Unbroken

Chapter 44

Of all the things Loki had been anticipating for the day, being made prince of Asgard had not even been close to making the list.
But here he was, a newly appointed prince of Asgard, legal son of Odin and Frigga, and the younger brother of Thor. He couldn't get his head around it, and the feelings that were overwhelming him (which should've been good) were so unfamiliar that he couldn't process anything.
Odin, however, seemed very calm about the whole thing, once the paper was signed and Loki's status was made official, Odin simply welcomed Loki, then left to go attend to his other duties for the day, as if making a frost giant his son and giving an abused orphan a family was a normal occurrence.
Thor and Frigga had tried to talk Loki out of his shock, but he simply sat there in silence as they spoke to him until they finally decided he would just have to process it in his own time. Loki said that he wanted to go back to his room to be with his thoughts, and Thor volunteered to walk him there, hoping that maybe he'd be able to have conversation with him. But his hopes were in vain, Loki said nothing all the way back to his room. Once they got there, Thor let Loki inside and then Turned to leave, but surprisingly, Loki spoke up.
"Thor" he said, Thor turned back around. "I didn't think you were going to do that.... I didn't expect you to tell your parents about my complaints.... thank you" Loki said, which was the first sentence he'd been able to speak in full since Frigga first told him the plan.
"You're welcome" Thor said. "I'm glad I did" he added.
"But Why? I mean- you've been nice to me, but.... you hate frost giants, why would you want one as your brother?" Loki asked, he knew Thor didn't like the frost giants. before meeting Loki, Thor was very loud about his dislike for Laufey and his people, and when the prince of the High Realm hates a certain people, all the realms hear about it. So Loki always knew that Thor wasn't fond of the jotuns.
"I don't really think of you as a frost giant I suppose... you're different. Besides, the frost giants hurt you more than they hurt anyone else, so as far as I'm concerned you're not one of them"
Thor told him. Which confused Loki a bit, why did Thor make an exception for him? He didn't do anything for Thor, in fact, since coming here he'd done nothing but keep Thor really busy with stupid things like teaching him to read. But his head was still spinning too much and he didn't want to keep asking questions.
"Okay... well um..." he cleared his throat "thank you" he said again before opening his door and entering his room.
Once Loki was in his room he went and sat on the bed to try and process everything. He knew he was overflowing with a happiness and excitement that he couldn't understand, but it was all so new and so unexpected that he wasn't able to fully enjoy the knowledge that he now had a family.
He sat there for a while trying to get his mind to settle, but he realized that he couldn't talk himself into thinking this wasn't a huge deal, he would have to get used to it through time and experience.
By now it was late and he was very tired, so he put on clothes for sleeping and got into bed. He'd almost laid on the floor again, but he remembered how much better it felt to wake up on a soft surface, so he decided to try for the bed again. Thankfully his mind was worn out, so he fell right to sleep.
=*****=
When Loki woke up the next morning he felt much better.
The sun poured through his open windows and filled the room with warmth, he was comfortable in bed, he now had a family, he was a prince of Asgard, and he wasn't afraid of what the day might bring. He suddenly realized that, after just a few months of living here, everything about his life had turned completely around.
He sat up in bed and took a deep breath, yes he was glad that he no longer had to worry about being beaten, he was glad he didn't wake up starving and cold, but there was still that hint of fear of the unknown. He didn't know what being a prince was like, and anything that's so new (no matter how amazing it might be) can be nerve racking.
Loki got out of bed and decided he wanted to shower, It was always refreshing and it normally cleared his head pretty well, so he got out some clothes and then went into the bathroom and got into the shower
After a little while he got back out and pulled his robe around himself, then opened the door leading back to his room. He felt more refreshed, but he still was a bit nervous to eat breakfast with Thor and Odin and Frigga... he didn't know how he'd act with them now, and he needed time to think. so he just got dressed in the clothes he'd laid out, and then left his room. He wasn't very hungry and didn't feel like eating, but he did want some fresh air, so he decided to go outside. Maybe he could learn his way around a bit more, he knew how to get to the courtyard, and he knew where the soldiers and warriors trained, but he'd never taken time to learn his way around anywhere else.
