Of Numbers and Strange Friendships

Chapter 72

"I know this is a lot to take in," Frigga said when she was done explaining. The entire room was understandably shaken by the exposition. There had been quite a lot of exposition. The revelation about Hela, about Odin's secrets, had shaken both of the princes, as well as Sif and Sigyn. The Avengers were all shocked as well, but they were also trying to cope with being on a foreign realm when none of them had been off realm before. It was a lot for them all to take in. Frigga, at least, seemed to recognize that.

Of course she did. She was a wonderful mother and queen. She would rule Asgard well until one of her sons was ready to take the throne.

"I need to take the throne and calm the realm," Frigga continued, her words gentle. "Thor, I trust you, Sif, and the Warriors Three to see to our guests. I will see you all at dinner." She was giving them an excuse to relax, to take time to take everything in. Thor and his friends would give the Avengers a tour of the palace and the realm. He would ground himself again in the familiarity of his home, of his life and his friends and family. He could share that with the team.

She also knew that Loki and Peter had some talking to do, now that Loki could speak again. Maybe one of these days Loki might also finally be able to get that much needed rest. But there were still things he needed to do.

Loki kissed Sig's cheek and got to his feet. "You'll take care of the witchling?" He asked her.

Sig gave him a warm smile, which had the entire team staring at Loki doting on his fiancé. "Yes, love. I'll look after her," she promised. Loki needed to talk to Peter alone, which meant that Loki had to drag him away from Wanda.

The warriors stood and bowed to Frigga as she took her leave. Thor took up a quick conversation with Sif to coordinate getting the team clothes for Asgard and giving them a tour. Loki made his way over to Peter and Wanda. Wanda was still hugging the spider-child too tight, relieved that he was alright. "My apologies, witchling, but I'm afraid I need to steal the Arachnid from you for a bit. I'll return him unharmed," Loki told Wanda, drawing her attention away from the very squashed Peter.

She loosened her grip and looked up at Loki. She was hesitant to let Peter go, now that he was safe. "I... can't come with you?" She'd been everywhere with Loki and Peter during their trip to Asgard before.

Loki shook his head. "Not this time," he said gently. Wanda hesitated, but nodded her understanding. Peter and Loki needed to talk. Alone. She gave Peter an adorable, chaste, clumsy kiss before she stepped back, promising to see Peter later. Sig quickly corralled her into magic lessons to distract the witchling. Wanda didn't want to be separated from Peter now that he was finally safe and things were calming down. "Come along, Arachnid," Loki said and headed from the morons' lair, trusting that Peter would follow.

Loki led Peter up to his suite, where he knew that they wouldn't be distracted. Loki's suite was protected with magic so only himself, Sig, Frigga, and Thor could enter without him lowering the shields for them. Loki led Peter inside, adjusting his shields to allow the boy to enter. He closed and locked the door behind them and gestured to his sitting room, inviting Peter to take a seat. Loki himself took a seat in his favorite reading chair.

"There is a lot to explain to you, Arachnid," Loki said softly once Peter was seated.

Peter considered something. "What's the number?" He asked, clearly wanting a gauge for just how bad this conversation was going to be.

"8," Loki replied, picking at his hands. It was clear that the number was because of how stressed he was, not how evil he was feeling. Peter tensed. 8 was not a good number on their scale. He mentally prepared himself for a difficult conversation. Peter nodded for Loki to continue. Loki took a breath, steeling himself for the difficult conversation. "I accept that you may not be able to forgive me for what I did," he started, resuming picking at his hands, his tell for when he was uncomfortable. "I am deeply sorry for the method, though I will never apologize for saving your life. It was the only way..."

Peter hesitated and actually stopped to think before he spoke. "It's real, then? The golden apples of immortality?"

Loki inclined his head. "They can heal mortal injuries and illnesses. And they can grant immortality to mortals," he explained, reclarifying what that meant. Before Peter could ask, he continued with the explanation. "From now on, you will age as we do. You'll live roughly five thousand years..." he lowered his gaze, sure this would be the point where Peter would hate him for turning him Asgardian without permission.

"Aunt May? Wanda? Our friends?" Peter asked, horrified by the implications.

Loki shook his head. "Perhaps I could acquire another for the witchling, but... we cannot just give the apples to every mortal we like. There would be too many," he shook his head again. It wasn't possible. "There are only so many apples available," he concluded.

"You... you said that Mama Frigga..." Peter couldn't quite finish the question, couldn't ask what he needed.

Loki inclined his head, understanding Peter well, even without proper words. "Mother set aside one of the apples for you. I meant to ask you when you came of age if you wished for it. I didn't understand before why she gave it to me before you were of age to consent to the change. I understand now. She saw that it would be the only way to save your life,"

"Why would she set an apple aside for me?" Peter asked, getting straight to the heart of the matter. He was just a mortal kid. Yes, he had some abilities, but... that surely wasn't enough to be given one of the precious apples of immortality. Not if there were as few of them as Loki indicated. And Loki, while he was the god of lies, wouldn't lie to Peter, not about something so important.

Loki bowed his head, looking at his lap when he finally answered. "For me. She knew that I could not live happily in a universe where I lost you,"

That was the key. Loki, now that he had met this brother of his soul. Now that he had healed, had gotten better, had learned from the teen who grounded him in the every day world, now that his life had changed for the better for meeting the teen, he couldn't live in a world where Peter aged and died in a heartbeat.

Peter's eyes widened when he realized just how much he meant to the god, just how much his loss would mean, and what Loki had risked to save his life. He rushed over to Loki and wrapped his arms tightly around Loki's neck, making the god make a yelping strangled noise. Yes, things wouldn't be easy, and there was a lot to learn, but He would always have Loki at his side to help with it all.

There was only one thing for Peter to say. One way to tell Loki exactly how he felt with this revelation.

"One,"