A Bang and a Whimper

31

Jenna likes seeing Loki happy. It has been a few months since he was shot in the square and he seems to have recovered from the experience boh physically and mentally. He is quietly courting Sif and her father gently teases them both when they take supper together. Through Loki's eyes, his ladies have saved him from himself and he is greatly indebted to them. He tells Jenna this and she curls up to him with a huge smile and a hug. He tells Sif this and she kisses his cheek and then tosses him a quarterstaff.

Loki and Jenna read together again. She brings him books every other day and he brings her books on the days between. It has snowed a few times and they ward off the evening chill, as Loki often leaves his windows open, by piling pillows and blankets on the floor in front of a roaring fire, reading snuggled together in the early evening darkness.

Loki likes this life. It is not too complicated. There is time for books, for Sif, for family suppers and long walks in the frosted gardens. Even though it is cold, he still spars in the late evenings after reading to Jenna. The feeling of the winter air on his skin is exhilarating and he does not mind that he can see his breath- he is comfortable in the cold, a trait, he believes, comes from Jotunheim. He has started to let her aim for his legs and is incredibly proud of the fact that he can usually tell her in advance if he will be able to handle it or not. There have only been a handful of times in the past month when he has had to stop the fight. And sometimes, she stays the night, cuddling with him under his blankets until the early morning hours when she slips out to return home to her soaker tub and her morning tea with Fandral.

Loki takes breakfast a variety of ways- sometimes alone, often with Jenna and Thor, sometimes in their chambers, sometimes in one of the small dining halls. This morning, Sif has met them in the dining hall for her second cup of tea. She and Jenna plan to go riding and to talk about the expectations for ladies of the court. Jenna has asked her father to be introduced as Asgard's princess before too long and she has much to learn. Loki is happy to see that she is undeterred by everything that has happened since their introduction to the advisors. She may be more resolute.

When only Thor and Loki remain, Odin enters and approaches the table, "Good morning."

Thor, his mouth full of eggs, nods in greeting; Loki forces a smile, "Good morning to you as well."

"May I join you?"

"Yes, so long as you are here with good intentions only."

Odin hesitates, then sits, "I do not know what you consider good intentions, but I do not wish to argue."

"Those are intentions good enough," Loki answers.

"It has been a long time since we have spoken, Father. Are you well?"

"I am, thank you. It has been over a month since I have spoken to either of you."

Neither brother knows what to say in response. Thor wants to tell him that this is what happens when you reject your son's wife and daughter. Loki wants to say that it is Odin's own fault and he should have expected no less, with his behaviour. But neither wants to start an argument.

"I brought it on myself."

This stuns them both.

"Father, I have never heard you admit to such a thing before."

"The solitude has given me time to think and to watch you from afar. It took me far too long to ask myself who I would have chosen if my own father had rejected Frigga and and our son in the same way that I did Jenna. I realized I would have cut him out of my life and stood with my wife and son. And that is exactly what you did."

"Then perhaps you have also reconsidered?"

"I do not understand your love for Jane. I have come to the conclusion that I do not need to understand it, but to accept that you did. And to accept that the child she bore you is my grandchild."