He walked down the long hall to get outside, but his mind was in another place, he kept thinking about where he was, and who he now was. Even though he was living it, it was hard to believe that it was real, how could someone ever go from being more worthless than dirt, to being a prince of Asgard?
He was approaching a corner, but his mind had gone to autopilot and he wasn't paying attention.
'He said he didn't think of me as a frost giant... but that-' his thoughts were cut off as he rounded the corner and cashed into someone who was carrying a tray of food. The tray got smashed between the two of them and then clattered to the ground, and the young woman whom he'd crashed nearly fell, but loki grabbed her waist to keep her from tripping.
"I'm so sorry" he said after they both got their bearings again. He stepped back again and realized that the young woman was Trinity. Suddenly he felt a whole lot worse about crashing into her.
"Trinity, I- I'm so sorry I wasn't- I didn't see you" he said as he raked his wet hair out of his face, and then let go of her waist to clean up the mess he'd made with the tray of food.
Trinity was glad he'd moved to clean up so quickly, her cheeks had turned pink when he grabbed her around her waist and she didn't want him to see that.
"It's not your fault" she said as she got down and started helping him clean up "I wasn't paying attention either" she added. Loki looked up at her and saw that there was a big stain now covering her front from when the tray got sandwiched between them.
"And I also ruined your clothes.... I'm sorry, I can get those stains out, do um.... do you have something else you can put on for the day?" He asked her, feeling more terrible by the minute. Not only had he embarrassed himself by walking right into her, but he'd knocked over a tray that she was taking to someone and he ruined her clothes.
"Yes, I have something else to put on. But don't worry about trying to fix it, the stains won't come out" she told him, irritated that her plans for the day had just been wrecked.
"Please let me try to fix it" he requested "I feel terrible, I wasn't paying any attention" he told her. She decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea to let him try.
"Alright, if it would make you feel better" she said, sounding less annoyed. Maybe her day wasn't ruined after all.
"It would" he told her, glad that she wasn't too upset anymore. He had been thinking about her a lot lately, and he didn't want her to think ill of him. "Um... how about you go change and I'll replace this meal and take it to... wherever you were going with it" he told her.
"Oh... I was actually taking it to you..." she said, seeming a bit uncomfortable, and maybe nervous.
"You- why? That's not your job, is it?" He asked her. She shook her head.
"No, it's not, but um.... I was- I was going this way anyway and I saw the maid coming here with your breakfast, so I just took it for her" she told him, which was a total lie.
In reality, she just wanted to see him again, she found him interesting and she enjoyed being with him, So she had gone to the kitchen and asked if she could be the one to bring loki his meal. But Thankfully, Loki bought her fib.
"Alright, well I'm not very hungry right now, so I'll clean this up and you can go change, then I'll just meet you back in my room, alright?" He said, to which she nodded.
"Thank you Loki, I'll be right there" she said as she got up and walked away to go change into something clean.
Loki quickly cleaned up the mess, then went to the kitchen, and the healing room for some supplies, and then went back to his room. Once he got back to his room he gathered up all the books he'd been using to study and put them away. He then went to the bathroom and filled the bathtub with hot water and mixed a solution to soak Trinity's clothes in that would remove the stains.
While Loki was in the bathroom, Trinity came to his room, she saw that the bed was unmade and smirked a little bit, he'd stopped sleeping on the ground.
"Loki" she called, not seeing him in the room. Loki came out of the bathroom.
"Here, let me take that" he said as he reached for the stained clothes she had in her hand, she gave them to him and he went back into the bathroom, Trinity following close behind. Loki submerged her clothes in the bathtub and made sure that the stained area was soaking.
"I can call you when this is clean if you want. I know you're probably busy" he said. But she shook her head.
"Actually not really. I don't have anything to do until after lunch" she told him. He nodded and was quiet for a minute, trying to put his next thought into words.
"Well... I was just going to walk around the palace grounds for a little while... would you like to come with me?" He offered, to which she smiled again.
"I'd love to" she said.
"Good... I don't really know my way around yet, so if I get terribly annoying, feel free to leave" he said, his tone showing that he was a bit unsure.
"Well how about I show you around then? I know the way around, I'll give you a tour" she said back, again hoping to get a smile from him, but she just got a slight nod.
"That would be perfect" he said. And they both left this room to go walk around outside.