Beauty and the Beast

Chapter 34

Loki held Morgan protectively in his arms, the action automatic as his eyes and mind here unfocused. His thoughts were running rampant in his head and he couldn't get them to focus.

"Loki? Are you alright?" Thor asked, concerned at the look in Loki's eyes. Loki didn't even hear his brother. He was too lost to his own thoughts, too stuck in his own head while he thought about what the vision just told him. He doesn't know whether he needed to listen to it or completely ignore it. All he knew was that it was important to know, or Morgan wouldn't have seen it to tell him.

"I don't-I don't know what to do, brother," Loki said pitifully. He sounded like a small child pleading for his brother's help, much more than sounding like the thousand year old powerful god he was.

Thor went to his brother and placed a comforting hand on Loki's shoulder. Luckily they were alone in the common room at the moment, so Loki didn't have to have this conversation in front of Tony. Thor sat on the couch next to Loki. "I know, brother," Thor told him gently.

"I don't know if I should heed the vision or ignore it. It is at least partially right. I am a monster and Morgan deserves better than that," Loki said, his words heartbroken.

Thor sighed. "None of us can tell you what to do. This is a choice you have to make on your own. I can tell you you're not a monster until my dying breath, but that will not make you believe me. You have to believe it yourself,"

"You know that isn't easy. You and I were raised to hate the Jotuns. That is centuries of teachings for me to try to ignore. Even you said only a couple short years ago that you wanted to wipe them all out!" Loki protested, yelling, though he managed to keep his voice low enough not to wake Morgan passed out in his arms.

"I know it isn't easy. And my approach on the subject may not be the best, but I can distinguish you, my brother, from the Jotuns as a race," Thor tried to explain, though he was oafish as usual and couldn't quite get the words that he needed to convince Loki.

"But I am Jotun! A cold-hearted monster. You said so yourself," Loki growled.

"You are my little brother and I love you. No matter that you were adopted. No matter your heritage. No matter what you look like,"

Loki sighed. "And yet the Allfather, the man who told me as a child that I deserved to be king just like you, that I was equal to you, just turns around and treats me like I don't even exist. Just because I am Jotun, a pawn, a monster for him to use for his own personal gain. I have done terrible things, killed so many people. I'm even here against my will to serve penance for a crime I didn't have a hand in. I was used as a pawn and now I'm on Midgard because otherwise I would be sealed away in a cage for the rest of my days!" Loki growled, venting his troubles to his brother. He didn't know how to deal with any of them. And on top of it all, he was trapped in Jotun form.

Thor sighed. "I know, brother. And how father has treated you is not fair. I cannot make him change his ways. I can only be responsible for my own actions and choices. That is all any of us can do,"

"Maybe the vision is right. Maybe I should let her go now before I hurt her. She deserves so much better than me..." Loki said, as he stroked Morgan's hair while she rested from the visions.

"No man ever feels worthy of the woman he is courting," Thor reassured him gently. "The vision she saw is only a possible future. You have heard mother give that lecture often enough about her own visions,"

Loki sighed. "I guess..." he said dejectedly.

"I cannot tell you what to do, brother. You must make that decision for yourself. Though if you do decide to end things with her, make sure it is what you truly want and what you truly think is best," Thor warned. It would be hard to rekindle a love if he broke up with her without being sure.

"The last thing I want is to lose her. But it might be best for her. What can I offer her?"

Thor chuckled. "You offer her plenty, or have you not seen how happy she is? How much she trusts and loves you,"

"I know. And she does the same for me."

Thor nodded "Then you must decide what is best for you both," he told Loki gently.

Loki sighed again, clearly torn on what to do. "I know,"

Thor gave Loki a reassuring smile. "Visions do not always come true, brother," he reminded him, trying to make him see reason.

"True. But being as this is a possible future, I don't know what to do with this news," Loki fretted.

Thor smirked at him. "You're the one who claims to be a master strategist. Use that big brain of yours to figure it out. You can always ask Mother for advice,"

Loki sighed in relief when he remembered that fact. "I might visit Asgard for a day or two. This really isn't something to discuss telepathically." He needed to speak with Frigga longer than a telepathic conversation would allow.

Thor nodded understandingly. "I will accompany you, if you want me to," he glanced at Morgan asleep in Loki's arms. "Do you really think she'll be better off with someone else?" he asked Loki gently, trying to make him see reason.

"Maybe. I'm not really the best person in the realms. I'm sure there's a Midgardian that would be better for her than me,"

"She's Asgardian now, brother. I would not wish a Midgardian for her," Thor reminded him.

"Then a better Asgardian. I'm not even Asgardian. I'm a frost giant," Loki replied glumly.

"You were raised Asgardian. And a prince of Asgard at that," Thor told him firmly, about ready to knock some sense into Loki's self pitying mood

"Alright, brother. Don't blow a gasket trying to appease me," he said with hands raised in defeat.

"Thank the norns because my next strategy would be to beat some sense into you," Thor teased

"I would like to see you try,"

Thor chuckled and removed the sleeping Morgan from Loki's lap easily, lifting her into his arms. "If you're going home, you should do so before the party. I will make your excuses to your lady, tell her you were called home for a couple of days. It would not do for the Midgardian press to announce to the world that you are courting just for things to end," Thor reminded him. Morgan had warned Loki as much. The press latched onto any male she so much as talked to and claimed they were seriously dating.

Loki nodded. "That works,"

"Let me know if you need anything, brother," Thor replied gently and moved to carry Morgan to bed. He had a bad feeling with how easily Loki let him take Morgan from him, how easily he agreed to return to Asgard without even telling her, how little care he's showing toward the woman he supposedly loves in the face of this vision. Thor knew that the vision was rough news for his brother, but he still feared for the relationship and for Morgan's heart with how Loki was acting.