softly, turning a small, if somewhat sad, smile on Sif.