𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑 & 𝐁𝐑𝐔𝐂𝐄 : 𝐀𝐋𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐑𝐘

39; Keep Him Closer

━━⛥⌒*ﾟ

" Let me tell you a story.."

Bruce tilted his head a little to show he was listening and used a finger to push his glasses up higher on the bridge of his nose. Loki looked like he was puzzled for a long time; like the story was hard to bare. He didn't want to speak about it out loud. The God Of Mischief had suppressed it for so long and now that it was coming back together it was like a punch in the gut.

" A couple thousand years ago," Loki narrowed his eyes. His jaw clenched and that anger filled right back in his veins. " My father, Odin was training Thor and I to become kings. If we are being honest, and I do not want to hide the truth from you, father was only training Thor."

Bruce nodded. He had heard about Odin's faults. Ignoring Loki, making him feel like an outcast. Pressuring Thor to push himself, molding him to perfection and pitting him against his brother. How he had built Hela to be a killing machine, and casted her away as soon as she hadn't done what was told of her. It wasn't a secret that Odin was a monster.

" I was constantly being thrown into the ring, and made to become a warrior." The God spat the words out and his face screwed up like he had bit into a rotten apple. " I wasn't allowed to use my magic, and it's no secret that I'm smaller then the average Asgardian. My body wasn't built for a fight, not one with fists anyway."

Bruce also understood this. Not because he thought Loki was a poor fighter; but he knew how it felt. He was small. The smallest Avenger. He relied on Hulk in most situations and Hulk for the most part relied on Thor.

" But there was a sorceress, training to be the right hand of the queen." His voice had gone sour now. Loki hated speaking about her, he hated that guilt that turned sharp in his stomach. The way his eyes burned when her fate spinned in his mind. How her name got stuck in his throat. " Her name..Her name was Amora. She was my only companion, and the only one who showed me mercy."

Mercy. That was a word he hadn't heard from Loki. Bruce's eyes widened a little out of surprise and he leaned in closer.

" Amora was smart, powerful, and she didn't turn down a challenge." His pink lips moved to curl into a smile, and it quickly dropped when he remembered the guilt. " She had seen me play a trick on Thor, and was determined to train me. Something my father would never approve of, but it made me feel so.."

Bruce didn't know the emotion that Loki was holding on his face. Infatuation? Anger? Guilt? Hate? He couldn't put a finger on it and it was more unsettling then that sly smile.

" Anyway, she was.. Amazing. One night, after a feast. It was an annual feast that we held. It surrounded the Godseye Mirror. The mirror allowed Asgard to look into the future and find any new threats that may come our way.." His head hung a little. A sigh left Loki and a long pause filled the air.

This time Bruce could read his face easily; shame.

" My father of course, looked into it and what he saw had frightened him. He made A big scene in front of all of Asgard."  He rolled his eyes a little and tilted his head to the side. " What he saw was Ragnorak but we didn't know that.."

" He didn't say anything?" Bruce blurted. He was starting to get a little too invested in this story.

" Of course he didn't!" Loki looked at him like he was an idiot for a long time, before his face softened. " I do apologize, you never got to meet my father.."

Bruce was silent for a minute, attempting to find something to say. Slowly he averted his eyes at the kindness. Loki was growing now that he was under The Avengers wing, and it showed everyday.

" Anyway.. Where was I?" His brows knitted. That little cock of his brow and nod of his head was more intimidating then a glare or a frown. It was the same one Frigga used. " Ah, well, father stormed out and I had to do something. I had to know what he saw."

" You did what you do best." Thor was leaning on the door, gazing at the two. A small smile fell on his lips. He knew this story. And what a long way they came from this. " You got to the bottom of it."

" That's a nicer way of putting it," Loki chuckled. " he called it ' dropping of ease'."

The finger quotes from the God added extra emphasis to the sudden excitement in his voice. Loki and Thor shared a glance and he went on with his story.

Loki went on to tell him about it all. Odin had ran off with Frigga and his sorceress to speak of the future he saw. The God of mischief followed on their tails and did his "dropping of ease" which led him to a bitter and dark question.

Odin had saw one of his sons leading an army against Asgard, which would cause the end of the nine realms. Ragnorak. Loki needed to know which one of them it had been but he couldn't ask Odin about it. He had to see it himself.

Loki had always been cast aside. Thor had always been favored. It was what seperated them from Odin in the first place. The God of mischief attempting to overcome obstacles that he wasn't meant to go through; The God of thunder unable to pass the obstacles that had stacked high in front of him.

There was no question of which of them would be leading Ragnorak. An answer that they both knew now; both of them would be leading the army against Hela.

If only they had known that then.

Amora, his only friend and the woman who held all of his affection, had assisted him in getting to the Godseye Mirror. She funneled her magic into it so he could look into it but it wasn't enough. Amora had never used her magic in such a way. So Loki tried to help. However, who was a powerful sorceress, didn't have control in his magic.

Magic he thought had been weak.

Magic that would frighten Odin for the rest of his days.

Magic that broke the Godseye Mirror.

He had broken it; but Amora had fallen on the sword instead. She said it had been her doing to save Loki.

" So what happened next?"

" Listen closely, doctor Banner, for this is the moral of my story." Loki hummed, intense blue eyes gazing into his. Eyes that were icy. Like they had been sculpted from glaciers. " Amora was chained, and dragged away. Her fate had been a slow death in midgard.."

" What?!" Bruce stared at him with anger in his eyes, his skin turning a little green.

" Father banished her." Thor grimaced a little, his eyes narrowing.

" Did you see her ever again?!"

Loki's head fell, and his eyes filled with pain. His pale hand clenched into fists for a moment only to softly release. The God's voice had a shake to it that he didn't intend when he responded with a quiet " Yes."

Bruce froze, and turned to look at Thor. His love looked so unsure.

" I found her, after I came to New York. She was so.." Loki sighed. "She was sick, the incurable type."

" What?"

" She had lost her magic and if she went back to Asgard she'd die." He sighed softly. "I couldn't..do anything but..watch her die.."

" What's the point of this story?"

Loki looked up at Bruce and sighed. There was a long, dramatic pause before he answered.
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